Where Have I Been?

I'm back.

I was really busy the last couple of months. From the last time I wrote, these were what I have done.

- Job applications.

I sent hundreds of job applications already, both abroad and locally. Only a few have called so far. This is a testament to how hard it is to land in a good job.

- Job interviews.

Since I had my first two failed interviews with companies from Singapore, I've been invited to five other job interviews, three from local companies, and two from abroad. I'm proud to say I've passed four out of the five. Practice, exposure, confidence and that "seller" mentality is the key.

- Preparations form Migrant Visa Application.

I had my eyes set on migrating to Australia. I had to prepare the needed requirements for that. The first was taking the IELTS examination. I completed it last July. I got a grade just enough for me to pass the "points test" for a Visa application. The next thing was having my profession assessed by Engineers Australia. I needed a month and a half to work on the documents. It was hard writing all those stuffs about my career, but in the end, I was able to submit it. Engineers Australia received it last August, and I'm still waiting on their decision on whether my work experience could be credited. I'm hoping for a

- Decision making.

I got this job offer from a good company, and I had to make a really tough decision which would directly affect the course of how my life would be. I had to choose between my current job and the new one. On one side, I had a new career waiting. It would have been nice to start something new. That job would take me back to my home province in Cebu and it would bring me closer to my wife and family. On the other hand, I could stay put in my current company, receive some salary increase and possibly be sent outside the country from time to time. In the end, the financial needs weighed more, and I decided to keep the job that I have in exchange for immediate increase in earnings.

-Stock trading.

I also learned how to trade stocks. I opened my first online trading account and I was impressed by the potential earnings of this kind of investment. So far, my largest gain was 16% of my total investment. Not bad for a newbie. I just need to learn more about it, so I can maximize my gains.

- Back in Ireland.

In keeping my job, I was given another opportunity to travel outside the country. I'm back in Ireland to work on another project. I'm writing this article now in Ireland.

Mazda 323 Idling Problems - Unstable RPM

I purchased a Black Mazda 323 (1996 Model) last November. I didn't know much about cars at that time. I took it for a test drive, and it seemed to be in very good condition, so I got it.
After weeks of driving, I now became more familiar with the car, and one thing that I noticed was its RPM was unstable.

Here is what you can see on the Mazda 323 dashboard. Take a look the tachometer or RPM gauge at the left side. Ideally, this shouldn't be fluctuating. At idle, this should be at around 800RPM. If you push the gas pedal, the RPM should increase, but once you remove the pedal pressure, the RPM should move back to its original 'idle' position. If you started at 800RPM prior rev-ing up, expect it to still be at 800RPM when your foot is off the pedal. My Mazda's RPM did not return to where it started. Either it was higher, or it was lower. This is an indicator that you have some problems with your Mass Air Flow Sensor. I didn't know that when I tried checking out this car. So for would-be buyers of second hand cars, watch out for this.

My RPM issues was at its peak when I noticed that the engine would turn off when I changed gears, usually in the lower ones. Let's say I had my gear set to 3rd gear, and I needed to slow down and so I had to set it to 2nd gear. As soon as I shifted the gears, the RPM would go very low, to a point very near zero, until the engine would stop. Good thing my car did not have starting problems. Whenever it happened, I would just restart my car. But you could imagine all the hassle it was giving me.

I did a Google search on "unstable RPM". To my surprise, there it was... IDLING STABILITY was a common Mazda 323 problem. There are a couple of forums which discuss these. They might even offer better solutions. I just would like to share what I did to solve this issue.

The Mass Air Flow Sensor is located in under your Mazda's hood, just in between the air intake hose and the air filter casing. You may notice that there are wire connectors attached to this. This is one of the many sensors your engine uses to achieve optimum performance. Its funtion is to send information to the Engine Control Unit (ECU) regarding the amount of air mass entering the engine.

