Farewell, Farewell, Farewell.

you were always the friend who was willing to lend a hand. i've approached you heaps of times to help me get my stuff done. remember my georgraphy assignments? you were tired as hell piled with you own stuff, yet you didn't turn me down. cheerfully you grumbled, sat on the PC and churned up my stuff for me. so many times we wrestled, horsed around and just hung out. i knew you were ticklish like a little school girl and i would always pin you down and made sure you got a good one from me and the guys.

remember your cologne? you bought the largest bottle of Hugo Boss to impress the girl you liked. i'm not sure you managed to impress her, but us buddies around could always smell you a mile away. less is more my friend. you were a quirky friend. you could never turn anyone down. your room was a cyber cafe to all the people without a PC and internet access. you never locked your room so that we could come at all hours of the day to use your PC. i remember your room like it was only yesterday. clothes everywhere and books strewn as far as the eye can see. and who could forget your Coke memorobila. remember that year when we went to the Perth Royal Show together? you bought all the show bags that contained anything with a Coke logo. i thought you were nuts. i still do.

clothes were always optional for you. you did always be clad in just your underwear, and a thick jacket and nothing else. its winter buddy, winter man! oh my favourite Teochew friend. we had many good laughs together. i will miss you dearly. more dearly then you will ever know. take care.

R.I.P Tay Ching Xiang, Coco
19th October 2004

Sing, Sing, Sing

You don't know how you met me
You don't know why
You can't turn around and say goodbye
All you know is when I'm with you
I make you free
And swim through your veins like a fish in the sea
I'm singin'

Follow me everything is alright
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you
Want to leave I can guarantee
You won't find nobody else like me

I'm not worried 'bout the ring you wear
Cuz as long as no one knows than nobody can care
You're feelin' guilty and I'm well aware
But you don't look ashamed and baby I'm not scared
I'm singin'

Won't give you money
I can't give you the sky
You're better off if you don't ask why
I'm not the reason that you go astray and
We'll be all right if you don't ask me to stay

You don't know how you met me
You don't know why
You can't turn around and say goodbye
All you know is when I'm with you
I make you free
And swim through your veins like a fish in the sea
I'm singin'

Follow Me - Uncle Kracker

Pay, Pay, Pay

so much bureaucracy within the work system. its never fails to amaze me how so many organizations are always swimming knee deep in ridiculous practices. there are always better ways to do whatever work you are in, but management mandates that 'things have been done this way for years' and once again we are back to the stone age again. i have long practice the go-with-the-system, and just float downstream syndrome. it is infinitely impossible to try and fight the system when you are within the system.

how do you point out all the fallacies and loop holes of the organization without you coming across as another 'Holier Then Thou'. i am not a disgruntled cog in the wheel. a long time ago, my rose tinted glasses which i look out through were marred by too much brilliant people that got swept under the twisted apathy that every middle management practices. why don't they get recognized and rewarded. why is it so hard to get thru to so called 'trailed and tested' routines? the world changes, every situation that we encounter is finite with the off chance that it can change in an infinite way. why can't they see that you cannot always expect the square block to always find its way into the square hole. there IS no square hole.

work because it puts food on the table. work because it pays your bills. Maslow's Theory of Needs stipulates that once we satisfy our basic needs of food and shelter, we will turn to building up our self esteem and then finally reach self-actualization where we will reach our goal of achieving recognition for your contribution in the work place. in this day and age, how we will actually reach that stage still baffles me. is it even possible? i shudder at the thought that it's not possible. on the same token, how far do we have to tread before we actually see the light.

Cave quid dicis, quando, et cui.

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

its a well known fact, it doesn't matter what kind of job you are in, there will always be ways to get a work related injury. when i was working in the finance company, it was those damn paper cuts. day in day out i handled heaps of paper work. the paper work were kept in large paper files which were in turn kept in even larger paper accordion files. you the do math yourself, it was impossible not to get a paper cut. it was only a matter of time and how many times per day. it was something that you lived with when you take on an office job. and trust me, generally the smaller the cut the more it hurts. getting a huge gash by a sharp knife is one thing, but loads of paper cuts on your fingers will eventually take its toil on anybody, male or female.

i am in an entirely different job now. total mindless menial tasks. i refill items in a supermarket. i thought, hey i could do with the change in scenery. a job that keeps me on my feet instead of in an enclosed office surrounded by paper. i lift items from Point A to Point B. change shelf height or generally move stuff. its a hands on job. shelves need to go onto metal brackets, lots of shelves means lots of brackets, and as i soon found out, it was Cuts-ville all over again. you get nicks everywhere. but hey, i'm not one to whine when a lil cut gets you. today the mothership of pain came to me in the form of a make shift bracket-hammer. i had to get a wayward bracket into the wall, and since i couldn't get it in straight, on account that it was rusted beyond recognition. being the innovative person that i am, i decided to use another bracket to hammer the other in. left hand holding the bad bracket, right hand holding the hammer-bracket. lets just say i over estimated my ability in being able to aim straight. the first hit was the obligatory soft hit, which found it's mark, the second brute-force hit landed square on my left thumb. i felt my left thumb's life flash before me then it was pure and unadulterated burning pain. the throb! oh the throb in the thumb! quietly i left the two brackets on the floor, walk out clutching my thumb and staggered out for a quick smoke.

its been 3 hours since i knocked off from work. my thumb is still giving me the silent treatment. i don't blame it. not one bit. oh well, it could be worse, i don't know what or how, but i'm sure i'll find out someway. not too soon i hope.

Cest la Vie!