*bloop*

him/her: Hey! Long time no see. How’ve you been?
me: pretty good thanks, you? Work and family good?
him/her: Oh yeh, work’s alright. Family’s the same. How’s business?
me: It’s alright, always could do better.
him/her: oh hey X is going to start a new job.
me: Oh really? Then perhaps it’s time I talked to X about business?
him/her: err. Why?
me: coz that’s what I do.
him/her: no lah. I don’t think X is ready to talk to you
me: huh? and you know this because?
him/her: coz I know X well.
me: tell you what, why don’t you leave the insurance talk to me. All I’d like to do is talk to her, you know me.
him/her: no lah. it’s ok.
me: ok.

You what’s so frustrating about conversations like these? They happen between my friends and I. All the fucking time. My take on it is simple, if you don’t really care about my business or my well being, don’t fucking ask me out of politeness. Anyone who’s in the business of selling can read body language and it’s easy to tell if you’re lying. Sheesh. And what’s this about deciding for other people? If one really thought about it, my business can only work if my friends and clients refer people to me, other wise I’d have to resort to being an irritating arsehole on the street asking, “Excuse me, but do you have a moment to fill up this survey?” Or even fingering faceless names in the phonebook and cold calling them.” You have no idea. You’re concerned? You really want to help? Give me names. “X won’t want to buy anything indeed.” How the hell would you know? Assume, assume. That’s the easy way isn’t it? Then please don’t bitch at anyone when they make assumptions about you! Sheesh.

But you know what. I’m not going to let idiots like these ruin my day. Sayonara!

Current Mood: irritated

22 July 2005 @ 11:46 pm

Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more powerful than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” I read these words at the Science Centre the other day when I went to pick up a Lego Mindstorms Brain. I’ve been “nominated” to give the Robotics crew here a short workshop on Programming. Hmm. I’m not sure if I can remember the fundamentals that well. But that is the challenge isn’t it? To remember the fundamentals even after we’ve been used to the more advanced techniques and knowledge.

I just had a similar conversation with N, a new client and friend this last Friday. We spoke about how I view life, having lived in the Rockies (read out in the boonies) for a while, having had to be detained for 21 days, I realised that Life indeed about Freedom. But this Freedom doesn’t simply encompass being able to do what we want, when we want regardless of the people around us. In this sense freedom is selfish, but what I like to believe in is that Freedom is merely living. Simply put, the absolute Fundamental of Freedom is living. To Live Life as it were, really live life to it’s fullest. Not just the mere dollar chase but the Experience of living Life, ups, downs, curve balls and everything negative included. It seems quite self evident to me that the negatives only serve to form one polarity, so that we can understand the other polar extreme — the Positives. Surely the pluses must outweigh the Negatives, one thinks. Again, not necessarily true, in fact I tend to think that the opposite is true, however can we completely eradicate the Negative? I doubt it, what we can do is to believe in what’s in the middle, the gray areas between the polarities of plus and minus, these indeed far outweigh either polarities. So why are we always so enamoured, so fixated on having or being in either polar states? Coz we’re inherently selfish bastards at heart… we are after all merely human.

I read the following in (of all places Men’s Health”), “Be yourself. You don’t need to act as I’d you’re someone when you’re not…. I’d just go along with doing my own thing and being true to me.” I say, Right on Brother! The only problem is that there will be those detractors who’d think that what the individual does is “acting” and not being himself. Now how is that? Why do we constantly judge others based on our own benchmarks? Selfish isn’t it? So am I wrong to say that human BEANs are inherently selfish BEANS? Deep? I dunno, I really tend to believe in these things that I’ve said. We have to understand the fundamentals before we try to understand anything else that’s more advanced. And in my opinion, these fundamentals include and start with the Self. Self awareness, I believe is the key to Understanding. It’s kind of paradoxical yet wry, that self awareness is somewhat an act of Selfishness! Talk about a catch-22 situation! I’ve just created my very own brand of circular logic!

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Ok. I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but there are people who seriously act like neanderthal-lic heartlanders. And I can say that coz I AM a heartlander, by virtue of the fact that I live in an HDB flat out in the boonies.

Why do people bother to ask you for your MSN then send you a nasty email when you engage them in a serious conversation that they bloody started in the first place? I’m asked for an opinion about their nature’s and when I respond in a very in-your-face way, they don’t like it and say I’m judging them. PUH-LEAZ! And when they’ve been deleted from MSN they actually bother to email me to try to email-fuck me. Wotta loser! Haha! Oh well.

