The important part is that there's always a lesson to be learned with every negative or perceived to be negative occurrence. You just have to find it and understand it. There is no use in fighting it because even though I loved what I did at T-Mobile for Ritmo Latino Wireless I felt that I was meant for more and I DID think about all the time I would spend with my children along with being paid several months severance, but then again I was losing out on an opportunity even though it was for a small spot under an aging birds wings.
What can you do?
Move on.
After all I worked for a private business owner who made a decision about his own company regardless if I had done anything in the wrong deeming separation he was legally allowed to do it and I knew it. It was unexpected just as I'm sure it was to many others, thus legal actions against them now are not surprising.
That's life so make lemonade right? I love lemonade so ;) here we are today with my quality of LIFE at an all-time high. I can say I am ultimately happy even though I had always targeted a career with a company that had a great reputation where I could build tenure and retire feeling accomplished. Unfortunately, that job style is going extinct. I've felt like I was in the Matrix or The Golden Child with the ground giving away as I stepped on it. First with Anheuser-Busch and all their entities in Busch Gardens/Agriculture, Incredibly effective and funny Advertising & Marketing (my strength and degree) and their many years of being an American staple. I figured I could work here forever specially after seeing all of the money they spent on Marketing. Then one day they get bought out for $52 billion. I guess the dollar was weak and it was a great opportunity in many respects for the Belgian/Brazilian company (InBev) and a couple of months down the line they felt it was most efficient to just sell the wholesaler that I was working for in Stockton so I moved on to try and find opportunities back on the Peninsula closer to San Francisco. Business is business again and there's no real right and wrong. You just have to keep hustling. I knew that even if they had not sold our branch that at some point down the line we would fall victim to cut backs (Labor is the major cost for most U.S. companies). Unfortunately most of what is usually being trimmed doesn't necessarily get reinvested into the companies from which their taken and much of it will be expected by those who "approved" the merger/buyout.
In-between I worked for Comcast through an employment agency and I will say:
#1. Don't ever work through a third-party unless you must
#2. Until Comcast changes their ways I will never work there or recommend anyone working for Comcast
#3. I would quit using Comcast services if there was actually a better option.
Then I wound up at T-Mobile through Ritmo Latino. I always thought T-Mobile made a great decision reaching out to Ritmo Latino. Otherwise Ritmo may have never made it past it's last bootleg stages selling colognes and such but they do cover a very important need which is that of properly servicing the Spanish speaking community. Hundred$ of billion$ of dollars worth of annual spending power. Por eso te lo digo! I thought I could actually grow with this company, but they have their own ways and ideas that unfortunately for them are very different than mine own so on we go... I could easily do a lot of things like go back to T-Mobile corporate. I love technology specially mobile technology, which I think is the future of communication, but instead I spent time with my family and have since gotten in tune with my own natural impulses and motivations in life as well as my ever-growing passions in Horticulture, Writing, Several business ventures that I have an actual personal interest in, Sports like basketball and baseball, which serve as my ultimate sources of exercise, our health, happiness and overall success in Life.
My life has changed. I no longer feel that I have to put my life aside in order to go work and pay bills. I will live and love what I do every day. I'm not financially rich so that complaint will still be there, but that's about it. I love you Annaliza, Ava and Paolo!
A few more sayings to live by: Don't live without being and feeling alive! - Everybody dies, but not everybody lives.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Keeper of the Greens...
Loving my responsibilities at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers! One of those things that have kept me feeling ALIVE through all my life responsibilities and all of the efforts I have put forth in my career has been growing and taking care of many plants at home and I couldn't think of anything better than continuing my life in a career as Keeper of the Green. I have been following my passions in many respects and NATURE is definitely one along with SPORTING so I've also started coaching a 13-17 year old basketball team for the City of San Mateo, which interestingly enough also falls under the Parks & Recreation umbrella.
