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Day: 169(Monday, 3rd June 2002)
Status: Training Day # 1
Days without PS2: 5 day(s)
Days without Cube: 2 day(s)
Listening to: Fuel - Bad Day
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TRAINING DAY: EPISODE # 1

Ooh - see the title of that song up above? Think it describes my day ? Partly yes but I suppose I shouldn't be discouraged. It was not all doom and gloom. If you've been reading my last couple of updates, you'd have known that I started my training at Maccas today.

Where should I start? Let's start right at the beginning. Arrived a little before 10 am this morning. It was like a hero's welcome *ahem*. Everyone already knew my name then! Was introduced to Jazza, I think his name is Jeremy, my trainer. Young fellow, about my age doing a double degree in Robotics/Mechatronics and Electrical Engineering (I think). Nice guy, acts abit "weird" at times. How should I describe it? He was trying to be funny, making faces etc. Guess he was trying to ease my nervousness or whatever he thought I would be feeling. Watched some videos about safety hazards etc.

Then J (for simplicity's sake) decided to give me a crash course on the cash register. I don't know how many of you have actually got a peek at the fcuking thing before but there must be at least a HUNDRED buttons on that thing. Every type of item is identified with a different code. Not that it matters, the printing on the damned buttons are so freaking tiny, its sometimes like looking for clues in a hidden picture. Anyway, after about 10 mins of explanation, it was time to go downstairs for the real work. Whoa... J did a couple of sales first then I followed up. After taking orders, I'm supposed to assemble them, get the drink/meal/fries.

Everything was going pretty smoothly. J even said I was doing exceptionally well. He said most people take a couple of days to figure out the workings of the cash register. Well, like I said before, not all was well. The cash register works on a pressure sensitive pad, sort of like a touch screen. Here's when shit started happening. I mean really shitty stuff...shitty with a capital "S". I made at least 2 mistakes that I realised. There could be more *gulps* that I didn't notice.

Mistake # 1 - Didn't charge a customer for a drink

Mistake # 2 - Charged a nice lady 2 times for 1 burger. Either that or I gave her one less burger. BUGGER!

Why? I blame the damned pressure sensitive pads. Sometimes, nothing appears when I press the button. Other times, double of it appears. The thing with mistake # 2 is that the lady paid with no questions asked. She paid over $ 12 for a meal, why didn't she realise it? Maybe it was my fault for giving her one less burger. I don't know. I shouldn't get discouraged. Tomorrow's a new day.

What else is wrong with the fcuking cash register? What is there to like about it? It contains money which doesn't belong to me? The procedure for ordering a meal is bloody complicated. J even asked me if I knew Java and tried to explain it to me in programming language terms. What the fcuk?!?! I told him I didn't know Java so he asked "Do you know C++?", I said I've done C before and he said that would do, easier to explain to someone with programming knowledge... RIGHTTTTT. Here's a scenario, which is reality for me. You are a customer and you want a Large Quarter Pounder Meal. Sounds simple enough? Wrong. It couldn't be more complicated actually. Why not just have one big button for "LARGE QUARTER POUNDER MEAL" ? The reason is because customers might not want a soft drink with their meal, so here how's it goes in a few simple steps, using the large Quarter Meal above.

Step # 1 - Select " S/M/L " for Size of Meal. Skip this step if ordering a non-meal
Step # 2 - Press " Quarter Meal "
Step # 3 - Press " L " for Large Drink to go with meal. Skip this step if ordering a non-meal
Step # 4 - Press type of drink - ie. Soft drink or milk shake
Step # 5 - Select eat-in or take-away
Step # 6 - Register the total
Step # 7 - Assemble the order
Step # 8 - Serve, collect payment and return change

Now you see, 8 steps for just a standard Large Meal. Add 1 more if the customer wants a sundae which has Regular or Super Size. Then add 1 another one for type of Sundae (Chocolate/Strawberry/Caramel). That's a total of 10 steps for a meal with a dessert. What's more, Maccas have a promotion now, people can get free food with vouchers they peel off the drink cups or fries packs. What do we have to do when someone makes a claim? Enter the item claimed, wait for next transaction, press "Promo", press item that was claimed, proceed with current transaction. Just to give away a free item requires 4 steps. Confused already?

My point is that its complicated. End of story. Anyway, enought about that. Just to let you know, be nice to people serving you at the counter, its not an easy job :þ

Anyway, that's not the end of my shitty day just as yet. Had my break at around 2.00 pm which lasted 30 minutes. I saw Ching Ching at the counter. I was off for my break, I smiled at her and she smiled back. I think she stood there..waiting for me to go up to her to say hi or have a little chat but J kept talking to me. She then left the store and I didn't get to talk to her. Racheal, if you're reading this. Ching Ching probably told you she saw me at Maccas. Yes, Ching Ching is RL's housemate whom I've met once or twice. Drives a BMW 3-series back home in Msia *eyes pop out,jaws drop to the floor*. Anyway - that's not the shitty part. I went upstairs to put on something over my uniform, came down stairs to order my lunch. Costs me 1/2 price. I paid only AUS $ 3.50 for a large Quarter Meal. As I reached the crew quarters upstairs, I had to balance my food tray in one hand while inputting a code that locks the door, cause the crew quarters is within the storage area. Fine, the moment I walked in, I dropped my tray. FUCK! I spilt my large drink, and my fries but the burger escaped. J was in there as he took his break earlier. I asked for a mop and he said he'll clean up. He told me I could get replacements. In fact, customers who spill their food get replacements. Any such things in Msia? I don't remember. Anyway, it was time for J's shift so he went down and brought the broom and mop out for me. He wanted to clean up the mess I made (how nice of him) but I just took it up and did it myself.

Well, that's about all that happened on my Training Day. Everything that could go wrong did. Good think I didn't spill the customer's food. *Touch wood*. Hope I didn't speak too soon.

Other updates - DT asked me yesterday or the day before online if I was going back for the coming Chinese New Year. He proceeded to mention that he would be going back and so would his sisters. First thing that came to my mind was that he wanted to know if he'll have a dog sitter here. Hey, you can't blame me for thinking that could you? I asked about ML and he said that she'll be going back to Singapore, then going to KL to spend the holidays with him. So what should I do now? Should I go back to Msia for CNY too?

He bought some new games, about AUS $ 10 each for pirated copies. Pretty alright I suppose. He asked me if I wanted to modify my PS2. It would cost between $ 60 - $ 100. Games would be $ 35 each for DVD versions, with CD versions being cheaper. Sounds like a good alternative. Might wait until my warranty runs out and when I can afford it.

He also said he's planning to upgrade to the Telstra's 10 GB plan. He said he tried out one of the ISPs he's considered and it seemed slow. Monthly bills cost about $ 300 now. He says he'll stick to the 2GB ( $ 60) agreement with me. I suppose that's alright. Will see how it goes. I'm trying to limit myself definitely. Sometimes, I tend to download songs or watch streaming videos. That's where most of the bulk usage goes other than the standard usage.

Arghh, 2 minutes to midnight. It's about time I stopped. Did I warn you that this would be a long post? No? Doesn't matter I reckon. Well, I guess all of you are used to it by now. :þ

I think I need to sleep early tonight, get up early and go get a haircut tomorrow morning before I go to work at 12 pm. Hair's getting abit messy especially when I put on the visor. The last time I had a hair cut was when family was here to take my 2nd set of Graduation pics. That's about 3 - 4 months ago.

This is it....Episode # 2 coming up in the near future. No worries.