Today the ragtag team of Best Buy employees were encouraged to make technology fun and exciting. After all, technology is a fast changing phenomenon these days and one of the best ways to get a customer who has no experience with the technology genuinely interested, is to create a demostration that will be both fun, and... well yes. Exciting. After all, in the day, I'll talk to customers who's knowledge of computers is comparable to common man's knowledge of the inner schematics of a woman's mind. Severly lacking at best. But while our retail store does not sell the inner schematics of women's minds, we turn our focus towards the comprehension of product. Like computers. The best ally in a sale is if the customer knows what is good in technology and what is bad in technology, and then he asks you just test you and you follow through and say exactly what he knew in the first place. The reason for such purposelessness is mostly to confirm to the customer that we know what we're talking about, and give him or her the silent thrill of actually, for once, knowing what they were talking about. After all, it doesn't happen often in the category of modern technology. That's why we're here I guess.
I didn't make my in-home's goal today by the way. Sold a ton a service plans and advanced security set ups though... Everyone wanted laptops, selling an in home system set up on a laptop is like trying to sell an in home set up demonstration... on a folding lawn chair, two hundred dollars. A laptop, even for being a part of the great unknown category of "technology" is not actually all that complicated for a piece of machinery. At least as far as set up. In fact, if I were a Geek Squad agent assigned to an in home set up of a laptop, I'd probably feel pretty stupid upon arrival. I mean... what do you do?
"Alright, we're going to get your computer set up now. I'm going to take the laptop and uh... plug it in, and turn it on... well there you go. That will be 200 dollars." Okay okay, so its a little more complicated than that. Best Buy goes inside the software, makes about 100 changes here and there, deletes a lot of programs that will just pop up and annoy a new user, and generally speed up the computer by 35%. All of which can be done in store, but then again... you can do the same with a desktop computer. The main selling point for an in home set up with a computer is the hassle of components and wiring, and internet. When we do an in home on a desktop, we unpackage all of it, your monitor, your tower, keyboard, mouse, peripherals, connectors, power cables, EVERYTHING. Then we ask you where you want it. You tell us, and we put the entirety of it together in perfect working order in a nice, neat little compilation of... (drum roll) technology... Following that, we'll also set up your internet so that it operates seamlessly, and we'll do the 100 or so enhancements, the excess program removal, and the 35% speedbooster. The best way to sell that to someone, at least so far, is explain the entire process to them and then tell them that we can send people to their house at your leisure and have them do all of it, or you can do it yourself... would you like me to go through the process again?
And then they all buy in-home set ups from me. But you just can't make that kind of pitch to someone buying a laptop. At least... I can't, not yet. I haven't found it yet. But I will. So far, a laptop is simple (not a lot of parts to coordinate), mobile (so even if there were parts, theres no "set up" to be done because it is designed specifically to not needto be stationary), and the internet is automatic wireless (so no need to seamlessly connect wirelessly.)
It seems to me that our recent trend is to develop 'technology' to be smarter and smarter, while the people buying it become less and less intelligent. That, for us, can be a good or bad thing. Normally we prefer our customers to be intelligent, mainly because stupid customers don't buy things they need with a computer (like antivirus or a service plan) and come back in angry that our "piece of junk" didn't work. Those are our "I told you so." Customers. We get a lot of those. A smart customer can be a great sale or a boon depending on the smart-level (someday I'm going to draw up a graph for all of this.) A smart customer may not necessarily be an informed customer, the difference is that an informed customer will immediately recognize the importance of a good antivirus program and set up. And is also more prone to comprehend the value of a 3 year service plan for their hardware. Now the 'smart' customer will read a brochure and assume he/she knows anything and everything ever needed to know about computers (or whatever they're buying) and will be convinced that they can do all of the stuff our 4 year university graduated and certified technical experts can. Which means, 'Ah, I don't need that anti-virus stuff... I could just delete it myself..." or, "Yeah... I don't need that service plan, I've worked on computers and I could probably fix anything that goes wrong with it." These are also the guys that come back in a few weeks later telling us that our 'piece of junk' didn't work. Which is when we say- "So did you have a service plan? Oh you didn't? Oh sure we can still fix it... it'll be about $300."
I think next blog we'll cover the "my friend is a computer genius and knows everything" customer. Those types are great... (smacks self in head) Anyway, on to the overall point of this blog.
We're encouraged to make technology fun and exciting, naturally, its a great selling point. Being that I'm not the most average of persons (much less, employees) I figured as long as we're making technology fun and exciting, and technology is getting to the point where it is smarter than our customers, it shouldn't be beyond the bounds of reason to screw with its head... right?
For example, Best Buy sells a microwave with what is called new GeniusSense or something like that, that allows the microwave to alter the power level of the microwave as its cooking, based upon the amount of steam coming out of the food. Like... it actually measures the steam and adjusts itself so that the food cooks absolutely perfectly till done. And I figure, hey... its a new smart microwave, its got a big, fancy smart brain in it, lets mess with its head.
So we take a cup of boiling water, set it in the microwave, and turn it on, just to see what it does. I mean from the initial the thing was generating a ton of steam, and there was nothing the microwave can do to reduce the amount of steam coming from a pot of boiling water, and the microwave can't undercook it... because its just water. So I watched the little thing toy with itself, dropping the power level, finding out that it didn't work, raising it again... bsaically it ran circles around itself and gave the impression that it was very confused. Which I thought was, naturally, fun and exciting. It was like I had proved my mental facilities to be superior that its own...
Yeah... I outsmarted a microwave...
I suppose in retrospect, actually thinking that a microwave is actually capable of being confused is pretty unintelligent of me in the first place. So at the end of the day (which is when all of this took place) I chalked it up to a draw. So for those of you interested in following this competition, the standings are:

