It's been another bad week at work ... in the meantime, enjoy some cell phone tricks a friend sent to me. No guarantees that they work--I haven't tried them myself--but at least they sound cool and magical ...
-----------------------
There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:
FIRST
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you findyourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112, and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you. Interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked.
SECOND
Have you locked your keys in the car? Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).
THIRD - Hidden Battery Power
Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and the instrumentwill show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.
FOURTH - How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?
To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone: *#06#. A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. When your phone gets stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this , there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.
And Finally....
FIFTH - Free Directory Service for Cells
Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800)FREE411, or (800)373-3411, without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
describing broadway
It's hard to see Broadway's good points reading this blog, especially when most of the things I describe are negative. Geekhiker's comment on the last post really highlighted the fact that while focusing on the negative aspects of Broadway's "cynicism", I neglected to paint the full picture of his value system.
Just as wealth doesn't trickle down in the so-call trickle-down economics, Broadway's resentment/"cynicism" also do not trickle down from the wealthy. He has little respect for Wallstreet, but has the utmost respect for the "common folk": the janitor, the mailman, the librarian, the cab driver.
It's hard for me to articulate his sense of character and what he considers noble. It's easier to say that generally, he sees money and character as being mutually exclusive, and he has little tolerance for social and cultural ignorance.
On the money issue, his steadfast view is that those with money (lawyers, bankers) and those on their way to making money (snooty 23-year-old consultants) lack character. Doctors are okay because doctors have a tangible role in society. Bankers and consultants just create more evil, in addition to wasting their educations and brain power on things that contribute to society's downfall.
His ostracizing southerners stems from his stereotyping them to be "white-trash" ignorant. He doesn't hate southerners for being southern; he hates southerners because to him, they are the epitome of Big America, white supremacist ignorance. There certainly is a level of hypocrisy in that: his own ignorance and failure to recognize his egregious generalizations and stereotyping. But I do want to make the distinction that Broadway does not judge without a cause. His disdain for southerners is for the same reasons obnoxious American tourists are hated abroad: he sees southerners as being self-absorbed in their own lives of guns and country clubs (and oil), loud yet ignorant of the diverse worldly society outside of their immediate surroundings of tailgates, pickup trucks, and the U-S-of-A.
Yes, he is stereotyping, but no, he does not hate southerners as a people, but rather the characteristics that he associates with them. That generalizations-ridden association is, obviously, debatable.
As for things he does place value in, he is incredibly liberal, as in socialist. He firmly believes in equality for all, social welfare and social justice. He sees no difference between himself and the janitor who comes to empty the trash in his office. He is not above the janitor just because he has an office job and the janitor does not. Taking it one step farther, the janitor is high above the banker because the janitor adds value to society.
Formal education is not important (though good), but social education is. The janitor doesn't need to know correct grammar, but he janitor better not be racist. The banker may be able to run financial math models all day long, but the financial model only serves to make rich corporate America richer, thereby increasing the gap toward achieving social equality. No matter how well the banker is educated, he is by definition ignoble and lacking in social education.
I don't think I've given his value system enough justice and merit here, and I'm not sure I will ever be able to. Ultimately, my gripe with his attitude isn't with his fundamental ideas of value. His values are good and set with the noblest of intentions, even if I haven't been able to fairly and accurately regurgitate them here.
My problem with his attitude is how far he takes those values and insists on them.
Most of us have a healthy dose of reality and point fingers and nay nay at indulgent lifestyles, but we also recognize that not all Wallstreeters are selfish and immoral. As Geekhiker said, we see that the commercialization of Disney World is bad, but we're able to suspend that and thoroughly enjoy a day at the theme park. Walking down the street, we are able to sympathize with the small town lawyer making a living using a huge tacky marquee. Broadway can't sympathize because 1) Kokoras is a lawyer, and 2) Kokoras is a shameless lawyer.
I appreciate his values. I just think that his values are too stringent to be realistic, and I want him to chill out and just roll with things every now and then. I really respect Broadway for his opinions on the world, which actually ties in with Daisy's comment. In a way, now that I've seen the "light of his thinking", I also can't tolerate anything less. Seeking out someone better is something I definitely think about, but when I meet new people, I hold them up to the Broadway values standard, and guys just don't measure up.
I got jealous of my girlfriends this past week because I actually saw in their men the same set of values that Broadway has, but these guys manage to hold those values but still then take them with a grain a salt and recognize the impracticality of strictly abiding by a set of absolute ideals in life.
