Plurk topic: Ano age mo nung tinuli ka?

Hahaha…

I posted this topic sa Plurk yesterday morning.

And I know that it is one of the forbidden questions that should not be discussed openly. Especially if it is on the web.

But, I was quite surprised when a lot of guy Plurkers responded to this topic.

Majority of them got circumcised between the age of 10 to 12. Which is pretty normal here in the Philippines.

Most of the boys are being circumcised in this age bracket in preparation to entering the high school years.

Anyways, I never really got to experience the tuli, per se, for I was circumcised right after I was born.

Thank God, that I was not able to experience the humiliation and the agony of going through such a procedure.

Which I think, circumcision, is really not that necessary or a big deal at all.

Barkers/Drivers, I hate!

Para makapunta ako sa work ko, kailangan ko sumakay ng multi-cab sa may Baclaran na byaheng Mall of Asia. Since, nasa tabi lang naman M.O.A. yung building kung saan ako nag wo-work.

Kagabi, habang nagpupuno yung multi-cab, umepal yung barker na umusog daw ako at yung ibang mga pasahero para may makasakay pa na iba. Pang-waluhan daw kasi yung mga upuan. Syempre, since gusto ko na din mapuno yung cab, umusog ako. Pati nga yung ibang pasahero, nagsiusugan din para may makaupo pa na iba.

Eh nung sumakay yung isang pasahero, napansin ata nya na medyo masikip na, kaya bumaba na lang siya. Ayun, emepal yung barker na bilang na daw nila talaga yung upuan. At pang-waluhan daw talaga yun. Kaya pinlit nya kami na umusog pa. Nag panting tenga ko at nung ibang pasahero.

Sabi ko “manong, pano kung may 5 matataba na sumakay dito, pagkakasyahin nyo pa ba ang 8 pwet sa upuan kahit obvious nang hindi kasya?”.

Ang sagot nung gagong barker “bilang na po kasi namin yan, walo talaga kasya dyan. pag hindi walo nakaupo sa bawat hilera, mag a-abono kami dun sa lamesa (yung bilihan ng parang tiket nila)”.

Putangina nya! Napa-iling na lang yung ibang pasahero sa tinuran nung ubod nang tangang barker.

At nung tig-waluhan na sa magkatapat na upuan. Sinabihan namin yung barker na pati yung bubong, lagyan nila ng pasahero.

Paksyet talaga! Sobrang sikip. May ilan kasing medyo “malusog” na nakasakay din.

Hindi naman sa ayaw ko sa “malusog” na tao. Nakaka-badtrip lang talaga yung mga barker at driver minsan na hindi ata tumantiya kung magkakasya pa yung mga pasahero. At talagang sapilitan na pagkakasyahin yung hindi na talaga kasya sa upuan. Kung hindi pa sumakto dun sa tantiyado nilang pasahero, hindi pa aandar yung jeep/cab.

Hay, bwiset talaga!

Oh, well. Dito lang sa Pilipinas meron nyan.

Medicare Provider Number: Humana clients says “what?”

Wow.

I asked our trainor for the day (Monday), Lee, regarding the Medicare Provider Number. She put it in the “parking lot” to get some answers, for she has no idea what it is.

After lunch, she informed me that she asked the American trainors regarding the Medicare Provider Number, and the American trainors told her that they have no idea whatsoever about my question.

Lee stated that in front of the whole class.

And I was like “duh, are you saying that I made the Medicare Provider Number all up?”.

WHAT THE FREAKING FUCK!?!

I was a claims specialist, part of the Claims Resolution Team from my previous healthcare account.

Some claims were or are being denied for not having a Medicare Provider Number.

Now, the Medicare Provider Number is commonly known as the National Provider Identifier or N.P.I. number.

I was absolutely perplexed, not to mention humiliated in front of the class, after Lee answered my question regarding the aforementioned Medicare Provider Number.

Also adding that, the American trainors has been with Humana for years now, and that they have not ever heard of it.

Again… WHAT THE FUCKING HELL!?!

I talked to providers before, and they are all aware of the Medicare Provider Number. Unless, they are not Medicare provider.

Which, I would like to add that the Medicare Provider Number is not just a jargon within my previous healthcare account.

Oh, well. Maybe they are just feigning ignorance.

My Locker

Yehey! I finally have a locker!

