As The World Turns

So stress point over today. I think.
I've been on tenderhooks since last thursday when I received;

call #1: "harlow you interested in job?" And so it went on for 15 mins.... grilling here there, the 2nd degree, seemed quite happy, they said will call again on friday.

then last friday;
call#2: waited and waited and waited, alamak thought they said they will call at friday morning 8.30am? die lah 9am already still no call and I need to go and do my daily cash deposit which is time dependent, was hoping to finish the interview then do the count. oh well, if not to be, it ain't, shrugged my shoulders, did the count, just finished at 10.30am when .....phone music! alamak don't tell me now then they call.

Aiyoh it was them, heng finish my work, they were rather apologetic and asked if it was 8.30am my time or their time, or whatever time, they were based in toronto. alamak. can almost die. stress, I already give up and they call. never mind, remain calm, take a deep breath, use the force...ok so the 3rd degree started. for all of 30mins. another round of stress and head scratching and being nice..(grrrr). so it ended with thank you for your time and if interested will call again. oh well, I thought. back to the drawing board.

Then yesterday, monday, Musak!! hmmm wonder who.....
call# 3: it was the hiring manager! wah, I surprised.
want to meet me for interview!! errr ok but but, I 2 hours away, i thinking how how.

never mind, bite the bullet and negotiated, arrange for tuesday at 5pm. I am sure I can find a way to make it, even if I have to break all speed limits and quit on the spot if I have to. luckily my boss in good mood and agreed. heng!

so last night, study time! go read up on the company, ransacked job sites for all the interview tips I could lay my paws on. I think I ready.....

I hope

So today,
call#4: this morning usual madhouse in office, left 10 mins later than I anticipiated. then die again. left my bloody wallet at home!!!!!! diverted, picked up the wallet, had to refuel the car somemore, so finally off i went. I covered 187km in 1 and a half hours. hmmm not bad. made it with half and hour to spare. nice, can cool down a bit first. but cannot, still hyper, so went in 15 mins early. the whole thing lasted for 1 and half hours, including time to show me the works. I think I shall call myself 1.5hours from now on. very structured interview. lots of preprepared questions. I guess to remove any ambiguity or bias. its a big company.

so at least i narrowed the odds to 50/50. 3 rounds of interviews. a 380km round trip. I'm bushed.

hah, I feel good....ooh yeah ooh yeah, what was that song? whatever happens I know I did my best. but until the fat lady sings it ain't over.

*grabs monster.ca and searches some more*

Today was XMEN III, last week was THE DAVINCI CODE

Inevitable comparison

Davinci Code vs XMen 3

Actually no comparison it’s 2 different movies.

What’s been bugging me was how to describe the Code movie. That missing bit about what the Code movie is about, that I just can’t quite recall, just poised on the tip of my tongue, just at the back of my head, but still haven’t a clue what to call it, thing of the Code movie, was crystallized just now courtesy of Glenn Beck (watch CNN headline news, he’s funny, like a see mun version of Howard Stern) who called it National Treasure. That’s it!!!

Its part Indiana Jones, part Nicolas Cage in National Treasure, part Sherlock Holmes, part Hercule Poirot, part The Running Man. Rather clever ole Danny boy, taking historical quirks and facts (maybe) and using that as a basis of a story, even adding the statement that the history and PS and OD bits are real. Bet he never thought of the controversy it would stir up. Clever old boy. Now why didn’t I think of that? Others have, people like Clive Cussler who used the sunken Titanic to write a bestseller. People like the brilliant (or just fanciful then) chap who wrote about King Arthur, who now has everyone believing in the Holy Grail. I guess people just love legends and the what could be whodunit mystery. Curiosity does fry the brains.

Now the XMen III.

Reading the reviews, you’d think it was another pathetic attempt to inject a new life into a movie whose direction might have become rather lost. Very much like the reviews on MI3.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooh yes!

This I’d watch again. Fell in love with Famke Jensen many years ago making out with James Bond and now she’s making out with Cyclops and Wolverine. Smoldering, literally… I think I got a thing for brunettes.

Having watched it, yes, I agree with the reviewers that there are wayyyyyyy too many new mutants (if I could only have a fraction of what they have, I’ll settle for a Class rating of 0.5) without all the proper intros, it’s rather confusing who is who. Or who does what, until they start strutting their stuff. Not unless of course if you are a Marvel comics fan, who I read are mixed about the movie. Personally I like it. It would be great to watch all 3 back to back.

