So which is it???

Ignoring the English in the second line, so is it a nice day here in Canberra or not?

Jeng jeng...

Drama mama : Kiasu mama.

The ultimate kiasuness.

I sure win.

So, I went to Dick Smith to develop photos to add to my wall. Someone *coughBarneycough* was complaining that his picture wasn't on my wall so we chose some to print out to add to the collection.

So the price of the digital prints were 12 cents each.

I wanted to print 7.

But, 7 means I have to pay 84 cents, when I technically could pay only 10 cents for each, meaning 7 should cost only 70 cents.

So I did just that. I printed one photo by one photo. Having 7 receipts in my hand, I walked to the cash registers, and before I plonked my receipts on the counter, asked the lady "Could I be a pest and pay for each of these separately?".

She said, "Yeah sure" before realising there were 7 receipts and each of them were for ONE photo.

I was like, "Erm, I'm trying to save money, so yeah...*nervous laughter*".

She looked at me one kind and asked, how is this saving money again?

I'm like, well technically, if I pay one by one, I pay 10 cents each, so I save 2 cents per print.

Then she had this look on her face, but proceeded to do just that.

So she had the cash register out 7 times, putting in 10 cents each time.

At the end of the 10-minute transaction that would've taken 5 seconds, I managed to save 14 cents!!!

At the end of it, I told her "I must be your weirdest customer today huh."

She's like...heh heh, yeah, but it's all right....*smiles*



I rock, I know.

Drama mama : Dresses up and marches out.

Yesterday I had my first permanent job interview - with the ACT Treasury.

It started off with a Case Study, where I was given some articles and a few questions, a notepad, a calculator, a pen, a pencil and a laptop. I was also given 45 minutes.

I walked into the room, realise the topic of my Case Study was on "Tax Review" and went CRAP. I know least bout tax amongst all, and the little that I know bout it, I don't even really know it well.

So I got to working to "analysing" the articles I was given - a pie chart and two pieces of news cutouts.

Read, read, read, wah lao I tak tau what is going on la wey. So I just pakai crap my way through nia. Wrote out a few points on the notepad, arranged my thoughts. I then spent half an hour to structure my sentence, typed it out, made it sound a lot more informative than it actually is, and space it out with pretty paragraphing.

Okay 45 minutes up. Now to the scary part. Face to face interview with a panel of 3, and a scribe.

Two men, one very pretty woman. All high pangkat managers.

They asked me questions, technical ones, that I couldn't answer. DEATH. Like I wrote in my "impressive" case study some mention about "inefficient taxes could be removed". Then they asked me, what sort of inefficient taxes are you referring to. Uh oh. Caught in a trap that I set up on my own. So then I elaborated about tiny small departments and tax bases that are less productive or unimportant or something, I just stuttered the rest of my answers.

Then they asked "Do you know the difference between the taxes that is governed by the Federal Government and the state taxes?". I'm like, honestly, no I don't have a clue. Then one of the guys was very nice and said "Don't worry, not a lot of people actually know the difference of which is governed by who.". Then I calmed down a bit, then the other guy asks, could you, however, give us some examples of what you might think are state taxes? CRAP. I went, sorry, but I really have no clue. GOSH HOW TEMPURUNG MUST I HAVE SOUNDED. But they were very nice and gave me some examples of both. Then I went, oh yes, I did read some of that in the articles in the case study that I did. DOINK ME.

Then they moved on to more general questions like teamwork and conflict resolution, those WAY more manageable.

Then they asked what strengths do you have that you can contribute to us. I said, erm, I'm meticulous, I like organising stuff (yes, I friggin said stuff), I'm...a happy person [laughs nervously]. Good thing they laughed with me and one of them said, that's good, we like happy people. *smiles*

Then the lady asked what my career aspirations are, so I said, ultimately I want to own my own business. Like a food and beverage business. Then she said "Oh wow, that's NOWHERE near what you'd do here in the Treasury. So you're into the hospitality thing?". I was like...erm yeah, very different, but I'm a big fan of hospitality and customer service.

At this point, they all nodded their heads and smiled. "We like customer service. Customer service is good." PHEW.

So. I like screwed up answering them technical knowledgeable questions, but they were all VERY nice and VERY smiley, and that definitely helped with the jitters. So, they seemed to nod a lot and smile a lot and quite liked me, I guess. But I sounded like so dumb, so they might not like that.

So, *crosses fingers* see how lah! There are 8 to 9 spots to be filled and I will know by end of August-ish. Will DEFINITELY announce if I get the job then.

Drama mama : Sheer laziness overcomes her.

Episode two in the drama mama series.

She went to sleep at about 3 plus after chatting with her friend. She woke up 4 and a half hours later wondering why she was awake. She rolled around in bed then her phone rang.

Bakery calling? Hmmm... Brandall speaks through the earpiece : You're supposed to work today, from 8am. She went...HUH? But I can't. I've got a lot of things to do. Cause I'm going to Sydney tomorrow. Then Brandall says, oh, but you're working tomorrow also, from 8am to 2pm. She said, but I'll be in Sydney.

Brandall gives in and went oh well, guess I'll have to find other people to replace you then. She rejoices and wades in her laziness.

Then another call comes in. The screen flashes "Target". She already knew the question and her answer in return.

Manager : Hey, it's Jess calling from Target. Could you come in today from 1 to 6?
Drama mama : Oh, erm, sorry, not today. Sorry...
Manager : That's okay. Buh bye.

She puts down her phone and guilt overcomes her. Does laziness warrant a loss of the chance to earn a hundred dollars by picking up clothes from the floor and helping out customers when they need help? She didn't think so, but what's done is done. Thoughts crossed her mind about whether she should ring back and said she cancelled her plans.

No, she didn't in the end. In case you were wondering.

She turned down 3 working shifts, in half an hour. That half hour of laziness cost her a total of....$280. Oh dear. Now she regrets it.

Oh dear.

What has she done?

Oh dear.

Oh dear.

Ohh.

Dearr.