Grooming the Future of The World

Haven't been to Toys 'R' Us for a few years. Guess what I found!

Inedible Yummy McDonald's Deluxe Mealtime Set!

The 6-2353535 Pizza Hut Deluxe Play Food Set which implicitly teaches kids to play with their food!

Fast food galore!

The ultimate target for our future of the world.

We all know that children have amazing learning abilities. Of course fast food corporations know that too. Now fast food colonization has its arms even in a toy store. Or just that I didn't notice it before.

Having grown up with fast food in my life, I'm a living testimony that early exposure works wonders.

I know Pizza Hut's delivery hotline by heart after it was drummed into my head with a catchy jingle but I still cannot remember McDonald's hotline. Maybe I will know it after doing more OT.


This didn't work. I still haven't sworn off McDonald's after hearing a doctor in the movie say that one should never eat fast food at all.

I remember watching a video clip off the internet about how cows and chicken suffered in the farms. Of course I am still eating beef and chicken. Didn't work at all.

O actually I only eat McDonald's a few times a year. Not that bad lah. Doesn't include the times I ate Pizza Hut, Mos Burger, KFC...

Next on the scare-myself list:

Thanks to my sister for modelling for those pictures. Not sure if she wanted her face plastered over the internet though.

A short complaint:
IMDB is making it hard for me to copy images from that silly slideshow. Why did I have to do a View Source? Just give it to me lah!

Today Then I Know...

Polyclinic got express queue one... *hehehe*

Sheng Siong's Irony

Promotion: Get 1 lucky draw coupon for every $30 spent!

Condition: Each coupon must be attached with a receipt.

Sotong Looks Into The Crystal Ball...

And predicts that she will be on MC next Monday!

Long weekend!

Next week is CNY!

2 long weekends in a row!! Yippee!

First (free) Laptop

No free lunch? Yeah kind of. They take away the drumstick from your meal set.
Find out more

Sad, Sad Drinks Near Office

No coke, only pepsi. And it costs $1.20 (if I remember correctly). Maybe it's normal to people working in town, but it's 5 times more expensive than my previous workplace. I know my previous workplace is abnormal, but used to it lah. It's alright, I'll use this as an excuse to stay off soft drinks.

Papaya milk, diluted. Sigh. Disgusting. I'll rather they give me 1/2 a cup.

Teh-c, unfresh milk. Got that funny smell when you keep the milk for more than 1 week. Bleah.

STI Has No Spellcheck?

An excerpt from an article in STI:
----------------------------------
Jan 23, 2007, 2.20 pm (Singapore time)
Youth Challenge under fire for irregularities, chief resigns

Mr Lam, who was the founder of the teen group, quit amid revelations of irregularities, poor governance and mismanagement, as well as a lack of transparency and misleading information on renumeration.

...

Fat Ass SCL8798E

A rainy evening again. My father and I were travelling along Lornie Road, towards that super busy junction at MacRitchie, occupying the whole lane. This driver who has no idea that he's driving a car with a fat ass, sped up from behind and came up on our right. Maybe he has a bursting confidence about his driving skills and my father's, but that's so not funny. Maybe he's 赶着去投胎， but if anything happens, the people going to 投胎 will not be him.

Impressions of 2 Movies (Again)

Babel

Not funny, scary or exciting. Brad Pitt is not handsome here. But it makes you want to finish the whole thing. 4 different stories told non-linearly, but did not confuse a low-IQ sotong.

Verdict: Thumbs up!

Snakes on a Plane

HAHAHA!

Verdict: I don't know what to say.

My Crazy PC

My PC at work. The one that hangs 4 times a day when it acts up.
Ghost icon


It's everywhere...


I still have a sound clip of it making ghostly noises, but nowhere to put it.

Food! Food!

Maybe I should blog about what I have eaten so that... whatever.

Hawaiian BBQ (2006/11/19)
It's at Turf City, beside 7-11. They only open at night. Went there for my father's birthday. He was having a bad stomach but didn't tell us -_-

The shop looked very dark. I thought it looked closed, but the tables and chairs outside were a tell-tale. The shop is their kitchen. No aircon, but got fan.

It's a buffet but the different thing is they bbq the food and bring to you in platters. If you like certain food, you can order more of it.

Food (that i can remember) All food are bbq-ed, except the obvious like soup:
- Chips (fish and chips that kind of chips), fried breaded fish fingers. The fish fingers is GOOD.
- Garlic bread, Mushroom soup with mushroom in it. It's not the salty starchy cheapo kind. Of coz not high class like Marche lah, but I grade it above average.
- Pasta. Scared will be too full so I din eat. I think the noodle looked like linguine, don't really fancy it.
- Lamb chop (tastes a bit like satay)
- Hot dogs. Although it's the canned kind, they still bbq till VERY NICE! Must be the bbq sauce
- Chicken. They only served thigh and wings, suit my taste perfectly. The meat is very well marinated. This is the best dish IMO.
- Dory (yummy!), squid, prawns
- Corn, mushroom, onion, caspicum
- Bbq Banana with melted cheese. I don't eat bananas but I ate it!!!
- Bbq apples
- Iced pineapple tea, refillable. There's a huge slice of pineapple at the tall glass which made it very holiday-like. Maybe the pineapple juice was supposed to diffuse into the tea.

4 people ate, after all the +++ and 1-for-1 promotion, it was about $89. Very worth it! The good thing is that it's not crowded at all, good for a bunch of friends to meet and pig out, provided you can be bothered to get your ass there. But the bad thing is that it means business is not optimistic and I won't expect it to be around for too long.

Photos? What photos? *busy attacking food*

Verdict: Can repeat visit.

Ramen Ramen (2007/01/05)
I heard about their cheese ramen and I was sort of craving for ramen, so I went to the branch at Atrium@Orchard with W and J.

My evil colleague told me that I have a deadline on the following Monday and it was advisable not to miss it, so I left office 30min later than planned. Not that I've finished my work. It's Friday and I don't care.

I ordered mushroom ramen with cheese. It came with the corner of a slice of cheddar cheese peeking out of the soup. A bit disappointed since I was expecting something really cheesy :| Aiyoh! If I had known, I would have brought my own cheese instead of paying $1 for it. I stirred the soup to melt the cheese, which disappeared into the already-milky soup. Couldn't really taste it liao. But the soup was good, much better than Ajisen's sodium-laden version. I could have drunk all of it. The noodle neither melted in the soup nor stuck to my teeth. So is that considered good? Don't know how to comment on springyness.

Nah, photo!


Only remembered to take after I finished the ramen. This is my 2nd cup of green tea...


Bill for 3, affordable I must say.


Their free ramen card. So blur lor, never print the phone number! And when they have to use red, of all colors, to fill it in. Surely blue or black are more common?

Verdict: Can repeat visit.

Misc
BK cappucino. Like that lor. I took the 3 sticks of trans-fat-full creamer home.

You've Got Visitors

This morning, I heard lion dance coming from downstairs. My guess is the Mama Call Centre, but I couldn't think of a reason why. Grand opening? But it's been open for like... I dunno how long lah haha.

At lunch time, familiar figures walked into my office. My (ex)colleagues! Ya they were my ex-colleagues from my previous company, but now no longer ex since my previous company has become a department under my current company. So many came to visit me! So honoured! They even knew which office and which seat! Must have done their homework first. But dunno which boss they asked ley. I don't think the bosses bigger than my PM knows me. The lion dance confirm is for the Mama Call Centre then.

Sure got buffet downstairs right? Nice or not? :D~~~

I can only think while waiting for my mixed vege rice comes to me. Boohoohoo. I hate mixed vege rice.

Botak Jones @ Clementi

Birthday dinner for S at a... coffeeshop! Turn up was small, 6, including 1 unexpected but welcomed guest, S's boyfriend. Finally got to see his 庐山真面目. Small attendance -> small table -> can see and hear everyone, good!

The difference between Clementi and AMK is that practically everybody was eating BJ at Clementi!! At least there were still a few tables eating the tze char at AMK, which I heard is good too. As a result, the Clementi's coffeeshop was packed. Full-house. No thanks to the long waiting time. I was late but luckily I thought of getting others to buy first.

