Cherish The Living

A couple of entries (zewt's and Little Raymond's) have inspired me to write about this, as well as a piece of news which I received early yesterday morning. Not that I'm morbid but it is a fact of life. There are two things that are certain in this life, which we cannot escape from: death and taxes. I'm talking about the former, i.e. death.

I have listened to so many people voice their regret and sorrow over not being able to say what they want to say or do what they want to do for someone who has just left this world. But it is often too late.

Just yesterday morning, my father and I had a typical conversation. He asked me if I could give Snoopy a ride but I said that I needed to get to work on time. He said, "Just for 5 minutes, only." I told him I couldn't spare it. I had to get to work on time. I didn't know why but I just had to. I got irritated because there are times I need to be in the office on time to do something. (I know, I know... My soul does not belong to the company but that's just me... the responsible idiot worker...)

When I got to work. I heard the bad news. My colleague's father had just passed away the night before.

I paused. Said a prayer to ask for forgiveness from God for being irritated at my father. Said a prayer for my colleague's father and her family.

After visiting my colleague and dinner with my colleagues, I called home and my father asked me to get his favourite char siew pau. This time I did not refuse.

Life is indeed short. Remember to count your blessings and be thankful for it. Remember to cherish your loved ones around you.

Attack of The Fatty Desserts!!!

I'm having a serious attack of the munchies now... (-.-)

I can't help myself!!!! *Sigh*... Feast your eyes on the following delectable photos....

SLURRRRRRPPPP!!!!

WHY CAN'T I STOP DROOLING ALL OVER MYSELF???

These photos were taken last month when I attended my colleague's farewell at KLCC's California Pizza. After sharing a few things with my colleagues, we decided to gorge ourselves with a couple of items from the dessert menu.

Boy, it was worth it!

... And...I didn't mind working my @ss off at the gym after that meal. (^___^)

Losing My Voice...

My posts has been quite infrequent of late as I have been awfully busy at work. *Sigh*, I hate to use that term, but I have a day job. And until I can win that Big Sweep lottery and "retire" from corporate life, I have to answer to my bosses - my colleagues, managers and team members.

Now, for those who are still studying, cherish your student days!!! For it will not last forever, unless you choose to be a professional student as your career choice... (^ ^)

I have been awfully busy conducting some internal training at work, trying to regurgitate all that I've learned from the last training session some many moons back. It had been a while since I touched the product and it took me a good few hours to recall what I've learned. Hence, the adage is very true... Use it or Lose it!!

Aside from the fact that I had to stand in front of people to speak; which I had no trouble at all, the one big side effect which I do not like about conducting training is the effect it has on my voice. Of course, I do not discourage the participants from speaking or asking questions, but as a trainer, you do most of the yapping.

So, I'm suffering from a slight sore throat after 2 days of intense talking. I had the weekend to rest, but by then, my throat was a bit sore and I was feeling "heaty".

By Monday evening, the training was finally finished and so, I had a bit of time to rest. I had been asked to phone a customer but I found that difficult because my voice was at its breaking point. So, I turned to a colleague who brought some honey to the office. Just a couple of teaspoons with some hot water really does wonders.

It offers relief and your throat feels all nice and warm, just like the honey. But, I still need to rest my throat.

However.....

EV: What you want to eat?
Me: (speaking softly)... How about a salad, and pasta? Oooo... How about this foccacia?
EV: **looks at the menu** This one??? It has cheese and etc... You want to eat-ar?
Me: **nods enthusiastically** Yeah yeah!!!
EV: Aiyooo.. You got sore throat and you still want to eat this heaty thing????
Me: Kekekke... (speaking softly)... Yeah.. Fight fire with fire!!!
EV: ** shakes head **

Anyway, my voice is a lot better as I have been taking a lot of water to cool my system. Yep, with water, you produce byproducts and so, you have to visit the loo very often. But, one feels better after that.

So, any other ideas to cure a sore throat or soothe a very "tired" throat?

Weekend Has Begun??

My Friday post is missing.... Hee Hee... Because I haven't had the time to write anything yet!!

Anyway, to many people, the weekend officially begins on Friday, after their office hour (i.e. 5:00pm, 5:30pm or 6:00pm...)

However, for me, my weekend this week officially begins when I reach home at about 8 or 9pm. (-__-)

Why?

I'm farking B U S Y...

Aside from the fact that I have to kow tow to my customer who is asking a lot of things from me, some of which is to deliver something next to IMPOSSIBLE (???), I have to setup a few slides for a training session on Monday.

The training session is OK, but that customer is just killing me. Anyway, I'll just "tahan" (persevere) until everything is over. I'm not looking forward to Monday. *sigh*

Isn't it strange that on a Saturday morning (it's 12:33am now) and I'm already starting to feel the Monday Blues???

Besides this, I'm also nursing my old injuries again. My knees are hurting again due to a pretty heavy workout a few days back. That sucks. It's back to the ice, compress and rest routine again. (-__-)

Well, looking at the bright side.; at least the server will be down during the weekend and I can't access my mail. Yay!! (But I'm only delaying the inevitable.....)

