Tuesday, June 30, 2009

As The Horse Sleeps

Way back when my friends and I were young and silly (not that we're not silly anymore, we're just not that young anymore), a conversation of this sort took place:

C: I'm so sleepy I could sleep standing up!
M: Are you a horse?

Now, I brought up this old conversation because I've only had an average of perhaps 2 hours of sleep a day since Sunday. I could indeed sleep standing up (falling over will occur afterwards) if it weren't for me reverting back (albeit temporarily) to my morning coffee, which admittedly has helped me go through the day, but when it comes to night, and the moment my head hits the pillow, violent coughing ensues. I think it is physically impossible to sleep while coughing, (or is it cough while sleeping?) just like how you can't breathe and swallow at the same time.

The point is, lying down causes the cough to start, and the coughing makes sleeping impossible. I so wish I was a horse right now.

On another note, I finally made the visit to the doctor despite the fact that the fever never came. On checking my temperature, the thermometer registered that my temperature was 36C, 0.9 degrees lower than the normal human temperature! This probably proves another theory of mine - that I'm actually not quite a mammal. Long story. Anyway, the only problem I'm apparently facing is a swollen throat caused by irritation, most probably by dust... but I was also advised to not eat curry and certain fruits (not that I care), and a mild flu so yeah... no swine flu, H1N1 or whatever...

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Oh, Bummer!

So, the single annual influenza attack seems to have launched itself full force on me... What I originally imagined to be sneezes due to some extra dusty encounters (after all it is incredibly dusty out there even with the rains) prolonged into even more sneezy attacks which then led to a hacking cough on Friday which I suppose wasn't helped much by the fact that we had our bi-annual stock count that day... more dusty encounters!

Saturday saw me fighting a sore throat and the emergence of the sniffles. Due to my lack of sleep on Friday night (because of the cough which was really, really bad), I skipped gym just to lounge around at home, reading and battling a new addiction (a game)... It's Sunday night... the sniffles continue, and so does the coughing and sneezing fits. I might have run out of 'gesundheits'! to cover all that violent sneezing. I'm just waiting for the fever to arrive so that I can go and see the doctor (hopefully only once) for some medication.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Aw Worthy Moments are Made of These

So, my second favourite 24 year old (who is otherwise known as my sister's boyfriend) is back in Malaysia for his summer holidays after wrestling with bones, tissues and psychiatric patients since September last year.

Due to a series of (mostly unexpected) incidents, my sister came back yesterday from her usual weekday abode and was supposed to meet up with him at home somewhere after 7:30 pm to go for dinner. And for the first time ever (according to my sister), he was punctual and had to wait for her instead.. because she assumed he would be late (and I think I should stop saying anything here or she'll have my head when she reads this!!)

Anyway, as he was waiting for her, he actually turned to look for me and asked where I was! (Of course I wasn't there at that moment because I worked late yesterday, having filled the whole day with *nasty discussions but I must say I was immensely touched by that gesture) And that, I think... is a very aw worthy moment. He is in fact very close to becoming my favourite 24 year old!

*will be elaborated on, perhaps someday

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

A lil' Bit of Quiet

Things have been a little quiet on the blogging front in recent days. Staring at the empty blogger blog form doesn't help, sitting, standing or sleeping with a pencil and paper didn't help either. For the first time after 4 years of almost consistent blogging I have nothing to say. Nothing. Completamente nada.

Fine, maybe I exaggerate. I did have things to say, but the moment they moved from my brains to electronic form, they seemed to lose their worthiness of being a full fledged post. Take this for instance, something I wanted to post on Monday night: "Seriously, why do some people have to ask stupid questions just so that they can say something?" Now, that was because we had about 15 minutes of our time wasted because someone asked a stupid question during a meeting. He probably felt he needed to ask the question just so that he would look good, and be in the loop. For a few of us sitting at the back, me drafting out a prospective post in my head, and the guy next to me for instance, the question was almost pointless. As that sentence sat in the post form waiting to be elaborated on, I figured that making noise over that would make me look idiotic as well. So that was it. I saved it as a draft and left it alone.

