Divergent Professions

For the last fifteen years, I've been working in the financial industry.  I've done jobs that most people prefer to avoid, like sales or being a debt collector.  What I've imagined  back then when I was just a fresh grad from campus to my condition now, is somewhat different. I always want a career in banking industry, and I thought the ladder will be vertical, but instead I've gained various experiences in a divergent way.  Why?  Because it's all different experiences, and it's expanding.

I started my professional experience being a broker-trader for a commodity index exchange market. It was challenging and I truly learned a lot from it.  Then I became assistant manager, then junior manager, then back to business consultant again so I can finish my studies and get my degree.

Next, my journey brought me into the world of direct sales.  Cold-calls, door-to-door, canvasing business offices, you name it.  I've sold traditional and modern banking products, including investments and insurance.  I enjoyed it.  It's truly helped me getting rid the fear of talking with strangers, and enhanced my communication skills.

Then I became personal banker.  Maintained my customer's wealth portfolio for retail, premium, and priority banking.  I love this job.  I like visiting my clients and getting personal touch at their lives. Whenever there's new products or services, I can't wait to tell all my clients about it, because I want them to get the first dip of the benefit.  This one is my second most favorite career ever!  (Why second? Keep on reading, save the best for last!).  I get to meet hundreds and hundreds people with diverse backgrounds, as customers, peers, bosses, and beyond.  Great people with various experience. Truly a humbling experience for me.

Then, sales manager.  Sell! Sell! Sell!  But wait, there's more.  I have an army this time.  An army of outstanding goal-oriented people with high motivation and full spirit to achieve our target!  I love it!

My adventure did not stop there.  I moved to a new country, and start from the beginning again. I still stick with banking, so I decided to start as a teller.  I was very nervous before the job interview that I've made my husband trained me to test me the difference between the coins!

After that, I became a debt collector in a call center.  It's definitely a new environment for me, but I adapted.  It was a challenging job and I don't know how I survived back then.  But I did my time and get more experiences out of it.  My teams and managers were fun and great people.

Next stop, operations.  I got behind the screen and getting new experiences as business support. Some call it ops desk, some call it analyst, some call it auditor, some call it scheduling.  It does have many names.  I like to think that this is the all you can eat buffet type of job.  I like it!  Really really like it!

Moving on, I got deeper into the world of monitoring call center in a bigger scope.  I want to call this job:  "The Watcher".   The coolest job I've ever had. My favorite one by far!  Watching the universe. Everyday is new experience, can't be bored!  I also really like the company and believe in it's values. I trust the way this company is headed.  I like how they do business.  I admire my leaders.  This is not a lip service, but I'm just confessing the truth. Maybe I need a separate blog for this specific one! For sure, this job makes me believe again in banking business.  I definitely love it!

My career journey took me to places I've never imagined before, but I think it's more interesting this way.  There's more twist and turns than what I've expected.  I don't know what I will have in the future, but whatever it is, it will surely add more value to my experience.

Today's Question

Have you heard this question,"If you can go back in time, would you change anything?".  This question have been asked in magazine, newspapers, and any other online articles.  Most will answer,"No, I won't change a thing.  If I changed, then I won't become the person I am today."

But if you ask me, I will certainly without a doubt said,"YES!  YES I WILL CHANGE SOME THINGS!"

Not that I'm regretful or anything, but surely there could be something I can improve by changing things.  I probably would be more patient.  Or be more ambitious.  Or be more careful.

Then I just realized, I could simply apply these changes today.  I can still be more patient.  More ambitious.  More careful.  If I don't like something, I can simply change it.

While I know I can't go back in time and change things in the past, but I still can change something that I want to change right away, right now.  Then this question would not become "I-wish-I-can-go-back-in-time" thing.  This question will lead to "What-can-I-do-better-today-so-I-can-have-better-future?"

This is a deep question.  Take some moment to reflect and ponder on it.  Will you change anything?

Peggy's Special Chicken Vesuvio

I've been making Chicken Vesuvio for the last 10 years, and every time I made it, I always add something.  The celery, cauliflower, and some spices were not included in the original recipe, but somehow I think the above additions make this dish more flavorful and certainly delicious.

