Beneath the Black Desk

Haze

2006-10-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

I couldn't take it anymore. For 2 months I've been patient with Indonesian #1 export commodity which is free for all and tax exempted. How does this affecting my life?

1. I travel from Puchong to Bukit Bintang every weekday on a motorcycle. The exhaust fumes from KL's roadusers are enough to tear my lungs apart and I really should skip additional dosage of smog.

2. I can't take decent photographs nowadays. The haze cuts off sunlight, kills small creatures and discourages me from going outdoor.

3. Sports activities might bring illness instead of health.

What on earth are our top leaders doing??? I bet these guys are so comfortable in their climate-controlled office that they dozed off for the past 2 months. What sort of wisdom they are trying to pull that takes so much time? I wonder, maybe there are more people died of respiratory illness due to the haze compared to those linked with SARS and Nipah virus. If mortality is not the suitable yardstick, then how about the medical cost associated with treating our citizen that are inflicted with various illness wrought by the air pollution?

I really could not think of any other issue that is of greater importance and requires such immediate attention as this. While various statements were issued by so many ministries everyday regarding whatsoever news headlines, are they not pale in comparison to how critical the air we are breathing? Well, unless you have a climate-controlled office, vehicle and resident...
Of course there are things that are beyond control. Regulations of La Nina phenomenon and annual monsoon are still out of the reaches of any modern technology. But burning forests and haystacks are purely a matter of choice. A guy took a match and burn something on his land which is supposed to be cleared for upcoming plantation, how difficult is it to figure that out? Those who made such diabolic action should be punished, no matter what series their BMWs are.

Something updated more frequently

2006-10-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

I have subscribed to another service which I update more frequently that here- a photoblog at fotopages. While this blog will continue to serve as my bucket of random thoughts, the fotopage is where I stash some IPs of little worth. For some reasons, I am entering a period where thinking is a luxury.

http://tramontina.fotopages.com

It has something like this thing here which happened to lurk near my dad's chili plants.

P/S: Leave comments at the entries to help me gain popularity. I will know who contributes to my quest for fame.

Hiking Gunung Angsi

2006-08-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

It has been many many years since I last went for mountain climbing. The last one was in 2002 to Gunung Datuk where I almost surrender less than half-way up due to knee pain. It's the kind one pain that keep on recurring whenever I do something more than walking. For this particular trip I equipped myself with knee braces and some minyak panas. They both really help, a bit.

We went there on Friday night and camped at the Ulu Bendul campsite. Early the next morning (defined as 9am) the hiking started. It was 2 hours of joy and 2 hours of pain. The path was nice since it wasn't raining the day before. Met one tiny leech that landed on my friend's calf, fortunately no other unpleasant encounter.

For nature lover, this is a nice place to go for a walk. You won't see much of exotic animals yet there might be some that can prove to be quite a surprise. Birds are not much in sight. You can hear them chirping but who knows where within the meadows they are hiding. I saw gibbons twice swaying beneath the forest canopy, an enormous caterpillar frozen in time on a tree trunk, some weird-looking insects and colorful fauna.

Malaysian Naturalist

2006-06-04T03:15:00.000-07:00

I gave a thought at joining the Malaysian Nature Society. It sounds very enticing, considering I am all for nature conservation movement. Except for some bad habits such as hunting house geckos with my BB gun, I still hold the little kid's passion for preserving a green planet. Not many share this concern as something of a priority though.

Uncontrolled development, waste dumping and unnecessary pollution is rampant. We are slowly, yet conciously, making the planet bleed. Perhaps it is because we don't see what one person can possibly contribute that makes us reluctant to lend any effort to help. Or perhaps we profit more from being ignorant. The most popular reason might be to simply blame it to the relevant authority/NGO/country/guy-next-door. Well, if you picked your current MP and he's thrashing the environment, you are all to be blamed.

In the 21st century, one person can choose to do a lot. Joining an NGO focusing in nature conservation is a big help. It's not just about the membership fee donation, it's more about keeping such movement alive. Stop trashing rivers and picnic sites. We are not doing this for the sake of tourism but as being non-selfish creatures. Humans are not the only ones dwelling these places- plenty of organism infact live there all their life.

If we can work hard to save money for our children's education and future, do have a bit of thought on the earth they will inherit from us. Most of the time, what we need to do is to do nothing. The beetle might not notice your kindness but your breeding line will. This could be your most lucrative investment, the one that shall repent the sins of mankind to mothernature.
http://www.mns.org.my

2006-06-03T03:55:00.000-07:00

I found this guy perching near where I parked my car this afternoon. Looking very comfortable there, I just add it to my list of neighbors.

