#MESS.

I don't know where to start. On Pokemon Go, I'm currently level 13 which is several levels lower than everyone else I know who plays it. The girl that works at the boba shop I frequent is level 16 and the dude who made my boba was level 15. I was a measly 10, at the time. Currently grinding for no apparent reason. I wish I could just catch an onslaught of Pidgeys because it's really easy to evolve them to accumulate 500 exp and just transfer them for more Pidgey candy to evolve more. Another good thing is that both gyms I go to have Pokestops nearby, so I can hoard Pokeballs and 50 exp every 5 minutes for about 2 hours. I've been tossing the potions to keep my inventory from filling up.

-edit-

After putting off this draft for several days, I'm almost level 17 now (lol). I'll hopefully get that later when I go walk my dog. I changed my dog walking route to a street with 5 pokestops and I just walk back and forth (LOL). If there's someone using a lure module, then I'd use an incense or lucky egg or something.

-edit again-

I'm level 20 now. I don't remember when I started this draft, but yeah.

SO ANYWAY, I had another job interview where I had to fly to another city but the process getting there was sort of a #mess. Also true to what I said on Instagram about it not going so hot, I did indeed receive a "thanks but no thanks" e-mail this morning. -sigh-

I guess I'll begin with the process of it first.

After I failed with American Airlines, I took no time off and applied to Delta and United just in case they close their hiring page. Delta gave me a "thanks but no thanks" reply within 2 days. I didn't care all that much since I applied for a Mandarin speaking position in which I'm not exactly fluent in it, but I get by. Delta didn't even ask for a cover letter but United did, so I tweaked the wording of the one I used previously with American Airlines. I got the video interview invite (not surprised) and I did it before the 5 day deadline. Knowing more than one language and being able to write puts my application on fast track, at least.

The questions were pretty standard and are easily found via Google (ie. Glassdoor or Indeed). The thing with the video interview was that my ancient Intel Duo Core Lenovo laptop with a whopping 3 gigs of RAM had recently been updated to Windows 10 because I got fed up with the nag bubble and when I was in the camera testing portion of the video interview, the screen would go to sleep if I didn't touch the touch pad. I spent over an hour trying to troubleshoot it by changing the registry and going into the control panel and changing the power setting but nothing worked. I'm assuming it's one of those things that can only be fixed by deleting the whole hard drive partition and doing a fresh install.

So anyway, I basically did my whole video interview with one hand stretched out and touching the touch pad while looking like I'm not. For my final question, it was worded funny and I was so perplexed by all that was happening that I totally answered the question wrong. The question was "in the language applied, tell us why United?" and when I read it, I interpreted it as like speaking differently with a different tone or something? Like applying a different pressure? a softer tone, etc? I didn't realize it meant speak in the language you applied in because I totally forgot about that, so I straight up answered in English (#mess). The question should've reminded the applicant that they applied for a bilingual position first. It also doesn't help that the questions aren't read out loud to you, like American Air.

One week passes, and I get an invitation to go to the face to face interview, even after flubbing that question and the whole screen going to sleep debacle. I called to schedule a date about 3~4 days after receiving the email. I scheduled it for a Wednesday because I was put on the spot and I was panicking due to the fact that I called with my cellphone, so I had no calendar to check and cross reference my own work schedule with my brother's. It ended working out anyway, because my brother could drive me to the airport before his shift started and I would be picked up the next day after his shift was over.

I woke up around 8:30am and left the house before 10, so that it would leave my brother enough time to get home and eat before heading to work. I sat around the terminal until my flight was ready to board which was around 1:00pm. The flight from LA to San Francisco was only around 50 minutes. I landed around 3:30 and proceeded to look for the Burger King in the terminal since I researched it and terminal 3 was way nicer and appealing than what LAX Terminal 7 had to offer. The rest of the restaurants in the terminal were local businesses but I wanted something familiar, so it was a whopper meal with cheese. I sat and charged my phone and listened to my music. I brought both my Bluetooth headphones just in case anything happened. I almost lost one of them because it was hanging around my neck and it was dangling to the point of almost falling. For my American Air interview, I brought my iPod nano and my wire headphones but they leak sound so much, to the point where it's just infuriating.

