Happy New Year

I got an email from my boss yesterday. It was about Chinese horroscopes and what the new year will bring. Of course, they are referring to the Chinese New Year, not the Gregorian (is that what it's called? Too lazy to google it!) calendar new year. But it doesn't make much of a difference.

Anyway, the astrologist predicted that next year is going to be really shitty for me. What a way to start the new year huh? Nothing like getting a little bad news to start your year.

So, they have advised me to stay in my current job (I'm good... I love my job!)... do not invest my money in anything (with the current economic situation, doesn't everybody know that?) and be careful with my relationships (no comment). So in other words, don't do anything this year, and just 'exist'...

Yeah right!!

I have a simple philosophy in life. You've got to try everything at least once!

So have a Happy New Year!!! Let's make a wild one!!!

Companionship For Sale

I went to a club with LOML and a few friends the other day. This club is known as a pick up joint for your very own sugar mummy/daddy. They come standard with cash, clothes, car and sometimes a condo.

You may be asking, what the hell was I doing there. Well, LOML's friend told us that the place is different now. They did some renovation and the crowd now is different.

So we went there and had quite a nice time. As we were leaving, one of the guys who worked there came up to me and asked me if it was my first time there. He then started to promote the place, and told me I should come back often. Now that was a bit weird, considering that I was there for about 3 hours and they waited until I was walking out the door to 'say hi'.

I met up with more friends at another club after that and told them what happened. (Yes, I was club hopping. I'm still young!!!). According to my friend, I've been 'noticed and acknowledged' by the 'mummies' ... and we're not talking about dead ancient Egyptians here... and they want to see me there again.

A couple of things came to mind. First of all, I'm 'Boy Toy' material!! I'll take it as a compliment. Secondly, if I were to take up such an offer, would be so bad? They want companionship, and they are willing to pay for it... there's nothing wrong with that, is there?

I started to wonder how it would be... didn't have to use my imagination much... right across the club we were at, a friend of mine was trying to down a 'flaming lamborghini' courtesy of the three middle aged women sitting around him.

How much harm could that do, right?

Would your conscience be working overtime if you pretended to enjoy somebody's company in order to gain financially. I mean, people do that all the time at work. Do you really think your boss' jokes are funny?

I actually have friends who have received 'offers' before... promises of the 5Cs. But they've turned those offers down.

So what does that mean. Firstly, my friends and I are all good looking! Hot stuff!! Second, our companionship is not for sale...

So why the hell not? It's that damned voice in the back of your mind that keeps on telling you that you still have your dignity. It's telling you that all you have to do is work hard and you can get where you want to be. You don't need to depend on anybody to get ahead financially.

Damned conscience!

What's the rush?

A multinational company I used to work for had this very annoying work culture. Everything was URGENT. Every single project, every single request, every single email was urgent. People wanted you to settle their stuff first because it was 'urgent'. It didn't matter what else you had on your plate at the time.

They had several levels of urgency for all matters. There was the most common which was URGENT... then there was VERY URGENT. And the last one, that cropped up right before I started looking for a new job was SUPER URGENT!

Everybody was running here and there, going to meetings, presentations, briefings, and of course the occasional sessions of getting your ass chewed off by your boss for not getting more done.

So, what's the rush? Why do we have to cram as much as possible into our lives. I believe it's our need for a false sense of accomplishment.

We feel important when we can take 5 meetings and 2 presentations at work, drive like a madman on the way home, grab a quick dinner, have a quick chat with a loved one, have a quicky, read the newspaper, continue doing work and catch 3 hours of sleep.

Now let's break down that day's accomplishments that made you the most important person in the world...

5 Meetings - Probably meetings that were needed to discuss how to fix problems arose because you never took the time to properly plan your work

2 Presentations - You didn't pay attention to them. You'll probably screw up the projects because you obviously don't have the time to get clarification on the 'small details'

Drive like a madman - you probably pissed somebody off and should be thankful that person didn't pull out a gun and blow your head off

Quick dinner - doubt if it was a balanced meal

Quick chat - so much for having a meaningful conversation

Quicky - are you sure the other person is satisfied? Were you satisfied? Two minutes? Are you kidding me?

Read the newspaper - just reading the headlines, huh?

Continue with work - can't concentrate can you?

Three hours of sleep - the headache you're gonna get when you try to wake up for work the next morning would only have been worth it if you had had a wild night... but you didn't...

So let's slow things down... let's do less things but actually spend time doing it. Let's enjoy life... because in the end, nobody actually wins the rat race. Might as well take a stroll and enjoy the view.

Gifts for myself...

I got an email from my company. They asked everybody to send a 'Christmas Wish List'... seems that the company arranged for some budget to get a gift for everybody. Very thoughtful of them considering the current economic situation.

So I started the writing the list, and I realised that I didn't want anything... not that I don't want an Xmas gift, I just didn't know what to ask for.

I do have a compulsive shopping habit whenever I'm stressed.(www.lifeofh.blogspot.com/2008/09/shopping-when-stressed.html). But when I'm happy, then... nothing.

So there I was, staring at the screen, thinking to myself "don't you want anything?"... and amazingly, this other side of my brain answered "nah... not really"...

Then I tried to recall what I did whenever I walk around aimlessly in a mall... and it hit me. I look for stuff to give to other people!!

It's always 'that would be nice for LOML' or 'that would be nice for my son' or whoever else is my life. It's never 'ooh... I want that'... unless I'm stressed of course.

