'Tis the Season to Get Married

Wedding bells chiming here and there, and I'm going to miss them all T_T

The last time I've been to a wedding was super long time ago. It was my cousin, HJ's wedding at BM back in ???? (gosh, I can't even remember!). There were 2 more weddings in the family while I was studying abroad; my youngest uncle decided to settle down finally in his late 30s (after being laughed at for getting ang pao for so many years), and then my other cousin, HM also decided to tie the knot with her fellow colleague doctor bf who is 12 years her senior. Along the way, friends' sisters got married, some of them also naik pangkat jadi Aunty already.

This year, there are 3 weddings. Childhood friend/neighbor LKS, cousin HKS, and college mate Z will naik pangkat jadi isteri orang right before the end of 2007. FYI, the average age of these 3 gals is 24 ler!!! I think it's definitely a blessing to be able to find THE ONE so early on in life, people like me can only sing with envy "我沒那種命呀,輪也不輪到我..."

Kesian my father who must be wondering when he can marry off this troublesome daughter...I imagine there must be some kind of peer pressure also when he sees everyone becoming ah gong ah ma.

I am hoping the latest by my 3oth birthday la, ok?

Lastly, best wishes to all the married and soon-to-be married couples. May y'all live happily ever after and make beautiful babies =)

Here is a sweet sweet song dedicated to L-O-V-E:

不测风云之 Black Friday

4，5点的时候，办公室冷冷清清地。周末来临前，很多员工都提早放工庆祝去了，这是很平常的情景，公司也从来没有介意过。但是，今天的气氛有一种说不出的诡异。殊不知这就是所谓风暴来临之前的平静。

出事的时候，我还在一边听Hito Radio，一边搞着excel spreadsheet，直到隔壁桌的同事突然神情紧张地打搅我，我才拿下耳机，迟钝地问：“What's going on?”

“Did anyone call you?”

“No. Why?”

“A bunch of people just got fired at building 12. ”

“Really?!”

其实，最近一直有谣言说公司因为周转不灵而被逼取消好几个企划。后知后觉的我这时才察觉到周围的人都在交头接耳，神情凝重地讨论着什么重大事件。我默默衡量一下自己被裁员的可能性；虽然不是什么展头露角的明星员工，但我一直都在老老实实地努力着，如果这样也被干掉，真的没话说。或许是命中注定。几个月前在69算过塔罗牌，预言说我会转行去做和现在完全不一样的工作，难道这就是预言中的转捩点？（想到这边，心里反而有点好奇）

片刻，整个部门被召去开紧急会议。

“I am sure you have heard what's going on in the company. But I want you to hear it directly from me, so you can be relieved. We are very ambitious, and we have been expanding very fast, we prepare ourselves to perform at A quadruple. This quarter, we did pretty well, we got an A, which is very good, but we are equipped to perform A quadruple, so we have to adapt to the environment, and adjust the capacity of the company so we are not ahead of ourselves...I am optimistic about this measure, I know it is unpleasant, that's why we are going to do it one time only...there is going be a company meeting on Monday to discuss about regrouping......"

（以上致词全凭记忆拼凑）

在场的人没有一个敢发言，大家都很专注地听着，深怕下一句会提到自己的名字。还好在场的人都没有事。就算如此，办公室的气氛还是陷于一种愁云惨雾之中，感觉像学校枪杀案事后的现场，有人不幸被乱枪打中牺牲了，侥幸存活的人则抱在一团痛哭。

直到上巴士的时候，听见四面八方的对话，才慢慢体验到裁员事件的真实性。

“听说有一个人刚加入公司还没两个礼拜也被裁员了！他差不多要签租约了，收到消息后急忙打电话去取消。”

“另一个人就倒霉了，听说他刚刚贷款买车子啊。”

“非常时期啊，我看还是把钱存起来比较好。”

和我同期加入公司的两位朋友都被裁员了，正是前几天问我要不要提早下班的那两位。突然想起我还开玩笑骂他们是slackers，结果都中招了，单单他们部门就干掉了二十几位。可能因为他们部门的营运直接跟销售量有关系，所以首当其冲。

我虽然避过这一劫，却还是受到了打击。没想到出来工作没多久，就遇上这样巨大的人事变动。常听人家说经济不景气，我现在终于知道

经济真的很不景气啊！

总之，花无百日红，人无千日好，有钱要收好，没钱得吃草。我应该开始准备一个长远之计以应付他日之不测风云啰。

(Picture taken from "Wojtek's Photoblog")

Snow Storm

3.45pm - got an instant msg from my friends at the other building.

