Sober Week

Some make this clear for me: what defines alcoholism? For the last month I've created a habit of going to a bar almost everyday of the week, especially after work. (I work in customer service, I need a beer afterwards...) Would one consider that alcoholism? Even the tiniest bit? Ok, to be fair, the last two months in Budapest before I moved back to Finland are a haze cuz Erik and I got drunk pretty much every single day, so my situation does not compare to that. At all. Shall I just call it a work-related activity, as I REALLY need to wind down and complain about the nuisances, the bitches, the wiseguys, and the nutcases I have to deal with on a daily basis. (I work 3-7 days a week, between 25 and 55 hours a week...)

It's not that I worry about becoming an alcoholic. I don't. There are no instances of alcoholism in my family used, so by genealogy alone, I should be fine. It's just, Finland is not the country you wanna go for a drink every day, less so with my wages. Let's see: 1 beer = 3.50 euros to 6 euros, and you can never have just one, can you?

That times seven equals a lot of money. (2 Schools of Beer Mathematics: 1. You start thinking how much money you've spent on drink, and all the wonderful things you could've bought with that money. 2. You start counting the cost of things in the amount of beers you could've bought with that money...) This spending of money has led my girlfriend and I to spend a Sober week this week. Time will tell how long that lasts, as yesterday, monday, day one of Sober Week, after work, I was craving a beer and my girlfriend had the same primal urge for a Crowmoor Cider... Keep your fingers crossed for us, and if you're at a bar this week, drinking, have one for us, won't you? =)

A Lovely Day At Work

To really stretch your patience, go visit your local neighbourhood supermarket, situated in the not-so-nice area, with 3 bars, and low-income, government sustained housing right next door. Better yet, go work there. That's what I did today, and do every now and then. Every day is the same; you have the grumpy people who'll complain about EVERYTHING, the grandmas you insist you be their butler, the neighbourhood drunks (and there's a lot of them!), the narcs who every now and then are so fucked that they don't realize that someone will notice them trying to walk or run out with a sixpack of beer under their arm, the kids of alcoholics who think they're really tough and rules don't apply to them, and and any other group of fucking nuisances who I might have forgotten to mention. Let's son, on today's schedule we had several men too drunk to talk, trying to buy A LOT of beer; several narcs who had to be followed around the store, in case something just miraculously ends up in their pockets; a few people too fucked up to realize that having no money on your account means you cannot buy anything;several little 10-14yr old kids of alcoholics threatening to beat me up, calling me a faggot cuz we wouldn't let them play on the slot machine (which is restricted under 15, and anyone under 15 playing on the machine is breaking the law).

That was merely today's happenings. It's like this, and worse, EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK. I'm only an extra, which means I move from store to store, 3-7 days a week. Of course, this isn't what all little supermarkets are like, but quite a few. Everywhere you must deal with threatening customers, whiners, people complaining about the most mundane shit, alcoholics, brokeass motherfuckers trying to haggle with you about the cost of beer, last minute shoppers who aren't in a hurry to leave, little babies crying and screaming, narcs misbehaving or being threatening, leaving you to worry about what they may be capable of doing in their fucked up state, social outcasts shoplifting (several times a week, 6 days in a row the police were called to the store this summer to catch shoplifters, ranging from a loot of 1.05 euros to 150 euros. I even managed to physically catch 2 of the regular narcs running past my cash register carrying beer under their jackets one lovely monday evening...), kids on the slot machine, kids trying to buy alcohol or cigarettes, swearing at you for not selling them cuz they "forgot their ID in the car" or "home", just to mention a few of the fucking annoying shitheads who one must deal with all the time in this line of work. And hey, I'm an extra. Atleast I can choose where I work. Imagine the regular workers who deal with this same crap 37.5 hours a week.

So the next time you're in a supermarket, and see any of this shit I've just mentioned, take a minute to think about the workers at the store. And please, if you see someone shoplifting, tell someone who works there. It's not too much to ask, is it?

As a final thought, remember that the person sitting behind the cash register serving you is also a human being, possibly a student just like you, trying to make ends meet. They're not that low is society; atleast they have a job...

Helsinki Burns!

Well, that's what it looks like... A huge fire is storming in the center of the city, right next to the Parliament Building, the National Museum, the Modern Art Museum, the Finlandia Hall, and the railway station. More info to follow. (Not because I don't know anything, but because I can't be bothered right now...) I have pictures, which I'll get online soon...

Tickets To America

My girlfriend and I have been planning on going to America this summer. Now it's finally settled. Went out yesterday and this morning and bought the plane tickets. A little pricier than the last time I flew over the Atlantic, but hey, atleast we're going now. The tickets from Helsinki to Detroit via Amsterdam and back via Paris cost 878 euros and the tickets from Detroit to Jacksonville, North Carolina via Charlotte, NC and back cost 294 euros. Which brings the total ticket price to 1172 euros. Per person.

