Show me the MONEY!!

Last Thursday, my Visa boss asked me out for coffee.. well, I was sort of expecting this.. Why? Cos there has been another resignation by the new Server Ops team lead who was here for less than 2 months!

So she wanted to ask if I'm interested to take over as the team lead. I told her I'm more than happy to help her out on this team, but again, the issue lies with $$$. If HP is willing to pay me in accordance to the new role and responsibilities, then of course, I am willing to take up the role..

Now the ball is in HP's court... Show me the money, and I'll take up the new role... Pure and simple..

Hazy Lazy Daz...

These 2 days very hazy.. although the PSI showed that it was less than 100, but somehow the atmosphere felt stuffy.. even now as I sit in my room writting this blog, with the fan blowing, the air feels so stale and heavy, and every breath that I take is a chore..

Luckily I started my nasal spray treatment last Saturday. So far no running nose or blocked nose. *cross fingers* The spray is in liquid form and will last for 2 months. According to the doctor, I would need to do this treatment for at least 6 months to see if there is any improvement to my sensitive nose, else it would be for 1 year.

Weird dream...

Took a nap yesterday afternoon.. and had a very weird dream..

Due to unknown reason (or reason that I dont remember) I was pulling at my back teeth and suddenly the teeth at the back of my upper and lower jaws dropped out!! I could feel the blood in my mouth and the teeth that fell off. I panicked and started to spit them out. Think I counted them and there were 十多颗! I remembered I was in the presence of 2 person, which I could not remember who.. And I remembered telling myself, well since they fell off then I would need to get dentures and luckily only the teeth at the back jaws dropped and not the front ones, which were still intact..

When I woke up, I can remember vividly the feeling of those teeth in my mouth, bloodly and poking at my cheeks...

Weird....

Mid week blues..

The day started innocently good this morning.

Managed to catch the bus although I came out a bit later than usual from my house. There were seats available and I took one at the front of the double-decked bus. There was TV Mobile on the bus, so I was listening to the news and catching some glimpse of it too, when suddenly this very China sounding song start blasting away.. Oh my god.. It's one of those 'barbarians'. I call them 'barbarians' cos they do not know how to behave in a civilised manner, and frankly they should just stay in their caves/holes/whatever. All the songs are sooooo cheesy, the lyrics I mean, all about lost love, old love, forbidden love, wanting to go home to love ones, etc and the lyrics/rhythms kept repeating.... And that 'cave-lady' was happily enjoying it and was totally oblivious to the irritation that she was causing.. ARRGGGHHHH...

To make things worst, another 'cave-woman' came up, started scrolling and playing with her handphone ring tones!! At full volumne!!! Then she was playing games on her handphone. When she lost she cursed loudly, all the Hokkien bad words!! Really very irritating...

Luckily, I had only need to endure these unwelcomed intrusion for about 10 minutes, which felt like hours, before the bus reaches my office.. I also ran down the double-decked bus to escape from these noise pollution..

By the time I got to office, I was very very very irritated..

And the uncertainty that hangs over my contract renewal was making things worse.. Imagine having worked for almost 3 years, and when you want to ask for a pay raise, your boss came back and told you that he do not know how to justify it, as he and the management has NO IDEA what the team was doing for the past 3 years!!! What the crap!! Can you imagine the anger?? Now he wants us to write down in DETAILS exactly what we do/support/administrate... It's sooo ridiculous.. How can a big MNC company accept a project from another big MNC company and took on the project for 3 years and not know what the project entails??!!!

Now the team is super low morale, or should I say NO morale at all. 2 of the guys (my seniors whom are technically more superior than me) are going to be converted to permanent staff, and the other 2 (me inclusive) is being left hanging.. Our contracts will definitely be renewed, that is without a doubt, but the thing is we want better remuneration, aka we want a PAY RAISE!! With all the shit and crap we are doing, we are definitely underpaid, grossly underpaid.. Imagine that I went for an interview that I quoted at least 1K more than my current pay and the people interviewing me said I should have asked for more.. Now I waiting for their response.. Might take a long while until they reply, as the person whom I'm replacing said that it took him 6 months to get into the company!! So, let's wait and see how things go....

Again, my ultimate aim is to go Japan next Apr... 保佑！保佑！！

It would have been a good relaxing week, if only...

there are no noise pollution around... That I can sleep late in peace and quiet..

There is a construction going on right in front of my front door. They are building a sheltered walkway. And boy, do they make lots of noise.. The drilling, piling, polishing and what not is sooooo irritating.. But again, there is nothing I can do about that since it's a public works project.

And if that is not bad enough, I have a "must-scream-out-every-word" neighbour who loves to talk so loud that I can swear I can feel her nostrile vibrating in my room.. And frankly, she is really getting on my nerves.