After I finished eating my late lunch, I literally had around 16 hours to just sit around because I didn't plan on sleeping in a hotel room. I studied the questions I found online and my answers to them. I took a walk and checked out the Pokestops in Pokemon Go. I found a good spot which was between three but my battery drains too fast and the rate that it charges while playing sort of negates the flow of electricity going in and out? so it just stagnates or gets 1~2% SUPER DUPER slow. I caught a lot of Pokemon I wouldn't find at home because I'm not near water like Horsea, Goldeen, Staryu, Oddish, etc. There was always a lure module around too. I also played a lot of Disney Tsum Tsum and Emoji Blitz to keep my brain active. I studied a bit more and then planned what I was going to eat for dinner when night rolled around.

When it was almost 10pm, I decided that I'd have sushi for lunch so I picked between two places. One had more of the fanciful American style rolls and the other one was more of the boring nigiri sushi. I ended up getting a spider roll and a dragon one or something. I don't know what exactly is in a spider roll but it was a bit dry. I like unagi and tempura, so the dragon roll or whatever was more appetizing. I died a bit when I bought the rolls with a bottle of coke though, because the total came out to be around 32 dollars. If I was at home, that could've bought me a nice chirashi bowl or enough sashimi to leave me very satisfied. T___T.

Total spent so far: 3 dollar bottle of Smart water at LAX + 11~ dollars late BK lunch + 32~ dollar sushi dinner...................46$

The last flight from terminal 3 at SFO was before midnight. Afterwards, it got really dead so I just sat at one of those gates near an outlet because I was tired of sitting on a chair and being hunched over. I studied a bit with some security dudes over my shoulder and across in the distance for a while. I'm kind of glad I wasn't the only creep around to bum their ass at the terminal overnight but it was definitely difficult to sleep there due to the lighting and the routine announcements over the speakers. I also didn't have a blanket or anything to cover the light, so I didn't even really sleep. At almost 3am, I found an outlet where I could just lay on my back on the ground, occasionally close my eyes, and use my phone until 4:30'ish. The TSA begins letting people in at 4am again, so people started showing up again at 4. I started to get really cold around 4:30am and I thought I was getting a fever or something, but I think it's just because of the lack of sleep and my body was shutting down to conserve energy. I'm so glad I had my blazer with me, even though I'm supposed to bring it anyway. I went over my questions again before deciding where I wanted to get breakfast. Breakfast, for me, definitely has to have protein in it, so I wasn't looking for bread and coffee. I saw that the Dogpatch cafe stand thing served breakfast burritos, so I headed there after walking the wrong way because I thought I knew where it was, but it turned out to be in the opposite direction. It didn't matter all that much since I needed the walk to warm up and get my body functioning again anyway.

My breakfast burrito was alright. It was good but I didn't like my coffee. I like that quintessential generic taste of coffee and that...was...not...it. I tried to do a couple of gym battles while eating but the stupid game kept stopping for some reason. It wasn't like I was far from the gym stop or had a crap connection. I started to get ready for my interview around 6:30am. I was supposed to be at the place no later than 8:30 and I wasn't sure how long the shuttle ride would take since the American Air one was quite far from the Dallas airport (which I find strange that it requires you to pay a toll to get in and out of it). The shuttle ride itself was pretty fast. I found the bus stop pretty easily and a bunch of other interviewees were also waiting for the shuttle.

