I'm not telling you what to do but...

I'm letting you know it's not working. I was on Floor Support again today, for the newbies and I had to sit w/ a rep for over an hour on 1 account b/c she didn't understand the bill, how the account was set up or how to use any of the systems. What the hell do they teach them in class?!? And I had to help her w/ calculations too, so her math skills were pretty shaky. And she's middle aged too. Which means she has a great work ethic and tries really hard but sometimes isn't the quickest to grasp things. So after going over the bill and making sure she understands it and basically preparing her for the callback that she needed to make, her supervisor comes by and basically tells her to get back to taking calls. So I'm try to summarize everything for her, and make sure she's okay and go to help another rep.

A while later I see her again, and she tells me that her other supervisor pulled her aside to ask why she was off the phones for so long and to have her sign a form b/c she released a call before she was supposed to. And b/c of her work ethic, she's really upset about the form b/c she thought it was disciplinary and that her TL was accusing her of doing really bad, and she's all frustrated b/c she's getting grief for her call time and after call work being long. So as someone who's been a supervisor for a couple months and coached reps to self-confidance, it was really killing me not to coach her to ignore those things b/c she's new and that they really don't matter that much. I'm not in a position where I can state those things anymore, especially to a rep that's not on my team, and I don't want to contradict whatever their supervisor's telling them. So after I tell her that I'll talk to her supervisor, I go over and tell them what we were doing and why it was taking so long. So the supervisor like "uh huh, okay." Then when I told her that the agent thought the form was disciplinary (I knew what form was likely handed to her), the supervisor's goes "but I told her 5 times that it wasn't." So I'm like "well you might wanna tell her again, b/c she feels differently." S'funny how I can sit w/ a rep for an hour and know them better than their supervisor. Mind you, I bet their supervisor only met w/ them for maybe 1/2 hr in the 4 days since she's hit the floor, but it's still kinda funny.

I did feel a bit better today b/c we had a team meeting and then a meeting w/ our supervisor's manager. Which meant we could vent all we wanted. One of the biggest issues is that some supervisors won't take escalations and we either have to babysit them during one or they'll just cave and give the customer whatever they want. Which is sooo wrong. So I throw my hand up and s'funny how I would phrase my question w/ a context first on why I'm asking it, and then offer the solution in the form of a question. So I said, "since we're having problems w/ supervisors taking escalations, why don't we have them go back to spending a few hours on the phones taking regular calls like before?" Boy, the amount of agreement in the room from the team was hilarious. And it was funny that for our team meeting I was introduced as being new to the team, but I'd actually been on the Floor Support team before. And since I already knew all the people on the Floor Support team (sometimes helps being there for 4 yrs and in so many diff positions) I gave a cheery hello whereas the other new person gave this weak wave. And none of the new people asked any questions in the big complaint meeting. *sigh* I guess I'm actually pretty happy being back on Floor Support and doing something b/c I'm actually pretty bubbly lately. And also the rep I sat w/ said that she was actually able to understand everything b/c I explained it so well that I should be a trainer, which of course led me to explaining that I was a supervisor but would never want to be a trainer b/c I'd be telling everyone to shut up and listen, but I'm better at one-on-one. Which I am. I've coached agents for an hour to make sure that they understand systems and policies, and boy do I nail them if they mess up on the same thing. But it rarely happens.

So I guess technically it might be construed that I was overstepping my bounds as Floor Support and tell a supervisor that their coaching is making the rep think of quitting, but then again I was thinking of retaining reps and reps will tell us stuff that they'll hold back from their supervisors. And I did bite my tongue on saying how I would've handled their coaching session so the rep wouldn't be so frustrated. *sigh* so funny and sad at the same time.

On a followup to the UPS fiasco, they finally delivered the pkg to my Dad's house. So I can finally get my books and my chibi Iruka patch. I'm gonna put him on my Sanzo bag. Maybe I should start looking for patches for all the other chars that Seki Toshihiko has played? That'd be cool. Then it'd be my Seki-dono bag, instead of just my Sanzo-dono bag.

Never use UPS

Did I mention I hate UPS? They're not open on the weekends. I'm sorry, but what global company isn't open on the weekend? I could sorta understand maybe not delivering on the weekend, well actually not really b/c if they think everyone works M-F9-5, when are people going to be home except during the weekend?! So b/c the sh!tf*ckers aren't open, I can't call them to see if they can allow someone else to sign for it. Hates them!

So I'm up early b/c I'm not sure if my niece's party is going...and it's not. Pffffft! Sucks. Why do I bother sometimes?

I might as well live in another country....

for all the times that I get to see my nieces and nephew. Yeah, they may live in the same city, and when I was living in the house, they lived a whole block away. But the only time I get to see them is for their bday. Maybe. This Saturday, we were going to take them to Chuck E Cheese, but their maternal cousins are seeing that day instead, so my brother thinks it'd be better if we had a party for them another. Well aside from the f*cking fact that they see their maternal relatives every week, some of us don't have 9-5 M-F schedules. And happen to live by ourselves so if I don't cook or clean or whatever, it doesn't get done. No, my roommate doesn't count. Even when he was living here. Yeah, so it'll probably be another year where they'll get their freaking b-day present in the summer or some crap like that. I was going to do calligraphy for her bday card, but I really don't think I should even bother.

And I found out I'm working this Sunday. Royal Rumble Sunday. Although the card really sucks, Royal Rumble's still fun to watch. Usually. Argh. And the stupid losers who do scheduling have me working straight to thursday, one day off, and work Friday, and then have Saturday off. @sswipes.

