Citibank REALLY Cares For Your Pocket

This afternoon, a lady from Citibank called me. Well, what other matter could it be, apart from showing concern for my pocket once more?

So what made them call me again barely 2 working days later? I must have spent 2 working days reconsidering spending money on softdrinks? Or Citibank is so confident about 100% take-up that their database schema is like this:

Table Credit_Card_Customer
Name varchar(66) NOT NULL
Contact_No varchar(30) NOT NULL
Signed_Up_CS char(1) NOT NULL Default(N)

Then execute this:
SELECT Name, Contact_No FROM Credit_Card_Customer WHERE Signed_Up_CS<>'Y';

And they will keep calling the people that appear in the query? TELL ME CITIBANK, IS THIS WHAT YOU DO? Seriously, they should add 1 more column, Persuaded_But_Rejected so that they would stop trying to help me!! I CAN LOOK FOR HELP ON MY OWN WHEN I NEED LAH! Like sign up with them when I think I cannot pay my bill soon heehee.

Anyway, back to that lady on the phone. I interrupted her saying that they had called me before and I am not interested. I should have told her that her colleague just called me 2 working days ago and it's too quick for a follow-up. I swear I will lash out at the next person who calls me about this same thing within 3 months.

Although I'm still not sure how the premium is calculated, not interested in finding out lah. It's like finding out about life insurance when I will never get one.

Citibank Cares For Your Pocket

Last Friday during lunch, I received a call from a lady from Citibank. In a very serious tone, she said that from their records, (was she was going to ask why I haven't spent a single cent yet, is it because I haven't receive my card) I didn't apply for Credit Shield (CS).

Eh? Simi CS? The lady probably figured that I didn't know what it is, so she asked if I have heard of CS. No, I said, and she proceeded to introduce it to me.

Quoted from Citibank's Q&A
Q: What is CreditShield?

A: CreditShield is an insurance cover, exclusively for Citibank cardmembers and Ready Credit account holders.

CreditShield frees you and your family from worrying over your credit card or Ready Credit payments should the unforeseen happen. It pays the minimum amount due on your account for up to 6 months, if you are totally and temporarily disabled. Or your entire account balance up to S$40,000 in the event of death or total permanent disablement.

You pay only $0.36 for every $100 of current balance on your monthly statement of account. When your current balance is zero, you pay absolutely nothing.

It is easy to enrol and no medical examination is required. To be eligible, you have to be between the age of 21 and 60 years.

Actually I recalled everything by the time she got to the first sentence of the second paragraph, but I just let her continue anyway. I had indeed passed up the chance to apply for it while applying for my credit card (CC). Maybe I should hear her out first. Maybe there's a free trial or free gift if I sign up with her? Haaa.

She said that Citibank strongly recommends that all customers sign up for CS.

I didn't like the tone and wording of the last sentence. This product is obviously designed for compulsive shoppers, and I'm definitely not one of them, although the possibility of me joining the dark side is there, judging from how much I have spent in May *blush*. What is the likelihood of me spending till I cannot pay up? Even if something happened and I had to bleed my savings, I still don't think it can get to the point that I have to default on CC payments. Even if I'm so suay, CC bills will get top priority simply because of the exorbitant interest rate. I know the premium is insignificant, but I could use that money to buy a few cans of soft drinks ok! Throw away a few dollars monthly, 积少成多 can! Singapore's Visa default rate was only about 4% in 2003, so Citibank is scheming to collect free lunches from 96% of their customers! Hah! I won't fall for that!

I asked the lady if it's compulsory. She said no. I asked if there's any preclusion clause. No also.

But too bad, still not interested :P

Played Out By Machines

**WARNING - TECHNICAL POST AHEAD**

On a Friday evening, I wanted to finish coding this portion before going home.

public HashMap combine(Timestamp[] a, String[] b, String[] c) {
/*The objective is to group together each of the elements in
*arrays a and c, using c as the key.
*Arrays a, b, c contain the same number of elements and have
*been pre-processed such that c[0] maps to a[0] and b[0]
*and so forth.
*The resulting HashMap will be passed to a jsp page to be
*printed
*/

HashMap hm = new HashMap();
Vector v = new Vector();
for(int i=0; i<a.length; i++) {
v.addElement(a[i]);
v.addElement(b[i]);
hm.put(c[i], v);
}
return hm;
}

--
Expected output, assuming size of result is 4
Key: 1
Object: [28/05/2007, A]

Key: 2
Object: [29/05/2007, B]

Key: 3
Object: [30/05/2007, C]

Key: 4
Object: [31/05/2007, D]

Actual output
Key: 1
Object: [31/05/2007, D]

Key: 2
Object: [31/05/2007, D]

Key: 3
Object: [31/05/2007, D]

Key: 4
Object: [31/05/2007, D]

Knowing how blur I am, I thought I did something wrong when retrieving the HashMap and printing in the jsp. Nothing wrong.

Printed out the HashMap within combine(), before return. OMG! It's already giving the wrong output! No wonder everything is haywire at the jsp.

Something wrong with my loop probably? But nothing seems wrong. In fact, nothing can be wrong, coz the function is so basic that even a noob can do it.

Added v.clear() to ensure the Vector is totally empty at each iteration. Didn't work.

Changed v.addElement(Object) to v.add(position, Object). Didn't work.

How can? I added line-by-line println. The correct values are being added into the Vector ley... So how did they end up with the correct key but wrong contents?

