Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Option

One would think one can learn a lot by working with the big boss at work. Well, I'm not sure about "a lot," but I have certainly learned one important concept -- option. And I don't mean stock options; I meant This-is-NOT-an-option option. You see? He's the big boss, what he says goes. I guess there's always an option to quit the job, but in this economy? Then again, if you look at the bigger picture, the firm being a global company, all of a sudden, the big boss of ONE office became middle management on the overall scheme of things. So what national wants us to do, it's not an option for him either.

Three years ago, when I sent out emails, I'll use words like, "Do you think you can do _____________?" which falsely gave people the impression that they have a choice. Don't get me wrong, I'm not that high up the food chain, but I am the messenger. Now I've learn the new trick of using words like, "Can you do _____ at [date] [time]? Thanks." Why beat around the bush when it's really not an option for anyone involved?

The same principle can be extended into our personal lives. Many a times, we don't have a lot of choices in live. Getting up in the morning and going to work is not an option. Roof over head, food on table is also not an option, which make getting up and going to work all that more mandatory. My renter can't pay rent and evicting him is not an option, unless I want him squat indefinitely. The important thing in your personal life is to (1) be able to realize when there is no more options in a situation and (2) when you get to that point, suck it up and do what you have to.

Weird, Rare Clouds and the Physics Behind Them | Wired Science | Wired.com

Weird, Rare Clouds and the Physics Behind Them | Wired Science | Wired.com

This, obviously, is an UFO disguised as a cloud. What's the physics behind that? =D



Photo credit: Wired.com

Monday, September 28, 2009

MILF, Cougar, and Female Empowerment

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Pet Peeve - Flu Season

I can probably dedicate an entire blog to all my pet peeves, but that wouldn't make a very positive blog now, would it? So let's just litter my pet peeves here and there in my regular blog. :)

Two annoying things that people do during flu seasons:- (1) Coming in to work sick, to get the rest of us sick. If you are sick, please stay home. Unless you have (i) no paying sick leave and/or (ii) afraid you'd lose your job and have 3 kids to support, there is no excuse. Nobody is that important. Believe me when I say that the company will continue to run flawlessly should you or I drop dead tomorrow. Matter of fact, forget about little pawns like us, should the office, region, national, or global leader dies, $50 says the company will continue to run. Same reason that should the president pass on today, our country will still exist the next day (as evidenced by the Kennedy assassination).

(2) When I take a step away to keep a reasonable distance in the faint hope of not catching what you have, tell me that "Oh, I'm not contagious anymore." Where do all these people get their medical knowledge? National Enquirer? Last I checked you are contagious as long as you have symptoms. If you have no symptoms, I wouldn't even know you are sick. Therefore, if I know you are sick, you are contagious. Do not tell me that "Oh, I am not contagious" unless you have a MD. Besides, even if you are not, and I'd prefer to keep a safe distance, it's still common courtesy.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

A Strong Man?

"A weak man has doubts before a decision. A strong man has them afterwards." - Carl Kraus

Does that mean a strong man will act rashly and impulsively? If that's the case, I think I possess the quality to excel as a strong man. :D

Men and Hangers

I swear, there's this conspiracy between men and hangers. Never had I been with a man who did NOT tell me that we have "lots of hangers" whenever I tried to buy more. Explain this to me: If we have such an abundance of hangers, why do I have to dig deep every single time... only to find TWO, and one of them is the crappy wired one from the dry cleaner??

Better yet, why do they send ME to look, if there's such an ABUNDANCE of extra hangers???

F* it. I am bringing home two dozens of hangers from Target tomorrow!

Namibian Seal Clubbing Video Released

Watching YouTube on Your TV

I could SO use one of these.



Photo credit: Unknown

Hahaha


Photo credit: ?

One Time Use? Disposable? Seriously?

Up until yesterday, I didn't know that these disposable, one-time-use pre-recorded digital books exists... or more like it just never registered. Holy cow, that's definitely America taking the disposable, consumerism to it's finest. Why care about the environment when there's money to be made??? Saving the environment for our children? Why would we want to do that??

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Dead Like Me

Finally finished watching both seasons of Dead Like Me, and had a pretty good idea why it was cancelled. The shows had some good dialogues, but mostly just awful. Most importantly, it'd appear that after two seasons, the crew still have no idea which direction they wanted to take the show -- at first I thought it was about funny reaping stories, that would have been interesting, but it wasn't. They developed the story line a little bit about the other boy who could see the creatures, but that was a dead end. It wasn't entirely about the protagonist either; they talked about the background of each characters, none of them meaningful or tied together. And they also developed the protagonist's original family (before she was killed) concurrently, again, leading to no where. Well, the 20 smart lines throughout two seasons simply did not cut it. Sadness, the premise of the story had so much potential.

