After another stock shift at Gaf, I decided to skip out on Oceans (sorry Biker!) and meet up with Berkeley at Hard Rocks to watch her man perform. Center City.. remember that name. They're in the battle of the bands competition and advanced to the finals to be held on Wednesday. Good for those guys, even though I don't really care for their style of rock O_o. Well, minus the lead vocalist, they sound pretty good. Show support; head down this Wednesday!

Gee, I was supposed to get a bunch of things done this afternoon: get a haircut, wash car, look for a digicam. Alas, I turned on the laptop and spent the afternoon surfin the web, reading articles, and dozing off every now and then. Yes I know, I gotta be more productive, but it honestly is the first time in almost a week that I don't have to be running all over the place. Thank cutlets that the 40 hour work week is over (aside from tomorrow morning). Now I gotta worry about wrapping up everything in school. Only one more week left.. *sigh*

I know it I say it alot, especially in this blog, but *yawn* boy am I beat.. :(

I've gone to bed at 4 the past two nights, but unlike other times, I had to stay up late. Tuesday night was windows at Gap. Stupid large decals of Oola-oola-zawili (Haha, Val cracks me up) and other models took so long to pull up. Val and Boss took like two hours to put up one of those, and there were six to put up! But when I went at it, I put up 2 in half and hour. Val asked if I wanted to do windows again, and though it is a very late shift, I actually don't mind it. I enjoy the marketing stuff and like the finishing result. I actually feel useful at work.

So yesterday I spent half the day working on my 366 group paper. I was in a complete writers block. :( I was assigned about 6 pages to type, but I could only dish out 4 and 1/2. I had to plug in some carefully placed pictures to fill up the 15 page requirement O_o. And again, I woke up late, skipped a class to work on the paper and only finished it half-hour into the class that it was due. eek. Big Tony sent me a text "Where r u".. He was probably pissing in his pants haha.

Thank heavens I'm done with that paper.. Now I can enjoy my late lunch. I've got my Manoa Gardens stir fry right here just sitting here in the Lab. CKO started a crab ball ranking for the Lab O_o. I am currently ranked 4 (out of 8). Yup I suck. Indeed.

Haha.. Crab Ball and Flash-Gear drawings.. two of the best unnecessary things in life.

Damn, one day I'll beat CKO in crab ball. We play international v-ball style (30, 15 format) but I never win. I did win a set, but he said "I got lucky". Pssh. You watch CKO, I will rule this Crab ball planet.. Just wait and see...

You guys got to try this Flash white board. Pretty fun stuff. The neat thing is you can draw with more than one person at a time. You can play tic-tac-toe... through Flash! Technology is so cool. Boy did I sound like a dork there. Anyways, check it out for yourself.. Click me

Doing windows tonight. Till 2am. Yay. Do you sense my excitement?? :P

It's another stretch of night shifts at GAP. All together, its 24 hours. That means a 40+ hour work week on top of school. Bleh. Luckily, summer is around the corner and I'll have more free time to just relax, get some sleep, and catch up on alot of movies I haven't watched yet. Damn, I need a new movie buddy :( Any one interested? Turn in your resume today!

*Sigh* So yes, today they finally announced it: the CB/CPB merger went through. I got the news when I got to work today. I mean I kinda expected it after they extended their offer deadline but still, I felt like crap when I got the news. The whole branch's morale was down as I expected the other departments were to. After all this change could mean the loss of some jobs or demotions for many employees. It didn't sit to well with our branch, especially because of the robbery on Saturday.

I'm actually kinda down right now, especially after hearing the news. I am es-scurred about my future. Graduation is creeping up in a few months, and I haven't started job-hunting. I guess I felt secure before that I had something "to fall back on" but the merger news just gave me a wake-up call. Things change all of the time. Sometimes you just can't get comfortable or you'll get messed in the end. I still have to figure out what I want to do, where I should focus on. Hmm, I have to figure out my work schedule while I'm taking summer sessions. Will I still be at CB CPB next month, I don't know. Heck, I haven't even finalized my summer school schedule. *sigh* Sometimes I feel like I'm not progressing in my life like I should be. I just hate making decisions and having to commit to them.

