With only 10 days until 2017 is over, i've begun to feel a little more...broody. it usually starts a little earlier in december, but i guess other things have preoccupied me sufficiently to delay the onset of brooding. there have been several things happening since the last post, most of them not good. i'll therefore have to ask for your forbearance.
where do i even begin? i suppose i'll just go with whatever comes to mind and take it from there. at the forefront of my mind is that driving for grab may suddenly be more costly and inconvenient than i'd thought. you see, my cousin sold his commercially-registered car, and got a private one as a replacement. i only knew about it when my aunt mentioned it offhandedly yesterday. although i don't have much right to be, i'm actually a bit upset. problem is, i don't know what i'm upset about - that he did it, or that he didn't at least inform me first. what's worse is that we just talked about me borrowing his car last week! well...it's done, so not much i can do. i do know that there are several reasons as to why he did it, and looking at it objectively, i can understand why. but as you know, feelings are irrational. with this development, it seems that i have no choice but to rent a car, unless i can reach a similar deal with someone else whose car has already been converted. to my knowledge though, nobody else i know has a private hire car, and converting my own is not worth the outlay of about $1000. luckily, grab has partnered with a couple of rental companies for special rates on car rental. the two companies so far are tribecar and whizzcar. their fee structures are a little different...tribecar is more straightforward i think, with a flat per-hour charge, plus any petrol that you use. whizzcar operates on both time and distance, which is a bit more confusing. they charge by time first (initial hour, then in half-hour blocks), and also by distance (some absurdly-low number of free km, then on a per-km basis). the redeeming point for whizcar is that they don't charge you for petrol, but that's accounted for in the per-km fee i think. the most annoying thing about renting a car is that i have to return it strictly by a certain time, which means that i'd have to sacrifice a pickup if it wasn't going to sengkang. whereas if i borrowed my cousin's car, everything would be negotiable and flexible. haven't made a thorough evaluation yet, so i'm not sure which one i'll be going for, or if i'll go for any at all.
considering that i'm thinking of quitting in the face of this difficult circumstance, does it mean that i'm part of the strawberry generation of people who give up at the first sign of adversity? honestly, i don't know. while it will become extremely inconvenient (and perhaps cost-ineffective) to continue with the grab plan, i'm sure there's still a way to make money. either i take more trips, or longer trips. or maybe source for someone who owns a private-hire car and is willing to swap. there are alternative jobs, like pawshake (pet-sitting and pet care). and tuition, let's not forget that. the problem will be fitting everything nicely into my available times. it would be much better and more flexible if i didn't need any more lab time, but that's not happening soon. on a semi-related note, i have been toying with the idea of starting a small business. i know the basic principle. you identify a need which you can fulfill, and start from there. ideally, only you have the expertise/materials to fulfill that need. as for how it applies to me, my niche areas are basically chemistry, judo (not so much any more), driving, cooking (to a tiny extent), writing, maybe dogs. i'm not sure what potential business ideas can spring forth from those things. and i don't have much social media pull, either. this blog has about 53400 pageviews since blogger started tracking. some people get that in a day, or even an hour! i really don't know what to do. guess i'll sit on this for a while.
looks like i'm slated to present for the year-end seminar thing after all. my professor ordered the speakers by seniority, which means i'll be the second to speak. or first, if my senior somehow gets excused. and it starts at 9:00am. joy. well, on the bright side, this will be my last big presentation (excluding thesis defense). have to get the powerpoint done by monday or tuesday. good news is that my 2 thesis chapters are more or less good to go for submission. just need to read through for typos and formatting. the third chapter is about 65% done. need to put in some additional figures and finish the supporting info. maybe bulk up the main body even more too. i roughly know how the fourth chapter will look like, so that should be easier to write. but the last chapter might be problematic, considering I STILL NEED TO STICK A DRUG ON THE DAMNED THING. whoops. minor outburst there. what gives me hope is that a dye molecule has been successfully linked to the modified linker. i just hope it survives the next two steps. if it does, we're home free.
sucks to worry about money. thankfully i'm not desperate yet, otherwise i might even consider selling the car. i hate being under so much pressure. perhaps if i had joined this professor's lab from the get-go, things would be different. i might even have already defended my thesis by now. i can dream/fantasize, right? think i really should pay a visit to the UHC. i don't feel all that healthy mentally.
