Saturday, June 21, 2008

So...Wassup?

I guess I have been delinquent again in updating my blog ;p Well...this is not work right? So delinquent is probably too strong a word hehe...

Anyway, things has been getting busier at work and looks set to be more challenging now that my manager, who is an expat, flies back to the US for good this Sunday. While I have only started working with him closely since last November, I must say that the experience has been great and much, much better than all the managers I have worked for in the past.

Perhaps I have been a bit dependent on him to watch my back...but that's what a good manager is suppose to do, isn't it? Well, this is not to say that other managers (and there are a few that I actually work for) don't give me the necessary backing, but they require more "managing upwards" that I would have thought required.

Lesson learn: I believe that one should always manage upwards if you want to get things done, quick, and also if you want your career development to go the right way. The problem in Malaysia is, even if you try to manage upwards, things might still not get done, or not done the way you want it...but at least you tried lah...

One of the main reasons employees quote for leaving a company is because of problems with their direct supervisor or the person they reports to. From my point of view...money and achievements comes into play too...but a bad relationship with your immediate superior could well be the needle that breaks the camel's back.

OK...not really my intention to talk about management and what not.

Tonight will be another night for the Oranje to show if they really have the class and determination to win the Euro Cup like they did 10 years ago. Will Van Basten or Hidink - both Dutch mind you - be the better coach/manager tonight? We shall see...as I'm a football fool enough to get up at 2.45am to catch it live. It better be a good game lol ;p

Oh...and I have just installed Firefox 3! I guess I have always been a fan of Firefox over IE. And the new version is slicker and faster than before. So far, the add-ons are still not that many, but I have seen some good ones, like PicLens. I'm sure developers are already creating better add-on and plugins for Firefox users and I'm sure looking forward to it. Frankly...IE7 sucks...slow...cumbersome and every time is loads something it always pops up on my screen even though I hadit minimized.

So if you have not download or upgrade the latest Firefox 3, what are you waiting for?? Go check it out here: Firefox 3 :D

OK...those we were not what I wanted to talk about too ;p Actually I have no idea what I wanbt to write...I'm just crapping (though not literally mind you) around till my anime downloads - Bleach (epi 175), Naruto Shippuuden (epi 63) and D.Gray Man (epi 88) - are complete. Bad thing is... it's freaking slow with Streamyx! Though it's really not a surprise anymore, which I'm sure M'sian users feels the same.

Oh...drats...I think I should get a few hours of sleep first before the game...lest I become a zombie tomorrow and miss gym again.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Orange Power!

I just finished watching Netherlands play France in the so-called "Group of Death" match up. And if I wasn't a fan of the Dutch team before this, I can clearly say that I am now. Really, anyone who is a fan of football would have enjoyed the masterclass display of the team of Orange.

Undoubtedly, it was another brilliant display by the Dutch of skill and talent. 4-1 to the Netherlands and all were wonderful goals, especially the last one by Wesley Sneijder on the 90th minute. Liverpool FC should buy this player lol!

Now that the Dutch has eliminated both World Cup finalists (Italy AND France), they can take it easy on their next game against Romania. Perhaps I should place some bets on Romania that they to make it through to the playoffs ;p

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Stupidity That Surpasses The Greatest

And we Malaysians complimented his stupidity with our very own kiasuness.

That comment probably just stepped on quite a lot of toes. Yours too - particularly if you were one of those who rushed to the petrol station just to filled up the tank, while causing a massive jam on every road leading to a petrol station there is in the country. Even those stations that usually don't have much business were jam packed with cars, SUVs, lorries, motorcycles...you name it. And then leaving those who really needed the petrol stuck on the road, after whatever was remaining in their tank ran out while waiting for their turn.

Whose fault was it? Well, of course I couldn't blame it on the people since the government should really have foreseen this...and who would not have expected the reaction?? Malaysians in general are kiasu, even rivaling their southern neighbours on some fronts. (though some of us hate to admit it, but there are also those who wear it like a badge of honour - which I seriously wonder why). OK...let's not step on even more toes.

But in all seriousness, the fault lies with Uncle Lah, who in his supreme wisdom decided to raise the petrol ceiling by 78 sen - all in one go. He couldn't raised it over a few months. No, no, no, the past few months was too near to the elections...so it had to be done after the elections. And as a "reward" for all those naughty voters who voted accordingly, he wanted to dish out the "goodies", all in one shot.

I mean...come on lah...he could have made the raise incrementally, right? In my humble opinion, the petrol price should have been raised since last year - a bit at a time. Everyone hates price increases, especially when our pay remains the same - but if it needed to be done, it should have been done in a way that would have lessen the pain.

Unfortunately for us, with his unsurpassed wisdom, we will now see everything else go up in prices too - exceedingly high too. Not like it has not been going up and up and up for the last few months. But it's going to hit sky high now. With the price of chicken on the rise, looks like I'll need switch to pork - not like it's cheaper - with my porridge (remember someone's Deputy asked us to change our lifestyles?). Probably have to switch to bringing my own lunch now too.

Uncle Lah of course have to lead the pack by raising the price for electricity - by 18%. Whoopy! Now I need to eat my porridge by candle light. How romantic.

While in our minds we knew that we have stupid ministers...they have now removed any reasonable doubt - at least from my mind (I thought there was a cure...but...looks like that was my optimistic self speaking). Either that or the coffers has really shrunk over his tenure and he had no choice in this matter.

Whatever the reason was, the execution was once again a "first for Malaysia" and it was something no one could have guessed. Bravo Uncle Lah, bravo for the dumboness that puts us all into shame.