Fragments of Eternity

OJT Day 22:

>Today is Makati day… I was almost late for work thanks to the preparations for the parade… Again the keyword is: ALMOST

>Since one of the staff was out filing some documents, I again was tasked to assist the remaining staff in the office.

>Finally after days of no research, I was tasked to do a little research concerning wildlife laws in the Philippines. If all goes well, you have to say goodbye to the crocodiles found in Crocodile Grill at Greenbelt… Hehehehe

>Realizations:

-I never knew the day would come when I would miss doing research. But then again crocodile welfare is a pretty interesting topic… Not only did I get to learn the guidelines and minimum requirements in keeping a pet crocodile, but also the legislation concerning wildlife in the Philippines.

-Yes it was quite an interesting day…

-My 200 hours are almost over… 3 more days to go!

OJT day 21:

>Both of the staff are present at the office today… After consecutive days of manning the staff, I am once again jobless…

>Back to mindless, repetitive work. No not stamping the seals and stuff, but punching holes in the  photocopied, notarized documents and fastening them together into 3 inch thick piles…

>Yes I guess most of the stuff that happened today were too important to leave in the hands of a trainee…

>Realizations:

-My OJT days are coming to an end! Cheers!

-I just want to salvage whatever is left of my summer vacation…

OJT day 21:

>Yes the day was similar to the days before, working as part of the staff doing the usual things a staff does. Its going to get redundant if I enumerate them again…

>Was asked to organize some files today! (this was a first for me)

>The case folders I’ve been doing transmittals for, are finally going to be used… (sense of fulfillment)

>After a few weeks of working, its hard to find new meaningful experiences… But if I’m going to use what I’ve learned from my philosophy classes, “dapat manatiling tapat at bukas sa mga paanyaya ng meron”.

>Realizations:

-After weeks of working, the end of my OJT days seem so near yet so far… And the school year draws near…

-Time flies by so fast when you’re having fun, or you’re dreading what is to come, in this case, the beginning of the school year… T_T

OJT Day 20:

>Due to some circumstances, I almost arrived at work, late. Keyword: ALMOST

>The day started with me organizing some documents into a folder, that will be used later for a labor case. At first it was very confusing, but as you read the documents, the documents make sense and you would be stupid not to see the time-line and the order of the documents.

>The rest of the day was spent manning the staff… Nothing new, since both of the staff were again, out doing some fieldwork or filing some documents…

>What is new on the other hand is that a couple of contracts were needed by the General Manager, and since it was classified as “urgent” it could not wait for tomorrow. So I had to search the archives, with no idea where to start… Luckily the associate attorney pointed out which cabinet the contracts are located, and a few minutes of searching, I was able to find the two contracts in question.

>Realizations:

-After manning the staff for a while now, I have lost my initial jitters that I used to have before… As my friends would know I am not an outgoing person, and “public relations” is not my forte. Sadly it is a skill/trait needed in being a staff, as you need to interact with a lot of people (from phone calls, to consultations, to simply requesting a document from another department). Well no man is an island, and I’m getting plenty of practice right now

OJT day 19:

>Went to work with a raspy voice accompanied by an occasional cough, a clogged nose and a sore throat.

>The morning was fine. No assignments for me today, so I filled in for the other staff who was out trying to finish the titling of some land…

>The afternoon was an entirely different matter.

>Both of the staff had to go out, one has to go to the immigration, the other went to the City Hall for the titling of the same land discussed in my earlier posts, leaving me alone with no one to guide me and tell me what to do…

>Yes I am completely aware that I am incapable of giving legal advice regarding procedures, luckily the people coming from the office seems to understand… They are finally used to haring my voice on the phone, and they no longer ask legal/procedural advice from me…

>Realizations:

-To some people answering the phone, receiving and giving out documents might seem like useless work, where you don’t learn anything. To me its an opportunity to learn a lot of things, all you have to do is ask… Whenever I encounter something I have no knowledge about, I ask and I get answers! Be it regarding notarial law, just procedures, titling requirements and even how attorneys charge their clients! So yes, my OJT is not a complete waste of time as some others might think…

-Yes, the problem with the City Hall continues. Even lawyers, who has read everything regarding laws and most of the regulations, and has years of experience are completely paralyzed by red-tape. Let’s just say the titling of the land issue is far from over…

First let me start by wishing Mau  u.t.b.k.a. jesus christ before his haircut, a happy 21’st birthday, Mau! legal ka na! pwee ka nang magpakasal ng hindi nagpapaalam sa magulang mo! WAHAHAHAHA! I started the day feeling definitely better than yesterday but never the less still sick… But by noon, I’ve made a more or less 95% recovery with minor colds to discomfort me.

