Sometimes the simplest answers are the right ones

On a sunny afternoon three accountants are standing near a tall pole and wondering about the height of the pole. First accountant, a CPA says, I do not think there is any authoritative guidance on how to measure the height of a pole. That is not the job of accountants. Second accountant, a professor at a state university says, well, if we take a survey of similar locations and asked people about the height of poles, then we may be able to deduce height of this pole, it will be a good enough estimate. The third accountant is a professor at an Ivy League university. He confidently claims, if we measure the shadow of the pole under different conditions, then I can run a multivariate regression model and can give a very good estimate of the height. As this conservation is going on, an engineer is passing by. He stops and asks about their discussion. Accountants tell him, you probably can not understand this complex problem. The engineer persists and hears about the problem. He smiles, lifts the pole from the base, measures it, and says, "twelve feet and three inches," and walks off. Accountants look at him, laugh contemptuously and say in unison - "hell, we wanted to know the height of the pole and he tells us the length".

Moral of the story:
Sometimes the simplest answers are the right ones
-Illustration by MayLeng-

Hiking Trip

I know it's rare, but yesterday I felt like exercising. I wanted to since the past few weeks I guess I just never found the time.

Yesterday I decided to go hiking at Ayer Item Dam with my mom and her friend (Aunty Jesse). I haven’t been there for quite a while and was already huffing and puffing after the first incline. Anyway, I was determined to go a little further and managed to reach the mid-point when I called it quits. At that point I was so exhausted (my heart was thumping like a drum roll, my vision was blurred and I felt like puking). However, my mom won’t let me quit as she wanted to get to the top (My mom’s stamina is in tip top condition as she exercises regularly). Mom and Aunty Jesse were way ahead while I was practically dragging my ass along a good 50m behind and they had to stop and wait for me a few times. At one point of time I actually considered crawling….hahaha.

After a long time, we finally reached the top. There’s a small temple at the top, but we did not stop to rest as it was already late. We made our way down slowly. I know I can be such a chicken at times but was actually terrified about losing my footing and rolling down the hill. Hence we were going down at snail’s pace. At one of the corners, there was this wild dog that started barking and running towards us. We were terrified, but luckily something else distracted the dog and we continued the rest of the journey down peacefully.

When we reach the bottom part of the hill, it was already getting dark and the moon was up (view picture). I know the picture sucks as its’ a phone picture. But the view at that time of Ayer Itam town with the moon above was really beautiful. Maybe I’ll bring a real camera with me the next time I go there and take more pictures.

Felt a lot better and healthier after sweating out although I have to bear muscle pains today :)

Monthly Report

The following story is based on a true life encounter.

I have a confession to make today....

How could this have happened to me? My mind was blank as I stared at my 19” monitor at my cubicle. My boss sent a reminder yesterday and today as well to remind us that today was the last day for Nov’07 monthly report submission. Last month we had the same reminder as well, but my colleagues and I daringly ignored the reminder. Needless to say, I felt guilty for the rest of the month. Hence, today I’m determined to hand in my report on time. But to my dismay, no matter how hard I tried, I just don’t know what to write. There were too many things that happened in the past month and I just don’t know where to start! The clock continues ticking. Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was already 4.30pm. One hour to go till deadline.

How did I end up in this situation? The story actually starts once upon a time when I first started working. I used to have no difficulty writing monthly reports back then. All changed when I moved to a new role and a new boss. In that group the system was to submit all our monthly reports to Mr. Consolidator, and he in turn will consolidate the reports for the boss. However, Mr. Consolidator was a lazy man and our monthly reports never got to our boss’s hands. Soon after that all of us stopped the habit of writing reports and our boss stopped asking for it as well. So Mr. Consolidator was kind of our savior as he saved us time by being the roadblock for the information path to our dear boss and we could all put the blame on him. This went on for about a year and a half. All of us counted our blessings to exist in this blissful moment.

One unlucky day, the situation changed when our company went through some recent restructuring. Mr Consolidator was moved to report under another boss. The feeling was like a sky full of black clouds looming in on our heavenly fantasy. My boss started to ask us to submit monthly reports directly to her not long after that. This is how I end up sitting on my ergo chair in my cubicle staring at the blank screen ahead and pondering if I should write or not write my monthly report.