I had a mechanic check my car and his first reaction was that the sensor needed to be replaced. I asked him how much it would cost. He told me it was around P3,000. If it was true, then it's a quite expensive part, so I decided to see if we could do anything else. The mechanic tried moving the air filter casing, and he noticed that the RPM fluctuated by doing that. That should not happen. With our new observation, we both agreed that there was something loose. Next, he pushed on the wire connectors in the Mass Air Flow Sensor and asked me to push on the gas pedal and check the RPM. The result? Even after pushing the pedal, the RPM now settles back at its starting value. Sucess! We fixed it.

So it seemed the connector was just loose. I drove the car for a week with no problems. But soon after that, my RPM woes were back. My car'r RPM was fluctuating again. I needed to find a more permanent fix.

I was convinced there was nothing wrong with the sensor. If there was, pushing the wire connector wouldn't have lead to a significant improvement in the idling RPM stability. So one day, when I got home after driving, I detached the connector and cleaned the metal electrodes. I sprayed them with a good quality contact cleaner. I got back to the driver's seat, rev-ed up the gas and check the RPM again. COOL! No more of the unstable RPM's!

My final conclusion: the dirt in the metal electrodes of the Mass Air Flow sensor was interfering with the quality of the electrical signals coming out of the it, and it was causing errors. The ECU was getting the wrong information. If you're a Mazda 323 owner, and you're having idling problems, it might be worth doing what I did. It's going to save you some cash. But again, the engine is a complex system, and your RPM can be affected by a lot of other parts not working well. If doing this does not work for you, trying checking other parts.

God's Plan On Fortune

Short but straight to the point... Here is God's plan on fortune... the best quote I've ever heard.

"When fortune lavishly accords you with a hefty wallet... Choose charity over greed, love over hatred, nobility over blasphemy... Gracious are the people who do so. For they just wielded their fortune wisely as God entrusted them."

- Norwenda -

Job Interview Tips For Filipinos Who Are Looking For Work In Singapore

It's been a while since I last wrote... I was pretty busy preparing for a job interview.

I've been working in a semiconductor company for 5 years already, and I think it's about time I made a move towards career advancement. Singapore is a good place to start. It's home to a lot of semiconductor companies.

So far, I've been interviewed twice. On both of them, I didn't get the job! I'm not ashamed to tell this to the whole world. I may have failed twice, but I did learn a lot from those interviews.

I got those blunders in those two tries because I did not know anything much about interviews yet. I may have a 5-year work experience, but I got the job straight out of college. I was a scholar back in my college days, and part of the agreement was to work for the company that gave me the scholarship right after graduation. While my classmates were busy preparing their resumes for job interviews, I was already working, because I was already assured of a job. Now I realized this may have backfired a bit. Now, after years of working, I found out that I'm a real novice with regards to interviews --- totally no knowledge at all! After flunking my first two interviews, I thought it would be better to share my experience, especially for people like me who are aiming to find work in Singapore.

Here are three important things that I've learned.

1. PREPARE FOR THE INTERVIEW!!!

- Interviewers usually give out the same questions. Prepare how to answer these. The first question in both my interviews was, "Tell me something about yourself." Formulate a good answer to this before the actual day of the interview. Remember that this is your chance to give a good first impression to the interviewer. So smile, look confident and tell them something about WHAT YOU DO. Yes, you've read it right. Tell them WHAT YOU DO. They may be asking some background about your self, but they're not really concerned about this. Here's one thing I've noticed with Singaporean interviewers. They are not interested in knowing where you completed your course, or if you graduated with honors or not. They want to know how you can fill in the position that they need. So talk little about your personal background (education, hobbies, strengths) etc. Instead, highlight your work performance. Give them short but precise examples that can depict what you are really doing. There are a lot of other common interview questions. You can find them if you do a Google search. Just be prepared to answer any of those.

2. THE INTERVIEWERS MAY SOUND RUDE, SO BE VERY POLITE. IF YOU ASK A QUESTION, BE CHOOSY WITH THE WORDS THAT YOU'LL BE USING.

