Now It Can Be Told

As major differences start to surface, allow me first to tackle the things that "I knew" back then after resigning I will be happy doing without and for some be sad having without. :( They're now sinking in.

(-) No more waking up at 4 AM. Come on, who wants to do this? This is really a pain in the a** for me coz I’m a late sleeper and sometimes an insomniac. Before in college, a 7 AM laboratory class is already considered to be a REAL complaint for me. But after 2.5 yrs of rising at 4, let’s just say that I’m now waking up to sunny skies and clear dispositions. Wehehe

(+) Speedy yet cozy transpo buses. I miss seeing those DNA shuttle buses. I still have lucid memories of how I chase after them in Nagtahan (all hail the latecomer, haha!). You know the thing like, you arrived at the pick-up point just a second too late and then you see the bus slowly leaving after which you put on your Lydia de Vega mode to run after it. If you’re lucky to get in pace with it you knock endlessly ‘til your fist hurt hoping someone inside hears you but in vain. (Much like that Shan Cai and Dao Ming Su scene in Meteor Garden but sans the orange bag, haha!). Aaarrgh! On the other hand, sleeping there in the early morning is a wonderful experience. You’ll need a jacket in order to have a good catch up of your probably-four-or-five-hour rest at home, else you’ll die of cold. There’s also this small chit-chats after work with your so-called "shuttlemates" and there are hundred tales to tell on relationships developed on these situations. :) Speaking of shuttlemates, there’s Glenn and Fely for Calamba, Myk for Cubao and Daisy and Froi for Nagtahan. Forever remembered is Fely’s Hay Naku sigh and yawn in one. So cute and funny. :D

(+) The Urban folks. Intel values diversity in workforce and this is very obvious once you entered the production floor. The production floor..aaah!! This is where I can be in my usual pasaway self. It’s where I can play my mp3s out loud side by side with the machine’s noise. And ok, ok I miss my machine too for crying out loud sake. This is also where I can shout/yell jokingly with the MTEs. There was one who just learned the news the other day, messaged me in Friendster and said they wouldn’t have a muse anymore for the next tournament. Haha! (Quick flashback: His team appointed me as muse last time, gave me the uniform and all, but I didn’t show up on the parade, hehe.) It was also fun making chika with the MS. I truly respect these workers. They’re responsible for all the legwork behind those Intel Centrino, Pentium and Iphone. They’re also my fans (how conceited!), always on the watch for what I wear. Too bad, I wasn’t able to at least donate earrings as souvenir to them. Why earrings? Because it’s the most obvious accessory when you’re garbed in this, err…

Discreetly taking a shot inside the prod floor ( my machine behind ;)

smocks, goggles and ESD shoes; which brings me to my next point.

(-) Dressing. I miss the times when I can just wear anything since no dress code back there. My costume ranges from the casual and carefree unusual dress-down to sexy sporty to ultra corporate to provocative party (superlative eh?). The possibility is endless, like one divided by zero, infinite. It was sort of helpful since I didn’t have to do a 100% wardrobe change for my new work unlike Lisa, hehe. (You may have read the BnW Saga, ‘twas edited you may want to check out.) And now I’m here in a company division in what I perceived to be a Mecca when it comes to fashion and all but I was wrong. They fell quite short of my expectations, a fashionista’s manque. People here don’t even dignify the term corporate. Sorry, I was just disappointed because I have no one to be comfortable with when I’m in my dress..hihi.

(+) The American culture itself. NO time in/out, open door policy, egalitarianism, automated transactions, loose restrictions on network and the value for safety, cleanliness and ergonomics. I emphasized the last 3 ‘coz I’m really seeing a BIG difference in here. Yeah, my old cube may have been messy due to a lot of err boxes containing these machine spare parts and others but cubes here doesn’t compare to that. Back at Intel, employees are pampered with ergonomically positioned office peripherals. It’s a good thing that the engineers’ area here is better than theirs. Whew!

(+) The Intel folks. With this I meant those whom I mingle with in the cubicle/ mezzanine area, the regular shift guys. Of course, Intel hires only the ahern..best. I will definitely miss working with these intelligent, professional, cream-of- the- crop persons of the universities. I know I just have to carry on all the values and bring with me all the things I learned from them in my new workplace. They’re further broken down into:

a) The BI folks. They’re specially mentioned here because they considered me as "adopted" in their group. ;) This group is where Mike, Xtian and previously Lisa belong. Even though not part of the group, they invite me during lunch-outs, the Hot Air experience and their kind treatment towards me. :)

b) The Assembly Guys. Starting from DP, CAM, IHS, Epoxy, BE..blah blah blah.. Miss these guys!! And sure enough, being the Barbie of the organization, how can they ever forget me? ;)

Look for Barbie :)

JP, Sam, Rina, Me and Allen after swimming

c) The CAM folks and the Videoke Sessions. I don’t know if it was quite destined for this group since all the people here specially my boss are SINGERS! Haha. During videoke sessions, they always ask me to spearhead on the videoke and with me not stranger to singing myself, who am I to resist and withhold my world famous rendition of I Will Survive? Wahaha! Yes, they will forever remember me with that song. It was often changed to CAM Will Survive during group presentations. Why? Ahem and double ahem, CAM is the MOST complex process in assembly engineering. And since explaining the process will take me more than 2 sentences, I’ll probably be contented with expounding the acronym, Chip Attach Module.

goofin' around during a teambuiding

c) My NEOmates. NEO is our term for batchmates, short for New Employee Orientation. These are the persons whom you get really close at first because of the 2-week classes training. This is our batch, mostly fresh graduates during that time so you can just imagine the how close we’ve become. And in that batch, only 47% (analytical eh?)are remaining at Intel (or should I say stuck? haha)

The CMO Module Guys in our NEO, further divided into 2: Assembly and Test. When I say module, it actually means Process and Equipment Engineer or must I say the overworked and underpaid? Haha!

Test Folks: Joseph, Joanne, Sheena, Lisa and Gilbert

But in order of resignation, hehe: Sheena, Gerald, Lisa and Joanne, and Gilbert (only Gilbert’s left).

Assembly (Now and Then)

Daisy, Fely, Roy and a very slim me, huhu

After 2.5 years and a probably-10-lb-average later (10 lbs average for all of us, hehe)

totoys and nenengs no more, wehehe
Dec '06 @ Congo Grille, Alabang

d) My Super Friends and Lunch-Outs @ Tagaytay. I don’t know how it boiled down to the four of us (Lisa, Myk and Xtian). But I can still recall that it all started with 7 of us (AJ, Myk, Xtian for boys and Joanne, Pau, Lisa and I for girls). And when I mention these names, I mean the most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes CV1 (our building) has got to offer. Haha! We're forever hitchers in Xtian's Jimny, Mazda 3 and his racing car with the Matonetiks sticker at the back. It's funny for the umpteenth times that we've been there we never got a picture of the four of us. Only this, candidly and sans Xtian.

the usual coffee after lunch guys.. :)

I've sufficiently loaded you guys with pictures. That'll do for now. This can still have a part 2 and I'll be hoping you'll all stay tuned. :)