There was a very enthu auntie helper from the drinks stall who kept pestering us to get drinks although we said we would get later since we were waiting for friends and could perhaps help her save a trip. When she served the drinks, Q paid with a $10 note. The auntie grabbed a bunch of 50cent coins from a plastic bag and looked like she was going to give it to her o_O Luckily she didn't. If she did, I think we would pay BJ with them.

When everybody had gathered at the table, we couldn't attract the attention of any drink stall helpers. Even that enthu auntie bo hiu us! What to do, forced us to bully the baby of the group to buy.

The estimated waiting time for our food was 1hr. Didn't time them, but the cajun chickens came way much faster than the fish and chips. I don't know how long it takes to fry the fish. I hope they didn't marinate it only upon ordering. But it's worth the wait, because it's easily one of the best fish and chips I've ever had. Big lump of coleslaw, chips spilling out of my plate... stuffed! The chips were paler than AMK's. Dehhh.

S and Q said the cajun chicken was too spicy. Ok I don't dare to order liao. Actually I wanted to have that today ley.

The BJ helper gave us our change of 50cents when we have all but forgotten about it.

It was really nice catching up, although we just met 2 weeks ago. Considering that the last last time and last time was like 4mths apart?? Q had her braces removed for MONTHS and has turned into a 女中豪杰 on a va-va-vroom MOTORBIKE wor!

If you are thinking that I'm going around visiting all the BJs, no, I'm not.

Waiting for this

Although I'm not sure about the plot yet.

Do you see why the plot is secondary?

Old Team

As mentioned previously, I was assigned to another team barely 1 month into my new job. Initially, I felt I was dumped, but from the current situation, I was glad it happened.

When I was still in my old team, the last task in progress was an enhancement to a function. We are going to receive a new kind of data from Not Competent Solutions. My task was to create new tables to hold the data and new screens to display them, and to add Update and Invalidate functions for old data. It is urgent with a tight deadline, only 1 month, inclusive of non-working days. But it shouldn't be difficult since it's just mostly displaying. I was allowed to put my tasks at hand aside.

The person in charge, R, briefed me. Currently, the function is a popup. The title of the new data will display on this popup. To see the summary of the new data, click on the title to open a popup. To see the details of the new data, click a button to open yet another popup. So fond of popups! It sounded like a horrible design, so I suggested redesigning it. But R said the users wanted it.

Huh... I thought R should talk the users out of it, but o well... *shrugs*

Without any knowledge of the purpose of each of the fields of the new data, I found it hard to decide what to display. What does the user need to see? I also didn't want to entrap myself in case the field to display actually needed much processing beforehand and its presence unimportant. Who wants to go through a lot of unnecessary trouble to display something optional, just because I proposed it?

R's advice was to display "everything". More is better than less. This means displaying the code name AND display name of the item, for instance, when surely, only the display name will make sense to the user. Do you need to know that your Ricola herb flavour, large size, is called RIHL in the inventory?

By the way, I do not understand Not Competent Solutions' rationale for sending code and display name together. Shouldn't they just send the code name, maintain a separate list of code and display names and map the 2 tables? By doing it their way, when there is a change in, say, display name, they have to sift through all the data to update. More work instead of less. If it were done the proper way, they would only need to update 1 row what. Obviously they don't need a sotong to teach them something as basic as this, so I'm really curious about why they still chose this stupid way. Maybe want to charge more effort when the time comes.

The users approved the screens. I bet they did not even spend a minute to think about whether the information is useful or makes sense. I bet they didn't even really know what they wanted to see on the screens. It doesn't bode well.

Due to my lousy computer that hangs up to 4 times a day, my unfamiliarity with the IDE and not-so-up-to-standard programming skills, I ran into scheduling problems. I caught up by sacrificing a Saturday and ignoring potential problems regarding the update. Get the basics up first, fine tune later.

Because of the Invalidate function, it would make sense not to display invalidated data in the Current list, yet still display in the History list. I reflected to R and he agreed. No mention of any time extension. The other in charge, M, will surely say such a "small" change, 1hr can finish, time is tight, cannot extend. Although the documentation said this enhancement does not include anything not mentioned. The programmer shall slog for the flawed impact analysis.

There were still many things unconfirmed. Many new dropdown menus are added, but there was no mention of where the items were coming from. R and M didn't know if Not Competent Solutions was going to send that. I have only like 1 week left, but they still haven't discussed that.

Then there is this label, "Update Reason", which could either be filled in by selecting from the dropdown menu or typing in the textbox. But in the database table, there's only 1 column for Update Reason, instead of 1 for dropdown and 1 for textbox. So with the data from the database, how do I know where it belongs? If the user makes changes, I can't possibly merge data from 2 fields into 1 column? Computer is stupid one lor, I need an indicator or a set of rules! Whatever the case, it's additional work.

The time came for me to leave the team. There were still things I didn't have time to think over. There must still be undiscovered problems. Not mine anymore.

1 month has elapsed long ago, but I still see the poor guy, B, who took over my shit coming to ask R and M what to do about this field and that field. Or R and M telling B that there are changes. This is really shitty man, why did they rush into things and still let the user anyhow change? If the deadline remains, the buffer is... wow. Really weird way of doing things.

I just confirmed that the leader really does nothing at holding the team together. He was on leave on Friday. We all didn't know he was leaving the company until the new, enthusiastic leader came to start taking over the project's documents and the soon-to-be-ex leader's desk although he has not officially taken over yet.

Everyday, my old team is the last to go for lunch and the first to return from lunch. They rarely chit chat. I'm happy I'm not with them anymore. But sadly, I'm still sitting with them.

To be fair, I must give them credit for still helping me to buy lunch. And the rare chit chat.

Botak Jones @ AMK

"IT'S official - this is the wettest December in 137 years of recorded history."

On Boxing Day, W, J and I braved the relentless rain, bone-pricking wind and slippery floor to try the highly-raved Botak Jones western food during dinner. I reached before them and picked a dry and warm table. W and J were going to wait for a bus at YCK, so it's gonna be a wait.

This stall is powerful ley! There are so many helpers, in uniform somemore! Even got cash register neh :O Didn't see the angmoh girl. I heard there usually is a queue, but there was only 2 people queueing ley. Maybe it's the rain. They were looping the music on their homepage. I pitied the poor people working in the coffeeshop for being subjected to it for as long as they work.

Moments later, the dinner crowd arrived. 3 tables of people came and the queue started snaking towards my table!! Alamak! I quickly called W and J to get them to sms me their orders so they wouldn't have to wait too long for the food later. Of course I was not going to risk my life and table to queue up to place orders like everybody. I signaled to one of the helpers and he was understanding. Not like some stupid 汤圆 stall at Ghim Moh market, rather stare into space and let my 汤圆 turn cold in his face. Condemn!

O by the way, I got to skip the queue because he brought my order directly to the kitchen :X The sotong preyed on people's kindness again. I hope he didn't think I was going to eat everything by myself.

I turned to look at the tv. There was a short interview of Botak Jones on the variety show, Heartland Getaways! So 准! The helpers cheered and clapped. So Botak Jones is really botak...

The food started being served but W and J were not here yet. First was my Botak Burger with cheese and Stuffed Jalapenos. Don't need to label the photos lah, quite obvious which is which hor?


Should I wait for W and J? The stuffed jalapenos looked very cute and yummy. Not nice when it's cold. The melted cheese must be eaten hot.

I reached for the stuffed jalapenos but they were too hot to be handled. Therefore I must eat my burger before the cheese solidify (excuses). I knifed my burger before recalling that I wanted to take a photo. This explains why the burger is pacman-shaped.

Soon, W and J arrived. I ordered a cup of hot horlicks. Coupled with the cheese, it's a healthy high-calcium diet. But W and J's iced lemon tea looked nice *regret* Their fish and chips came within minutes. Good timing!

It was disappointingly small, too puny to be shared between 2 people.

I learned that the jalapeno is a very spicy chilli. I tried 1/2 of it and couldn't tahan. Wa heng I never eat it just now!

My beef patty is thick, juicy and tender, good! Except for a portion with ligaments. My chilli fries are delicious! Don't know why the fish and chips came with plain fries. The website showed chilli fries ley. Kena cheated. I shared my fries with them since I couldn't finish anyway.

The fish tastes good, but too thin lah.

We looked around and saw all the fish came in pairs. Hey how come we only have 1 slice? I thought it might be because the helper gave me 1 less to help prevent me from overeating. But actually it's because we ordered regular, only large has 2 slices lah.

