[First day tomorrow...]
My sabbatical is over. I'm starting at my new workplace tomorrow. A little nervous, but I guess that's normal. Not too sure what to expect. Hope everything goes well...
[Taking stock...]
Most of us go through life in a rush. We're forever rushing from one place to the next. Rushing from one piece of work to the next. How often do we get a chance to sit and think and take stock of our life?
Having some time on my hands before I start at my new job in November, I am thinking about my life. I'm not really doing it in a structured way. Just on and off, when I have time or when there's nothing on my mind.
I'm trying to forget about how things are done in my previous workplace. About a year back, this lady from another company joined us. During one of the dialogue sessions, she kept going on and on about how things were done in her previous workplace. It annoyed me to no end, but I looked the other way, seeing how she was new and stuff. Probably a transitional thing.
Fast forward to one year later. A few weeks before I left my job. We had another dialogue session. One year on, she was still quoting examples from her old workplace. It got to the point where I just tuned out and stopped listening to her. Another colleague whispered in my ear.
"If she liked her previous workplace so much, maybe she should go back."
Now that I am in her shoes, I can see how easily I could fall into the same trap - not adapting to the new environment. I've been for one pre-employment brief so far and I can already tell there would be a lot of adapting to do.
I thought I was doing a good job of forgetting about what has been and preparing for what will be, until I spoke to an ex-colleague earlier on MSN. She updated me about some of things that are happening and at the end of it, I realised that my state of mind has been messed up. I was already in the this-is-a-new-beginning phase but now I'm halfway back in the I-need-to-forget phase.
So work-wise, it is kinda stressful. Mainly because I don't know what's coming. I've told myself to stop thinking about it. Obsessing about it isn't going to help. So why bother? Why not just forget about it, enjoy my break (I really needed this break to bum around), and take it as it comes later. It's not as if I would be able to change anything now anyway.
I learned something about myself recently.
I lose my temper easily. I've known that for a long time. But now I think I finally know why.
When things don't go my way, or when I find myself in a situation I do not like, I will takes steps to change the situation. I am not the type to resign myself to "fate" and let things be. I will change it. Doesn't matter how long or how difficult it is. If it is doable, I will get it done. That's it. However, if there is nothing I can do about it. I'll get pissed. I'll lose my temper. I won't be happy. Until the situation changes.
Realising this will help me manage my temper in the future. I hope.
[404 error...]
The comic below was published in today's Digital Life:
I've never been a fan of Digital Life from the beginning. I find their articles amateurish, not detailed, and sometimes the reasons they give for their reviews are downright childish. Items under their "news" section are sometimes not even news anymore (the information is sometimes dated).
One particular thing that I found very silly was in their reviews, the name of whatever they were reviewing is printed in a very small font and is not an obvious part of the article. I haven't read any of their reviews for a while so I can't recall if they still use this format. I hope they no longer do so.
The above comic is another example of why I feel that this supplement is amateurish. They've got it completely wrong. Error 404, which I would assume is a HTTP error (I'm no expert, but no other error codes I am aware of is in this format, and in any case, the 404 error is a common HTTP error), is a "file not found" error. Not file deletion error.
Why didn't anyone on the editing team spot this before letting it go to print?
What is the main selling point of an EZ-link card? I would suppose it is the fast and convenient payment. Just tap the card and you're good to go. I think that's a reasonable value proposition.
And that is exactly how it should work. Just like how it is when we take public transport. Tap and go.
I can't quote any specific examples or cases, but I do believe the intention is to slowly introduce this mode of payment at point-of-sales as well. I am supportive of this initiative. For one, I think that if implemented correctly, this will be a much faster and more efficient mode of payment. Gone would be the days of fiddling around with cash for payment, and/or receiving a bunch of coins back as change. It would also be more hygienic, since cash is extremely dirty. Another reason why I would support this initiative is because I believe that for someone with credit cards, the default payment mode of choice should be via credit card. The reason is to earn as much points/rewards as possible. And for me, my EZ-link cards are linked and topped-up via my credit card. So paying using my EZ-link card at merchants who do not accept credit cards, is in effect paying them via my credit card (yes, I've put some thought into this).
However, I am rather disappointed at how this has been implemented at the point-of-sales. It has to do with the EZ-link reader. In my previous workplace, the reader was fast and always available so there wasn't any issues. At a few retailers outside, I noticed that they are using a different reader and these readers log-out after some time. Logging in took up to a minute. It has happened to me twice so far. I stood there, waiting for the machine to log-in before I could pay using my EZ-link card.
That is unacceptable.
I think there is a lot of potential and benefits in paying via EZ-link cards. But it has to be implemented correctly. In its current implementation, some of its value proposition has been completely throw out of the window. I hope the relevant parties will look into this and make it better.
This carried on for quite a while. How the other guy can stand having someone look over his shoulder like this is beyond me. I would be irritated. Then again, I'm irritated by a lot of things.
[Pull my finger!]
Where would be a safe place for my finger?
I know! My nose!
I woke up at 6am today and tried out the morning commute to my new workplace. It took longer than I thought it would, mostly due to having to wait 15 minutes before one of the buses came.
On my way back, I tried a different route. This time, via MRT. I think it takes about the same time...Possibly even longer.
This sucks. I guess this would give me another reason to revisit the idea of getting a car...
[Freakin' hot...]
Actually no, it really wasn't all that hot today. But it was insanely humid. So it felt hot and sticky. I was at the Underwater World and Dolphin Lagoon today and I swear, I've never seen so many people fanning themselves at the same time:
The video didn't really capture the moment. When I looked across, all I could see were pieces of flapping paper.
[End of chapter one...]
Yesterday was my last day at my previous workplace. A little sad to leave my colleagues behind. I only wish I could get along just as well with the people at my next workplace.
I will be starting work at my new workplace on 1st November. From now till then, I shall get some much-deserved rest. I haven't had a long break ever since I started working. I really needed one. Need to settle a whole bunch of stuff as well.
It is HOT! For a while, I actually wished I was back at office. At least we have air-con there.
I wonder...If we had met earlier. I wonder how would things turn out.
[Farewell gift...]
My supervisor arranged a farewell lunch for me at work on the 23rd of September. I was busy and didn't have time to write about it until now.
They gave me a huge card.
I'm not sure if you can tell...But I put it on my chair and it covered most of my chair.
I was actually a little surprised that the farewell lunch was held so early, way before my last day.
They also gave me a pen with my name on it. It's a beautiful pen and the way the ink flows when you write using it is just amazing. Smooth and consistent.
My last day at my current workplace is the 13th of October. That's about one and a half weeks to go. I'm sad to leave behind my colleagues. They really are the best bunch of people and I couldn't have asked for nicer colleagues.
[Haha!]
Came across this video in a forum. I think all the images are supposed to be from our neighbouring country. Some of them looks like it, but obviously I can't verify its authenticity. In any case, good for a few laughs.
I LOL-ed at the "higher education" part and also at the very last image.
Broken for now. :( If anyone knows of a good way to display tweets without using Twitter's awful looking widgets, please let me know. Preferably something that allows me to retrieve my tweets in plain-text format.
What's this about?
Anything and everything under the sun. I write about my day, my thoughts, things I see in public, things to get off my chest, or sometimes just some senseless rants that make sense only to me.
About Me
30 year old male. Always with too many ideas in his head and too little time. For my 15 minutes of fame, I want to be a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman.
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