How Old are You?

I just had a customer came in to deposit her social security check into her account. She wanted to deposit US$30 into her personal account and US$30 into her husband account with the rest of the cash back. I asked her if she's on her husband's account and she said no. Due to the privacy policy, I told her that I cannot look up her husband's account number for her if she's not on the account with him. She told me that her husband is in the car so he can come in after I'm done with her to deposit that US$30 into his account.

I ran her transaction and withheld the $30. She left and a few seconds later her husband came in. Mine you he's about 80 (I believe she's about 65). The first thing he said to me was, "Why do I have to come in to deposit money into my account? Don't you know she's my wife? We've been married over 40 years." I explained to him that because of the privacy policy I cannot look up his account for his wife no matter how long they've been married. He swiped his debit card and when I pulled up the account, I noticed that his wife is on the account with him. I told him that she is on the account but when I asked, she said she wasn't. He said, "She's stupid!" and totally went off about how women are stupid and all kind of bull shit.

I got annoyed with him and said, "Sir, please keep your voice down. If you keep talking with like that I will need you to leave." Then he said to me, "Why? Do I look like I'm 23?" and gave me his driver's license. I glanced at his DL and said, "It doens't matter how old you are, if you keep talking like that I will need you to leave". I finished his transaction and gave him his receipt. I could hear him talking under his breathe about how women are such and such (I'm not repeating what he said coz it's going to make me madder).

I just don't understand people sometimes. What makes them think that they are better than anyone else, more specifically over other gender or race or whatever. Those people are the stupid ones....

To Kill A Mockingbird

I just finished reading the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. I've always been curious about the book and wanted to ready it. Of course, the first time I heard about the book was the movie by the same name staring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch.

It was one of the best book I've ever read and I am mad with myself that I didn't read the book sooner. It was about a lawyer named Atticus Finch who lived & worked in a small Alabama town called Maycomb. He was appointed to be the defense lawyer for an African American who was accused of raping a white woman. Though there was a lot of evidence pointing to his innocence, the jury still convicted him of the crime. The book, unlike the movie, did not just concentrate on the trial but life in southern Alabama during that time. The book, like the movie, was told from the point of view of Atticus' 9 year old daughter.

I really love the book and really recommend it. If you are not a reader than I suggest you rent the movie....

"The Express"

We saw the movie "The Express" at my in laws yesterday. It was about Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961. For those of you who don't know what a Heisman Trophy is, it's an award given to the best college football (American football) of that year.

It was a pretty interesting movie. To see what it was like for him to grow up in that era where African Americans are still considered 2nd class and how he dealt with it. He was drafted to play with the Cleveland Browns but he was not able to play when he found out that he had leukemia and died from the cancer when he was only 23.

I definitely recommend this movie. Rob Brown played Ernie Davis and Dennis Quaid was his University of Syracuse football coach.

Something Funny...

Something funny happened a few moment ago at work. Since we were bought out by another bank last year, some of the branches are being consolidated. Our branch is one of those that will close mid next month so we are trying to go thru tons of stuff in the branch. Sensitive materials are being shredded and collected by the shredding company while the rest are put in a big dumpster in the back of the bank. And let me tell you...this dumpster is HUGE!

So, the phone rang and I answered it. Turned out it was our RM (Regional Manager) wanting to talk to my BM (Branch Manager). Asked him if he wouldn't mind being put on hold while I get my BM, he said no. So I put him on hold and dialed the extension to my BM's desk. There was no answer so I went looking for her in the back office. The back door was open so I know she was just outside dumping stuff into the dumpster.

The sight that greeted me when I walked out was to die for. Mind you, my BM is short, maybe about 5'1" and with the shoes that she's wearing, she's probably be at about 5'4". The dumpster is maybe about 7 feet high. Here was my BM doing this frog leap thing trying to throw stuff into the dumpster. It was a little comical coz she reminded me of how a little kid would do this little jump while throwing their ball into a hoop.

Anyways, I took pity on her so I told her to hold the back door open for me while I dump the stuff. I am 6 foot tall and with my shoes on, I'm about 6'2" so it was just a matter of me tip toeing and hauled the stuff over the dumpster. Here's the syncher...as I turned around to get back into the bank, I noticed there was a cop car parked a few yards away from us. The policeman was laughing his head off so I gave him a big smile, saluted, did a little bow and walked back into the bank.

Weird Day

What a weird day today is starting to be... First of all, I kept waking up every hour on the hour all night last night so I am a little sleep deprive at the moment.

