Rich son, poor son

Very, very meaningful.

Dear Lord, thanks again for the reminder : )





Post Date: 31 Aug 09

Philly and Fishie

More than 20 years ago, a dorky, awkward teenager met a sweet-looking girl at his orientation. She had her long, bouncy hair tied into a ponytail. Her tan complexion was due to the love of outdoor sports, especially swimming. She smiled a lot, and her laughter was especially contagious.

Their OG was an active one, meeting up regularly for lunches and outings. They both enjoyed the company, and nothing happened at first. But as the group then settled into their regular routine, he realised that he has taken a fancy to her. "She is wife material," he sniggered to himself. Phone conversations became more frequent, and he had a hard time trying to coincidentally bump into her along the corridors.

Over one of those long conversations, he asked to be her boyfriend. She was somewhat cornered, and rather hesitantly, said yes. It was August then. He was overjoyed! Over the moon! You see, unbeknownst to her then, he had 2 things on his mind. Using a sports analogy,

1. He needed to move up to midfield to attack
2. But before he can do that, he needed a solid defence

He had already identified that she will be the proverbial woman behind the proverbial successful man. With her support on the home front, he'll then be able to focus on taking on this world. Something like 男主外女主内.

They enjoyed their "paktor-hood" thoroughly, strolling in parks, going to movies, taking photos, etc. They had their 小情侣 squabbles, of course, but there was never shouting or fighting. Never. They were mostly disagreements, thrashed out civilly. They also learnt to manage each other's expectations. In all, they disagreed for less than 5 times. But he also learnt his lesson. Everytime she cried, it pierced his heart. He vowed never to make her angry, and will love and protect her.

Knowing that he found himself a good catch, dorky teen got worried when NS time came. She was too important to him and cannot afford to lose her. But what if...? She had a hard time reassuring him, but did so ever so patiently. She meant what she said, when twice she waited for him outside his camp. Imagine, a teenage girl outside an army camp! That's simply asking for trouble (meaning, cat calls, whistles, stares)! But she did it. When dorky nerd saw her standing there, he couldn't believe his eyes! He so badly wanted to hug her there and then, but had to restrain himself. He was so, so touched, and loved her even more.

Their love story continued much along the same lines, of surprise gifts, silly jokes, lots of love but even more respect.

Today, they have been together for 20 years, and married for 10. Come next year, there will be a new addition to the small family, one that they have been praying for.

So Happy 20th Anniversary my Princess, for comforting me when I'm sad, for encouraging me when I'm down, for bearing with me when I'm incoherent, for supporting me when I feel weak... most importanly, for being there for me. Of all the wrong things I've done, I am so proud I did one thing right: asking to be your boyfriend 20 years ago.

I love you, dear. May we have many, many more 20-year anniversaries to come. And I want to dedicate this song to you, the song that we liked so much and has grown to represent our relationship.





Image credit here.

Post Date: 31 Aug 09

Blind ruminant left to die

*Update* 5pm

Very disturbed, so went to seek divine assistance. The lot said:

"To act is to court disaster"

Yikes! So now better 按兵不动.

*****************************

It's been 3 days, and I still can't figure out my next course of action.

It's tough working against the unknown of unknowns, especially the timeframe. I need to quickly sort out my thoughts and put in an action plan, but ...

STILL NO BLOODY IDEA!



Image credit here.

Post Date: 26 Aug 09

Better cashflow tracking

Want to try something to improve the cashflow and cash-at-hand picture. From next month onwards, every time a credit card transaction is incurred, I'll pay the amount into the credit card account. Will do this on a weekly basis, and monitor this trial over 3 months. Also right that items are expensed in the month of incurrence.



Post Date: 26 Aug 09

青春年华

This song popped into my head today. Thought all along it was a 刘文正 song. But it could have been a 高凌风 song.



Brings back many happy childhood memories.



Post Date: 23 Aug 09

How apt

Today's horoscope in the Sunday Times says:

Spend time alone with your thoughts today and you will be in a better frame of mind. You need some distance from the flurry of activity in the workplace so that you gain a better perspective on recent events.

How did they know?



Post Date: 23 Aug 09

"It's a bad time to look for jobs"

So today is the office's 7th month prayers. Big Boss came. Talked to him about the sale of the business.

As usual, he was non-committal. I told him if it were to materialise, then we need to re-deploy of existing staff. He acknowledged that and hinted that it shouldn't be a problem.

"Then I'll need to talk to you about me," I continued.

"Yah, still got you ..." he let his sentence trail off.

A lot of things flashed before my eyes at that moment - money issues, job ads, standard of living ... and the new addition to the family. I knew instantly I had to plan for my exit. If your employees are just automatons that you either add or remove according to your needs, then it's time they start to think (and fend) for themselves.

That look on his face tells me he doesn't know what to do with me. I don't have the luxury of that same ignorance.

I ended my conversation with him by saying "It's a bad time to be looking for jobs". And I said it twice.



Image credit here.

Post Date: 24 Aug 09

Bitter. Sweet.

So today marked the end of another in-camp training. While the maps, overlay, enemy actions and the department head's requirements still daunt me, I must say I survived better this time. I seemed to know what was going on. Yet again, this exercise was definitely less intense than the previous one.

The going was tough - early mornings, late nights, endless injects and countless presentations. While going through it, I couldn't wait for it to finish.

But now that it's over, I kind of ... miss it. Not so much the training, but the teamwork, the bind of the common destiny, and the talking cock. I did much, much better on the communication with the team.

This in-camp is the last one for some of the guys. I'll miss them, just like how I miss those who had already MR-ed at the last in-camp.

In other news, I ALMOST became the first NS men of the entire division to out-pro : )



Image credit here.

Post Date: 23 Aug 09

"Your time will come"

While driving home this evening, I started thinking about the thousands of people who have bought private property, and wondered how they did it.

And then this thought entered my head: don't rush into things. Your turn will come.

Well, they did say patience is a virtue ...



Post Date: 13 Aug 09

Time to go green

Reservist training (AGAIN! ARRRGHH!) starting from tomorrow.

I had so much trouble assimilating.
I had so much trouble understanding what was needed of me.
I had so much trouble understanding the doctrines.
I felt that I couldn't contribute.
I didn't like the long hours away from home.

And they are all coming back.



Post Date: 13 Aug 09

The End. The Beginning

Strictly speaking, it is session #7, and it's the last. We have accomplished our mission.

All the time I was running through the logistics in my head, we executed them today: the sorting, folding, opening, transferring and the eventual trip to the site.

The site had many visitors. These unwelcome buggers made me really uneasy. What's there to watch? Just go away! And thankfully they did.

I had imagined the final scene in my head many times, and it panned out almost accordingly. I didn't realise how much we did until we laid them all out. It was quite a sight to behold - almost knee height. On our way back, I was told that everything went well. Relieved.

This marked the end of the sessions, but the beginning of a new journey. I CAN'T WAIT!



Post Date: 13 Aug 09

SJS

Saw a car with license plate SJS XXXX on the road this morning.

Hmmm ... SJS.

Brings back memories of a particular primary school in the early 80s, where a boy felt left out when 3 of his classmates formed a 'Secret Js' club, a la Secret Seven and Hardy Boys. At that moment, he wondered why his name didn't have a 'J', the pre-requisite to qualify for the club.

But he got over it pretty quickly. His innocent mind told him: Got so many thefts or even deaths in school to investigate, meh?

It's strange how some memories of more than 30 years can remain stuck.



Post Date: 3 Aug 09