Ok, when i'm talking about selling books, what do i mean?
Selling books is nothing like setting up a book stall in the middle of a shopping mall, waiting people to come and buy your books. When i said i'm selling books, what i meant was selling books door-to-door. I worked like a salesman actually...(but we preferred to call ourselves "bookman")
The books we sold included:
a study bible, an illustrated bilbe in stories, a set of bible reference books (which includes a handbook, dictionary and concordance), a black history set, and a homework handbook set.
So, everyday, i drove 30-80 miles to my county (the distance varies, as i worked in 4 counties in 2 states). Once i had reached my county, i had to look for areas where the african americans stay. Yup, in this job, my main focus was on the african americans, or blacks (some ppl found this word offensive, but most don't). The main reason for my choosing of blacks as my customers was because they were generally more friendly and more religious. The whites were indubitably richer, but most of them, YES, MOST OF THEM (at least most of the whites i had met) were VERY DEFENSIVE, SNOBBISH, COLD and RUDE. (I don't blame them though, coz who would be friendly to a foreigner that knock on your door and try to enter your house??)
Once i reached the area, i would start knocking on doors. To make sure that we could enter the house to show our books, we were taught to do a "set-up" using our "salestalk" (which we were trained over and over again). The key was to make people to like you and trust you. Once they like you and trust you, most of them will let you show the books if they have the need. And whether they buy it or not depends on the closing skill, which i think i seriously lacked it...
Hence, i worked 10 hours a day, 6 days a week (mon-fri). Sunday was my only off-day, but i had to attend a group meeting which normally took place in Cheasepeake, VA. We went to Raleigh, NC twice to have a combined meeting (which 3 organizations met). In such meetings, we called number (an activity which compared the sales of the students) and discussed ways to improve our sales. Of course, before each of the meetings, we had good lunch (either chinese buffet or Golden Coral).
This was my life as a bookman for three months...
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Pittsburgh - Roanoke Rapids
05/28/2005
We left Pittsburgh in the afternoon, and soon enough we found oursevles driving endlessly again on the highway. On our way to Roanoke Rapids, the hub cap of my car flew off. I did not know it until Renjie called me. Luckily, the hub cap was just the decoration part of the wheel.
We reached Roanoke Rapids at about 11.00 p.m. Upon reaching the single-storey duplex, a brick house which will be our "home" for the next three months, we were welcomed by Hon Boon and Sime. They had cooked us some chicken, which we gladly finished it. Little did we know that we were about to face the toughest chapter of our lives in no time...
We left Pittsburgh in the afternoon, and soon enough we found oursevles driving endlessly again on the highway. On our way to Roanoke Rapids, the hub cap of my car flew off. I did not know it until Renjie called me. Luckily, the hub cap was just the decoration part of the wheel.
We reached Roanoke Rapids at about 11.00 p.m. Upon reaching the single-storey duplex, a brick house which will be our "home" for the next three months, we were welcomed by Hon Boon and Sime. They had cooked us some chicken, which we gladly finished it. Little did we know that we were about to face the toughest chapter of our lives in no time...
Ann Arbor - Pittsburgh
05/27/2005
We (RenJie and I) left Ann Arbor for North Carolina on the 27th of May. My car was practically packed with all of my belongings (i left two boxes of academic stuff with voon seng. thx vs!) Before we left, we went to the plymouth Shell to do an oil change. To my dismay, the mechanic found out that my car needed some repair. There was something wrong with the axel thingy, and i was told that the wheel might fly off when i am driving. Knowing that the parts won't be available until the next day, i decided to take my chance. I had a feeling that the mechanic was exaggerating again. (coz remember that i once did a used car inspection here?)
The journey to Roanoke Rapids, a place 710 miles from Ann Arbor was pretty boring. It was estimated that we would need at least 11 hours to reach there (according to mapquest). Since i cannot listen to the radio or play any cd, i have to fight my sleepiness by chewing gum or singing. (the singing method was quite effective, it acted like some sort of shock treatment) We stopped a few times to refuel our cars, and when it was dark, we decided to find some place to park our cars and have a sleep. We stopped at a parking lot of a church near an exit of the interstate highway.