Ok. This time I iterated through the whole HashMap each time I added to it. Surprise! Everything is correct. The question just got bigger. Why was everything correct in the for loop, but wrong once it's out? Baffling.

I was supposed to have completed this task like 1hr ago, but I'm still stuck. I'm very certain it's not my fault, but somehow things are not working.

Is it some synchronization problem, somehow? Problem ran too fast and screwed up? Sounds unlikely, but well, who knows, since I'm having an impossible problem already. API said HashMap is unsynchronized, but Hashtable is. Ok. Faster change to Hashtable see how. But still not working!!

Feel like giving up already. My father has arrived and was waiting for me. But how can I just leave the problem hanging? I have to face it again if I come tomorrow. Would I want to waste a Saturday afternoon on something seemingly trivial? End a day without completing a task?

I resolved to go home only if I solve this.

I wrote a simple java program to test if HashMap really works the way I want. Basically the same as the code above, except it's using the oh-so-familiar public static void main and hardcoding the elements in the Arrays. Worked as expected. Frustrating is the word.

9pm already.

The server console stopped printing output. Damn, now I have to waste 1min to restart it.

Server up. Added more printlns. I must get to the bottom of this.

The jsp prints correctly now. I DID NOT FUCKING CHANGE ANYTHING. Nothing. Zilch. It just decided to start working after I restarted. What can I say? Stared at the screen in disbelief. I don't even know what to blame. The computer? Java compiler? IBM for this server? Myself for not deciding to restart the server although it seemed fine? I wasted 2hrs of my life on nothing.

Great, now I can go home. The mood to work tomorrow is totally shattered.

We Must Make Up Our Minds

... about what drinks to have in future. Cannot say "whatever", "anything", 随便 anymore, or we might just get Whatever or Anything for real.

Haven't tried it yet. I will consider. Dunno when, not curious about it.

I didn't see its super ultra creative advertising campaign anywhere. Maybe because I'm asleep on the road most of the time. Too bad it's being dismantled before it's due, because people have been picking the empty cans as scrap. I thought the company behind this drink is called Out of the Box Pte Ltd? Seems like they have been living in a box and didn't know that drain covers, road signs and lightning conductors have been disappearing off the streets.

下一站…吃什么

I just realized that I have been to 2 of the eateries recommended by this tv programme hosted by 许振荣 and 赵彩菱.

Ricciotti
Indian Wok

Maybe next on the list is 小旋风 at Hougang Mall? Since I'm just nearby.

Edit
I went! The 拉面 is so-so only. There's a 黄飞鸿香辣鸡, not bad! And not spicy at all. The 小笼包 was good too, but I still like 鼎泰丰 best. They forgot my bro's noodles for the longest time and had to remind them, only to find that the order was not taken. But they remembered to charge for it later :| Forget must forget 到底what...

I'm Lovin' AMK

5 days away from home and counting...

I take 1hr to get to work now. I don't know how people living in Hougang (and beyond) and working in the west survive. I refuse to trade AMK for less in future.

I Am Now In A Happy Company!

Because my company made me paste a smiley sticker at the back of my tag. It is supposed to show that we are in a happy company. We are not to paste it over our faces. Preferably on the flipside.

Will the money spent on the stickers be better spent employing a temp from China to help me with my work, so they can have a happy worker in the happy company?

Duh.

Reaching Out to the Older Generation II

After the Workfare bonus, the time has come for the GST Offset Package. As before, the letter is sent in 4 languages. Nothing much has changed, but I am glad to see a slight improvement.

根据我们的记录，您有资格获得$Z (请参考英文信件第二段的数额)。

They tell you where to find the figure now. Well done!
*clap clap*
*throws confetti*

I Know Why He Wants To Quit!

Overheard this telephone conversation between a TL and the HR about making an offer to a new colleague-to-be.

Have you seen the quotation I faxed over?... Is it too high? His previous pay is $2k only ley... Just give him what he wants ah?... ok ok... This person is quite good you know? He has masters...

:O Which evil company has been underpaying this poor fellow??

Sotong Lives in a Pokka Warehouse

Fancy 3 cartons of jasmine green tea, 2 cartons of melon milk and 1 box of green tea peach?

Cheers.

Reaching Out to the Older Generation

Some time ago, my mother received a letter from CPF informing her of her Workfare bonus. As the targeted audience is the older generation, CPF was thoughtful enough to send the letter in 4 languages.

English
We are pleased to inform you that you have been awarded the second portion of Workfare Bonus for work done in 2006. The amount is $999.99. (the actual sum has been censored by me, of course)

中文
我们很高兴地通知您，根据您在2006年的工作记录，您将可领到第二次发放的花红，数额为$XXX。

The sum printed is also $XXX for Malay and Tamil. Not that useful if you can't read English. So much for getting the message across to the English-illiterate.

Maybe their letter generator program cannot handle foreign languages?

TMRB

New York has TMNT. My house has TMRB - Teenage Mutant Red Bean! Planted by my sister, the seed leaves didn't rise with the stem and leaves failed to grow. We'll see how long it will last.

This variation is good for 银芽. Saves the effort of plucking out everything but the root! But it's unfortunate that it won't be able to reproduce itself.

Added on 5 May: The TMRB has stopped growing eversince.

A Preview Of My New Colleagues-To-Be

People have been coming to over for interviews. I only saw people of the race starting with I. Is it plain coincidence or my boss' obsession?