The Unending Bitterness And Continuous Entropy

Something's not right - some things are never right, and yet they remain the way they are. Again and again, the claim to enforce democracy just does the opposite - the needs and interests of the few outweigh the needs and interests of the masses.

Jakarta floods and thousands are displaced as an indirect result of a real estate dispute.

Employees are pushed to the limit to bring results for the company for the same paycheck every month, for shareholders who need their stock price stable or rising.

The development of alternative energy resources is hindered by people who are addicted to the petrodollar - even though everybody knows that oil supplies are quickly diminishing.

Global companies push for constant growth and profit regardless if it is sustainable or not - at the expense of gullible consumers and overworked, underpaid employees.

Today, a pay TV company arubtly cut its broadcasts indefinitely, without prior notice to their subscribers.

Politics take center stage, instead of welfare.

Strike that - money making takes center stage, instead of welfare.

People are not happy anymore. Today, the average guy - Joe The Plumber, so to speak - thinks about surviving until the end of the month, when he hopefully gets his next paycheck. Happiness is sold, with fries on the side, a new dress, a pair of sneakers, some sort of electronic device, or 2 hours in a dark room with many others watching pictures on a big screen. And as it is sold, the happiness quickly runs out once the perceived value spent diminishes.

I'm not suprised that many people choose to find spiritual means to grab that happiness - unfortunately, happiness by that avenue is sold as well (not all, though). Every one has a different set of expectations, though, so it is not the answer for everybody. 

That guy beside you in the traffic jam with horns blaring thinks he is not happy, although he does not realize it. 

The fast food cashier who snubs you when you are ordering doesn't hate you, she hates herself.

The boss yelling at you for unacheived targets doesn't hate you, he's thinking his bosses hate him and is letting off steam.

The street urchin singing at the roadside is frustated that he doesn't have anything to eat today.

The mother of 3 ramming in to you at the mall is simply overwhelmed by her kids' continuous demands for ... everything.

The motorcycle driver cutting lanes actually hates riding a motorcycle but can't afford a car and takes out his envy and frustration on the road.

and so on...

One of the strongest drives inside a human is the urge to better him/herself, to want more...

More is not necessarily better, mind you - and the most important question is more WHAT? 

I think the answer is 'more appreciation' and 'more tolerance' and definitely not 'more money' ... what about you?

Auto 2000 - Lack Of Service And Courtesy

So, as you might know, the Avanza has sustained some injuries over the months since we acquired it. There was the small crash with a gold Innova, and then there was the 'invisible' bench that I ran over. The left rear view mirror has been hit by motorcycles several times, to the point where part of the cover kept falling off and finally strategically fell under the wheels (thankfully the mirror has not received any abuse so far). And to top that off, last night when preparing to pay for parking when leaving from Soulnation, the power window button broke when it was in auto, thus rolling the window all the way down, leaving myself exposed to the elements. The drive home left me breathing exhaust fumes, and I had to avoid the dodgier intersections of Jakarta. It was definitely time for a visit to the repairman.

Like a good Astra customer, I looked up the nearest Auto 2000 garage and settled on the one at T.B Simatupang. We arrived there at 3 pm, a good hour before closing time. There was supposedly a queue number machine, but it could not be seen anywhere, and after watching some other people, apparently the machine was outside. Yes, logical.
So we went back in and sat down, and there was only one CS guy making inane chatter with a customer, and a few other guys doing God knows what, carrying bundles of documents with them, seemingly waiting for another CS. When finally we got a chance to talk to this one CS guy - the only one there out of the 10 CS consoles - and after 15 minutes of waiting, the guy simply said 'we're about to be closed soon, so we can't accept any new customers today'. All said with a stupid smirk.
Flashback to May this year - we went to the same Auto 2000 office to ask about a new Avanza, where the sales rep said that the price and the interest are subject to change even after we made our downpayment, and the new car will only be available in October. Somehow this didn't strike me as a good deal, although I'm guessing this is standard in the auto industry - and the sales rep had this 'I don't need you, you need me' snobbish air about him - probably thinking that he doesn't need to waste time with customers since they come anyway. I might be overreacting, but there are a million ways to treat people, and that guy chose to be snobbish.

Back to this afternoon - we left Auto 2000 without a problem solved and another bad impression - and trundled on to Dutamas Fatmawati where we got the rear view mirrors and power window fixed in 30 minutes.

