When the songbird sings

From Executive Brief:

“…thousands of white-collar jobs are being shipped to developing economies as companies search for ways to lower operating costs. These white-collar jobs include customer service, R&D, documentation, and not to be missed, software development. Various emerging markets have since been competing against each other in the race to sell (the capabilities of) their armies of engineers, scientists, and accountants–to name a few–to companies based in the North America, Western Europe, and developed Asian economies.

“Because of the increasing number of jobs being off-shored, even those who first supported off-shoring wavered in their conviction about the advantages of shipping back-office operations abroad. Furthermore, there is much talk about workers’ rights, economic damage, and low-quality of work because of outsourcing. “

Is outsourcing purely evil? Is India the only available outsourcing destination? Is China the only other outsourcing destination? Continue reading here.

Image from inju.

Birthday cupcake by emma.c

I celebrated my birthday yesterday in almost the way I had lived each of the days in recent years: went to work, got in touch with friends, finished the day’s business in a not so fabulous fashion. I had a 12-hour workday, which began with a status meeting in the morning and ended with another meeting, paper work and an overseas call in the evening. In between were ten million emails, follow-ups, and cursing the ATMs at Cash and Carry for running out of cash and then debiting the amount that I was not able to withdraw from my account in the first place. And then there was the stupid mishap during merienda that proved for all time that I could not be a domestic diva.

I came up with two birthday wishes that popped right off the top of my head, like in a Freudian kind of wishing, except that the wishes were neither sexual nor violent (remarkably, not romantic). First wish was dashed even before the day ended. Bummer. Second one is still up in the clouds, but I won’t be holding my breath for it. It will happen when it happens, and I am at least thankful that the person who matters in making this come true is on my side.

Thanks to everyone who remembered. Catherine was beaten by Joy, and then Fulton, in the annual competition for who’s first to greet me happy birthday. Joy greeted me at 11PM on August 13. Fancy that, sister! Tina, you still owe me a kitteh. Morguers, thanks for the cake. Top prize goes to my mom for the drama.

UPDATE:

Nice…nice…nice greeting on Friendster from Club.net badminton club. They kinda know the stuff that interest me–books, badminton, food. Not sure about Jose Cuervo, as I had a bad episode with tequila last summer.

This one is quite frustrating because there is no way right now for me to get the Sephora birthday gift. Merci, just the same. I registered last year for the store’s freebies, and every now and then, I get vouchers by e-mail. I just love this store. I had loads of fun trying their fantastic potions and colors last year with Mary and Keng. Je veux à nouveau rendre Sephora.

UPDATE AGAIN:

First wish wasn’t dashed completely. It was granted in a slightly different form, but it still happened.

Anabell’s Kitten at 8 Weeks by endbradley

I’ve been thinking of either adopting or buying a cat. Thanks to the curious incidence of the smelly dog last year, I have become a cat person. And because the apartment which I share with two other women is too small, there is not doubt that the perfect fourth member of our household will be a cat. I like cats–they’re low maintenance, smart, won’t stink up the apartment if properly litter trained, and can help prevent the proliferation of rodents and roaches which I notice have been frequently paying our unit a visit lately.

Notwithstanding the host of pusakals that have made our apartment building their home, I still want my own cat, so that leaves me with two options: buy one or get in touch with PAWS to check if they have a kitty for adoption. Whichever option I pursue will mean the cat will already have left a gaping hole in my pocket even before it becomes a formal member of our household. I never knew that the smallest feline costs thousands, and that does not even include vet, food, and grooming. Hmmm…maybe I should just really watch out for a baby pusakal (pusakalette?) in our compound then.

Pencil by Balakov

“To many school officials, Filipino teachers are ideal job candidates. The mostly female recruits speak English, hold advanced degrees and pass internationally recognized teaching exams. And they see the salaries offered here as small fortunes. But for all their enthusiasm and experience, they first have to learn how to manage unruly American students.

“In Prince George’s, the starting teacher’s salary is $43,481 — almost 10 times what the same teacher would make in the Philippines. Many Filipinos, like Mabel, can make much more here because of their years of experience. Salaries for someone with two decades of experience and a master’s degree can be more than $80,000.

“Perhaps most important, the teachers get a shot at becoming Americans. If they perform well for three years, the county will sponsor them for a green card, or permanent residency. It can take years for them to actually get the card and, later, citizenship, because of the government backlog. But theirs is a much easier path to the United States than that of many other immigrants. They don’t have to come here illegally or win a visa lottery. They just have to do their jobs.

“As life-changing decisions go, Mabel didn’t agonize that much. Going overseas for more money is common in the Philippines. About 10 percent of the country’s 89 million citizens live abroad, according to the Philippine Commission on Filipinos Overseas.”

–“Lessons Far from Home,” The Washington Post

So true.

I remember that occasion when I told someone that I liked Weezer, to cite an example of some of the musical genres that I enjoyed at the time, he almost had one his many hissy fits if only to show [off] how snob he could get with music. I still don’t get why some people like Sandwich, though. But then I guess cool is as unpretentious does. So let me get my geek on while watching this video which, as of this afternoon, gathered more than 4million views in less than a week.

OK, so this would have been more phenomenal if they didn’t include K-Fed. And where are Lonelygirl_15 and geriatric1927?

When The Winter’s Gone
(David Benoit)

Pardon me sir, I don’t know who you are.
But I think I see something in your eyes
Though I could be wrong.

Winter is here and all the roses lie deep beneath the snow
That’s where lovers go to hide from pain and sorrow.
Never for sure when your luck will turn
Waiting out that snowy day
Hope for a cure that someday you’ll learn
Why love keeps on going when there’s no one there.

Pardon me sir, I think it’s up from here.
Take this one from me, one day you’ll feel free to
Fly away wherever you want to.
Never can tell where the dawn will break
When you find your shoulder to cry on.
After a spell you won’t feel the ache
And you’ll forget the corner you’ve been living in so long.

You’ll breathe a sigh and see it’s time to move along
Just a little stronger when the winter’s gone.
When the winter’s gone.

I was still reeling with a rude treatment that I had to deal with lately when I came across this interesting post from Pick the Brain:

“…let rejection roll off your back. The key to this is not taking it personally.

“At least 95% of the time when a person reacts negatively to you it has absolutely nothing to do with you personally. Most likely they’re having a bad day or you caught them at the wrong moment. Maybe they’ve been harassed by people before and assume you have bad intentions. Or maybe they’re just not that cool and you wouldn’t gain much from knowing them anyways.”

Emphasis is mine. The last reason struck a chord simply because there are people who are just plain rude and crude, and associating with them will never be beneficial to you in any way. Let the rude treatment slide, but remember that there are other ways to get even, such as dissociation, indifference, or not patronizing their business (and if you care about your friends–tell them how bad the rude dude’s business’ service is). See, unless you have reached Steve Jobs’ mythical status, there is absolutely no reason to be a jerk.