I So Do Not Miss the After-work Commute

Had to meet up my team for a regular meeting.  It feels great to meet up in person, discuss work and personal stuff while having lunch, even stop a bit to check out a nice dress for sale. 

On the way home, there were very few buses for my route and lots of people waiting.

Walked a few kilometers in my wedges to the next bus stop to get ahead of the long lines.  Wedges are comfy but being a work at home person I'm used to flipflops or being barefoot all day so that hurts a bit.  Plus I couldn't find the next damn bus stop where I remember it from the last 2 decades.  So many metal gates enclosing the bus stops I couldn't find where I should be going.

I just wasn't used to it anymore since for the past 6 years, I 1) lived near the office and just walked to work, then  3 years ago, 2) I decided to work at home.

I have always been a great and aggressive commuter who didn't mind the hassles of commuting...  but now my "dainty sensibilities" are shocked at the commute home.  I'm turning into a softie.

I like not having to elbow through crowds each and every day at 6PM when I'm already tired.  I like not having to stand in a moving bus.  I like not having to be ever alert at the next person to stand so I can get a seat in the bus immediately.  I like that if I'm tired I get to nap on the sofa or the bed, instead of napping sitting up on a bus.

Heehee, whatev.  I love being a freelance online worker.  I love working under the rock.

Don't mind my whiny-baby softie ways.


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Why Not? Let's Exercise During Work...

Online Freelance Workers are usually self-starters and workaholics. This is why even if clients or employers are elsewhere around the world, the freelance workers' services are continually retained.

So yeah, that means we sit in front of the computer for 6, 8, 10, 12, 16 or more hours a day to serve our clients.

Multiply by weeks, years...  Equals = fat online worker

I have always felt fat as a child (even if I wasn't) so feeling fat isn't new to me... but I do pity the other online workers who are just adjusting to their newfound heftiness.

Come on, people.  We wanted to work at home with our family in mind.  That means we also take care of our bodies, right?  If we are healthier, we take care of family better.

I want to get some exercise into my daily system for health reasons, bonus if I lose some weight, but I don't like going out at all because it wastes so much time.  Instead of working and being done earlier I lose precious hours outside.

We have a Nintendo Wii here at home, and I figured why not use it to at least get a move on.  This way, I can get in some physical activity right here at home, and not waste minutes going somewhere and back just to get a move on.

So another one of those things you can be thankful for as an online freelance worker, is you can play the Wii and/ or exercise while on the job!

So, move it, people.  I'ts nice to have work, but insert some physical activity in.  Just do some bending, wiggling from you're sitting.  Lift your laptops or monitors if you like.  Take care of your health, okay?  :-)

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Union Bank PH Customer Service - 2 Thumbs Up

I am very pleased with the way Union Bank has been handling my request to reactivate my EON account.

I have not been using my EON card since I activated it and deposited/ withdrew once in 2008, I think.  My regualar client has switched to sending me salaries through Xoom so I get the money immediately, instead of waiting out days. Plus I moved houses so I am much farther away from the UnionBank I applied the EON card at.  So now I have totally forgotten my EON online password and other info.

For the past 2 months I have been depositing to Chinabank the Paypal money I am earning from ODesk.  I withdraw weekly since I am not yet in a financial position to let the money idle in the Paypal account, even if I want to leave it there.  In 2 months, I estimate I have spent over PHP1500 to PHP2000in bank transfer fees.  Yeah, that's a lot.  So I wanted to open a new EON account, but I decided to ask the customer service first.

The Union Bank Customer Rep was very knowledgeable about EON.  I regret though that I did not list down his name.  He answered my questions adequately about inactive accounts.  First off, I will not pay inactive fees, says the Customer Rep, only the Annual Fee. I was fine with that.  I just did not agree to paying some hundreds PER MONTH that I was inactive.  That was a strange rule.  I'm glad they bent it.  Second, I'm glad he didn't say I had to apply again.  Heard some peeps were not allowed to just continue using their old EON card.