W and J were not satisfied, so they got a Giant Chicken Hot Dog. They thought we were taking away, so they gave us in a styrofoam box. But when they realised we were eating it right now (must be surprised at the big stomachs of 3 ladies), they served it in a proper plate. Or maybe they wanted to save a styrofoam box.

The hotdog was deliberately sliced halfway and the knife left on the plate for aesthetic purposes.

Not bad, very chewy. Too bad no cheese.

Verdict: Very filling. Tastes good and is cheap. Can go back. But not very accessible though.

Check out the website

Interesting points

• Nobody from the drinks stall asked me if I wanted a drink, unlike most coffeeshops.


• The helpers very blur one. Keep asking repeatedly if our orders have been served, whether we have paid and whether they have given the change. Different people asking the same questions. Maybe that's why they need so many helpers.

MS SQL

If you have no programming background, I suggest you skip this entry.

Having used Oracle-related tools like Toad and SQL Plus for 2 years 3 mths, I had the opportunity to learn MS SQL due to my new project, AiFalm. Syntax-wise, Oracle and MS SQL are very similar, so no problem with that. I'm a programmer who is only trying to 混口饭吃, so I cannot comment on the geeky performance issues. My only gripe is how the client tools, Enterprise Manager (EM) and Query Analyzer (QA), get on my nerves. I use the Enterprise Manager most of the time, so everything that follows regarding MS SQL is based on that.

Over the years with Oracle with Toad, I have formed a habit of putting multiple SQL statements on the same query window, then selecting the statement I want and executing it. I can even run all the statements as a script.

But this convenience is not unavailable on EM. There can only be 1 SQL statement in 1 query window, the implication being that I will have to open 10 query windows for 10 SQL statements. Perhaps MS is only trying to highlight the flagship feature, windows. Changing window vs selecting the statement. The winner is obvious. I choose to open a text file and put all my SQL statements needed for the session and copy and paste into the tools.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EM has a auto-formatting feature. Although the syntax for SQL is not case-sensitive, it is a convention to type the keywords like SELECT, FROM, WHERE, VALUES, in upper case. When I type my statement in lower case and click on execute, voila! Everything looks neater and more conventional.

Original
select * from tableA a where title='Alice in Wonderland'

Formatted
SELECT *
FROM tableA a
WHERE title = 'Alice in Wonderland'

However, when the help that you have never asked for and can live without, causes your statement to fail, it become geh kiang.

Original
select *
from tableA a with (nolock) where title='Alice in Wonderland'

After I executed it, EM popped an error window, complete with the "doot" sound. It claimed that there's an error with the statement near "a". I examined the newly-formatted statement. Notice the rearrangement.

Formatted
SELECT *
FROM tableA WITH (NOLOCK) a
WHERE title = 'Alice in Wonderland'

Thanks a lot, EM. How I wish I can turn off this "feature".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While looking through AiFalm's codes, I figured that there was a trigger somewhere, so I went about looking for it. From 1 of the tables affected by the trigger, I found out the trigger's name. But all I have was the name, no link to the code at that point.

In Toad, it is very convenient with all the triggers listed neatly in an accessible way. However, I practically turned EM and QA upside down and I could find no such list.

I googled. So there isn't such a function at all. However, I could query the system table for the code if I have the trigger's name. I copied and pasted the super chim-looking SQL statement provided, got only a code snippet because the column length can't possibly be large enough to hold an infinitely long code, but was good enough for me.

CREATE TRIGGER tg_updateA
ON tableA

I looked up the properties for tableA and sure enough, I found the complete trigger code. So the complete code can only be accessed from the owner of the trigger. Logical, but how many times do programmers know exactly which table is the owner?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We have come to the end of the complain session. If you have no programming background and has managed to come this far, I kowtow to you.

Impressions of 2 Movies

Just my impressions after watching, not a review.

The Departed

A remake of 无间道, I applaud the successful efforts made to condense 3 movies into 1 without spoiling the broth.

The Mafia Boss

The Departed

无间道

Jack Nicholson sure looks more like a mafia boss than 曾志伟. 曾志伟 looks (and sounds) more like a clown. I don't understand why he always gets to play the mafia boss, or somebody with more power than pawns.

The Girls

无间道: The baddie undercover's girl	无间道: The psychologist
The Departed: The baddie's girl cum psychologist

Money all spent on the male leads, so have to settle on an all-in-one for the female lead? And not as pretty somemore...

To make the thugs sound like, well, thugs, and make stressed police sound like they were really stressed out, saying the movie is "peppered" with expletives is an understatement. It is marinated in fuck and its variations with "fuck" as the root word. Don't think this will ever be shown on tv. It's either getting ear damage from the ceaseless "por! por!" or having to dub the movie all over again.

Aiyah I think too much liao, why would Mediacorp even want to buy a new movie? That would be against the plot to make us pay for tv, right?

I still prefer 无间道.

Jackass 2

I don't know what to say about this movie. The poster says it best: skull fracture, crutches, missing tooth. It's better than any Jackie Chan stunt. Will Jackie Chan roast his privates with a hair-dryer or stick pubic hair (with lice) onto his face? Bet not.

I'm curious if any of them became impotent, lost 100 points of IQ, e.t.c. It's a wonder none of the people in it died.

Dangerous Taxi Driver on the Loose!

SHA5853Y, travelling along PIE towards Changi Airport, around the Upper Bukit Timah section, thinks that motorcycles have no right to take up a lane on the road. He drove at the same speed as the motorcycle, side by side on the same lane, like want to overtake don't want to overtake. In the end he "overtook" because the motorcycle decelerated. All these under a pouring sky.

Hop onto his taxi if you want to be involved in a road accident.

Shopping Spree!

Yeah, all these (except the bag behind) purchased today from Johnson and Johnson warehouse sale. Still have a box of masks, face wash and shampoo not in the picture, and smaller items hidden in the bags. 8 bottles of shower cream!!! How many years will my family take to finish them?

My brother said soap is part of a survival kit.

Free Ice-cream!

* To qualify for your free pint of Gelare ice cream and a chance to win air tickets, simply send an SMS to 9184 2000 in the following format: HSBCGELARE16-digit credit card numberAmount spent. To redeem, present the return SMS and charge slip to any Gelare outlet within seven days from the date of purchase. Valid from 10 November to 31 December 2006. Limited to oneredemption per cardholder per day.

Wa ice-cream ley! (Not interested in the air ticket at all)

Upon seeing this exciting promotion, I asked my father to pay for the new washing machine with his supp card (I haven't decided if I wanna pay for the machine hee). When he returned with the receipt last night after 9pm, I wanted to send the SMS immediately, knowing how I love to procrastinate. But well ya, I ended up procrastinating again.

This morning, I finally decided to send the SMS. I only have 7 days to do so! What if Gelare is only giving out a limited number of redemptions? Now now now! I can think about when and where I wanna collect the ice-cream later.

I got a reply within 2s of sending out the SMS. Impressive eh...

"Use the code GJEWDH for your pint of ice cream at Gelare. Pls present your charge slip and this SMS. Valid today (11 December 2006) only. Ts & Cs apply."

Wh...What?

"Use the code GJEWDH for your pint of ice cream at Gelare. Pls present your charge slip and this SMS. Valid today (11 December 2006) only. Ts & Cs apply."

Huh the SMS is valid for today only!!! Not 7 days meh??? Walau the fineprint never say lor! Today die die must go after work already! Heng no plans for tonight man!

In hindsight, luckily I procrastinated. I can't imagine what would happen if I hadn't. The only outlets still open at 10pm are Siglap and Changi Airport and I wouldn't go out specially for that lor. So 奸! Long live procrastination!

Choosing the outlet was a no-brainer - the one nearest my home of course, we are talking about ice-cream. Don't want to say here, coz I don't wanna get hoot by ah bengs (coming up below). If you know where I live, it's obvious where I went lah. I think the ride from my work there took almost 1hr, my butt damn pain sia. All for free ice-cream, dunno worth it or not also :(

I waited at the carpark while my father went up to redeem the ice-cream. A few minutes later, he returned empty-handed. He came back for his wallet because he must show the credit card as proof, something the fineprint never say :\

At this time, a black, ah-beng car pulled up beside me.