When I was in Advance Contact Solutions, kailangan pang mag-apply ng request para magka-locker. And since wala naman akong masyadong gamit na dinadala and naitatakas ko sa guard yung bag ko at naipapasok sa loob ng floor, I did not bother to request for one.

Nung nasa TeleTech Bacoor naman ako, walang lockers. Meron lang stupid baggage counter, na kailangan pang pumila para lang ma i-deposit ang mga gamit. Mabuti sana kung mabilis ang crew sa baggage counter, kaso HINDE! Kumusta naman ng overbreak nyan. And dahil nga pasaway ako, tinatakas ko na lang yung bag ko papuntang floor. LOL!

Good thing dito sa ACS of the Philippines, kailangan lang mag-submit ng susi and voila… instant locker na! Yehey!

And, since ma-epal ako, kinunan ko ng pic yung locker ko at i ba-blog ko. LOL!

my very own, locker#57

In review: Product Specs Training Week 1

06/21/2009 05:30

Our product specs training for Humana started last Monday, June 15th of 2009.

I was kind of surprised to know that we were going to have 3 trainors: Ian, Van and Lee. Each will take turn teaching the class in a per day basis. For example, Ian on Monday, Van on Tuesday and Lee on Thursday. Get the idea?

Anyways, these three in-house trainors for Humana are also newbies. According to Van, they are part of Wave 1. And handling our class (Wave 2.1) was their first assignment.

Along with them are American trainors, who are here to facilitate and observe how the local trainors would handle the training and to certify them (local trainors).

Ok. Each trainor has their own strengths and weaknesses. I am not going to discuss what those are, especially the weaknesses, as much as I want to enumerate them. I mean, we still have like 4 to 5 weeks of training. So, I will be observing their way of teaching for the weeks to come.

Just to summarize things up, training went smoothly. We were able to discuss the basics in a timely and engaging manner. A lot of my co-trainees participated in the discussions regarding some topics, for obvious reasons. Healthcare is new to them. And they want to learn more about it.

I have a background in healthcare. Specifically, with a Medicare Advantage Private Fee For Service plan. I was also a claims specialist with my previous healthcare account. But, this is a new product, which is Humana. So, just like my co-trainees, I am a newbie. But, I do inject and share my knowledge every once in awhile during discussions.

In a closing note, this is just the beginning of the product specs training. Me and my Wave-mates are looking forward for the informations and skills that we will be acquiring in this training.

And I am very optimistic that all of us will be certified.

P.S.
One of the local trainors method is soooooo definitely boring. Kaka-antok. Sana mag-improve siya.

Some Humana goodies

Hahaha… I got myself some Humana goodies after participating in our product specs training/discussion.

the orange-colored ink Humana pen

and

the 2008 Humana notebook

The most coveted one was the notebook. Eventhough, the notebook even has the year 2008 posted in the front cover, it is still very classy. Just like the notebook from Starbucks.

Anyways, I do not have any plans of writing something in this notebook. I mean, I do have some ideas what to do with it. But, one thing is for sure. This notebook is a keeper.

Michelle’s Baked Macaroni

My co-trainee, Michelle a.k.a. Katrina Halili was selling this baked mac for PhP 35.00 last Tuesday. And, since I was kinda hungry, I bought one for myself and ate it during our 1st 15 minute break without even reheating it. And it was like one of the best baked mac I have ever tasted.

All of my co-trainees were craving for more. That’s why we asked Michelle to bring some again for all of us. And guess what. Even some of the trainors and trainees from the other class got curious about the said baked mac, they ordered as well.

Come Thursday. Before the training started, I already picked my order due to obvious reasons. Hehehehe… Mahirap na ang maubusan. And ate it during break. Geez… It tasted even better the second time around.

Simply delicious!

Under The Weather

06/18/2009 08:30

Grrr…

I wasn’t able to blog that much lately, for I wasn’t getting any decent sleep.

Our training schedule is back to the 9pm-6am block since Monday evening. Which is kinda nice, since going home won’t be a hassle.

Anyways, last Tuesday night, the airconditioninng in our training room and even in the pantry was way too cold. And right now, I’m not feeling good. My head feels like there’s a lot of air inside it. My throat is kinda itchy. Runny nose. What else?

I am hoping that I don’t have A-H1N1. hehehehe…

Anyways, as I’ve said, I wasn’t able to blog for these past few days. There are a lot of ideas and opinions that I want to share, but I really can’t think straight. The pressure of being in the product specifics of the training is kinda stressful.

So, I’ll probably do some blogging this weekend.