And I was supposed to be getting a pkg on Jan 23 for stuff I'd ordered from US. But it was delivered by UPS which meant that it never got to me. I live in an apt, and they don't even bother to come to your suite. Instead they ring the buzzer. A lot of other companies will try your suite at least. But since, knowing my stupid roommate, he still has the buzzer rigged to his cellphone, not to the landline he installed. And he's in Quebec. Yeah, so a fat lot of good that did me. And how do they leave notice that they attempted delivery? They stick the paper next to the buzzer console. So everyone visiting can see the delivery notice, but not any residents. Thanks a f*ck lot. And they said they dropped a delivery card. Bullsh!t!!! I hate them so much. And instead of using a brokerage who just sends you a bill a week after they passed it thru customs, the @sswarts instead want COD. So of course they can't leave it w/ the office. And their f*cking pickup centre is in the middle of f*cking nowhere. Literally. It's in a industrial area. So those of us who don't have cars, can tromp around for half a kilometre from the nearest stop to attempt to find the damn thing. And they can't deliver to one of their stores b/c it's franchised. F*cking moronic. At least FedEx has more than one centre you can pick things up from, and it's on a bus route. Although FedEx f*cked up my delivery too and can't keep track of their inventory.

Yeah, so I was rip-roaring mad this afternoon. And then this poor schlob from StatsCan calls up, and b/c I hadn't powercycled my phone for a while, the connection was really crappy. And some of the questions were horrible. For example, I tell them that H is married to D. Then he has to ask me if D or H is under 1 yrs old. So I was really ticked and I acted pretty short w/ him for a while. And the survey went on for 1/2 hour. So by now it's already past 6, and I usually leave for WEM @ 6:30, and I'm still in my jammies. But I'd forgotten to ask my manager what days I have off next week (b/c the scheduling idiots are really late in posting schedules), so I have to call him up again. So by the time I'm dressed, and stick my contacts in, it's already 7:09, and the bus took a while to arrive.

Finally get to WEM, didn't plan on really shopping, just the usual grocery @ T&T, but b/c I'm peeved, I stop by the petstore ($800 for a tortoise, $500 for a baby. And then when you add in their tank, heating stuff etc... it's pricey to get a pet. That's why I like my betta fish. Spent...maybe $30 in total so far on him b/c he's in a IKEA 2L jar, has a lucky bamboo stalk for swimming and resting on its roots, and 4 diff kinds of food for $10, a net, old margarine tub for when I'm cleaning the jar, bleach for cleaning jar, water conditioner, old milk jug for conditioned water. Yeah, and it's his 1 yr birthday too! Maybe I'll give him some bloodworms, though he wasn't too interested before). Anyways even though it was 8:30 and the store closes in a hour, they still didn't really discount their sushi that much. Only on 2nd sticker price still. Argh! But got sushi for today and Sat (was actually planning on eating out on Sat b/c of bday party, but seems that plan will fall thru. Actually this week, I've had sushi every day except for Wednesday when I stayed home and cooked. But b/c it was sooo late and there wasn't that much public transport, I ended up catching only the last 5 min of Zatch Bell. Which is too bad, but at least it's better than the tape running out and missing the last 5 min.

So I guess I should go to bed b/c it's almost 5 now, and I'd actually been typing for a goodly long time. ... And I still haven't done my niece's card.

Videogames Live!

You know, not having the paper really sucks. Or watching the news, not that I'm sure it would've been announced on the local news. The concert started at 7:30, and we got there about 7:30, thinking we were 1/2 hr early but thinking "Where the hell is everybody?" Missed part of the Classic Arcade Medley, but caught the rest. Nothing beats having stuff played by a live orchestra b/c you can feel everything. I believe they were also miked b/c you could hear people cough. Although some of them weren't at the correct distance b/c some people were a bit quiet. And I couldn't even hear Tommy play the guitar during the Halo 3 theme. Hard to say which my favourite was. WoW was excellent, along w/ Medal of Honor. Metal Gear Solid was really good too, along w/ Civilization 4 and Zelda. One-Winged Angel was great, although the choir seemed to have problems coming in on Liberi Fatali. Mind you, Liberi Fatali is one of my favourite songs, so I know it really well, so I might be a bit harsh. I really liked when the pianist Lee Ann Leung did the Mario theme. She didn't have her hair tied back when she was playing the Final Fantasy soundtrack, so she had to brush her hair bit, but definitely corrected for Mario, which I think allowed her to play more freely. Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't bad, but I think the one which caused my mind to wander. But it was worth the $55.65cdn.

Yeah, so anyways, as expected the guys were late, but we still managed to have supper. Finally had my mackeral. *slurp* It's soooo good. And they don't put ginger on it, just green onions. Also had a chop-chop temaki and Futo maki. Yesterday for my birthday, I also had some sushi, but b/c I went to one of those chain restaurants they only had the standard stuff. So I just ordered a sushi bento (which came w/ 1 salmon nigiri and 1 tuna nigiri) w/ chicken teriyaki, rice, bean sprout salad and egg roll. It was filling but not very satisfying.

Yeah, my birthday. Huh, definitely not memorable in the sense of how much fun I had. I'd applied for the Redhat position, which is floor support for the reps. Which is technically a step down from my current position as Senior Lead Rep. So why apply for something lower? Well aside from the fact that they treat us like dirt, we don't get much respect, and it's a surprise when my SLR TL says hi to me, the only time we get a top-up pay now is when we're filling in for TLs. Which won't be happening soon I imagine b/c they want to revamp the program (so we get stages of training we need to pass, instead of the previous tossing us to the wolves), which mean unless we complete the program, we don't get to be acting TL. Even though some of us have taken over teams for months. Even during Xmas, they said unless a TL was gone for more than 2 weeks, we couldn't take over. So whatever, for the last few months I've been on the phone. And had to teach my TL how to use the systems b/c he docked me for not leaving notes. Which as several people can tell you, the easiest way to find my notes is to look for the essay. So after I showed him how notes don't transfer with accounts, I got full points as usual. Yeah, I hardly see my TL which isn't too bad, except when Quality docked me for something completely stupid, which happened over a month ago, but b/c he didn't tell me about it, I didn't find out until weeks later when I check my Quality score.

Oh yeah, what I was writing about? Oh, right my B-day. So anyways, I filled out the quiz and expression of interest for the Redhat, and then they ask me to come in for an interview. I'm like "Dude, it's the first day of my vacation and on my freaking bday." But they're like it'll only be for 1/2 hr. So yeah, I went into work on my f!cking bday to do their stupid interview. And no, I didn't bother preparing b/c it'll be questions I've answered before, and really, considering I've done it before, unless I curse them out, I should get it regardless if I show up hammered. Not that I was. Yeah, so they called me later that day and told me I got it. Heh. Yeah, I know a lotta people would be scratching their heads if I didn't.