Got lights below one lor! Below the headlights also have! ILLEGAL MODIFICATION! I still remember the number plate! It's SGM 8XXXM. Haha don't dare to say out lah. Anyway the XXX are all the same digit. But don't understand come housing estate to haolian for what? It's a place where overweight aunties wear spaghetti strap tops (sorry, I saw a few within the few minutes waiting). Not driving to ZoukOut what.

Those 2 pairs of butts in the picture belong to the driver and passenger of that car. They don't look beng lah, it's just the car, and the fact that they stepped out to SMOKE, and the wind was blowing the smoke into my face. It always happens, I'm a smoke magnet, dunno why. So I must revenge by posting this picture! Maybe they realised that it's uncool to switch on those lights here, so they switched it off before driving off.

My father returned with the ice-cream. Apparently the promotion is very popular as there were quite a few people redeeming too. We went home. My poor butt... oww...

Haven't eat the ice-cream yet, haven't even seen or asked what flavour. Shall surprise myself tomorrow. Better not be banana.

Chinese Disco Nearby...

Right at this moment. Scared people dunno they are having prayers. I think holding it at this hour will negate all their efforts.

Or maybe they are offering countless people's sleep as a sacrifice?

Promoting Bad Chinese

This ad promoting the Malaysia Sale has been blasting on 933 for quite some time. The portion about their street performers caught my attention:

"...将浑身解数为您热情演出..."

OMG who wrote that ad? Or did that fellow reading it slip up? Why no QA? Playing on Singapore radio somemore, tsk tsk tsk.

The Easily-hurt Man

A man riding a bicycle got pushed gently off his bicycle by a vehicle but seemed ok apart from some abrasions. As luck would have it, there was a passing police car. He insisted on making a police report, calling the ambulance and lied to the paramedic about having fainted before, despite being engaged in a conversation with the police officer all the while. The paramedic whispered that she detested trouble-makers like him the most. Fearing for his life, he boarded the ambulance and went to hospital.

2 years 7 mths later, his lawyer sent a letter claiming compensation. He sustained the following injuries from the accident, claiming $2000 for each of the 3 points.

• Abrasions over left parietal region and the right elbow and right ankle


• Small hematoma over the right parietal region


• Bruises and abrasions over right hip

The poor guy is also claiming for:

• medical expenses that are still ongoing (OMG his bruises are still around after almost 3 years!!)


• bicycle repair ($25 only, probably proportionate to the extent of his injuries)


• medical report fees


• transportation fees (2 x $30 = $60. So ex! Wonder if he took limo taxi. Don't think he can take ambulance twice)


• and some other stuff

All these added up to over $10,000.

Now the professionals from the insurance will take over from here. I pity him. Not only will he not get a single cent, he will waste his lawyer's fees, money spent to put together this claim, the trouble he went through etc, as well as missing out on the free brand-new bicycle and perhaps some cash if he had opted for the on-the-spot settlement.

Unconstructive Week

On 8th November. I was informed by my PM that I will be switching to another team with immediate effect, to help develop a portion of the AiFalm application because they are seriously shorthanded. It didn't sound like I have a choice, so ok lor.

The AiFalm PM came to talk to me. It's a VB6 project, using MSSQL, and I'm not familiar with both of them. They asked if I'm ok with it and I expressed my concerns, although I knew it wouldn't change anything. Because he must have discussed and decided with my ex-project's PM. So kinda of no point asking me huh? They also warned me that this project involves a lot of OT as well as weekends, but off-days will be given.

My task was to write an interface to process messages sent by the hospital. I was given documentation of other hospitals (that have already been done) to read up as mine will be similar. A senior promised to help me install Visual Studio, check out the codes and explain them to me the next day.

The next day came but he didn't come. Funny, take 1 cd take so long meh? I didn't remind him as I thought it wasn't very nice to remind him and imply that I thought he wasn't coming. Anyway I had documentation to read and figure out, as well as intermittent internet surfing.

In the afternoon, he came to ask what time I would be leaving. That must be answered with caution because I know they OT till at least 8.45pm (my own record to date) everyday. So I answered between 6.30-7pm. I can't possibly stay back just to install a program right? What if I stayed back and he didn't install?

I left at 6 sharp because I didn't want to wait another 30min to see if he might be available. Seemed like I wouldn't be coming back this weekend for the same purpose too.

The next Monday, nothing happened too. I tried to stuff the dry, chim documentation down my throat, but I was too bored dead to go on any further, and I thought he should have found the installation cd by now even if it were hidden at the innermost corner of the cabinet, so at 3pm, I emailed that person to remind him to do whatever he promised to, when available (so as not to sound demanding when I'm actually demanding). Sure enough, he came within the next 10min. Yay!

He tried to check out the source codes, but couldn't connect to VSS. He said he would find out how to, and walked away.

I thought he would come back in a few minutes, but he didn't. The day passed.

The next day (Tuesday), I really DIDN'T WANT to read the documentation anymore and I was getting worried about the deadline, which I didn't know when yet. I must try to connect to VSS on my own since he didn't seem to be trying to help me. Wait for him? Hah! I had seen my colleague do something similar for me on my first day, so using my photographic memory (actually I think I don't have such a skill), I overcame my lack of skills in connectivity (I'm back at connecting wires, networks, how to link different modules in an application etc) to repeat the steps and TADA! I did it! See? Faster than waiting for him!

I happily emailed him to announce my success. It took me 1hr to realise my mistake.

I did not ask him to come and help me do whatever he's supposed to do.

So I had to do the demanding again. He replied ok.

At 3pm, he came to help me check out the codes, but he realised I couldn't open them because I needed to install Visual Studio. Duh! The installation has been in his to-do package all along what! He told me to ask the System Admin for the installation.

*Faint* So another guy is holding the installation, not him? Then say so earlier mah!

I emailed the System Admin (and cc the senior) for the installation. The System Admin replied that there was no more license. I expected a response from the senior, but there was none after 45min. From what has happened since Friday, I concluded that he wasn't going to do anything about it, although that was the whole point of me cc-ing him. No installation, no work. Surely it would take someone more than a junior to overcome a licensing issue?

I emailed to the senior, "Any alternative?". And within minutes, he replied that he would help me find a way. So I was right about him having read the email and doing nothing about it.

I bumped into the PM later and told him about the problem. He told the System Admin "don't care" and the licensing issue was a no more.

At last! I got my codes and program. Only the explanation was outstanding. But nevermind! I read myself first so I wouldn't sound like an idiot when asking questions.

The next day (Wednesday) was spent understanding that chim lump of confusing code.

The next day (Thursday), I emailed the leader to ask for his time to explain the codes to me. As expected, nothing happened for the whole day. Only at the end of the day as I was leaving, he stopped me to say that he isn't an expert at that and suggested that I ask another person, Ad.

I don't understand why he took 1 whole day to tell me that he doesn't know.

Ad wasn't in on Friday. In fact, I think he was in only for 1/2 day for that week. Nothing much done again.

When the real action starts, I'll be so, so, so dead.

Seen Outside My Window

Someone is playing golf on the grass patch beside the longkang (which cannot be seen in this picture. It's along the length of the left side)! He was seen yesterday around 6pm and he's here again today at the same time. This person really know how to choose huh! The grass has been freshly mowed and the longkang acts as the fake pond found in many golf courses.

But he spent more time looking for his ball than whacking the ball.

Overheard At My Desk

(His handphone rang)
Him: Hello? Yes I'm on my way now! Hey I can't talk now, I'm driving. Call you later!

And he continued sitting at his desk for the next 15min.

Sotong the Lazy Tree-saver

Now that my handphone bills are not claimable in her new company, I wanted to save a few trees by opting to receive electronic bills instead of hardcopy ones. With a few clicks in the Singtel portal, I found a hyperlink to vpost. O looks easy! I signed up with vpost and found the link to request to stop my hardcopy bills. Done!

The next day, vpost emailed me to say that they were unable to process my request because my account is vpostUSA/vpostJapan enabled.

WTH! The Singtel portal bluff me! I believe I can assume that I will be forwarded to a Singaporean registration page right? Why is my account everywhere-enabled, except Singapore?

The vpost email was helpful enough to give 3 suggestions.
1) Apply for our Giro-On-Demand. Giro-On-Demand (GOOD) is a flexible
payment mode by vPOST that lets you control how much and when you want
to pay.

2) Bring your NRIC to any Post Offices to verify your vPOST Account.
Our customer service officers will assist you with your request.