He also promised that Union Bank will email in 2 days.  And they did.  I was informed the online account was not working anymore and was further informed I can just register again, but using my old EON account info.  That was kewl.  And quick.

Will update you more on what happens next.

For now, I am very content. :-))


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Include Virtual Items in your Inventory

For those of you who are thinking up more ways to add income to your store, why not try selling virtual items?  Virtual items appeal to your customers' impulse buying streak.  Virtual items are stuff you can send them without physically packing and sending.  These are items that can be downloaded or received in the email.  Some companies sell graphics, mobile and pc apps, music, e-books.

The instant acquisition of the item makes it very attractive.  Plus if you dangle a very attractive price tag below it (READ: Super cheap!), and that you accept payments in ways very convenient for them, such as credit cards, debit cards, paypal and the like.  You'll be in for a surprise at the sales you can get.

For example, buying a CD in the old days meant dressing up, trooping to the store, shelling out your hard-earned $15.  That takes effort and time, not to mention quite pricey.

But now, if you really like a song from I-Tunes, you see the 99 cents price, you don't really think and mope about $.99, right.  You download it NOW.  Then you're happy.  And you're content and you didn't blow money (that is, if you have the control to not get anything else.) 

So you may say, but my store doesn't have anything that can be sold virtually...

Really??? Cough -cough-gift check-cough....


Hope you sell some virtual babies soon and fast!



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Friday Food Trip at Banchetto Emerald

Do you and your friends like hanging out and just eating?

Try going to Banchetto at Emerald.  Banchetto is a street event where food retailers congregate at 12AM at the bangketa (sounds like Banchetto, eh?) and people can buy and eat the foodies they like.

You'll be able to find real heavy meals, finger foodies, foodums on stick, lots of pasta, deli treats, pastries of all kinds, etc etc.

People just wing it there. You eat standing up, or if you arrive early you can reserve your tables and monobloc chairs. 

Either way, if you're with friends, you won't mind the crowds and standing up while eating.

There are other Banchetto days, like during Wedenesdays there's another one at Pioneer and another one somewhere I don't remember.

If you want alcohol there are none there, so those who want a drink better drink up after filling themselves up there.

And of course I did not take a photo.  

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How to Make Frozen Yogurt at Home, Pinoy Style

My garsh!  What a looong post for something so simple!
Here's a summary up here at the top, if you have more questions then you can read more below.

Summary:
1.  Need milk, store-bought yogurt, container with cap.
2. Put milk in container, put spoonful of yogurt. Seal.  Leave on sink counter, look after 24 hours, then freeze.

More below if you want it detailed.
- -

My online team mate introduced me to this yummy treat.  She kept whining online about wanting another and another serving (she lives beside a mall) until I couldn't stand it and finally ate one with her.  She introduced me to White Hat, which is REALLY excellent. The yoghurt there is the best tasting, so far.  I've tried some more brands, but some are too sour, some too unremarkable.  It's still White Hat that has perfectly captured my preference for sweet-sour foodums.  If my teammate had me taste another brand I don't think I'd be interested, really. I have even made up my silly ritual about White Hat "The only way to eat White Hat is to close your eyes at your first bite so you can really taste everything in your head!"

I started looking for ways to make yogurt because my sister said she saw a carinderia-looking mom-and-pop store in CP Garcia Avenue selling fro-yo.  She wondered how they made it.  So me, I looked for recipes and was shocked it was a no-brainer to make a batch!

The results for this when frozen are of course different from yogurt made by a yogurt maker.  The frozen final output bought outside is creamy and melts longer.  This one is more ... whut.. frosty? icy? maybe because of varying freezer temperatures or a lacking ingredient... I wouldn't know!  All I know is that it tastes great!  And I'm making some more!

Warning to the purists and faint-hearted:  My recipe writing is always freestyle, unprecise and with a big dose of lazy.  Meaning: You can just get an idea how it's done, then do it and repeat and repeat til you perfect the taste to your own liking.

