Counting today, there are almost exactly 4 days until the defense. well, 4 days and 58 minutes as of this post, but who's keeping track? i've made a new powerpoint presentation with a simpler background, slightly fewer slides, and a drastically reduced word count. the plan is to go through 55 slides in 40 minutes...not impossible, considering about 5 slides are just titles, section headings, and "thank you". removing those from the equation, i can spend an average of 40 seconds per slide. still have to put the finishing touches on in terms of chemical structures and citations by today, then begin rehearsing latest tomorrow. that gives me time for refinements over the weekend, too. was contemplating writing a script or having index cards with key points, but if my previous experience holds true, the tension/anxiety will make me end up not looking at my notes while presenting. so i think it's better for me deliver my talk without making furtive glances down at my hands (or mentally reminding myself to do so), which should be gesturing most of the time anyway. and speaking of rehearsals, i need to find somewhere quiet, where nobody can hear me. considering asking a few friends for favours, but we'll see. it's not really feasible to rehearse at home; too many people. alternative is to find empty classrooms at work during my free periods.
on the topic of work, (everyone else in the company and) i got an email from the CEO yesterday. it was his end-of-year message thing, which comes a month earlier than expected as the academic year for the learning lab is from december to november. without disclosing any information that might be confidential, let's just say that i gained a new appreciation of the sheer scale of the operation. it's no NUS, but it's definitely impressive in its own right. and my first paycheck came in! time to start paying off some debts. the sum is a little lower than what was agreed upon due to them paying less for the first 2 weeks, which were considered as a training period. it should be normal from next month onwards. i still find it a little unbelievable that they're willing to pay me just to show up at their office and stay there for 8 hours, class or no class. of course, that's the best-case scenario. the worst case is rushing for consecutive classes between distant venues, but that hasn't happened yet, and i'm grateful for it. my work schedule for this weekend is still blank, but barring any last-minute emergency cases, i should know by tomorrow if i'm scheduled to teach or not.
well, i guess that's all for now. got to go to the gym, post out an item for a carousell buyer, and get groceries...not necessarily in that order, but we'll see how events unfold. should be able to finish all that by 3:00pm. then, it's back to working on slides until whenever, and maybe final fantasy at night. did i mention that we cleared the third fight? we actually beat it for the first time last week, and once more this past tuesday, so i'd say that it's good progress. we're currently up to the end of the first phase of section 1 of the fourth (and final) fight. with luck, we'll clear that by the end of the year. but let's not place a strict deadline on it. the main goal is still to have fun as a group, and to enjoy the experience.
on the topic of work, (everyone else in the company and) i got an email from the CEO yesterday. it was his end-of-year message thing, which comes a month earlier than expected as the academic year for the learning lab is from december to november. without disclosing any information that might be confidential, let's just say that i gained a new appreciation of the sheer scale of the operation. it's no NUS, but it's definitely impressive in its own right. and my first paycheck came in! time to start paying off some debts. the sum is a little lower than what was agreed upon due to them paying less for the first 2 weeks, which were considered as a training period. it should be normal from next month onwards. i still find it a little unbelievable that they're willing to pay me just to show up at their office and stay there for 8 hours, class or no class. of course, that's the best-case scenario. the worst case is rushing for consecutive classes between distant venues, but that hasn't happened yet, and i'm grateful for it. my work schedule for this weekend is still blank, but barring any last-minute emergency cases, i should know by tomorrow if i'm scheduled to teach or not.
well, i guess that's all for now. got to go to the gym, post out an item for a carousell buyer, and get groceries...not necessarily in that order, but we'll see how events unfold. should be able to finish all that by 3:00pm. then, it's back to working on slides until whenever, and maybe final fantasy at night. did i mention that we cleared the third fight? we actually beat it for the first time last week, and once more this past tuesday, so i'd say that it's good progress. we're currently up to the end of the first phase of section 1 of the fourth (and final) fight. with luck, we'll clear that by the end of the year. but let's not place a strict deadline on it. the main goal is still to have fun as a group, and to enjoy the experience.
-random thought of the day: Getting paid feels good!-
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