Banking is a thorn in my side. Here it is Monday and I have to visit the bank and ask them “Why the Hold on my account”. I found out about the hold while shopping yesterday. It’s always a pleasant experience to have the cashier tell you your debit card was declined. When my daughter asked to go to Starbucks on the way home I had to tell her I have no money. Oh but I do! I went promptly to a ATM and checked my balance. It said I had a good balance, but would not let me take any money out of it out. Why oh why bank????? My husband looked at me, as my face is turning red and said “it’s going to be okay”. I can’t think clearly.
As soon as I got home, I called the bank. They say they don’t know for sure because that department is closed but it could all be about an ID number. What? My Husband went in a week ago and provided them with all the info. The teller on the phone also informed me there was a $20 fee, dealing with this. I love my bank, at least I used to. It used to be a small bank, where everyone knew your name. A mega bank bought it several months ago. Most of our sweet tellers have been replaced with idiots. I don’t want to change banks but I might have to. Well, wish me luck dealing with the system.. I will need to go to the gym afterwards.

A Fresh Produce Art Collective Art Show featuring local Lawrence artists on the third floor of Tellers Restaurant and Bar.

When: Monday November 9, 2009

Time: 6-10pm

The opening will feature a larger salon style showing to be followed by a 2 month showing of select featured works from the opening. This event is open to the public. The FPAC shows are always well attended with many diverse styles and mediums on display. Artists and public are encouraged to wear their loosely interpreted “heist” attire. The Usual Art Suspects (you know who you are) are encouraged to participate. Bring your submissions to Tellers in hang ready condition the day before the show with Artist, Title, Medium and Price info for each piece.

They are expecting 20 or so artists to exhibit.  They never know until the night before though about exactly who will show up!  It will be a diverse mix of talented emerging artists.

The opening reception will feature lots of art covering the walls and for the next two months a selection of about 15 works will be on display and viewable during Tellers’ business hours

DOTDOTDOT Artspace ( the meeting place of Fresh Produce ) will be exhibiting more works of the eight artists it represents, who are also members of the Fresh Produce Art Collective.  This show opens on Friday the 13th at DOTDOTDOT, 1910 Haskell, reception will be 6-10pm on Friday, Nov. 13, open by appointment ( call 785-218-9038 or 913-486-5947)

-Kimberlee-

Big brother is watching you. Ja. En Big brother – sister in dit geval – ben IK. Ik weet niet of jullie er van op de hoogte zijn, maar overal staan tellertjes. Ik ben verslaafd aan tellertjes. Je kent ze wel. Ze tellen hoeveel bezoekers er op je site komen. Maar dat niet alleen. Ze registreren alles wat ze kunnen. Ip-adres, datum en uur (zelfs tot op de seconde!), hoelang je blijft, met welke tags je op mijn site terechtkomt en waar je op klikt. Ze zijn een enorme steun in deze moeilijke tijden. Want soms is het bedroevend dat ik zo weinig comments krijg. Ik schrijf niet om bekend te raken. Nee, want dan zou mijn identiteit snel gevonden worden. En dat wil ik net niet.

Ik ben verslaafd aan tellers. Soms kan ik er uren in zitten snuffelen. Uren de gegevens zitten analyseren. Wie is die persoon uit Brussel die 7 uur 35 minuten en 22 seconden op mijn site heeft zitten surfen? Waarom blijft een Spanjaard – die mijn taal niet eens kent – zolang op mijn site? Komt hij terug, zoja, waarom? Waar klikt hij op? Welke post is het populairst?

Ik hou niet enkel van de cijfers op zich. Nee ook van de grafieken. De samenvattingen. Ze maken mijn denkproces iets korter dan normaal.

Ik ben geobsedeerd door cijfers. Daarom dat ik ook in de verzekeringswereld terecht ben gekomen. Ooit haalde ik 20 voor statistiek, waar 45% van de klas gebuisd was. Een 19/20 voor financiële algebra maakte van mij het gelukkigste mens ooit.