But I thought it was another interesting movie. For entertainment value a shade above the Code. For head scratching, head cranking, use of brain action, dare I say on par with the Code, movie wise? But that’s partly the Code’s fault. All that pre-movie publicity hasn’t worked for it, gave the cat away. I wasn’t surprised at the Code’s ending, but I was with Xmen.

But Xmen, underneath all the us versus them action, underneath all that gloss, underneath all that makeup, Kelsey Grammer was great, Hugh Jackman still smokes, Famke enuff said….and a new mutant Kitty, oooooohhh walking through walls, now that’s cool! And useful, no more flat noses. Underneath all that, interwoven between the action scenes, there is actually a tragic love story.

*sniff, wipes tear*

And a lot of people die, it really IS like a comic series. Issue #547, so and so dies, wait for the next issue out in 2 years time. Xmen 4 will be back, I'm sure.

Oh yes, thanks to a heads up from one very angelic angel (hey your wings got as nice as his or not?) the last last last last last last bit at the end of alllll the credits was worth the wait……

PS: Tis the month of superheroes soon…

Ghost Rider is a very interesting movie that’s coming up. Starring non other than Nicolas Cage…….

Uma Thurman looks amazing as a neurotic in My Super-ex-girlfriend.
PPS: am praying hard for something miraculous to happen..

Its been a long week.
Been working day and night literally.
Clearing all my daytime job stuff.
Filling in for night time work stuff (see pic)


Looking for a another pad to pad on to
Since I've quit will have to give up the current pad
Looking for work to pay for the pad
aiyoh
but but tomorrow off! sorta
getting up at 6am to watch the Monte Carlo F1 qualifying session


then maybe to calgary for a bit of r & r and another recce session
then sunday its back to work... both day and night jobs..
then next week its my final month end closing.....but no night jobs!
but sure daytime overtime
it will be a stretch the next coupla days
in between doing all my workouts so the next day sore like hell
today I was walking like a duck
yesterday backside itchy loaded the plates for squats,
did 230lbs not including the bar, hmmm still a little off what i can do
...back next week for more!
my tits oso hurt since I squeezing in workouts, did the chest too
so now bum, legs, chest, back all sore...weeeeee kinda shiok
not bad..

sorry hor so long neva squat anywhere
....expect intermittent broadcasts meanwhile...

Ok I finally gave in to my curiosity and watched The Davinci Code.

Ok I'll be honest, it was because Over the Hedge wasn't showing at the cinema and it was still 3rd time unlucky for MI3.

But the good thing was I went to watch it
1) with an open mind
2) ron howard was directing it (remember happy days?)
3) tom hanks was in it
4) I was really curious

Hmmm it really is 2.5 hours long. Hope they'll have an extended release version in DVD maybe in the future.

I have no idea how close it is to the book, but ever since Raise the Titanic many moons ago, I've learned that movies and books don't mix very well, usually.

So my take on the movie is this.

Beautiful cinematography. F/X a bit over done in some scenes.

There will be gaps that the book only can fill, but it left me wondering in the movie. Especially the opening scene a itsy bitsy tiny bit of detail but very important which I shall not say wait I cheen poh for those who haven't watched it yet. But its got to do with the girl... :P

It's not quite the Bourne Supremecy, but its also neither much of a whodunnit. But thats partly the media's fault and the hype and the It's Not It documentaries, which I did watch a lot.

The ending was .... without being a spoilsport.... interesting but I was disappointed, I thought it could have been stronger. But i guess, possibly the ending was as it is because there might be a sequel?

It's a really interesting movie given the fact its fiction.

The real test is, will I pay money to go watch it again? Nope.

But hang on.... maybe if just to watch Audrey Tautou again, that one can die for :P

P/S:
A big bonus I got was the trailer for Casino Royale.... ooohhhh yummy....possibly the ugliest and the most dangerous Bond yet. I have no idea how they managed to make grittiness into stylo milo, but they managed to pull that off in the trailer. Can't wait, damn, why did it have to be in November !!!!

Got this email from a buddy, farnee.....

