Additional Help

Our boss gave us a late Christmas gift by announcing that he’ll be hiring an additional staff in our department. That’s a very welcoming news considering that my online game-playing time had been reduced to just 2 hours ever since Zal resigned 2 months ago (just kidding, boss).

A friend of mine from the HR department told me that she already received 22 applications for the position. I asked her if she’ll be able to process them before I go to Vancouver next month for a business meeting. She said that she might not be able to since she expects around 20 more applications by next week.

Paul and I offered to help her by conducting the background checks on the applicants. We even boasted that we could process all applications within a few hours since we could easily investigate on them online. She hasn’t said yes yet, but I’m sure we’ll be getting her nod once the additional application forms come in.

Misplaced Skepticism?

The winter chill is slowly disrupting my everyday routine. I usually park my car several blocks away from our office building so that I could brisk walk my way to the office. Now, I park it inside the building parking space since I can’t stand the cold winds outside.

I surfed the Web yesterday for possible solutions on how to keep electricity bills down due to extensive heater use. As you may have already noticed, I’m really not used to “refrigerator” temperatures. I think I should’ve been born in a tropical country.

I found a forum where people contributed ideas on how they managed to keep the numbers in their electricity bills down. One guy claimed that he installed an energy-saving gadget. I forgot the name of the equipment. I was really skeptical about his claims and with the gadget that that I didn’t bother to write the details of his post. I think I’m going to regret that. I should’ve conducted a background check on him first to see if most of his claims about himself are true. Maybe he’s really telling the truth. I usually pass off such posts as advertisements. I’ll try to look for that forum again tomorrow.

Counting Gifts

It’s 9 in the morning and everybody’s still snoring. Am I the only here who’s excited in opening up the presents under the tree?

Everybody in the house got more than 10 presents this Christmas. We had a gift drought last year. My sister received only 5, while I got only 4. I received a lot of fruitcakes from my officemates though, but I don’t count them as presents.

My sister (again) has the most number of gifts this year. I’m curiously shaking each box that has her name on it. Who are they from? I have many friends than her, but she always ends up having more presents than me.

If she’s still not up by 10, I’ll do a background check on each of her benefactor to know who they are and where they’re from. She’ll be in for a lot of teasing if I find out that some of her gifts are from her former boyfriends.

Am I being too childish? Maybe I should just go back to bed.

Nanny Claus

I’m sure you all know that Christmas is not just about presents and bright lights. It’s also about elves and reindeers. Just kidding.

Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of the greatest Gift that God has given to us. Of course, this occasion is best celebrated with one’s family. Unfortunately, there are some people who can’t be with their loved ones on this special day due to work-related matters.

I’m sure that it’s hard for parents to leave their children to relatives, or worse, to nannies on Christmas day. If I’ll be forced into such a situation, I’ll definitely leave my child to my parents or to my sister because I’m sure that they’ll take very good care of him or her. If this is not possible though, then I have to make sure that the nanny is a very trustworthy one.

It’s quite difficult to trust people nowadays, and I’m sure you’re very much aware of that. If you’re forced to hire a nanny to look after your child during the holidays, make sure that you thoroughly screen her first by conducting an extensive background check.

Singing to the Tune of $10

I found an interesting letter in my mailbox two days ago. It’s actually a solicitation letter from the basketball team of our parish. The players are asking if I could donate a few dollars for their uniforms next year. In exchange, they will sing 10 Christmas songs in the party that I’ll be hosting on the 23rd.

I know some of the players. I’ll gladly give a few bucks to their cause. However, I’m not sure if I’ll let them sing on my party. Half of the team can’t even get the beat of their pre-game chants right (just kidding, guys).

There’s another group who sent me a similar letter last week. I’m not sure if they’re legit, though. I’m sure many of you have already received letters asking for donations. I’m quite skeptical whenever I’m asked for donations by somebody or some organization that I’m not really familiar with. I guess I have to run a background check on them first before opening my wallet.

Nameless Giver

Seven days to go before Christmas. Although I’m sure that I won’t be receiving any toy next week, I’m still excited as to what’s in store for me under the tree.

A few years ago, I received a gift from a person that I didn’t know. I wasn’t even able to meet the guy who sent me the present. Although he wrote his name on the small note that came with the box, he didn’t provide much detail as to who he is or where he is from.

According to the short letter, the gift was just a token of his family’s gratitude for the recommendation that I’ve made on behalf of his son. I can’t remember any incident or time wherein I was asked by somebody for a recommendation or referral. Could it be that he might have mistaken me for somebody else?