The very next day, we continued our journey after refreshing ourselves in a service station at the highway (i bought myself a hot chocolate). Since we would pass by Pittsburgh in our way, i figured it would be nice to visit my buddy, hong tuck, in the Carnagie Mellon University.
Probably due to the weather (cloudy and moody), i did not really like the atmosphere in Pittsburgh. The city was indescribably weird, somewhat possessed the aura that only a disgruntled old man will exude. Hong tuck still looked the same when we met him (haha). He brought us to the place he stayed, which was a room in his senior's dorm. After that, we walked around in the university and had lunch (chinese buffet) in the downtown. Other than CMU, there was another university in Pittsburgh - the University of Pittsburgh (of course).
(i will post the pictures later...)
We (RenJie and I) left Ann Arbor for North Carolina on the 27th of May. My car was practically packed with all of my belongings (i left two boxes of academic stuff with voon seng. thx vs!) Before we left, we went to the plymouth Shell to do an oil change. To my dismay, the mechanic found out that my car needed some repair. There was something wrong with the axel thingy, and i was told that the wheel might fly off when i am driving. Knowing that the parts won't be available until the next day, i decided to take my chance. I had a feeling that the mechanic was exaggerating again. (coz remember that i once did a used car inspection here?)
The journey to Roanoke Rapids, a place 710 miles from Ann Arbor was pretty boring. It was estimated that we would need at least 11 hours to reach there (according to mapquest). Since i cannot listen to the radio or play any cd, i have to fight my sleepiness by chewing gum or singing. (the singing method was quite effective, it acted like some sort of shock treatment) We stopped a few times to refuel our cars, and when it was dark, we decided to find some place to park our cars and have a sleep. We stopped at a parking lot of a church near an exit of the interstate highway.
The very next day, we continued our journey after refreshing ourselves in a service station at the highway (i bought myself a hot chocolate). Since we would pass by Pittsburgh in our way, i figured it would be nice to visit my buddy, hong tuck, in the Carnagie Mellon University.
Probably due to the weather (cloudy and moody), i did not really like the atmosphere in Pittsburgh. The city was indescribably weird, somewhat possessed the aura that only a disgruntled old man will exude. Hong tuck still looked the same when we met him (haha). He brought us to the place he stayed, which was a room in his senior's dorm. After that, we walked around in the university and had lunch (chinese buffet) in the downtown. Other than CMU, there was another university in Pittsburgh - the University of Pittsburgh (of course).
(i will post the pictures later...)
Mitsubishi Mirage 2001
Hahaha...long time since i last posted anything. Currently i'm still in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, but since i'm not doing anything now (i lent my car to Priscilla coz hers is in the bodyshop. a good excuse for not working right?), i'll try to tell what exactly i have been doing for my first summer in the states...
*this post is a continuation from my last post* &pardon me for my grammer..sigh~~&
So, after much trouble, i finally got myself a car (haha..don't really remember about the details...it happened about 3 months ago). It's a Mitsubishi Mirage 2001. I bought it from a dealer in Saginaw, MI, with 3100 usd cash, and i think it's a pretty good deal. The car is extremely good on gas. The only thing im not so happy about the car is that i can't use the cdplayer, because i don't have the access code for it (high-tech huh?) Of course, i can go to the nearest Mitsubishi dealer to retrieve the code, but doing that will cost my another fortune (about 68 usd). Hence i decided that i would be better off if i just sing and entertain myself in the car.
