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April 28, 2007 - Paradigm Shift

My revelation last week has affected my thinking. Before, I used to think that I couldn't really do anything at the bank anymore. I gave up trying to refer products to customers. My referral goal is to get two a day. I found that difficult before. I am called to give my best in everything I do. I've decided to do this, rather than just get by in my job. I've had a change of heart, and I've decided to just kick butt. Now, I think I'm on the right track. My managers were always so impressed with one of the other tellers because he once got six referrals in one day! Monday, ten. Tuesday, eleven. Wednesday, three. Friday, ten. That's all I have to say. And this. (Email me if you don't get this.)

I got a text message from a Peacock this morning. This morning at 2am. It was a little like the text message I got from him last Saturday morning. Last Saturday morning at 2:23am. I'm not quite sure if he understands the universally accepted texting hours. I'm not even sure there are official hours, but I'm pretty sure that they do not include the first six ante meridiems. His text messages have not been about an emergency or even urgent questions, they've been about his graduation party.

The following was not my reaction when receiving these gems.

[Phone buzzes]

What time is it and why is someone calling?

[Opening phone]

Holy crap! Peacock's having a party? What am I going to wear!? I only have a week to decide!

"Honey, get up! We have to go shopping! Peacock's graduating, and he's celebrating it!"

Has anyone else received one of these urgent messages in the middle of the night? If you would like to stop this madness, please be sure to text Mr. Peacock if you have his number and be sure to send me a comment regarding your message to him. (Remember, be sure to do it between 01:00 and 06:00. 

[Comment by: Steve]

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April 22, 2007 - Shenanigans and The Like

Friday, to say the least, was not the day that I was expecting. I've recently been looking for new scenery in the workplace. I don't know what that scenery is, but something different than what I've been doing now. I've submitted my résumé to a few different places, including some out of state. I also applied to the fraud department within the bank. I thought I would be a shoe-in, whatever that is. After contacting the staffing person, she said I was not able to get an interview. The reason? I'm not satisfactorily meeting my job requirements. The two criteria that these are based off of are the amount of referrals I get and my balancing accuracy. I admit that I'm not the best refer...er, but I'm just below the percentage I need to be on the pass/fail scale of balancing accuracy.

This is ironic to me, because these are two things that have absolutely no bearing on the position I'm applying for. I was bit upset at this fact, but looking in hindsight, it is applicable to any position. If I cannot successfully complete my required tasks in this position, how can they be sure that I would meet or even exceed expectations in anything? I have come to embrace this fact and I am going to do everything I can to meet or far exceed expectations of me. (If any of you would like to help me, that would be fantastic. Need a checking account? Savings account? Credit card? Mortgage? Talk to me. )

I was also a little dissappointed, but after thinking about it, and looking at it through my worldview, there was a reason for it. There is a reason God did not allow me to get this job. Why, I don't have a clue. Perhaps God wants me to stay at the banking center for a while longer. Maybe He doesn't want me to move on until I can do my current job with a cheerful heart and to the best of my ability. Perhaps my time is coming close to an end at the bank. God might have something new for me. I don't know what that is. I don't know if God is putting things in front of my face. Yesterday, not even mentioning my search for a new job, one of my customers asked if I would like a job. She said that their "support guy" had recently quit, and they needed someone to deal with their shipping and technical support. I'm not sure exactly what this entails, but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. I'm definitely going to inquire, because there has to be a reason for this to happen out of the blue. I don't know what to do, but I know I will pray about it and do my best at the bank right now.

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April 18, 2007 - Death and Taxes

They say the only two things you can't avoid in life are death and taxes. The latter, for those of you who procrastinate, hurt or helped you a few short days ago. Unlike my procrastinatory nature, I always get my tax returns done way early. I do this, because we get a refund. Good for us. In fact, we were able to get the shiny new Maccy I'm typing on with it. I feel bad for those who did not report enough and waited until the last minute to find out. For instance, one of my coworkers bartends at night (because not enough people drink during the day?) and his bar just now decided to report everything. He makes very good money, but now he's paying for it. He owed around $3990. Let's just say he wasn't thrilled.

