While working in the helpdesk for a cumulative period of around 10 years, I made a good living by helping other people to get out of digital traps they got themselves into.
But outside those 10 years, and even within that period, there were problem solving adventures that made me learn so much and they were a lot of fun too. To refresh my mind of the great lessons and the fun that I had, I am writing about the best ones I can recall. I hope you also find good value from each of these.
Trapped in Palawan
To rejuvenate the sales for Remad Electro Ventures, that was second half of 1997, my boss sent me to Palawan to setup a direct selling network in the province. He gave me one box of products, a one-way ferry ticket and just enough money to get me there and survive for a couple of days. If I did not sell anything, I would for sure run out of money and need to call-in for rescue which feels very embarrassing to do. For a start, I sold some units of power-on delay but all on installment basis with minimum down payment. Soon, I did run out of money. Nothing at hand to pay for lodging and to buy food. Calling-in for rescue feels like a failure. There must be some other way, and when one is a bit desperate, figuring out some ways naturally kicks-in. I was able to convince a restaurant owner to install a power-on delay on her refrigerator, and then she let me eat at her restaurant as payment. Stomach is saved until I get some collections and new sales.
For the lodging payment, which was still charged at a daily rate at that time, I made a deal to leave some electronic-ballast units as collateral so I could leave the room without making payments while trying to push some more sales and hire my agents. Such arrangements enabled me to get by, and few weeks later, I was able to setup my base in Quezon Palawan where I met a contact to push our products, hired sales agents and for the first time, it truly feels like I am a businessman.
Overcoming barriers to get a corporate job
Year 1999, I was not able to find a manufacturer to mass-produce my co-axial fuse, I decided to look for a job instead. But how can an engineering undergraduate who barely completed general engineering land a corporate job when advertisements even for stall salespeople requires completion of college degree?
To make it a bit more challenging, there was no phone number I can give to the recruiters. Mobile phones unit price and subscription is still quite prohibitive by that time. First thing I did is asking permission from a phone booth operator to let me put his booth phone number on my resume. If any recruiter calls, he can pass the message to me, then I will pay the incoming call fee.
On the educational background portion of my resume, I put on the educational level "Engineering" and on the course, "General engineering" which are not lies but not exactly what were supposed to be there. My belief then is if I get an interview, then I will have a chance. It worked as the phone booth operator passed me several calls for exams and interviews. That was how I got the job as Trade (tariff) Analyst for SGS where I stayed for 23 years.
Trapped (again) in Dubai hotel room balcony
This one is about literally being trapped and a very awkward situation I got into. It's a Friday in Dubai while I work there for a temporary work assignment. I decided to get some fresh air at the hotel room balcony, so I went there. I was enjoying the view for about 15 minutes and when I tried to enter the room that is when I realized the door is locked from the inside. I do not have the key with me and there's no one within sight to get some help from. Luckily, I found some plastic clips there. I waited for someone to walk on the street below (I was in 7th floor), the plan is to throw the clip targeting to land it at the front of anyone walking to get their attention. From my balcony, I spotted a colleague, also staying in the hotel, walking down the street. I tried my luck to get his attention, but the clip fell way behind him. Then I realized that the balcony door to his room is within my line of sight, though there's a brick firewall separating our rooms. When I am estimating that he is already in the room, I tried to hit his balcony door with the plastic clips. Few clips landed and I was able to get his attention. He went outside the balcony and I was able to tell him my predicament to get help for me with the hotel staff.
Above three stories are small sample size of traps we may get ourselves into. There are times that few of those circumstances may make us feel defeated. But time never stops and contexts do evolve and can change at any time to let us find ways out of predicaments and into a transformed situation. Often, it's just the unexplainable sudden alignment of prerequisites into our creative means, then we get to a place that is way better than ever before.
Images generated using Dall-E
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