The whole process was nothing new to me. I was so prepared and I just needed to look like I did sleep and am an amazing individual that the company has to have. I was the only Asian there that wasn't from Hawaii. The presentation was pretty whatever. From what I've read around, the company itself has been the least profitable of the big three. The pay itself is low compared to the rest but there have been union negotiations and what has been proposed for the new contract have been really attractive. That part drove me to try harder even more, but it's not like that stuff's been finalized. The company operates as one but the whole hiring and training part still operates with two different contracts due to a messy on going merger.

When I got called, I was not as nervous as I was previously, probably because the other interview was only a month ago. I think what eliminated me was the last part of the interview where I had to role play. Among the other questions, maybe the "what would you change about yourself?" question too or "name a time where you disagreed about something at the workplace" something like that. I'm so stupid and foolish to fall for that whole "these questions aren't meant to trick you. we just want a specific situation to answer the question" spiel. I don't know. You would think that you'd be rewarded for being honest, enthusiastic, modest, and endearing, but it's more of being strategic and shady at the same time. Also, you would think the friendliness and conversation you're able to hold is a connection made that might give you the opportunity, but then you realize there's no other way to act. -heh-

I'll go from what I can remember from the beginning...

The blonde lady (lol which is like 50%+ of all the flight attendants I've seen so far) went over my resume but didn't have any questions on it because I didn't have any gaps between my occupations.

She began with "what inspires you to be a flight attendant" and kind of followed with a "besides traveling" and I said the planes and how I'm a bit of an engineering nerd. I named some planes and how the company was one of the first to have a Dreamliner.

There was also the question "what are some challenges about being a flight attendant?" or something like that and I said...the misconception that they're just servers or when people think of the word server as servant. I thought an answer that shows appreciation towards the job would be most respectful but I don't know. At one point, I literally thought about the answer "the possibility of the plan being hijacked". I also stupidly said...passengers who spoke no English or any of the languages I speak because I overheard a flight attendant chattering about that 10 hours or so before. Thinking back on it now, I would say something like..."the most challenging thing about being a flight attendant would probably be the misconception that they're just servers when they're trained for so much more but I don't think there are any because it's so rewarding to be one". I would just shut up there because I tend to explain myself too much.

She asks if relocating would be a problem for me which has been reiterated multiple times and I replied that I'm responsible with the money I earn and that I have a good amount saved up for opportunities like this.

She asked me if I could change one thing about myself, what would it be and why? I said my skin. I kind of pointed at my right cheek after saying that because I literally had four pimples on it all within an inch of each other. I said that I know appearance is a big deal and how I can't control how my skin behaves. It was a spur of the moment thing. I knew I wasn't supposed to show any weakness, so I thought of something superficial. I think I should've just said something like..."I wouldn't change anything about myself. Even though I have acne on my face, I have a lot to offer and appreciate"... or something.

She then asked those situational questions like "name a time you disagreed about something at the workplace". I was stupid at this part and answered with an example but tried to relate it to how the reserve flight attendants are trying to make a more fair system. I should've just went with "I actually never had a disagreement at the workplace. I'm a team player and I support the ideas and policies of my superiors"...or something. I really need to learn to shut up. I babble quite a bit.

..."How do you deal with angry customers"...I said how I work with children, so I deal with angry children instead. I essentially tried to show her that I keep my cool and reason with them, much like how people don't understand policies but it just takes some time for them to understand. Is there a better way to answer this? Next time, I'm going to go with "like kids who are hurt or have an ache, I would keep calm and offer them a snack or something to comfort them". It'd relate to offering an angry customer some sort of compensation or something...

There was also something about how I've influenced others? or something. I can't remember since it's been over a week since this happened. I basically went into BS mode and said how my workplace has kids that basically grew up with me and how I set an example for others to follow. This, I definitely spoke too long about.

I think that was it before she asked me to read the in-flight prompt for passengers to turn off their electronics before the plane takes flight. I read aloud all the time, so this was nothing new to me. Afterwards, she pretended to be a FIRST CLASS passenger who wouldn't turn off her laptop and I think this was my biggest flop. I basically forgot that I can offer things to first class passengers (because I'm not about that life and never experienced that kind of service). She sort of helped me through it but after that I knew I didn't make it to the second interview when she showed me where the bus stop was to take the shuttle back. It was either, I was so awesome I didn't need one but what is the likelihood of that? So yeah, I basically should've offered her something while she finishes up her laptop shit.