If I can just get a few more species to my circle, then it might fit me as the Druid of Kinrara.

Ahoy, neighbor

2006-05-23T05:21:00.000-07:00

For lack of anything else to write here, I'm posting another view of the skinny guy.

I have a new boss and right now we are working on how to achieve synergy. This one looks like a tough one.

Mute neighbor

2006-05-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

I kinda like this guy who I saw twice, living at the playground nearby. He doesn't talk much though. In a way, it keeps him safe most of the time. One wrong sound and the last thing you see is the shadow of a predator.

Homecoming next week

2006-04-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

Last month I have applied for a leave shortly after closing a USD9k deal which pressured my boss to open the gate. It has been quite some time since I last visited my father. It will be his XXth birthday- a day I don't remember celebrating. I'm not even sure his real age (he has 2 birthdates, like vampires) but should be around 70+.

It shall be a good getaway. I had 3 blank week after striking an good streak in March. My biggest deal still hasn't made the payment- apparently the company's mailboy took home the invoice and then called MC. After harassing the director, he to make the boy crawl to office so they can process the payment, alas it missed my pay claim deadline. So, despite my star-studded performance, I'll not be as rich as I should. Screw this Big Four! No wonder why so many people in sales go early burnout.

A long slumber and the wake up call

2006-03-11T06:12:00.000-08:00

It has been months since I last publish anything here. Blame it to my current job. It is consuming all the time I have day and night. I even had to stop my silat classes. That's what happens when you change job, especially to a more challenging one. Even especially to something really out of the way from your previous one.

This current job is a sales job. Nothing that would impress the girl next door (actually the only unmarried girl next door is just 6 year-old. Another one is unattached but she's 63). Sales is normally viewed as a job for underachievers, or among the high-flying professionals, the kind of job you settle for when your academic merits make little impression to prospective hirers. To a certain extend, this is true.

I would not do this job if I get a better job. If you ask an engineer or a doctor, most likely he'll answer the same. According to Gallup polls, 80% of employees do not love their job- ie would find a better one given an opportunity. Maybe even a CEO would change boat if he can grab chairmanship. So far, I am somewhere between a dinghy and a fishing boat. Maybe one day I'll make it to an aircraft carrier and rule the seven seas. You don't want to be in a submarine because it symbolizes something rather uninspiring.

Honestly I have never been in sales. I still couldn't figure out how the sales director decided to hire me. No experiece, no proper business education and unconvincing answers all the way through the interview. He even put me to sell big tickets. In the beginning I was struggling. Then it was more struggling. For 5 months I was feeding on the puny basic salary with zero commission. What a suffering. But that is nothing compared to the mental torment for novice sales professionals- urgency! output! results! leads! pitch! Then I watch in horror as several novices who join in later start to make sales. It makes me ponder on my mental health for jumping into this field. This is so very unlike what sales books have portrayed the job to be like. This is suicide.

Fortunately, perseverence pays. After 4 months, I managed to close a decent deal. It took me, a senior exec, a manager, a senior manager and the director himself to get the deal in. What an effort. It gave a nice boost to the drying soul but enough to keep me going. 3 weeks later I singlehandedly closed a lucrative deal with one of the Big Four. It was the deal that even the COO took note and personally congratulated me. I closed another 4 days later, automatically pushing me up the ranking to among the top 10. You see, perseverence pays.

What Day is Hectic Day?

2005-08-19T05:16:00.000-07:00

It was a really busy day. SBI Production department screamed for their 2-day overdue machine. I should have released it yesterday, only that I felt naughty and hid away at home. Next MB1 and MB2 Production start hunting for me to get release tickets so their products can be shipped out. Its bugging me to have a couple of managers tailing my butt because I rank several yards lower than them. Today my brain was running multitasking beyond normal capacity and when I got home I felt like I really earn my pay. On other days, it was more like consolation.

Days like this will end with a sense of accomplishment. I have demonstrated to my allies and foes and all the pretty girls how right the Company to have hired me. How I could manage to act on my boss' behalf when he is on medical leave. Tired though, I felt triumphant.

Then the tiresome takes its toll. I am too tired to do long readings or even long writing. This entry is infested with typo and other errors because I am too tired to let my mind flow in its natural state. Does the day's accomplishment means something so big that sacrificing my valueable off-working hours is worthy? The toll is not measured in loss of TV time due to extra recharging (dozing actually) or having to decline social invitations, but on how it affect the capability to increase one's worth by the day. For example, I'm feeling lethargic now. I don't feel like to continue reading the stuff I need to read so I can impress my prospect employer tomorrow.

