CPQQRT

To go or not to go? That is the question.

Context & Purpose
The Hillsong Conference is happening in less than 2 weeks. Sydney will be buzzing more than ever before. I thought I might pop by to catch up with a couple of OCFers who are probably in the plane right now flying from Melbourne. Also to indulge myself with a sumptuous Japanese dinner. A good enough reason to be in Sydney.

Quality
To spend quality time with friends.

Quantity
Need to establish a known route to Sydney.
Need a FREE parking space.

Resources
None – I don’t have a Sydway although the car is available for my perusal.
My memory – unreliable since I can’t remember how to get to Sydney other than following the signboards. Driving in the city itself is difficult. A navigator is required.

Time
Over the weekend maybe? Or just for the night? Undecided.

Feverish

Got a scare last week when I heard my dad was going for an operation! News of that was not received from any of my immediate family members. (Sorry bb, you’ve not considered part of the family… yet! Heh!)

Didn’t know what to feel but no one seemed to bother to inform me.

Further investigations then led to the confirmed announcement that the operation is very likely, but a second opinion on the surgery will be conducted tomorrow at IJN – Institut Jantung Negara i.e. the National Heart Institute in Malaysia.

Dad is suffering from Chronic Rheumatic Heart Disease, apparently developed during his younger days when he was down with rheumatic fever. But dad never recalled having any sort of that kind of fever, but it can be as simple as a mild fever turning into high fever, and when not properly taken care of, can affect your lungs and heart. Guess I’ll sum it up as the side effects of a high fever. He now has malfunction aortic valves that need replacement.

Fearful times no more

It hasn’t been too long since I last saw Poh Lyn in Sydney during our wild car hunting weekend. This time she’s down in Wollongong with RD, her main reason for the transfer from KL to Sydney. It’s a peaceful resolution to be meeting somewhere in the middle – between Melbourne and KL – to strengthen the relationship and be closer to one another. I brought that thought up with Jason and we decided that our middle point is not a feasible place to meet - i.e. boring ol' Canberra.

I will never forget how RD used to be this tall dark spooky looming figure, and I didn’t feel fortunate to be placed in the same small group as him in OCF. I remember being very fearful of him, and choosing the right words when speaking. Inputs from other OCFers didn’t help my expectations of him as a friend either, making me conclude that this then medical student was grumpy, unfriendly and intimidating. But he’s changed a lot now in character, and that’s a good thing.

But seeing him with Poh Lyn draws a smile to my face, and all those evil thoughts about him years ago didn’t matter anymore. I hope he gets a job in Sydney, then I’ll have more people to bug when I’m bored.

The New Rat Man

…..as they so passionately call it. I thought I was so over uni and studying and reading textbooks. And now I’ve been given this 242-page book during my problem analysis workshop. The New Rational Manager. I don’t read.

Had part of my performance reviewed yesterday with my boss. I actually missed having a probationay period review after starting in the company for three months. My boss didn't conduct it, and I didn't ask. The scoring system is simple. You get one point for performing below standard. Two if you are at standard and three points if you perform way above standard. I didn’t know there were no in between scores. Though I achieved above standard, it’s not close enough to ‘way above standard’ to warrant a three point. Geez. If I knew that, I’ll just be satisfied with achieving two points.

Oh well, Monday is THE DAY where most of my work will be reviewed. Breathe in, breathe out.

Wow. Haven’t wrote an entry for a week. Let’s see what I was up to. Pretty difficult to recap for someone who has a bad short term memory.

Friday 17 June
Attended the engagement celebration of Dave at a Japanese restaurant, without his other half who lives in Melbourne. The guys had earlier gone for drinks at a nearby pub called the Illawarra before proceeding for dinner. I didn’t want to be left out from nosing in on how he proposed to his fiance and how he met her. So I pushed him for the story and everyone turned heads wanting to know too. I was surprised that they didn’t ask him earlier at the pub. Strange, either it must be an Asian thing to be asking how the man meets the woman, or it must have been too noisy in the pub that they could hardly hear each other. But still, I don’t usually hang out with Dave, so I’m even more surprised that his buddies don’t even know.

We headed back to the Illawarra for drinks. It was so noisy that I could hardly hear myself talk. A guy came up to me and asked if I was part of the medical group who was also there. I said no and he proceeded to ask if I could dance with him. Shocked as can be, he must be mad to be picking up Asian chicks in Wollongong but I said maybe, knowing that I would leave the pub pretty soon. Sucker. Haha.

Saturday 18 June
Had home-cooked dinner with Bernard’s parents who are here for a 3month visit. And as usual, a game of mah jong cannot be avoided.

Sunday 19 June
Received a good sermon at church today about honesty in relationships.

