What A Day ...

It's a bit hard to believe sooooo many things happened today, all unpleasant.

1. A close colleague tendered his resignation today. While he has my blessings, all my technical projects are now in jeopardy.
   
   
2. We lost the tender that we were so confident of winning. My boss wants to appeal. Like duhhh, appeal against a tender loss?
   
   
3. The other tender we are nurturing is dangerously close to being clinically dead. The partner we are working with wants "a better price than what our competitor is getting". Like duhhh, you sure your info choon?
   
   
4. Wifey told me over dinner that her friend has been admitted. She has early-stage TB. I was like "WHAT??!! And how old is she??" Yes, she was a heavy smoker once, but she has cut down lots from last time. And she's still so young. How come some people smoke throughout their fucking life and barely catch a cold?
   
   
5. A good friend whose wedding I'm supposed to attend in 2 weeks' time called. "Just to let you know the wedding is off". "WHY?" I raised my voice for no apparent reason. "I'm not ready to talk about it now." Now WTF is going on here?
   
   
6. While calling another close friend to talk about the called-off wedding, more bad news. Her husband just quitted his job in AU, and is now back in SG. Reason? Stupid fickle-minded boss. Hmm ...
   
   

While all these were happening, I was actually just back from a training course on self-discovery that asked poignant questions, like:

1. Do you have a role model? (No.)
   
   
2. Do you have a personal mission statement? (No.)
   
   
3. What are your personal goals? (Never got that figured out since primary school.)
   
   
4. Do you know that there is no such thing as "no choice"? (Is that right?)
   
   
5. Do you know that the thing / scene /value you think of when you are day-dreaming, is your real inner-thoughts? (Err, ok.)
   
   

The course really made me think of what I don't have (a goal) and what I didn't do (things that will get me to the goal). I will spend the next few weeks thinking of what I want to own / be / at , and how to achieve them.

While I am taking the day's unfoldings in good stride, I think it offers many lessons that will take me a while more to comprehend and digest.

Anyhow, I hope it will be a looooong time more before the Day of Bad News returns.

When Can I?

When can I stop feeling crappy on Sunday because next day got to return to work?

When can I watch My Date with A Vampire III on the sofa, not in front of my notebook?

When can I have 2 full days of the weekend to spend with my family?

When can I find a job whose workscope I really enjoy?

When can I join an organisation or department that I really like?

Exercise

Wifey and I bought a stepper months ago, but it was only this week that we started using it seriously. We. Have. To. Lose. Weight.

We are so serious that I even came up with a chart to track our progress. Basically, we jot down the number of steps we can do in 5 minutes. (5 minutes is the time suggested in the user guide). We also record the the number of calories burnt (readout from the stepper has been averaging 25 calories - it's a good start!) and weight.

I've also been trying to get involved in more sports. We had badminton last weekend, and later a few of my colleagues are going for street soccer.

Healthy living, here I come!

Zoom Zoom

It has been one and a half years since we had our car. This week, 40,000km later, our M3 went in for a major servicing. When I collected it the next day, it didn't feel significantly better, but it was the peace of mind to know that the companion I go to work with every morning has gotten his clean bill of health.

Over the past few months the car has also gotten noisy. Initially we thought it was problems with the axle or chassis, but it turned out to be the tyres. Dad brought the car out yesterday and came back with 4 new tyres.

FWAH!! Such a world of difference!! The road hold was good, control was good, breaking was responsive. Most importantly, it was quiet. Didn't realised I missed the purring of the engine.

Geh Pui Liao

That means TOO FAT ALREADY in Hokkien, a Chinese dialect.

I was sitting on the barber's chair when I realised I had very PRONOUNCED double chin. I mean, I knew I had some spare flesh there, but it really looked gross. I checked the incline of the chair. Maybe the double chin is caused by the chair leaning back, and me having to tilt my head to see into the mirror, I reasoned.

Yah, right.

Wifey and I agree that we haven't been really living healthily. We hardly exercise. I think this lack of exercise may also be a bane to natural child-bearing. We have decided that we need to exercise at least twice a week, with one hour for each session.

Watch this space for the slimmer, healthier duo!

Quotes

For some strange reason, I really like these 2 quotes:

• On the Brink of Greatness
• Flashes of Brilliance

The first one will be a good book title if I ever make it. The operative word: IF.

The second one can be used to describe me: once in a long while, I actually sort out my thoughts.