Clouds Can be A Blessing

Life's unpredictable. It can be a pain. But one always has got to look for the silver lining in life.

I lost a LOT of money due to this sub-prime nonsense.
Silver Lining: I'm not the only one. But I am one of the few who lost relatively peanuts. And its not my life savings nor my income that's gone. But it still hurts cos I could have gotten that damn nice Specialized bike with whatever parts I wanted with cash to spare for servicing.

I contracted Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease this week.
Silver Lining: LOL. The 40.3C high fever was a bitch, the painful and itchy sores on my face are not funny BUT its gone now. And I am enjoying the week off on MC. Though I'm a little bored. Finished Fable 2, going to pre-order Gears of war 2. Plus when I get back, i would have only 8 weeks of NS nonsense to endure.

Tuition's over. I'm broke.
Silver lining: I have total freedom at nights. I can relax and sleep earlier. So much so that I can wake up earlier to cycle to work. But the downside is rather serious though. I have to watch my moolah consumption. And I hate that cos I love to spend on whatever I want. I love my disposable income. I stopped wondering a long time ago why my savings are so pathetic. But at least I live life, eh. Still can earn some more cash..

So you see, coming from someone who just contracted a disease fresh off the playground, (my niece had the HFMD and passed it to me) there's a silver lining everywhere. You just have to look.

Oh, and now that I have only 8 weeks till ORD, I am scared shitless of what life ahead holds. Uni life. Have all my brains been sucked dry by the stupidity of CD?

I'm afraid that after rising so easily to the top of the food chain in my dept, not very much attributed to my skills, but more so to me being relatively much better than the competition (Not looking so much at their paper qualifications, which don't say much in the first place, but more to their lousy work ethic which makes even a lazy bugger like me look good), I'm afraid that uni may be a culture shock where things don't come automatically. I guess we all have to go through the same trials. Unless you're a girl, then you don't get a 2 year break from studying, and you get less pay in the future. Lol.

Silver lining's everywhere. :)

To the Fan/s

Its been a long time. Fan/(s) want updates. I had many, but now most of them have been forgotten. What can I say? I’m lazy.

I’ve been cycling to work for the past 7 working days straight. I must say what started out as something relaxing, something to imbue my lifestyle with some semblance of good health has turned out to much of a chore.

Yes, I do arrive earlier in the office even though I wake up at the same time (cos the journey by bike is faster than the bus, blame the Eunos jam) and yes I do save around $50 a week on cab rides (because most of the time I don’t bother waking up for the bus and just take a damn cab) but I have one large irking problem.

Biking to work kills the fun on weekends. I have no dying urge to go to the trail anymore. It could be due to the fact that the Tampines MTB park has gotten boring after going there for the millionth time, or it could be due to the fact that I ride my bike everyday.

Bah, but tomorrow’s Monday. A whole new week to ride my bike.

Curious to know the distance from Loyang to Ubi? 12.05km, just a 30-45 min bike ride, depending on how late I leave the house, and hence how hard I pedal to get to work on time. At least I save lots of cash now, cos I wake up early, which is expecially prudent since I’m now only earning my CPL pay, with no more tuition cash to supplement my expendable income. I guess I can say goodbye to that Trigon Carbon-fiber stem I’ve been wanting to get to match my handlebar.

Speaking of work, I’m now the highest ranking NSF in my whole department. I’m Dept IC, and have been for 2 months now, but there was always the other 2 CPLs who always prevented my superiority complex from reaching nirvana. Now that they’re gone, I’m the alpha male. The big kahuna. Hoho. But I’m glad to say that I’ve learnt a bit from time as boss in Biz Club. And I’ve even imbued a few CD lessons into the mix.

Has anyone seen the markets lately? Bloody shit. The HSI has dropped by more than half. And so has the value of my unit trusts. Shit SHIT!

Ah, well, I’m still young. Plenty of time to hold, regain capital and hold some more and then gain dividends. Haha. Maybe I’ll be able to buy a few Macdonald’s ice-cream cones for you in about 3-6 years time with my gains. That is, if I gain back my injected capital in the first place.

Vishnu has been in Australia for training for a few weeks now. Our outings have been kinda boring now that my Xbox’s spoilt and there’s no Vishnu’s house to go to watch vids and play games. And on the very day that Vishnu comes back next month, Sing is flying to HK for a long holiday since that lucky bastard ORDs on 11 Nov.

And I only ORD in Jan. I’ve been feeling the repetition of my job killing me slowly, with each passing day.

Upon self-reflection, I think that I have the potential to be rather successful at work. But at the same time, a certain dichotomy exists. I have no holding power. I only work hard, fast and smart if there’s a reward at the end, be it promotion, title or bonus.

Take for example, in school. I worked hard to secure a title in my CCA. Thereafter, I worked hard to prove that I was deserving of the title. And after that, I worked to win the competitions to provide the capital for the café. Then I worked hard to set it up, and then launch it. Of course, I wasn’t the only one working hard, but you get the general idea la.

After that? I was lifeless. I had no idea what to do next, and I was just bidding my time to the handover and the A levels.

Last year, I worked hard to prove myself as the most capable, and in CD, it ain’t that difficult. I got one stripe. And then I worked hard to gain another. And then complacency set in. Then I worked hard again, to become dept head. But I didn’t work that hard to get it cos it was more or less mine already. :)

And now, I’m just bidding my time to Jan.

So there are two ways on how my working life may pan out.

Scenario 1: I have enormous starting power. I will be invaluable as long as there is an end in sight. But once I reach the end, I cannot maintain that peak, unless there’s another obstacle to climb. That means I would need to keep starting up new projects and seeing them through till the launch and then I’ll have to leave to go to the next startup. Could become a good venture capitatist..?

Scenario 2: I start out promising. Then I fail to maintain that upward trend. Upper management decides I’m a fading star. I get passed off the next promotion, cos there’s another shining star. I get pissed off. And I join the civil service. LOL.

Dan says I’m T-800 and he’s the T-1000, that is, I’m the old model Terminator, and he’s the new liquid metal Terminator, superior in all aspects.

That’s not true Dan. I’ve reached the highest possible position I could ever get with the opportunities presented to me. Ya la, can get SGT if I pass IPPT one. But cannot la.

But you have something to prove, and that’s why you have fire in your belly. Lol. You should choose another movie analogy for the both of us. I’m, Rocky, old, bored and complacent. And you’re the new guy, with youth and determination to win something. But remember, be it Terminator or Roacky, I still whoop your ass. Lol.

Ok, good night people. I’m going to go and eat dinner. Now I have an excuse to eat anything I want cos I bike to work. And some may wonder why biking never has any effect on me… Haha. Night.