b3 b0rn.. c0nf0rm, b3 si|3nt .. di3

am a bit nonplussed as to the impact those letters received yesterday has on the team. it’s a humongous, yet at the same time, minor change to where i perceive i belong to in this company of mine (see the possessive verb?). i’ve been here since 2000 and the dept/unit/div that i supposedly belong to has changed names a few times - SDD, PS, GC and the lastest development initiated by the letter, now claims i now have gone further down the hierarchy of things.

a handful says that the move has its legal implications and have fought against it materialising, but as for now AMN says it’s business as usual for us. and we were assured that none in the team will suddenly be jerked out to attend to other things - i somehow doubt that, but then again will have to just wait and see.

my tenure here has had its shares of ups and downs. we’ve all been through the DMZ (demoralised zone) a few times in the past years - with each, i was pretty sure i’d be moving on to new pastures. but then the moment passes and i am content and challenged again by the tasks assigned even though it means i don’t get to go on my annual leave as planned.

it’s surprising how the years flew by. i was a green kid to the working world when i commenced my attachment to this company. and now it’s nearly 5 years since. 2 years more and i can seriously think of whether to leave with no repercussions.

reading about unemployable (? unemployed) graduates suddenly got me reminiscing on the path that finally guided me to my current job. decent pay, mostly good challenges to face, the standard office politicking that comes with any organisation but at least, i am employed.

i had had a dream - concocted when i was in standard 4-5 - that once i finish school i would open a nursery with my sister (not the nurturing plants type, more of nurturing people type). we would be staying together in our own home and will be monitoring pre-schoolers and having tonnes of fun. just before my upsr exams, when questioned by my class teacher of what my top 3 ambitions were, they were as follows in order of priority:

1. teacher (nursery teacher would count as that)
2. lecturer
3. nurse (for lack of any other choices at that point of time)

after upsr results came out, i ended up enrolling into a residential school. and a whole lot of other opportunities seem to unravel infront of my eyes (notwithstanding the previous options i had seemed a bit uncool .. yeah.. kill me for being such a vainpot). i didn’t focus towards any specific career - but when i fought to be allowed to take art in my final year there as an extra SPM subject - i was pretty sure i would end up in the artsy fartsy design industry.

on the side:
mindboggling how students nowadays are allowed not just one extra subject on top of the requisite 9 subjects (some say only 8 are compulsary). they can even take up 17 subjects, please and thank you!

back to my train of thought - before it derails.

anyhow, come SPM week and papa arrived with application forms for scholarship programs for 3 large corporations in malaysia (namely one oil & gas, one electricity and one engineering). all of course who wouldn’t consider giving this vague dream of mine a chance to see daylight. so when the question of what course i proposed to undertake cropped up in the forms, i told papa - anything can do. ho ho.. so what ended up on the forms, one might ask? 1. accountancy 2. engineering 3. i don’t even know since i just signed the application forms.

needless to say, i attended the routine interviews with the 3 large corporations - most had essays to write, to judge your critical thinking process, nonetheless and i ended up accepting the offer to study at monash. belated offers also came - the one i had initially aimed for had a 1+3 programme, i had wanted to spend a bit more time with the family before gallivanting off to overseas - i had just been released from a 5-year recluse in negri sembilan for goodness’ sake! but a bit of soul-searching and weighing between being able to see kangaroos ( i never did see a live one - pathetic aye?) and being able to spend an extra year at home (how naive can i get - i would’ve had to stay on campus anyways for that 1+3 programme), i opted for the big scary chunk of land down under.
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good god.. i do love wikis. (heheh kiwis i love too.. the fruit type.. not the fowl type)

list of wikis worth heading over to:

• wikipedia
• wikiquotes
• wikibooks
• wiktionary

wiki away!!

i have yet to visit my close friend who just gave birth on 21st March (yeah, the night of the vernal equinox). she’s called me twice already and regaled me with her experience in the labor room. i laughed so hard i think i actually managed to annoy my team mates at work. i guess my sharing of experience with her a week prior to her delivery was a good call (although when i wanted to share earlier in her pregnancy - she declined - she’s prone to panicking)

anyhow, gift ideas have runneth out - in our group, we’ve bought strollers and baby car seats. maybe as per what nur said, just ask her what she still needs. am gonna call her in awhile.

update: a baby stroller or car seat it is!.. word from the new mom herself

on the homefront, in the past few weeks, kya’s been shy of giving and receiving kisses. hugs are welcome at any time but once you mention ‘cium’ (kiss), she’ll either run away or start struggling out of your embrace. i guess it’s due to those sloppy kisses (y’know the type - where some slobber/spit is bound to be left on your self - cheek, forehead, arms) her uncles, grandparents - even her parents included - love to give her. she will always end up scolding us for the kiss and vigorously wiping her cheeks/chin/forehead/arms/legs (cross out where appropriate) off.

but.. yesterday was an exception. not for us (her family) but for aunty soohsia. i admit i did feel a teeny bit jealous. we were on our way to the klcc parking after shopping for kya’s toys when soohsia called (i had told her earlier that kya would be around and if she wanted to meet kya, to give me a ring). so we waited a bit and managed to meet my cousin, my project team leader and another colleague - all the while, kya would always shy away from their offers to shake hands or kiss. soohsia arrived and kya immediately held her hand out to shake hands and upon my prodding, actually consented to give a kiss and be kissed by aunty soohsia. woo hoo! amir laughed when he saw this and stated that even we couldn’t get a kiss nowadays and proceeded to ask kya to kiss me. which of course she didn’t do.

so much for mother-daughter bonding

oh well, i got me revenge in the car and smothered kya with hundreds of kisses (since she can’t escape) and was delighted to bear the brunt of her kisses too.

yep.. it’s official. the latest craze to hit the net (and blogosphere) is the numa numa. try searching google - at the time of my search - it resulted in 85,000 hits. now that’s one keyword that those p0rn sites should think about including in their meta tags.

caught the bug earlier this year when i came across the original link (ain’t giving in out here - you can get it elsewhere)… and have since received at least 10 fwded emails regarding the numa numa (in varying versions)

this is bigger than the macarena, or the ketchup song. to gary (the guy who started the dance craze) - thank you for reminding me of my younger days (heh heh… not yet over 30 and i’m already reminiscing)

on the side:
work on the module that we’ve been pushing to implement at work has officially been initiated. pretty much a relief - seeing that the other stuff that i am also supposed to be working on kept being kept on the burner. monday also so another pitch to get more work in.

now if only i can squeeze that planned leave as planned…. i only take leave when necessary
1. my own birthday (last year was a miss)
2. kya’s birthday (family outing)
3. amir’s birthday + wedding anniversary (now tell me again how in the hell i managed to forget his birthday 2 years in a row)
4. eid fitri (only if amir’s taking extra leave and/or papa decides to take longer break - no babysitter you see)

so if i miss the planned dates due to work commitments, can’t really see where i can use up the days allocated to me. no payout for unused leaves, max of 7 days can be carried forward. there’ll be more credits thanks to company policy of not allowing friday off-day when public holiday falls on a saturday. can’t see me taking more than a week off at a time to finish off accumulated leave.

say bye bye to leave - or should that be say bye bye to work.

note to self: start thinking about early retirement