- It is usual for interviewers to look tough and to sound rude. It's probably their way of checking if you can handle pressure, and if you have what it takes.

My first interview only lasted a few minutes. This was because my interviewer got mad at me and didn't want to proceed anymore. He just asked my these two questions: 1. "Can you tell me about yourself?" and 2. "What do you do?". And after that, I said goodbye to my chance of landing a job with that company.

I missed his second question. He asked about what I was doing. So I was giving him general descriptions about my job. But then he didn't want my answers. I expounded more. He still didn't like it. Then I made my first mistake. I asked him this in a nice way, "Can you explain to me more your question, or probably give me an example, so that I can be able to answer you better?" I read from a job interview website that I should be showing confidence. So that I did. I asked the interviewer a question. But... I didn't realize that by doing so, I was killing my chances of getting my dream job! The interviewer got mad after I asked him this! He said I had an attitude problem, and that I was talking back to him. But of course not! My intentions were good. I just wished to clarify things because I wanted to satisfy him with my answers... but it didn't turn out that way.

So be very careful about your words if you ask questions. In my second interview, I had a similar scenario. I was asked a question which sounded vague to me. I'll tell you now how I averted a possible "PART II" of my previous mistake:

1. First, I asked him politely if it was okay for him if I asked him a question. He said "NO!!!"

2. With that, I knew I shouldn't be asking him to elaborate his question, no matter how good my intentions are.

3. So I just told him that I was going to answer his question as to how I've understood it. I gave him an answer.

4. It seemed he didn't like what I told him, so obviously, I had interpreted his question wrongly.

5. He then explained to me more what he really wanted to know.

With this, I was able to get what I want. I was able to let him expound on his question without me asking him directly. Who knows what interview disaster would have happened again if I had made the same mistake!

3. PREPARE FOR A TECHNICAL INTERVIEW.

- On my second interview, the questions were pretty technical. I answered some, but there was one which I didn't. It cost me that position. The interviewer wasn't impressed. So before that big day, make sure you have loaded yourself with technical knowledge about your work. Review if you had already forgot the basics. Remember, you will be assessed with what is inside your head.

Valentine's Day - February 2010 Movie

My wife and I watched "Valentine's Day" at the Festival Mall in Alabang yesterday. It was quite a good one! It's one of those 'feel good' American movies that seem to get you absorbed into the film while you're watching it and gives you this tinge of fulfillment at the end since you know you've learned something good from watching it.

It's a story about how different people spent their Valentine's day. The plot was quite simple, but it was the way the lives of each people in the movie were interconnected that made it cool.

It was my wife and I's first movie together since watching Avatar last January. It gave us the needed break from such a tough week. Hopefully, we'll see a lot of other movies like those in the coming months.

Love... yes... it makes the world go round. It brings you happiness and joys.... and it may give you hurts and aches... but no matter what... you still have to love... because it's the only thing that matters in this world.

St. Paul once said these. (1 Corinthians 13:1)

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

We might gain everything this world has to offer... become successful and become rich... but without love, these do not matter.

Love is not only limited to that bond that you share with your partner. Love can be the laughter that we share among families... love can be the helping hand that we give to people that we don't even know... love can be the free schooling that you are willing to give to your household helper... love can be the simple pat on the back that you give to a troubled friend...

Love has may aspects, and the important thing is really to show love. And I do not mean by just simply knowing that you love a person... you have to show it.

I'm struggling at doing this myself. I'm hoping that in the future, I will be able to share my love more to others.

Work And Life

Work is part of life. It's something that we'll find to be very useful in this earthly journey. But beware.... WORK IS NOT LIFE.

I had to stress this out because a lot of us, especially single men, get so much into work, that we forget about life. We think that we have to really work hard so we can get a promotion, or perhaps a very big increase in our paycheck. We want to do this so we can have more money, so we can buy more, go to places where we'd like to go. We work so hard because it's part of our pride being men. We have to be the best. We have to show everyone in our work place that 'I'm very good at doing this job!'. People may have different reasons for the drive to work hard. I've heard of some guys who do overtime so they could fund their weekend gimmicks and hang around with a lot of girls. What a motivation. haha. (But this is not what I do. I just stick to one woman.)

