NU12 by Rachelle Roque, survival bags

Hi Sir,

Here's my 8th NU12 Topic: New Product/product improvement

Sad to say, but the recent typhoon showed how unprepared our country is for disasters. Many properties were damaged, and worst, many lives were lost. I hope this will be a wake-up call for our government to review our preparedness not only for typhoon, but also for other calamities such as earthquake. It's good to know that there are so many people who helped us to recover, but we can't be reactive all the time. We already know that we are in the ring of fire & typhoon path. We can't stop the calamities but we can prevent it to cause such damages. Our government should have a long term plan for this. It's not just about evacuation plan, but making our infrastructure stronger to withstand calamities.

But government is not the sole responsible for preparedness, each of us should do our part. I'm thinking of product that everyone of us should have. It's already given that we should have a survival kit: a bag that contains flashlight, Swiss army knife, first aid kit etc. But I want to make it more functional, like making this bag floatable in water. It's like a survival bag & life vest in one. It can also have a tracker so, it would be easier for families to find each other if they lost on the way. It can also contain a food; but since this survival bag will be stored for a long while, a normal food is not advisable because of spoilage. So, I'm thinking of a space food like food as an alternative. Just enough to give people some energy while waiting for rescue.  

Regards,

Rachelle  3

Please see post on Preppers/survivalists;  we should have course on survival, on disaster management

NU12 by Rachel Roque - new study habit

Hi Sir,

Here's my 12th NU12 Topic: New study habit

It's finals week once again. A time when you see all students busy, cramming for all the requirements. Many would say that we should have started it the day after the professors told us about it, and do it in a gradual way. But honestly, it's not that easy especially if you're juggling between work & school. Being in a grad school is a choice for many of us. We decided to take it to get ahead; it's not like college that seems to be a must. Unlike in college, our parents will not pressure us to go to class everyday and get a high grades. This time, we have more control. It's more of being responsible.

If everything will go well, I will only have 1 subject left + STRAMA for next term. And since I know it would be a tougher term because of STRAMA, I plan to have a more organized study habit. First, I plan to take weekday classes only to free up my weekend. I know I will need my whole weekend to do the paper. I will ensure that I will be able to read the books regularly, unlike what I did in the previous terms wherein I just read the book during Midterms & Finals. I will also read other books, not only the textbook required. For the paper, I plan to set a minimum no. of pages that I have to finish per week so that I will be on track to finish it in one term. I'm also planning to temporary blocked facebook in my laptop so that I will not be tempted to open it whenever I do some research. Also, I will not have travel for 2014 Q1. I will be on the last leg of my MBA, and I'm willing to sacrifice more to finish it. Like what Stephen Covey say: "Happiness can be defined as the fruit of the desire and the ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually." <in other words it stems from discipline>  3

Regards,

Rachelle

NU12 by Rachelle Roque - New Spending Habits

Hi Sir,

Here's my 10th NU12 Topic: Spending Habits

I recently attended a personal financial management seminar in our office. It's titled Pisobilities, facilitated by Colayco Foundation. The speaker discussed the different type of investment such as stocks, bonds, etc; though these things are not new to me because I took up an INVEMA elective in AGSB. But what struck me most is when he said that we should save 20% of our monthly income for investment. I think that sparing 20% of our income is ideal, and it will not be easy for all of us. But it doesn't mean that we can't start investing at all. We can start little by little, maybe start at 5% and make it 10% after a few months, until it reaches 20% or even more. With what's happening around us, we should all learn to save.  And not only to save, but to invest that money to yield more interest; remember that we have to beat the inflation. And here are some simple tips that I think can help us save money:

§  Leave our ATMs, and just bring enough money for daily expenses – this will help us avoid unnecessary expenditures

§  Just have 1 credit card or eliminate it at all – I think having a credit card is good for emergency purposes. Not only that, it can also be a good strategy to float our money for 1 month. If its 0%, then we can take it as opportunity to grow our money through some sort of short-term investments than use that money to immediately pay for our purchase. But we have to be sure to use it responsibly. If we can't control it, better to just deactivate it.

§  Avoid going to Malls when there is Sales or checking in Groupons websites if we don't really have plan to buy everything – Thinking that the item is a good buy because of discounts, sometimes give us a tendency to buy something we don't really need.

§  Book low class hotels when travelling – When we travel, we spend more time on tours than staying in our hotels. So, I think getting a 5-star hotel is not necessary; we can just settle for cheaper ones as long as it's still clean, comfortable & safe.

§  Bring sandwich or cookies when going to the office/school – Snacks in the business districts and school are quite expensive, so it will be cheaper to prepare one in our home.  Mark-up of coffees in coffee shop e.g. Starbucks are really high so if you must, just brew your own in the office or find other alternatives if possible.   3

Regards,

Rachelle

NU12_Professionalism_Roque

Hi Sir,

Here's my 6th NU12 Topic: Professionalism – new work, methods, practices

 

My level n in our company has no time-in/out, don't have late & at the same not entitled for OT pay. But of course we are still required to complete at least 8 hours of duty per day. Our company is in expansion state and it means we have lots of work to do so, it can't really be avoided to extend for long hours most of the time. One of our colleagues, same level as I am, always refuse to extend because he said that he's not paid if its after 5PM. Though it his right, I think it's still wrong.

