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Monday, 31 October 2011

Views?

Sounds crazy... but there is ALWAYS someone out there who as it worse than you.

You... meaning me. I'm telling myself this to remind myself that we should all embrace our lives as is

I feel I've struggled a lot, but I know that I haven't struggled nearly enough.

One thing I do want to share with all is that, it's okay to bitch. Just know that the world doesn't revolve around you.

If you're going through a hard time, bitching is a way of acknowledging your feelings and your hardship

No one can possible understand other people's struggle even if they tried, because simply put: they are not you!

The sermon I heard yesterday was about how time is not in our hands, but in God's hands.

He controls it, and sometimes he makes our lives slow-going. Sometimes, he puts us through struggles

What doesn't break you, makes you.

The hardest test is to embrace our struggles but it's a time we should rely on God

Our time in this world may seem like a long time (80-100 yrs?)

But it's a small segment of what we don't know... eternity.

Regardless of whether you believe in evolution, or reincarnation, we all have an after something.

What we live today to scrounge for money, living paycheck to paycheck...

Not being able to go on vacation... or having the nice fancy things we want...

it's just temporary.

I remember as a kid, I would get a toy I want so bad. And sure, I would play with it.

Then I get tired of it. Or it gets so wore out that I move onto something else.

Objects are all temporary but they seem like the world to us.

What matters most and has a bigger meaning and grasping the concept of love: God's love

Then we try to mimic even every possible ounce in our body to be like Jesus...

Love your neighbors as you love yourselves. Love your enemies

Because only then can you be free of hate, jealousy, anger, indifference, etc...

What's harder to do should be an accomplishment. So we should try to accomplish the ways of the wise

and challenge ourselves with things that are harder to do, not easy.

Monday, 12 September 2011

I am blogging for class... so I wrote it on the class blog. But I'm also transferring it to my personal blog.

Who’s to say what good or bad writing is? What fear or thoughts are stopping us from writing? The most important thing is to jot down thoughts. So here goes nothing. Apart from my fear of having my writing critiqued, I also fear writing professors. I have attempted a similar class at different institutions but failed to complete the class successfully. I believe a good chunk of those who study psychology are usually the ones who are able to distinguish symptoms or have some themselves. I hit a block in the road and had a fighting semester the last few attempts with writing class. I asked my writing professor for help, hoping to get a second shot, but instead I found myself sitting in the dean’s office because of my cry for help. Well here’s my thought. Psychology has come from somewhere because of characters created in stories. We read stories and try to figure out what the author is thinking and why such a character was created. Or on the other hand, some people who indulge in challenges try to figure out what is wrong with the character and why they act the way they do. Aren’t they created by writers? So how come it seems that some people don’t understand how much someone with a disorder can face? Considering writers need to delve into a person psyche in order to write intricate characters to be realistic, it doesn’t seem that they are knowledgeable or sensitive but rather ignorant. Some disorders are so severe and drive people to a point of unemployment, or trouble getting out of bed, or even shoving food down their throat. Maybe I’m going about this all wrong. Maybe I am short sighted about the art English can be from poetry to writing. But I also feel that as a person who faces constant challenges is constantly getting judged and knocked down. I can still remember the high school teacher who put down my writing so bad that I never wanted to write again. At first, it didn’t affect me at all until a few years later. Having been recommended to a higher level English class by a teacher the year before, I was excited to face a teacher with great reputation who would improve my writing. Instead she called my dad to tell me I had no talent and that I should not have been placed in advanced English. I was discouraged but still wanted to challenge myself by staying with the same teacher. Over and over I felt belittled by her and it was harder to meet deadline. I became what was known as the queen procrastinator. I couldn’t even believe that students who wanted a college recommendation by her needed to get her approval first by having a paper test. I just think that if a student did well in a teacher’s class, it should be a honor to vouch for them and help guide them in the path they desire.

I keep rereading what I wrote and notice I have become a bitter and judgmental person. I hope to gain confidence, and rebuild my passion for writing. I hope deadlines become a drive for me instead of a dread. Maybe that’s why I’m blogging about this, and maybe this is why I decided to take this class.

Thursday, 26 August 2010

U-Haul Review

U-Haul is commonly used among movers because the rate is decent. However, there seems to be lots of complaints from people's experience. I have one to add as well:

We rented a U-Haul truck on Sunday 8/22 at 12PM. Usually it is a 4 hour rental but they know that not everyone can move within 4 hours so they allow you to keep the truck overnight as long as it is returned by 6AM next morning. Waking up at 5AM to return the truck is not exactly my cup of tea, so I returned the truck at night close to midnight. The total charge with mileage, insurance, standard fee, tax, etc... should have been roughly $100 +/-. Unfortunately, the location I used have more trucks than parking spaces. We definitely fueled up on gas and I know we crossed the mark that was required because we wanted to be on the safe side. There were absolutely no parking spots. Two U-Haul truck tails were even sticking out of the U-Haul (this is how packed it was). Some people managed street parking, but lucky for me, there was none available. The U-Haul location is right between a CVS and another property. I'm sure there were signs somewhere saying that you could not park in the lot, but I didn't see it. Seeing two other trucks parked in the lot affirmed my worry of parking there and I was the third truck that pulled into the lot. Right then, two tow trucks pulled in. I spoke to the tow truck guy and asked if I could park there. Naturally they would and they did say, "I can't tell you yes or no." I had to ask a second question going, "well as you can see, there are no parking spots available. Will the truck be towed?" He answered, "I might..." and then I asked if I would be held responsible. He told me that my job was to bring back the truck which I did. He said this happens a lot, and U-Haul pays for it. Maybe it was my stupidity, because if I think about it, anyone could have a truck towed from anywhere then that person just drops the keys off in the box and says, "I'm done." Nonetheless, I believed him and left the truck there in the lot. The decision didn't sit well with me so we called the location in the morning to inform them that we dropped off the truck. There was supposed to be a note on the account that mentioned we were all set. We receive a text close to noon that said the truck was never received. I'm not sure whether we called U-Haul or whether the manager called us, but he was very rude. Let me stress the rudeness. Supposedly towing responsibilities are listed on the contract and we are liable. We kept reviewing the contract over and over, seeing the fine print - nothing. "It's not negotiable, if you can't read it, come in and I'll read it to you," is what he said. We went in and the manager prints out another copy of the contract. He reviews it himself and realizes that it is not written on the signed contract. He pulls out an orange brochure and finds it written there. I cannot say whether we received the orange booklet because it was the first time I've seen it. He mentioned something along the lines, "Did you receive it? We might have been out at the time." Really? If we didn't receive it, how were we supposed to know?

