Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Recipe of the Day: Macaroni and Cheese

When my mom was in the US, she used to send us instant macaroni and cheese, which is common there. Now Lucky Me released its own version. Theirs is yummy, but the contents of one pack is bitin! So I decided to make our own too! Hope you enjoy this!


Ingredients

1/2 kg San Remo twisted macaroni
1 pack Knorr Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 large jar of Magnolia Cheezee Spread
1 tetra pack of Nestle Cream (EDITED 02/27: I forgot to include this in the list, sorry!)
1/4 ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped finely
1/2 tsp salt


1. Cook macaroni according to package instructions and set aside.
2. Cook mushroom soup according to package instructions and add all contents of cheese spread and Nestle cream. Boil and simmer until thick consistency is achieved.
3. Mix macaroni and cheese sauce while both are still hot. This allows the macaroni to absorb the cheese sauce.
4. Saute ground beef in onion and garlic. Add salt and cook until ground beef particles become very small.
5. Top cheesy macaroni with sauteed ground beef.


your every woman,

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Spreads, Dips and Sauces: Garlic Cheese Spread

I like this gourmet garlic cream cheese we bought at a kiosk in a supermarket, but I wasn't able to maintain stock since it wasn't too affordable. Luckily I was able to whip up a good dupe.



Ingredients:

1 bar of Magnolia Eden Cheese
2 small cloves garlic, minced
1/2 of 100g Dairy Cream butter
1 tbsp white pepper
2 tbsp vinegar

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Place bowl on top of a bigger bowl with boiled water. This heats the cheese and butter without having to really cook them.

3. Stir to even out all the ingredients.
4. Best served with Sky Flakes Fit! :D

your every woman,

How A Wheeled Shoes Changed Lives

This is my entry for The Red Shoes Story Contest. I'm not sure if rollerblades would count as shoes...All I know is that this pair that I owned really made a difference.

I wanted to do figure skating when I was a kid but knowing that ice skating rinks in the Philippines are not freely available, I thought I'd settle with rollerblading. But we can't even afford rollerblades at the time. I was envious of my friend who got to buy rollerblades just as soon it was released, so I told myself I've got to have one.

I grew up. My mom had to leave for the US to make ends meet and I had to stop a year after High School. But I never forgot about the rollerblades. I got a stint as promo girl for a telecommunications company and on my first salary, I bought myself one! A red, rubber wheeled pair of rollerblades! To steer clear of people asking me why I bought a pair at such a late time in my life, I just told everyone that rollerblading was my game and I'm good at it!

That was the time when I learned how amazing mind over matter works. I knew how to rollerblade in theory, but I never got to try one. And since I told everyone that I knew how to, I had to convince myself also! And you know what happened? The first time I put the shoes on, I glided like a pro!

But that was not the most interesting part. The basketball court where my little brother and I used to play in was near a slumlike community where kids knew how to swear as soon as they learned how to talk. Those kids got interested with the rollerblades too and figured out a way to be friends with us.

Even with just a couple of uses, I knew I had my time with my rollerblades. I already felt how to fly with it and was already able to prove myself. It was the kids' turn. As icky as it may sound, I taught the kids how to rollerblade by letting them use my shoes. Each kid would have a turn every afternoon as long as they brought their own socks and promised never to swear. I was amazed at how fast they learned how to rollerblade and forgot about swearing given the time I had available for them!

Then on one valentines day, I was suprised by the same kids who came over to my house and asked me to go to the court. They might've thought I wouldn't come over because of the occassion but I would've anyway. When we arrived, the rest of the kids welcomed me with cards, plastic roses and some candy! Each one hugged me and thanked me for being their "ate" every afternoon.

I eventually stopped going to the basketball court because of a few stints and school. I also never played with the blades since I started teaching those kids. But still, those pair of rollerblades that I had really made one part of my life meaningful.

your every woman,

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Customers Are Not Always Right: An Open Letter

CUSTOMER: My connection is inconsistent.

TSR: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that your connection is inconsistent and I can definitely assist you out with that. First, let's test how much speed you are getting from the network. Please open speedtest website and tell me how much you're getting for download and upload speed.

CUSTOMER: Download shows 69,120 kbps and upload shows 955 kbps.

