remembering days

Not too long ago I had a belief shattered. We all have these kinds of beliefs, or illusions, or perceptions - whatever you want to call them. They are minor but they are there. See, I wanted to open a second bank account for interest's sake (and for saving). Being the finance-savvy guy that I am, I investigated many alternatives and narrowed it down to just two I couldn't decide between. I'll spare the details, but I decided to seek help where I thought all my answers would be found: the bank. Ever since I was young, the bank has been a mystical place where the people working there are beings of a higher order that know everything about anything to do with finance. It has also been a place of long lines and longer waits, which is why the former perception has stuck for so long - I have never ventured out to have it shattered thanks to the convenience of the internet.

But this time I needed more than a page of information. I needed help from the Bank Tellers. I was confident I would be put on the right path and a beam of light would lead the way down to flowing rivers of easy minds and solutions. I was confident, but so naive. I approach an open teller after waiting less than five minutes (a perception already shattered right there). I smile as I bring forth my inquiry as clear as an over zealously polished sheet of metal. The teller appears to hesitate. I am confused - she's hesitating? She should be jumping all over this like a horny rabbit (sorry)!

She stumbles through a vague answer, one that can only mean she knows about as much as I do on the matter: "you need to find it out yourself." I have tried, damn it! Why are you doing this to me? I trusted you! The Teller loads the same page I had been poring over for hours. It's the exact same page. Not even a special bank teller-bible type page. Just the one anyone can view on the internet, or a brochure. I couldn't take it any longer, so I ran away screaming.

But then I remembered it was silly of me to have the belief that bank tellers - or anyone working for a company - are just people. They don't live and breathe this material or study it in minute detail so the unshaven amateur account holder can have his answers in perfect sense (cents?)

Remember that folks: People working at companies are not robots, unless of course they work for Telstra's lovely call center. But that's another story, and you know I love telling stories.

Well, I won't apologise for the lack of posts, because I am trying to take stock of what I have, what I want and what I need. This tends to lead on to the word responsibility it seems. Not to say I sit around on Sunday balancing cheque books - Sundays are for sleeping - but I am in the slow process of planning ahead. It's crazy, but I want to turn a wonderful idea into a wonderful reality, and that requires work that I am very willing to do. A bit like dominoes, I guess - you spend a long time setting it up and concentrating on every piece you put down until the very end where you knock it all over and have to clean up. Um, maybe not the greatest analogy, but you get what I mean: it's something that requires focus, determination and patience and people will question why you do it sometimes, but you know exactly why. And it's so worth it.

- Pary ζ.

there should always be mountains
because the tedium of plains encourages stopping
whereas the peak of a mountain
offers the promise of what's on the other side
and you must keep climbing