Monthly Archive for March, 2007

moving on in my career

Published
by
David
on March 30, 2007
in General
. 2 Comments

Ah, the decision has been made. Was called into the Sales Director’s office, and had a quick chat.

I’m moving into Pre-Sales. And I get my Engineer title back! Muahahaha!

I’m kissing commission scheme pay goodbye [after this month's RM1XXX .. UGH it's hard], and stick to a basic, allowance and claims. But .. yeah .. feel that I should stay away from sales. Though my bosses think that I’ll do well in sales, I’m straying away.

It’s been 6 months in this sales job. Don’t know if it’s still too soon to move, but well .. it is within the same company so it’s not too bad, right? Plus, I’m not really keen on the workscope of the sales process. It’s what I’d label, donkey job. Well, well-paid-donkey-job .. more like it.

Ah, transitions transitions transitions .. Always clouded with so much uncertainty. Hope I’ve made the right decision.

God, I’m just trusting Your leading. Assure me.

David[hmm...]

A visual summary or myself - Imagini

Published
by
David
on March 30, 2007
in General
. 0 Comments


God’s payday!

Published
by
David
on March 30, 2007
in General
. 13 Comments

Today is payday. Usually, I am not bothered with paydays .. they come and they go. I usually have excess every month, so that helps when payday’s not so … punctual. Ironically, I am only excited with the amount that comes in .. because then I know how much I have saved for the month and how much money I get to set apart for things. For some, I think the sum is the same every month .. but for salesmen such as myself, it’s interesting to see how much commission comes in! It’s quite the thrilling experience, really.

This month’s different. This was the conversation that I had with the HR department head [which makes up the whole department, really] yesterday, as I was on the 2nd floor running doing some stuff.

HR lady : Whoa, you’re really on fire huh .. this month?
DavidLee : Oh? What do you mean?
HR lady : Ah, you’ll know tomorrow.
DavidLee : Oh .. pay’s coming out tomorrow, is it?
HR lady : Yeah.
DavidLee : Why? Commission, a lot ah?
HR lady : You’ll know tomorrow la.

So .. I went up back to my place and .. as I sat down .. I couldn’t hold my curiosity. I was hoping that maybe .. this month .. my pay could bust the three K number. That, by my standards is “on fire”. I got hold of the HR lady on MSN and asked her how much I was getting .. and when she told me, I didn’t know how to react.

You know how sometimes, you hear of something funny .. or sad .. and it calls for a huge reaction, but you can’t react at all? Cause your colleagues are around you .. and it’ll be extremely silly to suddenly throw your hands in the air and shout,”WOOOOOHOOOO!”?

Exactly.

Anyhow, back to the point .. I found out from the HR lady that .. my commission is about 2/3 of my basic salary! I’ve almost doubled the amount that I earn every month and it’s CRAZY!

Say that again,”CRAZY!”

I can’t help but to think that God’s blessings come timeliest. Never too late, never too early. I’ve actually got some stuff that I need to set apart money for [not part of the credit card/bankruptcy statistic], and now I can begin! I was kinda discouraged .. cause you know .. need to budget for this .. need to budget for that .. and don’t have the will power to really stinge to set the extra money apart but .. God’s blessings are never short! On top of all the blessings that He has given, the possibility of a new job, a new laptop, sales numbers coming through … it’s still coming!

The secret? Prayer. Yesterday was an awesome day, and I believe that it was a product of the prayer I received after prayer meeting. Pastor prayed over us, and it was unbelievable. She challenged us to believe God to do something extraordinary, and to see change in the order. And I did. When there is a desire to see God’s miracles performed, and faith to see it come to pass … God will do His thing.

It’s amazing.

I’m gonna fulfill my tithe, my missions pledge this weekend. WOOHOO! Oh, plus .. I’ll be going for a wedding .. so yeah .. kena bayar angpau!

Then later I’m gonna buy a Ferrari.

Kidding.

I think I’ll buy my mom a new phone.