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| Sneak peak @ The Conservatory of Flowers. An amazing place. |
Austin & MadLib forever Connected
I don't know who I first heard it from, but Every person you meet is an angel, a guide towards your own ultimate direction. Just as many people may say after a break up or separation that it just wasn't meant to be, but it was meant to be up to that point. You gained certain aspects, outlooks, views, opinions, felt certain energies, emotions, experiences that have now led you to being who you are in your mind frame because of that person. To get right to the point of this blog...Thank you Austin for introducing me to this clip of music because there is NOTHING like Madlib, The Further Adventures of Lord Quas, Yesterday's New Quintet, Peanut Butter Wolf etc.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Capital is only loyal to Capital
Folks work all their lives, 30 maybe 40+ years at the same company and you'd think they would be well set once they retire, but when you really look at it they have no value in their retirement accounts or not enough to retire with. Then you factor in lay-offs, and check this out: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/business/20tax.html
That story there talks about Apple, Google and Microsoft, but then also speaks about million and billion dollar companies like Merck, Pfizer and Hewlett-Packard so just imagine how many other corporations are doing it. Between only the first three companies mentioned here there is a total of $58 billion in vast profits outside the country and they are pressing Congress and the Obama administration for a tax break to bring the money home. Isn't it the law? If you do business in the United States you should pay the taxes in the U.S., but those clever accountants have found ways to significantly reduce the taxes corporations pay the government because the company in turn has to turn profits for their share holders. That's why accountants and executives get paid the big dollars. Capital taking care of Capital. Can't really blame them. Now if everyone was playing fair, but only a few went rogue then we could easily discipline those that have been misguided, but it's like EVERYONE is doing it! That's partly responsible for the economic downturn we're in.
Now the mentality of the people turns from working in their lives to working in order to survive and it shouldn't be that way. The capitalistic world will dominate life and living will be made impossible without being a part of the fabric of that society. I tried to get myself that corporate job that respected tenure where I could work and build a life around. I invested my time in Anheuser-Busch. Two years later they get bought out for an amount if $52 billion in cash I believe. Ridiculous, but if I had 1000 shares I would have also voted to sell I guess. It just seems that the folks who have "capital" and that sort of weight to throw around do so without a care of the sweat, blood and tears that are being spilled just to feed hungry mouths. I rather not get my eggs mixed up in that bag. I'll spread them around else where. I may not get the ROI in terms of capital, but I have learned in the last month that If I continue to focus on what I Love and have a passion for then I will progress, and live a Happy, Healthy, Successful Life!
That story there talks about Apple, Google and Microsoft, but then also speaks about million and billion dollar companies like Merck, Pfizer and Hewlett-Packard so just imagine how many other corporations are doing it. Between only the first three companies mentioned here there is a total of $58 billion in vast profits outside the country and they are pressing Congress and the Obama administration for a tax break to bring the money home. Isn't it the law? If you do business in the United States you should pay the taxes in the U.S., but those clever accountants have found ways to significantly reduce the taxes corporations pay the government because the company in turn has to turn profits for their share holders. That's why accountants and executives get paid the big dollars. Capital taking care of Capital. Can't really blame them. Now if everyone was playing fair, but only a few went rogue then we could easily discipline those that have been misguided, but it's like EVERYONE is doing it! That's partly responsible for the economic downturn we're in.
Now the mentality of the people turns from working in their lives to working in order to survive and it shouldn't be that way. The capitalistic world will dominate life and living will be made impossible without being a part of the fabric of that society. I tried to get myself that corporate job that respected tenure where I could work and build a life around. I invested my time in Anheuser-Busch. Two years later they get bought out for an amount if $52 billion in cash I believe. Ridiculous, but if I had 1000 shares I would have also voted to sell I guess. It just seems that the folks who have "capital" and that sort of weight to throw around do so without a care of the sweat, blood and tears that are being spilled just to feed hungry mouths. I rather not get my eggs mixed up in that bag. I'll spread them around else where. I may not get the ROI in terms of capital, but I have learned in the last month that If I continue to focus on what I Love and have a passion for then I will progress, and live a Happy, Healthy, Successful Life!
Everybody dies, but not everybody lives!
So...