ME :: 1
MICROWAVE :: 1

Now my battery is going to die. I've been here typing for some time now and I only had about 25% of it in the first place. These blogs have made me realize the power embedded in an extremely fast typing speed. Jess, if you're reading this, I know you're in uni... or you were before you got home and read this... I hope those classes weren't too troublesome for you, and I might be on later tonight. I have to go home and recharge this thing. Some good news for you though! I have finally compiled enough random music that I love to write your CD, I will probably do that tonight. For everyone else reading this...
Yeah... all none of you. ^_^
I'll see you again some other time. Next time we'll cover that other customer type and perhaps have a funny story to tell you.

The time has come for me to admit- "I am not a salesman." I was not meant to be a salesman, I was not cut out to be a salesman, I'm not naturally good at it, and I don't really enjoy being a salesman... And now I've been hired as a salesman and have been spoken of enough to place expectations of me in the high-end department, thats a minimum. All of those things I said before, about not being meant for it, or even liking it that much, doesn't stop me from being good at it, not naturally, like I said, but I am required to be. I require myself to be.
Best Buy is good to its employees. In addition to their infamous employee discount (the details of which I am not allowed to legally discuss here) they also provide a slew of other benefits for both part time and full timers. The reason I wanted Best Buy, the reason I fought for it, was because they offer a great educational assistance program for their full time staff. This is all phase one material of the evil plan.
A program that I got involved in while in High School (A+) covers my tuition costs for college for two to three years, depending on the school I go to. The one I am most interested in would provide only two years, but it is the superior university. The A+ program covers everything but books. Best Buy will finance the education of a full time employee in my area up to $7000 a year, which is amazing. That would well cover auxillary expenses, books, and any tuition following the expenditure of the A+ would be drastically reduced.
If I am to make it to Australia, I'm going to have to make that debt isn't going to attach me to this country. For that reason, I want to have everything paid for at the time of graduation, if possible. That means jumping at every opportunity for mid-path scholarships and it also means getting full time at Best Buy, and soon.
My understanding is that there will be a full time position opening at my Best Buy, in my department near December or soAoner, I want it. A recent PT hire getting full time in such a time frame is unheard of. But I am going to get it. To do that, I'm going to have to give them a good reason, a very good reason, to choose me over the guys that have been there part time for a year, year and a half. A Godlike reason.
So I'm basically going to become the godlike salesman. It's necessary. I'm entering the pipeline for management. I want to be in management as soon as possible.
Mmm... I think I may have to learn to juggle.
From this point on, I begin saving. This job comes with a generous salary and all of it that I can spare is going into savings for that day. I'll be thrifty, and if everything works out the way I'd like it to, I won't have to burn much on college expenses. Phase one was graduation. Phase Two is getting full time and having college completely paid for before I start, as well as getting a good cash flow. Phase Three is finding a decent, inexpensive place to live, and maintaining it. Phase Four is uni, four years of it. Phase five is the possibility of opening a Best Buy in my favorite place on earth. That part I say as possible, and not guaruntee because its optional, if I actually find a career interest in college and I enjoy it, or another opportunity in Australia presents itself, I may go for that. But, it is always on my mind.