3) *Email/Fax/Mail a copy of your NRIC/FIN (front and back) to
enquiries@vpost.com.sg, 68413982 or 10 Eunos Road 8 #07-33 Singapore
Post Centre Singapore 408600.

(1) looks the easiest, so I went looking for the GOOD. I found the good_form.pdf (haha funny name) easily.

But what I'm not happy with is that it's not an electronic form. It's a physical form that I had to print out, fill in, and mail out.

...

Nevermind, more trees can die while I gather enough motivation to print out, then fill in, and finally mail out the form.

If You Like South Park or WoW

I'm Right...

... about the data for Buyer being blank. (See Sotong's Assignments)

The party that sends the data over, indeed did not check if a valid Buyer is entered.

See? See? SEE?

Which Superhero Do You Need In This Case?

Hazy Monday

The average PSI for Monday was 77 for the west. The yellow-yellow must have been my lousy handphone.

The Chronic Leg-crosser

While I was on the road, I spotted a man riding his scooter with his legs crossed like a lady. I wonder how he's gonna keep his balance when he stopped.

I had the opportunity to see for myself in the next few seconds when we came to a stop at a traffic light. When his scooter has stopped completely, he uncrossed his leg gracefully (I wonder how it's possible).

When the lights turned green, he crossed his leg gracefully and scooted off.

Sotong's Assignments

It's week 2, and time to give sotong a share of the action. Yesterday, I was given 2 PRs to solve.

PR #1 - The Mystery
I was presented with the following error - ORA-01722: invalid number. In layman's terms, this probably meant that a word is being passed off as a number, causing the program to fail.

I tested it out in the testing environment, but it was working fine. Thus I suspected that the codes in testing and those that are in use by the customer are different, but my colleague said it couldn't be.

Then how? I dunno liao. Lapses do happen. I wonder if I should show that I doubt my colleague by insisting on verifying the code versions.

Interestingly, while working on this problem, I found something that could either be a bug or redundant requirement.

Let's say we have the following table:

Fruit	Buyer
Orange	Mum
Apple	Dad
Pear	Dad
Strawberry	Sis

Usual query: Select all fruits and buyers.
Result: The above table would be returned.

If you specify that you want the fruits bought by a particular person only, there is an option to sort the result by buyers.
E.g.: Select all fruits bought by Dad, order by buyer.
Result:

Fruit	Buyer
Apple	Dad
Pear	Dad

See what's wrong?

There's no need to sort by buyer, since there will only be 1 buyer in the result.
However, it would make more sense to allow sorting regardless of whether buyer is chosen. In this case, it would be a bug.

I shall pretend I didn't see this.

PR #2 - New Place, New Way of Doing Things
A query is not returning the expected results. Let's say we have this table:

Fruit	Buyer	Year
Orange	Mum	2005
Apple	Dad	2006
Pear	Dad	2006
Strawberry	Sis	2006

Query: Select all fruits bought by Dad after year 2001.
Expected result: Apple, Pear
Actual result: No result

I tested the query in the testing environment, and got Apple and Pear. This means that the query is correct and the problem probably lies with the data. I thought it was possible that the Buyers for Apple and Pear are not Dad.

Me: I cannot replicate the problem. think there might be a problem with the data. The Buyer might be blank. Can I ask for the actual data to verify?
Colleague: No we can't. It's confidential data. They can't give us. And the data must be correct because it has been checked before sending over to us. Can you modify the query such that you can get the same problem?
Me: (Confused. She's so dead sure that the data is correct?) The query is correct, isn't it? Is there some unhandled special case? Or can you tell me the rules, so that I can double-check the correctness of the query.
Colleague: The query is correct. Now we don't know where the problem is.
Me: But you said the query is correct, why should I modify it to create the problem?
Colleague: You can remove conditions one by one, like remove the Year first, put back, remove the Buyer, and so forth.
Me: (Still unconvinced) Ok...

Make something that's correct, wrong, so that I can replicate the error?? That's something new. If it's correct, it means something else is wrong what! This is like telling me that a bulb is not lighting up. I tested with a replica of the circuit and found that mine is working even with several types of bulbs, so I suspect that perhaps the customer's bulb has blown. Now I have to cut my wires, change my bulb, change my switch to plastic, etc to make my bulb not light up. There's so many zillion things I can do to make my bulb not light up, how would I know which the actual reason is? Wouldn't it be so much easier to just SHOW ME THEIR F**KING BULB?

This is like working in the dark, anyhow feeling around for the exit.

Dunno how lah...

PSI: Is It Accurate?

Between 10-11am, the Clementi flats in the distant slowly turned Silent Hill.

The PSI readings for the corresponding period fell from 88 to 84.

I was pretty sure they meant 184.

First Day of Work

A table next to the window and far from the aircon vent :)

Surrounded by 2 China guys :(

No personal telephone and dustbin.

A pc that looks older than the ages of my 3 pcs combined, that runs Windows 2000 (I wonder why...), big fat 17" CRT monitor, no D:, only C:, has only 7GB left when I laid my hands on it, no USB and earphone ports in front. Don't know if there's any USB port behind in the first place.

I was given a walkthrough of the application. Looks chim man. Congrats to myself for not falling asleep while listening. I merely yawned for the last 30min.

Next was a meeting to discuss the PRs. It doesn't look good when there's a whole list of outstanding PRs on my first day, but it seemed most of them were just solved but unclosed, or people already know what to do with them.

There were 10 people at the meeting. 2 China guys, 1 India Indian lady, 2 young-looking girls and the rest middle-age-looking men. At least the PM (I think he's the PM) still can look.

During the meeting, there was a power trip which spared only the lights and the aircon, so I guessed it's someone in our office. Since the projector was dead, we couldn't go on, so the PM let us off for an early lunch.

It's 12 anyway, early meh...

Anyway, the people dispersed for their own lunches. Looks like the team is not very gum one. Sianz.

My choy fun cost a freaking $3.50! It's a 75% increase from the past!!!

After I received a reminder email not to install pirated software, a senior came to help me install MyEclipse, requiring the use of a generator to generate you-know-what.

The power tripped again for a split second while I was installing weblogic. Balek install... It killed the PSU of a server.

I suspect it can't play music when I heard the pc speaker tooting away and the volume control function invalid.

After I was done installing for the day, I think there was like 2GB left. 2GB of music is definitely not enough. How depressing.

The pc froze twice today for no reason. I had to restart it each time. While using Eclipse, it ran out of memory.

CMI!!

End of Break

My 9 days of stoning are ending in a few minutes. Quite happy to just relax at home, although the weather is very hot.

Maybe I shall do it again in 6 month's time, at the end of my contract.

Early in the Morning at... 2.43am

CallerAlert: 65566683 tried to call you while you were not reachable. This service is brought to you free by Singtel Mobile.

My my, this fella tried calling me at this unearthly hour. Fortunately I have a habit of switching off my hp before sleeping. What's so important that he/she/it must speak to a sotong so late? If anybody would like to know, please call this number and let me know. I did not call back.

Souvenirs

At the start of June, before an ex-colleague went on long leave, he cleared his table and moved some of his stuff to my table. None of them were useful to me.

• 1 Garfield movie poster, riddled with fold lines (I'm not a poster person)


• 2 plastic Singapore flag from NDP2005 (1 his, 1 left behind by another ex-colleague. I've already thrown away mine *oops*)


• 1 high-density stone that was supposed to ward off bad things (But I don't believe in such things...)


• 2 toy tortoises (Cutesy stuff don't appeal to me)


• 1 doggie stuffed toy still in plastic wrapper (Cutesy stuff don't appeal to me)


• 1 HK10 note (He said whenever we travel to a place, we should bring back a note from that place to keep. So why is he giving it to me when I've never been to HK? He just said he wanted to give it to me.)


• 1 picture of a bulldog-like dog, printed using B&W laser printer (For what?)


• 1 picture of some dharma message, printed using B&W laser printer (I'm no Buddhist)


• 1 Ginvera face wash (Steered clear of Ginvera after it peeled my nose bad and left scars)


• 1 1/4 eaten container of vegetarian meat floss (I DETEST mock meat. He made me sample some to prove that it's nice. It's TOO SALTY)

He tried to give me the Chinese tea left behind by another ex-colleague but I absolutely refused to accept it because I'm a pantry on my own.