One other thing about the show that boggles my mind: why do they portray death as a horrible thing? The show never defined what afterlife is like, probably because the team doesn't know, just like the rest of us. It was portrayed that the dead will see a lights of something they like, and walked into the light. In any case, it's not a horrible experience. Promising, even. So why do the reapers always feel that it's such a horrible thing for people to pass away?

This is the same question I have had for the longest time -- why do people assume that dying is such a horrible thing? If a person no longer wish to live, and there is no such thing as afterlife, then their misery is over. If there is an afterlife, there's a 50/50 chance that it will be better than the current life that they wanted to ditch. I guess this is back to my original point that a person should be allowed a choice of when they want to go and death should not be portrayed as something that one necessarily have to avoid at all cost.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

48-Pound Trout: World Record or Genetic Cheat? | Wired Science | Wired.com

48-Pound Trout: World Record or Genetic Cheat? | Wired Science | Wired.com

GM - genetically modified, not General Motors.

Are these fish genetically modified for sporting purposes or eating? Either way seems equally wrong morally and depressing.

Monday, September 14, 2009

The Gatekeeper Requires Bribes.

This is so true. By the way, I am B, not A. =D Then again, it's all relative.

A > B > nameless, faceless peons. Right? =D




From Indexed

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Maybe There Is Still Hope for Us?

Segway inventor takes aim at thirst with Slingshot - CNN.com: "Segway inventor takes aim at thirst with Slingshot"

So maybe the human race is not going to hell in a hand basket as fast as I originally thought.

Voluntary Disclosure

Okay, so three years after working for an accounting firm, I finally learned my second accounting terminology -- voluntary disclosure (the first one is "immaterial"). Evidently in the world of taxation, companies screw up a lot and will "forget" to pay state taxes, so the voluntary disclosure program allows them to disclose that fact that they messed up, and pay up all the back taxes within the time frame requested by the state, and the state will forgive whatever else they own... you get the idea. I suppose in the medical field, there's a very similar concept of "informed consent," which basically states that "you've been informed and you consent (to certain procedure)." Or in layman's term it's called "heads up"?

I realized that I have been embracing the concept of voluntary disclosure even before I know the term. I think it's always better to be upfront about things, just to avoid disappointment later. When I met Hubby online, the first thing I told him, literally, was that I'm messy. I mean, if he's a neat freak, or reasonably neat, really, there is no point in wasting both of our time. Same thing when I joined my current softball team, when I was responding to the craigslist ad, first thing I mentioned in my email to the dude was, "Is this a 'for fun' or 'competitive' team?" That was about as subtle as I could possibly convey the point that "Look, I really suck, so do it at your own risk."

I guess in the end, I just hate wasting time. By the same token, going forward I should learn to "walk" in various situations. The next condescending doctor/dentist I run into, I should just get up and say, "Sorry, this is not working out" and walk out of the office (I wonder if I would still need to cough out the copayment without service rendered.) The next job interview that goes south -- you know, the point when you just know that you've f* up so badly it's not going to happen? -- I want to stand up and say, "Look, we both know this is not going to happen, so let's just call it a day..." Wouldn't that just be so awesome? :D

Friday, September 11, 2009

Funny

Isn't it funny how you can look back at your past relationships and all of a sudden all the BLARING red lights that you have somehow missed back then are now crystal clear to you?

Take my first boyfriend for example, his biggest gripe about me was that I'm a tomboy. Hey, nothing wrong with men who like their women feminine, but really, why are we wasting each others' time? Obviously I am not going to turn into a feminine female in a million years.

Second one's biggest gripe was my intolerance towards stupid people. I am still trying to figure out what's so wrong about that. Third one is evening funnier, he absolutely could not stand my super blunt personality. Ugh. Anyone who knows me can tell you that that pretty much defines my personality. Man, to think that I have wasted so much time on all these jokes!

I just can't believe how many years it took me to see this clearly....

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Advices

I don't believe that people truly look for advices from another individual; I think they just seek reassurance -- I think this is what I want to do... but I would like to hear someone else agreeing with me. Is there those who truly have no idea what/how they want to do? In fact, I think by deciding who they go to for "advices" they have already made the decision what they want to do. After all, we will only go to those close to us for advices, wouldn't you already have an idea what friend A would tell you versus friend B?

Then, everybody should have 1 or 2 friends who will always tell you the truth, no matter how bad it sounds. But be ware, do NOT go to said friends unless you are ready to hear what they have to say. :)