Archive for January, 2009

Real Estate Shopping Spree

The news about recession certainly scared most of the investors and has affected the real estate business. Some companies had to bring down their prices just to keep their business on-going. For some this may be their downfall, but for others it’s a shopping spree.

While CNN is always talking about thinking twice before investing, wise investors take advantage to get the best deals at the lowest price. Especially now that banks are offering pretty low add on interests. They buy low, and later on sell high. To all investors especially families out there don’t hesitate to spend your money on great home deals. This is really the best time to get your dream house. The economic slowdown in the market is a normal and usual phenomenon. It happens all the time. Think of this as an inventory sale of the best weight loss pill in the mall. So what are you waiting for?!

Missing the Paper Journals

What an exhausting day at the office! On of our servers was hacked with an sq l injection! It really made a mess on some of the processes in the records department. Oh well, it’s what you pay for upgrading to a full IT system.

I still remember the time when this office was still using journals, Pentel pens, and a custom rubber stamp for our logo. Clients used to fall in line at the reception to process their papers. Now it’s all online and we seldom meet the clients unless they specifically request a meeting.

I guess I can say that I miss the old system. We get to meet clients then and eventually make friends with them; and because it was not automated then, employees get to talk with each other often. Now it’s all chat and email. Sometimes I see strangers in the office which turn out to be employed here for a year already. Anyhow, it’s the end of my break and I still have a lot to do. Enough with the reminiscing for now.

A house for a special child

Earlier a client inquired about buying a house which is safe for her children. She explained that she is a mother of two and one of her sons has cerebral palsy. She wanted a house which was safe for her children- Low maintenance yet stylish and comfortable.

I got curious about her special child who has the illness. She explained that cerebral palsy is not a disease. It was a disorder in the brain which causes involuntary movements in hands and feet. In her case she said, she thinks it was an injury caused by her doctor’s malpractice during her labor. She believes her baby was normal because of the sonography results she had when she was still pregnant. she said that according to her doctor, her child has a good of recovery because he was reacting well to the medications. This is why she wants a house where in she can take care of her child well.

The chat ended with some proposals and we’ll see if she’ll like them. Until next time, I’ll keep you posted.

On Finding and Grabbing Opportunities

I’ll be meeting my Kendo batch mates this coming Sunday afternoon for our mini reunion, and for me to be able to get their home addresses as well so JC (our batch mate currently in Japan) can immediately send out his wedding invitations. …I haven’t seen them in months and I have a feeling that the last time we got together was last 2007.

Anyhow, I won’t be just partying of course. I’ll be using that opportunity as well to discuss my dream website with Ja and Abbie. Ja is a talented photographer with lots of stored pictures I can use, and Abbie is a good designer (just not sure about her graphic design skills). If all goes well, I just might be able to get a lot of much needed help for free! *cross fingers* Now that’s what you call finding and grabbing opportunities. ^_^

Fire and Burglar-Proof Your Home

My boss recently bought a house in a posh village. I overheard him dictate to his secretary awhile ago to get him application forms for fire and burglar insurance… I was flabbergasted. I didn’t know you can actually have your home fire and burglar proofed with insurance.

Then again, home should be one of the safest places for us. To ensure that we’ll always have that sanctuary for peace and relaxation, getting insurances like that are a very good deal. This prompted me to do some research and to discover a fascinating fact – there is such a thing as combined home insurance. It insures your home against fire, burglary, theft and larceny. Now isn’t that neat?

I’ll recommend that to my boss when I get to talk with him. ^_^

Happy to help the company

Everyone’s talking about the economic recession in our country. You’ll hear it in the news and read it in the newspapers. One of the most important industries affected is the real estate and lots of estate companies have already went down. This may be tragic for the companies but is an advantage for new families planning to buy new houses. House and lot prices started to go down since November of last year.

As for our company, we are still unaffected by the recession but certain cost cutting measures are now being implemented. The work processes were revised for efficient use of time. Hard copy documents were converted to soft copy and were included in the database for less cost due to office supplies. Even our summer outing to the Outer Banks was canceled and was just converted to cash bonus.

All the employees in the company are giving their share just to keep the company running. This time of crisis really showed how people can unite and help each other. We at our company are happy to assist each other in any way. And with this I can say that I am proud to be a part of this united company.

On Equal Trade of Skills

I went to my dermatologist this morning to have the blackheads removed off my pretty nose. It’s my first time to have it done professionally since I usually just go to some spa house for facials. As expected, it was painful; she was squeezing my nose like pulling some juice directly from Blackberry plants. Then again, it takes pain to be beautiful, so what the heck… I just let my tears flow without flinching from the pain.

The outcome was really wonderful. I’ve never seen my nose as clear and smooth as now. What’s great about this is that I only paid for the chemical used on the treatment. In return for her special and excellent treatment, I’ll be making the design and layout for her parents’ golden anniversary souvenir, and editing the powerpoint presentation next Saturday. Now that is what I call equal skill trade. I love it. I wish I could trade my skills with every treatment or service I need. Not only is it cheaper, it is quite fulfilling as well.

Obesity in Business = Bad

It’s 2009. While the rest of the world is busy trying to live up to their recently concocted resolutions, I bet there is one resolution they’re having a hard time sticking to – losing weight.

Seriously, obesity is becoming a problem even in the business world that we really ought to do something about it. I mean, just recently, one of the project managers in my company got a memo because one of her teams is not performing well. I later found out that it’s because their team leader have not been able to report for work a lot of times over the past two months and consequently was not able to supervise his team well. When asked for his reason, he said he had been having heart problems due to his being overweight. Looking at his really huge figure, he need not say more.

Still, business is business. We’re here to make profit… Hmmm… perhaps we should resort to company sponsored weight loss pills and free fitness center memberships. What do you think?

Server-room Overhaul

It’s the start of the year so all of us in the office are busy cleaning up last year’s trash. I was assigned to clean up the server room since I am the network admin/ janitor so wish me luck (better yet, pray for me).

With our company’s expansion, server room space became a real issue. New servers could not anymore fit the rack and the wiring was cluttered, as in. I did an overhaul with the room and added additional racks but the notebooks used to configure the servers are still a mess. I also got this cool Rackmount monitor to replace the laptop. It comes in 1U form factor so it fits the rack perfectly.

After much sweeping, vacuuming, and organizing, the server room is now squeaky clean. And now for the fun part! Wiring! I just hope everything turns out okay. Oh and did I mention I saw a family of rats behind the UPS?