prime gods

As expected, I quit my job again. Well… sort of. Actually, I moved to a bigger company for growth. But because I really liked my job, again I applied and was accepted as a Web Developer. This company is my current company.
At first it was fun. New people, new company, better pay, and a whole lot of benefits. I had never experienced this kind of environment before. It was all corporate dinners, client meetings, out of town trips and trainings. Work seemed like the last priority.
I was given a two month project engagement. It was fun. After completing it, I was recognized so many times that I felt my ego grew ten folds. But then it hit me. I got a new project and again it was big. Two years engagement and that was still an optimistic estimate. After ten months working on my project, I felt burned out. I felt history repeating itself, and I could not really do anything about it. It is like reading http://www.weightlosssupplement.org but never being able to take the pills.
And so, where was I. Ah yes, my mentor. After hearing my story he smiled. “You are just hungry for new knowledge”, he said. Explaining, he said, from what he understood , I always leave the company for something new. I kept seeking for new challenges and new things to learn. So then He suggested, “why don’t you try teaching”. At first I thought it was a crazy idea but then he said that I could be a trainor in the company. Much like an internal professor in charge of training the newbies.
I kind of liked the idea, honestly. I am really sure that teaching can really give me the challenge that I want while keeping the work that I love. It was just great. I have never felt motivated in a while. So now I am in it. I am going to be a trainor.
Talking to experienced people really has its benefits. In my case, he made me realize things that I really want to do and things that I still need to do. So now I rest my case.

And so I studied Java Programming. It was fun and challenging at the same time. I took it as a short course in an IT school and I could say I did pretty well. After completing the course, I fired up my resume and posted it online.
I got a decent job offer as a Web Applications Developer after I quit my job as a design engineer. Back then, I knew nothing about web programming, more so with web applications. Fortunately, the company gave me a good training, which made me into one hell of a programmer. I got my break when I got a huge project lasting for a year and a half.
At first I enjoyed the job. I was stress free. I literally looked like I used the best anti wrinkle cream. Stress free get it? I could finally exercise my creativity once again. The project engagement lasted for a year and a half. When the project was completed, I was assigned to support it. Again things became less challenging.

Four years ago I worked as a Circuit Design Engineer in a prestigious company. I loved the job, the environment, the interesting people and (of course) the pay. I remember being an employee of the year for my preformance but after two years of doing the same thing over and over again, it kind of felt boring. Sometimes it even felt physically stressful. Much more like accutane side effects to be exact. There were days when I had drag myself to work. Sometimes I call in sick for no reason at all.
I wanted to feel the challenge again and so I decided to try a different career. A friend of mine suggested that I try IT. He too was a circuit designer before then he went to and IT company. So then I thought, I might have a shot at IT.

Going back, his first answer was… “inspiration”. He said, he must me doing his work well because his family inspires him. Then again he thought that, it might be his ego. You see this person never likes being outranked. So he does everything to outperform his previous year. Literally he does not eat at all during deadlines. It is like he is taking an appetite suppressant. Or yet again, it might be his love for his job. He said this job made him the man he is today, and he is proud of it.
I could say I was already satisfied with his answers. But then something he said made me start thinking of what it is I really need to become motivated. “People who love their work never get bored. If you get bored, you better look for another job and stop wasting your precious years in here.”
It was an interesting talk. And so he asked about my story. He was interested on how I came to be in the IT industry. So I told him…

Earlier I had my mentoring session with my mentor (uh). We do it regularly in our company. This kind of activity lets the seniors give advice to the younger programmers. It is more like a father and son talk, just without the tears. At first I thought that this activity will put me to sleep better than the best sleeping pills. But I was wrong. Our conversation revolved around this famous topic: “How to keep you motivated at work”.

So then, I asked my mentor how he remained in this company while keeping his good employee rating always better than the previous year. He was never really ready to answer such a question. Usually meetings like this are just casual talks about the work itself, and not about life at work.

It seems like wherever I go, all I see are people listening to their ipods, playing games and not minding each other.

I find it scary. We might even reach a point where we end up ignoring each other and just minding our own business, using apps and all that.

But that’s probably just me being paranoid. I’d be a hypocrite if I said I hate ipods and we shouldn’t ever use them, because I pretty much can’t live without mine! It has pretty much consumed my life, and I am entirely dependent on it now. Haha!

Most of my schedules are there, and I have a lot of to do lists stored on it. It’s just convenient since it’s portable and you can do a lot of things with it, not to mention the very reasonable price and sleek interface!

What kind of ipod do you have and what do you want to have? Share it with us!

Do you remember the time when you were out at summer camp? Those fun activities, team building games, getting to know each other, and competitions for fame and glory?

Do you remember seeing your first crush and worrying about your first move? Do you remember worrying about what to put in your bag because you wouldn’t want to forget anything important in your trip?

I miss it. Lately all I’ve been doing is work, and the only free time I actually get to have fun would be drinking out late with my colleagues.

I miss sleeping in Lightweight Backpacking Tents and feeling the earth beneath the tent floor.

I miss the shadow stories people make up with flashlights, and all the scary stories by the fire while eating marshmallows and all that.

What do you miss doing?

I always make it a point to give gifts that I really love myself. For instance, I gave a couple an elegant coffee maker for their wedding. On the card I wrote, “if you do not like my gift, feel free to return it and I will not feel hurt in any way ”. I always do this. A gift for me is like an extension of the giver. One’s personality is reflected on the kind of gifts he give. For example, a friend of mine gave once gave me a very expensive bag that I never used even until now. I know she did not like it, she just felt obliged to give me that expensive gift because “someone” told her I liked that bag (which was obviously not true). Of course I appreciate those kinds of gifts but really, gifts are more special if they are meaningful. I remember once I received a card from a friend of mine. Written on the card was her mom’s secret gravy recipe. I really loved that gift. Simple yet meaningful and special.
This time however, I will perhaps give someone a gift that I do not really like. She was asking for pet beds for her two dogs. I am not really a dog lover but of course, the best gift to give is the one she requested. So there.

Back in the old days, I used to think WWF was real. I mean wrestling
then was really exciting. You see blood splattered on each wrestlers clothing and you can really see the crowd roaring for joy. Nowadays however, wrestling shows seemed to become like soaps. I hear my office colleagues always talking about the story in Smackdown or in Raw. Like what the heck is that?

It is just about the controversies now and not about the talent. Before, like during the time of Hogan, or even the Ultimate Warrior, you will not notice that the match is a script. I even remember my dad betting with my uncle on the match. These days however, you will figure out the winner based on the story line.

You might be asking, why am I ranting about this stuff? Well, as I told you before, my colleagues always talk about it and I am really annoyed.