cO-worKers freakin

If it bleeds it leads. That's what my Grandfather used to say. He was an editor at the P-I back in the 50s and 60s. I never met him. But he has a point. The Swine Flu gets people to listen. And leads them to become paranoid and overly worried.

My female coworkers were freaking at the start of work today. 'OH, IM SO WORRIED! I'm washing and sanitizing after everything I do.' If you aren't already doing that then you are in trouble! WE WORK WITH MONEY ALL DAY! Do you know where money has been? I don't. And I don't want to. Someone I know whipped his ass with a 20 and gave it to someone else else after he lost the bet. Great. I've probably touched that 20 or one similar to it. They are much worse things to be worried about than swine flu. You could conceivably catch meningitis from touching money all day.

One coworker was freaking out so much that she was paranoid by the number of Mexicans who come into the branch on a daily basis. 'I'm so worried! You know? Because we have all these Mexicans who come into the branch all the time. They could have it.' I let her know it's more likely our boss who came back from Mexico last week is carrying it than the poor Mexicans who can't afford to go back but once every other year or never. Then I gave her a hard time. told her all the mexicans I helped today would be opening accounts at her desk. And I asked her if she wanted me to go to Chipotle for lunch and grab her a shredded carnitas burritto. DIOS MIO!

It is entertaining to say the least. I've had some fun. Unfortunately, someone in the U.S. did die from the Swine Flu. Plus the first cases have shown up in Seattle. And I'm sorry for all the families that have lost people to the illness. But do you know how many people die from the flu every year in the U.S.? 36,000!!!!!! Chew on that slop, pigs.

Swine outbreak!!!!

Interrupting my long posts I have some questions for you.

The Swine Flu outbreak is raging. I would say it's at the SARS outbreak level. Every media market in the U.S. is freaking out! Cases are increasing at serious rates particularly south of the border.

But what I want to know is how do you get it?

I see all these photos of Mexican subway passengers with masks covering their airways. But is the swine flu an airborne illness? HOW DO YOU GET IT?

Do I have to make out with a pig? What if I want a pickled pigs foot from Tijuana?
I have been reading the articles but the causes of the flu are so vague they are going unmentioned. From what I can read into the pictures they depict and inspire panic. Sensationalist. Not to say this flu isn't a real problem. It's all so vague right now. From what I can tell they haven't released the causes of the Swine Flu. If they exactly know at all.

OINK OINK.

Southeast Asia:Thailand

We have plenty of problems of our own. From Iraq to the faltering economy we have enough to fill our worried minds. But if you had not heard their is an insurrection going on in Thailand. It does not play a pivotal role in U.S. politics but it represents a continuous problem of government corruption and control that has been rampant in Southeast Asia since WWII. This is the first part of a series of essays to make you think on a broader scale. (If you want another drinking story we can go grab a beer on the weekend. Spring game tailgate anyone?)

With the Thai New Year's Riots in the capital gaining all the news, the insurgency in the Pattani provinces North of Malaysia continues to grow over the past month and a half. The insurgency there is nothing new to the country. It has been taking place over the past 5 years. Only recently over the past month and a half has the insurgency intensified. So far it has claimed approximately 3400 lives and injured another 5600 people.

The reasons stem back to the ousting of Prime Minister/'Populist CEO' Thaksin in 2006. Instability in the Thai government began with the corruption allegations surrounding the coup to oust P.M. Thaksin. A couple puppet P.M.'s followed him in office. The current P.M. Abhisit, who took office in December, is trying to turn around an unstable Thailand. With help from the economic downturn Abhisit has managed to send the tourist economy based country into a land of turmoil. Not to place the blame fully on him; he may not be the right man for the job. It seems like he walked into a vacuum he couldn't imagine filling. This is leaving a bigger hole for the possibly return of the previous P.M Thaksin or worse yet the military. Now, the government is trying to avoid a return of military rule. With the insurrection in the capital and out in Pattani intensifying it looks more dreary everyday.