Stuff you'll need:
Container with cap
Milk of your choice
(I use the non-fat, high calcium kind. Evap i haven't tried, and don't intend to, but if you're desperate to start today and that's what's there, then go ahead, just don't blame me if results are strange or radioactive.)
Store-bought yoghurt that indicates "LIVE" culture (live, not taped in the studio, okeh.)
Optional:  Sugar or condensed milk if you like it sweet and you aren't too-health manic
(I use condensed because I'm too lazy to stir and melt the sugar)

Then:
Really, it's just put a spoonful of bought yogurt into milk. Seal. Wait 24 hours.

If you feel motivated to read more about it, here it is with more detail:
1.  Put milk in your container (mine has measurement gradients, which I didn't realize til I made yogurt)  Quantity is your call.
2.  From my experimentation, not from youtube:  Add condensed milk or sugar, according to your preference of sweetness.  Shake or stir well.
3.  Put a tablespoon or 2 of the store-bought yogurt in the milk.  Mix a bit or tightly cap and shake.  Real cooks in Youtube put a tablespoon per liter or gallon of milk. 
4.  If it's a warm day, just leave it on your counter top overnight.  Or bring it out to the sun in the morning then bring in at night.
5.  After 24 hours,  put in the freezer.
6.  A bit later you can eat it as is, or add fruit and cereal and you'll be kilig if you are a fan of mall-bought fro-yo.

Note:  Real cooks explained that the live culture breed optimally in temperatures just a bit higher than our usual PH weather.  So if you think a bit, you can estimate adding a little warmth to your container will do the trick.  Me, I just put it on the sink counter on a warm day since my kitchen has an opaque galvanated roof that lets sunlight in .  The last batch I made the other day (when the weather was cool and balmy due to rains)  I wrapped the container in a clean kitchen towel, suffocated it in an SM grocery bag and let stay til the 24-hours was over.  Perfect consistency again!


Reminders  before you start:
-  No brainer:  Keep everything clean.  Purists do a lot of strange things to kill bacteria by heating etc.  but I figured if your containers are clean, and your box of milk and yogurt are freshly opened, you don't need to O-C things up in cleanliness for this little project.
-  Don't be afraid to experiment.  Change things around to suit you and make things convenient for you.  Just remember what you did so you can do it again or avoid it til you get to your perfect yogurt for yourself.
-  Make small batches at first.
-  If, after 24 hours you find funky stinky globs of milk separated from liquid, that's not yoghurt, that funky stinky spoiled milk. 
-  If you earn your own money to buy the ingredients, throw stuff out if yogurt is too funky for you.  If your mom bought the ingredients and it was a failed project, throw it out and claim you ate it all because it was too yummy.
-  Cooking with milk or tomatoes rule:   Do not dip spoons you tasted with back into the mixture.
-  Have your your fruit and cereal ready because you'll like the first batch so much  you'll regret not having toppings.
-  Set aside a small amount of your yogurt and put in the ref as your live culture, not taped from the studio, next time you make another batch.
- If you're health conscious, after your first batch, read up on which live culture bacteria and health benefit that you want in your next batch of yogurt.

Enjoy! 

Please tell me what happened if you do make this.  Come back and leave a message in the comments section.  Thanks!

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Freelance Worker Expectations from Family

One of the touchier subjects a freelance worker at home commonly faces is:  Family members expect you to have everything done in the home (even beyond human hours), because you are there at home!

I am sure this happens to both men and women home workers.  You are the one at home, and your spouse expects you to have everything done by the time they get home.  They're tired, you should not be, because after all, you are JUST AT HOME.  You should have done the chores, because you are JUST at home.  .  Your geriatric mom expects you to be everywhere they go, because you are JUST at home.  You hear it from your brothers and sisters as well, you should be able to do the family errands, like seeing to land titles, talking to the bank, fixing legal documents for the family, buying stuff family in another country is asking for, because you are JUST at home.

In the PH, they always say "E nasa bahay ka lang naman.  Ikaw na lumakad nyan."

What's with the JUST in the dialogue anyway???