Dus. Pas op waar je op klikt, want ik zie alles! En als ik het niet zie, dan wist ik het al.

“Good morning ma’am, how may I help you?”

“Take $700 off my card. Put $200 into my checking account and $100 into my savings.”

She hands me her debit card. Ok. Debit cards are connected to checking accounts so on the surface her request to pull money “off” her card and deposit into her checking makes no sense. But then I think, ah-ha! She probably has more than one checking account, we’ll pull from the one attached to the card and deposit into the other plus the savings. With a firm sense of purpose I pull up the lady’s accounts. Hmmm, only one checking and one savings. And yes, that checking is linked to the debit card the lady handed me.

“Ma’am, I see only one checking account for you, the one that is linked to this card. When I withdraw the money from the card it is taking it out of the checking account. If I withdraw $700, it comes out of the checking. Did you want me to withdraw $500 and put $100 into savings?”

“No! I need $700 off the card, $200 into checking and $100 into savings. Why can’t you understand that?”

“But when I withdraw the $700 it comes out of the checking. I would taking money out of the checking and depositing into the checking. Do you see what I’m saying?”

“Listen, you must be new or stupid. Take. $700. Off. The. Card. Duh!”

This is getting me nowhere and a line is quickly forming behind her. “Yes ma’am. I will take $700, deposit $200 into checking and $100 into savings.”

“Finally!”

At this point I’m taking deep breaths. She’s treating me like an idiot when she doesn’t even understand what she is doing. I smile and hand her the money and receipts. “Here you go, have a nice day.”

She pointedly ignores me and flounces off. She would not want anyone treating her this way at her employment, but what does she think gives her the right to treat me this way? It makes me so mad! This type of behavior, sadly, is all too common.

Hi Katie,

I recently turned 18, and when I went to the bank to deposit my paycheck they told me I should open a credit card right away to start building credit.  I don’t know if this is such a good idea.  I like the idea of having more money, but I don’t know if it’s right for me.

Logan, 18

Logan,

You’re right to question whether or not you are ready to open up a credit card.  If you don’t feel like you are ready for something, don’t let someone pressure you into it.  Especially someone who has something to gain.

Banks are businesses.  They make money.  They aren’t just a box with money in it where you drop it off and they keep watch over it.  They want to make money off of you, plain and simple.

When you open up a credit card, the teller or the person who sets up the account for you makes a commission.  This is common in a lot of places.  That’s why certain stores always pressure you to open up a card to save a percentage off of your purchase.  The teller might have been trying to help you out, but more than likely was just trying to reach a quota.

Although it’s true that establishing credit helps you later on, you don’t need to start right now.  And having a credit card is not free money.  You have to pay it back, and then some.  The bank makes money off of the interest and any late payment fines, as well as charges for being part of rewards clubs and the like.

If you do decide to open a credit card, be very careful with it.  Don’t even carry it with you unless you plan on using it.  It’s a major hassle if it gets stolen, and unfortunately they commonly do.  You could use it to buy something online, then pay it off right away, and do this once a month or so.  That way you aren’t building up a lot debt, but are still establishing credit.

Below are a few sites to help you decide on opening up a credit card.  Good luck!

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/comparing-credit-card-terms-before-accepting-card-.html

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/MoneyInYour20s/9waysToBuildAKillerCreditScore.aspx

My mood has gotten progressively fouler as this week has gone on.  Glad I had two days off this week! I’ve been wondering what’s wrong with me.  But finally—an explanation:  Jess is working on a documentary about the Atkins Diet—according to her research, a very bad mood is a well-documented side effect of a low-carb diet.  This is corroborated by anecdotal evidence from my peers.  I’d be relieved to hear this, if I was capable of feeling any relief!  But I do feel a vindicated sense of bitterness, which is a close low-carb substitute.  Also, this weekend my evil mood prompted the first poem I’ve written since January.  So there’s a silver lining to every etc.