My husband really like it and even said that tonight's version was the most spectacular Chicken Vesuvio I've ever made!  So with that thought in mind, I'd better jot down this recipe in my blog before I forget.  I'm sharing this with you so you can try this wonderful dish too!  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

3 red potatoes, diced 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, diced 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 lemon, grated & juiced 2 stalk celery, diced

1 head cauliflower, cut in florets 4 cloves garlic, minced 2  green onions, chopped 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced Seasoning: salt, pepper, paprika, nutmeg, cloves, oregano, basil, sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place potatoes, chicken, celery, cauliflower, and garlic in a casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with the seasoning blend.  Mix together. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Sprinkle green onions over chicken.
3.	Bake, covered, in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, add mushrooms and season if needed. Return to oven, uncovered, and bake for 30 minutes.

"Spend-to-Save" Philosophy

Ah, where do I begin?

I'm chuckle at this concept mainly because I was guilty of it.  "Spend-to-save", said the retail stores and marketing department behind it.  But now I will a bit more vigilant to safeguard little money that I have and not fall into this clever maneuver!

Few years ago, I shopped at Kohl's and justified my purchases because "I need new clothes". I denied calling it the impulse buying urge even though it was really an impulse buying, not a planned shopping.  I love shopping and can't resist the temptation to try out those new outfits.  After all, there's no harm for just "trying" that cute red blouse with chic black skirt that comes with it.  And when I look at the price tag, I thought,"Not bad.  Market price $20 but Kohl's price only $14.50!  What a bargain!".  Then my shopping journey continues to the hat and gloves section.  Winter is coming so I thought I would need to stock up my winter gears.  Hat $12, gloves $8, but if I bought one more pair combo, I would have them all by just $30.  ($12X2, $8X2 = $40, so technically I'm "saving" $10!).  And I continue to shop around till it's time to go home.

I went to the checkout line and was shocked to see the grand total.  It was $212.  I surely didn't plan to spend this much originally, but alas, I can't back out of course.  So I paid and then checked my receipt. "You saved $108 today!".  So I'm thinking,"Does that mean I suppose to pay $320 for all these clothings?  And why I don't feel I'm not saving anything at all?"

I mean granted, everyone like discount and sale.  But I won't forget what I felt that day.  Call it a buyer's remorse or something like that, but I don't really feel I save money by spending money.  I save X amount but I have to pay Y amount?  I spent $212 to save $108?  Where's the saving in that?

I'm not complaining because in the end I wear the clothes and loving it.  But next time I go shopping, I would be very careful with the "spend-to-save" philosophy.  I should remember that I won't save anything by spending.  If I want to save, then just tuck the money away somewhere and not using it.

I guess that's why having a budget is very important.  Stick it to the budget and save by save.  Not save by spend.

Sims 3 : Purchase Vacation Homes

Sims 3 ! ♥♥♥

I'm a huge fan of Sims games, ever since the beginning of the original Sims 1, then Sims 2, and Sims 3 now.  Yes, I know Sims 4 has been out there for a while, but I'm still having fun playing Sims 3 and although I've been playing Sims 3 for about 3-4 years, I continue finding and experiencing new things, which make me still want to "man the game".

I have to admit that bugs and glitches are part of my Sims 3 life.  And after several trial and errors, researching via Sims Community Forums, and other walkthroughs, I pretty much sum it up to the below points to help enhance our gaming experience:

1. Always "Save As" in new file game.

2. After you have several files, o let's say more than 5 files, delete the previous old files.  Don't delete all, at least leave 2 or 3 copies.  Just in case your current game glitches, you can at least start from your freshest files or the last 2 or 3 files.

3.  Try to keep your household to be under 4 people if you can.  Less file to maintain.

By implementing the steps above, now my Sims upload the game very fast.  In the past, it took me 15-20 minutes to load, but now it's about 100 seconds!  That means it's also faster in saving and faster in travelling (since it has to upload another world).

And that lead us into the fun part : vacation!