Hope your weekend turns out better than mine.

** Back to ye olde grinde stone.... **

Another Tag - Top 5?

LIST OUT THE TOP 5 PRESENTS YOU WISH FOR

1. iPod Classic 160Gb
2. Another JRT puppy (Jack Russell Terrierist)
3. dSLR - Nikon D40 or D80?
4. Time with family and friends
5. A Get-Out-Of-Jail Card....

THE PERSON WHO TAGG-ED YOU IS
ehon

OUR 5 IMPRESSIONS OF HIM/HER
1. Hardworking student *cough* *cough*
2. Friendly
3. Youth Leader
4. Thoughtful
5. Funny

MOST MEMORABLE THINGS HE/SHE HAS DONE FOR YOU
He leaves comments in my blog... (^^)

THE MOST MEMORABLE WORDS HE/SHE HAS SAID TO YOU IF HE/SHE BECOMES YOUR LOVER , YOU WILL
.... *speechless*

IF HE/SHE BECOMES YOUR LOVER , THEY HAVE TO IMPROVE ON
....

IF HE/SHE BECOME YOUR ENEMY , YOU WILL
most unlikely be my enemy...

IF HE/SHE BECOME YOUR ENEMY , THE REASON WILL BE
... very unlikely...

PASS THIS QUIZ TO 1O PEOPLE THAT YOU WISH TO KNOW HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT YOU
I will spare this torture from my other friends... Can or not?

How Many Days of Annual Leave You Have To Left?

It's a nice Friday to laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzeeeeeeeee around. (^ ______ ^)

I'm very glad to be able to do so as I'm taking a couple of days off work.

Well. Not that I wanted to, but I had to clear some leave.

I had been saving my leave for December since I could not take it earlier a few months back as I was anticipating some work. However, that didn't come through and so now, I'm in a rush to clear my leave since I can't carry forward my leave. :-(

It's ok. That means I can spend some of my days at home with Snoopy. She's hoping that I stay home so that she has a friend to play with. Besides giving her some attention, I can give her blog some attention too!!!

Meanwhile, have a great weekend folks! :-P

Never Be Afraid To Say What You Feel

Source: Courtesy of VKSoong

I got this picture from my friend during the waning hours of the work day - you know, the time between 4 and 6pm.

After a quick laugh, this picture got me thinking.

Do you have the guts to say what you really feel? Especially towards someone whom you think is supposedly larger, taller, stronger, more senior than you, when you are being put down or bullied?

Do you want to always live in fear, not able to express how you really feel?

I remember the words of Sir Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Britain during WWII and after. He said,

Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others.

How very true....

Back to "Kemahiran Hidup" (Living Skills)

Even though my work life is getting a bit sucky now, I managed to get in a bit of fun during the weekends. Although, one day I had to help EV out. However, with EV, there's never a dull moment.

Friday night...
Me: So, what time you want me to come over?
EV: Huh?? What? What? When I wake up-la!
Me: Which is what time......
EV: When I buka my eyes-la! Eh, why are you coming over?
Me: Aiyooo... You forgot ar? You want me to help you with your side-table/drawer thing?
EV: Oh yea hor... Which one am I getting-ar?
Me: I donno!! You decide-la!

Saturday morning...
EV: Hello... Did you just wake up?
Me: Ohhhh Maiii GAWWDDD!!! It's 9:00am already???!!!
EV: Yes... You said you'll come early. People are hungry liao-le.
Me: Sorry.. Sorry!! I'll come now, okie?
EV: BTW, what are we eating?
Me:... Errr.. Food?? Decide later-la!

As some of you may know, there was a peaceful march from Dataran Merdeka to the Agong's palace for Operasi Bersih. I was caught in a bad jam when I got on the Sprint highway. Hmmm...

Anyway, I had a task to do which was to help EV select a proper side table from IKEA. From the very moment I parked my car @ IKEA, I was prepared to face the large crowd in the shopping centre. Oh yea.. Besides that, I had to deal with EV's indecisiveness.

EV: Which one should I get ar?
Me: ** HUFFING AND PUFFING ** OOIII!! Faster decide!! This box is not that light-woei!!!
EV: Put it down-la! Who asked you to carry?
Me: OII! YOU TRY TO CARRY 10KG ABOVE YOUR HEAD!!!!!!

After the long decision making process, she finally settled on one model and I had the joy and privilege to help build it.

On the way back to our car, I saw this at one of the new shops @ Ikano.

If you look carefully, its a Barbie doll stuck in a colourful jelly or jello (as known in the US). I've seen some decorative cakes before, but not one where the cost of the cake included the cost of the Barbie as well. Guess how much the cake was??
....

....

....
Give up?

It was RM69. Yep.. It is THAT expensive.

However, I got to tip my hat off to the "baker" for having the creativity to sell jelly "cakes".