May you experience an even greater blessing that I did!

David[WOOHOO!]

[WTB] Mitsubishi Pajero iO 1.8L

Published
by
David
on March 28, 2007
in General
. 6 Comments

Don’t ask. Don’t ask why.

Here are some of my reasons:

  • Less Slightly more than RM40k
  • Tall
  • Mitsubishi 4WD = tough
  • Automatic
  • 1.8L petrol
  • Consumption = RM0.25/KM RM0.16/KM < Waja 1.6 Auto’s consumption

Help me look around, kay? Thanks!

ladies night out

Published
by
David
on March 27, 2007
in General
. 3 Comments

I was with Peter Moo and Juni at Dome Cafe earlier for dinner, and a pair of ladies sitting at the opposite table caught my eyes. They’ve been waiting there even before we came in. They’re sitting at a table for four .. must be expecting some company.

Of course, all this time I wasn’t gawking at them la, ya .. but .. on and off .. I peeked. The lady on the left looks mighty familliar. MIGHTY familliar! I dared Moo and Juni to dare me to walk over to the table and ask her the mighty ..

.. pickup line.

“Hi, you look mighty familliar. Where have I seen you before?“

Of course, I genuinely do think that I’ve met her before. Or .. maybe it’s just the familliarity of the pretty face. Mature haircut, poised movements, graceful smile.

Whoops. The party arrives. A lady with a prehistoric blouse and black pants comes with her aunty leather handbag sits down with her back facing me. Then, another lady .. joins them. The lady on the right, stands up and models her green blouse and white skirt for them and asks for their opinion. Then it dawned upon me.

The girl party. Womens’ Night Out. Girl Power.

I chicken out. Never walk up to a table full of women. The concentration of power is exponential when they gather together. Compounding, mighty, whatever-you-might-call-it.

Don’t mess. Don’t mess …

David[hmm]

my monkey boy

Published
by
David
on March 26, 2007
in General
. 0 Comments

Dear Monkey Boy,monkeyboy.jpg

I hope you’ll be better soon. Sometimes, it’s okay to be in the pits. David [not I] said in Psalms 139:8b,”.. if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” But not too long though. Like you’ve always mentioned .. sometimes, you eat a sour banana .. but there’s a reason why the banana is sour ..

Of course, you didn’t use that anology .. but yeah .. the banana’s hanging over your head so I thought I’d give it a mention. Funny though, you’re pointing downwards. Wonder why. Haha.

Irregardless of your decision, I’ll still be there for you. If you ever get yourself lost, I’ll still be there for you. Just that .. you’re not there for me to be there for. Hmm..

Ya?

Ya.

David[hmm]

PS: Let’s stay away from 3am talks, during weekday nights..

supergirl

Published
by
David
on March 25, 2007
in General
. 4 Comments

supergirl.jpg

waitin’ on my supergirl ..

*image courtesy of Dean Trippe

Freedom

Published
by
David
on March 25, 2007
in General
. 4 Comments

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”

John 8:32

These words were ringing all throughout the sermon that Ps. Julie preached on Saturday. Among the many things/points that she brought forth, the one that spoke to me was this:

Whover commits sin is a slave to sin, which robs you of the truth .. and if you don’t have the truth .. you don’t have the freedom.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

- Galatians 5:16

The acts of sinful nature are the ones that rob us of the truth, thus causing us to be in bondage. Those are the obvious ones, that are easier [at least for me] to stay away from, but some subtle sins like the sin of indifference, complacency .. are the ones that get me. Sometimes, the obvious ones are those that we are most oblivious to. Idolatry for instance. I remember Ps. Julie asking us to respond to some questions, one of which went like this : What excites you about work? Well, the majority of the response was with regards to money. The paycheck. If money becomes the drive of our work, it’ll become the drive of our life. In which .. becomes idolatry. For some of us, work is 70% of our time of the week.

Same with people. If we think too much about someone, that person becomes an idol to us .. be it someone influencial like Ps. Julie, or someone that we have special affection for. Which brings me to a point.

