laptop on medical leave

my posts have been random and contained walls of text these days. This is not an exception. Not in the mood for photographs... except the scandalous one. lol...

finally met my advisor to get my financial portfolio back. It was a rainy day, and despite foreseeing that the expressways will be choked due to accidents, i took a bus down town. And it was, fast and slow ride at Woodlands Rd, then jammed up badly at PIE Lornie exit. I suggest $200 fine for every 30 minutes that the broken/crashed vehicle stays at its spot. Since everybody's opportunity cost is higher combined to the bugger(s), it's justified.

it's dusty and thick. Time to do some tidying up over the weekend. Have stacks of letters from banks to merge.

then took the choo choo train and bus to LT26 in campus. Told the Lenovo service guy about my laptop unable to read SD cards and a hot palmrest, he decided to send it to HQ. There goes my beloved laptop that has been with me since July 06. Maybe August, since i borrowed it brand new to jac then. Then lunched at the science canteen. Fantastic food lah. But there are too many chances to try them next month onwards.

took 151 wanting to drop near tpy, but overslept and landed at Macpherson instead. What a day...

night shift was beezeebeezee. A night class ended at 10.20pm. The tutor was still trying to entertain a pair of adult students when i asked him to take over the room. Then met up with gy for kopi. The photographer didn't even reply my sms. Bad man...

our topic tonight was unusual, mentioned about further studies in detail. I was telling him how someone couldn't stop working and start studying because he had liabilities on hand (his car), then we exchanged views on why studies are/aren't the focus. He took a stand based on cost recovery (cost of sch fees vs. monetary difference between studying and not studying), i took the opposite stand based on the intangibles; eg. an economic downturn affecting the low to middle tier educated individuals.

i think more importantly, once you've set a direction by deciding on something, never turn back or change course. You'd defeat the purpose by doing so.

night.

a scandalous photo

it's the first (or one of the few) time i updated my blog with multiple posts. When you are done, scroll down for more.

note: there's only 1 scandalous photo. I think i have 1 or 2 visitors who are too bored... maybe eye sore after seeing... lol.

Can't see the cupcake lei..


I took this as a coconut tree in india


So hard to lie on


So i rather...


Victimised. lol

古巨基 & 梁静茹 - 还是好朋友

still trying to understand the lyrics.

but... to be good friends after a long relationship can be tough, sometimes impossible..




还是好朋友 - 古巨基&梁静茹

作曲：黄韵玲 填词：林夕

没有人要内疚　没需要缘由
在十字街头　就相互保佑
那些体贴问候　那美丽镜头
没必要一分开 就变成了诅咒

相爱这一场　可能是为了
能拥有一个好朋友

还是好朋友　比爱人长久
不能牵的手按在心头
在最寂寞的关头
永远在左右

事过情迁后（升华以后）升华眼泪后
思念是最漫长的享受（漫长的享受）
那无痛的伤口
还带着温柔到白头

亲吻失去感受　火花烧到尽头
没激情有感情　有另一种邂逅

相爱这一场　可能是为了
能拥有一个好朋友

还是好朋友　比爱人长久
不能牵的手按在心头
在最寂寞的关头
永远在左右

事过情迁后（升华以后）升华眼泪后
思念是最漫长的享受（漫长的享受）
那无痛的伤口
还带着温柔到白头

还是好朋友　比爱人长久
不能牵的手按在心头
在最寂寞的关头
永远在左右

事过情迁后（升华以后）升华眼泪后
思念是最漫长的享受（漫长的享受）
是什么叫你我
只配做一对好朋友

busy days ahead

took over jy's laptop, but unfortunately no time to look at it now. Tuesday evening was kept occupied by computers yet again. Bought a new 320GB drive and nested it into my computer. Then, out the old 320GB and into my server machine. Now i have a spare 160GB, which i'll bring it to office.