After a whole day of walking, I was "treated" to a lovely evening of wood working. This certainly brings back memories of this subject back in school - Kemahiran Hidup or Living Skills. Basically, it was a general subject teaching you cooking, electrical, wood-working and sewing. I can't recall which module we had in school but I remembered it was really general.

So, taking the stuff out of the IKEA box, I proceeded to arrange the pieces as per the instructions in the manual. EV was busy with dinner (I managed to squeeze dinner out of her) but she eventually came over to have a look.

EV: Eh... You need my help or not?
Me: Yes, I need you to hold this piece... while I carry the.... what are you doing?
EV: I'm putting in the wooden peg-la. Why it cannot fit?
Me: Eh... Don't simply play play with it. Follow instruction.
EV: Cannot be-ma... Got this hole here, sure can plug this thing in mah.
Me: Oii!!! Don't play play! I don't want to disassemble everything when I find out I have one less screw or something.
EV: You sure or not? :-P
Me: I'm sure... DON'T DOUBT IKEA!! They're very precise one. If the thing needs 5 screws, 5 screws is all you get.
EV: Cehhh... You sure or not???
Me: I'm very sure... Want to bet?

As you can see, I had already got the main body of the sidetable done. All that was left was the drawers. We took some line to line up the drawers as EV didn't have too much of a 3D/depth visualization. That explains why she took Accounting while I took Computer Science back in Uni. (^ ^)

Here's the side picture of the completed sidetable - minus the drawers. Thank goodness this is a small sidetable. I can't imagine having to put up an entire chest of drawers or those large clothes cupboard.... (@___@)

We had reached this stage when finally EV said something under her breath...

EV: sh*t... Why like that one?
Me: o___O
EV: Alamak... Why this one cannot fit?
Me: What did I just tell you?... NEVER DOUBT IKEA!!! WHAT DID YOU DO??
EV: I didn't see this page! I thought we can skip it!
Me: I said... NEVER DOUBT IKEA. How now???
EV: Take it out-lo...

Lucky it was just the drawer. *phew*

At the end of it all.. This was the result...

I can't recall what time I started building this cupboard. But it was fun. It really brought back memories especially the part where I had to tack in the plywood back.

EV had a hand in it too. She's quite proud that she was able to do something.

The one thing I learned was that EV's dad's toolbox was one of the most complete toolbox ever. Different types of nails, screws and even rubber wall protectors were found in the box. I couldn't find a level but was amazed that the sidetable/drawer out quite stable. The only complaint I have about this model was the quality of the wood. It isn't as heavy as the other one which EV's dad bought some time back but it is good enough. This sidetable/drawer has a tendency to move whenever we slide open/close the drawer because it is very light. Which is why, IKEA had one additional step of anchoring this sidetable to a wall. Hmmmm.

Well.. It isn't too bad but you need patience and an ability to follow instructions carefully...

Rising To The Challenge

It's the start of another week. Should I dread it?

Perhaps not.

For, the start of another day means a new, clean slate to do something. This is the hope we have to give ourselves each day. Living one day at a time. (^ ^)

My last post talked about the new change I had to face. So, after accepting that change, I have decided to rise up to the challenge. Even though I may get knocked down from time to time. However, that should not stop me from meeting the challenge. Because, some of those knocks are just temporary setbacks.

I'm no wuss.

I hope I don't whine too much. Because this new change is an opportunity knocking on my door. Even though it may seem like I'm facing a major stumbling block for now.

I have faith and enough confidence in myself to succeed through this trying time.

"Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

Friday.. But I'm Not In That "Friday" Mood

This will be a two-part post. This is because I've not completely figured out what I want to write about... In fact, I've not figured out the topic at all. Anyway, I hope by the end of the 2nd post, it would be much clearer.

Well, it has been a pretty busy time for me for the last 2-3 weeks due to some new changes at work.

No.... It's not something drastic but it has to do with the ability to embrace and accept change.

Change is not always easy. There is an amount of adjustment one makes to the new change. And the ability to adjust to that change is probably determined by our personality and flexibility. Besides that, it takes an inner strength to embrace change.

Change is also part of life. Everything changes. From the time we were born, we are always changing/evolving. So, we can't say that there is no change in life. It is always there.

Anyway, for the last couple of weeks, I've been battling/adjusting to change at work. I do not want to elaborate too much but all I can say is that there is a void now, and I'm part of the few people asked to fill that void. The void is not a simple one, as it involves some new leadership.

There is some sadness in this change and hence, my mood today.

All I can say is that I am coping with it, learning to adjust to it as I go along. :-)

Hope you folks have a good weekend! I'll try to update more when I have the time. :-P

Don't Assume!!!

It's Friday again... ^____^

I'm happy that the weekend is around the corner. However, I have to work on a few things which is potentially going to tear my hair out, i.e. Project Management sh*t...

Anyway, I picked this up during the team building last week and I find it really useful.

We all know this word very well...

ASSUME

But, if we break the words out.. we get..

ASS|U|ME

which is...

DON'T MAKE AN "ASS" OUT OF "U" AND "ME".

Pretty cool huh!!! ;-)

Anyway, have a good weekend folks!