What annoys me is that I feel like the whole message about being "diverse and inclusive" is just some crap to seem politically correct. If you look at all the people determining my fate, it's still mostly men and a majority being white, especially in a field being mostly women. You have your token minorities but it's like the "we have some black employees, so we don't hate black people" sort of thing. Certainly not enough to show real progress. If I was a good candidate but I did something wrong, I should be informed in what I did wrong or given a chance because I see myself compared to other interviewees and people working, and I don't see how I'm worse than they are. For someone who comes from a super working class family that does mainly manual labor, you think I'd get a letter of recommendation from a flight attendant relative to turn in or something??? or my boss who comes from a field that's totally unrelated?? It's not like I have some white aunt who worked in the field for 20 years that can vouch for me because I come from a home of uneducated super immigrants.

Well anyway, I guess I'll try again in 6 months, since I know what to expect. And if I get shot down again, I'll literally ask why. I'll probably also spew my ability to speak a second language in the "what inspires you to be a flight attendant?" part to make me memorable and also throw some shade because it's not like they'll understand me.

So yeah, keep my answers short and to the point. Talking too much reveals too much. Being friendly and enthusiastic can be a con. In situational questions, basically offer services to keep angry customers off. Maybe buy more formal clothes because all the cheap'y blazers and pants I got don't exactly match right now.

Yes, I'm bitter and still a bit angry but I'm more prepared now. Nothing comes easy. I hate feeling like the test dummy though. Like how it took me 3 tries on both my permit and driving test, when it only took my brother 1 because of my help, or when I didn't want a ghetto driving teacher that would take smoke breaks during my lessons but my mom refused, yet let my brother only went through one or two lessons with him and didn't have to anymore.

On the bright side, I also don't have to switch to Project Fi just yet, nor do I have to buy a new laptop. If I had to change carriers due to being hired, I'd have no choice but to buy a Nexus 6P and I don't really want one because of the lack of optical image stabilization. The new Nexus phones should be revealed in 2 months and hopefully the line up will be even better, although I want the ASUS Zenfone 3. That phone looks so promising and nice. If I was balling, I'd get the deluxe one.

So anyway, after my interview, the blonde lady encouraged me to see if I can get a flight home early but it's not like I should because no one would be able to pick me up. I also don't want to take Metro Rail for two hours and see if my mom could pick me up from Union Station or Atlantic Station because my mom sure as hell won't know how to drive to the airport. After I said that, she said "why don't you explore the city. you can take the train" and I was all reluctant and courteous, but the thought was planted in my head. I went to the bus stop with less than 20% battery on my phone. I got to my terminal but in the arrivals area where I found an outlet and began charging my phone while asking my friend what I should do. She's at work so it's not like she could reply ASAP, but she did get to me saying that I should.

While playing Pokemon Go and waiting for my battery to get to at least 30%, I was seeing where I should go. I felt like eating ramen at the time and my friend gave me a place to go but it wasn't open yet, though it'd be open by the time I took the BART there. My friend later mentioned that I should just go to Union Square because Sushiritto and Boba Guys are nearby and I knew it was a tourist spot, so I chose that instead (being that I've never been to SF in my life til then). She knows SF way better than I do since her best friend lives there and she's visited her quite a few times. I had no intention of getting a sushi burrito though, because I've tried the knock off already and I'm not impressed. Boba Guys also was apparently a 40 minute walk because it's one more station after Powell. Sooo....yeah...womp womp.

