Practical

It looks like my job is getting tougher and tougher every time. Of course, dude! No job gets easier as you go on. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m starting from scratch. There’s a first time for everything, right? Another difficulty I have at the job is the absence of the real thing and a real mentor. If only I could play with the real stuff and had someone explain to me in real time, it would’ve been great! But that of course wouldn’t be a practical solution. Management would always have some ways to go around providing luxurious opportunity of time for practical training. They’d usually want you to carry the job and learn from it. They’d usually want this: If I throw random stuff at you, I expect you to deliver no matter what. You’ll learn much quicker under the pressure.

In the next few years, I’m going to have to give a real technical support, man. If they’re talking about developing a quality support, they should start thinking about putting me up on track. Wait. I should be thinking about putting myself on track. What was I thinking? Nobody else carries my carrier but me. I’m in charge. No management personnel shall scare me. Only the Almighty has the real power to harm. Or heal. Wallahua’lam.

Picture: Work environment plays a big role in employee's satisfaction.

"The Real Carrot"
Managers often assume that workers want the traditional incentives: more money, promotions, and job security. But these may not be what really motivates your employees. In a Rulgers University study, employees from several companies were asked what made them willing to do their best work. They named respect for them as people, allowances for their own individual preferences and needs, and information about what the company was up to and the reasons behind decisions and policies.(quoted from ASM Group's World Executive's Digest - The Best of Manager's Toolbox)

I would have to agree.

There was a get-together for all KL-based employees and any operations personnel in town. It was great to witness the lead manager (the affiliate’s top guy in M’sia) addressed the audience himself. The management finally admitted that the DT was related to high attrition. Would anyone dare to point out to the management how good of a job done in retaining the people? It’s nobody’s fault that we are in a very unfortunate situation. There are many factors hitting us all at one. It becomes apparent as the labor market reveals its wings…

Umm, that right. Kemosabe.

Straight Out

More work and with it came more confusions as the day went on. One might point that I haven’t tried hard enough. Well, have I? Nah. I was giving it my full attention. It’s just that I was not familiar with what’s usually been done and my ‘resources’ were not as helpful. To be frank, this point right here, “resources were not as helpful”, could be one of the main reasons for departing one day.

With no experience in organizing an event in the building, though it was just a small/simple one, (and with a big help from the group secretary,) I successfully coordinated a housekeeping session. The only setback was a smaller turnout than expected and majority of the target rooms couldn’t be straightened out. The owners for these offices were stuck in a meeting if I had to guess. Nevertheless, it was a great day for because I finally contributed (job satisfaction factor.) Much earlier, ex Tulsans (2001-2005) joined together for a small reunion at a dining place in Ampang Park. Despite the unusual feeling of differences from those years, it was good to see old friends.

On-the-job reminder to keep smiling.

Cornered

I couldn’t really work today. Schleepy. Part of it was due to the location of my office. It’s cornered to a narrow hallway leading to an exit. Man, I wish I had a windows view to the KLCC Park.

Miserable

We attended two wedding ceremonies today. The first was in Bangi where Ipah’s babysitter - Aunt Saurah was holding it up for her daughter. Then, there’s another one in Banting, 2km away from KMB, where one of K.Long’s colleagues finally ended her bachelorhood.

Over the years, we should begin to realize that life doesn’t always go according to plan. What we can do is steer it back to the original path and hope that the deviations didn’t take our eyes off our goals. If you’d ask how I am holding up now, I would answer, “I am miserably OK.” Why? Don’t ask. *Grin*

From Segambut

I don’t remember much what I did during the day but MokCik and AyohCik came by at night. We were actually showing them some of our video clips from Eid visit to kampung. We ended up borrowing a set of golf clubs lent to CP, since AyohCik has a few sets of those, even though none of us were avid fans of golf. Yet. Perhaps we should give it a whack.

Malfunction

Cars ran out of gas. Generators ran out of diesel. Shops ran out of stock. My body just ran out of food. After an hour and a half of battle on top of Menara Naluri, I almost passed out.