Anyways, after my interview, I went shopping for my neice's bday present. Her birthday's on ...damn, I don't actually know when. I never wrote it down. Well sometime close to mine. Actually I have another neice...well technically my cousin's daughter...so I guess that's still neice, and her birthday's on 24th. Which since she lives in Australia means I'd better send her a card. Even though she's only a year old. Anyways back to the neice I actually can visit w/o a plane ticket, although considering the amount of times I've gotten to see her she might as well be in another country, I ended up getting her a foam mat that you can draw on w/ water and also had cut outs so she can practice tracing. Safe toy and suitable for when you have a 1 yr old running around too. Wait, how old is she anyways? Oh well, whatever, I got a gift receipt so they can return it if they want.

Uhhh, before I got distracted again, so as I was shopping at ToyRUs, I got Pokemon Trozei for $20. Everywhere else it was like $40-45 so it's a really good deal. And I'm freaking addicted. All I've really played is Endless mode....which means I'll be playing it for like 2 hrs before I die. Gotten up to level 45. My ass and hand have died and I'm still playing. It's bad. I also found Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue for $15. It was used, but booklet was in good shape, so another great deal. However instead of getting Bulbasaur, I'm more of a Squirtle (among my least favourite non-bug type pokemon), Totodile (not too bad but slightly annoying), Pikachu (well, he is actually pretty smart and dependable but somewhat tempermental) and Skitty(I do not chase my tail all the time...although this post is pretty everywhere. I blame it on the late hour). But since I'll need to learn new controls, and I have Pokemon Ranger(finished in 22 hrs! and now to get every Pokemon) and Pokemon LeafGreen (evolved to Venusaur already but stuck in Pokemon Tower and don't have Silph Scope), I think I'll play Mystery Dungeon later.

Really I will be getting non-Pokemon games for my DS. Capcom vs SNK Card Fighter is coming out, and Cooking Mama seems interesting. Wonder if I could learn to cook? Can't seem to find Trauma Center though. Phoenix Wright seems interesting too. I'm so sad that Angelique isn't out for the DS.

So the next few days will be spent...playing Trozei or something. My computer is also going kaputz, think the CMOS batt died. *sigh*

Stupid sites and their stupid logins

So yet another site has my freaking information. And I have another damn login and password to remember. And why do they ask for your birthday when they never send you anything on your birthday?! Heh, if anyone creates a program that automatically sends out birthday cards on people's birthday, I declare that it was my idea first and I want royalties!

Anyways, I'm trying to d/l programs that I'll need when I move over to WinXP. Yes, I'm still using Win98. And I'd still be wanting to use it if some programs would keep supporting it! *cough*ZoneAlarm*cough* All viruses there were written for it have been blocked, and no one cares about it. I guess kinda like Linux (just kidding! I really know nothing about Linux except it's user-created, which is fab but also creates a lotta probs troubleshooting. Just ask my roommate). So I'm trying to d/l Sonique file, which is a kickass prog but was bought up by Lycos. So it tells me that I have to sign up to Lycos to d/l the prog. I'm like "Fine, grumble grumble." Only to find out some @sshole has picked Ravencat. WTF??!! That was my handle for like 10 years! Sure I had retired it for a bit when I was totally disconnected from the Internet. I was sooooo pissed. Anyways, make up another handle, and get booted to Lycos homepage. Ooookay, well I'll just go back to Sonique's page. And I can't find the link to d/l the prog b/c it just keeps redirecting me. I was soooooo p!ssed. Lycos YOU SUCK!! Anyways, eventually got the prog and a few others from Tucows. Tucows rules. Although they say they review a prog, but you can't find the review. WTF?!

So today was my day off. It was above freezing so I walked over to Chinatown. Stopped by library to pick up some blank applications. But they renovated the upstairs too, so I didn't know where the hell to go. So I ask these 2 women who were waiting for the elevator and they act all smarmy and tell me that I can d/l the form and print it out., I'm like "I'm aware of that, but where can I find the paper form?" Bah. Stupid people. Anyways ended up buying absolutely nothing from Chinatown. They'd renovated Lucky 97 a bit (which they'd fix their damn website. Completely seizes up the computer every time I try to look @ their sales), and got rid of the electronics. It'd been steadily growing smaller, but I was hoping for some DS lite stuff. And I was looking for replacement utensils for my bento box b/c I'd broke the chopsticks, and the spoon didn't take well to going in the dishwasher. But nada.

So went to T&T, and they had a mystery lunchbox. Was discounted to $2.99 from $5.99, and was one of those big 10"styrofoam containers w/ a soup on the top. So having a silver stomach (handles most foods pretty well but can react to some things), I just picked it up. Turned out to be breaded shrimp, pickled carrots and cabbage, rice, sweet & sour pork, miso soup. Sweet!!! That's a good investment. I'm kinda lazy now, in that I'll pick up a lotta stuff instead of making it. But I did make a pot of my meat sauce. But I forgot to pick up tomato paste (ketchup was a poor substitute) so it's quite sweet. Also added the garlic a bit late, so wasn't cooked to translucency. Is sprouting garlic edible?

Watched Getbackers while eating sushi. That show is soooo yaoi and slash-friendly. My favourite still is seeing Shido in cat-form and Ban teasing him w/ a cat toy. Next to my KOF and Saiyuki yaoi doujinshi, I'd definitely get Getbackers doujinshi. *heads off to read some Getbackers fanfic* Oh yeah, now I remember why I'd disconnected from the Internet. Just got sick of all the whining, poor grammar....and now I'm guilty of it all. Oh well.

