Soooooo as you may have noticed, I haven't posted in forever! For. Ev. Er! Wellll here's what's been going on since the last time I posted:

MapleGeek has had uber-major drama going on, and I haven't been playing it for like a month, because one of their GMs gets on my nerves to the extent that I just can't play there anymore. I now play ToyStory, a v75 server that boasts being "GMS-like," though the rates are a bit high for a GMS-like server. However, there's no skill maxer, no all-in-one shop, no way to buy NX with mesos (aside from buying items from other players... NX is gained by voting for the server or getting achievements), and no rebirths. Items/equips/etc are obtained through hunting or events. The GMs are non-invasive, unlike MapleGeek, and are there to help, not hinder. They'll pretty much stay out of your way untill you need help, aside from the occasional notice/smega letting people know they're around. ToyStory boasts a working Mu Lung Dojo, but there's still a few glitches to work out there, such as the fact that monsters/bosses don't drop hp/mp potions at all, so you can only fight until you run dry on one or the other. There's also a BPQ that is pretty much exactly like the one that was on VuMS, and a soon-to-be released ToyStory PQ. The Cygnus Knights are fully functional, and the TS features the Temple of Time & the Pink Been, though there is not yet a party powerful enough to challenge it. Zakum runs cost players 50 million mesos, and Pap runs cost 1 million. I think I've pretty much covered all the basics on this one... Allz I know is that it's hella fun and I definiteyl enjoy it.

But MapleStory aside, I've had a lot going on since my last post. First of all, I've gotten a job. You know AAA (Triple A)? Well I work for what is basically their top competitor. I am a roadside assistance customer service representative (CSR) at Cross Country Automotive Services. We're contracted with many different Motor Clubs Auto Manufacturers, & Insurance Agencies to provide roadside assistance for their members. Some of the biggest you'll recognize are Progressive Insurance, USAA, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, AIG/21st Century, Ford, Volkswagen, Audi, Mazda, and Hyundai, as well as over 50 more companies. What I do is take calls from customers who are in need of roadside assistance. This can include flat tires, keys locked in vehicles, running out of fuel, winching, and towing services. When a customer calls, I verify their coverage via their policy, VIN, or name & ZIP, find out which vehicle they need service on, where it's at, and what service we need to provide. If it's getting towed, we also nail down the destination to determine if they're covered or not (For instance, some companies only cover 15 miles of towing, while others cover up to 200 miles. Some cover a dollar limit, which is usually around $75-$100 USD). Once all that has been verified, I then call tow companies in the area (We have over 20,000 towing companies nationwide contracted with us) to find out who can perform the service within an acceptable time limit. I typically take & process 50-70 calls per night. As a CSR, I'm rated by how quickly I take a call (The inbound part) and dispatch & process a call (The outbound part), the customer's satisfaction with my service (as rated on a survey after their service has been completed), and how well I take the call. I make $8.00 per hour and stand to make up to 18% bonus on my paycheck per month if I get a good overall score. I work 40 hours a week, 5 days out of the week. I get Tuesdays & Wednesdays off. My shift is usually from 6:00pm to 2:30am.

Oh, and the best part abut my job? VTOs. What are VTOs? A VTO stands for Voluntary Time Off. After having been on the job for 60 days, I can, at any time, submit for a VTO. If that VTO is approved, I can get a specified amount of time off. For instance, if I chose, I can submit for a VTO from 10:00pm through the rest of my shift. If it's approved before 10:00, I can leave at 10:00pm. If it's approved any time after that, I can leave at the time of approval, after I finish any call I'm working on at the time. VTOs aren't necessarily always approved, but if it's a slow day (We have a low volume of incoming calls) chances are it will be. It's a great perk to use when I'm just having a bad day and don't want to be at work, or if there's something going on that I'd like to be available for elsewhere. In short, my job rocks ;)

I've started to play the guitar, and have been teaching myself various cords & songs I've pulled off the internet. I can play "Killing In The Name" by Rage Against the Machine (except for the solo) and most of the intro of "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" by Metallica. I can also play "Hero of War" by Rise Against and am working on "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day.

Edit: ZOMG! I completely forgot to talk about my new iPod Touch. It's the new-ish 32gig iPod Touch 3G, which I have "jailbroken," a term which means that the operating system has been modified to allow third-party apps & tweaks to be added through repositories other than Apple's App Store. I have added on things such as a GBA emulator, the ability to run multiple apps at the same time (a feature which is lacking in Apple's vanilla OS), & custom themes. I do have a number of legit apps downloaded from Apple's store, and continue to use the App store along with the new functionality added on by jailbreaking. I don't use pirated apps, which I could if I wanted to. I think my favorite add-on is the ability to hide icons from my "springboard" (which is basically the iPhone/pod term for desktop), such as the Stocks & Weather apps which come with the iPod, have absolutely no use to me, and are impossible to remove/hide/delete in the vanilla OS. Now I am able to both hide apps I don't want to see, as well as sort my apps into folders instead of having a messy 12 page springboard as I did before jailbreaking. My iPod is AWESOME.