I glanced at my watch for the second time. Its 4.45pm already. Heck, I’ve wasted another 15 minutes doing nothing. Without further delay I boost my determination with a cup of Nescafe regular 3 in 1 coffee and started on my report. Firstly I browsed through all my mails for the past 4 weeks and jot down all the key items that I would like to include in my report. Next I broke down the list into 3 major categories – General, Highlights and Lowlights. Then, I wrote short descriptions for each of the items. For those items that took to much hassle to explain, I guiltily deleted them from the list. After much sweat and effort, I finally finished the report and hit the send button at 5.30pm sharp! Hooray! Mission accomplished.

I have to admit, although I managed to hand in the report on time; I’m not too satisfied about the report. It was by far the worst report I ever wrote in my entire life. I need to polish my writing skills and invest more time on next month’s report.

Stomach Pain

Stomach pain for 24 hours d.. :( Ouch!

I Love Dilbert Comics :)

The Deadly Affair

There were three guys standing in line to get into heaven. Just as they were about to enter, St. Peter stops them and tells them they have room for only one more person, so the one who died the worst death may enter.
St. Peter starts off with the first guy and his reply was: "I always had a suspicion that my wife was having an affair so I came home early one day to find that there was nobody but her. That is until I peered over the balcony to find a man hanging from the ledge in his boxers. I got so upset that I started stomping on his hands but he wouldn't let go. I got a hammer and started pounding on his fingers, but he wouldn't let go. Then finally I went inside and grabbed the fridge and dropped it on top of him. After I looked down to see that he was crushed to death, I felt so bad that I took a shotgun and killed myself."St Peter says, "that's pretty bad," and asks the second guy how he died.
The second guy said, "I was getting ready for my workout in the afternoon and I always do my aerobic videos in my boxers. Today I somehow slipped and fell off my balcony. Luckily, there was the balcony on the floor below so I held on to the rail. As I was calling for help some lunatic started yelling at me and started stomping on my fingers. He brought out a hammer and started pounding on my fingers, then he quit and went back inside. When I thought he was gone I started pulling myself up from the ledge and all I could see was a huge refrigerator falling on top of me and I fell with it 10 flights below, and now I'm here."St. Peter thinks to himself, 'that's really pretty bad..
St. Peter then asked the 3rd guy what happened to him?" He says, "Well, you won't believe it. Picture this, I'm naked inside a refrigerator..."

Weekend

An amazing thing happened yesterday to me! When i came back from work, my laundry basket was at No 1! This rarely happens to me(only once or twice a year)...my mom helped me with my laundry. Yahoo...more time for myself for the weekend :).

Got quite a few things accomplished today......
I have not touched my piano in ages and i missed it very very much. Today i finally found time to practice 2 songs that i wished to play - "Way Back Into Love" from Music and Lyrics and "Triste Coeur". Kind of rusty in sight reading after not playing for so long. Way Back Into Love was relatively easy and i could play the song in slow tempo after the 1 hour session. Triste Coeur was a little more complex as it has 4 sharps....my response to those has become so rusty that i had difficulty playing the piece smoothly. I really need to practice more...hopefully by tomorrow i'll be able to master both the pieces.

Second accomplishment of the day:
Today Parkson at Gurney Plaza has this promotion for Bonus Link. 880 vs original 960 to exchange for RM10 voucher. My mom wanted to go so i bought her there. After exchanging the vouchers, my mom wanted to go check out the Tefal iron. Btw our house's iron really sucks big time so its high time that we changed a new one. Anyway there's 10% discount for the iron... but there were a few variety and price ranging from RM100+ to RM1000+. (The RM1000+ iron was so huge it doesn't even fit on the ironing board). Anyway back to the topic, mom was in dillema if she should use points to exchange for the iron - if that is so, can only exchange the RM199 model as it was the only one available....or buy it with the vouchers and personal cash - She actually liked a model that caused RM259. Not to mention, she was worried that her friends would say its more worth it to exchange with points etc (Gawd what's with aunties and points).. And i was like HELLO mom... it an iron - a everyday necessity - a good iron actually speeds up the task of ironing. Besides its not that expensive (calculation as follows)
Price = RM259
10% discount = RM233.1
Voucher = RM90
Balance = RM143.1
10x bonuslink points for the day = 2590 points = RM27 parkson voucher
Net price = RM116.1
That's how we decided to buy that iron - Despite being broke i paid for it....Anyway mom's very happy and excited about her new gadget. She's showing off to her friends as well (Gawd..what's with aunties and household appliances)

Music & Lyrics - Way Back Into Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3t7lx1oe4Y

I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on

I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need them again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I wanna do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
Oh oh oh...