Pause - We all work. We should know what it's like to have a frustrating customer, or maybe we've witnessed an employer being verbally abused in a non common sensible situation. The statement, "customers are always right." I don't believe that, BUT, I do believe in the truth and I do believe that customers have he right to a benefit of a doubt and politeness. Do you believe that proper customer service can change a customer's attitude? I do. There are only a few people in this world who are ridiculous enough to be grumpy all the time. Usually someone encounters a situation that allows the person to be in a bad mood. I do believe if we were treated like proper customers, not looked/talked down upon, and explained the case in a sensible manner, this could have been avoided. Every place has a policy, but if in my position, everyone will try to dispute the charges. I think we may have left grumpy but that would be the end of it.

We have been on the phone with U-Haul for a few days now trying to dispute the charge. As if that wasn't enough, we got charged the fuel charge of $53. That's a little extreme and I'm wondering if they're angry at us and trying to spite us on purpose. What upsets me most is, is that enough to be treated the way we were treated? The manager's words, "If you can't read the contract, come in and I'll read it to you." He also tells us that any place would have been better than the lot where we parked. Even if it was a few blocks down on the street, or even in the CVS parking lot. Put yourself in a customers shoes and tell me who would think like that? CVS is also private property and I'm pretty sure the truck would have been towed either way.

My experience? 2 out of 5 stars. At least the truck was clean.

Wednesday, 11 August 2010

Rambling

I am nowhere near an expert on business. I do know that I would like to own a few businesses of my own in the future. Currently I sell Avon/Mark, but no matter what they say, it's a pyramid. It may not be a scam, but the concept is the same: finding people, finding a team, and then having them find people. I had forgotten how much time and dedication goes into selling Avon. I can hope people find my website and order a few things from me per month, but overall I need to stay active by bringing up my business into the conversation. In a way, the thought of approaching some random person just irritates me. I know I wouldn't like to be approached, or constantly have my friendship with someone be all about business.

Well other than business, working in general is a never ending cycle. Searching for an apartment, you want to get your money's worth. Who wants to come home to something crummy and call it a home? You wouldn't be able to relax and enjoy your time spent at home. In order to afford something nice, you have to either move out to the suburbs or the rural, or spend double/triple the amount you originally planned. Either way, it's a give and take for what you want vs. what you get. I started an evening shift that goes from 5pm - 11pm. I come home tired, irritated, and sore. Obviously I want to relax and I end up sleeping late, which means I wake up late, only to rest a few hours then head to work. My life is revolved around a job, not even a career. It's frustrating to know that this is going to be a repetitive thing until I can finally muster up money to save and break the cycle.

Tassimo vs. Keurig
Planning to invest in one or the other. Tassimo's coffee cups are much smaller and thinner. The machine itself is more expensive, closer to the $200 side. The good thing is that it goes outside of just coffee and you get the option of teas, cappuccinos, and lattes. Keurig on the other hand is popular, sold in more locations, and has more coffee choices. You can find this machine for $100 and find the k-cups in more brand choices. Although, I think you can find Tassimo at your local Starbucks and Bed Bath and Beyond. Both these brands are great, useful, and brew a perfect blend of coffee every time instead of having to brew a whole pot. It's definitely a preference because I have been the one in the past that said, "what's the point. such a waste of money," but now I'm looking to buy one.

Wednesday, 28 July 2010

Phones

Upgraded to motorola droid in January. I really like the phone, and the slide out keyboard for me wasn't a problem. However, I've had to call up verizon for a few phone switches due to minor problems I was experiencing. Bought HTC droid incredible. Reason why it's incredible: great screen quality, easy to use, very slim. Downsides to the phone, you have to take out the back door completely to get to the battery, not so good battery life, and I haven't had much luck with the navigation. It keeps saying "searching for GPS signal." Not a very good sign to someone who is fairly new to the town. I've gotten lost on the road many times and wasted much gas only because I wasn't able to get to my destination. Do I switch back to motorola droid and sell the incredible? Or do I use the incredible and sell the original droid? Both phones are great. Wish the pros were combined into one phone that will truly be entitled to be called incredible. Overall, still not an apple fan although the Iphone 4 is amazing. Great idea to put the camera on the front side. It makes the phone seem very advanced. I'm definitely a fan of google, the free apps offered, and ease of using the phone. Hopefully there will be something incredible later on. Heard that a future samsung phone will be coming out on the market early next year of 2011. Maybe samsung will be able to beat motorola and HTC.