I've been obsessively checking the gaming sites on DS games. I'm sooo tempted to order the Japanese Pokemon Diamond/Pearl b/c I'd get it. And when I was checking out the screenshots on the Pokemon.com site, all the dialog was in hiragana or katakana. Which means that I could technically read it. Make sense of it might be different matter. Even changed my language on my DS to Japanese. Just for fun. Well, really to practice. Finally kicked my tush and worked on my Japanese again. I'm not sure if I'm scared of finished Gr1 kana or something. I don't know why I have so much trouble writing the kana for "sensei". I can read it, but can't seem to remember the character that well. I do have to expose myself to more varieties of how the characters are written. "So" and "N" in katakana are so similar in print, and I think I mix up "Ra" and "U" sometimes.

Word of Mouth

Everyone must know that saying about if you get a bad experience you tell 10 people, but if you have a good experience you tell 3 people. Well, was just emailing w/ a friend who's no longer employed at the same place as I am, and he was telling me that when he was job hunting, our place of employment has such a bad rep now that if it were for his other experience, he wouldn't have gotten interviewed. Ouch! Man, I'd better look elsewhere before the reputation tanks even more! *sad laugh* Actually I remember a time when we were snatched up b/c the training we recieved was superior to elsewhere. But I have a feeling that w/ all the people the management has chased away, that it's now known as a seething pot of discontent. Really, the management is truly something. Never know if the praise they give you is something they're told they're supposed to do in seminars of Effective Management and then they'll fire your @ss b/c you're dead-weight.

Anyways, time to watch Mythbusters!

Bah upgrades

Yeah, so for the last few months, Blogger has been telling me to upgrade to the version supported by Google Accounts. And all I can think about it, there's going to be more frigging passwords to remember, and more ads to avoid. And another site that has my information. Yeah convenience. Do I had the fact that I've lost a few posts b/c it wouldn't upload properly. Hell yeah! But geez, I'm too frigging lazy to read thru all the crap about Google accounts, so I'm not going to do it. Not unless they force me too.

And then I get notice that C&L is closing their points program this month. Argh! I have so few points, but it's enough to buy a DVD. But w/ the cost of the s/h, it's almost not worth it!

Speaking of which I got a desk set from my brother and his gf. Has the desk blotter, mousepad, notepad paper holder, cup holder etc. And I so do not need it. First off, I have everything except the desk blotter. And there's not frigging room either on my desk. Even if it was completely cleaned off.

Got money from my dad. My other brother wasn't able to find my dvds on time, so he's going to try for my bday. I got perfume and a dvd so far from my friends. Still expecting stuff. And I got myself a DS Lite.

And it is sooooo sweet! I got Polar White, b/c pink would so suck. I have Pokemon Rangers and Pokemon Leafgreen right now. Kind wierd that GBA games don't come w/ a case to store them in. Accessory marketing? Anyways, I need to get headphones and a case for it so I can take it out my apt, but no one sells decent headphones. Just those damn earbuds. And they never stay in my ear, so I hates them! But I did find some Pokemon ones online. From Japan of course. *sigh* there was another site that did imports: Lik-sang, but Sony closed them down. So sad. I'm very tempted to order the headphones and a case. And soooo many choices! And why is Angelique only avail on PS?!?! I get a region-free console and it's not avail!!!!

And alas, my PS2 is dead. Again. And committed suicide the same way. Yes, the dreaded static shock. Won't even turn green. Completely dead. If I recall, it was about $90 to go thru warranty. From EBgames, it'd be $109 for a used slim model. For brand new it's $130. *sob sob* At least I have my DS lite. I should name him....Hmmm, actually I think a lot of things I have could be a him. My computer's Gilliam. Although I feel my TV is a her. As for my PS2? I don't get any vibe. Could be b/c it's dead. *waaaahhhhh* And it's too soon to get a PS3. If there were any available to buy. The bugs haven't been worked out of yet. Must design an anti-static shield for the PS2. Cause seriously, I can discharge it on the fireplace and a minute later, I'll have built up enough static to feel another shock. Curse you Static!

Quiz: The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

...Yup, I'm Bert. Smart-ass, easily bored by most conversations, my roommate will testify that I'm pretty neat (well in the shared space anyways. My room's...lawfully messy), pretty evil (he actually tried to show off to his wife how fun it was to wave his hand in front of me like teasing a cat. I swatted it alright, into his head, broke his nail, and left some scratches on his hand. And then he complained that I didn't hit like a girl. Dude, there is a reason why I liked spike serving when playing volleyball). And I definitely have my odd passions *cough* Pokemon, KOF, Angelique, seiyuu *cough* I did always feel sorry for Bert, I liked Ernie but I definitely shared his frustration when Ernie was being annoying. I was wondering if I would get Snuffleupagus. Funny, T and I were talking about Sesame Street today too, and how kids won't appreciate it.

Problems w/ Calendars already

Nothing like having a dozen calendars for 1 year. Have a couple from the charities I donate too, some from charities that want my donations, a Mouth/Foot Painters one, one produced by the Milk Council (turned into my work schedule calendar b/c it fits into my bag and I don't care what happens to it), and one from Shojo Beat.

Last year's Shojo Beat calendar was nice. It was pretty desk calendar, displayed 2 months at once and had a nice pic of the various titles appearing that year. It was a little wonky on how the week started (which would always throw me off), but it worked well on top of my computer tower. But this year's calendar sucks. It's the standard wall hanging calendar. Now I understand that the wall hanging calendar's probably easier to produce since you just need to staple in the middle, instead of having the cuts exact so it stands correctly, folding to make a slip, and having little slips of paper inside, but it doesn't fit on my computer! I can't pin a calendar to my computer! And yes, that's about the only place that has room that I can regularly look at. So I've taken to modifying the new calendar. To fit into the old calendar sleeve. It's a bit of snipping, and looks a little off b/c things aren't centered. But dang it, I've made it work.

Incidentally, their "Beat Girl" is hideous. She's on the November/December month and I seriously thought they chose it b/c they had some contest and that was the winning entry. Then I looked thru Shojo Beat, and they actually commissioned a published manga-ka to draw it. I'm sorry, but that's a horrible representation of the readers. For one thing, most of us don't look like frogs. Wide thin-lipped mouth, tiny little nostrils w/ no evidence of a bridge, huge bulging eyes...it's just horrible. Clothes are okay, I'll give her that, but seriously. Ugh! I can and have drawn better. I have many friends who draw better than that. I'm hoping that she's a great writer b/c I wouldn't publish her art.

