Jim: Ever thought of what and where you would be 5 years from now?

Jeff: Man, not one of those questions again?

Jim: What? Its a plain and simple question. What do you mean 'one of those questions'?

Jeff: What I mean is why this kinda clique question? I remember the last time someone asked me that was at a job interview. The interviewer will go," So, where do you see yourself 3 years from now?". Then I will have to go something like," Well... I hope to still be working at the company and in that time, would have proved myself worthwhile of a senior position, even a management position."

Jim: You said that? Man, you really think you can make manager in just 3 years?

Jeff: Hey, I said maybe manager or a senior position. Not necessary manager.

Jim: You would have to be really good to be a manager in just 3 years. Either that, or the company is a fairly small company.

Jeff: What do you mean? Small company? Why small company?

Jim: Sigh. In a small company, it would probably be easier for you to get promoted mah.

Jeff: Get lost man! If you have the ability, you would be recognized, small or big company. Whats up with that man?

Jim: I mean, it would be relatively easier. In a big company, there are more people to choose from, so promotion is a little difficult.

Jeff: Forget it man. I would not want to argue with you over this. I'm just going to drink my tea.

Jim: Ok.

Jim: So you still have not answer me yet?

Jeff: Answer you what?

Jim: Where would you be in 5 years time?

(Jeff looks away and sips his tea)


So what about you? Where would you see yourself in 5 years time?
At work...
At play...
Your health...
Your family...
Your life...

Isn't it amazing how, in your younger days, you actually want to grow up faster. Now that you have grown up, you just want to go back to those days when you have no responsibilities and the only thing to worry about are your grades.

I played football again yesterday.
Nope, its not the fact that we were actually playing football but the conditions we were playing it in. It was raining cats and dogs. If you looked closely, you would probably see a couple of elephants thrown in too. But we still played. We played just like a bunch of children playing in the rain. We ran after a ball which constantly got stuck in the poodles of water. We were slipping and sliding all over the place. We were kicking water at each other. We really enjoyed ourselves.
It was the most enjoyable football session we have had in a long long time. For that 1 hour, we were children all over again. A few adults, playing in the rain with absolutly no care in the world. No care for the rain that was beating down. No care for the lightning that was zipping through the sky every so often. Care less that we might fall sick for work the next day, because at that very moment, work did not exist for us.
Feel the rain on your face when you look up. Feel the wind as it blows. Feel the water soaking through your shirt, shorts, underwear even... and it was good.

So when was the last time you walked or even played in the rain?
Before yesterday... I really cannot remember.

rainy instances
just like these,
ideal place
right in my bed.
dreaming away
under trees a sway,
cocktail in hand
babe in the other.
ahhhhhh
rainy times
like these
right in my bed
i miss...

Its friday! Don't know about you, but I will probably try to sleep my weekend away.
Its a pretty relaxing start to my day so far. Hope its not the calm before any storm. And how is your friday till now?
Chin up. Just a few more hours to go and then the weekend is upon us.

I like the way I work and the way my team works. I mean, we are just a bunch of workers who go about doing our job diligently and completing the necessary within the time frame allocated. When asked to help others, we will if we can - most of the time we do help - and many a times we go out of our way and out of our work scope to.
At the same time, we play hard, when we can. We play chess during lunch time and after office hours. We laugh together and maken together. In fact, we make it a point to have a quarterly lunch/dinner session for the whole team. The team works well with the rest of the other teams too.

But recently, we are hearing people gossiping about our chess playing. Some even commented that we are laughing too loud. I scoffed at them all. In the whole office, my team is the only team with life. It helps that my boss is not interested in our 'other' activities, just as long as we do our job and do it well. To him, whether we stay late, play chess or not, go for coffee breaks or not, is not an issue and neither is he interested to know. He understands the need for us to release steam. He understands that it does not matter what we do outside of work, as long as we do out work well. Thats all he asks of us and for that, we respect him and we will do our best for him.

My team has gotten the short end of the stick. Because we are supporting the infrastructure, we are in fact, supporting everyone in the company, even those in our division. So sometimes, many teams, think that we 'owe' them because they are 'users' to us. Its sad but true. After more than 3 years here, I have learnt to take things in my stride and 'giving' back when I am able to. Its just my little way of telling people that they should not take our team for granted.

You, your mate and your mum went on a cruise.
Happens that they both fell overboard, over different sides of the ship. The currents are bringing them further away from the ship and further away from each other. What would you do? Who would you save?
Your mate or your mum?
Quite an inner struggle huh? No right or wrong over this, really, but mum will probably come out the obvious choice. But that does not make you feel any better, does it?

