Work is getting busier and busier. I think it's supposed to peak the day after Chrifsmas. I've managed to schedule 30 hours of work next week, which is nice. Not going to school pays off!

Chase informed me that their loan has disbursed, so the remaining balance to be paid is less than $1000 now. Which means I should definitely be able to go to school in the Spring. But Winter is still off.

Nearly all of my Chrifsmas gifts have reached their destinations. The only one remaining is my mother's. I've never before been so responsible when it comes to Chrifsmas gifts. Is it against the rules to buy yourself something? I really need headphones.

Before I forget. There's an anecdote that I never found the opportunity to relate, and I wanted to save it before I forgot about it, the emotions I felt and the imagined arguments it brought up.

A woman called to demand to speak with a manager. In the meantime, when I asked what her concern/issue was, she started going on a tangent about her husband's laptop being missing for three months. Wanting to get off the phone so as to help customers in the store, I asked the manager if she could talk to the frustrated woman, or at least give her the "corporate email" that she was demanding. But alas, there is no "corporate email," and the manager was too busy, so I was told to get a name and number so the customer could be called later.

When I picked back up to relay the news, the woman was not happy. When told that there is no corporate email to contact, she said sarcastically, "oh of course, in this age of technology, there's no way they'd have an email. right." She insisted she must talk to someone in management immediately, and not "wait 15 minutes like last time." Then she insulted me, suggesting that I didn't know what I was doing because "I probably punch a clock on and off," and I'm someone who "makes little more than minimum wage," and that's why she needed to talk to someone in management.

She continued to make promises that she'd never shop at Best Buy again ("I'll tell two friends and they'll tell two friends," like she's got her own pyramid scheme for shopping advice), that she'd tell our corporate offices that the management at our store refused to talk to her, and that if anyone were to call her, it would have to be before 9pm, even though she was calling at 8:40pm, because she and her husband work long hours and they needed to go to bed.

Writing all of this down makes it seem so trivial and ridiculous. She didn't sound irate per se, just bitter and sarcastic, but she told me many times that she was very angry. I should have been angrier myself, but there was a customer waiting in front of me, plus I'm not good at thinking of quick and appropriate comebacks. At any rate, it frustrated me that she made a personal remark about me without knowing me, and she must have been frustrated that she hadn't gotten her husband's laptop back after three months.

After pushing out enough steam, the woman finally gave me a phone number so we could call her back. Using this information, my manager later found out that the customer had called the wrong Best Buy store altogether. So she did not get a call back.

Just had a post deleted by a timed-out connection.

I'm not looking forward to getting gifts for people this year, mostly because I'm anxious over what to choose for people. I have never come across a gift that is perfect for someone. Or I just don't have the eye for them. At any rate, I feel like I give the worst gifts, and I hate fretting over what to pick.

I'm ambivalent about making a list about things I'm thankful for because I kinda want to follow the tradition but at the same time I don't want to list any bullshit bland stuff. I can only stand to name "friends and family" so long before it loses all significance. Can I name money? I'm thankful for that.