have been thinking of killing off the server due to increasing electrical costs. Some network functions such as DHCP and DNS were transferred to my linksys router some time back, now what's left are the file sharing and web server. This is considered easy to do, but i may need more processing power, which means an upgrade of my dual core CPU. Then, my server supplies DC power to fans that cool my fish tank (!) and gigabit switch. Have to rewire them to be powered by those Newstar boxes instead. Shall decide on the killing this month.

today's helpdesk has been disastrous. People wanting to reformat their laptops... someone who dropped her laptop and partially crashed the hard disk. There was this Jason whom i met weeks ago, chatting with me when she came. He's good at picking up girls. Thumbs up... lol. Was rushing out of office, so i let him do my work and he packed off the girls to Acer. I flew out of the office.

moses drove me to his place at Casa, to reformat his 3 computers that i built over the past 2 years. Have been delaying since the start of the year 2008. Surprisingly everything was done in 3 hours flat. Then we retreated to ichiban for dinner, and had a couple of discussions on his job, my job, my brother, driving etc. Has been 12 years since we knew each other; time flies...

what's going to happen tomorrow will be to get my financial portfolio back from my FA, send in my laptop for servicing, and a sequel to the sad girl's crashed laptop. Have to start with jy's laptop too.

i want my hair dye, facial and new specs NOW.

i want my new resume SOOOOON.

rich dad poor dad

i went for this cashflow workshop based on "rich dad poor dad" by Robert T. Kiyosaki last weekend.

maybe i should explain what exactly happened:

it was on the day where i went suntec with nana to get my phone, then met 2 ladies who claimed to be from NUSS. Since NUSS is at Tower 4, i didn't smell a rat. So they followed up with phone calls and appointments to get me and her for a cashflow workshop, which i thought was pretty harmless. One of them (unnamed), S, even passed me a book - yeah, rich dad poor dad to read.

through the dialogues, i understood they are working as salaried employees, and also owners of businesses also. What business, i didn't ask. I thought it's amazing since they are entrepreneurs and are motivating people to be the same. At that point in time, i was genuinely thinking of entrepreneurship - a real business started up by solely themselves.


read the 1st 3 chapters last week, i even mentioned this book in the post before this. It's interesting, intriguing. The ideas are radical - such as employees working for money, they work just for a meagre sum of money just to be able to afford bills, spending etc. It's hard to accept the readings for me, a first timer reading.

so we went for the workshop last sat. I was rather shocked, because the whole workshop felt more like a motivational workshop.

- very well dressed people. Not very formal, but more formal than us la. Some even wore jackets and ties.

- the venue was rather makeshift, company had no signboard. I've heard of no signboard seafood, but seldom no signboard company. But i worked for one before; at least the company had legitimate goods inside. This one had just empty rooms and 2 nicely furnished smaller offices.

- we (and at least 10 others) sat down neatly in 3 rows facing a LCD tv.

- when the gamemaster was introduced, the whole atmosphere was revved up to an exceptional high tempo. We had to clap and welcome her in. It was like some wheel of fortune show. The host was using his voice loudly for making announcements. Then, we clap for everything. Really, clap for every damn thing.

- during the course of the game, the table master and her assistants were too motivational. Imagine a monopoly game with your friends, but take the friends out and put in telly hosts and their gusto. The speed of the game was fast too.

- S and the gamemaster, K, talked to us at the end. I think they went on for quite a while. Probably i was identified because i mentioned my interest of going into business after this cashflow game. We were encouraged to come back for video sharing, book sharing, and another cashflow workshop at NUS itself.

Interesting game in its own right...

today was the video sharing session. I was supposed to go for it in the evening. But there were some fishy stuff. Till date i have no idea which company/association they are representing, and i know there's no free lunch in this world. Why are they so kind to us? Organise this and that.

so i discussed with nana my concerns. Suddenly what she said and what i googled on the net got connected altogether - MLM. The book itself is used as a MLM material in many instances.

normally i procrastinate for small things. But i decided to cancel my appointment within 30 minutes of realising the situation. I'm a firm believer of working hard for money, and detest any forms of MLM. I must say i wasn't alert enough because i actually went for a cashflow workshop, a MLM event in disguise.

that being said, i'm not criticizing MLM. However, i do not believe in it. I believe in either doing my job as an employee or doing my business in my best ability, but not this way. And the book has some merits. Not everything in the book can work for people though.

jy's birthday party

just came back from roughly 2 days 1 night full of fun. Shall let the pictures do the talking... from the planning to actual day...

a day of discussion... cum talk-cock...


another day of shopping from Taipei to Beijing.
Actually from Bugis to Dhoby Ghaut la...