These insurrections are only hurting the economy even more by preventing tourism to continue unabaded. The autocratic desiring Muslims who make up the small but significant insurgency in Pattani are a threat to stability for the Thai government. Since the rebels have been fighting openly for 5 years now they are not severely impacting the tourism economy. They do pose a threat of national stability and a military strategic providence located on the lower peninsula so close to Malaysia. Simply put the government cannot afford to give up a province to a small group of rebels. Even though the number of people who make up the insurgency is small the two sides need to open up a dialogue. The Muslims who make up 70% of the insurgents feel discriminated by the Buddhist-oriented Thai government. And making some small concessions to the formerly autocratic province (pre-1902) would go a long way. It would, also, allow the Thai government to focus on their rioting problems in Bangkok. (There it is.)

The opposite way of thinking about this Pattani problem is to imagine that moving 60000+ troops into the Pattani provinces helps the government keep a large amount of the military forces out of the capital. Allowing two things: first, cutting down on the chances of a military coup in the capital. Secondly, the armed forces in the have done a very good job of keeping casualties down in Bangkok. Having an increased military presence in the capital might encourage more civil unrest as liberties are locked down.

Thailand is a country to watch right now. It's civil unrest is indicative of what many Southeast Asian countries have had to endure over the past 50 years. A tourist country in need of it's military has to balance the power by filling the power vacuum left behind by Thaksin. Maybe it will have to reinvent itself seeing as the world economy is struggling, too.

It's not dead like dynasty ....yet.

I MADE A PENNY! WOOO HOOO. So far this site has made me 1 penny. It would cost them more to print a check or type the words 'direct deposit' into my account.

If this site was about money I would sell out and write about Miley Cyrus. The only way Billy Ray Cyrus could resurrect his one hit wonder career was by having a daughter who was more popular than he ever was. If she was the result of boozed up back stage partying then Disney needs to get a Jack Daniels sponsorship.


Like many of you who read my blog I am only a short amount of time removed from college. That includes anyone who graduated the last 3 years. While some of you have figured out what you want to do for a career I do not have a clue. Recently, I have been discovering the downsides of corporate banking. It's impersonal for the employees and the clients. Every employee you talk to from outside your branch doesn't care if you are an associate. As always people want it and they want it now. No patience. Customer service is a diseased area within any company. It's as if you were hired to take slaps to the face at a carnival. And after a while you forget why you are taking the slaps. Then the paychecks stop coming. You're work is outsourced to India. You look in the mirror you're just as old and jaded as everyone else. In left-handed years I'm 27. Good thing I still get carded. That makes me feel young again.

(Outsourcing customer service is an easy thing to do. And likely to be done very shortly....)

Anyway, I'm losing my point here. The point is I am in an 'Office Space' theme that I didn't know was an office. Until I realized everyone is my boss. The entire corporation motivates you through cheesy, superficial speeches and phrases. Playing the games and listening to coworkers spout overdone and unimaginative phrases is uninspiring to me. Does anyone agree with me? Doesn't overdone leadership strip the gravity of issues by placing too much pressure on smaller issues taking away from the importance of bigger issues? I guess it depends on your priorities.

Now, I'm not saying I'm so disgruntled I'm going to rob the place like Peter did in 'Office Space.' I have a semblance of morals and a SERIOUS respect for paper trails. I'm yelling I'm stuck. I can't get up. And the batteries for my senior medical alert necklace are dead. I just watch people at my branch go nowhere. I can tell underneath the job they do on a daily basis they are apathetic to what they do. They wish they could be somewhere else. And that is the worst kind of discouragement.

So, maybe it's time to make a change. The economy is still in a rut. So, many of you are considering moving home. For instance, Heeze is leaving in a month to go back to the island to work at Pearl Harbour. Congrats Heeze. On the other hand I don't have the luxury of having a particular set of skills or education like engineering to make a jump to another job right now. I think I have to man up and suck it up until I know it's safe enough for me to make the jump. I really don't know if the economy is going to dip again or not.