Urgh, Xmas isn't about reciprocity

Today was very much a "chicken w/ its head cut off" day. I forgot my Xmas cards @ home, so I had to run back in the middle of my shift to get them. And then I forgot to bring T's present to H back w/ me. And I forgot T's card @ home b/c I was up until 5am working on it, and didn't put it w/ my stack of cards. And it was superwarm in the afternoon, so I didn't need both my jackets, so I could have brought one home when I headed back. On the other hand, it was really windy and cold when my shift was over, so maybe that wasn't so bad. And then when I was fussing over people being on vacation so I couldn't give them their cards, JR says, "well just put them in their folder." So instead of thinking of the folders that we drop off our timecard changes into, I thought of the private folders and was all confused. Yup, JR and John laughed @ me. But I've only gotten 1 card and that was from JR. X( Although b/c I did calligraphy (w/ the real metal nib and pot of ink), Tanya kept the envelope too, and Kristen remembered my card from last year b/c I use calligraphy.

And waited waaaay too long to pick up tickets for Videogames Live, so the seats aren't so great according to the online Ticketmaster site. I'm going to have to go to an outlet to see if there's something better. And I have to talk to my bank so they don't "re-invest" my GIC. Only earned $22 bucks on $1000. That's not even prime!!

And have been trying to check out the flyers for the Boxing Day sales. No one's put anything up so far, so I'll probably have to buy the next few days paper to get the flyers and stuff. Argh! I want to get a Nintendo DS Lite. I don't need it. But I want it. I wanna play my Pokemon and try out Nintedogs. They recently had Pokemon Ranger vs. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon on Review on the Run, and they complained about the graphics, sound...well pretty much everything. And yeah, the graphics and sound could've been updated, but there's still a nostalgia factor. Not to mention since the DS is multi-regional, the Pokemon have different names in other languages. But I wouldn't mind seeing my Bulbasaur(Fushigidane)in 3D. Heh, we had a Secret Santa for the SLR potluck, and the girl who got me asked Kristen what I liked, and Kristen's like..."uh, Pokemon, stuff from Warp". She must've thought I was totally wierd. ^_^

A pretty good day

Was changing my beta fish Akao's water, and usually what I do is pour as much as I can of the old water in to the margarine container and the retrieve him w/ the net. However when I poured this time, he actually jumped from the jar into the container!!! I was so shocked and happy. He can now jump just over 1 cm out from the water surface to graze my finger. What a good boy!

Anyways, my bud H came back from Hicksville, and we had a really good time. H can tell stories like only H can. Ah do declare that H is trying to set me up w/ anyone. Even mentioned that I should go out w/ D's brother b/c I like videogames and anime like he does. After we had welcome back party (which unfortunately lots of people didn't show), H said I should go out w/ either or both TT and S and do them both. Anyways H has a much higher libido than I do (her partners go into double digits, and that's after she was married), so I don't take it too seriously.

However the bummer of the day was that H told me and T about something and it was something bad. And it made us really disappointed in her b/c she knows better but she still did it anyways.

But onto nicer things. I was telling H and D that I didn't care about working Xmas eve or Xmas day b/c my family does nothing, even when I was living w/ them. So they invited me to their families' Xmas celebrations. However I've done that before, and it feels kinda awkward. Sorta like charity. Which is of course what Xmas is about. Well I have yet to see if I work that day. But I am definitely getting Boxing Day off. No ifs ands or buts. Must have it off!

And when I was @ Warp1 I successfully read a Japanese title using kanji and hiragana. It turned out to be Hana Yori Dango. Which means that I'm almost finished Gr. 1 for Japanese kanji. Yep, I'm almost ready to graduate from Gr. 1. Which isn't too bad I suppose, since I've been learning it in between calls at work, and it's been about...3 months. Still have to learn grammar, which I guess means I still don't know the language according to linguistics. Kinda hard to learn grammar when I listen to mostly songs...and that's poetry. Need a script of some anime. And I guess to actually go over all those language books I've photocopied and language CDs. Heh.

It was fun up until the end....

Got to see my neices today. Yaaaaahhhh! I guess that blue moon has come by again. It was my brother's office party, so we went as guests. Got to colour w/ the twins, and I saved the colouring b/c we all did it. Got them to sign it too.

Then they came over to the house to decorate the tree. We haven't had new ornaments since...well I made the paper ones out of the wrapping paper samples so since they complained about the lack of ornaments, compared to the other tree they got to decorate, my bro went to pick some more up. And in the meantime we developed a new game. My brother has one of those balls that's covered w/ suction cups, so we were kicking it around on the linoleum floor. Definitely helps w/ foot coordination. Jada called it "stoccer". And then we had a few rounds of leprachaun. I had to help my brother plug in all the tree lights (wasn't very observant). And the twins wanted to play Monopoly but when I made them do the math for change (I was banker of course!), they wouldn't buy property unless they had the exact amount and didn't have to do any subtraction. So sad.

Anyways, I'd brought a huge whack of bags of presents (yeah for gift bags!), and I'd also bought them Disney's Robin Hood b/c we loved it when we were kids. Well I don't know who's idea it was to open it right away when they got home, but we got a call shortly after that they wanted Disney's Little Mermaid instead. And then my sister-in-law came on too, and said that they didn't want some other DVD (which I'd gotten them ages ago, but b/c they sometimes don't come over when they're supposed to, there's serious delay on giving them the presents). Yeah, so I got the DVD back. So the debate is, to cave in and get them what they want and spoil them and set the expectation that they can ask for whatever they want? Or to just take it back (or just keep it b/c it does have an alternate ending) and not give them anything. Not like they'd probably remember anyways. Or as my bro suggested and burn a copy of Little Mermaid for them, maybe the Chinese version b/c I saw it at my Gran's place when I was there. But seriously I think that sis-in-law encourages them to misbehave towards us. Probably spits on whatever we give her. And whenever she wants the kids to go home (usually like 2 hrs after they arrive), she'll talk to the older one and harangue her into coming home. She talks loud enough I can hear her tone. Yeah, and I got her another f*ing HBC $40 gift card. I'm tempted to give her the $5 minimum, but gotta keep it civil.

