Travel Tips: A Poor Girl's Guide

Being on a budget should not stop you from traveling all across the globe, visiting breathtaking sites to feed your wanderlust. Savvy Jet-setting frugal travelers strike the perfect balance and bring just what they need, with a little help from this list of road-tested packing tips, of course!

Pack appropriately

Dress for Activities or functions you will be attending.  If you are going to a place which requires a lot of heavy activity, work boots and jeans and shirts would be in order. If you are travelling to attend a formal function or meeting, a costume may be in order. If you are teaching and training inside a church, you might need more conservative and modest clothing. Find out what kinds of activities you will be doing there. This will help you know what to pack. Generally, you will need comfortable shoes at some point in your trip. Don't dress for fashion; be practical.

Pack Smart

Store footwear and heavy items along the luggage’s wheel base. Fill shoes with socks or bulky items that would fit, and then put them in individual bags, with the soles facing the sides of the suitcase. Rest other heavy items, like a flat iron, hair dryer and a toiletry kit, next to or on top of shoes. Placing heavy items near the wheels stabilizes the bag’s center of gravity, so it won’t topple over when upright. Make use of empty spaces such as shoes. When it comes to packing, you need to make use of every little space you can. Roll underwear, tops, and other small items and stuff them into your shoes to make sure every possible space is filled.

Foolproof Packing

Line the bottom of the inside of your baggage with a plastic trash bag. After you’ve packed, add another one on top of it. This helps ward off wrinkles because of the bag’s slippery surface; folded clothes don’t stay in one place long enough for creases to set. Plus, if your suitcase is off-loaded from the airplane in the rain, your clothes won’t get drenched. To avoid stains, always make sure your light colored clothes are packed inside out, and keep the disposable shower caps from hotels and use them to cover the base of your shoes.  Allocate one sack for your cosmetics, another for hair products, and one for skin-related items. Place the bags in the side corners of your suitcase or in a zippered outside pocket.

Keep it Dry

Solid shampoo bars and tooth powder instead of paste can easily be found on the internet and make carry-on travel in these times of liquid restriction possible. Places similar to Beijing now prohibit all liquids in carry-on bags, and you'll still be able to go through checks without the hassles. The liquid restriction does not apply air-side, so purchase anything you will need in larger amounts once you have gone through security.

Luggage Scales anyone?

This is the secret weapon to assist you in not getting charged unnecessary fees at the airport. Invest in a luggage scale and make sure you weigh your bags on both ends of your journey to see how close you are to reaching the weight limit. If you're on the brink of the limit, consider wearing some of the bulkier items or cut down on what you pack in the first place.

To Roll or to Fold, that is the question

By some means it seems that bags will hold a lot more if the clothes are rolled rather than folded. If you roll in paper, the clothes will also get less wrinkled. Roll softer garments and fold clothes with stiffer materials. Underwear, T-shirts, cotton pants, jeans, and knitwear won’t wrinkle when rolled tightly. Stiffer fabrics blazers, such as starched cotton shirts, dressy pants, and skirts, should be carefully folded.

Ladies Remember!

To avoid your pressed powder or shadows from cracking during your travel, put a flat cotton pad in between the pressed powder and the lid. 

Stow inexpensive pieces of jewelry in a seven day plastic pillbox. If you must take precious gems, wear them during your travels to reduce the possibility of loss or theft.

Opt for travel-size multi-purpose products. Like a tinted-moisturizers that can be used as foundation or tints for the lips and cheeks, a soap, and shampoo in one, and wipes that clean hands and face.

10 Reasons your Business Should Use Pay Per Click Advertising

There might be many times when you wondered if some online advertising would benefit your business. Here are 10 reasons why:

1) There are people out there looking for your service right now

People actively use Google to look for products or services and they use terms that clearly indicate the intent to perform a purchase. Being in front of these potential users is essential to the success of your business. Make sure to have a website that is set up to generate leads and not just a few badly optimized pages.

2) Your competitors are advertising right now

Check any keyword related to your products or services and you will certainly see competitors bidding on them. If you see them bidding over time it most certainly means that they are actually generating sales and that you are missing out on potential leads.

3) Pay per Click is one of the fastest ways to generate results

Pay per click is much more different than any other form of advertising. You will be able to see the impact on your bottom line right away. Even though it can generate a lot of indirect sales and long term word of mouth, you should be able to see an impact on the short term as well. This means that you can test a small amount of money and find out if it is worth pursuing it.