And then of course I wanted to blog about my worries of not knowing what is the proper thing to say to a colleague (we are also friends since we work together a lot) who has had his wedding cancelled under very well kept secret circumstances. One day the rest of us were busy discussing convoy plans (the wedding was to be in a different state 2 hours away by car), and the next day we find out it's been cancelled. I know he's feeling terrible because I've seen his facebook status updates about how he has to put a strong front while at work and when he goes back to his house at night, he's just not strong enough, etc... but seriously, what do you say? I didn't blog about this because it seemed like a strange thing to blog about - someone else's story (surprisingly, that has never bothered me before)

Now, I could have taken a break, but as history has proven time and again, each time I declare taking a break, interesting things start happening and I'll be miserable because I'm supposedly on a break and should not be blogging. That's it... hopefully with this 'all over the place' kind of post, I would be able to blog normally again, and a special thanks to Orhan for indirectly hinting at me to update! :)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Weird Wednesday

Yeah, I know it's Thursday night, but I need to talk about Wednesday.

Wednesday morning saw me wake up with the feeling of needing a good cry, which of course baffled me, seeing that there was no reason to feel that way. The strange, melancholic mood lasted all through the day, nagging me at intervals like a worm digging it's way through an apple.

It was only later that night that I realised what could have caused that strange melancholic feeling. I had found out the day before that I would be getting my new ride (yet unnamed) on Thursday evening (that is today) and as I spent the later part of the night clearing Chiquita out (it's amazing the amount of stuff a car can amass in 4 and a half years), I felt an extreme tinge of sadness. After all, she was where I mastered the art of being confident on the road, perfected my skills of changing gears, and she took me around wherever I wanted to go, except for places that I didn't know how to go to. As I was carrying the stuff into my house, I could feel my heart break. You know, as it sinks lower and lower that you can't differentiate it from your stomach. It was the worst feeling, ever. Although I know for a fact that I tend to get very attached to inanimate objects, I never anticipated feeling this way. Ever.

Nevertheless, the deed was done, and for reasons I cannot explain, I chose to remain sad for the rest of the night over having to let Chiquita go (after all, there's nothing I could possibly do with 2 cars as there's only one me) instead of being excited about the new ride. I think I felt the worst when I took her picture- for posterity.

PS: I'm feeling totally fine today, only had a brief moment of sadness when I sat in her, gave the seat a pat and removed a few strands of stray hair (probably caused by me brushing my hair at the traffic light so that i'd at least look slightly human when I reach work) making her empty of all evidence that I was once the owner and thanked her for being nice to me all these years. Just figured that I needed to share this...

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

On Why Life is a Blogpost Waiting To happen Part III

The machine stands in it's own corner, ever so often visited by people whose intentions are to burn as many calories as they possibly can. Normal people call it the wave machine, people like my sister and myself call it the 'ass' machine (Mainly because we didn't know better)

The other day, I was using this particular machine at the furthest corner possible because I have observed that people like to observe your speed settings while pretending to work out (not that they don't work out, but you will know when someone's eye is on your machine's display), and figured that I might as well only have one person look at my incredibly pathetic settings instead of two. Corners rule! Anyway, I have come to realise one thing. The machine apparently doesn't like me as much.

So, I was doing my thing on the machine at moderate settings, with my water bottle perched in the water bottle holder the manufacturers put there... at one point in the middle, I wanted to increase the speed, so I set my head down, braced myself and sped away... Unfortunately, this led to me knocking down the water bottle which decides to dive right into the back of the machine while making such a terrible ruckus. I could feel people looking at me. (There was once a poor man who fell off the treadmill because it was at the highest speed, I think... and everyone just looked at him) It then decides to hide in the back of the machine. I crouch to get a better hold of my bottle, but all I did was to push it in even further, and hurt my hand in the process. All this while, I'm laughing like an idiot because such silly things seem to happen to me more often that I'd like them to.

By this time, the lady on the machine next to me gets down as well and offers to help me get my bottle from there. Together, we pry the leg stands away, and my bottle is rescued with a few scratches and without any permanent injury.

Common theme: On Why Life is a Blogpost Waiting to Happen Part II

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Coffee and TV

It's aroma wafts through the air molecules every single day while people in business attire line up to get their fixes, on the go, usually. Or some others wait sleepy eyed at the machines or coffee pots of their respective office pantries, unable to do anything until they got their daily dose of morning coffee.

