Wo(od)men
Saturday, January 19, 2008
It's been such a long time since I've blogged to my heart's content. Now, I'm blogging like it's perfunctory, like a mandatory memo I need to fulfill. But somehow, I feel the need to go back to it because as much only a very very very select few are granted permission to read and comment, they, este, YOU still look for this. And now that the biggest thing I have going on is my new job, then that would be blog-worthy. Woodmen is a very old company with average employee tenure being 18 years. 18 years!!! Seriously, the people who have worked in this insurance and finance business are sooo happy and just so contented and secure. Since they are a Fraternal non-profit organization, a lot of the money that goes in, goes out to its employees-slash-fraternal members and thousands of charities all over. I was hired to be one of the Business Analysts working on their, or should I say, OUR portal. What I like about my job now is that it's not customer-driven, at least not yet, so much of the functionalities and features have to be easy enough for tenured field agents. It's been a challenge but one day, we'll get to where we'll be. The team is a hilarious bunch, with a dozen of us being men and just 4 of us women. It was slow but work is starting to pick up for me now. The part I hate hate HATE the most is waking up sooo early in the morning and the 45-minute commute. I drop Hoen off at his office then go to mine. But for the past 2 days, it's been snowing in the morning that I have asked him to do the driving because I hate hate hate driving in the snow. That's the only suck factor right now. Otherwise, everything's a-ok. The cafeteria's awesome, I am 10 mins away from Zoe and Yien (have had lunch with Zoe twice) and come summer, the restos downtown will be just a walk away.
Just got my first pay-check, woohoo! Keith, my direct boss, is so so nice. And so are the people. The longer they've been in the company, the nicer they are. That is just weird but highly appreciated. So I am looking forward to learning more about Woodmen because I have a feeling I'm going to like it. Click on the pic to enlarge and see the huge WOODMEN sign.
Working girl
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
I am so tired and sleepy as I write this.
Today was my first day at Woodmen and as much as I want to be excited about it, my waking time, being 6 am, leaves much to be desired. Who on earth decided the whole world had to start working in the morning anyway? Why do we need to meet the sun when we can sleep better in its warmth? But I do like my office. It's a little old and aged but this summer we're supposed to move to the 4th floor which will be the BT (Business Technology) floor. I can't wait for that. I am the only Asian in the group and the third woman on the floor. Everybody's been nice. I just hope I do better at staying awake tomorrow.
Our 10-day vacay was just super fun. It was sooo nice to be with both sides of the family for the Holidays. From my side...Auntie Baby, Uncle Pong, cousins Mark and Andre, Adonis and his family and some friends in NJ; From Joen's side... Tita Emmie, Uncle Jim, Kuya Richest, Angel and Brian in Delaware. Of course, Ate Joyce, John, AJ and Jaja were with us from the 21st to the 26th. So much went on that if I had to narrate how it went, I wouldn't where to start. But definitely the highlights were making it to the Empire State Observatory, watching Cirque du Soleil's Wintuk, Les Miz, the Rockefeller tree, Moma, taxless SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOPPING, our drive to and back Delaware, going to the Longwood Gardens exhibit, all the free food c/o Auntie and Tita, the gift-giving, the hospitality, Olga's bachelorette party and of course.. Francis, Auntie Baby's Lhasa Apso! Sooo adorable! The lowlights were DEFINITELY Ate Joyce's sucky baggage situation, Wintuk's sucky Box office manager whom I had to raise my voice to, this bitch who was so impatient during Wintuk's showing that she told me off for no apparent reason, AND! Getting a surprise attack of claustrophobia inside Continental Airlines' small and narrow Express Jet. It was sooo bad that we had to walk out of the plane and take another flight via Houston. What sucks all the more is paying 800 bucks to do that again coming back to Omaha since the direct flight from Newark to Omaha was on the same small Express Jet. I felt guilty but I couldn't help it. Being on that plane for almost 4 hours would've been hell to me. 30 minutes, I could probably do. But 4 hours? Nosiree.
So that was it. New York brought out the worst in me but I managed to stay fight-free towards the end of our vacay. Delaware was just beeyootiful. New Jersey was just memorable. Francis is the one thing (dog, mind you) I miss the most. Auntie Baby loved Ate Joyce's company. My cousins adored John and the kids adored Andre. Haha. Can't wait to spend time with those peeps again!
It's been such a long time since I've blogged to my heart's content. Now, I'm blogging like it's perfunctory, like a mandatory memo I need to fulfill. But somehow, I feel the need to go back to it because as much only a very very very select few are granted permission to read and comment, they, este, YOU still look for this. And now that the biggest thing I have going on is my new job, then that would be blog-worthy. Woodmen is a very old company with average employee tenure being 18 years. 18 years!!! Seriously, the people who have worked in this insurance and finance business are sooo happy and just so contented and secure. Since they are a Fraternal non-profit organization, a lot of the money that goes in, goes out to its employees-slash-fraternal members and thousands of charities all over. I was hired to be one of the Business Analysts working on their, or should I say, OUR portal. What I like about my job now is that it's not customer-driven, at least not yet, so much of the functionalities and features have to be easy enough for tenured field agents. It's been a challenge but one day, we'll get to where we'll be. The team is a hilarious bunch, with a dozen of us being men and just 4 of us women. It was slow but work is starting to pick up for me now. The part I hate hate HATE the most is waking up sooo early in the morning and the 45-minute commute. I drop Hoen off at his office then go to mine. But for the past 2 days, it's been snowing in the morning that I have asked him to do the driving because I hate hate hate driving in the snow. That's the only suck factor right now. Otherwise, everything's a-ok. The cafeteria's awesome, I am 10 mins away from Zoe and Yien (have had lunch with Zoe twice) and come summer, the restos downtown will be just a walk away.