Honestly, I can't help but think that's no way to live when you're young. Go see the world young man. Don't confine yourself.

An itch to scratch

I wrote this article in a bewildered state in order to scratch an itch.

Year by year we hear reports of school, mall and nursing home shootings in the news. We remember numerous similar news reports in years past from Columbine to the Tacoma mall shooting. Following the immediate shock of the incident we ask 'Why?' Why does this seem to happen so much in America?

I know this is a bit of a writing turn from the usual drinking stories that if I had any self respect I would keep to myself. But this is itching away. I can't get it out of my mind.

What causes these VA Tech, nursing home, and mall shootings? Is it just psychopaths abruptly acting out? Why in this manner? What makes them shoot people they don't know or have never seen before? Music? Video games? MTV???

I've read many articles over the past decade suggesting all kinds of theories about why these shootings occur. Everyone has heard the blame placed upon video games, music, and American society in general. Recently, I read an article suggesting a combination of different factors involving widening gaps among people concerning corporate world social gaps different from the usual economic gaps. Corporations are very impersonal environments. Therefore, according to the author these widening social gaps are a mainly a result of the growing corporate society American has become. And these gaps begin as perceptions by workers. If someone can find the article they could see what I am trying to get at since I am doing a poor job at explaining it. Anyway, the growing corporate environment we live and work in has left people feeling lost and, more importantly, UNIMPORTANT. Many of you can imagine that feeling of insignificance, as the article puts it, 'you are a needle amongst a humongous pile of needles.' Corporations are immense. You could go your whole life without talking to or meeting ten percent of people in your national company. It’s hard not to feel like you are nothing. And that kind of insignificance puts pressure on people to evaluate themselves as unsuccessful and insignificant. You can’t let your job define who you are! Work hard but don’t build yourself up to be let down.

Some of the world’s most illustrious inventors, writers, and artists worked boring, seemingly inconsequential day jobs! Einstein worked in a patent office while he first published his papers. Many famous artists like Vincent van Gogh don’t get to see their art become greatly admired because their art appreciates after they die! (his insignificance is, also, part of the reason he cut his ear off) Kafka the author was an insurance worker. Experts debate upon who actually wrote Shakespeare. Was it this Stratford on Avon pauper or a distinguished person like a duke? As inconsequential as your job may make you feel it doesn’t define you! You can still make something of yourself.

You may hate the work you do. So, volunteer helping kids, coach or use your mathematical or engineering skills to write a thesis. Better yourself by using your free time to define who you are. Don’t define yourself by your job unless that is how you want to be defined. That is my answer for my shitty job.

While all of that is inspiring, I still don’t see an answer for these troubled individuals. What may work for me may not work for you. So, where do we go from all this pointing fingers at society? What answers can we draw from all these shootings? The two things I do believe are there is no simple answer and this is no way to scratch an itch no matter how you feel. A life is the most precious thing this world has to offer.

This article could use some editing. So, if you have any links to articles I can use please link them to the comments.

Gone Baby, Gone

That's so 2007 I know. I'm a tad bit behind the times. One good movie. And Casey Affleck is a better actor than his brother without a doubt.

What a twisting and polarizing ending. So, I have to ask those of you who have seen it who do you side with? Casey Affleck or Morgan Freeman and Co.?




By the way, I sold out. Sorry, we now have advertisements.

This one's for Migs

Bruno: enter in incredibly long title and.... here's the trailer....

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/bruno/international-red-band-trailer



oH God.

Freddy Montero Sexual Assualt

In case you didn't see this:

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/sounders/index.html#040090

Freddy Montero is under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting a 23 year old woman from Sammamish. He already isn't going to play in Saturday's game at Toronto because of the flu. But now this?


Oh, and Ichiro is on the 15 day DL for a bleeding ulcer. I guess the wasabi on his sushi finally caught up to him.

Bank of America, the week off has not made me fond of you...

I'm sorry but I have to vent before I go to sleep. I am a little upset right now with my own company. This is only compounded to the week I've had involving a few different hiccups.