where do i even begin? i suppose i'll just go with whatever comes to mind and take it from there. at the forefront of my mind is that driving for grab may suddenly be more costly and inconvenient than i'd thought. you see, my cousin sold his commercially-registered car, and got a private one as a replacement. i only knew about it when my aunt mentioned it offhandedly yesterday. although i don't have much right to be, i'm actually a bit upset. problem is, i don't know what i'm upset about - that he did it, or that he didn't at least inform me first. what's worse is that we just talked about me borrowing his car last week! well...it's done, so not much i can do. i do know that there are several reasons as to why he did it, and looking at it objectively, i can understand why. but as you know, feelings are irrational. with this development, it seems that i have no choice but to rent a car, unless i can reach a similar deal with someone else whose car has already been converted. to my knowledge though, nobody else i know has a private hire car, and converting my own is not worth the outlay of about $1000. luckily, grab has partnered with a couple of rental companies for special rates on car rental. the two companies so far are tribecar and whizzcar. their fee structures are a little different...tribecar is more straightforward i think, with a flat per-hour charge, plus any petrol that you use. whizzcar operates on both time and distance, which is a bit more confusing. they charge by time first (initial hour, then in half-hour blocks), and also by distance (some absurdly-low number of free km, then on a per-km basis). the redeeming point for whizcar is that they don't charge you for petrol, but that's accounted for in the per-km fee i think. the most annoying thing about renting a car is that i have to return it strictly by a certain time, which means that i'd have to sacrifice a pickup if it wasn't going to sengkang. whereas if i borrowed my cousin's car, everything would be negotiable and flexible. haven't made a thorough evaluation yet, so i'm not sure which one i'll be going for, or if i'll go for any at all.
considering that i'm thinking of quitting in the face of this difficult circumstance, does it mean that i'm part of the strawberry generation of people who give up at the first sign of adversity? honestly, i don't know. while it will become extremely inconvenient (and perhaps cost-ineffective) to continue with the grab plan, i'm sure there's still a way to make money. either i take more trips, or longer trips. or maybe source for someone who owns a private-hire car and is willing to swap. there are alternative jobs, like pawshake (pet-sitting and pet care). and tuition, let's not forget that. the problem will be fitting everything nicely into my available times. it would be much better and more flexible if i didn't need any more lab time, but that's not happening soon. on a semi-related note, i have been toying with the idea of starting a small business. i know the basic principle. you identify a need which you can fulfill, and start from there. ideally, only you have the expertise/materials to fulfill that need. as for how it applies to me, my niche areas are basically chemistry, judo (not so much any more), driving, cooking (to a tiny extent), writing, maybe dogs. i'm not sure what potential business ideas can spring forth from those things. and i don't have much social media pull, either. this blog has about 53400 pageviews since blogger started tracking. some people get that in a day, or even an hour! i really don't know what to do. guess i'll sit on this for a while.
looks like i'm slated to present for the year-end seminar thing after all. my professor ordered the speakers by seniority, which means i'll be the second to speak. or first, if my senior somehow gets excused. and it starts at 9:00am. joy. well, on the bright side, this will be my last big presentation (excluding thesis defense). have to get the powerpoint done by monday or tuesday. good news is that my 2 thesis chapters are more or less good to go for submission. just need to read through for typos and formatting. the third chapter is about 65% done. need to put in some additional figures and finish the supporting info. maybe bulk up the main body even more too. i roughly know how the fourth chapter will look like, so that should be easier to write. but the last chapter might be problematic, considering I STILL NEED TO STICK A DRUG ON THE DAMNED THING. whoops. minor outburst there. what gives me hope is that a dye molecule has been successfully linked to the modified linker. i just hope it survives the next two steps. if it does, we're home free.
sucks to worry about money. thankfully i'm not desperate yet, otherwise i might even consider selling the car. i hate being under so much pressure. perhaps if i had joined this professor's lab from the get-go, things would be different. i might even have already defended my thesis by now. i can dream/fantasize, right? think i really should pay a visit to the UHC. i don't feel all that healthy mentally.
-random thought of the day: Keep holding on.-
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