I need to focus.
Focus, Anthony, focus.

vinawina1414: what're you up to?
iGotThaMagkStik: just browsing the web
iGotThaMagkStik: im in school
iGotThaMagkStik: waiting for rush hour to die
vinawina1414: ah
vinawina1414: I heard rush hour here never dies.
vinawina1414: I wouldn't know though.
vinawina1414: since I don't drive
vinawina1414: and since I don't drive
vinawina1414: I don't know.
vinawina1414: and I don't know
vinawina1414: because I don't drive.
iGotThaMagkStik: haha
iGotThaMagkStik: so if you dont drive
iGotThaMagkStik: then you dont know
iGotThaMagkStik: because you dont drive
vinawina1414: lol
iGotThaMagkStik: and i dont know
vinawina1414: yeah, that's right
iGotThaMagkStik: because you dont know
vinawina1414: you don't know
iGotThaMagkStik: because you dont drive
iGotThaMagkStik: so i dont know
vinawina1414: lol
iGotThaMagkStik: because you dont drive
vinawina1414: so why don't I know again??
iGotThaMagkStik: i dont know

"Women need food, water, and compliments... and an occasional pair of shoes."
- Chris Rock

Instead of doing stock last night at Gap, we spent the entire time cleaning out the fitting rooms and tidying up the floor. And after the three hour shift, half the store was still messed! Every table in the store was trashed; nothing but jumbled heaps of clothes. The problem: women shoppers.

I swear, women are the worst shoppers. Why do women have to mess every piece of clothing in the stack, even the ones they don't intend on trying? See, whey men shop, they just browse the store without touching a thing. When they find something, then the man will grab it, neatly, try it on, and if he doesn't like it, try his best to make it nice.

But women are a different story. They'd walk around the store and touch EVERYTHING, even if they don't plan to get it. They'd just do that flipping of the stack, and walk away. Then there are women, when looking for a size, mess the entire stack, even if they're size is on the top. And if they see a shirt in their size but it's not folded, they go ahead and grab another one and thereby messing up more of the stack. Argggh... Why??? Can't you just grab the one that's already unfolded?? Can't you put it back clothes in the right place?? Can't you at least try to fold them?? And if you don't, do you really have to mess up EVERYTHING??

Piss off. Piss off.

I had a weird thought today while I was in the Lab for Hardware's workshop. I just realized how un-tech savvy I am. He was describing all these computer parts and their functions and everything seemed so new to me. I mean this wll be my profession, my area of expertise supposedly in a matter of a few months, and I don't know jack. There was a guy at the workshop who seemed like in the same shoes as I am, only he is an MIS grad student. I thought to myself, damn, I am like that guy. Come to find out, he was like me: an MIS student who did well academically but with no hands on experience. That kinda scared me as I thought about where I am at right now (or where I am supposed to be at) looking for a permanent job. I know my areas of strength and my weaknesses, but it just kills me that I don't know this kinda stuff.. But I'm glad that I'm in the Lab to get exposed to these kinda things. I just wished I joined earlier and learned more. I still got to read Techie's .NET architecture book. I'm actually looking forward to finding time to read that thing. Wow.

Man, I feel so drained from work.. at Gap mostly. Tonight is the conclusion of the three-night late stock shifts. Then, I can sleep.. zzzz

So it was the first day at work post-robbery. I was surprised Nor came; I figured she'd have a few days off to recover. Poor thing, she still looked traumatized... she told me that she had the chills just driving to the branch. MitsuKen sent her to Straub cause she just couldnt concentrate. Hope she gets better soon.. I hate to see her like that.

Work was slow today. Was good except that it made the day drag longer. I napped on my lunch hour and I went over by 10 minutes. Woops. Sucks Good woke me up when she hit my head with the door. Ouch.

