Recently, words always seem to fail me when i open up blogger's "create post" window. today, i shall try to overcome this little block and produce something sensible, no matter how long it takes.

ok then...what's new? my last update was about 8 days ago, so that leaves quite a bit of ground to be covered. first up, army and its related activities. the past week in camp was...enlightening, for lack of a better word. finally got some political issues more-or-less resolved, and even better, i have a concrete date to look forward to - 1st september. that is the day i hand over the signal part of my job scope to the new spec.

aside from that, it's been a pretty typical week...except for booking in on saturday to sleep for the AHM. today's off balances/cancels that out, so i guess there isn't much to say. speaking of AHM, it was held yesterday, and this year was the first time i went down (i couldn't make it last year due to some...inconveniences). didn't get to run the 21km due to some PES status-related issues, so what i essentially did was look after bags and provide the runners with bananas. it wasn't completely a waste of time, since i met some friends who have been posted to different units, including one of my seniors. did a little catching up after the event, and then headed off to give tuition.

my student is really not giving me much hope. i can't believe she's going to take her exam in about 2+ months' time. from the questions she asks, i'd expect her to be in the middle of J1, and not at end-J2. i suppose it's partially my fault too, since my teaching methods don't seem to be working. if she was, well, not female and not a family friend, i'd have screamed (loudly) at her for not knowing what she needs to. but that approach wouldn't improve anything, except maybe to make me a little less angry. so...we'll see how it goes i guess. i definitely have to have a post-prelim review with her and possibly her parents.

right now, i'm feeling a little screwed up. not emotionally, but mentally and physically. it's actually largely due to the fact that i was up at 3am on sunday morning in order to get to the padang by 5:30. add that on to the fact that i didn't get any sleep until 22 hours later, and the result is my sleep cycle being totally screwed up. even now, my eyes still feel heavy. but i guess that could be attributed to the glare from the monitor too. another contributing factor is that i've caught a slight cold/flu due to the recent cold weather and being momentarily exposed to the rain while waiting for the AHM to begin. i know how weak this makes me sound, but well, it's true, so no point pretending it isn't.

next week is quite bad for the morale, since we're booking out on saturday. still unsure whether it'll be in the morning or afternoon, but the fact that it's SATURDAY already dampens the spirits. prior to this, i think my last saturday book-out was...last year? so yes. at least the following monday will be an off-in-lieu too. that's some consolation.

so far, it's taken about an hour and 15 minutes to come up with this block of text. hopefully thoughts flow better the next time i blog. guess it's time for me to head into CoH for a bit, and if there's time, i'll drop by the library too.

-random thought of the day: Macadamia nuts are good!-

Just thought i'd blog a bit, simply because i can.

the week has passed pretty quickly. now that my company has a new signal spec (well, he's been with us for 2 weeks already), i find my job scope shrinking. i suppose it's about time i started handing over my stuff and passing on my knowledge, because with only 15 weeks to go, it's high time i slackened a little bit. furthermore, i can't go outfield any longer, so i have to make sure he knows what to do when he's out there and i'm not. well, he could always call me from outfield, but that wouldn't leave a good impression with the higher-ups, would it? at any rate, i do feel a sense of bonding/kinship with him, since he is (like me,) the only person from his course to be posted into my particular unit. so, i can sort of understand the kind of lost feeling a person gets when he comes to the unit, especially when your course doesn't fully prepare you for your actual job scope in the unit.

the olympics have been going on for about 9 days now, and i've only been keeping up with the more sensational news, like michael phelps and his insane 7 (8? or did he hit 9?) medals. of course, there is the great news about singapore's first medal since 1960. personally, i find it to be rather over-hyped. i understand national pride and all that, but am i the only one who sees irony in this? singapore's first olympic medal in 48 years, won by a person/people who weren't born in singapore. it just seems...odd to me. then again, it's that whole foreign talent debate thing. i have no issue with singapore winning a medal, but i just wish it was one of our local athletes who had won it, instead of the imported talent.

there's a scene in The Dark Knight where Two-Face makes James Gordon reassure his son that everything will be all right, even though he has a gun pointed at his head (confused? go watch the movie). today, during the little chat i had with my student and her mother after tuition, i think i momentarily experienced what Gordon felt at that moment. given her standard, i'd be extremely happy if she passed. given her knowledge, ability, hardworkingness, tendency to make careless mistakes, tendency to misread/not answer directly to the question, and the probability of the school setting a tough paper, not to mention a possible lack of sleep the night before, i'd say a pass hangs delicately in the balance. it's possible if the planets align, she gets sufficient sleep the night before, can retain everything she's studied, and is energized throughout the paper. hoping that the school set an easy paper wouldn't hurt her odds either. anyhow, i'm prepared to accept any outcome. so i should stop stressing about it.

next week actually looks pretty manageable, have to finish teaching the new spec and do up some other office stuff. only thing is that the weekend's activities will require some reshuffling, due to the AHM. oh well. we'll see how it goes.