Unfortunately for anyone reading this, just about every time I write is going to happen just before I go into work. Best Buy scheduled me 30.75 hours this week with two closing nights. Which means 35 to 36 total hours this week. That, in addition to my other job at Michaels... I don't have a lot of free time anymore, except in the dead middle of night, which I guess is convenient for me because that time slot is just the right time to do the very thing I would prefer to do with any of my free time.
This I suppose is where I would be remiss if I did not give a shout out to Jess. Or at least mention her. Jessica Bond (angels singing) is my number one "Aussie Chick" (Thats Connie.) living the dream (my dream :P) right there right now in the land down under. She and I met about a year ago, actually very close to a year ago exactly, in a chat- I mean uh... through the pen pal program at our schools... yeah. We hit it off. Like... REALLY hit it off. Like indescribably so. She has a great sense of humor and I like to make people laugh, and visa versa. With perhaps little more than extremely compatible personalities and a mutual disdain for tomatoes, we kept up correspondance all through... well, just about everything. Writing constantly laughing our way through an entire year of friendship that bloomed, as we both did independantly, into something... quite a bit more than mere friendship. (Not a word Connie... not-a-word...)
Now I call her whenever I can. It took some time buy I managed to find a good phone service that allows me to call, yes 9000 miles away, for only 2 cents a minute.
(By the way, just a quick inside tip: that phone service, Skype, was recently purhased by Ebay for several million dollars I think. Skye is going to be huge, buy stock.)

Alright, now I'm going to be late for work. I'll be back around and elaborating again before you know it though, but for now... if I have any desire at all to keep the job I'm desperate to perfect, I need to at least be there on time.

(Note: The reason for the reappearance of posts on this blog is not completely clear as of yet. But it is PrisonerofHope that is mostly to blame... For more information, read the comments on the post before this. Enjoy ;)

If the title wasn't obvious enough, this is the first post of this blog. The category on all blogs from this point will always be Travel, and there is a good reason for that. I suppose we'll start at the beginning. First: I am not into politics, nor world events, and you'll see very little (if any at all) reference or mention of things going on outside my little world. Two: To balance everything out and still make it interesting, I write. I have been writing since I discovered that there was such a thing as language, in fact I wrote my first story before I really at all knew how to read. I've been at it ever since and have been doing my best to improve as I go along. You may see some of my material here. Perhaps not on the blog, but publicly posted or linked. Third: I am going to Australia. That is not a hope, dream, wish, or objective. That is a fact. And I will not stand for it to be reduced to any of those other things. I've been stuck in Missouri for the majority of my life and that will change. To accomplish this, I have generated what I have come to dub "The Evil Four Year Plan" which is working out quite well I must say. Everything I do from this moment till the moment that plane hits the ground in Melbourne, is all about getting there. Its the decided direction of my life, and god save you if you get in my way. Fourth: And I should probably mention this- Concerning religion. You will not see a great deal of that on this blog or site either. Though if you are intrepid enough to contact me personally or ask, I'll be more than happy to discuss it with you. Though I won't argue with you about it... It is kind of complicated. For a basic rundown, so that no one is confused I'll go ahead and provide a link to the oratory that I wrote about a year ago and ended up defining the idea of religion and faith for me. I'm still a bit new to this so I'm not entirely certain what the link will look like, if you're not sure either, just click the word "oratory" in the preceeding sentence and you that should work out alright. What I am sure of is that I have to be on the clock at Best Buy in ten minutes so I'm going to wrap this up and say goodbye.

Okay everyone. I know you all love the stream and I know that it means a lot to you that we stick to our name brand here but I have found my haven and my recent blogstream has been a little choppy, something about a dissonance in our technology. All of that said is only to mean this: I'm moving. My blog that is. I've relocated and the new site is working quite well, I've done several posts and the tech attached to it is new, modern, and very very useful. Everything is beautifully seamless. This will hereby be the last post I place on this blog. The new address is- Monsterbox Bookmark it if you don't want to remember the long name. Heck I did, and I operate the darned thing. :P Cheers mates! Its been real.