4) It is a great way to support offline advertising

Online and offline advertising get well along together. Many studies from Google have shown that a lot of offline sales were due to people visiting an online store first. This also implies that you need to make it clear to your customers where they can find you in case they prefer to first see what they buy.

​5) It is extremely targeted

Traditional marketing means end up targeting general users and not very targeted segments. Pay per click allows you to target people that are very likely to be interested in your product and therefore your marketing budget will be used way more effectively.

6) You are seen by active customers

The nice thing about AdWords is that you can target people while they are looking for a specific keyword. This means that you target active buyers and not people that are browsing the web for any other reason.

7) You only pay only for site visitors

This is one of the biggest advantage since it tells us that we are going to pay only when a person actually visits our website. You will not pay for people looking at the ad but only when they actually decide to find out more about your business

8) It is highly flexible

You will be able to spend as little or as much as you wish but also customize the campaigns accordingly to the results you will be getting.

9) It can be scaled up quickly

Are you getting good results? You will be able to scale the campaigns fast! This is a great plus because you can start slow but improve performance strongly once you figure out what works for you!

10) You can do it yourself

Are you the kind of person that would like to keep marketing in house? No problem! Pay per click is made in a way that you can get up and running relatively soon. You can then work with an agency for tune ups or improve some aspects of the account

How to Write a Letter of Appeal when your Organization is not following Due Process

I have been unable to write for the longest time. I finally had an opportunity to do so and do a piece about something based on my personal experience. I have previously helped a lot of friends who needed to write letters in response to NTEs from their companies and employers, but never did I imagine that a similar form of document will be needed by someone who joined a non-profit volunteer organization. Due to my character of not being able to remain mum while acts of inequity are being committed, I will be sharing with you a sample letter I made for my self to appeal an outrageously blatant disregard for due process and common sensibilities. To put it bluntly I will never allow myself to fall victim to any actions made devoid of normal native intelligence.  

June 17, 2015

Rolando Roberto

President

Rotary Club of Orani

Dear Sir,

It has come to my attention that a complaint letter against me was submitted with the recommendation for my termination as a member of this club. Additionally, there was also a meeting organized by a few members with the inclusion of the person who initiated the complaint and the said meeting’s agenda was to discuss the reason for my termination facilitated by the complainant.

I would like to inform you that I will not acknowledge any complaint letter which is not in accordance to the Constitution and By Laws of the Rotary Club of Orani. There are provisions in the constitution that dictates what the due process is in the event in which the membership of a person can and may be terminated under Article 12 Duration of Membership, Section 5 -- Termination -- Other Causes. Attached to this letter is a copy of the said item in our constitution for your reference and adherence.

I would like to express that the act of conducting a meeting wherein only a select few were invited by the complainant and where she was allowed to sway and manipulate the opinion of those who attended and in the end made a complaint letter pretending as if it represents a complaint of the whole club against my person, is not fair and does not conform with our constitution. Not only is this not the appropriate way of handling our member’s grievance it is also biased as the complainant was free to present her case while the other party was not present and was unable to defend their selves against any of the accusations raised. This meeting is unfairly prejudiced as only one case in an argument was heard.

This not only insults the integrity of our organization but also the intellect of its members. I request that the proper procedure be followed in handling the complaint of one of our members and that the people who were in attendance on the meeting in question be informed that any document created from that meeting is null and void due to it being adverse to what was stipulated in our constitution which are the fundamental and entrenched rules governing the conduct of our club.

Yours Truly,

Sood V. Ali Jr.

Director of Public Relations

Mean Quotes Vol.1

We sometimes have to vent out when altercations brings us much frustration. Social Media is often a channel used by many to accomplish this and there is much debate as to whether its appropriate or not. I sometimes am guilty of pouring my heart out and posting status updates regarding how I feel either to ingratiate, allude or downright call out someone who has gotten me aggravated. Often I would try to look for quotes to cite on the web but fail to find anything that would cursorily express what I wanted to convey. Being a person who wishes to communicate my anger as articulately as I can, I would often craft my status updates as eloquently succinct and nefarious as possible. 

Here are a few of them:

"Don't count other people's money, it only shows how far below the social strata you came from.''

''I don't want friendships with people who makes me feel like I'm playing a chess match with Garry Kasparov, life is too short to squander on the inane.''

''I wish you distal limited necrosis on your most treasured parts.''

"Your facebook wall is riddled with bible verses and yet you blatantly parade your adulterous ways for everyone to see... talk about contradictions."

