Interesting

YY, anything interesting happened in school today?
> Yes
What?
> Ants!
Ants where?
> Ants in school. We shout " Ants! Ants!"
Then what happened?
> Then we crawl there.
Where?
> *points to the right side* There!
Where was the ant?
> *points to the same side* There!
So you crawl to the ants side?
> Yes
How many ants were there?
> One!
Huh? One ant and all of you big children scream at the small ant?
> Yes, we all scream at the ant.
Then what happened?
> Then Lui Lao Shi ( Teacher Lui) smashed it.
*oh!*

One Nation One People, One Singapore

One People = 1
One Nation = 1
One Singapore = S

Add them up and you get a dollar sign !!!

Converting an interest into a potential income stream.

Why not?

Frozen Shit

Nobody's going to come to my place for dinner anymore!!! I have shit frozen in my freezer!!! My baby nephew's shit to be exact. My parents put it in there and reassured me that the process has been well managed and that the shit has been placed in an air-tight container and that I don't have to worry about contamination. My dear nephew, the "Bai Lao Shu" ( White Mice) , is signed up as a test subject by a milk powder manufacturer. The experiment tests whether the milk formula he is on ( with/without prebiotics - we don't know which batch he is on) will have any impact on his immunity level. Somehow, this experiment translates to me having shit in my freezer!!!! I'm so never ever going to let this little cute as cute fellow forget this.

Patience

I've lost it.

Digging in the wrong place?

Every now and then, I'm reminded of this conversation I had with an ex-colleague from a long time back. We have both left that company. I'm just reminded of it again today, while going through some resumes for a position I have in my team.

Someone had listed this as a reason for leaving the company - after less than 2 years >> "Reached job ceiling and was told that there will not be any career advancement". Same person, comment for leaving another company after approximately 4 months was "Department structure is shaky and affects career development oppotunity. Aim to find a company that offers growth and advancement"

Going back to the conversation I had with my ex-colleague, which was about career advancements. We were discussing why we should just quit digging in the same place (company) because there's never ever going to be gold for us there. So, no matter how hard we dig and dig - try and try or work as hard as we can and push overselves over the edge to contribute - we're never ever going to dig anything more than a nice, deep grave for ourselves.

So, the only way we should go abouts gathering gold for ourselves is to quit that company and find greener pastures.

With the benefit of hindsight and also maybe maturity, I think our conclusion was not wrong but not entirely correct either.

Opportunities are everywhere but you have to be equipped with the right skills and tools and even personality in order to seize them. Gold doesn't come in ready cast ingots. More often than not, it comes disguised as dirt. Openly digging and throwing dust over everyone else around you will not help. If you recognise this, you would become successful.

Ultimately, resourcefulness in an employee is prized. Anywhere.

I'm throwing this resume into the bin.

Noodle-Meter

No longer feasible to share a bowl of noodles with the boy. He eats more than half the portion and all the wantons. Yesterday, my parents brought him out for lunch. They bought 2 bowls of noodles to share amongst the 3 of them. There were 4 wantons in each bowl. The boy ate 6!

A watch that does not tell the time

Jumped when I looked at a colleague's watch today...and had to look at my own. The difference? 30 minutes! Who wears a watch that tells time half an hour ahead of time? Why bother wearing a watch that doesn't tell you the time and worse, if you are like me, having trouble keeping time, make things more complicated by having to mentally calculate what the exact time is? Or is it possible to set youself up, deceive yourself, and believe that the time is what is on the watch? Asked the Big One about it. The response: He likes to be late and yet be ahead. ???!??

Am glad both his watch and mine tells the same time, which is the time that our government uses on the ERP gantries.

(",)

To be or not to be...

" To be or not to be..." Shakespeare
" To do is to be" Socrates
" To be is to do" Immanuel Kant
" To be to be do..." Frank Sinatra

(",)

Have a fun weekend!!!

A3BD

Sunday 14th Oct

Kid's Loft @ Cluny Court

Athena's Birthday Party

The boy (bottom right) is caught staring at the edible barbie doll's skirt!

Facebook

It's gone beyong critical mass / tipping point. Everyone's on it! (Well, almost!) Been poking, sending eggs that grow over 4 days, writing on people's walls, catching up, looking to see who knows who, biting, laughing, sending cakes and flowers and communicating with people from my past. They get to tag pictures of me that I never knew existed, buy me drinks & pizza, hug and share videos that absolutely just make me crack up with laughter!