Hmm, looks like its time to go to Gap. Shipment till 12, bleh.. Damn, I still have to get my status report done for 366. :(

Damn it was very busy at Gap today. We were short staffed since there were a few sick calls so I was running all over the place. You name it, I did it all: Cashiering, stocking, fitting rooms, everything. Keeping busy was good though as it made time go by so fast. And lucky me, I didn't have to stay for flow haha.

**Oh yeah, the Gap Summer 1 collection comes out this week. Women's Monday, Men's on Wednesday**

So last night was Feng Shui. Although it wasn't as good as the last time I went, it was fun. Good fun hanging with U-Turn, Nana (Weather Man), and Cutlet. Funny stories, funny pick-up lines, funny hand motions, just plain funny. Faye Shui and friends were there too, and so was Chai and T-Dawg. We got half-off cover but the drinks were still hella expensive. That's okay though, as I didn't spend half the amount that I thought I would use that night O_o

Hmm, it's late, and I still haven't eaten. I think I'm gonna go grab me dinner.. Chicken, maybe?

Oh shit we got robbed!!!

It's the second time in the past year, but this was the first time that I was actually there when it happened. I was helping a lady with her deposit when Nor started yelling while she paced back and forth behind me. It took me a moment to realize that she got robbed. Kinda disoriented, I continued to help the last remaining customers in the bank while the rest of my coworkers locked up the branch. I tried to keep a smile on my face while helping the customers giving that "business as usual" interaction but they knew something was up..

So the police and detectives arrived a bit later and did their thing. I left while they were still there since I didn't see the guy or anything. I felt kinda dumb after what happened. I mean, my teller window is right next to hers and my comp is kinda facing hers. But I guess you don't really notice these things as you have so much to do while engaging with the customers. Poor Nor... she was supposed to head down to UH to see her daughter perform right after work and this had to happen to her :( Sometimes I forget the area I work in (it is a pretty rough neighborhood) and the dangers of the job. I'm just happy that noone got hurt and that we are all okay :)

Anyhoo, aside from the drama at work, things were pretty good the past two days. Spent the night with monkey making burnt lasagna. Yum yum. The best burnt lasagna I ever had. Hehe. Saw two dvds today.. I finally got to see the Rundown (funny) and Mona Lisa Smile (a great movie). I rented one more dvd to take advantage of the buy-2-get-1-free coupon but I might not watch that last one. Don't have time :(

Before I go, I just got to add that sometimes you just got to be aware of the people around you. We sometimes get caught up in all of our things that we fail to notice that a dear friend is in need of some care. So take a moment every now and then just to ask "How are you doing?" and that will be sure to brighten up their day :)

Teller pet peeve of the day: While you're counting out cash, the customer counts aloud with you...

I'll make this one short...

Yesterday: Bank, nap, Kapalama car wash (Weee...), printer at Costco, Bday card at Hallmark, Chili's with U-Turn, printer installation problems (argh), sleep.

Today: Late for class, lunch, AIMS, Gap, sleep.

Done.

*Wipe sweat* Phew, it was a close one..

On the drive home from work tonight, I was coasting the freeway over the speed limit. I just got off the phone and wasn't really paying attention to what cars were around me. So yeah, I was coasting at 60+ when i notice the car in the lane to the right just ahead had a funny design on the driver side and a weird looking bike rack. Stupid me, it was the 5-0, and so I slowed to under 60 just in the nick of time. Meanwhile, a Jetta in the lane to the left passes all of us going at about the speed I was earlier. The copper quickly goes around my car tails the Jetta and flashes his bike rack haha. Good golly, I was that close to getting a ticket. And just ahead, another car was pulled over. Too many cops on the road. Beware...

And so continues this whole Mexican theme... wait, JLo is south of the border???

Well, I had a wonderful Easter just kicking back with Monkey at her house the whole day. Just like good ol' times: just lying around, watching TV, eating, doing a little homework, falling asleep on her couch... Makes me wish that circumstances were different so that we could be together. But that's life... I'm sure though that, in time, all the pieces will fall in place.

