Welcome Back (?)

So here I am, world, just ordinary Pipay peeking into the blogspot world, trying to see what's going on and finding everything to be pretty much the way I remembered it.

Not much has happened to me that's interesting, which is why I ventured here. I wish I could say that my status has changed but no, still struggling for money, still trying to find a job that will last me more than a year.

It's hard to find a long lasting job because my credentials aren't that great (and I can tell a certain M wants to slap me upside the head now for being a doormat) but I'm waiting for this company AIA to say if they're willing to hire me on Saturday August 29. More on that after the Zoom orientation.

God is good. He sent me this guy called Jun who seems nice but I'm not in love with him. As in I speak his name and see his headshot but nothing, nope, nada. No sparks. Not even a single spark. So it's safe to assume it won't be us. Which is okay with me.

I just realized my birthday is coming soon on January 13. How do I feel about it? Ah, nothing either. It's just another birthday. I'm sure none of my siblings and my mother will be greeting me on that day. I'll probably buy something nice from my suki carinderia like their precious laing and eat by myself. Then I'll go treat myself to some garden soil and do gardening.

At this point, I am aiming to plant 2 million trees on my own, to give away to people. My mom doesn't know that's my goal. We have plenty of palm tree seedlings around here so I'll just repot them and walk to nearby subdivisions to give them away. That's right, for free. Or look for friends online who would want them.

I also want to repay all my debts. I know God wants that, to clear my name.

And I will give alms to the poor. I know God wants that too.

Aside from all that, I'm still ordinary Pipay. Oh well.

DISCLAIMER ABOUT BIZ TECH AFRICA

 

Happy New Year World!

I just want to greet the world "Happy New Year!" even though many people around the world are not having a happy new year at all. There may be various reasons for this but I just want you to know that God loves you and God wants to forgive you if you are repentant of your sins.

Aside from that, I hope that you will return to God and ask Him for help with whatever is going wrong in your life. God cares, if you are sincere.

On Wages in the Gig Economy

As a long-time member of the gig economy, I wonder now how many Pinoy freelancers are faring pretty well considering we are not protected by any laws regarding freelancing. I hope that Congress and the Senate will be sure to support that movement so that we gig workers will have better working conditions.

See, members of the gig economy may benefit if their employers pay good wages, that is true. However, we gig workers are still vulnerable to risks, such as delays in payment or even nonpayment of our wages, abusive employers, jealousy from other gig workers who maliciously try to harm legitimate gig workers who are luckier, in that sense. We also don't get side benefits like 13th month pay or a Christmas bonus. If you really look at the Math of it, you will see that there isn't much difference between a salaried contractual employee and a gig worker.

However, our legislators seem more concerned about other industries, not the gig economy. So we freelancers have to be cautious about our welfare, even when we're hired already. I hope though there will be concerned legislators who will try to pass laws to protect the welfare of the gig economy workers. That's because there are more of us now and more will be added, in the final analysis.

Surviving Success

One factor that I have to deal with is the reaction of other people to my success. There are so many people who are looking forward to my failure whereas I'm aiming for success. And there are a handful of key people who are rooting for my success and showing me the traps that lie ahead if I get overconfident.

I don't know why this is but it is what it is. I'm just grateful that there are people who give good advice so I can step ahead in life. I believe that this is the right time for me so I'm going for the win. God willing, I will succeed and thrive in this new arena.

Hits and Misses During Jobhunting

Because I've been ill for two months due to covid, I've had to take a deep dive into jobhunting again. And one job that was offered to me was Customer Service Representative of the Insurance account of Accenture. I was taken by surprise by this because I didn't apply at Accenture this year. I thought they had forgotten about me by now. But apparently, not so. Last time I checked Accenture is now preparing me for the job interview stage.

I also got hired by Livingston Research, an academic writing company, because I passed their complicated entrance exam. But they said I have to wait for awhile since they're still trying to get enough job orders for the entire team, not just me. So I will wait for that one.

Now I have to check that guide given by my friend so that I can be ready for the Accenture interview. I guess I have to figure out what are the legitimate answers to the job interview questions. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this one since the compensation is very much welcome. I just hope they don't put me in the night shift or graveyard shift. It seems they want to put me in the Cubao branch, but I'll ask anyway if they're open to putting me in the Alabang branch. That would be ideal.

Now for the misses part.

I have creditors and they're getting impatient enough to demand that I pay my debts already. That's why it was so important to get the hard copies of my covid tests, so that the creditors' rep who will drop by will see that I was legitimately ill with covid. I was hoping for Ink Cinematic to give me another project but they bypassed me to give projects to the other members of the team. So I just handed in my resignation letter and left. I even deleted their Skype account. Volt and I agree that Ink Cinematic must have been lying to me about the "author" and that it was just a convoluted scam so they could get my excellent screenplay for a pittance. But the silver lining there is that I contacted Katelyn Silva who said my screenplay has potential to become a great novel. I just need to spend time daily in novel writing and pretty soon I'll be showing the novel manuscript to her again. I just need Katelyn to guide me in the publishing of my novel.

Forever 28

I don't know why this is but I noticed that I am still thinking the same way I used to think in my 20s. That explains the title of this post "Forever 28". Why 28? Because of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avMbu6cc4Eo

Liam was young, attractive, smart, popular, and a complete liar. He had that famous trait that conmen have had all through the centuries: charm! And because of that he was able to systematically wreck Barings Bank of England.

Some people seem to never grow up. And I'm like that. I wake up in the morning thinking the same way and I am inclined to think that I will die thinking that way. Well, not planning to run a scam, no. But thinking as if I have decades of life yet and that I can afford to plan my life as if I were starting out at 28. When in reality I'm pushing 50 and soon I'm sure that the Good Lord will be asking me to come home already. So now, having realized that, I make it a point to consult God so that I don't wind up becoming another Liam.

Watch the video. You will be awestruck by the audacity of Liam and that he even managed to grin arrogantly at the press after serving his prison sentence. I hope that I never wind up scamming people just because I think "Forever 28" at age 49 onwards.