All these in addition to an ornament of a Chinese couple getting married left behind by the previous occupant of my table. I was happy to let it rot in my cabinet, but he insisted on displaying it in the open to complement the items he gave me.

My barren table suddenly became livlier.

Well I had no problem with his stuff taking up my space because I'm not like the important people who always have things to file, the stuff were not getting in the way, they did not look annoying and he is still considered a nice guy. I agreed to rent the space to him. He would have to take the stuff back when/if he returns.

What I didn't like was that I felt like a dumping ground for things he didn't want to throw away himself. Some of the stuff are left behind by another person somemore! Those thing don't qualify as 传家之宝 lor! I told him I would throw them away if they got in the way and he replied that it's up to me, because they were mine. WTF! Now I had to waste my strength when he could have just put them into the waste basket instead of moving them to my table?

Of course I didn't want to strain myself. Neither did I want to ask for help to remove them to avoid being seen as heartless. For the days those things were there, I neither touched nor played with them. Only passers-by did so, intentionally or unintentionally (knocked them over).

On my last week of work, I started clearing my table. At first, I planned to ask around if anybody wanted those things, but perhaps I shouldn't do the same thing to the others... I threw out the things within reach and that nobody would want for sure - the face wash and meat floss.

On my last day of work, when I announced that I was done packing, people asked why I wasn't bringing those things back as souvenirs. I told them I had no space for them at home. Sounds incredible to most people, but my table is only big enough for my keyboard and I have absolutely ZERO ornaments belonging to me on display. If there is any, I wasn't the one who wanted to display them.

Display them at my new table? Eh that means still need to bring home right? That stone so f***ing heavy you know? I wanna go out for dinner ley, cannot bring so many bulky items along lah!

I've never considered them mine.

I know he gave them to me. I made it clear that I'm not bringing them with me. My home cannot hold anymore things. I could give everything to them if they wanted. They could take whatever they fancy. Maybe the HK10 if they wanna go HK.

Nobody took anything of course. See, I'm not being heartless at all.

I have no obligation to keep everything people give me. OMG I didn't even take the money.

I asked my neighbour to ask the cleaner auntie to help clear my table on the next working day.

No More Transcab

After a positive experience with Transcab last Friday, I wanted to give them some business again last night. But it seems like they weren't interested in me anymore.

In an effort to keep to good programming practices, I shall not reinvent the wheel and instead, reuse code wherever possible.

Tale of the Liar Cabby and Liar Operator

One bad experience is enough to negate it all. I don't have to give them another chance, not when there are so many other choices around.

But I will consider Transcab again if all other companies failed me. They just have to wait for their turn.

Scamming a Sotong

On Monday, 8.34am, while I was trying to sleep through the banging outside my house, I got a call which only rang for 1s.

No prizes for guessing who called.

I confirmed my suspicion by forcing open my eyelids to look at the missed call.

+8613713487219

What an idiot! Went back to sleep.

Operation Job Hunt Completed

So, I still have not joined the public sector.

While people are at school or stuck in office, I'm slacking at home! :D I have given myself 1 week to rest and relax. Afterall, my longest continuous break to date is 4 days since I started working. It was 2 days of weekend + 1 public holiday + 1 MC. See, I don't even want to burn my leave.

Now I wished I had asked for 2 weeks.

Guess I won't be going anywhere. I can't do anything in neighbouring countries. Don't wanna fight with horrible people from country C in Taiwan/Hongkong since it's their golden week. But most importantly, no time to plan and no money. Sianz. I think my first proper tour in my life will be at least another 5 years away. But maybe by then, I will not be interested in tours anymore. So... I should continue accumulating money till I have so much that I can go to a place alhough I'm not remotely interested in visiting it. This scenario might happen a few decades later.

Some statistics
17 companies (at least)
7 interview invitations
5 interviews attended
2 offers
1 week's compensation and 1 week of holiday. Net gain: $0.00

Some awards
Most Stupid Application Form: Am Want
It has a cool feature that calculates your age as you enter your year of birth. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on firefox properly, insisting that I'm -76 years old and doesn't allow manual change.

So I decided to use IE instead, but unfortunately (again), the page forwarding for that position was malfunctioning. Instead of showing me the application form when I clicked on Apply Online, it told me, "Please use Main Am Want Career Site". Cannot apply using IE, not working properly on firefox, how? I chose the lesser of 2 evils and sent in an application stating my age as -76.

Needless to say, there is no reply from Am Want. They wouldn't want to employ someone living in the past.

Company With the Tightest Purse string: Aquaria
2.6k as their best offer, 1 year contract with no guarantees for what happens after that. I understand their reasons, considering their size. Luckily I did not give in to desperation.

Most Insulting Company: Ass See Ass
For subjecting me to a technical test when a fresh graduate didn't have to do one.

The Bone Devourer: Ass See Ass
For offering me $100 more than what they offered a fresh graduate and having the cheek to tell me it's competitive.

Slowest Company: Am Oh Ee
This is not a private company, but perhaps this is why it has the qualities to win this award. Assuming they did not backdate the letter they sent me, they took 3 working days to send out that letter, and 6 working days to reach me.
For goodness' sake, if you are going to be so slow, might as well be like the rest, don't reply!

Most 不可貌相 Company: Aitee Too One
The look and feel of its website is unmistakenly from 10 years ago. There was no evidence that the information I required was up-to-date. I even spotted some out-of-date information. I had mentally prepared myself for my email application to end up as a wake-up call to them that they their website is in neglect. What a surprise that the position is still open!

Most Irritating Application Form: Hedge Pee
I gave up after writing a crappy cover letter. Must fill in so many things about myself and to por the company when I have only heard horror stories about there. Forget it.

Ok should stop awarding now, or else will be like 分猪肉 like the Star Awards.

I'm Taken!

28 September, The Lie
The HR was damn difficult to get. Phone forever busy.

I finally got through in the afternoon. She told me that the management was ok with 2.7, but I still had to tell her about my imaginary offer of 2.9 and asking how much they can match, since I understand that it might be a bit high. She helped me analyze my offers, like location (yours sucks!), people (similar), job scope (similar)... anyway I tried to make it sound like the difference was $200 more for a better job location, so they should offer me more to make it sensible to take up.

At about 4pm, I got good news. But I still tried to play hard to get, saying it's a difference of $100 and job location.

At 5pm, I finally decided that I should still go for the SutarHarp interview since it would be easier to stick to plans than to change them. Anyway 5pm already, dunno if it'll be too late to fly plane. Wait I get blacklisted, how?

At 6pm, it suddenly struck me that I did not want to go out of the house specially to sign the contract next Monday when I'll could do it tomorrow. Immediately, I called the HR to accept the offer verbally.


29 September, The End Came, And a New Beginning Inked
In the morning, I went to SutarHarp.

When I was talking about my past experience, I was surprised when I got asked how many people were retrenched. I thought they wanted to know if it's because I was inapt, so I said it was inconvenient for me to reveal because all I knew was hearsay.

Next they asked if it's true that my company is going to be acquired.

IS IT??? First time I heard about it ley! It dawned upon me that they were fishing for information from me. I said I did not have official news.

I was totally uninterested in that position. I admit I was half-hearted, but the job scope was not my cup of tea either. First of all, the job scope sounds like that of a system analyst's and it's a contract position. The kind that has no guarantee of extension or conversion at the end. Sounds sucky. I told the interviewers straight that it was not suitable for me.

I went to my farewell lunch. Sakura oysters are quite edible, surprisingly. I was happy that I had something to say when my colleagues asked where I was going. I guess I would sound too pathetic if I hadn't managed to secure a new job. Ass See Ass is really timely, I must say. I confirmed with my colleagues about the acquisation. Indeed, the GM has revealed during the meeting that I wasn't allowed to go, that some companies are looking at it, but nothing is confirmed yet. The future is really bleak with no major tenders coming up.

The rest of the afternoon was spent packing files (electronic, not physical), writing farewell email and going over to sign my life to my new company.

After I had signed, I received 2 invitations to interview from Estee Ee and Geh Geh Hospital. Too late!

Followed by a yummy dinner!

The conclusion is that I'm happy to be retrenched. I think I'm lucky to be chosen. Although I don't know the criteria and nobody else seems to know.

Hehehe...