Immediately after the game, I felt like puking was the only chance to sustain my consciousness. To make it even worse, I had actually spent the final half of an ‘office’ hour in the toilet earlier. The Wednesday’s symptoms had come out again. I lied down as soon as I reached home, took a shower, and prayed. I’ve never felt fatigue to this extent before. My hands were numb. I didn’t feel like enough blood was flowing into my head. Mom and Alya helped to reduce the pain with a little lateral head massage. Thanks. Nevertheless, it was Asri’s big day so I bought him a book of numbers from Kinokuniya earlier despite the uneasiness of heading there from Menara. Stomach spins could slow down your walk, you know.

Blessing

Everything went well. Alhamdulillah. If you keep your head down and maintain your integrity at the moment of desperation and uncertainty, all will turn out fine so long as you remember Him, InsyaAllah.

Nausea

‘I’m marrying my ex’ TEMERLOH 22 Nov. - Mysterious disappearance of a bride, Norsazlina Mohd. Sabri, 23, four days before her wedding last Saturday was revealed after she confessed to have run away with her ex boyfriend from 10 years ago. (Utusan)

Lessons learned: Make sure your future wife is truly into you.

I went home a bit early today, decided from what I call a subconscious prioritization part of the frontal lobe. Nausea, dizziness, indication of diarrhea had made me go, “All right! No more of this working.” So I went to see the doctor, he prescribed me some pills and ORS, and I took the rest of the day off. It’s like a washing machine (patting my tummy.)

Brain Cell

Whenever I’m lost in technicality, I would always remind myself of two important advices given to me when I was in college.

1) Dr. Manikas: “You don’t need to know everything. It’s even impossible to know everything. That’s why we work in teams.”
2) Dr. Durham: “What fun is there if you know everything? What is there left to learn?

I hitched a ride to work just for the day. Since dad had to visit UniAsia for some insurance paperwork, we arranged for my ride back. Muzani and Alya kept company. We stopped by Kg. Baru before heading towards Residence Hotel at Jln Raja Laut. Teh Ani was in town for a counseling course so it was the opportunity for dad to hand over the laptop.

Don't Believe It

One meeting has turned things around. Cool.

I can’t believe what blogthings says about me according to my birthdate. For some reason, it coincides with me refusing to have any boss:

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

The vision is there. We take small steps. This is going towards SME.

Special Edition

Today was a bit eventful. Early in the morning, Uda and I headed out to S.Alam for both field soccer and futsal. I played among the best games I’ve had in a long time, earning deference from the younger generation as well as the older one. It felt great to inspire the little ones. What I did was enjoying the moment and contemplating the fact that it was for good health. That’s the entire ingredient.

Then Cik Ngoh and family came by from another disappointing visit to a bookstore in Kajang. Tiha wanted to grab some books for next year’s PMR but Czip Lee was closed on Sunday. Another open house in Bangi Lama gave me another shock in attending public events. I just barely exited my teenage life, and without any family of my own or any real asset and experience in the workforce to begin with, men ranging from thirty to more than double my age wanted to chat like I already had. Imagine the awkwardness every time I couldn’t find the appropriate wordings for the conversation. Next was the trip to Low Yat for scouting lower-end laptop and a refurbished lower-end desktop. We ended up acquiring both for two close ‘clients’.

I still consider SE the best class of Mercedes.

Seeds

The Law of the Seed (forwarded from a friend.)

Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five hundreds apples on the tree, but each apple has just ten seeds. That’s a lot of seeds!

We might ask, “Why would you need so many seeds to grow just a few bunch more apple trees?” Nature has something to teach us here. It’s telling us: “Not all seeds grow. In life, most seeds never grow.

So if you really want to make something happen, you had better try more than once. This might mean:

You’ll attend twenty interviews to get one job. You’ll interview forty people to find one good employee. You’ll talk to fifty people to sell one house, one car, one vacuum cleaner, one insurance policy, or a business idea. And you might meet a hundred acquaintances just to find one special friend.

When we understand the “Law of the Seed”, we don’t get so disappointed. We stop feeling like victims. We learn how to deal with things that happen to us. Laws of nature are not things to take personally. We just need to understand them - and work with them.

INTERMISSION
Successful people fail more often. But they plant more seeds.

When things are beyond your control, here’s something that you must NOT DO as to avoid misery in your life:

You must not decide how you think the world should be. You must not make rules for how everyone SHOULD behave. Then, when the world doesn’t obey your rules, you get angry! That’s what miserable people do!