Common Name: Caleb Roy
Not so Common Names: John Kane, Monsterbox
Scientific Name: Writerus Fledglingus
Sex: Male
Place of Birth: Gilroy, California
Weight: 135lbs
Height: 5’9”
Eye color: Mostly Green, sometimes Blue
Hair color: Brown

Alignment: Super heroic
Fighting style: Speed/Agility
War Tactic: Precision Strikes
Body Build: Slim, muscular, terribly agile and flexible
Stance: Patient, Calculated, Generous when given opportunity.
School Classification: Unknown

Diplomacy: Honest and Manipulative / Assertive
Political stance: None
Political image: Charismatic

Religion: God

Favorite Superhero: Me
Least Favorite Superhero: Homeland Security Man

Favorite Movie: V for Vendetta
Least Favorite Movie: Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and the Magic Toilet

Love Language: Written
Astrological Sign: Leo
Chinese Zodiac: Rabbit/Cat
Accuracy of Sign Profile: Unknown
Looks for most in a Relationship: Fun, Honesty
Looks for most in a Girl: Must be able to be swept off her feet.

Romance Bio: The taker of this survey is a laughable joke of a human being. As a result he has been known to be somewhat of a sap… sometimes. He even has a sense of humor, but only a slight one. And be warned, he may be prone to bouts of nonsense. He would not be so proud or narcissistic as to state his desirable attributes on a public survey. He knows that telling people how cool you are is the quickest way to get into an argument. If one is curious, merely ask those that know me. ^_^

Favorite Music: Jazz
Least Favorite Music: Rap
Favorite Playing Sports: Halo, Kneeboarding
Least Favorite Playing Sports: Football, Highschool
Favorite Spectator sports: Yamakazi
Least Favorite Spectator Sports: My Little Sister’s morning routine.

General Info

Housebroken: Mostly
Marital Status: Unmarried
Sexual Orientation: Yes
Uni-Brow: No
Self-cleaning: Again, mostly.
Available Upgrades: Enhanced Vision (becomes available when ‘contacts’ equipped), Super Bravery (when in close contact with small impressionable children), Super Strength (must flex for several minutes *sorry Jess, I had to :P), Magical Abilities (occur randomly), Increased Speed, Agility, and Mental Clarity (automatically takes effect when swung at)
Return Policy: 30 days money back guarantee, no super-savers, no rain checks. Any upgrades added within the 30 days will not be compensated.
Shot Record: Up-to-date.
Drug usage: Mountain Dew (may create inebriation)
Virgin: Yes
Neutered and/or Spayed: No
Thoroughbred: No
Pedigree: No
GPA: 3.34 / 4.0
Sanitary Habits: Daily Bathing, Washes Hands, Scrubs behind ears
Unsanitary habits: Driving my car.

Favorite Normal Pet: Turtle
Favorite Abnormal Pet: Anthony Casimire (the tiny Spartan)
Least Favorite Normal Pet: Snakes (they smell)
Least Favorite Abnormal Pet: AIDS
Favorite Role Model: None
Least Favorite Roll model: Barney the Purple Dinosaur

Most Influential Video Game Character: Chrono (Chrono Trigger: SNES)
Least Influential Video Game Character: Anyone still smeared across the tires of my NOD BUGGY!
Favorite Game style: Fast-Paced FPS (basically… HALO)
Best Game Skills: Halo 1 (Sniping or Driving)
Worst Game Skills: Theif (bein’ quiet just ain’t my thing man… sorry Arby)

Likes: (At least 15)
1. Australia (and all that it implies :P)
2. Christmastime
3. Writing
4. Reading
5. Music
6. Occasionally drawing or sketching
7. Making someone feel like they mean everything
8. Warm summer days
9. Halo
10. Wifi (wireless FREE high speed internet
11. Screwing with the minds of telemarketers.
12. Screwing with the minds of online scammers
13. SKYPE (buy stock folks, its gonna be huge)
14. People who are hard to offend
15. People who are easy to humor

Dislikes: (At least 15)
1. People with uselessly violent tempers.
2. People who are easily offended
3. Trigonometry
4. Shopping for purpose
5. Philosophy (traditionalist, basically the same as #4)
6. Writers block
7. Tomatoes! (TOMATOES ARE EVIL!!!)
8. Coleslaw (AND COLESLAW TOO! EWW!)
9. the monsters
10. plastic
11. and dishonesty
12. Arrogant silver elites on legendary who magically survive rockets to the face, twice, and then turn around and yell in your general direction and you die.
13. Waking up early… Ooohhh...
14. Trying to come up with things I dislike just for the sake of a survey
15. Competetiveness for the sake of itself.