Nomad JuanCa's Report

Today i want to post about something i have been thinking for a long long long time... have you ever realised or wondered if you are a Cupid or a Romeo?

It is all about a theory i have developed based on my personal experience in personal relationships and in what i have seen in others. Here is the theory:

"Not all of us are borned to be married or find a long life partner. Some people yes, might be lot (or few)... but definitely there are some, those I call them Romeos. Although there might be lot of them, there are also lot (or few) of others who were borned not to get married nor find a long life partner, but to be a connection between others (Romeos), just like cupid".

Check out and think about Cupid, apart from the mythological atmosphere around him, there are some things that are very human... and that many of us have. Cupid is someone who knows love, and knows how to love, he might have felt it for someone at least once, he knows how it feels (you cannot teach about love if you haven't felt it huh?), he likes it when he sees it in others.... but..... he never finds a twin soul for him. There's no place in mythology where it says he got married or he felt in love, so cupid is someone able to love, but with none to love to. His main and only role in life is to connect people, those that will be real romeos/lovers for short or long time, Cupid just get them together.

I think there are lot of Romeos, for instance some i know... Cristina and Carlos, Ivan and Michael (hope that's his name sorry i am not sure) and some others, i also have met few of Cupids but I will put only myself into that list cause i know many people might disagree with my definition.

So... that's it, i feel like a Cupid, have felt in love at least twice in my life, but true is... i have found lovers, but not a long life partner. I have met lot (and really lot) of people i like, and lot of people that likes me, but there is always something wrong on it... many people looking for hook ups, one night stand, open relationships, simple sex and that's it. Plus it is quite funny when you are with a friend (someone you like) and then another friend appears.... and they both end up liking each other...and they start a long time relationship that lasts several years.... it has happened to me at least 2 or 3 times. This theory has taken me about 3 to 5 months to be developed so it is nothing i haven't thought about... i have.

What's this theory useful for? I think that one of the things that leads to depression and loneliness feeling (something many people are feeling right now around the world)... is the lack of real expectations about our lives. Lot of us would like to have a life like in TV soup operas... where everybody ends up happy.... "Never been kissed", "Titanic", "A Knight's Tale" and many others show us how good love can be, which is true... but love won't always happen in everybody's life. We gotta be clear on it. If you know you are borned to be a Cupid, don't expect to be a Romeo.... it won't change and you will end up unhappy.

How do you know you are a Cupid or a Romeo? Life will tell you, and its words are usually so loud that are impossible to ignore.

Ok, lets open the discussion about this, feel free to share your thoughts.

Labels: Personal

Hi there, well these days have been sort of calmed, we finally re-opened the store and we are working as usual. Previous to that we had to do some remodelling cause when we got the store back from the architect, it looked something like this....

Off course with lot more of dust and without globes, we brought them to decorate the store and it was cool, to work with Shirley and Rosa re decorating the place. Here some pics of us in action...

Oh yeah... i touched the sky several times that day :))

And the result of our efforts can be seeing in the following pics...

I personally like the new look of the store, specially because there are some automatic facilities brought by the new owner like the POSnet, a system to invoice the pre-paid card virtually. The bad part of all is that things are not settle down yet, the might change counters again... to the old ones... she had to ask some of the furniture back to Alegro PCS's Head quarters just due to some "corporate image" issues. Apart from that she is asking us to sell 12,000 USD monthly.... which is a very high amount, if i am not wrong we are able to sell that and a bit more but on good months, and January is not one of those... but the new owner was clear "If you don't achieve the budget.... you don't have commissions" and we are all worried... cause it is starting not to feel convenient.... also the commissions percentage seems to be lower than the one we had while working directly to Alegro.... :(( booo!!!

And the other thing we don't like... she didn't kept the water machine... so now we don't have water to drink at the store..... and have to go buying it (0.50 usd each) in the mall, imagine.... when usually bottle of waters cost half of it outside the mall.

Well as for my personal part... today i had my first free day... wow.. how good it felt.... i stayed in bed until 5pm (don't dear to ask me what did i do last night that i could not sleep properly ;)))) well... then clean a bit my room that was a mess... and still is... but now it is a cleaner mess.