Here’s something else that bugs the living fuck outta me. We were watching the telly today and there was this silly interview where this (obviously) heartlander chick was trying to say something. The only thing is that what could have been said in a painless 10 seconds, she said in a very painful, 45seconds. She kept adding extraneous (sp?) words, and dropping pink elephants like “like,” and “already,” and “alright,” and what have you. Geez. Some one should get her the book, “Drop the Pink Elephants,” and “Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say.” Extra words to make your speech LONGER doesn’t mean it’ll mean any different, wotta schmuck. This is similar to how some people will try to use BIG sounding words wrongly in their blogs. I mean wassup with that? Argh. It’s like using a word like “sardonic” to describe something of a positive nature. Tsk. If you don’t really know what the words means or how to use it, just don’t bloody use it. It makes one look stupid.

Anyways, bitching aside, I had a pretty good weekend that was the effect of a very long talk with a very old friend. VERY VERY old friend - ZhiYong. Who basically sat me down and said I’ve been a complete arse to Felix. Sigh. That was on Thursday, on Friday I went to see a prospect who decided that she should be a client. I met N at 1900hrs at Singapore Expo, and presented her my recommendations for about 30 mins. Then we lauched into a 3 hour discussion on the fundamentals of money, virtual money, how money came about. From there we went on to talk about Canada, the outdoor life, the lust for life that I have and hold dear. I was pleased and surprised that she commented, “you’re different from the others I’ve met, you’re pretty passionate.” I was like, beaming with pride at that point. But talking to N was damned fun, I had a blast. Before we realised it the KopiTiam was closed and it was a 2145. So we directed ourselves back to the business at hand. By 2230, the forms were filled up and signed, a full PFR completed and we were on the way to an ATM.

So after I dropped N home, I called Ramli to see if he was at home, since he lives in the area. He wasn’t but was on the way home, so I waited for him at a coffeeshop and we traded ideas and stories. As always, Cikgu Ramli had a lesson for me and this time it stemmed from a conversation about breeding business slowly but surely, sowing seeds today for harvesting later. And the most valuable thing I got from him on Friday was how to get my message across in 30 seconds. That was bloody awesome!

Saturday was spent err…i forget…at home with family I guess. No wait. For some reason after driving from Tampines to Clementi on Friday night, my car started acting funny. I called Exclusiv and they said since it was still under warranty I could call for RenaultAssistance. So I waited for HOURS. The guy promised me he’d come about 1+ he came at about 1530! But I guess it paid off that I wasn’t mean to him. He looked like he had a darn long day, so I went to 7-11 and bought him a drink and had a fag or 2 with the chap. He gave me all 4 ignition coils free even though the warranty only covered for 2. He said it’ll bugger up in a week or 2 if i only changed 2. Yay! He gave me the newer models ones that he told me wouldn’t fuck up so easily. He was nice. It does pay to be nice! Then I went to the gym. Someone gave me this day’s pass at Fitness First, but that meant I had to listen to a sales pitch. I listened and the bottom line is, I told him he was trying to sell to a salesman. He got the message, but I did make a deal with him, I’d say I’d pass him anyone I know who’s want to go to Fitness First. Finished my 3 hours and left. Felt great, giant sets for EVERYTHING!
Sunday was spent with the family. Went to JB and had cheap food, shopped for cheap groceries and tanked up on half a tank of petrol. Then I went to Adams alone to finish off N’s proposal forms and get some shit memorised. Wotta weekend!

Current Mood: crazy

Yes I put “commencent” in small letters and in inverted commas. I went to see a client at the Cultural Centre yesterday and I found myself in the middle of a ludicrious excuse for security check at the Centre. I had a rather interesting and hilarious discussion about commencement. Haha.

Commencement my arse. What are they commencing? A life of hell in this the social fabric of Singapore life? As a social clone? Ha! Of course the lucky ones’ll not be doomed as a social clone but hey, they’re rare! haha! I’m so bitchy.

Anyways Apple was there and my client was saying that even the Apple guys were there to buy the iPods on sale there. Apparently the new iPod Photos (which have been renamed apparently to just iPod) are going for $459 bucks, which is EVEN cheaper than the staff discounts Apple people get. GO GET THEM!!