Do what you LOVE EVERYDAY, EXCEL and let's LIVE and LOVE LIFE!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
The Insurance Battle with WarrantyDirect.com...
This really Sucks the life out of you! My wife had paid almost $3500 that she had gotten back from her tax return to protect the car she loves. It was supposed to be a 3 year extended warranty on top of the current Jaguar warranty that was about to expire. The highest option offered by WarrantyDirect.com since as she put it she wanted , "Everything possible covered". It was a stick-shift/manual 2004 Jaguar X-Type 2.5 in White of course. Those were two main qualities in a car for my lady...it must be White and have a Manual transmission. I don't know about you all, but for me it is a turn-on to see a woman handle a manual transmission vehicle a whip it around like a pro. That takes skills and it's rare because from my experience the majority of women I've seen driving are more afraid of the machine and power vs understanding the machine and knowledgeably trying to manipulate it.
Well, back to the story at-hand. A couple of years in we're driving the Jaguar to San Francisco to work from Foster City. I'm driving and remember paying attention to the RPMs that morning. The vehicle did seem a bit "cold". Experienced drivers know more or less when you drive a vehicle enough that it needs a tune-up. I had been driving my Civic most of the time so it wasn't obvious to me right away. After driving about 12 miles north on 101 we hear some weird noises from the front passenger side of the car and the Oil light turns on as well. At this point we continued slowly keeping RPMs under 3000 for the rest of our 14 miles or so to work. The car was then taken to the Jaguar dealership that morning before work in San Francisco ultimately to find out later that there were, "metal particles in the oil that was drained". A cause of some over heating I suppose since it was never explained to either one of us. What they said was that there was no oil in the vehicle and practically went dry. The interesting part was that we parked the Jaguar in our same parking spot every day and there was no recent oil drips and the car was not yet due for it's oil change. We hardly put miles on the car. To this day it has about 56k miles and man she still loves her car and I do as well.
The Jaguar dealership sends its report to the insurance company, which turns around and sends us a letter saying the damage is a cause of neglect and the claim was being denied. Our complaint was that we never had any reason to think there was a problem. We had gotten the regular oil changes at their designated mileage and directly from the Jaguar dealership. We never noticed any issues and when we did notice something we immediately drove it to the dealership to get checked out. DENIED! Now we have a vehicle sitting at the Jaguar dealership with our name on it, they're asking us what we are going to do with it because they can not keep it there. A new engine was about a $10k job, we still owed $7500 worth of payments, my Wife is 7 months pregnant at this stage too. JAJA. What a time we have experienced and surpassed. Well, I felt like if they weren't going to help us then return the $3500 paid for the worthless insurance. After some pressure and writing several letters to WarrantyDirects parent insurance company, then one to the National Association of Insurance companies. We did find some very helpful folks whom helped us finally get an approval to our claim and they got a used engine from the same type of vehicle and everything almost the identical amount of mileage then. The Jaguar dealership finished the job of putting the new engine in. i don't want to get into the efforts put in from the folks at the Jaguar dealership. Maybe they're just really busy and that's another story. I'm so glad this whole thing worked out. We were in a a critical time in our lives with the babies coming and potentially losing out on the car and having to continue making payments...imagine that. It was quite the upgrade from the ZelRydr (White Acura Integra Manual Transmission). We had fun in that car! I'll post the pictures soon. ZelRydr from beginning to end. I think you can still find pieces by Oakland Coliseum out there.
Lesson of the story. Get your extended warranty directly through the dealership. It's worth it or you'll be fighting it out with those whom you've been paying to supposedly be on your side.