Death, as well as taxes can't be avoided. Unfortunately, we've seen some untimely deaths this week in the Virginia Tech tragedy. Thirty-three are dead because of a single person who didn't value his or anyone else's life. Death is inevitable, but it's not necessarily going to happen in our old age. We can't take any day for granted. My heart goes out to all the families involved. I pray that God will use this to turn hearts to Him.

My wife gave me the new Relient K CD for Easter and I can't stop listening to it. The album is called Five Score and Seven Years Ago. It's very good and the band seems to be maturing in their lyric writing, and as always, the music is very good. I love the song "Forgiven" and just so I can mention the song name, there is a ten second track titled, "Crayons Can Melt On Us For All I Care." There's one song in particular that sticks out to me, "Deathbed." It's eleven minutes of awesomeness. It's a song that tells of a story of a man who pretty much messed up his whole life. He says, "If life was a highway, I was drunk at the wheel." In the end, he is redeemed by Christ. Even though we may screw things up in life, we are not exempt from the grace God gives if we accept it. I would have you read the amazing lyrics to this song, but that alone wouldn't do the song justice. If I've done this right, you can use the link at the end of this paragraph and you can read the lyrics to the song. You should also be able to hear the song. Give it a little time, as it will probably buffer. I hope you like the song. 

[Comment by: Steve]

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April 15, 2007 - Disturbing

    Don't get plastic surgery, ever! I don't know how many of you were actually thinking about it, but I can tell you that there's really no need for it. You are perfect just the way you are. The reason I bring up this topic is because I had an encounter with someone who should not be a spokesperson for so-called "enhancements." On Saturday, I helped a customer who had obviously had a few dealings with the devil plastic surgeon.  She was probably in her early to mid-40s, and she looked almost silly.  I say this and I believe I have a right to, because she brought it upon herself.  I doubt she was forced onto a table to be worked on.  She was not wearing anything provocative, in fact, she was fairly modest with a t-shirt and pants, but it looked like she was trying to smuggle a pair of volleyballs in her shirt.  That's no exaggeration either.  I always do my best to keep eye contact with female customers, but in this case I couldn't really look at her at all because her face was just as distracting.  Her lips were protruding about an inch to an inch and a half away from the rest of her face, and it looked as if someone had cut off all the loose skin in the back of her head and just started pulling until the skin on her face was taut.  After looking at her transaction, I was now positive that this was her own doing, since her paycheck was from a seedy establishment or "showclub," if you prefer, but I doubt they were showing off cars.  I felt sorry for the woman, because she may be an addict, but it didn't help with her cause of looking "better."  God designed you in His image.  You're perfect just the way you are.

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April 9, 2007 - Drivethics

When was the last time that you cut in front of the person who was second in line at the movie theater or the bank, all because you saw a three foot space in front of them? There were twelve people in front of you, but you saw that open space, so you thought it was yours to take. People just don't do that. Or do they? Why do people drive in a way that they would never think of doing in any other situation. I've seen it all too often on my way to and from work, especially on the ramp from the 51 to the 101. Will people ever get the concept of merging? Why don't certain people understand that when one lane ends, it ENDS! Here's a tip, once those funny dashed white lines disappear, there's only one lane. That one lane usually indicates that there should be no passing. Am I the only one in the dark here? Is there a special license plate I can buy that allows me to fly by thirty cars who have successfully merged into that single lane? Evidently, there are a privileged few that do, or at least they think they do. Do they think it's okay to act this way?

Maybe some of you drive this way, in which case, think about doing that outside your car. Understandably, people aren't exactly thrilled by seeing how fast your car can go past them, but they wouldn't exactly be silent if you did that to them in person. This idea was talked about today on The Andrew Tallman Show. Once we step into a vehicle, we become totally different people. I'm a fairly courteous driver and my wife sometimes gets frustrated with me because I'm not more aggressive, but if more people were courteous on the road, things would actually go a little smoother. Does anyone else feel my frustration with these advantaged drivers?

    Remember all the way back to the first paragraph when I said that people wouldn't do this in a normal situation outside of their cars? Well, I saw something that was actually pretty close. We were fairly busy today at the bank, but we still move fairly fast. It would be rare for someone to be waiting in line for more than four or five minutes. At one point the line was about eight people long, and the gentleman who was fourth in line, decided to jet from his spot, past the three people in front of him, straight to my window. Yes, he was a merchant and I am the merchant teller. It drives me crazy when merchants commit to a line, and then change their mind, back out of that line, and then reenter my line when I'm quicker. This guy, pretty much told all these people that he was much more important than all of them. That's just rude. I told him, "That's fine if you come in my line, but don't just walk cheat those three people in front of you." I then put on my disappointed face. He cried. Okay, I just put on my, you know what you did and you should be ashamed of yourself face. It's a very complicated face to make.