Anyways, got a new 17" monitor from the trip. Well not really new. It was made in 2000, and was my brother's old monitor that he doesn't use much anymore b/c he has a laptop. But it's still newer than my old 14" one(which was also a hand-me-down) which was made in...*runs to look* 1996. And worked pretty good still too! Too bad my roommate also has a monitor for his 2ndary computer. Which may never be used b/c he still hasn't fixed his computer and is still using his sister's laptop.

Anyways b/c the monitor is so much bigger (and is much harder to carry when you're stuffed full), I have to rearrange my figures on my monitor, and my danglies from the shelf above where my monitor sits. Yep, really getting to it.

My spirits have been sufficiently trampled

So I'm on the phones today. As usual. And my Team Leader comes up to me w/ a list for a team potluck next week, and he's like "We'll try not to miss you for this meeting." He's a nice guy so I don't take it any other way, like oh say "we want more people to bring food". Anyways, after much thought, and the possibility of a SLR potluck in December also, I decided to put down the easiest thing, which is soya chicken, which is currently in the freezer. It's a whole unchopped chicken, so they won't be able to tell. Not that I think it'll matter for authenticity. Anyways b/c I'm on the phone, I can't run over to give it to him. So one of the Operation Managers walked by, so I go to him in a joking manner, "Hey, can you deliver this for me?" He gives me this look and keeps walking past. So like whatever, I got a wandering Team Leader to give it to my Team Leader.

Later on, another Team Leader comes up to me w/ an envelope and then quickly backs off. I open it up, and there's a PFO letter. In other words "Please F*ck Off". As in a rejection letter for a position I'd applied for. Completely qualified for, but didn't even get an interview. The position went to a bunch of Team Leaders. While my pride is slightly assuaged by the fact that no regular reps got it, it seems w/ the turnaround time between the posting and announcing of who got the position(less than a week), that it was a load of horsesh!t for any kind of competition. And the other thing that pisses me off is that another TL came up to me in the washroom and said that previously mentioned OM was looking for me earlier. Well he was the same OM who signed off on the PFO letter, and certainly didn't approach me later when he knew where I was sitting. So basically the coward handed off his bag of dog poo to someone else to deliver. Knowing that I wouldn't shoot the messanger.

So basically I've been telling everyone about my PFO letter. I was talking to another TL (who came up from Floor Support level) about it, and he's like "it's probably b/c they didn't want to pay an extra person a salaried wage, so you should apply to be a Team Leader." So I tell him that I didn't bother to apply for the last opening b/c my spirits have been sufficiently trampled by the managment there. And he agreed that there's a lot of spirit trampling there but that I'd make a good Team Leader. Which I appreciate, but man, I'd rather be on the phones for the simple reason that I can study my Japanese characters and chat w/ my friends.

Read this article on Japan Today. I highly doubt a scam like that could work in North America or Europe. Quite frankly most of us have so many fake email accounts that we'd just switch to another one and abandon the one that got the threatening email. Or we'd call the cops or get an attorney. I think the Americans would go the attorney route easily. You don't wanna know how many times the caller's told me that they're going to get a lawyer. And maybe 0.000001% of them have any possible case for legal action. The rest are blowing smoke, or that their case is that they were too mentally incompetent to have understood the T&C they agreed to. Guy today was screaming at me saying that Cingular had put a product into his computer w/o his permission and he was gracious enough to agree to an ETF for $125 when he didn't want to use the wireless internet anymore. When I told him that the ETF is $175 and he misheard the other rep and that's what's stated in the T&C, he freaked. Apparently he also doesn't understand that he didn't need to buy the computer w/ a wireless card and svc offered by Cingular. He also didn't seem to understand or want to understand the analogy that it's just like buying a TV w/ the package that offers satellite TV. Well whatever. His own fault for not reading the paperwork. That's usually what most of the customers are, just won't admit to their own screwups and take responsibility for them.

I thought it was a discussion, not a trial

So I finally got my Performance Appraisal. Approximately 6 months after it was supposed to be delivered. In fact, I'm supposed to get my next PA also.

We had the SLR potluck dinner, and only 3 of us actually made something. Everyone else bought theirs. And not a single person commented on my chive decoration. Food heathens!
Anyways, before after getting stuffed, my SLR TL told me she wanted to talk to me for 10-15 min afterwards. So it's like okay, probably about PA. And after everyone cleared out, she's goes we'll wait for the SLR OM. Uh... alright.

And then they turned off the main lights in the room and left only the potlights on, so we were in semi-darkness. Shoulda also brought in a bright light to shine in my face b/c then they started basically guessing on why I got a Quality Plus Contributor rating. ( It's just one step down from Key Contributor, which is the highest rating.) They started off by saying that it wasn't good that I was in my OM's cubicle crying b/c I couldn't handle how my team was doing or negative feedback. When I started to say that I was just upset b/c of the stress that I was going thru, they suddenly stopped me and said that they didn't need to know b/c it was personal. Then they started to say that I had problems handling my team when I was an Acting Team Leader and that must've been why I was upset in my OM's office, which I told them was bullpatties b/c I did better than the TL I took over from and maintained the results. Then they said that maybe it was b/c I had problems receiving feedback from my OM, which I told them was also bullpatties b/c my OM did provide useful feedback and basically addressed the problems that I already knew about. Well at this point, they were really digging for anything, so they said that I had a couple of complaints in my journal. So of course, I go "like what?" So they bring up the HR incident (see Nov 16/05 for account), and by this point the methane is building up so much, this was the spark that was going to set it off. And I'm not even bothering to maintain the yes-man mask, and I just lean back in my chair and go "...ok". So of course they go thru the rehash of what happened, and unless I said Bitchpoo flipped me off in her cubicle which is why no one else saw, they were just going to listen to see where they could nail me.

