Tremors.....

For the first time in my life, I felt what earthquake tremors are like. It was a little past 12:20am. I was already at work.

Something didn't feel right. It was like I was feeling dizzy, disoriented - but it couldn't be. I felt the ground shaking beneath me. It went on continiously for about 30 seconds or so. I'm not sure, I didn't keep track but it seemed like a long time.

All around me, people were standing up - some with surprised or shocked faces. I looked around and K wanted confirmation that I felt it too. I said yes - then I told her "I think there's an earthquake somewhere". We were evacuated. For 30 minutes, we were standing in the parking lot of the office. We were all excited - many of us, a first feeling tremors or earthquake after-shocks.We saw a cop car and fire-engine racing past. We wondered what happened but we never found out.

We were then told to go back to work after that - damn! We all thought we could go home early last night. No matter - I've got the day off.

After a few hours, everything was back to normal. They checked CNN and got news that a 8.7 scale earthquake had hit again. Another one, we thought. We were on standby, advised to evacuate again if more tremors were felt.

The Promotion.....

MO Sharmini came over, wanted to tell me something but I signalled that I was on the phone. AMO VJ pulled me aside later to have a meeting to me. He asked me if I wanted the bad news first or the good news first.

He said there was no bad news - only good ones. He told me effective 4th April 2005, I'd be on the floor as a Lead GSE/Supervisor. He congratulated me, then went on with his usual encouragement. I'll be having my "masters certification" for the next couple of days when I go back to work to be a "Certified-Lead GSE". G and D will be doing the training and I've got 3 days to brush up!

After that, e-mails were sent out to all the AMOs. AMO Aru came over to shake my hand, saying that I deserved it. AMO VJ came over as well later. Now, gimme a fat paycheck and I'll be much, much happier. Not to mention more appreciative.

More PSP Madness.....

Today, my first step to the darkside begins. I bought the 100% Unofficial PSP magazine. What next?

Tying up loose ends.....

PF asked me why I haven't updated my blog for so long the other day. I told her I was busy, which was in a way true. The work hours are a killer. Sometimes, I choose sleep over entertainment.....how sad. And all the things that have been going on.

I wanted to send ZT an sms the other day ask her why she was ignoring me. It would have been in the lines of this:

"Why are you ignoring me? Did I do something wrong? ....."

Something tells me I sort of know the answer to that. But I really don't think I deserve this. Finally, I didn't even send the message. "Why bother?" I was thinking.

GW told me - "Failure is not a dead end, its a detour". I'll try to remember that. Honestly never knew she reads so much before this.

Looks like the loose ends are still hanging.....

The Move.....

Yes, we'll be moving again. I think it'll be about the 10th time in my entire life. Here's the list of places we've been staying at before:

#1 - Subang Jaya
#2 - Kampung Tunku
#3 - Johor Bharu
#4 - Ampang
#5 - Damansara Utama
#6 - Damansara Jaya
#7 - Taman Mayang Jaya
#8 - Bandar Country Homes, Rawang
#9 - Melbourne, Australia (though this really doesn't count)
#10 - Kelana Jaya

Did I miss anything out? So its pack, pack, pack. Plans are to move out before the end of April, within the next couple of weeks if necessary. I've got to go to sign the tenancy agreement one of these days. Got to try to transfer the Streamyx account if possible. So much to do, so little time.

Had a talk with dad the other day and was expressing my intention to sell the Honda Civic and perhaps getting an older model with lower monthly repayments. I feel the strain of having to pay RM 800 a month for car installments, which has turned into a family car - yet I don't get the convenience of owning the car. I still have to waste 4 hours a day waiting for the company transport. I still have to pay the daily RM 7 taxi fees when I need to get home after work. I thought I was paying for convenience.

Then I thought about it and decided to keep the car. Its a gorgeous car and I know I'll regret if I sell it off for something else.

The Offer.....

VJ spoke to me the other day and asked me if I was interested to be a Lead. A promotion of sorts. The catch is that it isn't an actual post within the organization - and they'll have to make requests for an increment and/or an allowance. Basically, a Lead will be drawing the same pay as a normal rep, but with added burdens and responsibilities. The management is aware of this and wants to reward us appropriately.

There have been so many promises that haven't been delivered. The talks about banding are finally materializing. The first time we heard about this was back in Oct 2004. They're supposedly to adjust our paycheck based on our jobs and responsibilities. HR Dept are supposed to give us briefing and letters this week.

In another 2 months, it'll be 1 year working at this place. The longest job I ever had, out of the 3 jobs I've had thus far. I've been so close to throwing in the towel. Things didn't seem to be going anywhere - all the broken promises didn't help matters. This new offer will stir things up abit. It might just prolong the inevitable. It's an opportunity to polish up my resume so I'll take whatever I can get now.

For a second time, a customer wanted to speak to a supervisor to commend me. This is all going into my personal files, which is good.

I can see some jealousy amongst some of my peers. They joke about it - but they're just masking their true feelings. Everyone wants to look good in the eyes of their bosses, don't they?