Just as wealth doesn't trickle down in the so-call trickle-down economics, Broadway's resentment/"cynicism" also do not trickle down from the wealthy. He has little respect for Wallstreet, but has the utmost respect for the "common folk": the janitor, the mailman, the librarian, the cab driver.
It's hard for me to articulate his sense of character and what he considers noble. It's easier to say that generally, he sees money and character as being mutually exclusive, and he has little tolerance for social and cultural ignorance.
On the money issue, his steadfast view is that those with money (lawyers, bankers) and those on their way to making money (snooty 23-year-old consultants) lack character. Doctors are okay because doctors have a tangible role in society. Bankers and consultants just create more evil, in addition to wasting their educations and brain power on things that contribute to society's downfall.
His ostracizing southerners stems from his stereotyping them to be "white-trash" ignorant. He doesn't hate southerners for being southern; he hates southerners because to him, they are the epitome of Big America, white supremacist ignorance. There certainly is a level of hypocrisy in that: his own ignorance and failure to recognize his egregious generalizations and stereotyping. But I do want to make the distinction that Broadway does not judge without a cause. His disdain for southerners is for the same reasons obnoxious American tourists are hated abroad: he sees southerners as being self-absorbed in their own lives of guns and country clubs (and oil), loud yet ignorant of the diverse worldly society outside of their immediate surroundings of tailgates, pickup trucks, and the U-S-of-A.
Yes, he is stereotyping, but no, he does not hate southerners as a people, but rather the characteristics that he associates with them. That generalizations-ridden association is, obviously, debatable.
As for things he does place value in, he is incredibly liberal, as in socialist. He firmly believes in equality for all, social welfare and social justice. He sees no difference between himself and the janitor who comes to empty the trash in his office. He is not above the janitor just because he has an office job and the janitor does not. Taking it one step farther, the janitor is high above the banker because the janitor adds value to society.
Formal education is not important (though good), but social education is. The janitor doesn't need to know correct grammar, but he janitor better not be racist. The banker may be able to run financial math models all day long, but the financial model only serves to make rich corporate America richer, thereby increasing the gap toward achieving social equality. No matter how well the banker is educated, he is by definition ignoble and lacking in social education.
I don't think I've given his value system enough justice and merit here, and I'm not sure I will ever be able to. Ultimately, my gripe with his attitude isn't with his fundamental ideas of value. His values are good and set with the noblest of intentions, even if I haven't been able to fairly and accurately regurgitate them here.
My problem with his attitude is how far he takes those values and insists on them.
Most of us have a healthy dose of reality and point fingers and nay nay at indulgent lifestyles, but we also recognize that not all Wallstreeters are selfish and immoral. As Geekhiker said, we see that the commercialization of Disney World is bad, but we're able to suspend that and thoroughly enjoy a day at the theme park. Walking down the street, we are able to sympathize with the small town lawyer making a living using a huge tacky marquee. Broadway can't sympathize because 1) Kokoras is a lawyer, and 2) Kokoras is a shameless lawyer.
I appreciate his values. I just think that his values are too stringent to be realistic, and I want him to chill out and just roll with things every now and then. I really respect Broadway for his opinions on the world, which actually ties in with Daisy's comment. In a way, now that I've seen the "light of his thinking", I also can't tolerate anything less. Seeking out someone better is something I definitely think about, but when I meet new people, I hold them up to the Broadway values standard, and guys just don't measure up.
I got jealous of my girlfriends this past week because I actually saw in their men the same set of values that Broadway has, but these guys manage to hold those values but still then take them with a grain a salt and recognize the impracticality of strictly abiding by a set of absolute ideals in life.
Monday, March 10, 2008
negative thoughts
The negative thoughts started when Broadway and I were still down in the tropics. Inexplicably, the things he did or said made me angry. Inevitably, he was in a mood to joke, and I was not and felt his jokes were incredibly not funny, inappropriate, and generally old news.
Upon returning, my patience with him has remained thin. Just about every comment he makes in jest has me seriously rolling my eyes. He has a habit of reading signs he sees and pronouncing them in immature ways. It's hard to explain what exactly grates on my nerves about these pronunciations: it's not the immaturity. I think my annoyance stems from his cynicism and inability to appreciate things that others do, and from his self-righteous feeling that he has a right (and need) to contort everything he deems "intellectually inferior" into something that he can then make fun of.