Hmmm looks like this week will be a busy one. Much to do, oh, much to do. Pay taxes, pay insurance, finalize summer school schedule, pay for tuition, meet up with Hey Bart (eventually), meet up with N-n-no, lasagna with Monkey, shipment nights at Gap, and ah yes, Feng Shui. Must cut spending to save for them $20 jack and cokes...

Good golly I need some time to fit in time to just um.. lie around and do absolutely nothing, kinda like what I did this weekend haha.

Got done with my presentation.. I think I put too much work into the slides and too little preparing on what I had to say ><. Anyway, it went alright and I turned out to be really happy with my slides. You can view them here.

So Biz Night was last night. I expected it to be a snore since people have been telling me up until last night that it was a waste of time. I mean, people were looking more forward to the post-Biz Night activities. But alas, I found Biz Night to be well worth the time and the 25 bucks I had to dish out to attend it. I picked up 80s Fayrie and we drove down to the Hilton. We waited around the lobby for our sponsors, but I ended up seeing mine only when I went inside to sit down at the table. I told him to meet me under the MIS banner even though there wasn't one. Woops..

Anyway, my sponsor, who I will call Ernie, turned out to be a good one as I was kinda disappointed at first not being paired with one of the guys from the local companies. He told me a lot of things about the IT field, what he does, what he experienced, what I should look out for in interviews, and other things. We basically chatted the whole night, even while the speakers gave their long (and boring) speeches. I did my best to keep things comfortable by asking a lot of questions about what he does, since he seemed to enjoy talking about that. Ernie was such a nice guy that he even gave a pen as a "graduation gift" and bought me a beer. Although he didn't offer a position at the dinner, (didn't really matter though, since the company is based in the mainland and it's not as appealing in the first place) I learned some valuable things from Ernie about what I want to do with my career and such. The most important thing he told me: Be honest. With customers, interviewers, managers, anyone... just be honest.

So after Biz Night, I dropped Fayrie off and met up with Big Tony at Oceans. It was packed like Spring Break and so we had to wait a bit. Luckily, Drunken Texan was there to get us to the front of the line. Hung out with Chai, Biker, Bodyguard, and the rest of her friends. Apparently, one of the guys just got his job back and so he brought 200 big ones to the club to blow on drinks. The dude was even gonna pay for my fries! Anyway, it was good fun.. a good end to a busy day.

You. Could. Roll. With. Me.
Must. Call. Sponsor.
Must. Shine. Shoes.
Must. Buy. Socks.
Can't. Be. Lazy.
Must. Finish. Presentation.

It's 1 in the morning and I had a crazy urge to write in this blog even though I don't really got much to say right now. Hmm funny...

On Sunday, U-Turn, G-Tree and I went on a "field trip" (no papers required) to see Weather Man do his thing at the news station. It was a nice little visit as I got to see what goes on during a news telecast. What surprised me was how little people were involved in doing the live airing of the newscast. There were four people up in the control room, two down in the studio, the anchor, the sports guy, and Weather Man. And though you could feel the intense stress in the studio and control room, things ran pretty smoothly. Some interesting things I noticed: the sports guy has basketball shorts and sneakers behind the newsdesk, the "late-breaking" news desk is a small room on the news floor (equipped with a crappy desk), you can add flaming mutha pumpkins to your weather graphic thing-of-a-jig, and that yes, those lame jokes after the weather and sports reports are scripted. Just goes to show you that television (like other things in life) can be very deceiving. Ended the night at Likelike Drive-In with um.. food.

Today (or shall I say yesterday) was work, work, and more work. It was a non-stop line at the bank as the nanas and tatas who didn't take their SS on Saturday came in today to cause trouble. I swear, I can help at least 3 or 4 people with the time it takes me to help one of them. *Shakes head* Went home, took a nap, ate dinner, and went up to Gap to do shipment. I'm happy... I thought I'd be up the whole night working on my Soc. paper due tomorrow but I got it done in under an hour! That's something for me as it takes me a whole hour just to write a page. Yeah, I know that's slow. I just don't care about that class no more. It's reached the point of being boring and it's a CR/NC class anyway, so there's no need to stress about it anyway. I guess it's just that with me, at least, I strive for perfection. Those who know me know that I am very anal with little details. Bleh. Gotta let go of this damn way of thinking...