奸计得逞！

Disappointment and Light

25 September, No Lousy Books
Went to a branch near the sea. The evil security guard would not let my father park in their carpark, saying it's for staff, despite a sign saying "Visitor's carpark" (or parking, can't remember). It's raining lor! Still want to make him use the public carpark *grr*

I was fated to be late because I had to wait for a lady to switch on the lift at 9am sharp.

The job sounded very happening. Have to manage vendor and project, with minimal programming (I like!). The vendor is in Chicago, so I would have to do phone conferencing at midnight sometimes (I wonder why not the other way round). I was told they have a big budget (ok! Pay me more, everything also can!) But the killer was having to move and setup machines, and travel frequently between offices. I told them I couldn't do it.

They said they might have other positions suitable for me, but they involved programming. O well, I thought they wouldn't call me for them liao, not after I tailored my answers to suit this job, saying I would like to do less programming. And I don't think they would be fast enough for me to consider them.

Fucked up.

No more appointments for the rest of the week. Ass See Ass did not call as promised. Please be slower...


27 September, A New Date and a Ray of Light
SutarHarp invited me to an interview on Friday! It's for some configuration and testing position. Actually I hear the word "configuration", I wanna faint liao. I think the only configuration I can do is changing the theme for Windows. Nevermind, go there and find out more.

Ass See Ass offered me. 2.6k only, and still dare to tell me very competitive already. Wei you offer fresh grad 2.5, don't think I don't know ok. But I tend to talk rubbish at this time and bargain only 2.7 *bish* Sigh tomorrow need to bluff them I got higher offer and see how liao. Sux man, why I always talk rubbish?

I received a letter from Am Oh Ee to inform me that they had received my application. Erm, I sent it like, 2 weeks ago ley. The letter was dated 19/9. Bet they backdated it, those bummers. That's why I wanna join them.

Job Hunt

18 September, Interview @ Ass See Ass
Aquaria called me in the morning but I missed it. I hesitated to call back because I had no answer for them. I did eventually out of courtesy, but no one answered. Good. I had nothing to say anyway. But I wondered why nobody answered everytime I called. Did I do it wrongly?

Security at Scenery building is so slack. I dropped off at the basement carpark, walked through Ass See Ass' glass door and I could have walked right into the office area or helped myself to some free coffee at the pantry, but interviewee cannot be so rude, right? So I called my interviewer and went back to where I should be - the Ass See Ass' reception.

I was shown to a meeting room and a rather informal interview with 2 interviewers began. We started with the face-to-face talk! Did that mean no test? *Yay*

We talked about my work and studies. They asked for my transcript and started scrutinizing it, asking me how I found CS1101, CS1102 and CS2103. OMG it's the first time I ever came across an interviewer who studied transcript like that! Luckily I can still remember the module codes :P Turned out that one of the interviewers was an ex-course coordinator -_-;;

It was a maintenance position again. It sounded like they needed a runner to do debugging at Therestar.

When we had no more questions for each other, they produced a test paper -____- Insult me again... fresh grad dun need to do test, why I need?

The questions looked the same as one year ago. But I think still flunk lah, how can I remember the answers? And I'm not the kind to find out the answer because I would have forgotten the questions by the end of the test.

I asked if I could have a reply the next day as I already have an offer. Of course that's asking for the impossible.

After that, I was quite certain that I would reject Aquaria. I don't think I wanted to slave for a bit more money, which would go to the gahmen in the form of ERP. But the thought of lengthening the period of uncertainty made me want to accept. I flip flopped several times in the span of one night.

To take or not to take?


19 September, Extension
Aitee Too One invited me for an interview. If I accept Aquaria, I would not need to go for interviews anymore.

After talking to Mr K and Ms R, I decided to buy myself some time by asking for an extension and higher pay. I was offered $100 more (sigh) and one more day to consider.


20 September, The 负心人
No Lousy Books invited me to an interview! Suddenly, I felt that the pasture seems greener the more I walk. I accepted both Aitee Too One and No Lousy Books' interviews and rejected Aquaria.

Why sell my soul for a bit more money in exchange for experience in a field that I don't want to be in forever? I should make full use of what I got from this retrenchment to get a better job. My bosses are behind me. I don't know if I would ever get such a chance again.

I tried contacting Mr R, who has been retrenched too, to see if he would like to join Aquaria. Ya I'm telling only now. I'm another selfish person.

I applied for See Ass AiTee. Looks like a nice place.


22 September, Catching Up
Ass See Ass asked me if I had accepted Aquaria. I told them that I had rejected. Hmm... does the sudden concern mean there's hope? But with No Lousy Books, Ass See Ass doesn't seem so attractive anymore.

Aitee Too One is housed in an area with unfriendly terrain. When I walked in, the whole place was very quiet, with 2 or 3 people chatting in a room. Like nothing to do one?

My interviewers were 2 ladies, 1 of them being my former Maths teacher in sec2. When she saw which school I came from, I told her she taught me before. Hehe quite an effective ice-breaker. We talked more about my life than my work. And I admitted that I knew it was her who corresponded with me. But I didn't say that I knew she's here all along.

But too bad the work don't seem to suit me ley. Got to do actionscript, research on hp games and other mobile stuff, and work with ah nehs! They have plenty there, she said -___-;; Not that I'm xenophobic, but I think I might not be too gum with them lor, like that very lonely what. And it also means the salary cannot be high here...

The killer question was how much my expected pay is. With the point above clouding my mind, I said:

2.6-2.7

!!! Walau I siao liao! What was I thinking! Boohooohoo! I think this one no hope liao. They offer I also cannot accept liao.

I was told they would take about one week to get back to me. They are looking at a few candidates. If I were selected, I would have to go through a round 2 with my ex-sec sch vp whom I have no impression of, and some other members of the co.

Huh still have a few people apply here ah? I thought the recruitment page looks like a neglected one from a few years ago.

Sigh, No Lousy Books, please save me.

I Want More Money! MORE MONEY!

I went to an interview at Aquaria (name has been changed to protect my identity). There's a technical test that I think I probably failed, because I rely on the compiler and doing things the standard way without asking why not the other way, and the difference between the 2 ways. I mean, why ask when experts already say Way 1 is better than Way 2? So extra right?

O I program by copy and paste, that's another reason.

The interview was more like a casual chat about my work. They didn't ask the standard questions like "Tell me about yourself" (I'm boring?), "Why do you want to work here" (I need money lah!). I prepared for them, but don't think I still can answer lah.

"It's common to see quite a few people around at 8 or 9pm. But we start late. At 9 something am, the office is still quite empty. We do go back on time too, when there's no deadline to rush."

The working hours sounds horrendous. I still need to go tuition ley, how can I stay so late everyday? I think they only want to avoid the ERP, which I will pay to get home early. I need to wash my hair and wait for it to dry. Stone at my pc. Those people got no life! Want me to sell my soul to them? Pay me more.

So anyway, they made me an offer yesterday. A paltry 2.5k, 1-yr contract, 1mth bonus upon completion (sounds like an alternate AWS), the usual leave and medical benefits. I was told my expected pay was too high.

Walau! This is fresh grad pay lor! Sian half man! Because I did horribly in the test is it? Probably :P

I asked by when I had to give a reply.

Tuesday.

Yes! I have an interview at Ass See Ass(name has been changed to protect my identity) on Monday! O SCS, please offer me more! Even if you are at Jurong, as long as there's like $200 or $300 more, I will still join you! Horrible working hours also can (for this one, must pay at least 3k)! Anything for money!

Should I take Aquaria if ASA don't want me? :\

Present!

Yesterday, my father told me I had been mailed a package. I could guess who it's from. It's finally here!

But my father told me it's too big to fit into the mailbox, so he would pick it up for me from the post office.

The Big Big Mail


I turned to its back to look for an opening. Seeing this note,

I started prying open the flap of the envelope.

Result

The glue is damn sticky man! Got it all over my fingers -_-

And then I realised...

I should be tearing that edge off.

ARGH!!! I think my prospective employers will give me a miss if they ever find out about here.

What's Inside

A "cheerful" t-shirt to complement my bunny! The cloth is not thin and cheapo, and the picture is does not threaten to flake off after X washes.
There's also a pretty card (seldom receive cards) and a handout that will help me trick prospective employers into thinking that I'm capable.

Thank you! (you know who you are)

How Am I?

