Supplemental.

The LG VX6000 camera phone has been in service with me for over a month now. This cool gizmo has done so much service in those 30 days than my Motorola TimePort, my v120, or any Nokia or Samsung phone I've seen! It is more than the fact that this phone is a camera phone. But of all the camera phones out there, this one has I believe has the most bang for the buck.
The battery life, first up, is pretty good. In two days, I have managed to take 20 high-resolution pictures, use 2 hours of talk time, and keep the phone on standby before it needed a recharge. Every two days, for the past month, it's been like this. I admit, I am impressed. Next, the main screen is a color screen (a real difference from the Game-Boy spinach color screens I've dealt with in the past). Vibrant, backlit, and clear, sunny or dark, I have no complaints. Adjusting the sounds and graphics did get some adjusting to. But by the first week's end, I was able to get the background screen of my blog on the cover screen of my phone. Cool. The Caller-ID screen, as I refer to it, reminds me of the TimePort 8767 main screen that I liked so much. Similar to that of the MTA buses, but better. The screen will only stay on for up to 3 minutes before it deactivates itself, but I learned to press any button to the left of the phone to reactivate it. Very cool.
Memo, calculator (that calculates tax and tip!), on-line functions that can give you games and ring-tones, calendar, mobile web (which I haven't used yet); even the backlit buttons are awesome! This phone gets a 10 out of 10 from me; this will be the fourth phone out of seven phones I've used since high school that gives me the total package. The other three were the Nokia 8290 for VoiceStream, the Samsung N5101(?) for T-Mobile, and the Motorola TimePort 8767 for Verizon Wireless.

Also, something I've noticed about the Macclear Zip case for the iPod. In time, despite cleaning, the case will look dingy and eventually collect lint. I've went from cleaning my iPod once a month to once a week. And I've had that case...
Since August.


On a personal note, seven months ago, I decided that when I got my next job, that I would never discuss it in any form of detail on this blog. I thought that this time around, business would be separate from everything else. When I think about the fact that they're a lot of New Yorkers out there without work, not even mentioning the number of unemployed nationwide, what can I possibly complain about?

Well, I've got something to complain about.
And, hopefully for the first, only, and last time on this blog, I will vent about my job.

First and foremost, I'm a banker (a.ka. financial service associate, a.k.a. customer service representative, a.k.a. bank teller) at GreenPoint Bank. I've had the job for several months now, and while the biggest mental task is keeping track of tens of thousands of dollars a day, the bulk of the job relies on understanding, and responding, to the needs of the customers. This has never, ever, been a problem for me. I will go out of my way sometimes to make sure that the customer understands that the bank is not the enemy; that the customer must stay ahead of his finances at all times, and that we want to help any way we can. For some, this task can be the biggest, emotionally draining, and tedious 8-hour exercise given to them. And in the branch I work in, it is said that if you can work here for 6 months, you can work in any bank. It will be six months soon, and I don't understand what the big hub-bub is all about yet.
However, I have realised one interesting thing: the problem for me does not in fact lie with the customers, but with the other bank tellers. Which leads me to my beef with my job. My fellow associates (not all of them, but a good 85% of them) I firmly believe make this job stressful; more stressful than it really is. Just the other day, my window was located between two other tellers who have been there for more than seven years; I call these two associates The Female Old-Timers. In the morning, after our meetings about sales goals and such, all they seemingly do is complain about the new rules that take into effect, about the way someone looked at them on the way to work, the conspiracy and jealously against them; it was totally ridiculous. They do this with me in the middle, so they literally vent all their venom at me, making me very uncomfortable. And, this is just the morning. During the day, they have the tendency to stick their noses in my affairs, and tell me how to handle the situation; as if I never knew how to do it. Not one, both of them do this. Then, when I calmly and sharply shoo them away, they throw hissy-fits, saying that everytime they "offer" advice, I snap at them. Then, when I politely ask them for the advice (my policy: when I need it, ask for it, thank them for it. Simple.), they just don't tell me; they talk the advice down to me, as if I had already done it wrong. I ingest it all everytime without fail, but the day will come, and soon, where I will forget how much years they outage me by, and verbally assault at every aspect of their lives, which they love to talk about to pass the time. Does this always happen? It depends on the day. If there are relatively no customers, or if the day goes by smoothly, they'll be nice. But when business picks up, or when a customer wants to tell them that they want 2 $50 bills or one $100 bill instead of 5 $20 bills, even when a customer complains to them (especially when a customer complains at them), they get real nasty. Fortunately, their venom doesn't fly at the customers; unfortunately, it will flip at me, because I work near them about 95% of the time. Requesting teller window changes has crossed my mind, but the questions raised when doing so are not the questions I would ever want to answer. Finally, at the end of the day, these associates all love to appease me. Why? Because I calculate our check figures when I'm there. So, they talk nice to me so, thinking that will help them prove up in the end. Such bullshit, pardon the language. They get even more interesting when they are in a rush; they'll rush me, and annoy me to speed up the process. They want to make sure I did everything right and make no computation errors; but God forbid they do not prove-up; they cry, scream and throw tempertantrums, and all I do is add up everything they do.
Also of note, I found that a lot of siding is done in the job. Because my style and attitude is different, they waste no time whining about it. For example, my usage of the following customer please step down versus everyone else's next customer, or step down has them all very annoyed. As my little way of getting back at them, I would say it repeatedly. Then at the day end, as I go to prove up checks and such, they'll look at me as though I'm some sort of weirdo; as if to say their fate of proving lies now in The Boogieman. Excuse me once again, but I gotta say, this bullshit is completely ridiculous!! I have my way of doing everything, and no one seems to like it. They'll put me down and pull it apart faster than tolerate it. While they obviously get small little kicks out of the jokes they spur, it is at my expense, usually resulting in me getting the smaller end of the stick. Even the new hires are joining in on it! And I've reached the point that since I talk to no one about this, I vent it out on this blog. I have not had one freaking peaceful day since I've been there. I have been late once, and came up short once. But not one day goes by with an associate, not a customer, stressing me out. One day, I thought of showing up with red tape with stress-free-zone written across it, just to let them know that today, you will give me 0 stress. I will leave peacefully on that day. I also imagine that will be the day that a customer will stress me out.
So, what does a kat do? Tolerate it. Tolerate it, say nothing to no one, and leave when da kat's work is done. But these people are getting me frustrated. Every single day I'm there...