Thankfully, I was never in any of the above categories. I just liked my coffee, either from the machine or from the cute three in one packets that so conveniently fit into my pocket. However, as time wore on, the need for coffee at least once a day became more and more apparent, to the point where coffee being absent from the daily routine caused the day to seem stretched out far longer than it should be.

All it took was a strange after effect of coffee one day about 3 weeks ago where I ended up sleeping for hours throughout the day (I suspect it was caused by the coffee, but I can't be too sure) and a sort of advice from someone I've been corresponding with about detoxing for 3 weeks after the after effects of that one particular coffee intake was casually mentioned (skipping coffee and taking lots of green tea was the advice that I decided to take up on and see where it would lead)

As of today, It's just one day short of my 3 week sabbatical from coffee... I haven't been taking green tea, though because of my uncanny ability to procrastinate wildly (I keep forgetting to get the green tea, actually as I have none at my disposal at the moment), and I can't help but think of it as a major success, although my sleeping patterns have not improved much. Maybe I'm just meant to be a daysleeper, or perhaps it will take a longer period for my body to get adjusted after over 11 years of coffee abuse. I do feel healthier in some way, although the past week has seen me nursing a migraine, which I suspect could be caused by the unnaturally hot weather instead of a caffeine withdrawal symptom. It is good to know that I'm not exactly addicted to it, nor do I miss it all that much, although my olfactory sense has been greeted by the wonderful aroma.

As for not missing coffee (Ring the alarm!!) I've been willing to decline it on several occasions just to go on with what I could only refer to as a challenge to myself. This leads to something I'm quite sad about, as I have bonded well with lots of people who were fans of the drink, and was identified as a person who loves coffee... Quitting or reducing intake means I'm sort of losing what I've always identified myself with all these years.

I was initially thinking of continuing my coffee intake, perhaps once or twice a week (after all, coffee is said to be good for the heart), but I've suddenly decided to prolong the absence of coffee for a little while more. Maybe if I remember, I might just be able to grab some green tea later in the day. Well, we'll see...

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Poet(s) in the Making

In the beginning there was a sheet of A3 paper, and on it was printed many columns and words and numbers that would look Greek to an outsider. Nanoskova carried the sheet carefully to where I was and proceeded to tell me that Levin asked that it be passed to me first before going into production. Apparently I was supposed to know what to do with it.

Well, as much as I pondered over it (it was given to me a few minutes before lunch break) so the pondering only lasted through that few minutes plus over here and there throughout break, I couldn't seem to find out what it was... so I contacted Levin via our internal chat, a very useful tool if I may say so myself.

Anyway, over our conversation I found out
a) I actually knew what to do, but since we had solved the earlier problem, it was now unnecessary (sighs in relief)
b) Levin can write rhymes/poetry about work related stuff!

Who knew that my seasonal nonsensical haikus over facebook had influenced my colleague to get all poetic and stuff, although he says that half the time he doesn't get what I'm saying - citing the reason being he is not in my circle (Not really true, I'm afraid - my 'circle' unfortunately doesn't even know I like to write and are unaware of the existence of this blog) It's however, nice to know that I can be influential at times... :)

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Random Weekend Stuff

1. Some people really should never ever be allowed to drive on the roads. Especially the tai-tais who drive cars that are a bit too big for them (and possibly their brains), but don't really know how to drive or how to observe basic road rules. Stupid woman in the Honda this morning... Grrr! PS: I took down your plate number. Ha! Ha!

2. Taking pain killers and then exercising makes you feel as though you're floating on air... you need to rest your head on the handles of whatever machine you're using to bring yourself back to earth.

3. The weather's been way too hot to do anything... there's a perpetual headache, you can't sit still, eating is painful, and all you want is to sit in a refrigerator. Or buy an iceberg.

4. Lost things come back to you when it's least expected. No joke!!

5. Keeping your water bottle in the freezer and then remembering that you kept it in there 3 hours later gives you gorgeous formations of ice crystals.

6. The amazing thing about original parts is that they also withstand being trod on by careless people (ie: me), by only showing small signs of cracking. I'm impressed.