After six hours of sleep (& a very curious nightmare, more on this later) I stayed in bed sulking for 1. Two more.  Dragged my heels around the house (as Bella & Chance napped in the sunshine).

We're much cuter in person

Then, shortly after noon, I proceeded to the bank, where I drafted some money to my US account so I could sort out my credit card woes & pay my Idaho speeding ticket.  If my check doesn’t arrive by Wednesday, my driver’s license will be suspended!  (I, of course, only got this information after 6:00 on Friday).  The man beside me asked for $100 in fives & $100 dollars in quarters, while the teller spent most of his time looking down my shirt.

Too cold (L), Too hot (R)

Home again, home again.  I discovered I have now mastered the exciting art of cooking oatmeal.  I didn’t realize I was doing it wrong before.  But the trick is in the stirring.  I felt like Goldilocks.  I also felt like I was married to Fernando.  This project is a lot like being married, if you think about it, but to 52 people consecutively.

I 2. Added blueberries towards the end then 3. Sweetened with honey.  Added a lump of butter for good measure.  This was the first time my oatmeal managed to approximate goodness.  I 4. Put on Cría Cuervos (my mother purchased it & three other required DVDs for me this weekend, much to my vindicatedsenseofbitterness) & savored my only carbohydrates of the day.

The movie was ok.  It’s a seventies Spanish film with an unhappy, recently orphaned 8-year-old girl as its protagonist.  It’s one of those movies that makes a big point about the innocence & happiness of childhood being a myth.  There’s not a lot of conversation and it’s all uncomfortably intimate but slightly unreal—not surreal, despite the frequent appearance of the ghosts of her parents. Whenever there is dialogue, it’s generally people being nasty to/not understanding each other.  Lots of long shots of children’s blank faces.  Lots of political points using the family as an allegory.  So forth. It’s the sort of movie that’s successful in the sense that it seems to accomplish absolutely everything it set out to do—& nothing more.   So for me, it fell flat.

Once the movie was over, I 5. Read the informational booklet that came with the DVD.  It was exactly like the movie.  It told me a lot of things that I had deduced for myself, including some interesting facts that I didn’t know.  But it didn’t teach me anything.  There’s information & then there’s knowledge.  Knowledge is a harder gift to give, a little more nebulous.  This movie had an (telling) artful touch but not a (teaching) magic one.  Does that make sense?  The film’s worth watching but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.  Except perhaps to someone with related academic interest in the film’s central themes.

Then I got up for my 9. Walk.  To the post office.  I was supposed to 10. Write (just letting in happen) in a public space.  I’m very creative.  I wrote my address & the address of the Idaho court.  Then I 11. Posted what I just wrote.  HA!  I also wrote a text message or two.

Stopped to pick up a lunch of grilled chicken breast & hot sauce.  Blah.

Unjust, not right

12. Ate it.  Took my time.  Enjoyed it as much as possible.

Then I 13. Read a poem by Octavio Paz & headed back to bed for a long while.

My friend, Jess (P) arrived at my house around 8:00.  She’s in town & she’s staying with me tonight.  We went out for 14. Dinner & a glass of 15. Wine. Jess (E) & her sister joined us.  I had carpaccio, but forgot to take a picture until it was mostly devoured.  Jess (P) got the bread that came with it.  Sadly.

Unsightly scraps of raw beef = (recently) living proof

After that, we all went for a long 15. Walk with Bella by the sea wall.  It’s a nice time of year.  The weather’s very back-to-school.  I took Bella off leash for a while & she ran around in the ocean.  Then we returned here & I 16. Am writing for an hour, while Jess (P) reads Eat, Pray, Love (much to her own chagrin) in the living room, eating the delicious blueberries I’m not allowed.