TSR: Sir, based on what you're paying for on the account, it shows a 10,000 kbps download speed and a 1,000 kbps upload speed, which means that your download speed is way higher than what you're provisioned for and your upload is within range. But since the connection is inconsistent let me... (customer interrupted)

CUSTOMER: What do you mean "it's higher"? I'm only getting a download of 6.9 mbps and I'm paying for a 10,000 kbps speed! (*unit in speedtest site is in kbps, 1 mb = 1000kb)

TSR: But you read the download speed as 69,120 kbps right? 6-9-1-2-0? What is the unit on our speedtest site? Isn't it in kbps?

CUSTOMER: Yes! 6.9 mbps. Do you know how much to convert kb to mb? It's 1000 kb to 1 mb.

*And since customer's conversion is the same as tsr's conversion and he will be proven incorrect with further argument...

TSR: Mr.__, let's not argue about the conversion of mbps and kbps. It does , however, show here on my line test that there are power level issues on the network. Do you have a router?

CUSTOMER: Right now I'm running the speedtest again. In the meantime, let's talk about mb to kb conversion, shall we? (*mocking laugh of another person in the background*)

TSR: Mr. ___, it shows power level problems on my line test here and we usually fix this with a modem reset. However, I want to know, do you have a router?

CUSTOMER: I don't have a router.

TSR: Because my line test shows a *brand router. Do you mean that you don't have a *brand router?

CUSTOMER: I'm running the speedtest now and it's getting better. I'm now getting a 7.4 mbps download speed. You must be doing something there?!

TSR: I haven't done anything Mr.___. I rechecked my line test and I now show a different connection to the modem. Did you connect your computer directly to the modem?

CUSTOMER: See it's getting better, I'm now getting a 7.6 mb download speed. Are you doing something on your end?

TSR: I haven't done anything. But it shows that a direct connection from the modem to the computer was done. That must be the reason the internet is faster...because the computer is now directly connected to the modem.

CUSTOMER: That's the reason I'm calling! The connection is inconsistent! I've tried bypassing my router...powercycling the modem...That is why we need you to fix this issue and if you are not the person who can help us, then why are we talking to you?!

TSR: Ok, if you have already tried bypassing your router and powercycling the modem and my line test still shows these power level issues, let me get you over to your local office so that they could further assess your lines.

CUSTOMER: What is the local office for? I have a local ____ office just about ___miles across from my house, do you mean that local office?

*OTHER PERSON IN THE BACKGROUND: The connection is inconsistent and then we will be sent to the local office?!

TSR: The local office in *place. They will be the one to further assess your connection and they will determine whether you need to have a technician sent over or your modem replaced.

CUSTOMER: Where are you located?

TSR: I'm in the Philippines.

CUSTOMER: You're in the Philippines? Are you kidding me?

OTHER PERSON IN THE BACKGROUND: The connection is inconsistent, we call to get our problems resolved and a f***ing person from the Philippines is f***ing...

*customer hang up

I just want to let you guys know that people who were born and raised in the Philippines are smart enough to try everything out first before calling for support. Which is why we feel different when we answer calls about very simple things. But that doesn't mean we don't want to provide assistance, especially when we are working for the customer service/technical support industry.

We will be forever grateful to this industry because it's the one that provides food on our tables and other whatnots. But it doesn't mean that we can always swallow all the swearing and racial comments we hear from our customers.

We know how it feels when something about a service fails. But that's not an excuse for bad behavior.

We understand how it sucks that a percentage of jobs that could've been for your own people was sent to our country. But you must also understand that the big companies thought of a lot of aspects before deciding to bring the business here and hire us and not anyone else.

When you feel like bringing hell to your customer service or technical support person, ask yourself this. What are you calling for? You are calling for HELP, aren't you? And help is what we're giving you. It wasn't our fault that the service is not perfect, after all, no service will ever be perfect. We don't just answer calls and get paid. We get scores for the times we satisfy you, for the times our calls were the best, for our knowledge of the services and procedures, for how accurate we documented your concerns and for the time it took for us to resolve your concern. So don't think anyone of us is making it hard for you. There's something called COOPERATION and if you ever took the time to find out what it means, everything will be easier for you and your representative.

And by the way, you must also understand that you will never, EVER, get your maximum provisioned Internet speed. That's just how it is. A lot of factors contribute to your connection speed and if you can't understand that, start thinking about not using the Internet.


your every woman,