The plans came to life...


Food!


Prezzie!



We went to immerse with the oily men


Tiger and the nose hair


Everyone

will 21st be even more exciting? lol...

i'm sleepy

this week has been a torturing week. Every day is work, work and work.

luckily there are things that take the boredom out of work, these include:

- a book "Rich dad poor dad". An excellent read.


- bro signed up Singtel BBOM on my behalf. We agreed to split the subscription (well, $11/month). He can take the unlimited data SIM and surf to his hearts' content in camp. I can use the compact thumbdrive modem with HK's starhub data SIM. Why did i spend $180 earlier then? =x


- office PC couldn't install the modem properly. Formatted it, installed Vista. Brought my spare 3GB RAM and used it constructively, until i find a use for it at home.


- SIT club peeps. Have some rapport with them. They are planning to invite my colleagues and me for their AGM next month. It's positive for us (as in System Management Group) because TSOs are often viewed as unfriendly and unsupportive. I see it as a kind of branding and customer relationship management with the student representatives.


jason came by today, had a short chat. It's quite different between a working adult and studying adult. He's so well dressed, yet i'm always so casual. I'm beginning to love being casual, beginning to have headaches when it comes to wearing formal, which is the inevitable soon. And the daunting fate of being stuck in an office cubicle from 9-6pm...

can i find a job that allows me to be casual? If not, maybe i should start my own business. But do what? I think i better get my resume ready before school starts. lol... sleep for now.

new bus service for train commuters in the north

COMMUTERS living in the north can soon take a new bus service to work instead of squeezing with MRT crowds. SBS Transit service 128 will begin its first trip next Monday, starting its journey at Yio Chu Kang MRT and ending at Tanjong Pagar MRT.

The new service is part of a plan to let bus services duplicate parts of mature rail lines that face heavy passenger loads, giving commuters more travel options.

These services were scrapped previously when the MRT lines started operations.

Service 128 will make stops at 13 MRT stations along its route, with stops in between stations as well.

The service will run four trips each during the morning and evening rush hour.

Besides service 128, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a press statement on Monday that the number of premium bus services has grown to 76, from 42 in January.

Premium bus services offer commuters a fast and direct journey from the heartlands to the Central Business District, with few stops and a guaranteed seat.

LTA chief executive Yam Ah Mee said the LTA will continue to work with operators to make sure that more of such services will be available.


what's shocking - LTA apparently lost their bearings and claimed that Yio Chu Kang is in the north. So where will Sembawang, Woodlands, Bt Panjang be? Super-north of Singapore? Or we should call ourselves Malaysians because LTA has considered the area to be part of Southern Johor?

those people suffering are those in the super-north. Imagine you board from Marsiling or Woodlands to find all the seats taken, then stand for 16 stops to Raffles Place. Or try to take a bus down town, to find no buses that goes to Shenton Way at all. Add in the daily congestion from the checkpoint and the feeder buses are all choked because most of them run around the checkpoint area.

LTA is still not getting their transportation basics right. SMRT is now helping LTA screw it up further.

where are the 66 new SMRT buses? Oh, one came to Singapore. During the maiden trip, the shiny and green bus broke down on BKE and had to be towed back to workshop. Totally embarrassing. Sheesh.

i'm full of sarcasm in this post because MOT/LTA/SMRT has disappointed the masses again and again. The professional management of SMRT is fast becoming a liability and a thorn in the public transportation landscape. Take note, all the big guns reading.