(i will post a pic of my car later)
*this post is a continuation from my last post* &pardon me for my grammer..sigh~~&
So, after much trouble, i finally got myself a car (haha..don't really remember about the details...it happened about 3 months ago). It's a Mitsubishi Mirage 2001. I bought it from a dealer in Saginaw, MI, with 3100 usd cash, and i think it's a pretty good deal. The car is extremely good on gas. The only thing im not so happy about the car is that i can't use the cdplayer, because i don't have the access code for it (high-tech huh?) Of course, i can go to the nearest Mitsubishi dealer to retrieve the code, but doing that will cost my another fortune (about 68 usd). Hence i decided that i would be better off if i just sing and entertain myself in the car.
(i will post a pic of my car later)
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Car...
ok. other than studying, i have gone to have a look at a car which i intended to buy.
about a month ago, i came across an ad featuring a second-hand car for sale. it's a maroon nissan sentra 1995, and the price was about 2600 usd. although i was quite interested in having a look at the car, the approaching finals and the lack of money (means i wouldn't be able to buy the car even if i like it) prevented me from doing so. and it was not until last week that i got the time to set up an appointment with the owner of the car to inspect the vehicle.
the appointment was at 9.00 am in the Willow Tree Apartments. qi ming drove me there, as he needed to get his car repaired somewhere near there too (a shell auto shop on plymouth rd). we managed to reach there in time, and to my surprise, the owner of the car appeared to be an indian (i thought i would be a chinese). he was a graduate student about to leave ann arbor.
the 4-door sedan was parked right outside of the apartment. it looked pretty new from outside (although this was not true. qi ming later told me that he saw some scratches on the door, and i later discovered myself that the front headlights was broken) . and again, to my surprise, the car was a manual car.
not convinced that i can actually drive a manual car, (huh?) he demonstrated to me how to drive it. after a short trip, i asked him to drive me to baits 1 so that i can test-drive it in the large open car-park there. after getting familiarized with the car, i drove it around (in the northwood area) and felt that it was quite a good car. pretty satisfied, i called the auto shop (the one which qi ming repair his car at) and set up an appointment for a car inspection. it was scheduled at around 11.30 am.
when the time came, i went to willowtree and drove the car to the auto shop. the owner looked quite worried, probably doubting my ability to handle the car (which i don't know why). i was quite sure i would buy the car if everything turned out fine. but about an hour later, my initial dream of owning a car was shattered. the reason was that the car needed some serious work before it could be used safely on the road:
two front axles 420
frond and rear pads + rotors 440
all belts 120
front crank seal 175
tune up 59
clutch 450
a/c compressor 600
(all the figures are in USD)
....man, 2400 USD for such a car?? luckily i did an used-car inspection (which cost me 45 bucks)...of course, i can't rule out the possibility that the mechanics there were exaggerating. yet, the repair costs were too high for me, and i would not want to take the risk of buying a car which will financially burden me too much (because the insurance will cost a lot too. a 3-month full coverage is about 600 usd).
hence, i gave up the idea of buying that particular car. (though he offered 1900 usd later, which was still quite high as i have asked the mechanics how much the car would cost. they said 1500.)
about a month ago, i came across an ad featuring a second-hand car for sale. it's a maroon nissan sentra 1995, and the price was about 2600 usd. although i was quite interested in having a look at the car, the approaching finals and the lack of money (means i wouldn't be able to buy the car even if i like it) prevented me from doing so. and it was not until last week that i got the time to set up an appointment with the owner of the car to inspect the vehicle.
the appointment was at 9.00 am in the Willow Tree Apartments. qi ming drove me there, as he needed to get his car repaired somewhere near there too (a shell auto shop on plymouth rd). we managed to reach there in time, and to my surprise, the owner of the car appeared to be an indian (i thought i would be a chinese). he was a graduate student about to leave ann arbor.
the 4-door sedan was parked right outside of the apartment. it looked pretty new from outside (although this was not true. qi ming later told me that he saw some scratches on the door, and i later discovered myself that the front headlights was broken) . and again, to my surprise, the car was a manual car.