18 days.
3 weekends.
8 flights.
26.5 hours on planes.
23.5 hours at airports.
6 Airports.
3 Airlines.
Much shopping.
Much much fun.

The trip will take place between July 28 and August 14. More on that later...

The Godfather

Don't expect to hear from me for some time, cuz I just went and bought The Godfather for the PS2, a semi-impulsive purchase. It put me back 59.90 euros, which is about the same as one 7-8 hour shift at work, one day's pay... Wasn't easy saying no to temptation when I really wanted the game, had the money to spare, and had my girlfriend Nora encouraging me to buy it... It's great to have a girl like her, someone who'll actually encourage their boyfriend to buy a video game. Hell, just two nights ago I got her interested in Doom, after watching Doom the movie on DVD. I'll let you know when I regain interest in a social life, one not of New York City, 1945-1955...

New Phone

I finally succumbed to the temptation to buy a new phone. Whilst taking my mp3 player back to the store to be repaired, I paused to browse the cell phones on display. I noticed that a phone I'd kinda wanted was on sale at an affordable price. So, the following day, wednesday, I returned to the store to buy it. So, right now I'm using my new Nokia 3230 Series 60 Symbian cell phone. It cost 270.90 euros, making it slightly pricey, yet affordable. I do have money, now I just have to be more careful and less spendthrift with my savings to save up the money to go to America this summer. I have some 600e saved up right now, with people owing me some 130e and I save 75e-200e a week, so I think I'll have the necessary money saved up by the beginning of July. Probably won't have the 3000e I initially had planned, but I'll have enough so spent two weeks in visiting Erik in Jacksonville, NC.

Trouble with Technology

I just took my Creative Zen Touch (20GB) mp3 player back to the store for repair. Spent a few days frantically searching for my warranty slip and receipt for it. I hope the warranty covers the problems with it. The actual player worked, there were just several nuisances with it, plus one major problem. If I pressed the NEXT (>>|) button too many times, the player would think I pressed Shuffle instead. Sometimes when I'd turn the player off, it would say 'Shutting Down', but it wouldn't. Sometimes when I turned it on, it would shut down again if I pressed any button. Sometimes it froze and I'd have to wait for the battery to die for it to work again. On top of all there nuisances, lately, just randomly, it decided to only play music through the right headphone, so in order to listen properly, I'd have to tweak the headphones by lifting them out of the socket to a particular 1/4 of a millimeter. So, in two weeks I'll get it back fixed, of I'll get a new one. Till then, I'm musicless...

Things That Piss Me Off...

Drunk, middle-aged men who think everyone is deeply interested in their lives... If you talk back to them, it encourages them to talk more. If you ignore them, it encourages them to talk louder to you. If you leave, they follow you. If you tell them to go away, they get pissed off. Their primary targets are young girls and anyone working in customer service. So utterly fed up with them. As if working in customer service wasn't dull and annoying enough, there's always these Emmy-award winners to ruin your day, or atleast your day until you can go on a break and have a stress-relieving cigarette and a cup of coffee...

Project Under Work...

Customer service is one line of work, which is very misunderstood. On both sides of the cash register. I'm working on a set of rules or guidelines to ease working at a supermarket cash register as well as shopping at a cash register, just to maybe make someone's life slightly simpler, be it the customer's or the worker's. Having worked it customer service for several years now, I've faced a lot of nice customers and a crapload of annoying customers. Thus, I'm working on guidelines to ease everyone's life in this field. Even though I've only worked in Finland, there guidelines will be applicable all over the world, in supermarket big and small, even at other customer service lines of work, be it the restaurant world, a clothing shop or even a small store which sells random goods. So stay tuned!

January Recap

At the end of each month, I'll quickly recap the past months happenings in my life, work, etc...

IMPORTANT EVENTS:
My girlfriend Nora and I celebrated our 1-year anniversary on January 21st, with a dinner at an Italian restaurant.
My sister Julia turned 10 on the 31st.
On a sadder note, my last grandparent, my grandma, passed away at age 91.
I applied to the University of Helsinki to study Political Science. I was allowed to apply as a foreigner, helping my chances a bit.

FREE TIME:
Most of my free time this month was spent doing what I love doing; chilling at cafes with my girlfriend. Must've drank some 400 cups of coffee this month...
Saw two movies this month, Narnia and Jarhead.

WORK:
Hours at Work: 102.75hrs
Shifts: 14
-Tiimari (9 shifts)
-Prisma (2)
-Aleksi 13 (3)
Earnings before taxes: 1029.51€
Average shift: 7.34hrs / 73.54€

That about wraps it up for January. A quiet month, as January usually is, especially after a spendthrift December...

[February Recap coming 01.03.]