Enjoy
----------
According to the story, after every Quantas Airlines flight the pilots complete a a 'gripe sheet' report, which conveys to the ground crew engineers any mechanical problems on the aircraft during the flight. The engineer reads the form, corrects the problem, then writes details of action taken on the lower section of the form for the pilot to review before the next flight. It is clear from the examples below that ground crew engineers have a keen sense of humor - these are supposedly real extracts from gripe forms completed by pilots with the solution responses by the engineers. Incidentally, Quantas has the best safety record of all the world's major airlines.

(1 = The problem logged by the pilot.)
(2 = The solution and action taken by the mechanics.)

1) Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
2) Almost replaced left inside main tire.

1) Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
2) Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

1) Something loose in cockpit.
2) Something tightened in cockpit.

1) Dead bugs on windshield.
2) Live bugs on back-order.

1) Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
2) Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

1) Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
2) Evidence removed.

1) DME volume unbelievably loud.
2) DME volume set to more believable level
.
1) Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
2) That's what they're there for.

1) IFF inoperative.
2) IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

1) Suspected crack in windshield.
2) Suspect you're right.

1) Number 3 engine missing.
2) Engine found on right wing after brief search.

1) Aircraft handles funny.
2) Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

1) Target radar hums.
2) Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

1) Mouse in cockpit.
2) Cat installed.

Today I get a night off. Been working more days this week to help cover for a few people leaving at my old store. Been doing this part time for a couple of months since I left the full time shift. Helps to fill some of the nights too.

So after work from my day job today, I went to the gym, monday had done my chest workout, so today was back day. But I fatt hau threw in a leg workout oso, cos fri and sat and monday oso covering evenings at the store, so why not? squeeze the extra workout in lor. Will do shoulders and arms on sat morning. Interesting bit was I managed to get the poundage on the inclined leg press up to 590lbs excluding the weight of the press which would probably be around an extra 50lbs or so, I think. I'm still about 2/3 of my all time record but not bad. Interesting becos I haven't done legs for a while and today was the second time I've done legs like in 3 months and this is one machine you can really load up. The other people at the gym were not very impressed with me though, I used up all the 45lb plates, hah! I so feel like telling them when they get to my age, can still do or not. All my friends who used workout with me at the gym have all one by one fallen off to the wayside. Can't wait for the snow to thaw somemore so I can throw in hikes for the cardio.

Then after the workout, since its still bright and sunny (6pm), went to the lakeside to sit (also my legs were rather rubbery by now) and admire the view,


accompanied by you know who,


and had brought my map and compass along to practise remember my orienteering skills again,


then as I was looking at the map, I heard a weird rumble, I looked up and Avalanche!! A small one, but the first one I've seen and it certainly attracted the attention of the lady and her baby.



all in all an interesting day....

a postscript:
chatting on YM in the evening, giving training tips to a ex-client, now a good friend, I asked her if she was willing to step up to the next level to meet her goals.......then it struck me

haiz!! so do I need to too !!! man oh man....haha

Sooooo the Angelic Devil got me ...uurrghgh you got me... now I must reveal my innermost darkest deepest thoughts ... something deep down rising to the surface ..... *pop* wakes up....meme'd eh....

I AM very flustered over looking for a new place to live! Even harder than finding job. This one must pay!! Instead of being paid when u find a job!

I JUST NOW saw the Sun slipping behind the mountain tops

I SAID sigh....

I WANT a Ferarri 248 F1

I WISH I could fly airplanes and drive Formula One cars

I HATE tight asses

I MISS my rabbit

I FEAR …hmmm …..heights! Yet I like mountain climbing and flying …hmmmmm

I HEAR too many inner voices….been watching too many cartoons.. blue angel says yes , red devil eggs no, blue angel retorts no, red devil nudges yes and so it goes

I WONDER if I’d actually get to retire..

I REGRET not having spent more time with some people

I AM NOT as fit as I used to be….sigh..all that baking, cooking, drooling… and DVDs...

I SING whenever got a KTV karaoke around!

I CRY at mushy movies

I AM NOT ALWAYS so senstive and diplomatic

I MADE Nasi Goreng with Spare Ribs the other day but was so hungry I forgot to take pics!

I WRITE whatever I fancy, usually meaningless stuff

I CONFUSE myself mostly, the fun of being a Libran

I NEED to get out of this place, pretty damn depressing to see everyone on holiday and you are slogging away...

I SHOULD get more sleep

I START to sleep but can’t reach that DEEP zone….

I FINISHed watching my Battlestar Galactica season 1 dvd series liao…now I need season 2!!! Darn.... it's a deep itch..