If I had to stay here for another year, which I hope I wont have to and I hope I will get to go Japan, think I'll want to move out of this place. Overall, I like this place, the neighborhood, the convenience and everything, except this bloody-scream queen. I WANT MY PEACE AND QUIET!!!! Imagine woken up not by my alarm clock, but this irritating bitch who screams every word at the top of her voice.. What is she trying to do?? Tell everyone in the block that she is ....? What? Dumb? Uncivilised? Lack in self control? And the worst thing is her niece, a little girl of maybe 6 - 7 years old is picking up her bad habits. Now, even this little girl is speaking at the top of her voice.. Arrgggghhhh..... Sometimes I get soo pissed, that I really wanted to go slap her in the face!! Sometimes, I got soooo irritated by her screaming, I will blast music as a countermeasure.

So either I learn to live with this, which I doubt I can since I'm super sensitive to noise, or I move out.. Although I dread having to pack to move house, but to protect my sanity I had to.. Hopefully, come February, I will get out of this place and move to Japan, where people actually make sure they do not irritates others. Think I'll love it there, as everyone there are so considerate and polite. Imagine taking the subway and not have to listen to some wacky ring tones going off here and there, nor do I have to put up with people talking about their personal/professional lives over the mobile phone (loudly) for everyone else to hear...

My One-week break over...

Time flies...

Was on a 5 day leave the past week. Had lots of plans for it, but in the end of it, didn't seem to achieve much.. :P

Sat (07 Oct)
Cleaned up and rearranged my room. Dismantled my old PC and took out the hard disk, CD writer and floppy disc drive.
Went back office to get my portable harddisk that I forgot to take back.

Sun (08 Oct)
Doing translation. Was kinda lazy to continue my clean-up plan..

Mon (09 Oct)
Took the day easy. Woke up late, for once on a Monday morning.. :) Continued with the translation. Went for my dental checkup that I kept postponing. Instead of 6 months, I went back only after 10 months, so the grinding and polishing is really a pain, not in the ass but in my gums. For a 20 min dental appointment, I was $90 poorer..

Tue (10 Oct)
Made a medical check appointment at the NTUC Medicare Center in Woodlands. Everything was done in less than 2 hours. Costed me $160, including consultation. Went to BK to pig out after that. Then went to the Woodland Regional Library. Later went to WanYang for a foot reflexology and shoulder massage. Went home to rest for a while, before meeting few of my colleagues in the evening for a movie, Scoop, written & directed by Woody Allen, by Hugh Jackman (so handsome and charming) and Scarlett Johannson.

Wed (11 Oct)
Another lazy day.. Legs were aching because of the massages the day before. Did the translation. Played my favourite online game, LineageII. Created a new dwarf and went around collecting materials to make better weapons and armors..

Thu (12 Oct)
Went to the Zoo! Woke up in the morning, thinking that I should be going some place and not waste the day by just staying at home. Decided to go to the Zoo. Havent been there for a long while, think almost 5 years. I've always like the zoo. And it turns out to be a good choice. This being a normal working and school day, no crowds of irritating kids or pesky teenagers spoiling my day.. I can take my time to walk and enjoy the place. Will post some of the pictures I took soon.. I simply love the white tigers and the polar bear. Will write about them in another blog. I ordered Pizza Hut for dinner.. Haha.. an indulgence.. once in a while, ok la.. :P

Friday (13 Oct)
Didn't go anywhere. Was rushing another 2 more translation job for Kuan.

Today
Don't feel like going anywhere.. Continue to finish up the 2 translation jobs...

Think it was a good relaxing week for me.. no need to think about office or work.. how good if this can go on forever.. hahahahah.... Will keep on dreaming til this Monday.. Cos it's back to work, with pile of tasks waiting for me.. :(

Hazy Dayz

Went back to office in the evening to get some stuff.. Didnt expect the haze to be that bad.. Think the visibility is less than 1km! Even my breathing wasnt very smooth.. Was at home the whole day re-arranging my room. Didnt notice the haze situation was that bad, until I got off the bus in front of my office, and I could see the MRT station cleary... Can only pray for some rain to improve the situation..

Now my nose is running and my throat feels itchy.. Hope it clears up tomorrow..

If the situation doesnt improve, my plan to go to the beach this coming Monday will need to be postponed..

No Phone Day..

Left my handphone at home today.. Forgotten about it until I was on the bus on my way to office..

Was rather worried that there might be some important phone calls, like the one asking me to go for a 2nd interview.. =) Anyway, no missed call when I reach home.. So in a way, it's the thought that someone might be trying to contact me that is worrying me. It's the possibility of missed opportunity. Can't imagine how everyone survived when handphone was not so widely used.. Is it an improvement or another kind of imprisonment?? It all depends on individual..