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Calling in a newbie alert! (on self, :lol:)
Hiya all! AmayaSasaki here, though you can just call me Amaya. I've been working customer service tech support in a call center for almost a year now. Pretty long for a place like that what with the fairly high turn-over rate, although there are definitely several who have been there multiple years. Still, out of my original training class of 30, I think there's only 4 of us left, and most of them seemed to have left within 4 months or less. So, it's always changing, new faces, new names to learn.
As to customers, the majority of them I'm not sure quite how they get along in our technology-centric world, but yet, at the same time, fairly normal. I often try to make customer's feel a bit better telling them I help my mom with stuff like that all the time, and I often do, though slowly, gradually over the years she's gotten better at it. Most of the customers are not too far behind her in skill level. Every now and then though (aka, usually no more than one or two calls in a day out of ~28, and sometimes none in a day), you run into that one customer that you wonder how their brain manages to keep everything running with the sparse number of brain cells that it seems like they must have, or that one customer that you wonder how long it's going to take for karma to catch up with them and take them out. On the other hand, maybe not quite as often, but it still happens, you get that customer that is really nice and adores you by the end of the call, including one fellow, who, I *think it was only jokingly..., asked me to marry him. Awkward, but, hey, at least I knew that if he got sent a survey and took the time to fill it out, I'd be getting a good one, which is always good, considering I get paid better when my survey percentage is above a certain level.
In short, the job can be challenging and stressful, but all in all, it's not a bad place to work. I enjoy helping people, though I prefer not over the phone, which is why if I'm there long enough, I'll be shooting for a QA spot so that I can help my co-workers right there in front of me instead of trying to troubleshoot with customers over the phone. At any rate, I hate job hunting, so I figure I'll stay until such time as I can finish my Associates degree in Graphic Design and find a job with that doing something I love: artwork.
On that note, outside of work, I'm taking classes to work toward my degree. Only one class at a time though, seeing as I'd be far too overwhelmed to function trying to work a full-time job (currently with quite a few overtime hours), keep up a social life (family, awesome boyfriend, etc), and all that with anything more than about 3 credit hours at a time would be too much for me. Eventually I'll get through this all to the other side of my degree.
I do enjoy my artwork. I worked on improving my drawing skills from the time I was about 7 forward. I'm gradually learning to transfer those skills to digital medium, though I still love my charcoal, and would love to learn chalk pastel methods from my favorite art teacher, though right now I lack the time and money to fit private lessons into my schedule on top of everything else. I've done some with oil painting, and I dabble in photography, though I certainly wouldn't call myself an enthusiast. I'm usually more focused on snapping images for reference for drawing and such. I'd like to get something better than the little point & shoot digital that I've got, but going to a full fledged DSLR would be overkill for me. I enjoyed the chance to create some ceramic pieces, though due to the cost and everything else of kilns, etc. I'm not sure when I'll get the chance again. I write from time to time, though I've almost never finished a story; I've written a few poems, though not many in recent years. I'd link my page that has a variety of my work, just to share my artwork, but I want to double check with Mods here before I do something like that.
I am also a gamer. Systems? Well, so far, I've got PC (laptop right now, though I would like to build my own when time/money permit), original Xbox, Xbox 360, and PS2. I also enjoy Tabletop RPGs. I have played D&D 4th ed with DM's house rules mod (borrowing some from previous editions, especially AD&D that he started with) for a year before I had to move and could no longer play. In the mean time, I started doing some research on various Tabletop RPG systems and started constructing one of my own, partly with Skyrim's class/skill/leveling system in mind. D20 based at any rate. Plenty more to hammer out on that yet though. As to other games, PC/console, I play mainly for story and social (which is why tabletop is so much fun), so for story's sake, I love my single-player RPGs (Jade Empire, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, and Skyrim have to be some of my favorites). I also enjoy Halo for the chance to play with friends, even if I'm not much good at it... (Covenant Elite coming at me... wait, where'd he go? Is he behind me? No? Maybe he's behind me now *spins around again* No? Oh well, fine. *spins around in circles, finger holding down trigger, sweeping floor to ceiling, figuring that should take care of everything*) For social and story, I like my MMORPGs, especially Star Wars: The Old Republic and World of Warcraft, though I haven't had much time to play lately.
I am also an anime fan, aka otaku. Fullmetal Alchemist (dub) and Cardcaptor Sakura (sub) were my introduction to anime in 2007. I enjoyed them very much and would still count them among my favorites, along with Full Metal Panic!, Eureka 7, Last Exile, and.. well, I've read all of the manga and loved it for Ruroni Kenshin; still haven't gotten to finishing the anime yet. Oh, and I realize some don't necessarily count it there, but I would also classify Avatar: the Last Airbender show with anime. I'm sorely behind on Legend of Korra, as I am with most TV shows I watch, since I tend to get all my shows from the internet and watch it whenever it fits my schedule, usually binge watching.
Speaking of TV shows, I enjoy Doctor Who, Sherlock (BBC with Benedict Cumberpatch), Once Upon A Time, Merlin (2008 with Colin Morgan), Firefly, and I have my guilty pleasures with certain crime drama shows such as Bones, The Mentalist, Lie to Me, Monk, Numb3rs, and Criminal Minds. (No CSI or Law & Order for me, thank you.)