Being part of the management requires higher sense of responsibility. I think the reason we were given freedom of our time is because we are expected to bring result no matter what. We don't need to be monitored from time to time and check what we are doing every hour, what is important is our output. Going back to my colleague, there's nothing wrong to just work from 8am-5pm if he provides the output needed from him. But the problem is that the works we have now really need so much time; comprising it with a shorter time may result to not so good output.  I think as professional, we should be responsible enough to understand our task . No one will repetitively tell us the things that we need to do, because they know that we should know them already. In work, even if we were already promoted to the position that we want, we should not stop doing our best. Even the person in the highest position can't just be stagnant forever or else, he might lose that position someday. Aside from that, we should also care for our colleagues especially those that belong to our group. They might be affected with our behavior; if someone in the group does not do his part, usually there's no choice but for others to take it. Like what they say, great power comes with great responsibility.  (work attitude is important, love what you do and do what you love)

Regards,

Rachelle

NU12 by Rachelle Roque: Improvement of Mall Parking System

Hi Sir,

Here's my 4th NU12 Topic: What pisses you off at the mall? What do you suggest?

We are all aware how difficult it is to find a vacant parking lot every time we go to malls. Aside from the gas wasted, much of our time is also consumed in just going around looking for a vacant slot. Although valet parking is already available in some malls, not everybody is willing to take it because of high rates & security reasons. I know that some malls are also trying to improve their parking system; like the light sensors installed in MOA, which turn green if the slot is vacant and turn red if occupied.  These help customers to see from afar if there's a vacant slot but still, it requires the customers to go around the parking area to look for a green light.

I think this can be further improved by connecting it to a monitoring device. A TV screen can be placed in the parking entrance showing location of vacant slot, so that customers can just choose from it and advise the parking toll girl to reserve it. It's like choosing our preferred seat when we buy movie ticket. Upon entering the parking are, the customers will already know where to go & will not waste more time.

I also don't agree with the parking rules that management is not liable for any loss or damages on the vehicle while inside the parking area. We had an experience before that our spare tire was stolen while we're inside the mall. We immediately reported it to admin, but they just told us that they can't do about it and it is stated in the parking ticket. Unfortunately, there's also no CCTV in the area. I think it's unfair for the customers. I believed mall owners are earning large amount of money from the parking fees, they should at least make sure that the area is secured. Business should come with responsibility, and I think our lawmakers should look onto it. <the elder and late  Sen. Cayetano looked into this and he kept silent;  there must be been rewards)  3.5

Regards,

Rachelle Irene Roque

SPENTREP-S10

NU12- Proper Thermal Insulation by Rachelle Roque

Here's my 5th NU12 Topic: What pisses you off in your office / what do you think must be done?

We usually get irritated upon entering our office in 5^th floor in the morning because the floor is always wet. Aside from being messy, it's also dangerous because it's slippery.  I think the water comes from the moist built overnight. They turn-off the aircon in the 5^th floor after working hours, and this is when the problem starts. Below our office, 4^th floor is our equipment room. These equipments dissipate so much hit when operating, and to prevent it from overheating, they keep the aircon there open 24 hours. Temperature in 4^th floor is usually below 20° Celsius, while the room temperature in 5^th floor becomes normal, around 26° Celsius after turning-off the aircon. And since temperature in 5^th is hotter than 4^th floor, condensation happens resulting to water droplets in the floor.

One way to address is to make an earlier shift for the janitorial services. It would be better if they start to clean 

the area as area as possible and finish prior to employees arrival at around 7AM onwards. After mopping the 

floor, they can request to turn-on the aircon so that moist will not be built again. But this is just an interim; 

proper building design should be done to address the problem permanently. One way to do this is to put 

thermal insulator in the ceiling of the 4^th floor. This is to control the cold air pass through 5^th floor thus, 

removing the moisture 

 3.5<that is being observant.  Are you an ME,:you should make a good building adminsitrator>

Regards,

Rachelle

NU12 Improvement on school Enrollment by Rachelle Roque

Hi Sir,

Here's my 3rd NU12 Topic: What pisses you off at the school? What must be done?

Every enrollment period, I can't help myself in getting annoyed with school system. The school website always goes down at the peak of enrollment day; maybe because of the large number of students accessing it. So I think it's time for the school  to upgrade their server or have a back-up one. Given that the school  know the number of old students & the list of students that passed the entrance exam, they can have an estimate of how many students will enroll and they should adjust & prepare the capacity of their server.

Another problem is that when the server went down in the morning, the students can't do anything but to wait. Although, there's an update in the FB page sometimes, there's no one for students to talk to yet because the school  office is still close and students have to wait until 12nn. We know that most students of school, if not all, are working and we can't just stay all day refreshing the website to check if it's already up. So, I suggest that school  should have a special office hour during the enrollment period; staff should also be available once the online enrollment opens at 8am. This is not only to give update when the server goes down, but also to immediately address students query & request in opening a subject. I think it would also be better if there's already pre-assigned subjects for every students. The student can just change it in case he/she doesn't like it, but at least there's an assurance that all student has an available subject for the term.

Next is on payment system. Even though school  allows online payment through some banks, students still need to go to the branch to enroll the account. I think it would be better for the students if school can make the online payment directly available in the online enrollment. school  can have a same system that used in purchasing products online. With this, students can just pay using credit card or debit card online and enrollment will be less hassled.

Additional improvement is to create a system that will notify students through email or SMS whenever there's an update on students school  account e.g. new grades, messages from the registrar. So that, students won't need to check it from time to time.  (Puede bang maging consultant ng registrar, or IT assistant)

3.5

Regards,

Rachelle Irene Roque

SPENTREP-S10