Which they did. On the comment that when I told Bitchpoo that I couldn't wait around for my stuff b/c I was on my break, I should've instead phrased it as "I'm sorry but is it possible for me to drop by later when I'm on my lunch break?" Aside from the fact that my lunch is around 6 pm when HR is closed, like WTF?! That is the most stupidest shit I've ever heard. I'm supposed to apologize for their incompetence? And while I didn't directly tell them that, my attitude definitely said it and all I said was *sideways glance* "...all right." Although it would've been fun to just laugh in their faces.

Anyways I think after about 15 min of this farce, they switched tactics and asked me why I thought I got a QPC rating b/c I did previously mention that I expected it but just wanted to be sure on the scoring. So we went into how a TL is evaluated, and that went by lot better. They still gave some cockamamy answers but some of them were reasonable. But I still insisted on seeing the actual scores. Which meant a trek to her computer, where I proceeded to question the 75% for Knowledge. Which they said teamwork was part of the score, so w/ the HR crap and July 29/06 incident (which wasn't on that PA but will inevitably come up on this current one) lowered my score. But she was stretching again. Heh, just thinking of when she commented that I have a problem dealing w/ authority. I don't have a problem dealing w/ competent authority, but I treat people like the idiots they prove themselves to be.

Anyways, the rest of the extremely slack day (it's nice to work on an American holiday) was spent chatting w/ my friends, trying to help T w/ his Japanese, getting a Brit who's as dumb as an American but much more polite about it, and getting a girl in trouble b/c of some secret d/ls that ran up her parents' bill.

Also ended up watching "The Quick and the Dead" and "The Elephant Man" tonight. Q&D is one of those movies you laugh at b/c of the cliches, camera angles and takes (thank you Sam Raimi!), and pretty much enjoy for the pretty fluff. I wonder how she stuffed so many clothes on her horse. Leonardo was so cute and had the most personality. I like the scenary and art direction in Elephant Man. And yes, I looked up the Elephant Man on Wikipedia. Looking at his skull is very scary b/c it's so completely unlike all the other skulls I've worked w/. It's completely covered w/ knobs and protrusions, and must've been so heavy. His skeleton is also quite interesting.

Quiz: What Flavor Pocky Are You?

You Are Strawberry Pocky

Your attitude: fresh and sweet Comforting, yet quirky ... quietly hyper You always see both sides to everything

What Flavor Pocky Are You?

Sweet. Strawberry Pocky is tasty goodness. I like to grind down my pocky. Or let it sit in my mouth until it's kinda soggy, nip it off, and then move the next section in. Strange how tiny breadsticks became so obsessive for people.

Today will the be SLR potluck. Myah kept asking me what I was bringing b/c she had to put together the list, and I was like Salmonella! Tapeworms! Plain White Rice! Anyways, I'm bringing rice w/ chicken, tomatoes and mushroom. Added too much pepper though so it has more bite than I like. Anyways, broke a stick of chives over it so it'll look pretty. Hah! Guess who watches the Food Network! Anyways, b/c I only use the meat from the drumstick, I cooked the thigh in the rest of the tomatoes. Amazing how much fat comes from the skin. Literally the oil was popping up so hard it was covering the pan lid like steam. Scary. Put it on a bed of rice, and surrounded the rice w/ the squash/carrot/broccoli dish I made last night. And topped it w/ a chive. It was pretty. And the chicken was sooo good.

Yeah, I'm so not bragging when I say that I can get better food at home. I don't know why D would think I was referring to his cooking when I was telling him that I said that to everyone who wanted to know why I wasn't going to the Gala. Although my wrists aren't tough enough. I had to chop off the rind of the squash, and b/c I was using a butcher's knife, my wrist and hand were so sore w/ only 1/4 the squash I had to stop and rest. So sad. Must build up my stamina for cooking. Graaaaahhh!! Was watching the Food Network Challenge, and it's just amazing the chefs will spend 7 hrs working on sugar sculptures. Although overall I think I need to work out or something. My back is so stiff. I can hear my sternum crack when I stretch.

Clean Desk= More Figures

Well over my vacation I ended up cleaning up my desk. Gone are the piles of paper (tossed into recycling/shredding container(which is a UPS padded envelope that was taped just right to stand up by itself)), bags of candy (moved to top of computer), unopened mail (lots went into previously said recycling) and layer of dust. Fixed the base of Saito so he should stand up for more than a few days. Reorganized my IKEA CD wood shelf so Beast is being admired by the KOF women. And of course, this also meant that I found new areas to put figures.

So I bought an already built figure of Iruka for $5. I think it came from those random figures sets that you can buy. But whoever built it glued all the pieces together, and the prob is they didn't make sure all the seams were tight. So it's a bit of a pain to see gaps (I'm not a huge figure freak (just ask my 2 still unbuilt Level 1 figures) but I'm pretty detail-oriented), but oh well. So now I have 2 Naruto things, my Iruka figure and Iruka mousepad (which is more where I put my glasses so I can find them in the morning).

Anyways, I think b/c I go grocery shopping every week, I just don't feel like shopping anymore. Went to WEM and it's like blah. Really was trying to look for Xmas stuff. My brothers and dad will probably get gift certificates. D asked me what I wanted (since I got him a guitar pedal), and I'm like, geez, probably the usual: books, games, DVDs. Guess that's kinda sad that I'm so materialistic.

5 days vacation

Is actually about the right amount. I was getting so burnt out at work, ready to pick a fight w/ the stupid customers. (the ones that were genuinely clueless were okayish) Yeah, I argued w/ the idiot on why the company can't put how much he'll pay in taxes on the website when he looks at plans. Oh, and someone else who was arguing over getting $20CR every month for 2 years and I hadn't even finished looking over the notes. I think the guy knew that if I went further in the notes, he'd get everything removed.

Anyways, now I'm not bored to be at home(w/ PS2 and computer games, DVDs, massive amounts of manga and comics) but I'm not totally at the point of eating spoiled food when thinking of going back to work. It also helps that I only go back for 2 days and then get another day off.