On the other hand, let’s say you expect that:

Friends SHOULD return favors. People SHOULD appreciate you. Planes SHOULD arrive on time. Everyone SHOULD be honest. Your husband/wife or best friend SHOULD remember your birthday.

These expectations may sound reasonable. But often, these things won’t happen! So you end up frustrated and disappointed. There’s a better strategy. Demand less, and instead, have preferences!

For things that are beyond your control, tell yourself:
“I WOULD PREFER “A”, BUT IF “B” HAPPENS, IT’S OK TOO!”

This is really a change in mindset. It is a shift in attitude, and it gives you more peace of mind. You prefer that people are polite… but when they are rude, it doesn’t ruin your day. You prefer sunshine… but if it rains, it’s OK too! To become happier, we either need to:

a) Change the world, or
b) Change our thinking.

It is easier to change our thinking!

IN A NUTSHELL
It is not the problem that is the issue, but rather it is your attitude attending to the problem that is the problem. It’s not what happens to you that determine your happiness. It’s how you think about what happens to you!

Prince5

I started late. The day was a bit terrible. Even with dedication to the quiz and class problems, I messed up the final show. Alone. The other two did pretty well although they missed a few sessions here and there. Maybe I should loosen up a bit. Am I supposed to learn things the hard way - all the way? Maybe I’m not supposed to speak at all.

A Futsal game afterward healed the frustration a bit. I scored a couple of times before a revved-up defender knocked me down to the green turf. I had to slow down and pass the ball more for that matter. More goals came after a bit. What do you know? Fir just recently procured MyVi, a brand new 1.3l Perodua coming out of the shop. He wanted silver but ended up with orange instead. Well, maybe your next car would be, my friend.

Have U Ever Seen The Rain? (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Someone told me long ago there’s a calm before the storm,
I know; it’s been comin’ for some time.
When it’s over, so they say, it’ll rain a sunny day,
I know; shinin’ down like water.

I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain
Comin’ down on a sunny day?

Yesterday, and days before, sun is cold and rain is hard,
I know’ been that way for all my time.
‘til forever, on it goes through the circle, fast and slow,
I know; it can’t stop, I wonder.

I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain
Comin’ down on a sunny day?

Prince4

Much better. Erik Jackson thought I was in management. LOL. I may have the style but I don’t have the capacity and contents. Sorry, Erik. Perhaps we should have a conversation over some tea? I heard you’re from San Diego.

By the way, the course venue was the Prince Hotel & Residence.

Prince3

I was a bit disappointed with the circumstances I was in. Never mind. Perhaps there’s something good that came out of it.

Why don’t we sit and eat with people we’re less familiar with? Isn’t that a way to get to know them? Some maybe are outspoken and seemingly visible with I-know-something-about-this questions, but as a regular person, I’d encourage sitting down with those who don’t speak much. We must level down in order to level up. I know it’s a little oxymoronic but trust me.

Prince2

It was raining earlier in the morning when I was already late. Before long I decided to head straight to the residence and park there. One of the instructors had to rush his explanation as well. To cover four topics in very little time required him to skip some too-technically-challenging slides in favor of fundamentals including objectives and the summaries. We had a chance to talk to John Martinez during lunch. It was a five-course meal with very few little time in between. Apparently, someone must have cut short the event for half an hour. I drove home through Bukit Bintang and Jalan Pudu towards the merge of Jalan Kuching and Abdul Razak. Maybe I should try another way tomorrow.

Prince

It was the first day of production overview school. Besides having it at a nearby premier Residence place, taking the time off the office hours wasn’t so bad after all. Even though the base load remained, majority attempted their best to appreciate the opportunity. I took the time to get to know more people especially the familiar ones.

How to save some gas:

1) Unless you have a brand new Toyota that captures some energy from the braking, try to delay your braking as much as possible as long as you’re within the safety distance. Don’t delay your braking as soon as your safety distance diminishes. Simply minimize braking and do not ‘waste’ the energy that you have used to accelerate the vehicle. Use the momentum to let the car rolls.

2) Maintain the speed for as long as you can. Since there is no additional work being done to accelerate and overcome the weight of the car, the fuel burnt is optimally used to overcome other things like frictions, air resistance and etc.