For example, we saw a sign on Saturday for a small, specialized lawyer while stopped at a stop light. Admittedly, the sign was huge, with the guy's name blasted across the entire marquee above the entryway. The guy's last name was Kokoras, and Broadway started laughing hysterically and loudly and very obnoxiously, said "Wow, that guy's name is Cock or Ass".
Again, it wasn't the immaturity that bothered me. It was the tone with which he said it, and that had the name been on a plaque outside a college professor's office, Broadway may not have made the same comment.
I see nothing wrong with a small time lawyer putting out a huge lighted sign to advertise his services. It is a bit tacky, but everyone makes their living their own way. The source of Broadway's immaturity Saturday was his innate disrespect for this type of profession. To him, anything less of a noble academic career at an Ivy League university is a waste of time and a disgrace to society.
To Broadway, jobs in the financial sector (consultants, bankers) are worthless, and these people add no value to society. Not that I am defending bankers in their indulgent lifestyles, but they do support the economy and the stock market. To Broadway, however, the stock market is just one big made up ploy to oppress the common man, and bankers and consultants are made self-important.
This level of cynicism about the world permeates into just about everything Broadway does and says. It's his entire outlook on his life. I've struggled with this mentality of his ever since the beginning of our relationship, and dealing with it better at times than now. My patience particularly breaks down when the target of his cynicism are things that I place value in: southerners (he generalizes all to be conservative, ignorant, and poorly educated), Disney World (it's just the commercial manifestation of white rich people continuing to brainwash their white rich kids), the quiet of surburban America (too restrictive, homogenous, and self-absorbed).
I don't disagree with his points. There are definitely elements of Disney World that we all wish weren't there: we all sorta moan at the melodrama of magic and fantasy and especially wish that it weren't so commercialized. But Disney World was a treat for me as a kid, and I'd want my kids to have that same treat. He has already stauchily put his foot down that no child of his will ever go to Disney World. I'm afraid that he wants his kids raised in some kind of socialist commune.
This last week or so has probably been the worst for me in terms of dealing with his outlooks on life. I am tired of them all, and I am tired of trying to mellow out his cynicsm. I know deep down that trying to change him is a bad starting point for our relationship (any relationship), and that I need to accept him for the person he is. Additionally, mellowing out his cynicism about white, middle-class, suburban America would be, in his mind, turning his back on his value system. He would never give up his value system, and it is not right for me to want him to.
I just wish he weren't so cynical.
When I am good, I see the greatness in his cynicism. I admire how real he is, and how he really does try to look through this pretentious outer layer clouding the world around us to see the things underneath that truly matter: not money, not status, but nobility of heart and intention, and being a truly good person. I appreciate his opening my eyes to some of the pretentiousness that I used to gloss over no questions asked, but at the same time, I envy my old ability to just accept without automatically questioning something's value.
I feel that I have become an even more judgmental person through this relationship with Broadway. In some ways, I've gotten more humble in that the very things of status that I used to admire now hold little weight in my mind (a good thing). However, that's come at a cost of my now jumping to judge others' desire for that status, which I seem to pick out more and more frequently in the people around me.
In a way, I'm now just as bad as Broadway. I now hold my own "humble" virtues as my claim to status, so this whole change in perspective has just invoked the biggest hypocrisy of all. My previous regard for social/financial status has now been supplanted onto my emphasis on"noble persona" status. I judge everyone around me for their minute showings of pretentiousness and desire for financial gain, and I preach my own views of the importance of "nobility of character".
I hate this feeling of being above others in cases like this, and I feel that my rejection of financial and social status is somewhat fake. It is me trying to be someone whom I am not but think I should be. It is good to think that money and small talk and cocktail parties are things that I'm not attracted to, but I don't think I gained this perspective in a healthy way.
This past week, these negative thoughts about myself have surged, and all of them have been funneled into resentment toward Broadway for influencing my thinking over the past year or so. I know that's not necessarily fair, but every time I sense in him the slightest bit of cynicism, my thoughts spiral into all these negative things. As a result, I have absolutely no patience for him.
All of this has been made worse by my seeing a couple of successful relationships this week (friends from the past visiting). I have gotten irrationally jealous of those girls for having snagged the perfect, non-depressed boyfriends/fiances/husbands who have a net optimism about life. I'm also being haunted with "what ifs", specifically with regards to the other guy whom pursued me around this time last year when things started with Broadway ...