Okay, I'm done venting. So, what is your job like?!

Playlists. Everyone has one it seems. I have an iPod, and haven't posted one up yet?!? Well, here's one I listened to on the way home today:

Unstressing Temple
Axel Foley; Harold Faltermeyer; Beverly Hills Cop
Rainforest; Paul Hardcastle; Hardcastle, Volume III
Lily Was Here; Candy Dulfer & David A. Stewart; Pure Moods
Crockett's Theme; Jan Hammer; Miami Vice II
After Hours; Ronny Jordan; Smooth Jazz: The Sax Series
Off Broadway; George Benson; Give Me The Night
Housecall (with Maxi Priest); Shabba Ranks; Shabba & Friends
Murder She Wrote; Chaka Demus & Pliers; Bam Bam, It's Murder
Spanish Dancer; Steve Winwood; Arc Of A Diver
Rock With You; Everette Harp; 1996 Smooth Jazz Awards
This Masquerade; George Benson; Breezin'
Like A Baby; Wham!; Make It Big

I know, I know. Sounds uninteresting, for a 21-year old. Well, excuse me for not having an interesting life. I place all blame on my parental carbon-based units.

Okay, before I go, I did think of a freelance. Hope you guys like it. This one should have been created years ago. But sometimes good things don't come quickly. Like my 40GB iPod, in which I wait until November. In any event, from the other side...

Arrow
No warning could have prevented me
from feeling the piercing of the woman's blow
so innocent, so calm, like an unexpected paper cut
that burns until one puts time on it to heal.
Arrow, I can recall
her foreign eyes, calling me across the room
I crossed an ocean to follow them, and they spoke to me
I responded with unadulterated enthusiasm
she returned with some friendly sarcasm
my cheeks reddening before my ears.
As the hours and the daylight dissipated
I grew a temporary love for a Columbian delight
oh, what I do for love can surprise even me
Though I was so sure, yet so wrong,
the joy of enjoying her was more than I ever imagined
Days upon days gone by
with her hair brushed so trustfully against mine
Word count minimal, possibilities endless.
Without word or mention, she said goodbye
an endless river of mystique turned an enigma disappeared
I fought so hard to find her again
but no such success would prevail
the blood began to shed, and the pain
through every sensitive touch was felt
like the scorpion who stung the turtle
midway into that ocean
She fulfilled her true nature, and lived up to her name.