Well, here's some news for all families with home workers.  Like you in your far away office, your home worker family member has also committed to perform a specific service for another party -- and get paid for it.   And that commitment has to be honored.  And get over this fact: that this work occupies time.  So if you need coffee or juice at home, you can buy some on your way home from your far-away office.  If you need some documents fixed, clear with your home worker family first if their schedules allow it.  You are not the only one who has deadlines and set times to do tasks.

Nope, nothing happened today that I sound angry.  But when I do remember this Just just Lang lang demeaning dialogue, I see red.

Family matters are important.  That is why we chose to work at home.  All we are asking for is to be treated with respect.  Ask for schedules if we can squeeze tasks in.  Bear with us for a bit if there are undone things because there is a deadline to be chased.  We will still do that, I guarantee you.  Whether we work in a far-away office or at home, we are family after all, not slaves.


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Test little things? Or test for Impact?

Some people say, go do a split test or multi-variatetest on little things. Get the results quickly, and adjust quickly.

Some people recommend, don't just test and test meaningless things, test stuff with impact to the whole site.

I have tried both.  I happily test little things like a headline here, a copy there, layout, pictures, etc.  It takes me a long time to think of a test that will impact the whole site, but when I do think of something, I am very excited.

So what do I recommend?  While of course testing a hypothesis that will benefit the entire site should be the reflexive answer, testing little things is also imperative?

It's in testing the little things that you gather the ideas to have a grand hypothesis that will impact the site or the sales process.  It's in quick and "meaningless" tests that you realize there is this low hanging fruit of a hypothesis waiting for you to test to improve your site.

So I suggest do both.  Constantly work to do testing with big impact, but do your little testings along the way and learn from it.  Constantly try to integrate the big and little learnings, and truly your website will benefit in the long run.

PS. Warning to the faint-hearted:
Just because it took you days to think up a hypothesis for the entire site, doesn't mean that your traffic will gobble it up and give you quick results.  You may be surprised no one will pay attention to it :-)  I'm just saying.


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How to Pay for Cebu Pacific Online Booking at Banco de Oro

I totally agree with Cebu Pacific's tagline, It's time everyone flies.  Sale tickets are quite affordable.  Bring your family to an island in the Philippines.  Or if you are getting an OD of staying at home and working, treat yourself to a trip!  It doesn't have to be expensive.  You can research the places you can go to and stay at and choose what fits your budget. 

Don't have credit cards to book online?  Booking and paying for the trip is super easy!  You may pay over-the-counter at any Banco de Oro outlet.   Just make sure you have some cash with you when you book online, you will be required to pay at any BDO branch that same day you booked.  So be ready.

Now, are you excited?

First off, the sale page of the Cebu Pacific website is at
http://www.cebupacificair.com/flights-and-fares/seat-sale-promo.html

Pick the place and dates you are flying and fill in the names of all the guests.  Also fill in your contact numbers.

Important:  Note the ff. 
1)   14-digit confirmation number and
2)   EXACT amount to be paid.
*You do not need to print the page that appears after you complete your booking, just right those down.

Now go to BDO and get the orange Payments slip.

You will need your confirmation number and exact amount to pay.

Now fill up the Payments form.  It's super easy.

1 - Fill up Company Name  with  "Cebu Pacific"
2 - Add the date
3 - Under "Subscribers' Account Number" write in the 14-digit confirmation number
4 - Under "Subscriber's Name" put in only one name, either yours or your companions'
5 - Under "Total Cash Payment," write in the exact amount stated in your online booking.  If you put in another amount, Cebu Pacific will not be able to validate your payment. 
6-  Pay to the teller.

That's it.  It's very simple. In a few hours after payment, you will receive a text message from Cebu Pacific stating your travel details. You can also check your email for another confirmation message.

Hope you will be able to travel soon! 










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You can Now Use the Blogger Template Designer

It's out of beta, people. 

Now you can update your blogger blog's look according to how you really want it. 

Just go to your blogger admin page, look at the tabs at the left and click Design. Then click Template Designer and have fun!


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