Anyway, riding the BART sure makes me appreciate LA's rail system a little more because theirs is expensive AND ancient as FOOK! Oh, so when my battery was "enough", I went to go find the people mover to transfer to the SFO BART station and buy my ticket. I already knew the price via Google Now but the ticket machine is old and I'm not use to buying things in increments of nickels? I knew the price was $8.95 but when I slid my credit card, it basically suggested that I buy a $20 ticket. I thought it was a lot so I was gonna split that ticket into two, so I hit that button. But before that, I heard this Korean lady say how you can subtract it by dollars (not noticing the +/- nickels part), so I set it to $10 for the time being since $20 was a lot of money. The machine spat out two tickets with 5 dollars in them each and I asked the information desk lady if I had to put them both in since I wanted to go to Union Square and I knew the price was almost $9, but I got two tickets totaling $10. She said that I could just use one ticket for going there and one ticket back, so I just went with it. When I tried to exit Powell Station though, the gate said I had insufficient funds, so I went to the teller and showed him my two tickets and he just said that I could use the side gate. I basically gave the SF MTA an extra $1.05...

Total spent so far update: ...$46 + 10 train ticket = $56....

To put into perspective, the cost of me going to Union Square from the Airport is about the same price it takes for me to ride the Shanghai Maglev which takes people from Shanghai's International Airport to the city. Shanghai's Subway also takes people to the airport but the ride is much longer in duration, yet cheaper. In Los Angeles, the cost of a one-way trip is $1.75 with transfers between other lines within two hours versus the $8.95 one way trip...The train ride also isn't as loud and as retro
looking. Granted I would have to take a bus shuttle to the train station first, then begin riding the rail. The BART ride literally feels like a scene from "Final Destination". Screeching demons are trying to get a hold of the train. The lights are not brightly lit. Windows all scratched and tinted.

Woo~ I did read they ordered new trains. Still not in use tho...

Shanghai Maglev

Los Angeles subway train.

We have above ground stations too but the trains run a bit slower since it needs to stop at intersections. On a random note, I was looking up some train information and the subway trains are made by an Italian company that also makes high speed rail, but they've been bought out by Hitachi last year, so now it's called Hitachi Rail Italy...not so Italian, not so Japanese lol. This light rail car above is manufactured by a Japanese company that is not Hitachi, but Kinki Sharyo.  

Going to a place you've never been to with barely any phone battery was pretty wild. My online friend started getting to me while I was on the train. I arrived at Union Square with a feast of tourists before my eyes and a fair share of historic buildings mixed with new ones. I wanted to eat lunch since the last thing I ate was a breakfast burrito at around 5:30am and all I saw wandering the streets were a Burger King (which I already had at the airport the day before) and a Subway (which I don't really like unless I'm craving it). While on the last bit of my battery, my friend said I should check out the Westfield mall there because it's huge and I didn't see one but I assumed to know which building he was referring to, so I did stumble upon the nicest mall ever...thus far!

Found this via Google images.

After wandering around their food court, I felt like eating something familiar and home'y like Panda Express but the line was so longgg and no wall outlet to charge my phone. I ended up just finding a sitting area with a pillar that had one. I ate my peanut mm's until there was no more and then proceeded to find a place to eat since I didn't want to waste time sitting around.

I left the mall and walked around further. I saw my like 15th Peet's Coffee store and an Equinox gym amongst, like, three Wells Fargo banks and two Forever 21s. The farther I walked, the more expensive things were getting. I saw a very swanky Neiman Marcus. I saw many small luxury brands that I can't remember the names of any at this moment. I saw the huge Apple store. I ended up going into a Macy's with a food court in the lower level. I ended up at some sorta Asian Chipotle type joint. Upon leaving, I noticed the area with Saks Fifth Avenue where everyone takes a picture at. The place with the heart sculptures, but my phone was at like 4% battery and wouldn't let me use the camera because of it. Since I couldn't really find a seating area with an outlet, I decided to just take the train back to SFO and eat at the arrivals area before committing to go through the TSA and waiting for my plane to fly back to LA.

