Back at the Office

My last day at work was on August 29, 2005. My first day again was on Oct. 1, 2007. So after 2 years and one month I am back. Am posting some thoughts on this.

Last Thursday, my officemates treated me to lunch at Chili's. Bait talaga nila. Kasi they got their bonus na on that day and I had no bonus kasi kararating ko lang and nag-poof na yung bonus ko which i didn't get before I went on leave. Sayang talaga yung bonus na yun kainis. So anyway, my officemate asked me, which was better, T*G or Lawyers? Hands down, lawyers kasi iba ang culture. Everybody wants to go home as early as possible. Sa accountants, aba e pagtitinginan ka pa ng masama kung maaga ka umuwi, ang culture kasi e the more OT you make, the better employee you are. E diba it doesn't necessarily follow naman diba? Ako ngayon naco-compare ko yung self ko dati sa self ko ngayon. Dati very carefree, may mga friends ka, kain kayo sa Glorietta o Landmark, babalik ng matagal sa office, ang ending e gabi na ang uwi. Or magdi-dinner ng matagal, kaya late din umuwi. Tapos internet pa. So madaming sayang na oras. Ngayon, wala nakong friends talaga (yung close talaga I mean) tapos internet limited lang, so ako I really work so maraming naa-accomplish during the day. Dati nga pala kaya ako nakakaalis ng maaga kasi kahit relatively light lang ang gawa ko compared sa iba, the project I was raking in was earning so much money. So sa mata ng partner ko I was worth keeping. E di naman pwede i-promote yung ganun kasi diba, tama rin nga naman, ang culture e OT talaga, so pag nakita ng iba na bakit napromote yung maaga umuwi baka di na sila mag-OT dahil di nila maintindihan. Anyway, all that is behind me. I'm pretty happy where I am right now. My officemate asked din pala about the challenge, alin mas challenging, sa TCG or sa Lawyers and sabi ko same lang. Honestly, it's too early to tell kasi di pako nakakakausap sa mga taga-BIR and all those other gov't people. Pero yes, my work there was very challenging talaga. Wag na natin i-count yung seminars except yung pag gawa ng slides. Madali lang yun. Pero yung queries, ko, restructuring ko, very challenging yun. Wala pa talagang answers sa Pilipinas so I had to look at (palagi ito ha) Mertens, and Westlaw of course, and mga OECD at US model para sa interpretations of tax treaties, etc. Never ko pa yan nagawa dito ngayon. May one time (and I will never forget this), I was assigned a restructuring job by my partner, which my SD said siya na lang gagawa kasi hindi ko daw kaya! I actually said, hindi sir, kaya ko yan! Just give me an outline, let me know what you want to see, and I will do it. Aba ayaw pa rin. And he said I'm not belittling you ha. Hay kumulo talaga dugo ko nun. Hindi naman ako magsasabi na kaya ko kung hindi pako nakagawa ng ganun dati diba. Marami na akong nagawang restructuring. So na-insulto talaga ako. Pero ok na rin, at least siya na naghirap. So anyway, back sa kung ano mas challenging. I think kasi sa lawyers before you present something sa BIR (for ex., you are filing a request for ruling) usually sure ka na talaga sa sagot mo. Like, meron na talagang ruing on that issue in the past. Kasi medyo delikado kung di pa tested yung theory mo, tapos paglabas ng ruling e adverse pala sa gusto mong kalabasan. E di patay ka sa kliyente mo. Sa T*G naman, we form our opinions kahit (I think lang ito ha) hindi pa siya tested sa authorities. Yan lang naiisip ko kung bakit mas wide ang nagagawa kong research dun as compared sa Lawyers.

Ok naman mga officemates ko. Napakabait talaga. At mga galante pa. Hehe. Dati kuman kami sa Joey Pepperoni, one of my officemates said, ako na bahala sa 500. Just like that. And the other said, bakit ka nakatingin sa akin ng ganyan, gusto mo manlibre ako ng pizza ano? Okay libre ko yung isang pizza. Just like that. Ang saya. Ako pa naman sucker for free food. Hehe.