One Thing at a Time

2006 is just around the corner! There's so much to do in so little time. MyKad for one. Since today is already the 29th and I can't be bothered to get into queue by 6 or 7 a.m., there is a very high possibility that I'll be registering only next year. When exactly? I don't know. When I have the need for it, I suppose. Rebel without a cause? Maybe.

What have I accomplished this year? I would say one of my better accomplishments was to have lost 10 kg in weight. I've had a raise in salary. I've assisted to develop new courses for the UC. My children are 1 year older (and wiser, I hope). I overcame a personal challenge. I have started with bits and pieces of novels but have yet to complete them. To complete a novel, that'll be my primary aim in 2006; no 'if's or 'but's about it.

These 'accomplishments' might pale in comparison to another's who might have started a business or bought over another company or conquered either Poles or sailed the world or won the SEA Games gold or became World Champion in something. I am happy nevertheless. I read someplace that one of the essence of self-fulfilment is to be happy with what you have and to compare yourself with yourself. My aim is to be a better 'me' in 2006. That'll be ideal. I do have a few things to achieve in 2006 and today is the first day for the rest of my life. Go girl!

Calm before the Storm

A good friend of mine just called. We had a wonderful conversation about raising children and husband. Being wife and mother is such an interesting experience. It is a 'wholesome' and hands-on lesson in human relations, among other things.

The Waiting Game

Yesterday, my sister registered to study at UiTM Shah Alam. To cut a long story short, it was a tedious process and took half a day. Waiting was all I did, together with a lot others.

Imagine registering 2,500 students (between 8.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.) with four payment counters open. If that's not a recipe for disaster, don't know what is.

We arrived home at 7.15 p.m. after having left the house at 7.15 in the morning. Exactly 12 hours. Poignant, isn't it?

Graded Performance

Today I had to go for TKD grading. NEVER would I go to Ampang for grading again! Strong words, I agree. It feels silly to be graded with little kids as young as my children, and they seem to be doing the motions 70 miles per minute! Well, that's just me having low self-esteem. Next time I'll make sure that I get graded with at least a few other adults with me. And I'll avoid going to the Ampang site, PERIOD.

I guess it went well.. sort of. I did some mistakes, having to rush through Taegeok 3. Next time I'll make sure that the Master teaches me the patterns early so there'll be very little room for error. There was 1 section that I had to follow, without prior guidance. That went alright. I suppose I'll scrape through, by a tiny stroke of luck. Lesson to be learnt. Never be over-confident when you appear to start off well. Trouble could be coming around the corner!

Ampang is one packed place, where the elite lives. Not an area for a bourgeois like me. At the entrance of the TKD centre there was a pair of tiny FILA sport shoes. The facts speak for itself.

Well, at least the owner of the centre was cute. All is not lost after all :p

What a PAIN!

We are effectively operating from TPM. And there is a bug somehow that does not allow me to open more than one IE page. Arrgggghhh!! I was thinking of multi-tasking; answering my office mails while blogging. It's very limiting and VERY IRRITATING!!!

Life's Two-Minute Decisions

On Friday, I went for a very 'stimulating' session. We were roped in on the pretext that it was a meeting, where our views would matter. Instead, it was an 'instruction' session and we were asked to complete some mundane operational matters by Christmas. Our views were shot down like the Allied planes on D-day- well, it didn't matter what we say really. The bottom line was that we had to do it and what we had to do must be completed by the due date. And I did not appreciate it when my comments were disregarded and I was asked not to get 'excited'. Huh??

Who decided this? Who were the people consulted? Were the alternatives considered? The whole bloody instruction could have been sent out by e-mail instead of that particular manager calling for a meeting & disguising the whole exercise like something we had a choice in. And his choice of people to work on the 'commitee' leaves much to be desired. The programmer himself is not exactly a brightly shining bulb, to say it kindly.

I've always thought that process re-engineering would actually simplify your work. Just because we happen to have 2 weeks when students go on holiday, that doesn't mean that we don't have anything ELSE to do. I was also surprised that this esteemed manager actually suggested that those going on leave for the 2 weeks carry out their duties at home. Doesn't that breach the Employment Act or something?

Anyway, for this cause I am prepared to question the decision-makers. Because I care. And because I do not want to put my effort and time in something that will not work out and may be abandoned in the end. God knows how many 'great ideas' and 'new processes' have died a quiet death while some simply looked pretty without much purpose.