With save, upload, and travel time reduced from 15-20 minutes to just about 1.5-3 minutes, my sims can easily travel back and forth and having max level 3 visa easily for all 3 countries : Shang Sim-La (China), Al Simhara (Egypt), Champs Le Sims (France).  Once you have max level 3 visa for all those places, you can purchase vacation home.  Another cool feature that you don't want to forget is to buy Certificate of Partnership for each countries (can be bought with Ancient Coins - and you'll get these easily by completing Adventure Quests and/or loot in Treasure Chests inside tombs/pyramids). The Certificate of Partnership can prolong your vacation time to the max days possible. :)

Now buying vacation homes, that also means we need simoleon, right?  Some homes are less than 100k, and of course there's the lavish one above 100k (In Champs Le Sims, there's one for 318k!).  It would take forever for my sims family to work, work, work and afford to buy just 1 home.  With 3 vacations spots, that means I want to have 3 vacation homes!  So here's my "strategy" (not cheat mode!  just another way to get it faster):

1. When starting a fresh game from the start, I chose rich family (duh, it's already there - why work harder? hehe).  Rich family of just a husband and wife, with a big house.  Ensure you include "sell furniture" to increase the sale price.

2.  Sell the house and move them to a small house.  This way I have big simoleon savings to begin with. Ka-ching!

3.  Start buying businesses with the savings.  Remember, they yield dividend income that you can collect every Monday, ... as long as you have the businesses.  Talk about passive income! :)

4. Have the husband and wife work & thriving with their careers.  Especially the wife.  Eventually when she reach high level of profession (8,9,10), when she pregnant, she'll still get paid big bucks while on maternity leave.  Very cool, huh?  And eventually when they both retired, they'll bring home retirement income in daily basis.  Nice!

5. When the wife is almost at level 8,9,10 in her profession (I choose 10 of course, max maternity benefit in simoleon), have her befriend a vampire, and when they're pretty close, have the vampire bite her by "offer to turn".  After the bites, wait few days until she became full vampire.  Then "try baby" with her husband, get preggy, then bam, you have a vampire baby.  Not instantly, since vampire baby are just normal kids until their teenager age done.  The vampire kid will become full vampire when they reach young adult.  At this point, it's up to you if you want to turn the wife back to human.  If you want, simply "Purchase Vampirism Cure" in Science Laboratory.  It's only 3000 simoleon.

6.  Now their kid will be the one that have all the adventure traits & wish list!  Now you ask me, why vampire?  Well, vampire lives longer than human.  Since it would take time and effort to fulfill the wish list "Max Level 3 Visa in All Vacation Place" - or something like that, I choose vampire type to complete this.  Vampire kid will also max skills in few minutes.  Writing 10 minutes - bam, level 10! Painting a medium picture for the first time - bam, level 10!  Imagine the possibility!

7.  Vampire kid turns to teenager, that means they can start travel (with their parents) and start doing Adventure quests!  Our first trip was to Egypt, because there's the high tech camera cannon that they can buy, and my vampire kid can start builing photography skills right way (and of course max it in just few clicks without any problem).  While my teenager vampire collecting photos, keep them, don't sell it yet.  Later on when he/she become adult, I have the vampire choose Photographer profession, and then "sell all photos" - and again, bam! Level 10 Photographer.  Sweet!

8.  Having the vampire teen start doing adventure quests early means they can build up their level 3 visa quicker, without the hassle of building up skills needed for job/profession.  The parents can enjoy vacation whatever they want while the vamp doing quests.

9.  Vampire teen eventually turn into vampire young adult.  And if your vampire young adult exceed level 3 visa, then go ahead buy the vacation home from phone!  By now, hopefully your household have enough simoleon to purchase them houses!  Remember: high level professions earned income (or daily retirement income when parents retired), passive income dividends from businesses, and sell celebrity rewards if any.  It's easy to become celebrity - just mingle with one of them!

10.  Some businesses (especially "property" type) might need to be upgraded.  So try to level up your property to max level 3, in order to obtain the highest dividend income.

Well, hope this strategy helps.  Now, let's play Sims 3!  Enjoy!