Let's get back to work and life. Today I did good with my job. I resolved two issues. "You're really good, man!" my officemate told me. If you were there you would have seen my heart bloat. Quite fulfilling, right?

Wrong.

Today is also paycheck time. What's special about the salary given out this week is that it's supposed to be bigger. It covers the first workweeks when the "salary increase" was implemented. So right after I just got a high-five from my colleague for doing such a good job, I went down to my desk at the basement to check how much I got paid this time. My boss told me I was given a 20% salary increase for being such a hardworking guy. Not bad huh? Considering 20% increase is the largest my company can give to an employee. Excited, I sat on my chair, I opened our online salary statement... and then... to my surprise... I just got an net increase of P1,000 from my previous payslips!!! Hah! So much for the 20% Increase!

We'll, my company didn't cheat me. I got that increase. But most of it just went to tax payments, and I ended up just receiving a very meager pay even though I was killing myself just to finish projects and solve issues at work.

I could fix things at work... but I could not fix things with my life. Working hard does not help me solve my financial problems... it does not help me pay my bills. Even though I get all the commendations, I still wouldn't be able to use them to provide for my family. I couldn't even buy my wife the bag that she likes even with all the kudos I get from the workplace.

My point is, we should not be totally drawn into working. It's only part of life. Even if we fail at work, it does not mean we fail with life. There are a lot of people who don't even work, but succeed greatly. And then, there are these people who are successful at work, but suck in life. It all depends on what our priorities are. For me, I now choose life over work. I've made a very big mistake before. I was thinking too much of closing my projects and tasks that I lost sight of the most important thing... PLANNING WHAT TO DO WITH MY LIFE.

At age 27, I'm just starting to make my plans. Because in the past years I was only concerned about being good in school and then at work... but no plans for the future... just living in a 'come what may' world. Now, I've got a family to raise. It's quite tough now that I'm married and I have not planned on what to do after it.

It's never too late to start... I hope... I just want to make up for the wrong priorities I had in the past.

My Prayer For Today: Lord, please give me a second chance. I just want to make my family happy. Now that I've realized my wrong, help me to do things right... help me to love my wife and family more... so that I can be the best that I am for them in this life You gave us.

Selflessness

SELFLESSNESS...THOUGHTFULNESS...

These are things that I need to learn. I'm not really a bad person. People say that I'm a really good guy. I think I am too. But... it's just that kindness does not occur to me naturally. It's hard to figure out why.

Today a friend visited our house. He needed to borrow something from me. We chatted for a few minutes, shared a few laughs... and just as he was going out the door to say goodbye, my wife told me... "BB, we bought a lot of pineapples last weekend. Let's give one to our friend so he can bring it home." "Sure!" I replied. I went towards our dining table to get the biggest pineapple that we had, and then gave it to my friend. He went home smiling. It's really a nice feeling when someone gives you something.

My wife is a natural giver. Oh! And I love her more for being like this! But I was just thinking...

Why was my wife able to come up with the idea of giving something to our friend, and I did not?

I guess I'm just really self-centered and selfish, and I usually think for myself first than for others.

For many, thinking of other people's needs just seem to be automatic. For me, it's quite hard. I need to concentrate on situations before I can tell what people need. For these past few weeks, I've been trying to figure out why. This isn't the first time I've been tagged as "selfish". Well, as of now, I think I have a bit of a hint. It's probably how I have dealt with people ever since I was young. I was a bit choosy with my friends. I didn't hang out with a lot of people. You could say I'm the kind of person who usually has more time alone than with others. It's hard for acts of kindness towards other people to come naturally, when you've been used to just dealing with yourself almost all the time.

Lesson for the day: Try to think of others more than yourself.

February 17, 2010 - Corinthian Signing In...

Just created my blog account... This is my first post!!!