Healthcare 101 training: A major disaster

06/14/2009 01:30

Last Thursday (June 11th of 2009), we had our Healthcare 101 introduction, which is, or should I say all about the basic American healthcare industry.

Lei, our A.N. trainor, along with Pao (another A.N. trainor) were the ones who handled the training. Since, the in-house product trainors for Humana were still undergoing training themselves.

According to Lei, they were given a crash course in basic healthcare. Again, she is an Accent Neutralization trainor. She shouldn’t even be handling healthcare, which is already part of the product specifics.

But, ok, we have no choice about it. So, the training began. Only to find out that it will also be a crash course. Meaning, the training should be done at the end of the day. And an exam will commence the next day, which is Friday.

What the fuck!?

There are 32 of us in our training class. And only 3 or 4 of us had a background in healthcare. I am well aware that basic healthcare introduction should be more than just a day of training. And since most of the class are callcenter virgins and some who don’t have a background in healthcare, I expected the worst.

The trainors discussed about how healthcare gets financing, types of healthcare plans, how American citizens can avail of such plans, C.O.B.R.A., H.I.P.A.A., benefits, claims and some basic terms.

And, I was like… “what happened to Medicare?”.

Yes, they touched based about Medicare. But, it was just the tip of the iceberg.

Healthcare 101 should be most, if not all, about Medicare.

I even asked Lei and Pao regarding the 4 parts of Medicare. And, I was shocked, to the point of me thinking of commiting suicide on the spot, when they answered that it is part of product specifics.

I mean, are they even dumb enough to answer me that?

Basic healthcare is Medicare. product specifics is Humana.

They are trainors, for crying out loud. But, they did not do their jobs properly. Being A.N. trainors are not an excuse for not even researching about basic healthcare.

Don’t get me wrong, Lei is a good trainor. I like her. The class loves her. But, she should have at least, exerted effort in researching more about Healthcare 101, before teaching it to the class. And gave more time to my co-trainees that doesn’t have a background in healthcare, to even digest the information.

—————————-

Come, the Healthcare 101 examination day (Friday, June 12th of 2009).

6 of my co-trainees had to retake the exam in the pantry, which is just in-front of our training room.

We waited anxiously for their return. The rest of the class feared for our comrades fate. After their retake, they went back inside the room.

We were all waiting for the results. But, the results were not given. Since, all of us were fearing for the worst, TM Car, informed us that all of us will go through the next step, which is the product specifics training. What a relief. According to TM Car, all of us should be more careful nextime. She wants all of us to do our best and stick together until the end of training up to being on the production floor itself.

I, myself, would not want to see any of us go. I want Humana Wave 2.1 to stick together ’til the very end.

Anyways, Lei was disappointed with herself, if not with us, regarding the outcome of the exam. She should be, in my opinion. For, it will reflect how effective she is as a trainor. She stood by the book. She and Pao. Which is wrong. Plus the fact that due to limited time, they should have expected that not all of us will be able to absorb all of the informations (incomplete, I might say) that they have forced onto our brains.

I do not have something against Lei and Pao. I am extremely disappointed and disgusted on the way how they executed the Healthcare 101 training.

All About Ony is now Multiply 4.0 compliant

Ayun… nag-upgrade na rin sa wakas yung inbox ng Multiply ko a couple of days ago.

I have been hearing a lot of fellow Multiply users that the new interface is quite confusing.

For me, it is not. Well, I got confused for 5 minutes when I navigated through it. But, I easily got used to the new interface.

I definitely love the fact that all of the private messages that I sent and I received from fellow Multiply-ers are all filed in the Private Messages folder of the Inbox. Unlike before, in where I have to search page-by-page just to re-read previously sent and received.

Plus, the Shoutout-like (from Friendster) or What’s on your mind-like (from Facebook) instant messaging is snazzy.

I have two minor complaints, though:
- First, when I am on my own or other user’s site, the “post” option that was previously located on the upper right corner of the page is now gone. To post something, I need to click on the Inbox tab for me to be able to get to the “Post” button. Such a hassle.
- Second, the tab “My Site” should be right next to the “Inbox” tab. But, no. The “Media Locker” tab is in between them. Heck, I don’t even visit the Media Locker page.

Hmmm…. Multiply for me is best online community and media sharing website. It is an almost perfect site. Almost. Why? Because, Multiply doesn’t have a chat application yet. Once it does, nothing will beat Multiply.