-random thought of the day: I didn't return my books today. Have to do it soon.-

The book-in blues have finally kicked in, and i'm not feeling too happy as a result. right now, i still have approximately an hour to an hour and a half before i shower, pack my stuff and leave the house. luckily i checked my phone, because there was an SMS which informed me that today's transport was cancelled. this means that i have to leave the house slightly earlier than usual. to think i was contemplating logging in to CoH for a little bit. as you've probably guessed by now, that won't happen tonight.

you know, it's kind of scary. how did my remaining time in NS become only 16 weeks? that's like the duration of a BMT and less than half of a signal course. wish i could go back to tekong though. it's actually quite a fun place to be in, if you don't mind being the lowest life-form there, that is. at any rate, i'm sure that time would pass faster there than it does in my unit. well, either way, it's 16 more book-outs (assuming no extras or whatever). i'm hoping time will pass a little more quickly. meanwhile, just tong.

these days, it's kind of rare for me to specially set some time aside, sit down and do some blogging. so i'd better treasure this opportunity. actually, there's not much to be said. the most exciting thing happening in my life now is probably being tekan-ed in camp. guess i really should get out more. haven't gome on a retail therapy session in a long time. but i believe that's for the best, since i already have my budget for the entire year planned out. oh well. bitter first, sweet later.

it's close to 8pm, which leaves me with about 45 minutes of free time. i don't really know what else to say now, because as i've mentioned before, my life isn't exactly the most happening. so, i guess i'll wrap up here and enjoy my last few minutes of freedom before another week in camp.

It's nice to get a long weekend once in a while. the existence of this particular long weekend, is of course, due to singapore celebrating national day. unlike previous years, this naional day was pretty painless and in fact, i'd go so far as to say i enjoyed it. didn't catch the parade though, since i was out of the house (and without TV access) at that time. don't think i missed much though, since i have never been in the habit of watching NDPs.

since there was a long weekend (and it was pay day yesterday), i went to do some shopping for in-camp essentials, like toothpaste and some other stuff. also went to the library and finally borrowed a few books. they're mostly comics, and i've finished all 4 already. looks like i have to make a second trip later today, but only if time permits.

right now, it's 2:10pm, and i've been up for about 6 to 7 hours already. guess i'll pop into CoH and work on a few badges.

-random thought of the day: Nothing on my mind at the moment.-

Previously, i posted about getting a new macbook. well, today's the first time i'm firing it up to try it out. it's been quite a culture shock so far, considering i'm a windows kid by training. so, i'm just stumbling around, trying to get used to all the different stuff and making some sense out of it. guess i can take my time though; i have until uni begins to figure all the little details out. better get going now...there's tuition in the morning at 9am. definitely inadvisable to be late.

-random thought of the day: I want to watch Olympic Judo!-

Before i begin this post, i'd like to say that the next few (potentially nasty) lines are directed at a person whom i have great respect for. it's just that for some reason, he's done a few things that have annoyed practically everyone in my company. things like area cleaning in SBO, messing with book-out timings, shouting over tiny little things, and generally being a hundred times more guai-lan than usual. i mean, i was just quietly laminating some stuff in his office, and i get hit with a grenade the moment he steps in. it's really quite uncalled for, and a huge deviation from his normal behaviour. i don't know what he's playing at, nor do i want to find out. i just hope the situation in camp improves soon.

as you may have guessed by now, this week was one of the worse ones i've had in camp. in fact, i think it was the worst week i've had in about 2 to 3 months. but it's over and done with, and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. we'll survive.

nature seems to have a funny way of balancing the good and bad bits in life. maybe i'm saying this just because the contrast is too obvious in my case. you see, after the horrible time in camp, i did pretty well at mahjong (one colour pong-pong game...i think it was my nicest hand to date. still lost $3 though), and on top of that, my aunt was at some computer sale/promotion thingy and bought 3 macbooks. 2 for my cousins, and 1 for me. it was a classic "WTF!??" moment when i heard the news. though i would have very much preferred a gaming-quality laptop that ran on windows, i'm not exactly complaining about this either. i'll probably try it out tomorrow though; i'm a little wiped-out today. better get some sleep, since i have to give tuition at 9am.

-random thought of the day: I need to call Starhub about my router.-