Monday 20 June
Problem Analysis Workshop.
Netball game in the evening which we won 19-12.

Tuesday 21 June
Second day of the workshop.

Wednesday 22 June
The usual. Watched The Stepford Wives on dvd. Am so glad I didn’t watch it in the cinemas. Could not keep awake till 10.30pm to watch the match between Marat Safin and Mark Poupou. The looming headache got the better of me.

Thursday 23 June
Extravagant dinner at a church family’s house whom we met last Sunday. They have a beautiful architectural house, lots of space and cleverly furnished.

Friday 24 June
Procrastinating and writing journal entries at work. Naughty me.

Transitions are tough

I’m pretty disappointed that I am unable to attend Soph’s wedding. Being stuck here in whoop whoop land, sucks. For starters, I have not accrued enough annual leave to at least spend a week in KL for the wedding and visit my lonely parents. Secondly, I am broke. Coughed up a huge sum of money to pay for insurance yesterday. Is this merely a small taste of working life? Just the tip of the iceberg I reckon. Many more things to think about as a working adult. Arghh! The term “working adult” sounds old. But I find relief when people ask if I’m studying at uni.

I suppose I should look forward to dinner tonight to celebrate the engagement of Dave and Kim.

Today

0830: Arrive at office. Say the usual morning greetings.

0900: Finish checking emails. Recap work done last week.

1000: Time for morning tea.

1015: Decide to write some code. Yell out to Sam for help.

1100: Stuck. No point asking Sam. It’s almost lunchtime.

1200: Roast lamb and chicken. Personal stuff time. Email again.

1300: Silence in the office. Everyone looks busy. Not me.

1430: Dreamy. Eric breaks silence with stories about his 18-month-old son’s antics. A notorious boy, who climbs up the kitchen bench, opens the drawer and pulls out a meat cleaver.

1530: Arvo tea. My third Milo drink for the day.

1600: Time to go home soon. Brains are out of juice.

1700: It’s time to leave.

I’m a procrastinator. Period.

No I'm not going blind

I have a tingling pain in my right eye. Every time it gets tired or itchy, I would perform my usual hand-rubbing-eyes motion and I did just that on Sunday, causing a sudden pain in the eye. Water started welling up in the eye and almost instantly, I couldn’t open it. This feeling is horrible, it’s like having shampoo enter your eye and not washed off. And as of now, it’s still painful when I blink. Every now and then, I try to stretch the eye ball to the furthest end of the eye and back again. That feels comfortable, but not for long. I hope nothing is wrong because I haven’t felt this pain since the day I quit wearing my contact lenses.

Honestly, I have thoughts that I may one day go blind, or partially blind. I know I'm being silly but what if?? The realm of darkness: How will I survive? I might not.

No offence to all mechanical engineers

“No more of this mechanical stupidity.”

I laughed when Eric made that exclamation as he prepares to take over Ben’s role of ordering stationary and personal protective equipment for the whole floor. Ben is one of the mechanical engineers who resides on the other half of Level 3. I have observed a couple of times now when the stationary order arrived and this morning, in a big cardboard box were four red pens, three highlighters and one puncher. The previous order just a week ago was two folders. Even the freight costs more than the order itself! This apparent “tension” between the electrical and the mechanical guys are just hilarious. Eric will make a perfect replacement to make administration matters right again.

Another incident involving the mecho guys happened about a month ago. I bought the Trading Post one fine Thursday morning to look for some second hand items. I left the paper near the kitchen bench while going for my morning tea. When I realised it was missing, I went back to bench and it was gone. I asked around my colleagues if they had seen my paper and immediately Eric goes “Try the mecho guys…they are the culprits all the time!”. And true enough, one of them had assumed the lost paper was his and not bothered to ask if it belonged to anyone. Tsk tsk!

BLACKLISTED: JAYSON P.

for selfishly not informing me that he is a Vodafone user, and not Optus.
for annoyingly causing me to chatter away for more than 16 minutes.
for unnecessarily copping me a huge phone bill.
for being happily unrepentant of his actions.

He's a DEAD man the next time I'm in Melbourne.

Today - First Day of Winter

It's official. Today is D-Day and Seven on Sunrise is giving people on the streets bear hugs to keep warm. I want one too. My colleagues cannot imagine how I survived freezing cold Melbourne, but I did, for five years. I wonder how my brother will fare, considering he's so much more skinnier than I am. He should eat more F-A-T. Don't think it will affect anything in his system but it's worth a try. I eat fats too okay, just that it goes to other parts of my body which I'm quite happy to say I hide those blobs of fat pretty well. I wouldn't know where the rest of the fatty molecules go, but I have been advised to go for a thorough checkup, specifically to check for cholesterol level and blood pressure. Knowing myself too well, I guess procrastination is my favourite practice.