I still have fifteen more minutes of writing, so I’m going to tell you my dream.  Altered dreams are, by the way, an interesting side effect of this project.  I dream every night, for example, that each of you post several detailed comments (inevitably, very interesting ones) on the blog.  & often my puppetmasters appear in my dreams.  During Ptolemy’s week, we had all sorts of adventures every night.  Sometimes, I dream that I’ve received a schedule that makes all sorts of interesting demands.  I’m always a little disappointed by reality when I wake.

Last night, I dreamed I was on a boat tour in a jungle with an anonymous female friend & her family.  So far, it was a good dream.  Though everyone mocked me because I didn’t know how to “telescope shadows” with a camera.  “Why does everyone always make fun of me?” I complained, burying my head in my lifejacket.  My companions laughed.

When I arrived home to my apartment, I sat down to write.  Then I realized that the feeble mutant creature  (looking something like a child, something like an old man, & something like ET if each of those things were pale & blue-tinged, two feet tall, shaped out of putty, with a tiny head & very long arms) which would sometimes cause mischief around my apartment, was back, fiddling with the electrical sockets.  I was very angry.  I had locked him out previously.  “No!” I said, & he ignored me, fixedly yanking my computer cord out of the wall until it finally broke.  I grabbed him by his arm, probably a little harder than I needed to, & began to drag him to the door.  He resisted me, but he was feeble as always.  Though his arm was curiously stretching in my grip.

As I dragged him through my apartment, I noticed that the edges of doors & windows, cupboards, etc. were gnawed, bent & a little bloody.  He had somehow snuck in through all these tiny spaces, very deliberately.  I didn’t know he was this smart.  When we got to the door he suddenly became much stronger.  His arm started coiling tightly around my wrist with a firm, snake-like pressure.   He looked up into my face with his black eyes & I realized he was actually very smart—or perhaps not smart, but possessing a predatory, shark-like intelligence— & very dangerous.  I shoved him out the door & locked it.

He turned into a slug & started creeping through above one of the hinges.  I locked him out several times & he managed to get in every time, shifting into increasingly sinister, vague shapes.  I realized, with horror, there was no getting rid of him.  He began to grow & grow.

I then realized that he was the external physical embodiment of my own malevolence.  Malevolence is a strange sort of word to choose, & it sounds perhaps inaccurate, but I didn’t choose this word– in my dream it was, very precisely, malevolence.  Anyway, I’d believed I was a wholly good person, free of evil etc. & I was!  In my dream, at least.  But by eliminating  this evil from my own self I had not eliminated it entirely, but displaced it—I had unconsciously created this creature, much worse than ordinary human evil as it was wholly autonomous & quite out of my control.  So my horror was now tinged with a very unheimlich sense of recognition.  If this creature were not destroyed, it would rapidly gain strength & destroy the entire world.

I knew the only way to destroy this creature was for someone to eat him.  “Should I eat him?” my anonymous friend asked.  No.  She couldn’t.  If anyone but me ate him, he would continue to grow & destroy her & everyone else.  I guessed that I had to do it.

I squeezed him into a ball & felt, with horror, that while he had previously been boneless there were now sharp, calcified pieces of something inside him.  I grimly broke him into two pieces.  I needed some bread to swallow him, as I wouldn’t be able to chew with these pieces inside him.

I rolled him into two pieces of bread as my friend watched me anxiously.  I ate him.

“What does he taste like?” she asked.

“What do you think?” I said.  “A tooth, & a shard of bone.”

Upon which I woke up, quite unsettled.

Now all I have left to do is 17. Go to bed at 2:20am & 18. Stay in bed for 8 hours. I also 19. Can’t use electronic devices after 1:20.

A few nights ago I tried so hard to stay up until after two that I woke up at 4:00am on the floor of my closet.  I don’t know if that counts as a failure or not.  But I must have been awfully tired if I decided to “rest my eyes” there for a moment.

Also, I’ve been sleepwalking again.  & I’ve hid my keys so well that no one will ever find them.  Fortunately, my mom had a spare.