It is a dear price to pay to feel good for getting a job well done. I understand it well. I hate it but I still enjoy it. There is nothing like impressing those pretty girls by putting a show where you seems number 1.

Riding a Slug on the Information Superhighway

2005-08-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

15 minutes and only 71kB transferred? I could only log in into my Yahoo mail and that took me 15 minutes with repeatitive clickings on the REFRESH button. The demon of dial-up networking strikes again. After dedicatedly paying fix line bills and reloading TMNET prepaid, I was barred away from the internet on the night I need it most. I’m not hunting for exotic pictures tonight. I’m finally using the world wide web the way its inventor intended it to be.

I rarely log into the internet, so it makes little sense for me to register for broadband service. With a 56kbps modem courtesy of the Museum of Ancient Technology, the internet experience requires considerable patience. Sometimes I take it as a training for self purification. Something like Zen training where after several megabytes of waiting, you can perhaps levitate your butt and walk off to the kitchen. When I don’t feel like playing monk, it will be the companionship of Solitaire or Free Cell that keeps my eyelids from closing and my hands from spinning the telephone cord.

The Conglomerate holds a partial monopoly in internet service provider business, fix telecommunication line and cellular service. They have the embarassing TV commercials bragging about how great and reliable their internet services. They even showed how they harness the satellite technology for the sake of their customer. Recently they promote wireless broadband and created what known at Hot Spot or something like that. With all those big multimillion dollar projects at hand, its no wonder why they couldn’t find time to get the dial-up internet line properly fixed.

I just got a call this morning from an MNC responding to my application for a job there. The position is pretty unrelated to what I’m doing right now but maybe it is worth the shot. The guy on the phone arranged me for an interview tomorrow and advised me to learn something about their company prior to showing up. Apparently I failed to impress him on the question, “Do you know what business we are in?” Luckily all that happened on the phone. No nasty facial expression was recorded. Ever luckier was I managed to catch my boss approaching just while I am advertising myself to be hired away. In his office. Using his phone.

All those amusement will meet its showdown tomorrow afternoon when I walk in a properly ironed suit into a company I still don’t know where and what business it runs. I will put a price on my service knowing that I actually don’t know what service I can do for them. Can I, as a bill payer, accuse my internet service provider for unintentionally sabotage my job application? Looking at the bright side, I just aquired a nice excuse to console my heart should my application meet a straight rejection- BLAME IT ON THE PHONE COMPANY!

Child's Play Thing

2005-08-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

I went to Toys R Us looking for something for my 3 (or maybe 4) year-old niece. Upon entering the store, I was suddenly lost all focus and turned into a doorknob. I just couldn't figure out what to buy for her! If it's a nephew, I know just what a boy wants- just what I want. If toys are too expensive, I can just draw some cool military picture and that will be enough to please any nephew below the age of puberty.

From the beginning, the female Homo Sapien is a thing of total enigma. Even if you ask them, they don't know what they actually want. Basically they will ask for things that is impossible to get. This includes female of all age group. This attribute of female really gives me a dilemma in selecting a gift for my niece- would a Barbie Doll do? If yes, which dress set would she like? Or perhaps a special set such as Princess and the Pauper or Beach? If you get the wrong set, a birthday party might turn into Armageddon.

That might be a rather harsh generalization. But it could happen and I believe many of us have seen such thing. What should be a nice romantic night could turn into the clash of Titan because a mispronouced compliment. Maybe men need to be a bit more lady-like in order to survive the post women-suffrage era. Men needs to become as unpredictable as women to have a chance in going head on against their female counterpart. It might take decades or centuries but I have faith that loyal chauvinist will soon regain the grounds they lost to the Amazons.

Since that glorious day of male victory is still aeons to come, I'll just have to get one of those Barbie set and cross my fingers. Even in their diapers, these females give me the creep.

I created a blog?? I just know of its existence only yesterday.

2005-08-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

Usually I log into the internet once a month to thrash junk mails and communicate with people who still have faith that I'll read mails they send. For the past 3 weeks, I fire up my modem an average of 3 times a week. What is the big inspiration?

I struck me recently that I need a career change. Everybody thinks about it all the time but a month or two ago it really nibble my thoughs. I really want a carrer change and I just couldn't wait for it. While most people receive an offer of promotion as a counter offer when they send in their resignation letter, I felt the intense urge to resign when my boss talked to me about promotion. Hence off I go to take a peek at jobstreet and sending barrage of application letters.

As the story goes, I read about blog in a local newspaper article yesterday. Today I just give shot on what this is all about. This blog might be living a only a few weeks or years, all depends on what sort of job I'm gonna land on.