We always want to bind, or associate with something/someone. As humans, we are relational. No escape from that. So, if binding ourselves to anything else other than God .. means bondage or idolatry … then what else is there to associate ourselves largely to? God! Who else? What else?

Praise God, there is a guideline to how we should live. It’s found immediately after Paul says all the bad things. Haha.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

- Galatians 5:22-26

Ps. Julie also gave some guidelines, according to 1 Peter 1:13-25.

  1. Think clearly
  2. Don’t slip back
  3. Be separated and set apart FOR God
  4. Cultivate the reverent fear of God
  5. Cherish your salvation with gratitude
  6. Show sincere and pure love/deep affection
  7. Stand on God’s promises

David[hmm]

“You write very well..”

Published
by
David
on March 24, 2007
in General
. 3 Comments

I’m surprised!

Those were the words that came out from the Sales Director, after amending the proposal that I had done. Work’s been tough these two weeks, ever since I was assigned to support the RFID tender proposal. I still had clients calling, and new requests for bar code systems arising while I was working on the proposal. Imagine having to put up with all the cantonese that was going around, with the phone ringing every 1 hour demanding my attention. Don’t know about you, but interruptions when I need to concentrate really drains my energy. Topping it off was my superior, the I’m-so-messy-but-let’s-get-things-done lady .. checking on my workflow every other day, worried that I’d screw up and all. I guess, it’s only natural to want to keep tabs on my progress, but she was scrambling for grip herself with all the technicalities of the tender requirements going round. The Sales Director was away for about a week to Germany, but he did leave us with a frame to work with.

I was pretty much left alone in terms of writing the proposal, having to refer to the previous tender proposal for guidance. It was of little help, but considering the fact that the help that I unwillingly gotten from my superior .. I think it was well enough for me. All this time, I kept reminding myself that I needed to do my best, and produce a good work to prove that I am not merely a sales man who just talk talk talk all through his working day, but also capable of proposing and possibly help implement projects. Plus, it’s my first time! I thank God for the time I’ve put in for my final year thesis. The organization skills obtained from that exercise was truly valuable.

I was to put together the pieces of the puzzle, pertaining the hardware, software, standards of RFID to be implemented and all, so it was quite a daunting task. I’ve had to deal with the confidentiality issues, think-really-really-hard-before-you-speak situations, and higher level management
interactions that taught me a great deal about project handing. I am slowly beginning to like this side of the business, where there is no pressure of closing the deal, or pricing issues but just plain solution, functional and implementation proposals.

I think I am slowly beginning to find my footing at work. Which is a great thing, really .. after all that complaining of not having a steady footing in anything. I thank God for incidences like today, where my Sales Director complements my writing. It’s one of the few but important occasions that encourages me to stay on in this company to be refined and grow in terms of knowledge and skills. Of course, the other one would be the fact that I will be getting my GM’s Dell Latitude 14″ widescreen Intel Duo Core super-cool-but-costs-RM7XXX laptop when his new Lenovo laptop arrives. I hate the old IBM Thinkpads with the RED track-nipple thing. UGH. And it doesn’t even have the fastest shortcut key, the Start button. Well, older ones le. But .. yeah .. I’m really looking forward to getting his 4-5 month old work horse. Good as new, don’t ya think?

Staying back till 11-ish today was really worth the effort. Having contributed probably 70% of the process to this tender proposal, it brings me great satisfaction to see my work compiled and printed out, binded and slipped into envelopes.

It’s the weekend. Time to relax. Have a good one, you!

David[woohoo!]

PS : How do you like my new .. minimalistic blog style?

genuine smiles

Published
by
David
on March 21, 2007
in General
. 0 Comments

I heard some great news over MSN yesterday, and .. upon hearing it .. I had a small smile on my face. For the first time in weeks, there was something to smile about. Something genuine and unadulterated.

When was the last time something touched your heart and made you smile?

smiles.jpg

David[*smiles]