Current Mood: mischievous
Current Music: Never Let You Go - Steelheart

let’s get atypically typical. what i did today.

went to gym with 2 friends but the gym. snuck friend k in but e nearly got caught.
gymed till 4+, dropped e off. went to office and secretary commented that I was working the night shift again.
left office at 9, met a client, to collect a signature and premium then went to fong seng to eat
BEEG plate of nasi lemak, 1 large fish cake, 1 otah otah, 1 fried egg, 1 teriyaki chicken breast, one bottle of cane barley drink, ended the mean off with a big mutha bowl of chin chow and a dash of sugar syrup and topped it off with a ciggie (my 5th one for today. yay!)

so there you have it. i’m atypically typical. just for today. gooood farking workout today. giant sets galore. inclined bench press, flyes, shoulder press, leg presses, lat pull downs, calf raises, and dips. the only non giant set thing i did was the 6×15 reps of weighted hanging leg raises. Awesome.

Didn’t feel the need to take Endurox today so I didn’t but I did take Kickstart and Thermoburst. I also took a dose of Myoplex Original before i left the house. Hmm. I’m running out of Myoplex! When is my mum coming back from Canada?? My sis is going to buy the stuff there for me…it’s CHEAP! 130SGD for a case of Myoplex!

here’s a bit of a long assed conversation i had with a moron on line. He wanted to bitch about the NKF issue. And i suppose he wanted me to agree with him. WTF? i’m NOT interested!

moron: ….. its supposed to b a charitable organisation
moron: doesnt tat mean anything?
Cmdr Jooles says: you tell me.
moron: ??
moron: u mean ya clueless wat i m saying??
Cmdr Jooles says:it obviously is a big deal to you dude. i know what you’re saying, but you dont seem to want to spit it out
moron: lol
moron: hmmm…
moron: guess i m kinda of pissed abt the article
Cmdr Jooles says: and?
moron: pple out there need the cash for treatment
moron: n i heard some were turned away
moron: becos their family members earn more than a certain amt
moron: but they r they
moron: not necessarily the family will help them wif the cash right?
Cmdr Jooles says: so here’s the question from me
Cmdr Jooles says: do you volunteer?
moron: nope
moron: 2 simple reasons
moron: i feel faint when i c blood n needles… lol
moron: 2ndly… i heard of the nkf issues b4…
Cmdr Jooles says: volunteering doesn’t mean that you need to see blood and needles
moron: one friend of mine
Cmdr Jooles says: so? i didn’t say volunteer with nkf
moron: recieved a call b4 from nkf
moron: asking him to do monthly donations
moron: n when asked back whether she is doing it as a volunteer to call others… she said she is paid
moron: …..
Cmdr Jooles says: so? what?
Cmdr Jooles says: it gets the job done
Cmdr Jooles says: would you like to make calls to complete strangers 99% of which will slam the phone on you?
moron: hmmm…
moron: looks like ya dun realli get wat i m trying to say…
moron: nvm
Cmdr Jooles says: no i know exactly what you’re trying to say
Cmdr Jooles says: but perhaps what you dont realise is the economics of the entire situation
Cmdr Jooles says: plus the fact that you seem be outraged about the issue
Cmdr Jooles says: my stand on this kinda shit is simple.
Cmdr Jooles says: this is Singapore. economics is no. 2 next to the gov but still economics plays a major role
Cmdr Jooles says: as singaporeans we’re so goddamned apathetic that the only way to get people to help to talk to other people to help is to PAY them.
Cmdr Jooles says: that’s singapore
Cmdr Jooles says: how many times have you heard people bitching abou NS? “it’s a waste of time,” “it’s useless” “i dont learn anything.:
moron: look
moron: ns and all i can understand
Cmdr Jooles says: only when it comes to the crunch, when your families are threatened then you’d say “oh look, give me a gun”
moron: n i m not complaining abt those
Cmdr Jooles says: yes and i’m not saying that you are
Cmdr Jooles says: but apathy is still apathy
Cmdr Jooles says: there’s not enough EMPATHY
moron: its all abt exploiting the pple’s kindness to donate
Cmdr Jooles says: it’s that simple
Cmdr Jooles says: is it really exploiting people’s kindness?
moron: then misusing of the funds
Cmdr Jooles says: for fuck’s sake, if you want to help then DO something not sit on your arse, punch a few buttons on your fone and voila, “i’ve donated by sending money”
Cmdr Jooles says: who asked for it? we did!
Cmdr Jooles says: it’s that simple
Cmdr Jooles says: honestly people wouldn’t have a problem if they just got down to help
Cmdr Jooles says: and i mean physically helping in some small way
Cmdr Jooles says: where nkf is concerned, how about volunteering to bring the patient to the centres?
Cmdr Jooles says: or just sitting next to the poor sods while they’re going through dialysis so as to keep them company and be their friend?
Cmdr Jooles says: the fundamentals of my argument is this, if you really help out, then you’d understand this shit, it’s part and parcel of it all. besides if you did help out, apathy wouldn’t exist AND there wouldn’t be a need for this mega donation drive, because people wouldn’t NEED to be paid to do stuff like make phone calls or be nurses, attendants and admin staff!!
Cmdr Jooles says: i say unless you make a stand and volunteer, dont be a couch politician!
Cmdr Jooles says: excuse me while i drop some pink elephants dude, but hey… i’m not saying this to offend but hey…suck it up. this is singapore
moron: ya right
moron: i m another typically singaporean
Cmdr Jooles says: ok dude. you can go on the defensive if you like
moron: ?
moron: i mean ya r right
moron: know how to complain only
moron: but not realli doing anything
moron: i m just doing wat i can everyday
Cmdr Jooles says: and bitching isn’t going to help
moron: i haf an old blind unreasonable stepgrandda
moron: to handle at home
moron: parents not working
moron: slog til i dream of work for the past 3 wks
moron: n not having my own life since
Cmdr Jooles says: you want to make a difference? then look after your grand-dad, and help your parents out when you can. that’s the best yo ucan do. charity begins at home my friend
moron: TATS WAT I M SAYING
moron: i understand where ya coming from as well
moron: for without smoke, there is no flame
moron: its just tat, its not right for someone to bank on so much of pple’s donations for personal use
moron: tat wat i feel