So the honour of this tag goes to... be my guest, you know you wanna do this, go on...

P/S to whoever is guesting, dun forgot to include moi in your list of acknowledgements hor.....

A Field of Daisies

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream and not make dreams your master;
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

- Rudyard Kipling


Taken today at 7pm, still so bright

This pic is for fun...., it's a ground squirrel, they live underground and hibernate for almost 9 months of the year, coming out only during late spring and disappearing early fall, bit of a nuisance when you are trying to sleep with their shrill calls but damn cute.

So it’s a Saturday. What shall I do?
Not many more days here left I think.
So I think I shall see the sights one last time

Shall do the circle loop, heading west, let see..
From Lake Louise, AB
Golden, BC
Radium Hot Springs, BC,
Invermere on The Lake, BC
And back to Lake Louise, AB

And DANG! The Trans Canada to Golden from LL is closed about 16km from Golden!!!
So near yet so far. There’s been a landslide and the road’s not passable.
So around I turn, back east, Golden will have to wait for another day.

And to Inveremere I head.
It’s a quaint little town on the shores of Lake Winderemere.


At a layover on the road to Invermere from Radium, I spotted this Daisy, poking up from the ground, how symbolic


Inveremere has the only beach around for miles, fresh water though.


Main street is kinda nice


But the hightlight of the day was definitely this, slurp...


And then on the way home
Why not a soak in a hot spring? Ahhhh


I covered about 450km today including the 130km detour turnaround, hmmm this is what Saturdays should be for, a great drive.

It's here again, that all so necessary but so lengthy process.

Its job hunting time again!

Dang, I guess all that practice I've had in the recent past must somehow one day come in useful.

And as usual, its very very hard finding work, actively!!! Of course I could go to Safeway and ask but thats not the point... altho thats what's I'll probably end up with!

I do have a clear idea of where I'd like to be in but part of my headache is that I'm underqualified for management positions (lack of canadian experience, like I havent the faintest clue on what's the Canada Pension Plan for which every month my paycheck gets a deduction of, but ask me about CPF I can tell you almost everything, then again thats over the other side of the pond) and over qualified for lesser positions (too experienced, worked for too long (aka old) and over educated, maybe I should tell people I have primary 6). Even applications for management trainee positions draws up a blank. If these weren't issues I'd bet my piggy bank I'd be getting calls now. Besides am also competing with all this young fellas coming out of school. Oh well, gonna keep plugging away, Ole Colonel Sanders approached over 1000 companies before he found one willing to buy his recipe (and one that laughed all the way to the bank).

The What colour is your parachute book, very rightfully noted that the best way to get a job is through networking. Yeah right, don't know anyone here, living in a place that has more elk, bears and squirrels than people, its gonna be a challenge to network (already tried the online bit)

So another option of course is to move first, then network and get a job. I'd like to, but I'm still busy paying off my house in SG so some cash flow would be nice. Selling that is not quite an option now, cos still gotta pay the bank back if sell, cos I had the foresight to buy before the 1998 financial crisis! hah! Overall, maybe its cheaper to permanently rent than to buy...hmmm will do an analysis on that. Real estate agents will probably violently disagree.

So an interesting situation, I will in all probability move first then find a job.

And where am I headed to?

Vancouver!

Becos:
1) wider range of jobs available;
2) easier to find a place to rent (today's paper said not enuff places to rent in Calgary! but its true, just check out Craigslist so if u have some extra dough, wanna buy a place here for investment and have someone keep and eye on it, you know who to call :P) ;
3) the sea is to the west and the mountains to the east and the very close US is to the south. North too many Grizzlies and Cougars lurking....
4) more chinese eating and shopping places!
5) the weather is milder, not so topsy turvy as here nor as cold, but it rains helluva lot...

and the circle turning round and round..... like Windmills of my Mind... wish i had that song...

So like a rabbit, I'm still scampering and hopping around...isn't he cute?




Amazing how companies recruit.

The weekend was too short!

Satruday, went to Calgary to recce possibilities, instead, I saw a movie, ended up buying the dvd of Long Way Round (yes I liked it so much, I bought it and also I’m a motorcycle nut) and then I spied and grabbed this classic dvd series of The Saint Set 2, my oh my, isn’t Roger Moore handsome then? Ahhh the adventures of Simon Templar, I wanna rebuild my book collection of this.