My first customer today told me that he wanted to cash his check so I proceed to my transaction menu on my computer to do so. When I asked him how he want his cash (what denomination) he said he wanted to deposit US$200 of it into his account. So, I cancelled the original transaction and proceed to fill the deposit slip for him and ran the transaction. Again at the end, I asked him again how he wants his cash broken down and he decided that instead of depositing that US$200 into his account, he wanted to get all the cash. So, again I cancelled that transaction and proceed to the first one and guess what... he decided to change his mind again. Luckily this time he didn't change his mind again... coz I would have smacked him he he he

The other customer I had was an old lady. She handed me her checkbook and said that she wanted copies of the checks she had written this month. I asked her for her ID and she said, "You can't look me up from the checkbook?". I told her that I can look up her account from the checkbook but I need to make sure that she's the one on the account. She pointed to the name on the checkbook and said that's her. I was trying really hard not to laugh but I told her that I need to see her ID so that I can verify that that is her. So she grumbily walked back to her car to get her ID. After verifying that it was indeed her, I pulled up her account on my computer. I asked her if she just wanted me to print the statement which shows all the checks that had gone thru her account but she said that she wanted to get the copies of the check. I also indicated to her that if she has internet, she can get the copies for free but she said that she doesn't have a computer. Since there were about 8 checks that had gone thru I brought her over to the PFR (personal financial rep) along with her statement that I had printed listing the checks so that he can help her print the checks and I can go back to running transactions at the teller line. Not 5 seconds later she left so I asked he PFR if he was able to help her. He said that she said to him that she can look up the checks at home and left the bank with the statement that I printed... What the F---? I asked her if all she wanted was the statement & she said no... Another undecided customer I guess...

Well, while I was with the old lady, another customer came into the branch wanting to run transaction and he got my Assistant Manager. He was trying to deposit cash into someone else's account. A restraint came up on the account so my AM was trying to ask him some questions. Unfortunately, the guy doesn't speak anything but Chinese so here they were, my AM speaking in English to him and he jabbering away in Chinese. My branch manager came over to try and help them but since she doesn't speak a lick of Chinese, there was little that she could do. They kept looking over to me hoping that I understood what the guy was talking about but I only know a couple of bad words so I was no help...

So, I don't know if there is a full moon out tonight or what but I hope the "weirdness" ends soon

January 20, 2009

What a day it was yesterday, something that I will not forget anytime soon. Almost 2 million people gathered at the Mall in Washington DC to watch Barack Hussein Obama sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. I had to work yesterday so I set my VCR to tape the proceedings (no, we don't have Tivo), though I did catch some snipets of it on the internet while at work (shhh I'm not suppose to do that while at work). It was amazing to see all those people braving the cold weather to be at the ceremony. What is more amazing to me is to see an African American sworn in to the highest position in this country. Here is to a better future....

Superbowl 2009

VS

This year's Superbowl will be between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game will be held in Tampa Bay on February 1st. This will be the Cardinals first time at the Superbowl since they were in Chicago 61 years ago...

GO CARDINALS!!!!

Selsema

Ick... it's that time of the year again for the flu/cold season. I was successful in fending it off for the first few months but now my defenses are down and I finally caught the sniffles. I've been taking lots of vitamin C so the cold isn't full blown, just the snuffy nose and feeling conjested. I am just glad that today is Friday and I only have to work half a day tomorrow so I can rest over the weekend.

16 Years Ago

16 years ago tomorrow I embarked on a life long journey. 16 years ago I left my family and life behind in Malaysia and came to the US. When I came, I had expected to just be in the US for about 2 years. Just enough time for me to earn my BSc as well as some life experience. I had fully expected to return to Malaysia after I graduate and spend the rest of my life there. Little that I know that 16 years later I am still in the US.

I bet you wonder what happened, right? How did 2 years ended up being 16 years? Well love happened... See just before I left for the US, my heart was broken. And this was not any kind of broken, it was not just cracked in 2 but smashed to smitherens. So I left hoping that it will mend eventually and I also had a little revenge planned. I was going to get my degree and go back to Malaysia, get a great job where my ex is working and maybe be his boss. Obviously that was a stupid plan...the revenge part anyways.

Anyways, the first part of my 2nd year in the US, I met this wonderful guy. I wasn't expecting to meet anyone, much less falling in love. We hit it off immediately and have been together since. We dated for about 2 1/2 years and just a little over a month ago celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary.

So, that is why I am still here 16 years later. I wouldn't trade my guy for anything in the world and I am hoping for many years to come with him...

January Birthdays

Here are my family & friends celebrating their birthdays in January:

Wan Nor Diana (Dina) - January 4
Raja Nor Izma (arwah) - January 13
Raja Norshirin (yours truly ;-) - January 14
Aubree Stephens - January 15
Christine Cattelino - January 20
James J Pergo - January 29

Happy Birthday every one!!

"Iron Man"

We rented "Iron Man" yesterday and I thought the movie was okay. It was a movie based on Stan Lee's Marvel comic "Iron Man" about a weapons manufacturer named Tony Stark whom after being captured in Afghanistan decided to make an iron suit for himself.

Robert Downey Jr was Tony Stark/Iron Man and Jeff Bridges was his company's, Stark Industries, business partner. Gweyneth Paltrow was Tony Stark's assistant/love interest. Downey Jr was pretty good as Iron Man though I thought the movie itself is okay. When I first heard that he was going to be Iron Man, I didn't think that he would make a good superhero. I was pleasantly surprised that he actually made a good one...at least a very convincing one.

If you like Marvel comics than this movie is for you...