Current Mood: creative
Current Music: Wait Until Tomorrow - Jimi Hendrix

06 July 2005 @ 01:33 pm
What ever happened to Axl?
I’ve been on a GnR download binge. Gak! There’re so many many many MANY songs I haven’t heard in ages. I think this downloading classic-rock-from-school-days shit started coz I just happened to hear Alice Cooper’s Poison playing somewhere and it made me go, “Is that Alice Cooper? Is it? Holy! It is! I gotta go download that!” So from one rock song it became a ton more. And you have NO idea how difficult it is to download GnR songs. 95% of the songs I downloaded were fakes, makes me wonder if I should share my library. This is one time I wish I was in Calgary, where I had my full 500mbps download bandwith at home. No, better still, use the Uni’s 100mbit FIBRE line for my downloads. *drool*
The lyrics! The Lyrics. Igor! The Lyrics! They’re astounding! haha! I think I better get back to filling in this proposal.

Night Train - GnR (Appetite for Destruction - 1987)
Loaded like a freight train
Flyin’ like an aeroplane
Feelin’ like a space brain
One more time tonight

Well I’m a west coast struttin’
One bad mother
Got a rattlesnake suitcase
Under my arm
Said I’m a mean machine
Been drinkin’ gasoline
And honey you can make my motor hum
Well I got one chance left
In a nine live cat
I got a dog eat dog sly smile
I got a Molotov cocktail with a match to go
I smoke my cigarette with style
N’ I can tell you honey
You can make my money tonight

( … )

Current Mood: crazy
Current Music: Welcome to the Jungle - Guns and Roses

05 July 2005 @ 09:34 pm

I went and forgot to eat. Went to meet this happening prospect of mine. Gerald was supposed to be a recruit but here I am trying to sell him. oh well, no sale but another friend found. He’s as crazy as I am about the outdoors and is a dive master. Anyone wants lessons? Or a Skoda? Gerald sells both! haha!

Then I went to see Chris to get something signed. And headed to the gym for a bit. I didn’t even do much. Did supersets for chest, lats and biceps only, and then only 2 exercises each. but I did do 2 sets of each superset. All this after a 30 min hill routine on the bike. After a while I felt dizzy and weak, and that’s when I remembered I didn’t eat…. either that or I overdosed on caffeine. I had regular mocha ice blended with Gerald, a hot green tea with Chris & Diora, and I took my thermogenics plus 1 kickstart. That’s like what? 2+1+3+3 cups of coffee (equivalant)? Oops.
[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.hexlet.com/]

Current Mood: Tired