(I just read Magjunkie's post on environmental consciousness and this is my super-belated response)
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We try very hard to be green, but it can get pretty...trying, if you would pardon the pun. For one, I have a low tolerance for clutter, so keeping recyclable items in the house has to be systematic and neat or I'd be sorely tempted to throw them all out. Also, being green comes with an extra workload. Yes, extra workload:
- washing and drying used plastic tubs/glass jars instead of throwing them out
- patiently peeling envelopes open instead of ripping them apart, so that we can recycle them for internal use at our workplaces
- sifting through our junk mail to salvage flyers with only one printed side, so that we can use the blank sides as note paper
- recycling old newspapers, magazines, junk mail
- recycling punched out paper - yes those little paper polka dots can be recycled too!
- sorting old bills and letters and bringing them to the office for shredding
- saving cardboard packaging from products that we buy, and flat-packing them for easy storage (we don't have much space in our home and whilst waiting for collection day we can't just chuck all these in the storeroom - we have none!)
- saving pretty fashion tags for re-use as bookmarks or gift tags
- sorting our recyclable stash into paper, plastics, fabrics
- bringing our own shopping bags whenever situation or cargo permits
- I also avoid buying products with unnecessary, excessive packaging. Have you seen how much plastic and paper some manufacturers use to box up one thumbdrive? Enough to box up 20! My pet peeve, for sure. To be truly green, we can't just rely on recycling alone - we need to cut waste at its source. Why consume what we don't need in the first place?
I think that's about all. I realise I have not done much in conserving electricity and water though. Gotta work on that.
More than half a year ago, the mister posted about a rare visitor who stopped by our doorstep. This month, we get another! We were heading for our morning makan (breakfast) when Thomas stopped in his tracks and signalled for me to stop and look too. Less than a metre in front of us was this beauty, perched on a ledge and peering at us. We didn't have a proper camera, but took "record shots" with our handphones nonetheless.
Funny how we have been running into them in HDB corridors and void decks of late. Have our winged friends taken a fancy to the life of a HDB heartlander, perhaps? Hmm... "HDB Palm King"...sounds like great Lau-Hero material already.
Looking at the calendar today made me do a double take - is it really 30 June already? Time flies...at supersonic speed at that.
So, have I spent the first half of 2009 the way I wanted? Well, the answer's yes and no. Yes, because I've always wanted to try this job out, so yes, I got to live part of my dream. No, because I don't swallow abuse very well, and wished I didn't have to suffer six months of it at my workplace to affirm this.
But all in all, it has been a fruitful journey. I'm a mutant strain of a virus now - what didn't kill me only made me stronger, hur hur hur! I've learnt more about myself, and now sport a thicker hide, a sharper tongue and a keener sense of humour. I call it character evolution (coz' I'm too old to grow up).
Ready to take on the next half of 2009! *vroom vroom*
I've been buried in work, work, work but I just have to share this with you - Khalil Fong's reprisal of Faye Wong's hit "紅豆". Forgive my loss for words (1. I've just had a 13-hour workday, 2. I'm really gaga over this), but in short, my verdict after listening to this is:
- I :heart: Khalil Fong! (sorry, Magjunkie!) Even that geeky photo, I :heart:. (great, now I know when I'm overworked, I sound like Yoda)
- His album, due for release in August is a must-buy!
K...back to work now...
I've been neglecting this blog - special apologies to Gwen for depriving you of your usual lunchtime entertainment. Work has been real hectic (and it will get worse in the following months). Now, I would have been able to multi-task and sneak five minutes to blog a few lines here and there - except that the internet connection at the office is incredibly erratic and gives me some funny DNS server error more often than not. Just so that I don't kill my keyboard in a fit of heavy, pounding frustration, I have given up on blogging from the office.
Anyway, all's the same on the warfront at work...nothing much to update. But something pleasant did happen recently - I made a new friend at work! We joined the company around the same time but did not have the opportunity to interact until a recent project brought us together. It's one of those friendships that eased in very naturally, without having to go through a period of familiarisation or ice-breakers. Like long-lost friends, to be cliche. Perhaps we remind each other of existing friends, hence that sense of familiarity with each other's style and tempo.
And you know what? This new friend of mine was actually a competitor for the job I wanted - she got the job I was eyeing, while I was posted to my second choice. But I'm glad it happened this way, or our paths would not have crossed (she would have joined another company instead) I remember feeling this sentiment a few years back, at a previous workplace. I'm glad it has happened again - the feeling's almost poetic, to join the dots and see the things I've not seen before. As they say, "Everything happens for a reason". I only have to wait it out to see it.
I've been playing this game on Facebook called "Hell's Kitchen" and the freaky thing is that it kinda feels like my job! There are always 101 things to juggle, the juggling has to be done to perfection within a given time, and yes, if you fail to get your juggling act together, the boss gets to call you a donkey, or some other insult he fancies that day.
I soooo want to suggest to my HR to put potential recruits through this Facebook game, just to test how well they hold up to stress and insults. Better than personality tests imho!
(and that rhymes.)
Met two friends at lunchtime today. 'Met' as in a chance meeting, not by appointment. I simply ran into them at the food court - they were at the next table - how coincidental is that? And so after my original lunch kakis were done with their food, I moved to my friends' table and gatecrashed their lunch gathering. Amazing how we could chatter on and on despite the fact that we haven't seen each other in years, and also how this lunch gathering was made possible by none other than Chance, Fate or whatever name this queer force goes by.
This made my day! :)
I've begun to jobhunt...sort of, anyway. I mouseover job ads but hardly click on them. The few I do eventually click on, I take three days to consider before I do so, and even then, sometimes I withdraw the application a few hours after.
I have been hesitant for a few reasons. The job market doesn't seem too rosy to begin with. And despite the many problems I'm having with my job, far more than I've ever had with other jobs, I still feel somewhat attached to it because I know there will never be another job quite like it. It's not one of those generic cookie-cutter positions you can find in any company on the street. Once I'm outta here, it's goodbye forever. "Ouch" if I stay, "ouch" if I go. There's no winning this game, is there?
Hopefully something happens to end this dilemma, otherwise I'll be stuck at this pendulum thingy till goodness-knows-when. *Tick-ok-I-quit-Tock-nah-i-want-to-stay*
这种沉默, 是不言而喻的默契, 还是早已话不投机,半句多?
看着那既熟悉又陌生的面孔,在遗憾过去与庆幸现在之间, 这是什么心情?
“当我说我要你从此好好过
是真的。”-（伍家辉 - 虽然我愿意）
Practical words from a friend:
"When you are in doubt, then don't go into it. When you bet on uncertainty, it is gambling."
When taken out of the original context that my friend was speaking in, I think the statement can be applied to many aspects of life. And part of me still want to take that gamble - with happiness, for instance.