Seriously, what is wrong ya? My Dad also had a bad experience with Auto 2000. Back when he was still using the Corona, there was trouble starting the engine, but not so much, so Dad took the Corona there with the expectation that service will be good, the parts complete, the repairmen knowledgeable. The Corona came out having even more trouble starting up and having a certain component removed - Dad became angry. Why would the car run worse after servicing? So he told the Auto 2000 guys that he's not paying one cent and he wants the Corona returned to its original state.

So Auto 2000 - better appreciate your customers better. Today's Avanza owners might become tomorrow's Camry owners, if they stay loyal to the Toyota brand, that is.

Souled Out

Last night I went to Soulnation festival, because the office opened a booth and the main sponsor was a client. Watched some shows, and even caught Akon's first song on his show, which I didn't watch further as it was already approaching midnight and I was already too damn sleepy to care.

My thoughts on the festival? JFP have done it again; although the crowd wasn't as packed as you would see at Java Jazz Festival - the other big event run by JFP, if you don't know - I think that for a first-of-its-kind event, the turnout was good, the lineup of booth partners was interesting (there was only 1 empty booth), the sponsors got strong branding, and the music was good. There was even a small tent/room where kids could come and DJ or breakdance - something very interesting to put in the show's program. And yes, I mean kids - I think 80% of the visitors were high school students, complete with hip hop attire. The rest of the people there were either media, part of the commitee, sponsors, or simply a client who got free tickets.

It got me feeling old. Oh well.

The complete ripoff was not the show itself - it was the parking! The kids guarding cars outside the venue - and inside the Senayan sports area - asked for IDR 20.000!!! That's on top of the IDR 3.000 per car that is paid at the entrance of the complex. And if you go there by taxi, good luck finding one going home, which will probably cost you more.

Why You Should Care Who Becomes The Next US President

Well.. .actually, you shouldn't. I don't. The US Presidential race, including the debates, has become a fascination equal to watching a soccer game or anticipating who gets kicked out of American Idol. Yes folks, the US Presidential race is the ultimate reality show!

Why is this? Let's say right now you're rooting for Barack Obama, who knows how nice it is to drink a Teh Botol Sosro in the day's searing heat. Let's also say he wins the election in November. Then what? We go back to our daily lives and nothing ever changes, because what we should care about is who runs our country. 

Then again, the majority of people who run this country don't care about us, so why should we?

Anyway. The networks airing the US Presidential debate received record ratings - as to be expected for a semi or grand final soccer match. And that's probably the only way it touches us. I'd still buy a jersey from my favorite soccer team (not that I like soccer, but this is conjecture...), but would I buy an Obama t-shirt? probably, but not because I support, but more because he just seems way cooler than McCain, who resorted to truth-twisting TVCs to attack Obama, whereas the geek in me liked the comprehensive yet inspirational TVCs put out by Obama. Again, those of my knowledge.

By election time, people will be talking about the electoral vote count and so on just like people tracking the wins and losses of a basketball team. And that's as far as we care about it.

Who Would Joe The Plumber Be In Indonesia?

Asep si tukang tempe bacem

Ferri si tukang tambel ban

Jujuk si tukang jamu

Enci nyang jaga toko kelontong

Bob tukang jual pulsa elektronik

Minah penjual ayam pecel

Meymey tukang nyewain baju pengantin

Odoy si supir taksi

Gatot si tukang DVD bajakan

Arif si tukang mebel

Robert si makelar paspor/SIM

Joni si pelukis gagal yang sekarang nulis puisi

Kalo Joe The Plumber disebut-sebut melulu di kampanye presiden AS, mereka di atas disebut-sebut di kampanye presiden Indonesia gak ya?

I'll Send You My Portfolio

Apple just announced their new series of Macbooks and Macbook Pros. I'm not too inclined to the MBP as I most likely will not use one for professional work... but damn, I want the new Macbook. The looks are a matter of taste, but the features are awesome... and I really want one.

So, anyone need any translation or design work? I'll definitely find the time to do it... on the weekends. I figure if I do simple design work every weekend for Rp 1 million per project, I'd have enough money to buy it in... hm, 4 months. 

So I'd have no life and no rest but have a brand new MacBook! So, interested in helping me with my quest? :D

Are You Annoyed By The Ambiquity Of 'Thing' In This Post? :D

So... the thing that has been taking up a lot of my spare time for the past month or so, is finally finished. Done. Over with. And I'm pretty sure it doesn't need revising.

This morning after SMSing the person I did the thing for... taking care of what she owes back to me because of this thing. A few minutes later, she called, saying she miscalculated in what she owes, and needs to get back to me.

Ah well. Worst case scenario, the thing done will not be returned with an equal favor. But not everything's about taking and giving equally, is it? I can't even be upset about it, because there's nothing I can do...