Of customers, inspiration & NCG on a cruise

so i was working late again today coz head office wanted some extra info on a company im recommending..at least the requests sound like the person had a good look at my proposal & i actually feel more knowledgeable after being pointed out on some points i've missed or analysis that was lacking...

sometimes, they refer back cases for stupid things which is merely a process to buy themselves some time to clear up their own pile of back-logs, sometimes they ask for things that are already clearly there...sometimes they just tease u by giving partial approval or rejecting straight away for some dumb reasons, so that you appeal and waste more time..

well, as much as i can, i'll try to channel those frustration into positive thoughts like "i shouldve done this or that better"..or give people the benefit of doubt..but sometimes, u can't help but think that they are also human like u n me who will do mistakes, who will slack, who will be selfish, & who simply won't know (ie stupid)..

so, back to my earlier story..this request was urgent n i only received the requests from HQ about 6 ish...then at the botton there's a line that sounds like this:"pls revert back by 23/12/09 as processing officer will be on leave"..

crap..

but its urgent anyway, so there u go...bank was empty & i was working my socks off again alone..i had to call up the customer at about 8-ish and the lady sounded like she was in cheerful mood..we chat a bit (build rapport mah!) n she said why i worked so late bla bla bla being the caring auntie she was..in my heart, well, "coz we have too many customers like you who want everything urgent.."

sometimes customers are unreasonable..well,too many a times for my own loving actually..

some people are just too rich to care, in their third world mentalities us bankers work for them & thus must do as they say..some are stupid but think they aren't, usually these are educated ones in someother unrelated field than banking/finance & think they read enough to know about what we deal with day in day out..these are the hardest to reason with..

i mean, a lecturer came in and questioned our instalment calculation..he was a lecturer in physics, quite senior it seems..it just wasnt his day as he met me..in his head, all we wanted to do was rip him off...heck, i play with these speadsheets for fun & could even explain to him each formula if he wanted...he sat there quietly as i went on..then rambles some shit about banking, thanked me n left..

at least he thanked me..but it wudve been less embarassing for him if he was more courteous & less berlagak, and asked for a clarification instead of trying to prove something...

customers forget that many actually want to work hard to help them...all they have to do is be nice, courteous, & reasonable..we'll go the extra mile for them instead of going the extra mile while cursing them each second...like that auntie i spoke of earlier, her being nice made me felt better and i felt the extra hours was worth it...

of course, i cant deny that slackers are there & i dont know why they became like that, in my heart i believe these people once was just like that fresh grad who just started working..enthusiastic & hard working...probably the system got the better of them...probably its the lack of inspiration..probably its the dark side yoda's been talking about..

well, thats a lil dip into the pool of situations i encounter week in week out..i guess its part of being in the service sector...sometimes u feel like shit, sometimes u feel great coz you've helped made a difference in someone's life...on a random note, i want to tell all my friends who are teachers that they should be very proud that they have a chance to inspire kids to a better life..i know my teacher inspired me well..and some of yours probably did the same too..

on a side note, i always envision myself being in the customers shoes..being that rich bank customer..what sort of rich guy would i be? everyday i tell myself, "the cool one"..ohyeaaa..i still have that dream of fully sponsoring NCG on a cruise...

difference between celcom & maxis mobile internet

now, i am not a tech geek nor do i know much about fancy telecommunication mambo jumbo..but, after experiencing both celcom & maxis mobile internet, i do think this much i can say about their big difference on a mobile platform...

i use a htc and have always subscribed to data plans from my mobile provider (used to be celcom, now maxis) to make full use of the wonderful device i have..htc tytn II is capable of HSDPA or 3.5G as some would call it..

there's this little logo on my phone screen that shows whether i'm in GPRS coverage area, or EDGE, or 3G or HSDPA, marked by G, E, 3G, and H. i'm sure most people would also have this little indicator on their phone, where the signal strength is usually shown...

when i was with celcom, that little logo was constantly H whenever im in HSDPA area, which is where i would be most of the time..but with maxis, it will only show 3G..and only when the phone is transferring data over mobile net (ie downloading or uploading), will the symbol change to H..when its done, symbol will go back to 3G..

here's an easy way to see what is happening...imagine i have a ferrari and im on a two lane highway...what celcom allows me to do is use the overtaking lane as long as the lane is there...but maxis restricts me to the left lane while driving, and only allow me to use the right lane when overtaking..

Visual representation of my awesome deduction

meh...so its not too bad...fair enough maxis is probably trying to manage the bandwidth usage due to their inferior resources compared to celcom..but here's the problem i often encounter due to the limiting structure...

if i load a huge page, or if i use a program that donw&uploads data bit by bit, it becomes really frustrating as i have to see the connection move up and down many times, effecting the speed im enjoying..

its like overtaking many cars..maxis wont allow me to overtake too many cars using the right lane for too long..im forced to go back to the left lane, then move back right...if the fast lane is pretty empty, then fine..but shitty thing is when there are many fast cars simultaneously wanting to overtake..i would be forced to wait until it is safe to shift lanes...

so between celcom & maxis (in terms of mobile internet), i'd recommend celcom for dependability .. the only reason im using maxis is that the monthly usage commitment includes international calls & smses..while celcom charges me on top of the usage commitment for international calls & smses..

anyway, this whole explanation is pretty much what i've deduced from my own experience..while i feel that its a fairly accurate account, i am not an expert, so do correct me if im wrong and confirm with me if im right..but i really don't think there's any other way to explain the difference in mobile internet behaviours on my phone..

what happens when you can't sleep...

so...i've found some time to do something about this place here...no wonder time is so hard to find...it only comes out at about 430am and only when a certain 'football manager' isn't on the agenda...well...better late then never...

what to expect from this blog? well...2 important things came with this update...

1) i found out i can send a simple email to a certain address and it will be posted straight away here. considering 'send a simple email' can be easily done using my htc...u guys can expect more frequent updates..probably from once every 6 months to, say, once every 2 months?

2) i've added the twitter updates gadget at the side of this page...and since i update random thoughts on twitter more frequently.. (i started twitter on 30/06/09, posted 611 tweets..divided by 173 days...about 3-4 times a day)...you can be more updated with my random thoughts..then again, its pointless being updated with random thoughts coz..erm..they're random...ah well, you'll at least know what's recently up in my life then =)

to sum it up, im still at public bank (!) .. still a man utd die hard .. still weigh more than 100kg .. still love the friends that i've made during any part of my life (Q: awww) eventhough not much effort had been made to keep in touch .. still loves karaoke .. still loving youuuuuuuuuuu ~ (Q: scorpion song)

to you reading this, yes you, a friend, a workmate, my bos, a bot..take it easy and keep it real yo!