3) For manual cars, using proper gears for appropriate speed and acceleration saves you a lot of engine work hence the fuel. Manually override the automatic transmission if you think the engine is doing too much work resulting from inappropriate gear shifting (i.e from D to 2 or L).

These are just a few of them. I’m sure you can think of a several more. Have fun!

Time Awards

Have you ever felt like you’re running out of time for no reason? You know, the feeling as if you’re not fulfilling your destiny and purpose for existing in this God’s earth? You wake up before the sun rise and suddenly it’s dawn again? The feeling of losing every minute makes the evening dimmer than it should. I was afraid to go every second knowing that the next second wasn't going to make any difference. It was like Sunday evening all over again, some 8 or 9 years ago, when I wasn’t looking forward to go back to Cheras.

Make up Your Mind

After attending a wedding ceremony in Sg Merab, we set out to visit Mok Cik and Ayoh Cik in Segambut. At the end of the day, I ended up worrying about something too soon to be within my concerns. Maybe I should bury myself with work or read books to keep my mind off of it. I don’t want to think about it now but somehow I have to. To make up my mind is now before it’s too late.

Super Pump

Your heart is a Super Pump. Has it ever stopped since birth? If it has, you wouldn’t be reading this now, would you? (Doesn’t the heart begin pumping some time in the womb? Correct me on this). Say you’re 20 years old. Assume your heart is pumping at 65 beats per minute in average, justified by a higher pumping rate when you were younger or during physical activities and slower pumping rate while you were sleeping or resting. 20 years are 10,512,000 minutes - equivalent to 683 million strokes of pumping action!

I noticed this after playing a post office hour futsal game with Firdaus, Yassir, Fariz, Khairul, and Ikram at the Sportsplanet. Even after weeks of having minimum to zero heavy physical activities, I could still sprint, accelerate, stop, and turn at a considerable speed. Alhamdulillah, I am grateful for a healthy physique.

Second Thought

Everyone was being reasonable today especially the head of the group. It’s making a lot of sense but as usual, I quiet down a bit to listen more. To drive through the city during the peak hours was a challenge I never thought of doing. But since dad finished his consultancy session nearby and hitchhiking this ride home, he suggested to turn back through the city while we were already joining Jalan Tun Razak from Jalan Ampang. Those two were a bit crowded but the one dad showed wasn’t. If only we had decided much earlier to head that way, we would’ve saved almost half an hour on the road.

It looks like Billy was a bit desperate to bring Microsoft forward. That’s what you get for copying other people’s idea - crapping out of new products let alone innovation.

Billy G seems to like clouds and blue sky.

OS 9

I tried to restore OS 9 to play Total Annihilation but the efforts doomed to failure. Unless I obtain an original copy of the system, I don’t think betting my luck against using the Restore Software CD version would cut it. OS Tiger seemed to be resisting the older version of Mac OS for some reason. Oh. That’s for a greater percentage of migration of course.

"My advice to you is get married: if you find a good wife you'll be happy; if not, you'll become a philosopher." --Socrates (470-399 B.C.)

Green Grass of Home

We started spring cleaning around the area including mowing the thickening grass around the house. Too bad the weather didn’t allow us to proceed with raking everything up and shortening the grass. At night we watched Mulan 2 and Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The former was a bit funnier than its prequel though deviated from its original ‘elements’ of Mulan character and storyline. The latter was the only movie I’ve seen after reading the original content of the book. I can’t wait to grab my own copy of the entire series, especially the one coming up - Restaurant at the End of the Universe. ..Don't panic

We tried out a flare grenade late in the evening. Unfortunately the movie clip couldn’t be shown for safety purposes.

Error Reflection

Please don’t confuse this with narcissism, but I don’t see what other people see in me. Duh!

Eid in T'ganu

Both Muzani and I took the wheel and scooted our way to the northeastern side of Malaysia. Mom substituted Muzani for the later part of Lebuhraya Pantai Timur but he took the wheel again as we continued our stroll alongside the coastline. I retired at Kemasik and Dad took over WFV while Muzani maneuvered the 1.5GLi until we reached the destination.

Raya couldn't be any merrier... (with my sister Alya and brother Asri)

Deepavali

I woke up a bit late today. Yesterday’s spins of thought had made me dreamed in my sleep. It hasn’t been easy.