We recently switched from a bi-monthly pay schedule to a bi-weekly schedule. They way they decided to do it was to start the 2 week format on the 13th of March (instead of starting it at say the end of the 28 day month of February). So, I had to wait until today April 3rd to receive my paycheck. I thought we began the two week process today since it was so far spaced out. So, I expected it to be bigger since I expected to be paid for my three weeks. Instead, I get paid for the weeks concerning 3/13 to 3/27. So, where is my extra week of pay? Being held until two weeks from now and so on and so forth. I don't understand why. Before this change up we were paid on the EXACT day or the weekday closest to the weekend day payday fell upon. So, why can't we receive it on time now? It makes me think something is messed up in the company. Or the accountants higher up in the company don't even think about a branch teller. But that is me being paranoid coupled with being pissed off.

The problem is that I don't make a lot of money as is. I live paycheck to paycheck. I don't need to be reminded by my own bank that I'm broke. I have a car payment due every month on the 2nd. That falls the day after today's payday. I don't have money saved up to make this month's payment. This wouldn't be so bad if my company had not sent my Visa card payments to a CLOSED card. And when I called in to have it fixed, the representative gladly assisted me and stated it was done. But it was going to take until after the weekend for the payment to show. When I went to look at my online statement on Tuesday the representative had sent said amount from the OPEN card to the CLOSED card. Now, the credit on the closed card is double what it is before. I called back and they fixed it. But I still have to call customer solutions to have a fee reversed caused by the backward payment.

Essentially, my bank shut me out of my money for an entire week. The week I was on vacation. So, I couldn't go anywhere. It wasn't a completely lost week. I got some things done. Unfortunately, this all came at a terrible time. My advice for you. Save your money. You'll need it like I did. Don't fall into the bank's fees. That's how they make their money. I don't want you giving them your money. They won't even give me mine.


That made me feel a lot better. Thanks. And goodnight.

21: Bringing Down the House

It's been almost a year since this movie came out last summer. I heard it was an awful adaptation of the book. So, I held off watching it. And compared to the book '21' was an absolute disappointment. The book 'Bringing Down the House' by Ben Mezrich is a quick read. And it would probably be just as quick to read it than to struggle through this film with a chopped up plot. Instead of giving the movie that fast paced, let the good times roll feel the movie was a struggle except for the five minute blur they spend at the Palms. But even that is different from the book.

My two biggest problems with the movie are results of the same movie issue Hollywoodization. The movie makers take the plot and try to make it more edgy and dangerous. For example Lawrence Fishburn's character, an old school enforcer, beats on counters like the MIT students. But it's not that dangerous in the book. You get banned, detained, black listed. You do not get the shit beat out of you or buried in a sandy Vegas grave. The second thing they do is chop up the plot and take away important, interesting characters and add unnecessary characters. While the plot is not hard to follow, they give different driving motivation for each character. By doing all of this they change the feel of the book from a dark, smart story of tradition, greed, swagger and being young into a choppy film of old vs. young and lies. They did get one thing right. They illustrate the growing confidence of a young man as he matures.

There are too many things wrong with the movie to explain. It's just another case of Hollywood taking a very good book and turning it into a poor movie. My suggestion pick up the book before you see the movie because if you do it the other way around you will not want to read it..... They could have done so much better....

XTREME GOLFING!

18 of the world's top golfers designed a par 3 that towers more than 1400 ft above the Africa shaped green. You need a helicopter to take you to the green! Even if your are 300 ft short you've just hit the longest drive of your life on a par 3!

Check out how Padraig Harrington does:




Did I mention if you manage to make it you get ONE MILLLLLIOOOOON DOLLARS!? If you are interested, you can play just the 19th hole alone. Greens fees must be ridiculous thanks to the chopper gas. I wonder what village or endangered animal they had to wipe out to make this course....


http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/blog/devil_ball_golf/post/Quite-simply-the-most-amazing-golf-hole-on-the-p?urn=golf,152314