But the highlight of last week as far as dvd’s go, was Wallace & Grommit’s Curse of the Were-Rabbit. A cute and funny movie and also the world’s first vegetarian horror flick….



Then whilst in Calgary, popped over to the multiplex was agonizing over which movie to watch :

MI3



Or

RV



So hard a choice,
action or laughter,
exploding cars or imploding RVs,
adult romance or family bonding

…. Ok Robin Williams won ! laughed my ass off, cried at the daddy/ daughter cliché and a classic stand up routine from ole Robbie in the film. I never get tired of this guy…

A smile big grin on your face beats nail biting anytime.

This has been an intensely interesting week.

Firstly, the usual month end work shenanigans had been going on with the usual last minute rush of paperwork including having to go back on sunday morning to finish off some stuff.

Then I had a call on tuesday from a BIG company for an interview for a smallish job. Telephone operator kinda thing. I then had a second call on thursday from the same company for a secondary interview. Not sure if this is good or bad, but right now its 50/50. Oh well, as someone once said (ok it was a Nun), its God's will. Having just said that, I did ask for divine help a couple of days back. Blame it on MLC, I have some thoughts on this, but I shall not dive into that today, will probably make for a short story and a very interesting forum.

Then today I did the final thing, I told my boss I was leaving. Without a job or even a place to stay in sight, wherever I'm headed.

Wah! I am amazed at myself, must be Asiaworks' LP. What was my intention again?

But this good, yes? no? maybe? Hmmm I just booted myself, how can this be good? Thoughts humming, brain gears whirring, heart strings afluttering, lighting a fire under my own seat perhaps? Good grief, what have I done?

Calming down, the water had finally boiled over, its been on a slow boil for a while, but I think its a good thing still...

But now stress... current damn strong...

It's extremely interesting because if I'm moving to Calgary, I don't know a single soul there. Vancouver is safer with some friends, relatives there and I've spent some time there before. But Option Vancouver's moving costs are also higher as I will probably have to move first, hire a van load everything up, head east then find a job, luckily I brought my tent over from SG.

Whereas if I head southeast to Option Calgary, I can get a job first then move. The property rentals in both places are surpisingly expensive, in some ways comparable to Singapore, even though property costs are lower than SG. The urge to move a somewhat more milder weather (it rarely snows there and the temp is warmer) in Vancouver is strong, lovely mountains and the sea side by side, but the economy is weaker compared to Calgary, ie harder to find work.

Tough choice; jobs or weather/scenery. Damnnnn.... I should be so lucky.... but as Ewan Macgregor said in Long Way Round, a lot of people are held back by their What Ifs. Watching the one year on follow up interviews, then it really strikes you how hard their journey really was. Gawd how I really envy those blokes. Sigh...

Thinking about it, I survived year 2003. Now it seems to be easier, although it was more stressing with the SARS fallout, getting the boot then now doesn't seem that bad now, of course retrospectively every thing seems easy. But I had my LP buddys to egg me on then, so that probably cushioned the fall somewhat. But now the LP gang has moved on their separate ways and it is really up to my goodself now isn't it?

What if What now?

Oh the uncertainty of life, but then again it does makes things interesting doesn't it?

In 2006, Lillian Too said, The Snake will have to find his own way... don't expect any apples to fall from the tree... only persistence and perserverance will pay off, damn I wish I was a Dragon who will have apples fall on him...

Que Sera Sera, what will be will be...

Now where are my Touratech Panniers? An expedition it will be.....

It had been really hot over the weekend, weather was more like summer at +20, scenery oso like summer , then suddenly, last evening it started to snow!!!

Damn, somemore I was planning to drive to Banff, but off I went anyway, being the intrepid adventurer but the visibility was really bad some places (started having 2nd thoughts about continuing) about 100metres max some stretches.
This was a relatively clear stretch.Somemore just switched back to summer tires over the weekend!



So in the morning, woke up and its winter again!! Hmmm this is supposed to be May….spring time!


Went to my car and wah lau, ice had build up on the front of the car from last night’s banzai drive and its still frozen to the car! The water actually freezes to the car as it accumulates while u drive..like here mirror….



So drove to work and Snow Blossoms!!!
No Cherry Blossoms but this far nicer!! Sad it all got melted by afternoon, but very rare :P


Pity it was all gone by the afternoon....