not convinced that i can actually drive a manual car, (huh?) he demonstrated to me how to drive it. after a short trip, i asked him to drive me to baits 1 so that i can test-drive it in the large open car-park there. after getting familiarized with the car, i drove it around (in the northwood area) and felt that it was quite a good car. pretty satisfied, i called the auto shop (the one which qi ming repair his car at) and set up an appointment for a car inspection. it was scheduled at around 11.30 am.
when the time came, i went to willowtree and drove the car to the auto shop. the owner looked quite worried, probably doubting my ability to handle the car (which i don't know why). i was quite sure i would buy the car if everything turned out fine. but about an hour later, my initial dream of owning a car was shattered. the reason was that the car needed some serious work before it could be used safely on the road:
two front axles 420
frond and rear pads + rotors 440
all belts 120
front crank seal 175
tune up 59
clutch 450
a/c compressor 600
(all the figures are in USD)
....man, 2400 USD for such a car?? luckily i did an used-car inspection (which cost me 45 bucks)...of course, i can't rule out the possibility that the mechanics there were exaggerating. yet, the repair costs were too high for me, and i would not want to take the risk of buying a car which will financially burden me too much (because the insurance will cost a lot too. a 3-month full coverage is about 600 usd).
hence, i gave up the idea of buying that particular car. (though he offered 1900 usd later, which was still quite high as i have asked the mechanics how much the car would cost. they said 1500.)
Study week...
hmm. where did i stop? ok...here i will give a brief (probably will end up not so short) summary of stuff i have done in this week...
basically the whole week is about study, study and study...preparing myself for my first actuarial professional paper. why do i need to study that hard?? there are a few factors:
a) this exam is yet the most important one in my neverending studying life.
b) only 30% of the candidates can pass this paper.
c) people do not take this exam just because it is fun. they spend 100+ USD for it, thus meaning that they will take it seriously. very seriously. and this is not a good news at all.
d) i did outlandishly bad in my intro to probability class, and this seems pretty much like a precursor to my failing this paper.
hence, despite the odds of me passing the paper, i spend a great portion of my daily time immersing myself in the confusing world of probability, striving hard to understand theories which attempt to systematically explain the chaotic world of randomness. knowing that i have little, or should i say virtually no interest in this field frustrates me the most. how im i going to live my future life dealing with all of these abominable excrement with a stench i abhore so much? (haha, pardon me for my wording. venting my frustration here)
mind over body man. your brain is a powerful tool. these are what i have been using to hypnotize myself. i am currently trying to make myself believe that i love math. actually the fact is, i used to. hmm. maybe the passion is still out there, somewhere in my mind, hiding mischieviously (which i don't find it amusing) in between my greyish folded cerebral mass. all i need to do is to dig the damn passion out. then life will be so much better...
where thou art?? my passion to math??
basically the whole week is about study, study and study...preparing myself for my first actuarial professional paper. why do i need to study that hard?? there are a few factors:
a) this exam is yet the most important one in my neverending studying life.
b) only 30% of the candidates can pass this paper.
c) people do not take this exam just because it is fun. they spend 100+ USD for it, thus meaning that they will take it seriously. very seriously. and this is not a good news at all.
d) i did outlandishly bad in my intro to probability class, and this seems pretty much like a precursor to my failing this paper.
hence, despite the odds of me passing the paper, i spend a great portion of my daily time immersing myself in the confusing world of probability, striving hard to understand theories which attempt to systematically explain the chaotic world of randomness. knowing that i have little, or should i say virtually no interest in this field frustrates me the most. how im i going to live my future life dealing with all of these abominable excrement with a stench i abhore so much? (haha, pardon me for my wording. venting my frustration here)
mind over body man. your brain is a powerful tool. these are what i have been using to hypnotize myself. i am currently trying to make myself believe that i love math. actually the fact is, i used to. hmm. maybe the passion is still out there, somewhere in my mind, hiding mischieviously (which i don't find it amusing) in between my greyish folded cerebral mass. all i need to do is to dig the damn passion out. then life will be so much better...
where thou art?? my passion to math??