Upon returning, my patience with him has remained thin. Just about every comment he makes in jest has me seriously rolling my eyes. He has a habit of reading signs he sees and pronouncing them in immature ways. It's hard to explain what exactly grates on my nerves about these pronunciations: it's not the immaturity. I think my annoyance stems from his cynicism and inability to appreciate things that others do, and from his self-righteous feeling that he has a right (and need) to contort everything he deems "intellectually inferior" into something that he can then make fun of.
For example, we saw a sign on Saturday for a small, specialized lawyer while stopped at a stop light. Admittedly, the sign was huge, with the guy's name blasted across the entire marquee above the entryway. The guy's last name was Kokoras, and Broadway started laughing hysterically and loudly and very obnoxiously, said "Wow, that guy's name is Cock or Ass".
Again, it wasn't the immaturity that bothered me. It was the tone with which he said it, and that had the name been on a plaque outside a college professor's office, Broadway may not have made the same comment.
I see nothing wrong with a small time lawyer putting out a huge lighted sign to advertise his services. It is a bit tacky, but everyone makes their living their own way. The source of Broadway's immaturity Saturday was his innate disrespect for this type of profession. To him, anything less of a noble academic career at an Ivy League university is a waste of time and a disgrace to society.
To Broadway, jobs in the financial sector (consultants, bankers) are worthless, and these people add no value to society. Not that I am defending bankers in their indulgent lifestyles, but they do support the economy and the stock market. To Broadway, however, the stock market is just one big made up ploy to oppress the common man, and bankers and consultants are made self-important.
This level of cynicism about the world permeates into just about everything Broadway does and says. It's his entire outlook on his life. I've struggled with this mentality of his ever since the beginning of our relationship, and dealing with it better at times than now. My patience particularly breaks down when the target of his cynicism are things that I place value in: southerners (he generalizes all to be conservative, ignorant, and poorly educated), Disney World (it's just the commercial manifestation of white rich people continuing to brainwash their white rich kids), the quiet of surburban America (too restrictive, homogenous, and self-absorbed).
I don't disagree with his points. There are definitely elements of Disney World that we all wish weren't there: we all sorta moan at the melodrama of magic and fantasy and especially wish that it weren't so commercialized. But Disney World was a treat for me as a kid, and I'd want my kids to have that same treat. He has already stauchily put his foot down that no child of his will ever go to Disney World. I'm afraid that he wants his kids raised in some kind of socialist commune.
This last week or so has probably been the worst for me in terms of dealing with his outlooks on life. I am tired of them all, and I am tired of trying to mellow out his cynicsm. I know deep down that trying to change him is a bad starting point for our relationship (any relationship), and that I need to accept him for the person he is. Additionally, mellowing out his cynicism about white, middle-class, suburban America would be, in his mind, turning his back on his value system. He would never give up his value system, and it is not right for me to want him to.
I just wish he weren't so cynical.
When I am good, I see the greatness in his cynicism. I admire how real he is, and how he really does try to look through this pretentious outer layer clouding the world around us to see the things underneath that truly matter: not money, not status, but nobility of heart and intention, and being a truly good person. I appreciate his opening my eyes to some of the pretentiousness that I used to gloss over no questions asked, but at the same time, I envy my old ability to just accept without automatically questioning something's value.
I feel that I have become an even more judgmental person through this relationship with Broadway. In some ways, I've gotten more humble in that the very things of status that I used to admire now hold little weight in my mind (a good thing). However, that's come at a cost of my now jumping to judge others' desire for that status, which I seem to pick out more and more frequently in the people around me.
In a way, I'm now just as bad as Broadway. I now hold my own "humble" virtues as my claim to status, so this whole change in perspective has just invoked the biggest hypocrisy of all. My previous regard for social/financial status has now been supplanted onto my emphasis on"noble persona" status. I judge everyone around me for their minute showings of pretentiousness and desire for financial gain, and I preach my own views of the importance of "nobility of character".
I hate this feeling of being above others in cases like this, and I feel that my rejection of financial and social status is somewhat fake. It is me trying to be someone whom I am not but think I should be. It is good to think that money and small talk and cocktail parties are things that I'm not attracted to, but I don't think I gained this perspective in a healthy way.
This past week, these negative thoughts about myself have surged, and all of them have been funneled into resentment toward Broadway for influencing my thinking over the past year or so. I know that's not necessarily fair, but every time I sense in him the slightest bit of cynicism, my thoughts spiral into all these negative things. As a result, I have absolutely no patience for him.