I ran a background check on the person who sent the gift. The results provided me with 23 persons having such name in the city. I didn’t dare to broaden my search to include every person bearing the same name in the state since I’m sure that I’ll be provided with an unmanageable number. If only I had his address or other personal details. That would’ve surely narrowed down the list.

I called 19 of the 23 that appeared on the results page of my background check. None of them knew me. The other four weren’t at their residences at that time.

I’m still wondering as to who could that person be.

Lusting for a New Mobile Phone

Many of the stores in my favorite mall are going on sale. I don’t know if that’s a good strategy. Christmas is just 10 days away and everybody will be in a buying frenzy regardless of the numbers that are printed in the price tag.

Unfortunately, the shop which sells digital cameras and mobile phones realized this and has not put up a “25% off” sign on their window. Somebody at the office bought the new Samsung phone last week which has a TV-out function. I’ve been infatuated with the unit ever since.

Mobile phones weren’t a hitter in my Christmas list 10 years ago. There were many concerns about cloning during that time. My cousin Andy used his phone only once, but got the shock of his life when 12 calls to Minnesota appeared on his phone bill.

Operators have since improved the security features of their networks. My line is already 7 years old and I’ve yet to experience any identity or account theft incident that Andy sustained about a decade ago. My operator has a good track record. I’ve already run a background check on it and I’ve found out that it hasn’t been the subject of any complaint yet regarding cloning.

The Person Behind the Blog

I’m quite surprised at how people easily open up to strangers through their blog pages. Although I post blogs frequently, I usually omit very personal details.

I sometimes love prying into the lives of others by peeking through their blogs. There are those who are very discreet, revealing nothing except their penname. However, there are those who bare it all.

I’m sure that majority of the bloggers know the peril of publishing sensitive information on the Internet. However, many are still including their addresses, birth dates, complete name, and telephone number on their online profile page. Sometimes I wonder if the details that they’re publishing are true or fictitious.

Maybe I might conduct a background check on some of the persons whose blogs I usually visit. Who knows, their real lives and actual personal circumstances might be more interesting than the ones they are purporting to have.

Good Business Practice

I don’t know why many people ask me to be their business partner. Maybe they’re deceived by my well-pressed suit. But it’s not even an Armani.

I’ve turned down every offer since I don’t have the time nor the money yet to put up a business. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t want to be involved in any money-making venture. On the contrary, I’m planning to build a small company of my own, although I still have no idea as to the type of business that I would want to go in.

Putting up a business costs a lot. I’m sure I won’t be able to form one alone. Having a business partner is imperative nowadays.

Many have close family members or friends for business partners. I think I won’t be deviating from such trend or practice. But if they’re unwilling to put up a small company with me, then I’ll have to consider complete strangers for the undertaking. Of course, I’ll have to conduct a thorough background check on them in order to make sure that my money won’t go down the drain.

Kareem's Apprentice

I hope you’re a Laker fan because this article is all about the purple and gold team.

I’ve been a rabid Laker fan since I first saw Magic Johnson threw that no-look pass to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when they were playing against the Celtics during the 1986 NBA Finals. It was always showtime at the Forum during the years when the two basketball icons were still playing together.

It took several years after Kareem’s retirement before the Lakers had another dominant center. I’m sure he needs no introduction. Shaq muscled his way through opponents, netting 20+ points per game and giving the Lakers 3 NBA championships. His stint with the most famous Western Conference club didn’t last long as he opted to go to Miami.

Just when things were starting to crumble again in the middle for the Lakers, a teenager coming straight out of High School joined the club. He was virtually inexistent last season, but he’s already making a name for himself this year.

Andrew Bynum is a young 7-footer who has recently been a consistent contributor to the Lakers’ scoreboard. I don’t know much about him. As I’ve said, he was virtually unknown last year. All I know is that he’s been training under the guidance of Kareem. I haven’t conducted a background check on him yet. I hope I’ll be able to get more information on how he came about to be a basketball player. While he’s steadily earning more minutes from Coach Phil Jackson, Kobe and Lamar Odom are still the favorites of the press when it comes to post game interviews.

7 Habits

I recently bought Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” I’m sure many of you have already read this. I’ve been planning to buy this book since last year, but my heavy workload and procrastination (see the need) have kept me from visiting my favorite bookstore.

I haven’t finished the book yet, but it has already made a small but positive impact on the way I see things. I used to think self-help books make people do impossible things. I even sarcastically say to myself whenever I flip though the pages of these type materials that the authors are probably not content with their lives, so they decided to tinker with those of others’.

I hope that I’ll be able to learn something valuable or worthwhile from this book. I don’t know much about the author. I haven’t conducted a background check on him yet. I hope he’s not one of those who offer quick fixes. The last thing that one needs for his problems is a band-aid solution.