Their slogan really should be - "Banking really is this uncomfortable"

Ok – so here is the low down – and my story – about why I yet once again affirm that you should not bank with TDCanadaTrust.  I also find it strange that year after year they keep winning this “JD Power and Associates” award for customer service excellence and I am always baffled! 

I would really like to know what are the criteria for this award, who makes the assessment, and what does JD Power and Associates get for awarding them this?  The only thing that I know for certain that TDCanadaTrust has as a customer service advantage, is their banking hours are awesome, and every bank should follow suit!

So – here is some truth about my past – I was a TDCanadaTrust employee for approximately 6 years.  When I left the company, the first thing I made sure to do, was remove every single asset that I had with them and move to another bank immediately!  Why would I do that you ask?  I worked in their Account and Recovery Management department throughout my entire duration.  For those of you who don’t reconize bull-shit titles – I worked in collections.  I was one of those people who would call you and drive you bananas for late payments – and basically make your life unbearable until you paid up.  And rightly so – you signed a contract with us!

So here is the thing,  I found that the justifications for their aggressive collections tactics defied all sense of customer service.  I’m not talking about people who were constantly delinquint – and by that I also do  not mean people that are just a couple of days late – I mean people in serious arrears all of the time. 

While I was there they implemented a policy called “seizing funds”.  What that meant, is that if you were behind on a payment, us collectors were allowed to go into your bank account and take out the funds to bring the account up to date.  The bank liked this so much, they began to implement an “Auto Seize”, which was system automated seizure.  If you fell behind, the system would automatically go into your bank account – ANY account that had money – Checkings, savings etc. and take the money out without telling you.  This was done because when you got a credit product from the bank – the fine print advised that if you fell behind we could do that without telling you. 

It didn’t even matter if you had never been late before and this was the first time in 20 years.  They would seize the money and lecture you about it.  When I saw this pattern occuring, I knew when I left, that TDCanadaTrust would never know anything about my funds and where they were.

In September/ October of last year, my contract where I worked came to an end and I was waiting for Employment Insurance to come in.  I was unable – at the time – to make the frequent payments which I normally made every 2 weeks.  Because I was late on my loan more than 60 days – they revoked my Visa – which had never been delinquint.  Nothing happend to the delinquint loan mind you – they were jus interested in funking up my credit for the two months of payments on the loan I had with them.

Anyhow, everything gets cleared up, I argue with them to reinstate the Visa, – which they do on the condition I NEVER be late on the loan again.  My new job comes to fruition, and I was paid irregularly when I started because it was originally a temporary position and they were not sure what would be happening with the role.  When I finally figured out the pay schedule in March (I was hired late February), I went into the branch at Yonge & Eglinton and requested that the due dates be changed to match my bi-monthly pay.  So this means that instead of getting paid every other week  like I used too (and this of course was how the due dates on the loan were set up), I now got paid 2 times a month and therefore needed my loan due dates to reflect the same otherwise it would always be late.

I was assured that it was done.  Today I went into the same branch, and was told that my loan was owning 2 payments…it was behind.  I was confused.  I had made a payment to my loan right before my last pay date because I was leaving the country.  It made no sense to me.  I tell the teller, “Well I don’t have the full amount for both payments right now, but take the money I have for the one payment, and I will come back with the difference.”  I don’t EVEN question why the payment is late and automatically assume its some oversight on my part. 

By the way – TDCanadaTrust does NOT SEND YOU STATEMENTS FOR LOANS – so YOU HAVE KNOW WAY OF KNOWING WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH YOUR ACCOUNT ON A MONTHLY BASIS.

The teller speaks to the customer service manager who is the in the middle of a deep discussion about eyeliner, who advises the teller that they cannot accept the payment unless the full amount is paid.

Wait. Stop.  Let’s think about this here.  I’m behind on payment.  I am coming to you with half of the money.  You don’t want it. 

