Another op..

Work's been going okay. I've actually been a bit discouraged because over the last few days I've seen some work fall apart simply because I was going full steam ahead in the wrong direction... but in the end I've gotten some input from various of my supervisors and bosses.dunno if they're just being nice, but they said "good work!" So I'll just take the comments and don't think too much. oh, and Director's given birth to a baby Erin! Same name as my older niece. I so HAVE to find out if her first daughter is the same name as my younger niece...

Saw Dr Pho today, turns out I AM going to have the screw out. So one more wrist operation, hopefully paid for by the army, and it's going to happen 8 Oct. One moment I was saying, okay, let's have the screw out, then he says, okay, Monday! and I'm totally floored, thought it would take longer. Maybe it's a lull period or something, I did notice the place was kind of empty compared to the past?

Sharon replied to my email! So I haven't lost contact with her, was worried about that! Think she's submitting her thesis today.. Good luck, Ren!

The unnecessary necessary

I've been at a writing course the last two days. The teacher was generally good, quite understanding and not *too boring. Today I did find myself in a rather contentious mood though. He was telling us about unneccesary words. Example: "We will take all necessary measures." Or "I'll give you the relevant information." Or, "We'll take appropriate actions", "Use suitable headings", "Give a gentle reminder", "This is strictly confidential."

His reasoning: You're expected not to take unneccesary measures, give irrelevant information, take inappropriate actions, use unsuitable headings, give harsh reminders, or observe loose confidentiality. That's why all those words are useless.

But I disagree! True, it doesn't make for perfect English. But these words help you to reassure people!
Still, he probably means a general case and all that, so let's just take it that I was feeling antsy. Anyway, he went on to ask, "Anyone else have any other examples they want to add?"

I flirted very long with the idea of saying,
"Yes I do! When you ask if anyone else has any examples to add, you're obviously asking the class and not yourself. Therefore, 'anyone have any examples to add?' is enough. 'Else', 'other', and 'they want' are all unnecessary!"

Managed to control myself though. Probably half the class would just have assessed accurately that I was trying to be a smartass.

A new Gaiman book?

Uncle's in town from beijing and he met whole family for dinner at crystal jade... Too bad that I can't enjoy myself because of the ulcer at the back of my jaw.. :<

Anyway, beforehand I was at the shopping centre looking for something for dear key. There were a few promising ones but nothing panned out in the end. There was a Ty siberian but after comparing with Diggs, which was also on the shelf, realised that it's nowhere near as cute as Diggs and Junior, the two previous Ty I bought... also, some games at Zed and Zee! PopCap games well represented, including Zuma and Bejeweled 2 from MSN Zone, and the price was not too awful. So I was thinking of getting her a game, but... she'll probably kill me, I should get it AFTER her exams. Then, remembered she wanted a clock, but, cannot buy clock for her lah! Her mom would freak! So the shopping's a waste. Except that maybe I saw this Gaiman book, the Anansi Boys, which is kind of an offshoot of American Gods, which I loved. So I figure I'll go Kino with some vouchers and a discount card and pick it up.

Hee.. was at key's place and she was going through the hong kong pics. Then she showed me this shot that I took.. hee.. Pretty, I think.

Zim & Key @ Bintan

hee.. Just uploaded the pictures for my Bintan trip with Keying. It's been a long while but I tend to procarastinate. Plus the camera isn't mine! Hee.. The first pic is at the restaurant in the tourist village. And the second pic is ah ping! We were playing monopoly, all four of us, and he kept getting the beauty queen card.

Super dinner @ Tavern

Wow... I had a fantastic dinner at this wonderful place.. My sis was treating, to celebrate her finishing her confinement month. Now she can eat all she wants!

Anyway, this place is just behind UE Square, think it's on the streets toward Mohd Sultan. There are signs all over advertising the weekday lunch and dinner deals, so it probably isn't hard to find. It's called Tavern, and the setup is kind of tavern-like, dark, traditional woods, dim orange lights like wood fires, lots of staff hanging around.

The price totally floored me. "Wagyu beef" is $40 for 100gm, the most expensive of the lot. And a more normal meal of the other ingredients, like ribeye, or salmon, or fish, costs $22-32. So, not a cheap place.. But the food is sooooooooooooo good. I was very hesitant about the beef, but my sister said if no-one else ordered the wagyu she wouldn't either. Apparently you need to order at least 300gm of Wagyu to get a nice chunk that's thick enough to have texture or something. But I took the excuse and ordered that as well. So we had 200gm each...

It was seriously the best beef I've ever eaten. Medium rare, juicy, chewy and soft at the same time, perfect texture! It felt like it was melting in my mouth! And the outside was just a little crispy, with the taste of the grill, some hints of wood smoke... And the fat layer carried a hint of sweetness from the sauce seasoning. Wow.

One of these days I'll go try out the lunch set. $15, they advertise.. It won't be wagyu, but it should be good too!

Splashes of red ink

Just got back a paper with tons of red ink all over it.. Sigh. Well, it's computer red ink, but it still hurts to think that my writing is that bad.

Strange accident

Friend of mine had the following accident, concisely summed up like this:

1. Her fault.
2. Other guy wanted to get $A.
3. She said, I'll use insurance, we report, you claim.
4. He said, Can! You arrange my car towed. (?!)
5. She said, Nonsense! Your insurance can arrange your own tow.
6. He said, I don't know how to call tow. I don't care how things are done by right, you better arrange for me.
7. She said, I'm not going to arrange for you.
8. He said, Then I don't let you go.
.......
In the end, some friends of hers came along and negotiate with the guy, who..
1. Can't produce driver's license
2. Can't produce insurance documents
3. Not registered with the insurance company he claimed he was contracted with

and managed to knock him down to $A/2.5.

Thoughts?

Cards that bend and don't break

Today I learnt that one of the "security features" (among many others) of Work Permit cards is that they flex without losing their straightness. Even managed to try it out, and then I realised that it's about the same material as our ICs.. and that that also bends to an amazing degree.

Come to think of it, our ICs are remarkably tough. They sit in our wallets year after year, even follow some of us to NS life, get bent, stomped on, squashed, crushed.. they outlast our wallets!

And you know what? Credit/ATM cards are always breaking, roughly at the same line. I'm not sure if it's because they are getting swiped and that's wearing them away, or if the wallet doesn't support them at that line and so they get weakened until they break. But!

Why not have tougher credit cards? Our governments can issue us, FOC (unless you lose one), cards that don't break for twenty, thirty years maybe, but the bank cards maybe last two years before they break...

New areas?

A bit tired after shuttling around the whole day in car...

On thursday I told daniel and joanna that I think I may need a change of scope for a while.. Some long-term, regular exposure to a field other than youth work. At the time, I was still thinking in terms of impact projects with elderly or maybe deaf and dumb people.

Today, at FCBC a new avenue opened up.. prisons. The yellow ribbon project that key loves so much. I don't know. It's scary, but.. it might be much better than anything I had planned myself.