If you found out about what happened from here, it's normal, as I told very few people about it personally. I don't want to repeat the same story too many times.

My decision to leave was sealed after I got my increment because it made me realise the company was seriously in a very bad shape. But I did not reveal my intention to anyone else at work, except Mr K, because we feel the same. I wasn't sure about the others, so better :x And I still didn't tell them this is why I am fine with the culling.

Before I got that letter, I had been thinking if I should let anyone know my intention, for people might be offended if they got to know about it after I had tendered. Hey, they are contacts I have acquired with 2yrs of my life ok. How I was going to be thick-skinned to ask for a testimonial after leaving the guys in the lurch? And who could I ask to be my referees?

Now, I would be through 2 jobs without writing a single resignation letter. I can march up to my supervisors and ask them to write me a testimonial and be my referees. Suddenly I have people coming to me with lobangs :D

I found out that at the department meeting, the people were told that the company had retrenched a few people, but would keep their identities a secret.

So much for secrecy, when people from other departments can walk by and see for themselves. The management must have thought people only eat during lunch, or that there's no inter-departmental interaction. People up there must have been up there for too long and forgot how's life like down below. News diffuse efficiently!

The DH also told everybody to believe in the company.

OMG. I smell hypocrisy.

I have heard that the person taking over my work is thinking of leaving too. Good luck, everybody.

I'm considering including this picture in my farewell email:

The Diarrhoea Goes Strong

I've been wanting to post this, but I had been too busy.

31 October
My department was informed that the DH was leaving. There would be a meeting the next day regarding that.

1 September
So this is the last day of the boss who told me to believe in the company's direction. That was also the day the company had a colonic irrigation. Among those flushed out was me.

In the morning, my PM emailed me to inform me of a meeting at noon. What's curious was that I was the sole recipient. Funny... meeting always meet the whole team one mah... *shrugs*

At noon, she told my PL that they would meet later, go lunch first. Huh? Should be telling me ba?

At 12.30pm, while I was happily surfing net, I received a call from the HR asking me if I knew of "the meeting". Of course I didn't! She told me to go to this room, where the GM was waiting for me.

GM? Why would he want to meet me? I got biz with him meh? I only have meetings with my team, and now none of them were around. Cannot be good.

I entered the room. Apart from the GM, the DH, a senior and a lady stranger were there too, looking grim. Wa so many people. Since I'm not good enough for a promotion and I just got a raise, there's no other good thing that can happen.

I sat down. The lady was a HR from the parent company. We shook hands. There was a letter in front of her.

Ok. You want to invite me to your company ah? Cannot be right? What do you want?

She explained that the company had been undergoing restructuring and because of a need to further streamline, they no longer have a position for me.

Oh.

She recited the severance package, passed me a letter and asked me to read through it.

Nothing special. The package is very sad one. Surrender all company's stuff? *Idea* Hehehe. Great! Now I'm gonna be paid to leave! Yes!

I smiled and said I was done. She asked me if I had any questions.

O I would like a detailed explanation about how you arrived at this decision. Like why I was chosen over so-and-so. Ya right, as if you would give me the answer I wanted. Worst would be hearing my incompetencies after I kept being told I was doing fine. I thought I would have a lot of questions, but not at that moment. I needed time to organize them.

I just asked if I can encash unutilized leave, and yes, I can.

I've been saving my leaves for the day I leave, you see.

The HR then told me to sign 2 copies of the letter, and I did. It's a take-it-or-leave-it thing I guessed.

I wondered if it's because I had no questions. The GM explained that this was a very difficult choice to make. All of them looked through all the names in the company several times before they decided who they had to let go. The company has been very happy with my performance, so it really has nothing to do with my ability.

I'm really glad I didn't ask anything. He still didn't explain why I had to be picked. I'm expensive? Because the DH thought I just wanted a job? Or I didn't, and didn't seem to have the intention to improve myself? What?

The HR said she would arrange for me and the others to see a counsellor, and I could pass her my resume so that she could see if there were any openings within the parent company.

Huh?! No need lah! I'm HAPPY! And please, look within such a small radius? I'm better off helping myself man.

I said ok anyway. I didn't want to reject her, only to be asked why. And then there was nothing more to say. They asked me if I was ok and how I felt. I said I was ok with everything, maintaining my smile.

You expect me to cry izzit? I hope they didn't think I'm sad till only know how to smile.

That was all. I took the envelope and stuffed the letter in. I didn't really want to take it since it's useless, but it's there mah, those people would surely make me take it. The letter folded till so ugly, dunno who fold one. I stole a glance at the file in front of the GM. 3 more letters. I think Mr K would get it too.

I went out of the room, back to my desk and continued surfing as usual. But a while later, I stopped to think.

I think I know what the meeting with my PM was to be about. But because I wasn't given the letter yet, she couldn't speak to me.

Actually, I intended to stick around to get my AWS and use the time to get my SCJP meanwhile. The pay here seriously low man... Damn it, the company beat me to it! But a consolation is that I would still get my AWS, albeit pro-rated. Another consolation is that I would get a pay rise sooner than planned, IF I get a job real soon.

So now, my plans had been thrown off. I just got a rude push to take charge of my future. Is it possible to get my SCJP within 1mth so I can command a higher pay? Sure can! Cannot also have to!

I'm not surprised that this happened. My feelings for the company had been going downhill since May. The Mama project, I didn't feel like I contributed much. My PL could cover everything by doing OT everyday. My maintenance tasks, Ms R has been coping since I became her deputy. I felt dispensible. So it's logical to save this sum and let the rest work a bit harder right?

But why not the newbies? Let's see... Mr R is doing some chim thing with RMI that I'm sure I would take a zillion years to comprehend if handed over to me. Ms L is doing something that caused me to put on black face last time. And she's so much better than me at that stupid thing. There are 3 newbies at another team and I'm probably cheaper than them, but I would be considered a newbie at that project. Makes no sense. I concede.

I bumped into my PM when she came back from lunch. She had that uneasy look. I told her that they had talked to me. She asked me if I was ok (o man...) and put her handS on my shoulderS. Luckily not too hard, or I sure collapse. She told me not to worry (I'm not).

The PM got my team to go for a meeting. I knew what they were going to discuss, so I asked if I had to go. As expected, I didn't have to.

When they came back, they all had that look on their faces. The don't-want-to-look-at-me and don't-want-to-talk-to-me look. I understand. I couldn't possibly go and break the ice either. I just let it be.

Then it was time for the department meeting. I was preparing to go, but my PM told me I didn't have to attend anymore.

I was taken aback. Now that I'm leaving, I wasn't allowed to know the company's plans anymore? The DH was leaving, shouldn't I know what he had to say too? How 现实. Like I would steal their ideas.

The area around me was all empty, the department all away at the meeting. I was left all alone at my cubicle, for people from other departments to see. So outcasted. I had nothing to do, so I made full use of my time by sticking my thumbdrive into my pc.

I called Mr K to go out for a chat. If he got the same fate as me, he would answer, but he didn't. Huh...

Mr T came by. I told him I was fine and not to look at me as if I was dying.

When they returned, I wanted to ask them what happened, but I guessed it wasn't convenient as the PM was around. I'm not supposed to know hor?

Ms R msn-ed me to tell me that she was sorry it had happened and she appreciated my help. She asked me how I felt. Well, I told her that I'm ok and I would tell her how I feel nearer the date.

I can't guarantee that I would still feel happy if I didn't manage to find a job.

Nothing to do for the rest of the day. Made me wonder if I had been relieved of my duties from immediate effect. WTF, Day 1 was already unbearable with the awkward silence and if there no silence, it's "are you ok". What more 29 days?

I tried to call Mr K again, but no answer still. Looks like he's on leave. I sms-ed him.

Mr W mass-mailed his farewell. He got the axe too, but today was his last day.

People were standing around talking to the DH. I went to see if I could join in as I was bored, but 5s later, I left. Nothing interesting.

I went to say goodbye to Mr W and let him know he's not the only one.

Mr K called me. He got chopped too and asked me who else got it. But it wasn't nice to gossip openly, so I told him it's inconvenient to talk now and would call him when I got home.

Mr K was expecting it since yesterday because Mr E told him that his contract was being terminated and that more would have to go. Mr K chose to resign as he feared that it might reflect badly on him. It struck me that I could have resigned too, but then, I love money, and moreover, I had signed already. No regrets.