Having worked in collections – I do happen to know that this branch is full of it.  There are many times that customers who are behind need to make payment arrangements and therefore have to make multiple payments to accounts before its caught up.

I leave the branch, frustrated by the time I stood there with the teller not knowing what to do, and more so, the EXTREMELY INCOMPETENT AND LAZY CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER.

So I become proactive. I call collections myself.  I just so happen to get the bi#@! that happened to have revoked my never late visa because of my late loan.  In her normally aggressive and rude way, she happens to tell me that  I am constantly late on my loan payments and have not lived up to my agreement with her to keep the loan up to date.  I’m confused.  I don’t get it.  I’m paying regularly – why is she talking to me like I’m retarded?

Then she tells me something that makes me figure out something.  The next date of the next payment. July 8.  That date does not fall anywhere on a bi-monthly due date.  She looks into the account and tells me, that instead of the branch changing the account to bi-monthly payments, they kept it at biweekly payments but just changed the week the payment fell on.

She also tells me that she doesn’t know the policy of the branch – so maybe the can’t accept partial payments although she’ never heard of such a thing. But she can’t help me becuase she doesn’t work at the branch – but I need to make a payment to bring my account up to date so they won’t cancel my visa.  She suggests that I wait until I have all the money since she would like me to avoid being frustrated if the branch refuses to accept my payment.  She doesn’t know who I can talk to about bracnh policy except the branch manager.

So let me get this straight.  You work for TDCanadaTrust, where your job is to make sure people pay their late bills.  Yet, you don’t know if branches can accept payments for the things that you are making arrangements on and threatening to ruin their credit with.  You have incompetent staff that work at your branches who make up random things while talking about mascara, and staff that assures you things are taken care of but instead messes up your account.

As a previous employee of TDCanadaTrust, I can honestly say, I do not agree with their customer service practices on collections of products that are non risk to the bank. (I have less than $5k debt with TD).  As a customer of TDCanadaTrust, they have lazy staff who don’t do their work properly, and rude idiots that work in their collections department that have no power in their real lives so feel the need to exercise it needlessly.  My advice to all TD customers that have less than $50k with them. 

Close your accounts.  Find a better institution.  And make sure that you encourage all of your family and friends to never bank with them!

Zoals ik reeds eerder heb laten weten wil ik de tellers zo aanpassen zodat ze identieke prijzen niet meetellen wanneer ze kijken hoeveel prijzen een eigenschap heeft kunnen overslagen.

Ik bouw tegelijkertijd ter controle een teller in die kijkt hoeveel keer een identieke prijs wordt doorlopen.

Bij intenum (dus de code waar tom en ik op verderwerken) bleek dat deze teller een heel ander getal gaf dan de teller die reeds in de code ingebouwd zit (deze doet simpelweg card(K) – card(P)).

Niet alle (753 van de 918 wel) identieke prijzen werden doorlopen in de stukken code die beginnen met “repeat until price <> pricevalue or dummy >=card(K){” terwijl deze ze allemaal moeten opvangen.

Nu heb ik de code die ik in het laatste commentaar in deze post zette een beetje aangepast (er zijn wat problemen opgedoken bij het plakken in deze blog en ik moest er nog de teller voor de identieke prijzen in zetten) en in de intenum code gevoegd en nu klopt het wel. Alle 918 identieke prijzen worden in de daarvoor bedoelde stukken code opgevangen.

Deze code implementeren lost echter niet op dat de som van het aantal solves + de overgeslagen dummy’s + het aantal identieke prijzen = het aantal dummy’s zou moeten zijn -1 (omdat de laaste dummy niet gecontroleerd wordt). 337 solves + 5163 keer eig 5 + 5563 keer eig 9 + 918 ident prijzen is groter dan 11812, sommige tellers zijn dus te hoog.

Bij LR2 bestaat natuurlijk identiek hetzelfde probleem dat op dezelfde wijze kan opgelost worden.