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Angels and Demons
just finished reading my second dan brown's book - angels and demons. really intereting...now looking foward to read the next book, the most famous of his work to this date - da vinci's code...
i found the ambigrams in the book particularly interesting. An ambigram, to those who doesn't know what it is, is a word written in such a way that it is legible both rightside-up and upside-down. Ambigrams are an ancient artform and play heavily into the mysteries of Angels & Demons.
here's an example of an ambigram...(the title of the book) it's legible upside down!!! don't believe? have a look!!
i found the ambigrams in the book particularly interesting. An ambigram, to those who doesn't know what it is, is a word written in such a way that it is legible both rightside-up and upside-down. Ambigrams are an ancient artform and play heavily into the mysteries of Angels & Demons.
here's an example of an ambigram...(the title of the book) it's legible upside down!!! don't believe? have a look!!
Friday, May 06, 2005
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Driving test
as usual, today, i woke up at around 9, had my breakfast and then went to work in the library. nothing much interesting happened...for lunch, since there was some overnight rice, i decided to try out the "golden fried rice" which i learnt in malaysia by watching a drama by wong hei (so much to learn from tv :P). the way of preparing this fried rice is to first extract the egg york from the eggs, beat them evenly and then pour the golden liquid on the rice. after that, it is crucial to make sure that every single grain of rice is coated in the egg york, thus making the rice looked yellow (hence the name "golden"). then, it is to be fried with onions, garlic and chicken. today, this dish turned out to be a little bit dull without carrots and other stuff, but edible nonetheless.
i was scheduled to take a road test at 6.30 pm in ypsilanti today. as a practice, i drove qi ming's car all the way from ann arbor to ypsilanti, and there, renjie took over and drove for a few rounds. then, we went to a carpark to practise some parking. time progessed inexorably, and the dreaded moment arrived very soon. too soon indeed.
we let hon boon drove us to the carpark (where the parking test would be hold). there, we submitted the paperwork, and after filling out the forms for a while, the examiner signalled me (since i was the first one) to start.
first, i had to check whether the vehicle was safe to use. there was nothing tough in this part, and then i was instructed to drive to a line. very good so far (although i was asked repeatedly to drive nearer to the line because probably my car was too far away from the line). the second part became a little bit more challenging when i was asked to do a reverse parking. still okay here. here it comes. the side parking. combined with my lack of skills and spatial judgement, my nervousness had me fail this part...everyone is allowed to accumulate 6 points (the more the worse) in this part, and i got 7. (hey, now that i don't want any extra points, i was given one!!!) hahaha....no one to blame though...my fault. very depressing indeed...(since each test costs 45 usd).
nevermind though. this saturday, i am going to retake the test, and hopefully i will pass it!! kengyang, gambate!!!!!
i was scheduled to take a road test at 6.30 pm in ypsilanti today. as a practice, i drove qi ming's car all the way from ann arbor to ypsilanti, and there, renjie took over and drove for a few rounds. then, we went to a carpark to practise some parking. time progessed inexorably, and the dreaded moment arrived very soon. too soon indeed.
we let hon boon drove us to the carpark (where the parking test would be hold). there, we submitted the paperwork, and after filling out the forms for a while, the examiner signalled me (since i was the first one) to start.
first, i had to check whether the vehicle was safe to use. there was nothing tough in this part, and then i was instructed to drive to a line. very good so far (although i was asked repeatedly to drive nearer to the line because probably my car was too far away from the line). the second part became a little bit more challenging when i was asked to do a reverse parking. still okay here. here it comes. the side parking. combined with my lack of skills and spatial judgement, my nervousness had me fail this part...everyone is allowed to accumulate 6 points (the more the worse) in this part, and i got 7. (hey, now that i don't want any extra points, i was given one!!!) hahaha....no one to blame though...my fault. very depressing indeed...(since each test costs 45 usd).
nevermind though. this saturday, i am going to retake the test, and hopefully i will pass it!! kengyang, gambate!!!!!
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
