Day 26

Had a satisfying bbq this evening after it just rained. The electric grill is pretty good stuff...no mess from the charcoal but the wait for the food was longer.

Grandma came briefly today accompanied by the maid. Actually this morning I was over at her place to give piano lessons to the boys but they had forgotten to inform me that they were in KL so it was a wasted trip. Good thing was I got to accompany Mum, Leng and Leong to ntuc and the wet market. I've not been to the wet market for quite some time ever since piano became on Sunday mornings, which is the only time mum goes to the market. Recognised a few of the stall owners that she has been patronising ever since we were kids but every one seems to have aged. I feel that the recession has been taking a toil on everybody... I keep hearing them say "everything is so expensive nowadays"... This kind of statement grips you more strongly when you're in the heartlands.

Well back to the maid. I feel that my family just don't know how to handle maids. Nobody in the family has had one so it feels awkard when somebody suddenly has one. I sense a bit of hostility towards a foreign person in the household yet at the same time it's really strange cos nobody asks her to do anything! I'm not advocating that we shld order her to do everything and exploit her for our money's worth or anything. But I don't see a point in paying for a maid to stay with you and yet not asking her to do anything. Grandma is too nice, she was hired to help relieve her in doing the household chores but I still see her cooking, doing the marketing etc. when she can just ask the maid to do it! Grandma says it's because the maid can't cook well. And another reason is that the old folks will "slow down" if they don't do anything. But i just don't like to see grandma working hard when the maid is not.

I think people shld be nice to their maids, not be hostile twds them, afterall they left their families behind to come work for us, it's a terrible thing. But don't be the maid to your maid!

Day 25

I counted the average age of the people in my department- 39! As compared to my friends in other ministries and agencies, I think my department is the oldest. I'm in corporate planning now, and i think the head was right at the interview, the job fit is quite good. I'd have felt out of place in a slacker department. At CP, you need to know everything under the sun abt the organisation. It's not abt specialization, it's about the macro pic. Since i'm the kind of person who wants to cover all the bases, I guess the job suits me. Initially i wanted to start higher, in the ministry above us, but i guess i was too greedy. Coincidentally here i've been tasked to staff the mtgs with that ministry so i'll be seeing a lot of those ppl who interviewed me lol. Over there i was told firefighting formed the bulk of the work, here my boss told me from day 1 that he did not like firefighting and prefers to look ahead, afterall what's CP without the P? I'm thankful for that because i realised how i cld've languished if i were to do firefighting. Of course there are some parts of the job here that i didn't expect, but i did ask for a challenging job.

There are many old-timers here who've worked more than 10 years, my buddy is one. Apparently he's the buddy of everyone new in the dept cos he's been ard for so long. It's interesting to go lunch with these people beacuse they can really EAT. For example, we went to Queensway last week and just for lunch alone, we had claypot laksa, avocado juice, fruit plate and egg tarts. Then we also went to Liang Court another day for Shabu Shabu Ramien and just yesterday it was Earle's Swensons for deparment lunch. But that's the final straw, i've resolved after Liang Court to find new eating partners and cheaper eating places cos i can't afford to eat like that the whole time.

Day 24

Fell down abt 3 weeks ago after watching Dark Knight (nus guild hse). I haven't fell down for so long that i forgot how it was like to do so. You don't feel the pain right after the fall, just numbness and perhaps a bit of shock, which gives you enough time brace yourself to walk out of the theatre. You think you're alright but wait until the agony comes, then inconvenience....and after a few weeks, the scars. I suppose it was a combination of reasons that I fell, but Leng brought up a very good pt, "WWIATF?"

I cannot decide if i've "settled in" at my workplace. A part of me don't want to "settle in", just want to bum around. How can there be "settling in" when u're expected to do OT in your 1st week on the job? How can you prevent putting urself in a comfort zone and "settle in" at the same time? Is it just me who can't draw the line or is the world made up of too many grey parts?

There's a whole new meaning to "weekends" too once you start work. Played basketball with Huang Di on Sat, went to Settlers and Breeks (played bridge) on Sun with the Econs gang. It was fun, but these days there are just too many ppl around me who've been making me feel that leisure is not sth i'm entitled to. =[