I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I've been searching but I just don't see the signs
I know that it's out there
There's gotta be something for my soul somewhere

I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not somebody just to get me through the night
I could use some direction
And I'm open to your suggestions

All I wanna do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end

There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I wanna do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end

Chinese Lesson

Here's some Chinese lessons. :D Hilarious

Laundry

Cartoon taken from: http://www.weblogcartoons.com/

This happens to me biweekly. Weekends are laundry day for me.

As of today i'm at No. 5

What Should I Do to Marry A Rich Guy?

A young and pretty lady posted this on a popular forum:
Title: What should I do to marry a rich guy?
I’m going to be honest of what I’m going to say here. I’m 25 this year. I’m very pretty, have style and good taste. I wish to marry a guy with $500k annual salary or above. You might say that I’m greedy, but an annual salary of $1M is considered only as middle class in New York. My requirement is not high. Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary? Are you all married? I wanted to ask: what should I do to marry rich persons like you? Among those I’ve dated, the richest is $250k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit. If someone is going to move into high cost residential area on the west of New York City Garden (?), $250k annual income is not enough.
I’m here humbly to ask a few questions:
1) Where do most rich bachelors hang out? (Please list down the names and addresses of bars, restaurant, gym)
2) Which age group should I target?
3) Why most wives of the riches is only average-looking? I’ve met a few girls who doesn’t have looks and are not interesting, but they are able to marry rich guys
4) How do you decide who can be your wife, and who can only be your girlfriend? (my target now is to get married)

Ms. Pretty

Here’s a reply from a Wall Street Financial guy:
Dear Ms. Pretty,
I have read your post with great interest. Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours. Please allow me to analyze your situation as a professional investor. My annual income is more than $500k, which meets your requirement, so I hope everyone believes that I’m not wasting time here.
From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you. The answer is very simple, so let me explain. Put the details aside, what you’re trying to do is an exchange of “beauty” and “money”: Person A provides beauty, and Person B pays for it, fair and square. However, there’s a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason. The fact is, my income might increase from year to year, but you can’t be prettier year after year. Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset. It’s not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation. If that is your only asset, your value will be much worried 10 years later
By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position, dating with you is also a “trading position”. If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it is not a good idea to keep it for long term – same goes with the marriage that you wanted. It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or “leased”. Anyone with over $500k annual income is not a fool; we would only date you, but will not marry you. I would advice that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy. And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with $500k annual income. This has better chance than finding a rich fool.

Hope this reply helps. If you are interested in “leasing” services, do contact mesigned, J.P. Morgan

Corporate Lessons

Lesson 1
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day.
A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?”
The crow answered: "Sure, why not.”
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested.
All of a sudden, a fox appeared,
Jumped on the rabbit... and ate it.

Moral of the story is…. to be sitting and doing nothing you must be sitting very, very high up.


Lesson 2
A turkey was chatting with a bull.
"I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy.”
"Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients."
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree.
The next day, after eating more dung, he reached the second branch.
Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree
Soon he was spotted by a farmer who promptly shot the turkey out of the tree.

Moral of the story is…. bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.


Lesson 3
A little bird was flying south for the winter.
It was so cold, the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field.
While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it.
As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realise how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out!
He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.
Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him!

The morals of this story are:
1) Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy.
2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
3) And when you're in deep shit,keep your mouth shut

Cube Dreaming

Check out the video at the following youtube link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CDiqVjzDYk

Lyrics:
It was just another day at the usual pace,
I'm sitting in my cube in the same old place.
I see the same old docking station,
the same old job in the same old situation.

Work grows, it's always like that,
the more time I have, it seems, the more work I get.
I sit alone and wonder why
it's been so long since I got to see the sky...

I'm sure, that you're just like me.
We all have our issues with our WLB.
But wait, there is a way,
to get you through the rest of the day...

and it's called:

Cube dreamin', you're dreaming in style,
I'll show you how to do it and it won't take a while,
you just lie back in your ergo chair,
take a deep breath of the office air,
and close your eyes and start cube dreamin' away...

I dream of pretty places where I'd like to be,
I'm lying on the sands on the beach by the sea.
With a warm breeze blowing at me,
it feels so good to be free...

and as I was dreamily watching the tides,
a pretty young lady comes and sits by my side,
and she looks at me with those pretty eyes,
tell me, what was I to do, when she said:
"Come with me now baby I wanna be with you..."

and then I wake up, to find that things are not what they seem.
I see my T41, that stupid machine,
it's got another fatal error, another blue screen.
I guess I'll just restart, then go back and dream....