Een tijdje geleden vermelde ik het probleem dat LR en LR2 dezelfde optimale oplossing gaven maar deze op een heel andere manier bereikten. De oorzaak leek te zijn dat er voor sommige Covering problemen meerdere optimale oplossingen zijn en dat LR consequent de ene kiest en LR2 consequent de andere (geen idee waarom).

Ook had ik het probleem dat ik niet kon uitzoeken hoe lang het duurde om een probleem oplossen duurde gezien AMPL met seconden werkt.

Voor beide problemen stelde u voor volgende code te gebruiken: option cplex_options ‘mipinterval 1′ ‘mipdisplay 5′ ‘timing 1′;

Het resultaat is dat CPLEX nu volgende informatie geeft:

CPLEX 11.2.0: mipinterval 1
mipdisplay 5
timing 1
Times (seconds):
Input =  0.078
Solve =  0.14
Output = 0
CPLEX 11.2.0: optimal solution; objective 98811.86674
18 dual simplex iterations (0 in phase I)
y [*] :=
s1 0    s13 0   s160 0   s191 1 …..

Ik vind dus geen info over alternatieve oplossingen (ook niet wanneer ik bijvoorbeeld naar dummy 93 kijk waarbij ik vermoed dat er een alternatieve oplossing is).

In Cplex 11 bestaat er blijkbaar een “solution pool” die de verschillende optimale oplossingen kan bijhouden. Ik ben er echter niet in geslaagd dit aan het werken te krijgen. (Ik vind het heel moeilijk om CPLEX te begrijpen).

Ik zal dus doen zoals u aanraadde en het daarbij laten gezien CPLEX een beetje een “black box” is.

Met de extra code krijg ik wel interessante informatie over de tijd dat het kost om een probleem op te lossen.

Is er een manier om die tijden aan te spreken?

Ik zou ze namelijk graag willen wegschrijven voor elke oplossing en dan kan ik daaruit gemiddelden halen. Dat zou mij in staat stellen om te schatten hoeveel langer het oplossen van een probleem duurt dan het oplossen van de lineaire relaxatie van dat probleem.

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we have a two car injury

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I have always seen the concept of having more things is better than having few. Take into example food. I see that having a bunch of fries is far better than a single burger. I would rather play on  a soccer team where there are many moderate players than on  a team with but one or two great players. It’ll be easier for the moderate team to take the team with few expert players, because they have a better chance of getting the better of the few. With only a few players that are good on the other team calls for extra work, resulting in rapid stamina loss. The media upholds the fact that more is better. MORE money, MORE music, MORE comedy, MORE sex, MORE friends….the last one I see as different than the rest. It’s one thing to have a myriad of friends, but I question as to if they’re all really “friends”.

