Practicing Dog Groomer

Saturdays were usually my time to bathe my 2 dogs. It usually takes me 2-3 hours to fully groom my shih-tzu, that includes bath, comb and brushing, de-matting, toothbrush, nail clipping, ear cleaning and a little hair clipping.
Last saturday, despite my husband's resistance, I decided to cut my shih-tzu's hair a little bit short. Since it is summer, and her hair is really long and difficult to maintain lately. See my her pics sporting a full groom look:

I used an ordinary hair clipper. It worked for her, though I know a dog clipper still do the job best. I cut her hair in body about 3/4" long. Not too short since my husband might run amok to see his favorite dog almost shaved to the skin, hehe.
I concentrated on her face and head. I cut her facial hair and trimmed it in a round shape, so she looked like a puppy again. See my finished product:

Adorable, she looked like Dora (the explorer).

Beatles Rockband Experience

My brother was pestering me the other day, asking me to let him use my credit card to buy the Beatles Rockband set for PS3, which he believes is the last set currently being sold here in Manila.

He just doesn't have the cash ready to purchase the set. Being a beatles fanatic since he was 10, he was racing to get the last piece by hook or by crook.

So being the goody goody sister that I was, I agreed to meet him in SM North Annex. The last pair was in iTech shop.

It cost Php 14,500. The set includes the PS3 CD, Ringo starr's trademark Ludwig drum kit, a microphone with a mic stand, and a hofner guitar (paul mccartney's guitar, coined as "beatle bass").

My husband playing the Hofner Guitar

My brother in Ludwig Drum kit

You can also buy separately a Rickenbacker guitar (the one used by John Lennon), but I am not sure where it is currently available in the Philippines, if it is. But Beatles rockband can be played using other rockband instruments you currently have.

I tagged along when they went home to try the game. They assembled the drums set, the mic and guitar, played the game, and we had a blast.

There were 40+ beatles songs to be played, some needs to be unlocked by finishing the story mode(just like other rockband and guitar hero games).

I was impressed with the graphics of the game. They look like the real videos of the band (yah I've been watching a lot of those because of him).

I never got bored watching the videos while my brother and my husband enjoyed playing the game (even my husband was not much of a beatles fan).

This one is a really nice collector's item for a hardcore beatles fan.

Have fun mystery shopping!!!

Want to earn by sharing your customer experience? Then you can work while having fun by being a secret shopper.

Yes, there is such a thing as a mystery shopper. And I was one of those who landed this part-time job since last month.

Mystery shopping services are used by some companies as a customer research to improve customer relationship and gauge the level of customer service their business provides, in a customer perspective.

Mystery shoppers discretely shop while taking note of a lot of things, and evaluate the service provided by the company. The customer experience report are then sent online completing some sort of customer survey.

What does it take to be a mystery shopper?

A mystery shopper must be organized, keen and objective. He/She must be good in remembering details, and able to express the observations well in writing.

Most importantly, never ever say that you are a mystery shopper, even if the staff asked you so.

How to become a mystery shopper?

I registered as a secret shopper in Philippines through Satisfind. Satisfind is a Filipino-owned company which is a member of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA).

After completing the online form, Satisfind will send email offering you a mystery shopping assignment. You can decide whether you would accept or decline the assignment.

You will be asked your preferred area to mystery shop, as well as your preferred schedule.

After your secret shop, you are given 18hrs to submit your report online. Token fee amounting to Php500 will be deposited on your bank account after your report has been reviewed and accepted by the Project manager.

The Php500 token fee includes the reimbursement of the product/food consumed during your mystery shop job, regardless of how much it cost. It will be deposited to you 20 days after your report has been accepted.

I completed 2 mystery shopping assignments under satisfind, and already received the token fee just today. It took them more than 20 days to deposit my token fee, but at least they did at the time they told me they would (May 19).

Other free mystery shopping sites include Bare international, where you are being paid in euros, though I haven't completed any mystery shopping assignments for this company because I haven't completed 1 of the 2 exams they require.

But a lot has testified that Bare is legit. I will try this as soon as I finished the pending exam.

Web Content Filtering using OpenDNS

Having control over websites which can be accessed using your network is important for most Internet Café Owners. Adult-related sites, for example, should be blocked on internet café network as to prevent minors from accessing the site. Media downloading are also blocked since such sites causes network lag.

Through the advice of my brother who has been into the Internet business for more than six years, I used OpenDNS for my internet filtering needs in our own shop. You don’t need to install anything to use this internet blocker. You just need to register your public IP address.

Create an account on http://www.blogger.com/goog_461021311 

  

 Sign up under OpenDNS basic

  After creating your account, click on the dashboard settings to add your network:

  Set the web content filtering on the added network.

 

Scrolling down, you can also manually add sites that you want to be blocked ALWAYS:

After saving your changes, you must configure your router by replacing your default DNS with the following DNS:

Primary DNS:           208.67.222.222

Secondary DNS:         208.67.220.220

Also, change the DNS server addresses (under TCP/IP settings) in all computers in the network:

You may now test your settings. All computers connected in the configured router will now make use of the webfilter settings in the openDNS.

Fire Drill Friday

A couple of days before Friday, I have already planned to arrive the office earlier than I used to, because I need to leave earlier as well.
So I did at 9:30AM. But before entering the office, I noticed a big banner with “DRILL ON-GOING” written on it. I was a bit hesitant to get inside the building because I was thinking that a fire evacuation drill might take place shortly, but still did proceeded, thinking it might be for other company (not ours). And that decision made my weekend… awful.

I got at my desk approximately 5minutes after I entered the building and joined a conference call with people in US shortly. After 10 minutes, the fire alarm rung. Though we stressed with the security personnel, who was asking everyone in the floor to evacuate through the fire exit, the importance of the call we are currently having, we were still not excused from the fire drill procedures. So we have to take the fire exit. The best part? My office is located on the 15th floor of the building. That meant we took 30 flight of stairs (yes, 2 flight of stairs per floor) to get out of the building. Isn’t it great? Mind you, we were located on 25th floor before we moved to 15th floor. And I have also participated in a fire drill before by taking 50 flight of stairs down to the exit. That’s why I said 15th floor is better than 25th floor.

As soon as I exited the building, I decided to go straight to the mall to buy my early lunch. When I got back, there were heavy lines on all elevators, since all people got out because of the fire evacuation.
But the part I hate the most with fire drills? My legs were so painful the next day, as if I have a pair of dumbbells pounding my muscles, more painful that doing a thousand reps of leg press. And until now, I still mind the pain.