It's like if that typical LV monogram bag inspired a building, this is it. Although I'm sure there's also an LV shop in Asia that literally fits that description.

If a macbook was a building, this is what it looks like.

Despite awkwardly just sitting by an outlet on the floor and charging my phone while eating my lunch, I couldn't care less after staying there overnight. I sort of wished that I had just "slept" in the arrivals/baggage claim area since there was a restroom there and vending machines but since anyone could just enter and leave the area, there was a possibility of me getting kicked out. However, the area is nice to sleep due to the fact that there were way more dimly lit areas to knock out at.

Money spent in the end: ...$56 + like $12 for that Asian Box meal (pork, rice, veggies, and a Vietnamese iced coffee) + $8.95 train ride back to SFO...$76.95...and this doesn't include the travel tooth brush, wipes, tissues, and protein bars I got from Target prior...so let's just say $90 bucks. Not bad, it'd be 3 times that had I stayed in a hotel for the night. I'd rather save that money for a new phone.

Once I finished eating, I proceeded back to the ticketing area and then went to the gate with about an hour left before boarding. Unlike what happened at Dallas, the gate wasn't constantly changing, which was nice. I found another outlet to continue charging since the plane didn't have outlets and just watched the plane park and get ready. On the ride home, I never sat in the last row before. The overhead compartments weren't even reserved for me, so I had to shove my bag under the seat. I don't know what I'd do if I had one of the roller carry-ons. The funniest part about that flight was that by the time I got my snack and drink, the plane was already getting ready to descend, so I was hurrying with my snack and cup of water.

When we landed, I immediately texted my brother that I landed and then went to find a charging station. I told my brother that I'd be there until he's near the arrivals part. My asshole brother doesn't return my texts though and my mom can't use her phone for shit. Like, the night before, my mom called me but I had just used the restroom and was tying my shoe before I realized my phone was ringing. I then called her cellphone and she didn't pick up because she was texting me since I didn't answer (and y'all know how you CAN answer a call while typing a text). I, then, called the house phone to see what was up and it's just one of those calls to see how it was going. Moreover, my mom never listens to anything I ever say. She asked me how the interview was and "swore" that I said it was in the afternoon. Why would I be staying at the airport overnight if it was?

But anyway, when my mom finally called me to say she was near. I unplugged my charger from the charging station and walked to the baggage claim area. My mom asked how it went and I told her I didn't get a job offer on the spot, if that's what she's wondering. Upon getting home, I was greeted by my dog and I got a power bank that I ordered (which I so desperately needed while in SF). I pretty much knocked out by 11pm and woke up around 4:30am. I showered my smelly self and then fell asleep again until 8'ish am because I had to cover for someone at work.

I was waiting for it to be $15 dollars again after regretting not getting it the first time. I researched some brands and the Anker ones are quite pricey when you compare the amount of mAh. I didn't trust the other brands on Amazon since I never heard of them, so I got the LeTV one instead. LeTV is kind of like the Hulu of China but they've been diversifying their company by putting out TVs, headphones, smartphones, etc. It was either this or the XiaoMi one, but I didn't want to wait a month to get it via AliExpress and the price wasn't that competitive. It shipped from California, btw, and is 13400mAh. 

Now, I have a tiny break from work since summer camp is over. I've been meaning to update my YouTube but I wanted to get this entry out of the way first. I had a small taste of what it's like to be a flight attendant this time since I was able to explore the city this time. I wish I could've taken more photos or video but I didn't have my power bank until now, so maybe in 6 months.

I don't know if it's just me who's making it hard on myself or what. I hate not being at a point in life where I should be. I feel so capable but I'm constantly being turned down.

Aye...like, my mom had me when she was 29 and I'll be 28 soon. I need something life changing. I have no strides to show for myself...

[Oh, I'm level 21 now, btw. I also hate how Instagram changed their thing so that external sites can't use their info to give us alternate feeds because I have to reupload images rather than hotlink]