'cause I'd rather do:
Cube dreamin', I'm dreaming in style,
I'll show you how to do it and it won't take a while.
you just lie back in your ergo chair,
take a deep breath of the office air,
and close your eyes and start cube dreamin' away...

I close my eyes, and start cube dreamin' away...

***by Ivan Lim

Linda's Hari Raya Open House

Finally after 3 years Linda successfully hosted her very own Hari Raya open house a few weeks ago. The down side of the day was that it was raining cats and dogs. Luckily Linda's dad set up a sort of tent in the backyard. The upside of the day was the food of course. Delicious food - we have ketupat, fried mee and beehoon, BBQ chicken, clams, mash potatoes etc. ~~Yummy~~

The icing of the day of course goes to Emily (Lay Hong's 2 months baby daughter) Despite the rain, Lay Hong brought sleepy little Emily for us to play with. I carried her im my arms for a few seconds, but i was afraid i might drop her as she is quite heavy. So i quickly returned her to her mother's arms. However, she is really award winning chubby with a pretty dimple on her left cheek. Simply adorable :*

Traffic Jams and Penang Drivers

There was a huge traffic jam on my way to work, due to some minor 3-car accident. Penangites being themselves, many slowed down to watch the commotion (i bet some jot down the car numbers to bet on 3D/4D). Anyway it caused very slow moving traffic along the bukit jambul road. Being bored i started to look around, and was surprised that the scenery was quite scenic. Rarely do we see greens so green in town areas. Ironic isn't it? I've past that road million of times everyday to work and back home. Yet i never took the time to enjoy the view along the drive. Driving has become some sort of rat race between cars. Everyone wants to get to first. If your reaction is slow by a few micro seconds, another car will surely jump your que. Either that or you will get honked rudely (it really spoils your mood for the day). Driving should be an enjoyable activity - instead its full of frustration. I think its good that sometimes, we take a break from our hectic lives, just for a brief moment, harvest the joys of life. It could be as simple as taking the time to stop by your garden in the morning to smell the fragrant flowers, smile in the mirror when brushing your teeth in the morning, taking a picture of a scenic view on the way to work (like i did), pay a simple compliment to your co-worker or showing courtesy on the road. Believe me, it will make the rest of the day much brighter :)

Beautiful greens surrounding the road - sort of like a valley :) but traffic jam below :(

Changing topic....

I love pedicures :) Somehow i think something is wrong with my toenails. They don't grow very fast. Hence my pedicures are able to last for months! Here's one that i did a month ago....till today it still looks new!

QB Outing and Lunch at Dome

I had this shopping craving for the past week, but never got the chance to. So on Sat I went to QB with Linda and Zu. We went to Forever21 to check out the clothing but it was too pricey and i was not in the mood to splurge. So we went to Dome to have lunch instead. I did not have breakfast that day, so i figured out that i deserve a big meal. So I ordered for myself a chicken pie (left). Linda had the same as me while Zu had beef lasagnia (right).

Beleive me, this was the most satisfying meal i had in ages! I love every single bite (maybe i was just hungry, but i rate this as 10/10). Typical of Zu, she did not finish her food and started playing with it....and the result? (view below Ta Da!!!) - cute ain't it?

Anyway we were walking around aimlessly. Watching some fashion shows from "Forever 21". When i got home i was very tired and also disappointed bcoz i did not buy anything.

Highlight of the day:

Would you buy this phone?

Or would you buy this phone?

(Linda bought stickers for her phone --> cost=RM5.90)

Ajisen

2nd Nov 07 - went out for dinner with mom. We decided to check out this place called Ajisen at Gurney Plaza after numerous good recomendations from several aunts and friends. We were rather skeptical about how good it would be at first as both of us are not fans of "ramen" but we decided to give it a try anyway. We went there and immediately decided to order the recomended dish there. I ordered the "Volcano Ramen" (bottom left picture) while mom ordered "Tepanyaki Chicken Ramen" (top right picture). Surprisingly the food was good ;). Mine was a spicy soupy but has lots of fatty meat (Rating 7/10). Mom's was dry noodles with honey roasted meat (Rating 8/10). The best part was that the noodle was not the fat kind of ramen. However, the serving was too huge - me and my mom could not finish our food :(. This retaurant actually has outlets all over the world originating from Japan and covering Canada, Thailand, Singapore etc. I'm impresed.....