I do need to be more diligent on my Japanese. On my vacation, it's been limited to reading my grammar book while watching wrestling, and reading the sound effects in my manga. *sweatdrop* I know that's sad. Should be reviewing my kanji. I've gotten to about 60 kanji I should know. I repeat "should know". Some I'll know the Chinese and Japanese word for it, some I'll just remember the meaning, and some is like..."it looks familiar?".

Anyways, I should go back to cleaning my bathroom. I spent the first day of vacation as a neko, 2nd as an inu(fetching my manga), 3rd day I went shopping, so I guess that'd be tori, 4th day was actually some housework, so uma. And today...guess I'm a person(jin).

Quiz: Are You More Cat or Dog?

You Are: 20% Dog, 80% Cat

You are are almost exactly like a cat. You're intelligent, independent, and set on getting your way. And there's no way you're going to fetch a paper for anyone!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

Ah, kitty. Which might be why having a dog might be better. Last thing we need is both owner and pet ignoring each other. Trust me, if my fish Akao doesn't come by when I hold out my finger for a couple min, it's another 8 hrs before he gets fed.

Actually lately I've been thinking of getting a more...holdable pet. I don't think the building will allow dogs b/c they're too noisy. Cats are $200 deposit. And I don't think I want a gerbil, hamster, rabbit, or guinea pig. A white lab rat might not be a bad idea. Mice would be okay, but too easy to lose. Well guinea pig might not be bad b/c they're big, and edible.

Okay I admit it. I really want to have Beast. Don't need any special diet, scintillating conversation, great pillow/blanket substitue, good at reaching high objects and potty-trained. The fur might be an issue, but he can clean up himself, so it won't be a big deal. Heh heh.

Quiz: What Temperment Are You?

You Have a Melancholic Temperament

Introspective and reflective, you think about everything and anything. You are a soft-hearted daydreamer. You long for your ideal life. You love silence and solitude. Everyday life is usually too chaotic for you. Given enough time alone, it's easy for you to find inner peace. You tend to be spiritual, having found your own meaning of life. Wise and patient, you can help people through difficult times. At your worst, you brood and sulk. Your negative thoughts can trap you. You are reserved and withdrawn. This makes it hard to connect to others. You tend to over think small things, making decisions difficult.

What Temperment Are You?

Yeah, that's pretty much me. That's nothing I like better than to spend a quiet day wandering around town by myself, drifting in and out of my music world. Although on the other hand, I can't stand to just sit there and look at scenery. It just leaves me bored. Same thing w/ sitting in the tub. Erm, I dunno about patient...I think it's more my inner politeness of not interrupting unless I get pretty pissed. And I think I've had enough breakdowns at work to testify to the negative thoughts although the fact I'm still there pretty much also sums up the last sentence. Better to be w/ the devil you know.

My chair is occupied...

Yes, and it's not by my butt. One of my boxes of comics is on it b/c I'm trying to sort thru them. Originally I was going to sort thru the comics I had lying around in bags b/c I'd completely lost track of which ones I've read, what's going on in the storyline etc. I've gotten horribly bad at reading monthly comics. Well they're more like quarterly b/c that's when I end up reading them. The only ones I read right away are X-Factor, She-Hulk, Spider-Girl. The current Carey run on X-men is also what I'm reading. And "The Last Christmas" and Civil War(just the main one). Course I still buy Black Panther, Hellblazer and...actually I'm not sure what else. It's kinda like I buy them, and treat them like TPBs. Which is stupid really b/c TPBs are (fractionally) cheaper, collect entire storylines and are easier to store. Anyways, I'm so totally happy that Spider-Girl is back, although I don't understand why they'd put her on hiatus for only a few months only to relaunch her. Much like She-Hulk really. I guess they like to confuse us w/ all the #1s in our collections. Yup, I had to look at printing years for some of my shorter series b/c I couldn't remember which came first.

So I'm typing on my knees. Which is a bit tiring at times, but I'm a touch typer so it's not too big of a deal . May have to cut my pinky nails though. The rest of my nails are short already. But my stomach's been bugging me for the last while. I've dropped to my knees at times b/c it's like I suddenly get stabbed by a bladebreaker. On Tuesday I could barely move. All my muscles were killing and I was seriously limping. Climbing the hill was torture and I was tempted to grab D's cane before I left. But I hauled my ass in for their stupid SLR meeting, hated everyone for being sycophants to each other and constantly asking the same damn questions that even I, in my delusional state, knew the answers to. Wobbled home, nearly passed out in the bath (which was the only time my muscles weren't numb from pain), and snoozed. Ate a little bit b/c I figured I should, and went to bed early. Good thing Daily Show and Colbert Report were reruns this week. Next day, I went to work despite having a migraine and massive senstivity to everything. And finished the rest of the week. I've gone to work where people across the floor can hear me hacking, and have left huge wads of Kleenex from the sneezing and hacking of phlegm. In contrast to my roommate who comes home b/c he's coughing and his voice cracks b/c of it. I'm sorry, but that job is so easy to phone-in, (ha ha bad pun) he's got no sympathy from me. And of course he doesn't buy anything nutritious to eat despite having a car now.

Even if his sister died last week b/c of ... self-inflicted cause. She was pretty messed in the head, hence the self-infliction, and D asked me to use one of my days off to go to her funeral. Which was no picnic for me b/c I'm an empathic crier. And of course it was one of my days off. But I did it anyways b/c H couldn't be there. Well D got a car and computer out of the whole situation which... is pretty damn morbid.

Anyways, they've come out w/ the Beast Mini-mate, which makes me happy ...except it's packaged w/ that hemorroid-covered, herpes-infested trollop Kitty Pryde. Gah!!! I was so mad. So I still haven't bought him. But I did find the Pokemon: Red Manga at Chapters b/c Warp didn't have it (or the other new Pokemon manga), and I was so excited I started drooling in the store when I saw Venusaur. Yeah, so what?

Well I guess I'd better finish sorting my comics b/c technically it's about 3 now, and I still have comics all over my bed. And my knees are starting to hurt.