"u leaving early today?"

"nope? why?"

"half of our dept. gone already."

"slackers!"

"ppl are worried there might be no train later because of the snow storm. "

"really? what are the chances?"

"100%...nope, more like 31489073498572%"

"haha, ic ic..."

(I quickly called the LIRR's hotline)

"hello, are the trains leaving from PW going to be affected by the snow storm?"

"all trains are close to schedule."

"er...what does that means???"

"there is no problem reported so far."

"ooo...thanks."

(back to the instant msg conversation)

"hey yo, LIRR says there is no problem with the trains..."

"so you are not leaving?"

"yeah, not sure good info or not, but I will take my chances."

(after a while)

":( the cab company is not taking any more calls for cab, we need a carrr!!!"

Moral of the story:
Early slackers get the cab - always call the cab first thing when you plan to cabut from work.

By the way, mom was discharged from the hospital on Monday. She sounded surprisingly energized on the phone. She is still suffering from some side effects though (minor memory lapse and buzzing in the ears). We are hoping with the proper treatment, lots of rest, and warm family love, she will get better soon.

Muchos gracias to family and friends for your care and support throughout.

For Your Horniness

A drastic change in mood, oh well...simply for the laugh of it!

Get Well Soon

Ma has been talking about coming to NYC for Christmas. She always talks about things, but never actually get around to do them. For example, her desire to retire early; she got the paperwork long time ago, but never ever submit them, and still, she keeps on saying "I am going to retire early, I am going to retire early."

I encourage ma's idea to come visit (but never take it quite seriously). It makes sense that both ma and ba should take the advantage of the free accommodation and tour guide I can offer. It might be a little hard juggling between working and being a host, but anything for the family, right? Ma was pretty excited about the trip, as we talk and talk for weeks, but again, no action. I almost thought this is another plan flushing down the toilet, until about 2 weeks ago, mom finally announced that she has booked her flight to New York.

I definitely inherited the gene of procrastination from ma. The reality of her coming didn't quite sink in until a few days ago, when I had a jolting realization that I am supposed to pick ma up next Sunday, 6am at JFK, and I haven't started planning the itinerary yet! Even worse, I was down with a cold during the weekend, and couldn't do much (excuse je for lazy ppl). But I was determined to get better and do my research this week, during work and after work. With my high level of efficiency, it shouldn't take me too long.

From my life experience thus far, the deciding factors can never run away from these 3: time, cost, quality. Best case scenario, you get 2 of the 3, worst case scenario, you get 0. The difficult part lies in deciding which one to sacrifice/compromise. As you know, we humans are greedy, who doesn't want something "pan gee (cheap)" and "tua tei (big)"? Still, I was ready to sacrifice the $$ (again, anything for the family) as long as ma is happily satisfied.

I have a brilliant idea for a weekend getaway to Washington DC, spending a night at a guest house with jacuzzi. If ma knows about the price, she sure will complain, "Aiya, why simply spend money? Cincai tio ho..." But I know she is going enjoy the treat.

Keeping this in mind, I called home this morning.

"Ma is sick, the trip is canceled. Sorry ah, never call you earlier..." dad sounded exhausted at the other end of the phone.

And the stupid trains keep passing now and then, disturbing the stupid signals...

"What's going on? Is she ok?"

"She is in the hospital now, but don't worry she will be fine..."

"What's wrong?"

"Some sort of virus infection..bzzz...bzzz..."

"Hello, what virus you say?"

"We also don't know, still waiting for report to come out...bzzz...bzzz...but doctor advised against traveling long distance..."

"Ok, ok..."

"Have to go now, talk to you later. Don't worry, don't worry..."

Aiyo my mother ah, my head is in the kabus now. Please get well soon!!!

烂掉

2天没有洗澡。

睡了将近16个小时。

24小时没有离开过家门半步。身上还穿着同一件睡衣。

外边零下5度，却没有下雪。

室内的空气弥漫着食物、垃圾、脏袜子等气味，还有无数肉眼看不到的灰尘和细菌。

乱糟糟的被窝里，1个人，蜷缩成一团，身体不由自主地因为咳嗽而抽动。

头发散乱，眼神呆滞，没有意识地，慢慢地

烂掉。