2001-05-31 - 8:17 p.m.
#67: No Need for Some Kind of Direction, However Minute
Note to self: Aha! Once again, I'm writing another journal entry for events that happened the day before! But this time, I have a good excuse! And that excuse is: I was.... *flips open a dictionary to a random page, closes my eyes, and sets my finger upon it* .... larrikin.... ing? No, that doesn't work, how about.... I was.... constellation.... ing. Try again: I was.... lodge.... ing (well, that's better, that's an actual word, somewhat). I was.... colocasium-ing.... Wait, this is a Latin dictionary. Oh hell, I was busy. So there.
Well, yesterday was my mothers birthday, as well as a cousin of mine (makes the day easier to remember if you have two family relatives who have that same important day) but this entry will not be about them. Well, maybe a bit about my cousin, who apparently went to the Auckland University yesterday to have her first real drink from a pub with friends (just turned 18, the lucky girl), since this story is kinda about a coming of age. About being able to do certain things on your own without your parents watching out for you.... Okay, maybe not so dramatic. But yesterday I found out how to open my own chequeing account, and when dealing with an institution as scary and unfamiliar to me as a bank, I think it's one heck of a major breakthrough. Doncha think? eheh.
I mean, I originally had a savings account set up by my parents and they put money in as a way of getting my own eftpos card to charge to. For emergencies when I was low in physical cash, yanno. Right. Anyway, found out yesterday from my uncle that a savings account isn't really the right kind if all I was really doing with it was using it to draw money out from. I mean, I already have a "real" savings account (which I don't have access to yet. My parents are very cautious about giving me all that accumulated wealth and interest in one go. O.o Admittedly, I've probably spent more of THEIR money than I have money in that account by now. -_-;;;;) and I was just using this smaller account as a means to draw out easy cash.... So.... Change it over to a cheque account, which doesn't charge any fees when you're drawing out money like it would a savings account.
And I did it, by going to the local branch of the bank I was with, and requesting a changeover. It was surprisingly easy. I didn't even need to get a new eftpos card, and I would get my own checkbook in a weeks time. I mean, I have no idea what I was so worried about. Course, I WAS accompanied by my uncle, who knew the people in the bank, who took me straight to see the head honcho (manageress, I think) and did quite a bit of the talking.... but.... yanno. Erm. Independence? Learning to do stuff on my own? ^^;;;; Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe not quite that stage yet.
Still, at least I now understand some of the mysteries around the process of banking and stuff.... And I even got a special deal because I'm a tertiary student (crosses my fingers behind my back. *for now*) which entitles me to an overdraft of a thousand dollars with no interest, as well as a credit card with no annual fees, if I should decide to take them up on that offer. Like, "Yes, MA'AM! I'll take em!" @_@ Of course, I didn't actually say that at the bank since I still needed, uh, my parents approval. *sighs* I'm sooooooo whipped. -_-;;;; But I'm slightly cheered by the thought of what I could do with a credit card. Many, many things. Hmmm. hmmm hmmmm hmmm hmmm hmmmm..... (in case you don't know, this is the sound a villain makes before he goes off into full scale megalomaniacal laughter. which I shall spare you from)
So that was my biggest adventure yesterday. Learning to bank. So it isn't exactly the most exciting development in my life (that would be the ability to actually drive) but yanno.... little steps. Little steps. Another biggie that happened yesterday was that I received not one, but TWO phonecalls, both of them almost immediately right after the other. With conversations that lasted more than 20 minutes a piece. When you're a no-lifer like I am, these kind of situations really stand out. The first call was from a friend at university who shared my passion for anime and 80s cartoons.
(Took a small break here to go shopping, watch Dragonball Z, and eat one of those Willy Wonka bars. Kinda cool those blocky big bars. Feels like I'm in the Roald Dahl book when I look at the wrapper, for some reason, hee. ^_^)
The friends was asking about the state of my anime CD collection and whether he could borrow certain items. Since he was the one who got me started on this CD burning frenzy, I couldn't really refuse him. This would also explain (to those on ICQ last night and part of the AAC) my sudden urge to borrow a whole lot of stuff from other people so I can fatten out my collection of things he'd like to see. ^_^;;; Oh well, I have plenty of time to do a lot of burning nowadays.... He also asked me about my current stance towards university.... Probably confirming the fact that I wasn't attending anymore, I guess. I'm not very forthcoming about this sort of information to certain people. O.o Anyway, after a long chat of what I do and don't have, as well as what he'd potentially like to get, I finally got to put the phone down. After developing a cramp in the crook of my left arm from holding up the receiver too long. I got a chance to rediscover that delightful cramp when another call came a couple of minutes later, and this one would be longer than the last. Much longer. O.o
(Took a LONG break here to learn the nuances of cooking fried rice. Surprised at the amount of work needed in order to make it, really. If you want it done right, anyway. Used SPAM in the stir fry, which may or may not be sacrilegious. @_@)
The second friend, also from university, had been well aware of my decision to leave university a while ago, and is off handedly trying to help me find a job, for which I'm quite grateful for really. I have a surprisingly large number of people looking out for me, it seems. O.o He had just rang to ask for my address to send along a promotional pamphlet of some kind to me. It was for a company that is looking for year 3 or 4 engineering students to help with testing software.... Not sure what that entails, but finding bugs and not being responsible to fix it sounds like fun to me. ^_^ He was also not so surreptitiously trying to get me go to a "Christian camp" about an hours drive from Wellington. Which uh, surprisingly I'm seriously thinking about going to, having been told earlier by another cousin who attened Auckland Uni. I mean, I'm not exactly the most devout Christian in the entire world, but hey, it's only for about a week or so.
After telling me about the camp, he launched into a kind of personal history thing about him also having problems with university work and finding God which helped him to rediscover his enthusiasm and so forth.... Well, anyway it was a lot of stuff to suddenly dump on somebody, so like anybody else who'd be in this situation, I just listened patiently giving my occasional "hmmm" and "yes" and "uh-huh". Really, whenever somebody talks to you like this, all they really want is just to have somebody there to use as a sounding board and not really say anything. I find this to be most true with women. Whenever they confide their problems with you, DON'T offer them advice. DON'T. Commiserate with them, cheer when they cheer and curse when they curse.... But once you start offering advice, you're in dangerous territory, my friend, for they WILL take offense to your suggestions on the matter. Believe me, I've had a couple of people get really mad at me for trying to help. ^^;;;; So anyway, my university friend spent about 20 minutes talking about finding God, and that I could benefit from such a close relationship as well.... Which I could, yanno. I mean, religion aside, wouldn't it be good to have the most powerful being in the entire universe on your side? For a change? Heh.
So.... Lots of strange things taking place these days. And I had some hand in influencing one of them. Woohoo. Yeah. O.o Now if I could use that influence to get me to a job and/or take up driving lessons I'd be doubly satisfied with my lifestyle.....