SONY PSP.....

It's out. It's finally out. The thing is, the games that I plan to get are not available yet. I've bumped this gadget from my "want to have but not necessary" list to my "want to have but useful" list. I've just had another slow Saturday shift. I really need something to kill time.

Plus if I'm going to hang on to this job, travelling time takes up 4 hours of my non-working day so its something "useful" to own. Plus if I get this, I can strike off the iPod from my "Wish List". And I've heard its quite a chick-magnet as well. A guy who've got the Japanese unit had girls coming up asking him if it was a handphone. Apparently there was some lady who gave him a business card too. Well, wouldn't that be an experiment to try out. Seeing is believing.

I think I've got to check with Jason to see how much I can it for. He's quoted a price of RM 1365 that comes with the SpiderMan 2 movie on UMD. Maybe I can get a "regular customer" price. It's time to dust off those credit cards soon I think.

Guilty as charged.....

OK, so GW wants to make me guilty for not mentioning her in my blogs. Guilty as charged. What's the sentence? :D

So if you're reading this, remember my advice, edit your post and keep the name of your plans to yourself before someone reads and steals it.

I've managed to influence a new recruit into the blogging scene. Go me! Have fun and happy blogging GW! Now you can't say I don't mention you anymore, can you? Your wish is my command.

Yummy

Had chinese dishes in SS3 last night. Thai-fried chicken, barbeque pork ribs and Japanese tofu with vegetable sauce never tasted so good. Must be all the takeaway "economy rice" dishes that we have for dinner everyday of the week. Plus the cafeteria food at work is nothing to shout about. Urgh. That's the working KL-folk for you.

Survivor

What's my motivation? I find it hard to believe that D submitted a 24-hour notice! But he's got a better offer, better post. Good on him. They must be paying him well for him to jump ship like this.

So now, I'm back to doing supervisor job functions MINUS the pay! I'm taking escalated calls and customer complaints - so every call is a bad call. Some customers soften up when they think they're speaking to a manager or supervisor. The rest, no mercy - they yap on and on like barking mad bitches!

And I can't believe I actually took the time to come up with some comeback lines. If only I can get them into action next time.

Sarcastic verbal exchanges were also order of the day at work on Saturday night.

After verifying customers information and enquiring how I can assist her.

Customer: Why do you keep charging me insurance? I have vehicle insurance.

Me: Ma'am, you need to provide us with proof of insurance. Once you do that, the $20 fee will be reversed and you DON'T have to pay that optional fee.

Customer: You're damn right I don't have to pay the fee, its optional. What does optional mean to you?

Me: Optional means you have a choice.

Customer: *interrupts before I could finish talking* AHA! Exactly what I thought. I have a choice, so get it off my bill cause I'm not paying it!

Me: Ma'am, optional means you have the choice. A choice if you want to update us with your insurance information or not. All I can tell you is that if you don't update us, the $20 charge will keep showing up on your bill.

Customer: This is harassment! I'm taking my loan somewhere else! bla bla bla bla......Well, thank you for participating in this harassment.

Me: Thank you for calling *censored for privacy's sake*, ma'am.

Customer hangs up abruptly and I bet she was pissed!

You want another one?

Male Customer calls up and verifies information.

Customer: *shouting* Why the hell are you charging me all this fucking interest? It looks like I'm not going to be able to pay off this fucking loan in time then!

Me: Sir, I'd suggest you mind your language and let me explain.

Customer: *shouting* Get me your fucking manager! How's that? Is that going to help you?

Me: If you want to speak to my manager, I'm going to place you on hold

Customer: *shouting* Get me your manager now!

Me: *stabs the hold button to shut that yapping bitch up*

And these idiots don't know what sort of loan they're signing up for when they sign on the dotted line.

Now I know, cheap cars, killer interest rate. I think we Malaysians can be considered a lucky lot. If only they reduce the import duties drastically, life will be good.

The shit I have to go. Well, not only me but all the Customer Service Reps where I work. I really need a raise if I'm to do the supervisor's job. And that was just a call I'm getting as a normal Customer Service Rep! Bitch.... Even though I'm not a fan of Green Day, their new song is the bomb! But they're not all bad, there are the rare nice ones.

Mr. Arthur, if I do get my raise, I have you to thank for putting in the good word for me!

No wonder D jumped ship. How many more will? I haven't seen V for days now. He was here for one day after he came back from his leave then was out on MC for the rest of the week! He going to jump ship too?

My original group of 30 people has reduced to like 5 or so left. We are the last few remaining survivors. I don't know how much more of this I can take. Time to look elsewhere is coming soon I guess.

If I can handle these current lot of customers. Locals should be a walk in the park, no?

And as for monetary motivation, I hear the other groups are getting 1.5 months or 2 months bonus. And they found out back in January. Confirmed as well I think! Damn! We have no news at all. We reckon we'll get the shit about no-profits and the rest of the cock and bull stories. I don't think I'll hold my breath. We'll be lucky if we get anything!

I'm looking forward tomorrow. Off day!