Digging up past holes

October 15th, 2007 No Comments

I’ve recently returned from my second Military In Camp Training (better known as ICT around these parts where letters have to be rationed along with the food) this is past year. This one being a 9 day outfield counts as what is known as “High-Key”. Of which I have to clear 10 by the time I hit 40. So two down over the last two years, eight more to go. I wonder if I will finish the remaining High-Key ICT’s first or get married before that. Interesting Metric to keep track off.

Even though it’s my second ICT so far, it was the first time that I actually had to dig a Foxhole aka Shellscrape since my basic training. The previous ICT was constantly flooded by rain so digging was optmitted. Luckily for me, I managed to find a spot where the ground looked like it was dug up before for the very same reason I was intending to do. Nevertheless I overestimated how easy it would be to get the job done. Starting off at a steady pace I soon encountered rocks, hard clay and big roots. Goes to show that digging up old stuff is not easy.

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Counting the Zeros

July 17th, 2007 No Comments

It’s coming on to two months since the incident and I figured that I really need to sit down and get it all out before I really forget. At first I was reluctant to blog about it cause I was still feeling kinda raw about the whole thing but then other stuff came along, and then the workload got crazy and so forth.

I’m feeling better about it now of course, but every once in awhile I still kick myself for what I see to be a really silly mistake. It’s just one of those things that will always be that “what if” kind of thought, that group of events that you will regret for a long time.

Maybe I should start at the begining.

The beginning of June marks the renewal of contract for the customer account team that I am attached to at work. So as it is usually the case, customer has decided to try to push for a more experienced level of support while still trying to cut down on cost. At the point in time, it was still not confirmed if this new contract would be implemented, but if it did it would most likely result in a decrease in manpower and thus an increase in workload while still keeping at the same or even less pay (which is what actually happened in hindsight) . So from that, disgruntled thoughts started to open up to other possibilities on the job market. Which is actually quite bullish at the moment in the IT field.

It was during an IM conversation with Vicki where she mentioned that she had attended the Google Singapore press conference as part of her work. It was announced during the conference that Google had indeed opened a local Singapore office and that they are hiring locally. Thinking nothing much of it other than curiosity as I’m a huge Google fan, I check out the job listings and lo! there is actually something that I am qualified for. Making mention of the fact to Vicki, she then encourages me to actually send in my resume; no harm done and you never know what could happen. Feeling elated that someone would actually believe that I can make it in such a big name company, I hasty updated my CV, cranked out a cover email and sent it off, knowing that Google gets 3000 resumes a day.

And of course promptly forgot about it over the weekend.

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What’s your symbol Meme

July 6th, 2007 1 Comment

Got tagged by dk over at his blog for this little meme. This one is quite interesting and brings to mind something that I’ve been meaning to write about for some time. Anyway, I will let the symbol and the corresponding FAQ that goes along with it, to speak for itself.



hacker emblem

I choose this symbol because, since young, I have firmly believed in the mindset and attitude that this community follows and stands for. It is also something that I am constantly striving toward and also a source of frustration (which any good driving force should have some).

It has coloured my views on software (open-source), on OS’s (Linux) and even music. Least to say, it has also sparked my interest in computing in general and why I like to tinker and wonder and explore…

The source of frustration, ironically, stems from the fundamental skill of this community. I can do it, have done it, have been taught to it and do enjoy deploying the skill from time to time. But it’s a skill, that I feel, I am not at a level that I should be. Especially at a professional level. And all attempts to improve in this area has proved…frustrating.

In any case, this is a good reminder to not let the skill totally die and that I should still continue to work on the other areas that work together to unify this community.

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Tweeting the Horn

June 24th, 2007 No Comments

Yep, I guess it’s official. Using Twitter did make me a much lazier blogger.

Which is really sad frankly. I mean Twitter limits me to 140 characters. That’s even less than a normal sms. By all means shouldn’t I still be left to expand and elaborate pass that 140 limit? Or is the fact that I’ve even said something about whatever the case may be is enough to exorcise what little need I had to speak of the matter?

Ultimately though, it is a little unfair to blame Twitter for the total lack of any meaningful posts here. I’m totally to blame for it too. Work and more work aside, sometimes I really feel that my brain is getting emptier by the days. I just do what I have to do to get by, haven’t really tried to stretch it to learn new stuff (besides reading up product specs and troubleshooting for work) and just otherwise turn it almost completely off.

It’s quite worrying frankly…

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Unable to cross the lines

June 22nd, 2007 2 Comments

A quick list of todo’s that I want to do:

  • Actually write a full blog post instead of lousy “todo lists” and Twitters
  • Categorise and upload music into my new iPod
  • Analyse possible mix tracks with Torq which takes awhile
  • Study my LPIC textbook
  • Catch up with friends on Second Life
  • Be able to Game abit; especially as I still have my WoW account going
  • And finally, get some sleep

That’s all not including the stuff that I don’t want to do but have to anyway.

The good news is that I did manage to meet up with quite a few friends over the week or so. But each time, someone will remark that I look terribly tried and that would somehow change the mood of the whole outing. Like they don’t want to say or suggest too much stuff because they are concerned that you need rest.

So yeah, that last line is a doosy…

…pity my bio-clock is so messed up that I just can’t cross out that line.

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