If you were the mate, and you know the struggle within your mate on the ship, wondering who to rescue, what would you do? Would it be wrong if you just let go and go down, so that your mate would not need to choose? Does not make it any easier for your mate after, does it?

Difficult choices in a difficult world, but sometimes, someone has got to make those decisions. I'm sure we would not want to be in such a situation where we need to make such decisions, but I think you would come up to such situation at least once in a lifetime.

Ok, here is the deal. I just gathered from a vendor of mine that he actually chalked up to 8000 SMS a month! With phone bills totalling up to 700 bucks sometimes. How about that?!


November.
The Christmas decorations are up down town. I must say that the decor this year don't look to good. Looks like spending for some malls are down too. I guess its not a bad idea to save a little this year. Afterall, it was a pretty hard-hit year and if the experts are to be believed, then the economy is just beginning to pick up.

I went for a little jog over the weekend. Not much, just a short distance, but good enough for me to feel good. I will be the first to admit to I am not exactly as fit as I was, say 3 years ago, but I still make the effort. Its not easy, thats for sure, but at least I do my part. I do my part not to compete with others, neither am I out to make others look bad, save the teasing. I just want to be healthy, and I am doing my part, bit by bit. I may not be as fit - as to run 5km at one time. Neither am I as lean - able to whip off the shirt and show that a six-pack. Nevertheless, it does not stop me from doing what I want to do to keep healthy.
I may tease others about being fat, but I will also admit that I am not exactly Mr. Lean myself. At the end of the day, I guess Health Matters Most....

I'm just overdosing myself with Matchbox20's 'Unwell' and Coldplay's 'Yellow'. Heard it last night when the band played and both songs were just stucked in my mind. So I just had to go get them and got them I did. So with my trusty Winamp (which has served me well for years), I'm just repeating these couple of songs. One, to satisfy my appetite for them and the other reason was so that they could be purged from my mind a little. But they are good songs nevertheless.

"I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell, I know, right now you can't tell. But stay a while maybe then you'll see, a different side of me.
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired, I know, right now you don't care. But soon enough you're gonna think of me... and how I used to be."
- 'Unwell' by Matchbox20

Now then, what do you like to? As in what do you like to eat?
Me? Well, I think the list really goes on and on. Here are some of the few I like.

I love chocolates. I mean, I really really love chocolates. Not those with almonds or nuts in them though. I prefer those with pralines or maybe fruits, like raisins. I have a bar of Cadbury Cherry Ripe. Good stuff, filled with cherry and coconut.
Original Sins sell some really good ones. They are expensive stuff but well worth the money. If you want to pamper yourself from time to time, and am willing to spend just a little more, Original Sins is good for the money. Go for the dark chocolates!

I love a good plate of Char Kuay Teow. There is just no way I would be able to go through life without it. I mean, lets face it, if its done well, there is just no comparison. The sweet sauce, the see ham (if you like it)... oh yeah.

I love tidbits too. The classic potato chips, crackers, cheese rings/balls etc. You name it, I love it. It would be best if you are watching TV while you are at it. TV really complement tidbits, trust me. Even better if you have a tall glass of Coke by your side. Heaven in your living room, well, as close as it gets.


Mmmmm ... MMmmmmm... MMMMmmmmmm...
I'm going to go get some food now!

I played soccer yesterday. I'm not kidding, I did. And it was not one of those kickabout. It was a full-pledged match, 45 minutes a half, full side, on a proper field and I lasted the whole match.
I came out of it quite unscathed, saved a slightly bruised knee. What were my contributions? A few passes, a few interceptions, a long shot on target and a foul, which would have deserved a yellow card.
One thing was evident though, age has really caught up. I am not as fast as before. Hey, running up and down the field is still all right, but when you are sprinting for a 50-50 ball, I am always half a stride slower. Its like, 'Hey, I can reach that ball!' and then, 'Hey, where did he come from?' and there goes the ball. The mind is willing but the flesh is weak.
But I must say that it was good.


This part, I know, I will get a real big reaction from the few of you.
I had a dream the night before. I dreamt that I went to the toilet to pee. I switched on the lights and naturally, I had to look down at the bowl. Guess what I saw in there. I saw a couple of roasted chicken wings sitting on top of a nice green piece of lettuce. Don't ask me! I have no idea! ...
NOPE! I did not do anything. I woke up after that. The dream was way too weird, even for a person of my weird status.