Rock Star: Supernova
Finally, news on the second season of
Rock Star! Point your browsers to:
http://rockstar.msn.com/rockstar/supernovaBy the way, Asian auditions will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For more information, check out the
Star World Asia (cable channel) website.
A Whole New World
I started working at Chevron (Caltex is the brand) a month ago. Yes, I only had less than a week off after my last day at Watson Wyatt. I'm insane. But I couldn't make Chevron wait any longer after I had asked for an extension to wrap some stuff up with Watson Wyatt.
Chevron is a company steeped in history. There is much to be proud of, and its surprisingly low employee turnover is proof of that. There are also many things going at all levels of the organisation- in the Philippines, the biggest are the change in name from Caltex Philippines, Inc. to Chevron Philippines, Inc. and the introduction of a new gasoline ingredient: a cleaning agent called Techron (it has been in the US for over a decade and has finally made its way to Asia). There are other change initiatives that I can't disclose - I've once said that Chevron is a consultant's dream but a line manager's nightmare - although NOW is a very exciting time at Chevron! It's one huge clean up!
So how has work been? Fun! Line HR is just as tiring and demanding as consulting, but it's very different. I find it exciting. I'm forced to think and work outside my comfort zone, so I'm on my toes all the time. The real challenge has been to stop talking HR speak and to drill concepts down to a level that everyone can understand and appreciate. I need to speak slowly, choose my words carefully, and drive messages across in simpler ways. The issues are something else, too. I don't get questions like "What is the median?" and "When are the survey results coming out?" anymore. What I do get are "When are our bonuses going to be paid out?" and "Are we getting salary increases this year?". Of course, during a program roll out earlier this week, the question I was most comfortable answering was "How was the salary survey conducted and how reliable is the data from Watson Wyatt?"
The people I work with are cool, too. Most of the time, they're funny! I miss my old officemates (especially Arlene Y.'s and Marimar's effeciency!), but my new ones have made the transition so much easier. It's really quiet at Chevron, though (ask JM). I miss the noise at Watson Wyatt.
All things new are generally good, and this was a good move. No regrets...so far! Hahaha! If only we could all be happy with what we do. This happiness had better last!
House Fires
It's Fire Prevention Month in the Philippines, and - how timely! - my classmate forwarded this email to our batch. Better safe than sorry, folks!Received from a friend who is in the property insurance business. It is well worth reading. This is one of those emails that if you didn't send it, rest assured someone on your list will suffer for not reading it. The original message was written by a lady whose brother and his wife learned a hard lesson.
Their house burned down...nothing left but ashes. They have good insurance so the house will be replaced and most of the contents. That is the good news. However, they were sick when they found out the cause of the fire.
The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours. He had the cause of the fire traced to the master bathroom. He asked her sister-in-law what she had plugged in the bathroom. She listed the normal things...curling iron, blow dryer. He kept saying to her, "No, this would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures". Then her sister-in-law remembered she had a Glade Plug-In in the bathroom.
The investigator had one of those "Aha" moments. He said that was the cause of the fire. He said he has seen more house fires started with the plug-in type room fresheners than anything else. He said the plastic they are made from is THIN plastic. He also said that in every case there was nothing left to prove that it even existed.
When the investigator looked in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the plug-in were still in there. Her sister-in-law had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim and then finally go out. She would walk in to the bathroom afew hours later, and the light would be back on again. The investigator said that the unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down it would come back on. That is a warning sign. The investigator said he personally wouldn't have any type of plug in fragrance device anywhere in his house. He has seen too many places that have been burned down due to them.
Performance Evaluation Cheat Sheet
I got thise via email from Misha (thanks, Mish!
Tamang-tama, it's performance evaluation season here. Hahaha!). Enjoy!
For everyone who has ever had an evaluation - just remember, it could have been worse. These are actual quotes taken from federal government employee performance evaluations.
1. "Since my last report, this employee has reached rock-bottom and has started to dig."
2. "I would not allow this employee to breed."
3. "This employee is really not so much of a has-been, but more of a definite won't be."
4. "Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a ratin a trap."
5. "When he opens his mouth, it seems that it is only to change feet."
6. "This young lady has delusions of adequacy."
7. "He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails toachieve them."
8. "This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot."
9. "This employee should go far, and the sooner he starts the better."
10. "Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy to hold it all together."
11. "A gross ignoramus - 144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus."
12. "He doesn't have ulcers, but he's a carrier."
[Don't ask me where #13 is. I don't know what happened to it either. - CSV]
14. "I would like to go hunting with him sometime."
15. "He's been working with glue too much."
16. "He would argue with a signpost."
17. "He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room."
18. "When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell."
19. "If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he's the other one."
20. "A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on."
21. "A prime candidate for natural de-selection."
22. "Donated his brain to science before he was done using it."
23. "Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn'tcoming."
24. "He's got two brains cells, one is lost and the other is out lookingfor it."
25. "If he were any more stupid, he'd have to be watered twice a week."
26. "If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you'd get change."
27. "If you stand close enough to him, you can hear the ocean."
28. "It's hard to believe he beat out 1,000,000 other sperm."
29. "One neuron short of a synapse."
30. "Some drink from the fountain of knowledge; he only gargled."
31. "Takes him 2 hours to watch 60-minutes."
32. "The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead."