By the way.... i have been delaying my new year resolutions..... i guess it is time to define them

1. Get rid of debts with my credit cards


2. Finish the year with 1000 usd of saving in my bank accounts


3. Go back to University


4. Become Administrator or any higher responsibility within Alegro PCS


5. Talk a bit more with my mother and make sure she is happy


6. Wake up early everyday 7am and do exercises 5 days a week.


7. Finish the year with 70kg


8. To live by myself (or with someone else) by the end of the year

Ok, that's it. Nothing impossible i think so lets start put it into action i still have 11 months to achieve it. Lets be positive thinkers and strive for success.

Poka, JC

Labels: Professional

Well, this is another update about my life in this beginning of 2007. As i said.. this will be THE YEAR, cause the begginning of it is being very moving for me.

Well, to finish with some previous stories....

A. The problem with the money was solved, last week the supervisor of financial process of Alegro PCS sent an email asking the accountant in Guayaquil to force the company in charge of money collection to cover the 100 usd missing in the report of the store. Yuppie!!

B. About the problems i had with my team... well... they are solved now.. since i am not administrator of the store anymore :(. By middle of January i was informed that our store would be franchized to a investor, which literally means she will bring her own people. Luckily Rosa, Shirley and I were chosen to stay at the store, working for this lady and Martha was moved to Mall del Sur store, Xavier was about to be fired.... but at the end the moved him to Malecon 2000 store, where he will have to work with an administrator that is known as the Scroodge of Alegro PCS.

It is true that i got dissapointed with this franchize thing.... i though that i had been promoted... but it didn't last. Well the good part of it all is that the store was remodelled and i had two days vacation ohh yeah :) after all one cannot cry for this kind of things all the time huh?. The new owner requested me to be in charge of the inventary of the store, i tried to find an excuse not to do it cause it is a lot of responsibility and i will not earn anything else for doing so... but well... at the end i could not scape and as she is the new boss... i rather get along well with her.

Apart from that everything was fine except from the part that my little niece was in hospital for a week :( Ivanna (2 years old) got infected by rota virus or something like that, causing her lot of fever that never disappeared, plus diarrea, plus some bronquitis.... the day when i went to visit her at the hospital i almost die....

I actually didn't think it would be something too important, just some flu... i didn't go to visit her the first two days cause i expected her to go out soon... but then... there was a sign. My older niece Andrea (9 years old) told me "Uncle Juan, will you go to visit Ivanna today?" I don't know why... but it was not only her words... there was something in the way she said it that made me understood that it was a sign.... after all God talks through children too. I though about the whole day... and i did it. I knew i had to.

When i arrived she had been sleeping the whole day, without speaking... the fever was very high... she had been receiving medicin to supply all the liquid lost due to the diarrea... and Doctors were not sure about when she would leave the hospital. It was so painful to me to see her like that... but then good things happened.... you know i love her lot, and well i don't see her often so she does not relate to me much, but when she saw me... she said "Uncle one!" hehehe... cause she can't pronounce Juan yet. We started to talk i knew that when you are with fever you need motivation so your body starts fighting against it... i was trying to make games to her, to talk, she is very smart so we always taught her about her body parts, so i asked... where is your nose? your ears? your tongue? slowly she started to recover... and she was telling me about her state.. she was showing me the oxigen machine and telling me "thing!! a thing!!" yes i told her, thats a white a thing.

By the end of the night she had lost the fever, and now was ready for the threatment for bronquitis, which she was affraid of, i stayed to help and the nurse though i was the father... :) well i am not but i love her like if i were.

The hardest thing came later.... My sister and my brother-in-law has been sleeping at the hospital for two days.. and they were death cause they had to work as well, and my sister was sick of her throat and with fever too.... she was having what i had and she was weak emotinally too... fearing something bad would happen to Ivanna. I remembered how it feels to be sick of the throat cause i had been twice like that in december and january... then i understood why i was there. I needed to help. That was why i was called for God to be there, cause eventhough she was surrounded by lot of people my sister was feeling lonely.... feeling week and with the life of her child in her hands... so i decided to take my position in life, and in the life of my family. For some reasons i am not good in many things but i am good in helping... when needed.