7. The sister's been ignoring me this past weekend with her Grey's Anatomy marathon... and she doesn't even really like the show to begin with. :(

Friday, June 05, 2009

Paranoid Android

Thursday. It was slightly after 6pm, and due to some urgency, I tried to get through to my parents by calling them at home. The phone rang, but no one picked up. That was odd. Someone's always in, I know... I thought they might have gone somewhere although it seemed unlikely at that time, so I call my dad's mobile, which he doesn't pick up either. Even more odd... I thought they had gone out and forgotten to take the mobile phone (Dad's famous for doing that)

Anyway, I spent the next hour and a half intermittently trying to call them to no avail. I even thought something might be wrong with my phone, so I used the office phone as well, and even when no one picked up then, I made the mad assumption that both my parents were dead!

The good news is, they're fine. The not so good news is the house phone was dead and they didn't know. We later on found out that the wire outside had snapped. It has since been rectified. Dad's mobile phone was in silent mode (Why?) The really bad news is, I've become like my parents. Paranoid. I'd like to say that I understand them worrying now when I don't give them an hourly update of my whereabouts when I'm out, but I still don't.

** Idea for title thanks to radiohead (they don't know about it, though)

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Those Instant Messenger Thingys

I think I might have just scared someone into never logging in to YM anymore. Ha! Ha!

It took me about a year and a half to start using YM again after a few incidents of spam messages from spammers (who else?) as well as the need to avoid certain people and of course the disappearance of the original people whom I used to communicate via YM. The main reason however was because Yahoo! and everything that contained that word was banned at work, and Vista (at home) had the habit of jamming up each time I opened YM (still does, but not as frequently as before)

Anyway, I was logged on to YM just awhile ago, chatted for awhile with a friend who logged out soon after to have dinner. As I was staring at the blogger page wondering why I can't seem to write anything properly these days (I must admit, churning out posts is becoming alarmingly difficult... perhaps it is time for a break, which I don't feel like taking) I saw an old 'friend' pop online.

Now for a bit of history, this friend and I connected pretty well back in the day, sharing similar interest in books and writing, and although we did get cut off from each other for awhile after graduation, we managed to reconnect about a year and a half later. And then after two years of communicating, all of a sudden, this person disappears from the face of the universe (deletes me from his Friendster list (one of the earlier social networks that I joined because he invited me as he liked to keep 'all his friends under one roof') Those were his exact words. So I was a tad bit puzzled over that exceedingly unfriendly act.

Ever since then, this person has been missing in action, but I suppose everyone has their reasons for doing so. My sister says he's constantly PMSing... which I suppose could be the case. As I have recently started using YM again, I noticed this person come online only to go offline a few seconds later. Out of respect for his decision to not want to communicate with me anymore, I left him well alone. Except for today, that is.

And guess what, the moment I sent a message (a short one saying 'hello'), he immediately went offline again. So much for trying to reconnect. I bet he's going to remain invisible for a long, long time after this. But then again, this whole thing might just be part of my imagination!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Control vs Convenience

Plans don't always turn out the way you want them to. I have lived by that and survived, I should know.

It's been in my mind since somewhere last year to find a new ride to replace Chiquita who has done her part well since August of 2004, not that we weren't without problems, the drive shaft incident being the most horrifying of the lot. The only reason why this never happened was because:

a) I couldn't decide about the type of car I should get. One was dream car version 2008 (cool and spiffy looking), while the other was a more practical idea of a car, which coincidentally is driven by many others as well.
b) I really didn't have the time to do anything about it then
c) I could never decide if I wanted a manual or automatic transmission car.

Now, from the moment I started driving till today, I've always been driving manual, the only bit of automatic driving I ever did was when I test drove an old Nissan around the neighbourhood, and another time when I had to back up my aunt's car when she went to pay the bills because someone wanted to move. And that was ages ago. I know for a fact that if anyone happened to give me an automatic transmission car this very minute and asked me to drive, I 'd probably decline.

Part of me thinks that maybe it's time to leave the manual driving behind and go automatic. Besides, it's so much more convenient that changing gears each time you slow down because there is a roadbump, or when you're in bumper to bumper traffic. On the other hand, I totally love the speedy pick up of a manual transmission car, and it's ability to go uphill slightly faster that the automatics...

I'd like to know what the rest of you think... manual transmission or automatic transmission, and why?

IT's THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

Time for the Annual Appraisal again.  It's a cloudy Sunday afternoon, and I had just finished giving scores to my subordinates on their ...