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April 4, 2007 - American Idull History

I won't deny it. I watch American Idol. Well, I watch an American Idol, and Sanjaya, some sort of superhero that has the power to make young girls cry just by looking at them. Wait, does that make him a super-villain? Whatever he is, he has some sort of sick following. He can't sing, he even admits it on his profile, yet he still floats on through to the next round every time. I really don't know who's voting for him. Perhaps young girls are afraid of his mighty power, thinking their vote is the only thing that will satisfy his demands. Maybe others wanted to vote for someone else, and dialed the wrong number, but I doubt that's it, because it's happened too many weeks in a row.

For all I know, people who hate the show keep voting for him. Perhaps if someone this terrible wins the competition, FOX will refuse to continue the show. If Sanjaya, by some catastrophe, wins the competition, it will make American Idol history. I'm pretty confident that if Sanjaya wins, the recording studio that is required to sign a record deal with the winner will just say, "Nope. We said we would sign a deal with a singer." I could predict that the consequences for having a CD with Sanjaya's name, face and voice on it could be devastating. If you were to play one of these said CDs, your audio equipment would actually assault you. It would physically attack you, and then jump out the window.  Needless to say, your CD player would be very upset and disappointed with you.

[Comment by: Jessica] 

[Comment: "Great blog. I couldn't have said it better. I'm glad you found the thing from The Soup. It's my favorite!"]

[Comment by: Margaret]

[Comment: "I heard that that is actually Sanjaya's biggest support base- people who don't like American Idol and want to show that it's all a popularity contest. (Although I heard it in the mainstream media, so who knows if it's actually true?) :-)"] 

[Comment: Steven]

[Comment: "The last four sentences of your latest post truly enriched my life. Thank you. That's all for now."]

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April 3, 2007 - Take Two

    I don't know if anyone looked on the site already today, but there were a few problems with some of the links. Firefox seemed fine opening the links, but other browsers somehow didn't prefer them. They should be fixed. Oh yes, I have a new song. What should the name be? I'm probably going to add an Almost Music section with the MP3s I've been composing.

April 3, 2007 - I Saw the Signs

What does it mean to be under the weather? Aren't we all under the weather? You would have to be in outer space to be over the weather, wouldn't you? Well, despite the illogical expression, I've been a little under the weather for the past few days since I got back from Mexico (the New one) and Colorado. Jess and I visited some friends who live in the Four Corners area. I say Four Corners rather than Farmington, New Mexico because they would prefer it that way. They say that if you fail your driver's test in Colorado three times, they hand you a yellow license plate. It was apparent that New Mexico driver's aren't the greatest at this learned skill. Evidently it's contagious, as I almost led my host in the passenger seat to a meeting with a Domino's truck that he hadn't scheduled. Thankfully, my car had enough power to pass the truck before the passing lane ended. Actually, the passing lane had ended, and there was enough room between the oncoming cars and the truck, only because they were probably more on the edge of the road than the road itself.

Speaking of roads, there's a lot of billboards they put up next to roads. I, like the good consumer, read almost every one. On the way to, well, anywhere, there are a number of billboards that catch your attention, either because they're funny or stupid. I'm not sure if the billboards that stuck out to me were either. The first one I saw was for a local casino. The sign had a handful of cash with the headline, "We Make Millionaires." Brilliant. It seems funny that they don't specify that the millionaires they make own the casino. It's an honest billboard, but I guess that's what the suckers get for believing it and losing their savings at a place that smells like death. I understand I'm a cynic, but I've always said that gambling and the lottery are taxes on people who are bad at math.

The second billboard caught my eye for a few reasons. It's not necessarily funny, and it's not stupid. It has a picture of Jesus and it says, "Jesus is watching you." I don't see signs like this very often. It would make sense that it sits right next to an adult bookstore. Bravo for the owner of the sign. I would like to know how much that has cut down on sales for the establishment, but I don't think I really want to speak to the owner scumbag.

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