I hugged my sister and i told her to go home, she said no, i want to be bere if something bad happens to Ivanna, and cried.....i told her to go, she was sick and it was no good for her, i would stay the whole night with my mother, if something happened i would call her. She felt more confident and left... i stayed awake until 5 am while my mother was sleeping... then we changed turns and i had to wake up at 8am to go home, change clothe and go back to work. I did same twice that week. I was even ready to make it third time but luckily Ivanna was allowed to leave the hospital... during these days,... the whole family got sick with the same illness... my brother-in-law, my sister, my older niece, my mom. Luckily as they were older and stronger they had been just taking medicin and didn't need to stay in hospital... but it was a big hit for the whole family, but... united we faced and got over it.

After that situation... i was reflecting... and i learnt something, sometimes in life things that we face are not only for us to learn... to get over them... but also to be able to help others cause we have been in that position before. None really knows other's pain if you haven't feel it. I thank God for the chance he gave me to be in troubles, to be sick but much more important to get over it and then use that experience to help my whole family to face and get over it too.

Few days later something happened... guess what? MODEL ANITA IS IN TOWN!!!!!! oh yeahh!!! directly fron New Zealand our beloved friend came back to Ecuador to spend Christmas and New Year ... mmmm wow... salaries in New Zealand must be quite good ;) hehehe. It was so cool to meet Anita again, cause i don't see her for long time and i was very glad to know her traineeship in NZ was going great, we met also with Francheska, and Luigi (MC members).

We met at San Marino Mall, and had some coffee while talking about NZ culture, her personal experience there and so on... nice to see people developing around you. :)

Well, that has been my update, so far...to finish, i would like to share with you the last pic i took with my team at Mini CAV Riocentro Sur of Alegro PCS. Guys,... it was cool to work with you!! I wish you the best in this year :)

Labels: Personal

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Labels: Personal

Well.......... i personally have to say that i don't like the new blogger.. but i moved to it and i can't change it.. so lets test if my settings for uploading still work

Del.icio.us : dd

Labels: Personal

Guess what? This 2007 offers to be a year full of surprises.... and not all of them are good.

1. The Alegro PCS store at Mall del Sol (a big shopping centre) was stolen. They lost about 20,000 USD yep. like you hear. Now police is making a investigation, but there are rumours that Alegro Heads will fire everybody at that store (it means about 10 to 12 people) cause there was no damage on doors or stuff like that, so someone from inside must be involved.

2. I was thinking in that when i got a phone call from accountant of Alegro PCS, she said "Juan Carlos, why do you send me a report on Dec 18th for 871 USD and you make the saving only for 781 USD? you are missing 100 USD". I said... what?. I got trembling, cause i know Alegro PCS procedures, that is enough to be fired. Then i though...mmm.. it might be that i mistyped the report or miscounted, i told her and she said "No, i validate all the invoices one by one, the report you sent in fact is right, but you are saving less money" I told her... ok, give me 5 mins to check and i will call you back. I hanged up, i was alone at the store only with the client service guy... i called him and told him, Gary i need you to help me, there are invoices in that box let's find those from Dec 18th and we have to check them. I was also looking for the copy of the report and i though... what happened... i was like crazy, shocked... and was repeating to myself, there must be a reason, there must be a reason, there must be a reason. And i found the reason, i found the copy of my report... it was right, 871usd, signed by the man who collects the money. Just in that moment i got the phone call from the accountant again asking what happened, i answered: Well, you are right, the report says 871 USD, i counted the invoices again and it is right. I don't know what happened cause i always send the money right. Another thing i have my report signed by the collector, if i would have given him less money it should be reflected in his documents as well since he notes everything i deliver to him and i sign it. do you have the doc there?. She said no, but i will get it. She called me 10 mins after (there were lot LOT of phone calls that day...) and said "you are right, the doc from collector says you gave him 871 USD but the saving is wrong". I was so in shock yet that i asked "what does it means?". She said "He saved 100 usd less. Damn i noticed it same day, but i was too busy to call you and i note it but i just remembered today. And worst is that this man does not work for the company who makes collections anymore". I knew a big problem was coming. It arrived soon. She reported it to Quito, to Alegro headquarters, to the company that works for Alegro making the collecting of values.. off course they said i was wrong. The accountant called me several times that day, i told all the guys in the store cause i knew the news would come fast. Everybody told me to stick to my word, the report was right and it was signed.

To say true, i don't remember what happened that day... and that has been my nightmare these days, in his report the amount is right, it was signed by me... but he says i gave him the wrong saving.