A friend is considered many different things. A comforter, an ear, an advisor, an entertainer, a conscience. A friend can be seen as in many ways. What must be taken into careful consideration is percisely how someone can be considered a friend. Just because they always listen doesn’t mean they really care. How many times have you had someone you don’t even know very well begin to spark a conversation about a rediculous topic. In a showing to not hurt their feeling, most listen without really caring. There are those who are willing to make you feel better, but fail to really show much importance to you afterward. Those people make an attempt in making you feel more secure. The only problem with that is that it is but a one time ticket. They only care to uplift your spirits and send you back into the raging storm without lending further aid. The only big goal for them is to have you be happy when in their precense. Someone who gives advise would be seen as a good friend, but that doesn’t make sense. ANYONE can give advise on anything. They don’t even have to know you. Why do you think fortune tellers, counselors, and advice books get attention? As long as a basic criteria is filled, anyone can give any kind of advice on any given topic. The risky bit about this is what is advised. Who you consider ”friend” doesn’t always have your best interests in mind. If you are well known for trying any advice given to you, then they will use you for their own gain. Be it a  lab rat or simple pawn. An advisor does not always have your best interest at heart. The “comrade” you have could very well be a strong sphere of influence. You only do what the other does for their sake, not yours. What they hold as important or menial task is adopted into your own beliefs. This runs the risk of loss of individuality. The ideas and moralities of others will no doubt shape your own, but when you mimick others beliefs is when trouble arouses. Trials and woes shall surely follow the one who doesnt’ think for his or her self. Because if you always do what your “friend” does, then the results could easily lead up to; addiction, lowered standards, resentment, decadence, shallowness, and self-affliction. Why people mimick their friends when they know it will only cause harm to others (as themselves) is just beyond me in understanding. The entertaining friend, however, is easily understood. The person is just that. An entertainer. They take great joy in either being the center of attention or just joking around. In the world, most actually conform to such friends. All they do when they hang out is joke about whatever captivatest their interest. A strong relationship will never prosper like this. The person only cares to laugh and have fun. If you’re all moppy, then the friend will most likely not care for your problem. They will probably retort with some frustration and abandon you. Only advising to meet back up with them when you’re better to be around. Entertainment wants response, nothing does not cut it. A friend can be many things, you just have to watch out as to which traits are considered worthwhile in a comrade.

Ever since last year’s summer, I have been dramatically talking more with people. I just began to open up and get past that paranoia of what a person would think of me. In that time, I do know a lot more people than I did year’s before. In a nutshell, I have become much more sociable. Like I said before, I do know a lot of people. Which makes me have a good amount of friends. The good thing about that is I have not limited friends to a certain social stanza. I do not only hang out with the punks or street kids. I really do not care as to who I befriend as long as I am shown some respect, which most of my friends do show. One thing about this is that it has allowed me to share my mind with different people. I will not say certain things to some of my friends, because they will just not get the joke another one of my comrades would understand. It allows me to be much more open, just with different people. But, like in most cases, I do have some closer friends than others. They are not many (3 actually), but they are the few that actually understand me in their own different way. They are a mixture of what a friend should be like; hilarious, concerning, gleeful, not subject to mainstream culture (2 of ‘em anyway), and sarcasm (love it) are but a few of what has made these killer friends of mine such a blessing. The past few weeks  have been somewhat of a storm. But after this sunday, I just felt a lot more refreshed. Being able to start anew. What has mainly helped in this process is the interaction of one of my close friends. I just got me to think about what I was trying to do the past few months. Not to be making new friends, but to strengthen the ties I have with people I already know. Tossing out the thought of more is better has made me have a clearer thought process. I would trade dozens of friends for a few close comrades as I have now. The groups of friends will expect you to act a certain way, the close comrades will expect you to be yourself without having to mask it. The American Society has made it acceptable law that more is always better. It holds true with even friends. I will not be part of what western society has dictated, because I know now that those few close people are saphires, rubies, and diamonds…..compared to the rocks and coals of whom society considers ”friends”. But that is not to say that a jewel cannot be made out of a lump of coal, for apperances can decieve the eye.

Este viernes 15 de febrero de 2008 no te puedes perder la fiesta que se está organizando en el Sargento Peppers de Getafe. Os dejo la información para que no os perdáis detalle.

El Sgt. Peppers Club Cafe sirve de escenario para una noche excepcional.2 Grupos iniciarán y calentarán el ambiente.

‘Hard-Trick’. Grupo de estética sesentera.
‘Fortune Tellers’. Grupo nacional con marcadas influencias del sonido 60´s.
Y la noche culminará con la selección musical de los ‘Entresemana Djs’, referentes ya de la noche madrileña.Una noche que no te puedes perder.

Para saber cómo ir, aquí tienes el plano: Ubicación Sargento Peppers

No te lo pienses y vente a disfrutar de un gran evento.

(via Obscene Desserts)

The Tellers, ‘Second Category’. Uma música simples e orelhuda desta banda belga, com um vídeo a condizer.