''Cross me and you'll be in dire need of a Kevlar vest.'' 

''Is so tempted to pull an Uma Thurman and samurai your scalp off.''

"There is only a finite number of times one can piss me off before I cross them out of the list of people I pay attention to."

                                           

How To Answer A Notice To Explain

Employment is a means of achieving the capacity to provide for you and your family, it secures one’s social status and it’s the only way for me to buy SHOES! Regular employment from the respective companies we report to have been attained through blood, sweat and tears. It’s the culmination of one’s educational attainment and various acquired life experiences. It’s the patiently falling in line in an endless queue on a job fair; the barrage of tests that needs to be passed; the stern dissection of your whole being in the final interview and the occasional drama of locating the company’s office for the geographically challenged. Simply put, we worked are arse off in securing our employment and when a threat of losing it arises we must by all means do what is necessary to fight for it.

In situations where in an alleged violation is committed by an employee and an impending dismissal is at bay, every person is entitled to the Twin Requirements of Due Process, Substantive and Procedural.  The Twin Requirement of Notice and Hearing is essential to be present since if any crucial step is missed out or if you’re being simply bullied by a superior who’s coping with childhood issues of being picked-on due to her weight, one can file a complaint to The National Labor and Regulations Commission (NLRC). This writing focuses on pointers in writing a reply to a notice to explain:

1. Answer all points raised. Some superiors have NTEs in templates and ready to be issued as soon as they find someone to pick on which may result to a person having an NTE with multiple allegation against company policies that may not have relation to the actual misdemeanor.
2. Enumerate the pertinent allegations that you were accused of and rebut every single one.
3. Explain it clearly. Promotion is not always based on skill and intelligence, the person who maybe the one who will read and decide on your faith may not have the common sense to understand your side right away.
4. Recount what transpired
5. Include specifics like the date the NTE was issued and when the infraction was committed etc.
6. A clear conscience alone will not suffice, werk it…werk!
7. Include names of people who can vouch for you, if there are people who can attest to your innocence include their names so the panel can validate with them the veracity of your defense. You may want to hold off including people who wouldn’t mind not seeing you around in the workplace.
8. Be humble. It may be extremely tempting to cuss out on everyone’s hypocrisy but you can keep that to yourself in the meantime. Let karma deal with them.
9. Apologize for whatever mistakes you may have committed.
10. Sight your plan on improving or correcting your shortcomings in order to be an impeccable employee, you don’t really have to do it in the end but it’s the thought that counts.

Sample of a reply to an NTE;

This is in answer to the alleged violation of the Code of Discipline issued to me on January X, 20XX. I understand the impact to our customers and to the business as a whole, the severity of the violations alleged in my Notice to Explain. In regards to the customers concern, she was calling about an old number that she wanted to use on her account. The customer was frustrated due to a misinformation provided to her by a representative on a previous call she made to customer care. She used to belong to a different account where she was an authorized user and having activated a new account of her own, she now requested for the temporary number on her current account to be replaced by the old number on her previous account. She was informed that her previous number can be used on her account by a representative and a ticket was even submitted on her behalf. The said request was in turn declined by the XXXXXXXXXXXX. I provided the correct information to the customer by informing her that the number that she was requesting to be used in her current account cannot be replaced until her temporary number has been active for more than 60 days. I am not guilty of providing inaccurate statements and I have remained compliant with the policies stipulated in XXXXXXXXXXXX in order to provide the correct information to the customer. (see XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX). I understand the importance of providing a supervisor to the customer as soon as they ask for one but unfortunately at the time of the call there was no one available to take my call. My immediate supervisor was unavailable as well for me to endorse my call to him which left me unable to transfer the customer to anyone. The customer asked which department handles Number Transfers which I provided the information to her accordingly. The Customer then asked to be transferred to that specific department and the call ended. Moving forward I will work on improving my tone so as not to come across as condescending. I maintain that I do not intend to be rude to the customer. I will further work on improving my call handling skills in order to be in line with the company’s goals. I have exhausted all of my tools and resources to provide quality service to the customer and it is just unfortunate that no one was available for me to endorse the escalation to and the customer asked to be transferred to a different department anyway.I will strive to make every customer interaction the best possible experience to them since it reflects the type of service and value XXXXXXX gives to their customers. Being a frontline representative I understand that I represent the client and I promise to work hard in order to provide exceptional service in every call I receive. I will continue to acknowledge the customer's problem and work with the tools I’m provided to provide resolution. My aim is to overcome customer objections, build rapport and take ownership.