What i dislike the most is the doubt it causes about me, i hate it. I don't remember that day but i know something for sure. I have never taken any money from Alegro store, also.. i have never done any mistakes with the accounting of the store after the first delay i had, cause i knew the eyes of the accountant were on me... so it would have been silly from me to take 100 usd. Also... after 2 years working for Alegro.... i finally get promoted... why should i ruin it taking 100 usd??? Plus, why to send a correct report and save less money?? it was obvious they would notice it sooner or later. Also if this man says i gave him the wrong money.. why didn't he report it? he knew the accountant would notice it. and also... if i did give him the money wrong why he never asked me about it again? cause he knew there was no reason, cause i haven't done anything wrong.

It all makes no sense, but i still have to convince all that i am not guilty. Next week the people from the company where this man worked are coming to meet me and ask me things. I hate this all, but i have to face it to proof i am innocent. If you ask me... these are too many troubles for only a month. I don't know why i have to face so many troubles all the time, why can't i have a calmed life?. Why can't i simply be successful like the people on TV that are happy all the time without troubles??

Plus i am sick, my throat is in pain and i cannot even speak much, i am taking medicin but still it is bothering me... i have fever today and i am home alone, there is no medicin for fever home... fuck.... why? why all this? it gets me so tired.... live feels so hard today. ... i feel lonely.. sad and lonely.

I know it is a test... and i know i have to learn something out of this, to be humble and let my actions speak louder than my voice, not to trust others, to trust myself and my principles and actions more. I know it is a test.. but Lord... you are putting lot of weight on me these days... this have been an exhausting month, working 12 to 13 hours 7 days a week... with few money, too many troubles, i don't even have the money to go back to the University and the classes starts this monday.... i don't know what do you want... but you are involving me in too many troubles at the same time. i am feeling tired... help me out please.

Mmmm... it is 10.22am and i have about 22 min of being awake.. damn.. even though it is holiday my body can't sleep until midday anymore. :(

Well yesterday was the last day of 2006 and today is the first of 2007. It was a good night, but different to others... it was calmed, not much preparation, not much celebration either, not much drinks, just my mother and me and later on arrived my sister and her family. I had to work until 7pm then i went back home bringing some chicken for us (mom and me) to eat, we were chatting.. something we don't do quite often... and suddenly.... it all came to a point... the days when my mother was young and how hard times she had with her family, the way they threated her, all those troubles she had when she was teenager. It's not a new story to me, we have heard it many times and know it is true... i was just thinking... why? why to mention it, to remember it today... why?

And i got my answer, we all of us in a period of our live, turn around and look back, sometimes we find lot of achievements, we find lot of funny moments, but also find those hard times that marked us foreverer.... and sometimes we find out pain... lot of pain. I listenned to my mother cause i knew she wanted to tell me something, and i found out myself thinking about how would i be when i would be over 50. I think i will turn around and might find less pain... and it is thank of her. While she talked, she mentioned me she still saves a letter written by one of my uncles where they say she is not her sister anymore, it was afterwards she decided to scape and marry my father... she even mentioned she had a the original of it plus 3 copies. I told her why to keep all that, i mean... it was long time ago, sometimes... we have to let go the pain, it is the only way to find a cure. Hope she follows my advice.

So the lesson is.. never keep pain inside your heart, let it go.

After midnight, we went visiting neighbors and giving them good wishes for the next year (something very traditional) we ate turkey, pork... that's the good thing of new year and christmas.. everybody cooks mmmm!! I also discovered something... all the people we go visiting.. are my mother's/sister's friends... not mine. I tink it is something i have to change, i should get more interested in my neighbors. We cannot pass through life without get involved with the people around us.

Well apart from all that, here some pics of the main tradition here in Ecuador for new year, the burning of "old year" figures. Made of wood or anything that can be burned, we build every year someone or something to be burned, with the hope that after burning the bad things from the past year will disappear.

By the way some of the things i discovered during christmas is that there is a specific occupation i would like to try at least once in my life....This one...

Don't you think it is cool? i mean one can give so much happiness to people while just playing like a nice cartoon. I have seen so many kids happy because of these two guys that i really envy their job during this season... i would like to have one day the chance of dress like a nice polar bear and take pictures with kids and make their day.... after all few of us have the precious gift of making other's happy everyday.