All of this has been made worse by my seeing a couple of successful relationships this week (friends from the past visiting). I have gotten irrationally jealous of those girls for having snagged the perfect, non-depressed boyfriends/fiances/husbands who have a net optimism about life. I'm also being haunted with "what ifs", specifically with regards to the other guy whom pursued me around this time last year when things started with Broadway ...
Friday, March 7, 2008
credit
I'm back, and strangely, the urgency of everything I had waiting for me after vacation got me in the office yesterday morning bright, early, and motivated (despite getting home at around 2am the night before). Usually I'm not this on top of things and inevitably need a day or two (a week) to recover from my vacation ...
There were lots of meetings yesterday, and I've just come back from another one this morning. Usually meetings are hits or misses for me ... I find most productive, but I contribute all or nothing. I've long gotten over the need to speak for the sake of having said something, anything, so there are plenty of meetings I sit through silently nowadays. At other meetings, like the ones yesterday, I take the floor consistently (hopefully making intelligent comments).
I was silent in the meeting this morning, though. It started out as being just usual morning groggyness, but very quickly stemmed from my realization that someone else was getting credit for my work, and I wasn't sure what to say.
This morning was a wrapup meeting following a project that concluded while I was away. We were being congratulated on a job well done, and one senior person (not present) was acknowleged for having gone above and beyond his call of duty. In particular, Senior Guy was heralded for a series of meeting he held with individuals and groups throughout the month of February that significantly affected the success of the project.
I felt miffed because those meetings were my work. Senior Guy was just the spokesperson.
Back in late January, I met with Senior Guy and proposed that we give some presentations and consult with a few key people in another part of the company to bring our project to their attention and also to get their backing and support. I thought that this would help move our stuff along, and he would be perfect to represent us.
Despite being much more senior than me, both in age and in position, Senior Guy played coy at first, asking rhetorically why I didn't want to go talk to these people myself. With a little insistence (it didn't take much), he agreed to speak on the project's behalf. I then used my connections to set up the presentations and individual meetings he then had in February.
"He so personally went and met with all of these people!" someone said this morning, emphasizing how greatly Senior Guy cared and how what he did really brought about the project's success.
There was no mention of my role at all.
I do wonder if things would have been slightly different had Senior Guy been present. Getting the glowing praise in my presence, I wonder if he would have said something to acknowledge me.
Everyone remembers the actor in a blockbuster movie, but who remembers the name of the cameraman without whom there would have been no movie?
There were lots of meetings yesterday, and I've just come back from another one this morning. Usually meetings are hits or misses for me ... I find most productive, but I contribute all or nothing. I've long gotten over the need to speak for the sake of having said something, anything, so there are plenty of meetings I sit through silently nowadays. At other meetings, like the ones yesterday, I take the floor consistently (hopefully making intelligent comments).
I was silent in the meeting this morning, though. It started out as being just usual morning groggyness, but very quickly stemmed from my realization that someone else was getting credit for my work, and I wasn't sure what to say.
This morning was a wrapup meeting following a project that concluded while I was away. We were being congratulated on a job well done, and one senior person (not present) was acknowleged for having gone above and beyond his call of duty. In particular, Senior Guy was heralded for a series of meeting he held with individuals and groups throughout the month of February that significantly affected the success of the project.
I felt miffed because those meetings were my work. Senior Guy was just the spokesperson.
Back in late January, I met with Senior Guy and proposed that we give some presentations and consult with a few key people in another part of the company to bring our project to their attention and also to get their backing and support. I thought that this would help move our stuff along, and he would be perfect to represent us.
Despite being much more senior than me, both in age and in position, Senior Guy played coy at first, asking rhetorically why I didn't want to go talk to these people myself. With a little insistence (it didn't take much), he agreed to speak on the project's behalf. I then used my connections to set up the presentations and individual meetings he then had in February.
"He so personally went and met with all of these people!" someone said this morning, emphasizing how greatly Senior Guy cared and how what he did really brought about the project's success.
There was no mention of my role at all.
I do wonder if things would have been slightly different had Senior Guy been present. Getting the glowing praise in my presence, I wonder if he would have said something to acknowledge me.
Everyone remembers the actor in a blockbuster movie, but who remembers the name of the cameraman without whom there would have been no movie?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)