A warm smile and a dollar

There are 3 security guards who take turns 'manning' the lifts where I work and everyday I am amazed at how they would smile, greet and hold the lift door open for the people working in this building. Basically, before I get to work, I'm already thinking about it and so, I never fail to appear at the lift lobby looking like the whole world owes me a living but yet, these people, they smile so warmly at you each and every time. Regardless. It's these human smiles that wakes me up from my own little world of selfish self existence.

Then, on the other spectrum of existence, there's this >> I realized, on the way out to lunch today that I had NO CASH with me. But fortunately, I had my bank card with me so I went looking for a UOB cash machine. These things are not easy to find. I think DBS cash machines outnumbers UOB cash machines by 10 to 1. Anyway, so there I was, grouchy under the hot sun, hungry and walking already for 20 minutes when this person walks up to me and asks, " Xiao Jie, Ni You Mei You Yi Kwai Qian, Wo Yao Ta Che!" (Miss, do you have a dollar? I want to take the bus!" I'm like, "No. I don't have a dollar!" She cursed at me and walked away. I'm like " WHAT THE F**K!???!?"Almost threw my heels at her!

Anyway, here's the point to this rant - some people make you feel better than others and also that you reap what you sow. A smile for a smile and a curse for a heel sticking out of your back??

So, everybody out there, better stay happy!!! It's safer.

Generation IT

At the beach last evening. Big one built a sandcastle.... simple one, just with buckets. Small one complained that it had holes and told the builder he wants to "DELETE!" it.

Work

Was at Ocean building earlier. That place hasn't really changed much. I started my first job there as a 'Patents Executive' in 1997. Was paid a grand sum of $1,700/month. Well, it was good I found something. It was the year the currency crisis hit Asia plus with a Degree in Zoology, I couldn't afford to be choosy.

I still remember, the law firm I worked for was sticky about punctuality. We were issued with access cards which was really, just a disguise for a punch card. They knew if you walked in late and they knew if you took more than 1 hour for lunch and some form of disciplinary punishment will be meted out by the office manager if you broke the 'law'.

I suffocated in that environment and quit after 9 months.

Times have changed much since then. I'm a happy to work for however long it takes to finish the job. But don't ever tell me I have to start work on the dot at 8:30am every morning.

Am thankful to have a flexi-work arrangement with my current company. Am not tied to any location or hours. Perfect!

My parent's don't get it. So long as I am at home, they'll go, "Today no need to work arh?"

Dream

Water. Reminds me of a dream I had. Boy went missing so we ran around to look for him. Found him floating face down in a shallow pool - circular shape. I pulled him out. We tried to get him breathing again. Could not. I wanted to die and woke up. Thank god I woke up. Else I would have killed myself.

Kelong

Smsed the Big One: Do you think it's a good idea to go for a short trip in a kelong?
Reply: It's a good idea, only we need a cage for the boy while we sleep.

Police Story # X?

Latest of the lost phones saga: We still haven't got the phones back. Think when we do, we can relegate it to the museum of popular technology. The court rejected the police recommendation - that is to give the girl a warning and close the case. They want to charge her for taking the phones and we can't get back the phones until the case closes! DARN!

Playground...and other updates

The boy needed some fresh air, so brought him for a walk. He spotted the playground and rushed towards it... I had to ran after him and pull him back. Can't have him leaving his germs there can we? Poor boy, couldn't eat much during the weekend but from what I hear today, he's making up for lost food. This morning, he had his milk, ate a piece of yam cake, a bowl of noodles and wanted some more yam cake.

Wii >> the boy loves it. He can play the bowling game independently. Tries to play the tank demo game but gets very frustrated and shouts "Don't shoot me arh! WHY YOU SHOOT ME!!!??!!" We limit him to like 15 games and then a last game and a last last game and a last last last game. Meltdowns prevented because we tell him if he does melt, he won't get to play it for a week.

Violin >> I went for class without him. Had a good session. I actually could pay attention during the class! So far, we practised twice - 2 X5 minutes session. He's not very keen but he's holding the bow and the instrument fine. Me thinks he's doing fine anyways.

HIV >> A colleague's daughter asked her, "Mummy, how do you get HIV?" She tells the kid, "You get it when you sit in dirty toilet bowls!" Kid says, "No wonder mummy, you never let me sit on the toilet bowl!" Well well well... I'm speechless.

Grass and Sand >> Same colleague - never lets her 3 kids step on grass or sand. ( In case there are broken glass or centipedes) No wonder my kid catches everything. I let him run everywhere and even scolded him once when he got fussy about walking barefooted on grass.

Hey! The 'Jacob Ballas Children Playground' off Bukit Timah Road, near the Botanic Gardens /old NIE campus is now officially opened. Heard they have grass, (",) a tree house, floating platform, swinging bridge and waterplay area! Sounds like fun.

Nokia | Second Nature