I also enjoy reading, mostly fiction, preferably fantasy (such as Tolkein or Harry Potter), sci-fi, or historical fiction (Bodie Thoene is a favorite author in the last genre), though I do enjoy the work of James Rollins (international intrigue, action, adventure thriller set in current times, with strong focus/influence in the areas of history and science).
As to customers, the majority of them I'm not sure quite how they get along in our technology-centric world, but yet, at the same time, fairly normal. I often try to make customer's feel a bit better telling them I help my mom with stuff like that all the time, and I often do, though slowly, gradually over the years she's gotten better at it. Most of the customers are not too far behind her in skill level. Every now and then though (aka, usually no more than one or two calls in a day out of ~28, and sometimes none in a day), you run into that one customer that you wonder how their brain manages to keep everything running with the sparse number of brain cells that it seems like they must have, or that one customer that you wonder how long it's going to take for karma to catch up with them and take them out. On the other hand, maybe not quite as often, but it still happens, you get that customer that is really nice and adores you by the end of the call, including one fellow, who, I *think it was only jokingly..., asked me to marry him. Awkward, but, hey, at least I knew that if he got sent a survey and took the time to fill it out, I'd be getting a good one, which is always good, considering I get paid better when my survey percentage is above a certain level.
In short, the job can be challenging and stressful, but all in all, it's not a bad place to work. I enjoy helping people, though I prefer not over the phone, which is why if I'm there long enough, I'll be shooting for a QA spot so that I can help my co-workers right there in front of me instead of trying to troubleshoot with customers over the phone. At any rate, I hate job hunting, so I figure I'll stay until such time as I can finish my Associates degree in Graphic Design and find a job with that doing something I love: artwork.
On that note, outside of work, I'm taking classes to work toward my degree. Only one class at a time though, seeing as I'd be far too overwhelmed to function trying to work a full-time job (currently with quite a few overtime hours), keep up a social life (family, awesome boyfriend, etc), and all that with anything more than about 3 credit hours at a time would be too much for me. Eventually I'll get through this all to the other side of my degree.
I do enjoy my artwork. I worked on improving my drawing skills from the time I was about 7 forward. I'm gradually learning to transfer those skills to digital medium, though I still love my charcoal, and would love to learn chalk pastel methods from my favorite art teacher, though right now I lack the time and money to fit private lessons into my schedule on top of everything else. I've done some with oil painting, and I dabble in photography, though I certainly wouldn't call myself an enthusiast. I'm usually more focused on snapping images for reference for drawing and such. I'd like to get something better than the little point & shoot digital that I've got, but going to a full fledged DSLR would be overkill for me. I enjoyed the chance to create some ceramic pieces, though due to the cost and everything else of kilns, etc. I'm not sure when I'll get the chance again. I write from time to time, though I've almost never finished a story; I've written a few poems, though not many in recent years. I'd link my page that has a variety of my work, just to share my artwork, but I want to double check with Mods here before I do something like that.
I am also a gamer. Systems? Well, so far, I've got PC (laptop right now, though I would like to build my own when time/money permit), original Xbox, Xbox 360, and PS2. I also enjoy Tabletop RPGs. I have played D&D 4th ed with DM's house rules mod (borrowing some from previous editions, especially AD&D that he started with) for a year before I had to move and could no longer play. In the mean time, I started doing some research on various Tabletop RPG systems and started constructing one of my own, partly with Skyrim's class/skill/leveling system in mind. D20 based at any rate. Plenty more to hammer out on that yet though. As to other games, PC/console, I play mainly for story and social (which is why tabletop is so much fun), so for story's sake, I love my single-player RPGs (Jade Empire, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, and Skyrim have to be some of my favorites). I also enjoy Halo for the chance to play with friends, even if I'm not much good at it... (Covenant Elite coming at me... wait, where'd he go? Is he behind me? No? Maybe he's behind me now *spins around again* No? Oh well, fine. *spins around in circles, finger holding down trigger, sweeping floor to ceiling, figuring that should take care of everything*) For social and story, I like my MMORPGs, especially Star Wars: The Old Republic and World of Warcraft, though I haven't had much time to play lately.
I am also an anime fan, aka otaku. Fullmetal Alchemist (dub) and Cardcaptor Sakura (sub) were my introduction to anime in 2007. I enjoyed them very much and would still count them among my favorites, along with Full Metal Panic!, Eureka 7, Last Exile, and.. well, I've read all of the manga and loved it for Ruroni Kenshin; still haven't gotten to finishing the anime yet. Oh, and I realize some don't necessarily count it there, but I would also classify Avatar: the Last Airbender show with anime. I'm sorely behind on Legend of Korra, as I am with most TV shows I watch, since I tend to get all my shows from the internet and watch it whenever it fits my schedule, usually binge watching.
Speaking of TV shows, I enjoy Doctor Who, Sherlock (BBC with Benedict Cumberpatch), Once Upon A Time, Merlin (2008 with Colin Morgan), Firefly, and I have my guilty pleasures with certain crime drama shows such as Bones, The Mentalist, Lie to Me, Monk, Numb3rs, and Criminal Minds. (No CSI or Law & Order for me, thank you.)
I also enjoy reading, mostly fiction, preferably fantasy (such as Tolkein or Harry Potter), sci-fi, or historical fiction (Bodie Thoene is a favorite author in the last genre), though I do enjoy the work of James Rollins (international intrigue, action, adventure thriller set in current times, with strong focus/influence in the areas of history and science).