With that in mind, I went to Bola’s place to hang out with my high school peers and celebrate Mau’s birthday with a hotpot! Oh yeah! Just like old times, minus the hot pot. After the very satisfying (and kinda cheap) hotpot experience, and the usual funny conversations that everyone can relate, all in all that would have been enough to make things nostalgic. After we finished our hotpot/dinner, Us 11 guys decided to hang out till late doing things we usually do in the past: playing computer games (in this case, Dota) mahjong, and Magic! Its been so long since I played Magic long enough to accumulate large amount of rusts that resulted to a lot of misplays, but never the less still fun. Dota, as usual is already a given with people bringing thier own laptops to play. Mahjong is an entirely different matter. We can now play with chips! There are many combinations out there we know nothing of, but we already got the basic rundown. Things get very interesting as people change their playing styles. Instead of simply playing for the win, everybody is playing for the cash! Definitely makes things more interesting! > So all in all, one of those nostalgic days to be remembered when remembering the past. And the only thing I can say is Mahjong rules!!!

>Started the day with a major head-ache, a clogged nose , and a raspy throat full of  hard phlegm…  As the day passed by, it got a little better, then worse…

>After weeks of scorching heat, and unfulfilled promises of rain, the dark looming clouds finally delivered on its supposed promises. Under any normal circumstances, after days of unbearable heat, I would have enjoyed the cooling torrential downpour. Of course this is under the premise that I’m home enjoying a cup of hot cocoa with oldie songs in the background, sitting in my good old rocking chair… Not walking in the rain while canvassing for cage materials! (so now you know the reason why it got worse…)

OJT Day 18:

>Started the day as one of the staff: answering phone calls, receiving documents, stuff like that…

>After lunch I accompanied my officemate to the Manila City Hall… (first time I set foot in that place…)

>The reason was that I can see how titling works…

>Spent hours in the City Hall, never knew government employees also have excursions…

>Realizations:

-First hand experience of bureaucracy serves to strengthen my belief how inefficient and corrupt it is… All the necessary documents were prepared beforehand, despite that they always find something lacking, and then they keep on hinting that the process can go faster for a little fee… I mean securing the necessary documents have already been very tedious and when you get there with all the “necessary” documents, they throw some government jargon at you and tell you you’re lacking something. Then you either go back home, or spend hours securing stuff no ordinary civilian would know, or you could pay the miscellaneous fee and everything gets fixed.

-What happened to civil SERVANTS?!?! Or so called government SERVICE?!?! And sometime in the future, when I’m already working, I would pay 1/3 of my monthly hard earned salary to a government in debt who fails to give decent services… Yeah the future looks bleak…

Labor day appreciation day due to practicum… For the sake of vitamins, went all over the place looking for it. I want the Lutino Eye Ring Back 2 Back even more… May nakasabay akong kyut sa jeep! I give her an 8.3 (out of 10)!

OJT Day 16:

>Spent the whole day doing transmittals….

>I now officially have a new job added to my job description: answering the phone…

>Life would have been so much simpler… Had the documents not been photocopied thrice!!! I mean, doing the transmittals for 3 different folders showed me the same Order, Comment, Memorandum, Complaint for a total of FIVE TIMES!!! Yes not once, not twice, and not even thrice…  FIVE TIMES!!!  And lets face it, do we have to include letters  with attached copies of said documents into the indexing? Oh well… Not my job to question my boss…

>Realizations:

-In the working world, all you have to do is follow your boss then if you screw up, you can pile the blame on them…

-Answering the phone is fun…  Especially  when  you suddenly hear  the surprised  and uncertain voices  of the people on the other line…  *Something to Note: the office I had been working for is manned by females, so I guess hearing a guy’s voice over the phone was enough to cast doubt whether they have reached the right department > More chaos is in the workplace=less boredom and more fun… ^_^

OJT day 17

>Went to work earlier than anybody else, luckily (or unluckily) the door was left open, so I was able to enter and make myself comfortable… And I only found out earlier that usually, the doors should be locked and only the 2 staff and the attorneys, have the keys,in other words, everyone but me…

>With no work assigned, spent the day answering phone calls, and receiving documents…

>In the afternoon, I accompanied my officemate once again into a trip to the BIR to arrange some stuff…

>On the way to Quiapo our bus got stuck in traffic somewhere in Nagtahan, something we could not afford, because the office of the BIR closes at 4:30 and the time was at 3:55… When we decided to get off the bus and look for another way  to got to Quaipo, a jeep luckily stopped in front of us, which coincidentally is going to Quiapo…

>To make the long story short, we made it to the BIR office with time to spare (4:20)

>The same person I had a chat with in the BIR office was still there (Read OJT day 7) Although I doubt she remembered who I was, but I still decided to say “hi” and left it at that (no conversation). We just came to receive some documents, so we had no plans of staying long enough to chat…

Realizations:

-Expect the unexpected… Sometimes, things can get messy. And in the real world, when things get messy, despite the uncontrolled circumstances, it is still your fault… Luckily we were able to get the documents on time, otherwise, we would have gotten a scolding…

-Learned a lot about the alleyways that connected Divisoria to UST, while avoiding traffic and main roads…

-A fruitful day in OJT but certainly not the best…