Well, back to the story at-hand. A couple of years in we're driving the Jaguar to San Francisco to work from Foster City. I'm driving and remember paying attention to the RPMs that morning. The vehicle did seem a bit "cold". Experienced drivers know more or less when you drive a vehicle enough that it needs a tune-up. I had been driving my Civic most of the time so it wasn't obvious to me right away. After driving about 12 miles north on 101 we hear some weird noises from the front passenger side of the car and the Oil light turns on as well. At this point we continued slowly keeping RPMs under 3000 for the rest of our 14 miles or so to work. The car was then taken to the Jaguar dealership that morning before work in San Francisco ultimately to find out later that there were, "metal particles in the oil that was drained". A cause of some over heating I suppose since it was never explained to either one of us. What they said was that there was no oil in the vehicle and practically went dry. The interesting part was that we parked the Jaguar in our same parking spot every day and there was no recent oil drips and the car was not yet due for it's oil change. We hardly put miles on the car. To this day it has about 56k miles and man she still loves her car and I do as well.
The Jaguar dealership sends its report to the insurance company, which turns around and sends us a letter saying the damage is a cause of neglect and the claim was being denied. Our complaint was that we never had any reason to think there was a problem. We had gotten the regular oil changes at their designated mileage and directly from the Jaguar dealership. We never noticed any issues and when we did notice something we immediately drove it to the dealership to get checked out. DENIED! Now we have a vehicle sitting at the Jaguar dealership with our name on it, they're asking us what we are going to do with it because they can not keep it there. A new engine was about a $10k job, we still owed $7500 worth of payments, my Wife is 7 months pregnant at this stage too. JAJA. What a time we have experienced and surpassed. Well, I felt like if they weren't going to help us then return the $3500 paid for the worthless insurance. After some pressure and writing several letters to WarrantyDirects parent insurance company, then one to the National Association of Insurance companies. We did find some very helpful folks whom helped us finally get an approval to our claim and they got a used engine from the same type of vehicle and everything almost the identical amount of mileage then. The Jaguar dealership finished the job of putting the new engine in. i don't want to get into the efforts put in from the folks at the Jaguar dealership. Maybe they're just really busy and that's another story. I'm so glad this whole thing worked out. We were in a a critical time in our lives with the babies coming and potentially losing out on the car and having to continue making payments...imagine that. It was quite the upgrade from the ZelRydr (White Acura Integra Manual Transmission). We had fun in that car! I'll post the pictures soon. ZelRydr from beginning to end. I think you can still find pieces by Oakland Coliseum out there.
Lesson of the story. Get your extended warranty directly through the dealership. It's worth it or you'll be fighting it out with those whom you've been paying to supposedly be on your side.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
BBQ Beef Ribs with Moro de Maiz and Blue-Strawberry Salad
MMM...BBQ! We're lucky enough to have a Nice big brand new butane grill courtesy of our apartment management, but I just like the charcoal, mesquite, smokey taste. Anyhow, just added this 21 season salute seasoning we got from Trader Joe's, added some salt and BBQing slowly with the charcoals to one side and a pan of water underneath the Beef Ribs to keep them moist. BBQ'ed for an hour now...The rice is a mixture taken from what my mother taught me, which was how to make Moro with rice. That's when you make your rice with beans, corn or another flavoring married/Casado to the rice. After moving to the West Coast I heard a Salvadorian lady call Moro, Casado. It makes sense. I Love it. The kids love it as well. Specially Moro with our favorite Green Pigeon Peas aka Guandules Verdes that can only be found at Whole Foods here in California or when my mother sends us cans from the East coast. We still have about 8-9 cans left from her last visit. Gotta Love it! a mother's Love is like no other. Back to my other Love...BBQ food. I'm writing all of this as I'm waiting for another hour to pass for a total of two hours slow BBQing Beef Ribs. Made ourselves a nice salad while we waited. baby Spinach/Spring Mix with Strawberries, Bluberries and a Strawberry vinaigrette dressing.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream & Honey
I think I've got it right. I remember being at a Romanian friends house about 15 years ago and they made me this dessert out of Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream and Honey. It tastes great even now. I do equal parts sour cream to cottage cheese and then add honey while I mix it to just the right sweetness. It just fulfills certain taste buds and sensations...I love it! I feel like there may have been one other ingredient though. Well, if anyone has any insights into that possible fourth ingredient...feel free to comment. Otherwise enjoy yourself what I believe to be an Eastern European Yogurt / Desert!
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