Anyway... the bird, bird, bird. The bird is the wurd.

A short shout-out for the peeps from the "Ghetto". That's right, Sucka from ghetto Kalhi, "Holla". To Monkey in ghetto Makiki, "Aiya!" To Chai from ghetto Waianae, "Pig Farm!" To U-Turn also from ghetto Kalihi AND ghetto Kailua, "You. Could..." To Mole from the ghetto um.. Mole Hole, um "Poop." And to everyone else, your spot is probably is not ghetto as these places, but I still got nothing but love for y'all. Be proud to represent your piece in this great state.

Anyway, enough of that. Agenda today: Rest, Gap for 3 hour shift, home/AIMS to do homework, meet with ALo (possibly), and more homework. Damn, Krispy Kreme ppt is looking mighty good...

My mom's home. Yipee!

Though she arrived home yesterday, I didn't get to see her at all till this afternoon since I had school and work all day yesterday and only got home at 3 in the morning then went back to work at 9 this morning. She changed her hair color, but she's still the same ol' mom (Yelling at my brother, haha) :)

It was another night at Oceans. Hung out with Sucka, Number 1, Thug, U-Turn, Chai, and Big Tony most of the night. Not too exciting last night since I came with a scratchy throat. I lost much of my voice by the end of the voice so I sounded awful when I came to the Bank today. *Squeak*

When I got home, I saw this huge stereo sitting on my laptop desk in the living room. It was the humangous thing my mom said she had bought while she was the PI. The darn thing looks kinda gawdy and its display was flashing endlessly. I tried to turn off the flashy display thingie before realizing that it just does that even while its off. It was only after I flipped through the really thick manual this morning that I realized it was because it was set to demo mode. This thing has a millions of buttons, and it took awhile finding the small little demo on/off button. *Sigh* I think I'm getting old...

"I wanna be your lawyer, I really wanna defend you..."

I finally found out the source of all my internet connection woes at home when the RoadRunner guy came over yesterday. "You had a damaged cable wire downstairs." Damn building cable wires! Caused so much inconvenience. And to think of all the hours I could have had just loafing aimlessly on the Internet. :P Also yesterday afternoon (and into the evening), I finished our group's ITM slides. Took me almost 4 hours putting it together because my damn group members didn't do their jobs. I was just supposed to receive the content in text of what was supposed to be put in each slides and all I had to do with it was edit it and make it "pretty". I ended up doing the content myself cause I received shit prep slides from the others. Grrr. And to make it worse, my original template was not used since Michelle supposedly worked hard on her version so we decided to use hers. Oh well, at least the others can't say I didn't do anything since I think I did the most for the presentation other than the speakers. Relieved its over, and that I didn't have to speak.

So what's been happening lately??? Hmm. Oh, I watched an incredibly good movie entitled "The LadyKillers". Tom Hanks pulls off another great performance in this semi-dark comedy based in the modern-day South. The colours in the movie are spectacular making for beautiful cinematography. And the story was great as well, and it had a very fitting ending. Saw the movie with Monkey, right after dinner at Cock's Kitchen. I still have a great time with her; always makes me smile :)

Oh, I forgot to mention that the grafitti on the building next to the parking lot behind the Bank was painted over. In my opinion, they should have left it since it was pretty nice and it represents Kalihi well (ghetto) but I guess the one, too many customers complained.

And at Gap, managers are moving all over. Mich already went to Kids, now 98 degrees goes to Pearlidge, Val becomes Top Dawg, Boss becomes assistant manager, and Color is um fitting room specialist? I think that's what I was told. Me, I'm still the same ol' guy who works sales for an hour and stock the rest of the night till 4 in the morning. Bleh.

Wow, things are changing all around me. It's very inspiring...

Um. Oceans after work tonight... See you there?