Then I thought of my dad. I've never actually seen him buy anything for himself. He buys stuff for everybody but somebody else has to buy stuff for him. Same thing for my both my brother-in-laws. Well except for one of them who bought a sports car... but I would categorise that as mid-life crisis.

So I guess, it's a man thing. I feel macho already!

So now I had a problem. What do I put in my list? So I made up some stuff.

1. iPod - I remember thinking this was something I had to have. Of course, I was stressed at the time. I don't feel I need it now. But it may just save me the time (and money) whenever I get stressed out again.

2. Spa Package - I thought it would be nice to go with LOML! It's amazing that I would ask for a gift that I could then give to somebody else.

3. Books - Love to read but don't know what book to buy. I actually bought 'A Prisoner of Birth' by Jeffrey Archer a few months ago and have yet to read it. Can't seem to find the time. So I have no idea why I decided to ask for more books.

4. Aston Martin DBS - My name is Bond... James Bond. Ok, so I ran out of ideas for my wish list.

5. Miss Venezuela - Hell... Why not!!??

I wonder what they'll get me?

Anger Management

People would say I'm a very pleasent person. In fact, people say that I'm down right charming. I am always 'happy'.

I try to keep it that way because it affects everybody's mood. If you are always cheerful, then everybody around you becomes cheerful as well.

But there are certain situations where I totally change into my alter ego... "The Angry Driver"...

As soon as I start driving, I don't take crap from anybody... you cut me off, you're dead... you cut queue, you're dead... you tailgate, you're dead...

It's a very bad thing... my blood pressure goes up... I am always angry... I'll pick a fight with every asshole that I find on the road... I get overly brave, in a stupid way...

And then, I saw the light...

This happened over a week ago... I gave my collegues a ride to the train station after work. There was construction on the road so everybody's got to merge into the lane that I was in. I don't have a problem with letting people in, as long as they do it in a nice way. Suddenly, this Mercedes comes from behind and bullies his way infront of me, pushing me out of my lane. Obviously, HE MUST DIE!! So in situations like this, I would make it as hard as possible for him to move. In other words, the only way he can move forward is to get his car scratched on my side view mirror (obviously I've done this before).

After some creative manouvering on his part, he manages to get free without scratching his car... later down the road, he slows down, and when I pass him, his window was open and he was saying something to me... I couldn't hear him because of the wind, but I assumed that he was continuing his quest to become an asshole.

Anyway, I drop off my collegues at the train station and I see him parked behind me... does this guy really want a beating? He was an old man! Is he serious? Now this got me curious... if he wanted to fight, he would have come up to me... instead, he waited in his car....

So, I went up to him and asked him what his problem was? He said a few things, but what really stuck in my mind was "why are you so angry?"

And that got me thinking... why am I so angry??... in any other situation in my life, I would have given the other person the benefit of the doubt and thought nothing more of the situation... but when I'm driving, I totally cannot manage the anger... and there was no point to it. I don't gain anything from being angry... I just lose, in terms of my health...

So right there, at the side of the road, I decided I didn't want to be angry when driving anymore... so I appologised to him for losing my cool... I don't think I've ever appologised for anything that fast! ;)

I felt better... I felt free...

So why did this guy go through all this trouble, probably risking his life... I could have had a gun and walked up to his car and blown his head off...

Well, after feeling all better, I asked him his name... turned out to be one of the alumni from the highschool I used to go to... he said that he recognised me, that we've actually met before... I can't recall... I just know him by name.

Now for the moral of the story... we've all got something that really pisses us of... whether it's driving, politicians, the economy, terrorists, your boss... but what's the point of getting all riled up about it? If you were to keep your emotions out of it, then you'll probably be able to come up with a way to solve your problem, instead of just complaining about it... you end up without high blood pressure, and you will have contributed to society...

So chill next time...

Taking what's yours...

I've gotten complaints that my blog isn't updated. They were from the two people who actually read this blog on a regular basis. When 100% of your audience is complaining, then it's about time you do something about it!!

Ok, I've been extremely busy at work. And I have this thing about using my laptop on weekends. I believe that a person needs to be disconnected from the wired world once in a while to keep his sanity. Of course, I think this while I'm replying to a text message from my boss, who is in another country. Well, can't really be fully disconnected. ;)

In short, I'm sorry for dissapointing my audience. Both of you! :P

I really need more people to read this.

Anyway, back to the real topic. Taking what's yours...

What the heck am I talking about?

Well, it's easy. I have stopped expecting people to actually make an effort to make me happy. Actually I'm just referring to LOML...

I have all these normal, unchallenging expectations of her, which she just doesn't give a rat's ass about. My feelings get hurt, I tell her, she tells me that it's not important.... over and over again...

So why bother, right? So now, when I want something to make me happy, I just TAKE IT. I no longer care what her feelings are about the situation.

Example, she complains when I go out with my friends. She says I'm ignoring her... blah blah blah... read the first few posts if you don't remember.

But whenever my friends want to go out, I'll ask her to go with me, to which her reply would be, NO... now at this point, I can go out without her, and go through all the drama, or I can just stay at home with her. I usually do the latter, because I don't want to deal with all the crap later.

So I've changed my gameplan. I no longer ask her if she wants to go... I tell her that she is going. I don't care if she doesn't know my friends... She better get to know them. Because if she doesn't have a good time, then not my problem!!

I like this new plan. Makes me seem like the insensitve asshole in the relationship. But she's had that title for a couple of years already. It's my turn!!!

I'm taking charge of this relationship. And if she doesn't like it, then she can leave.

Not to say that I don't pamper her... I still do. I still make an effort to be loving and caring and romantic... I still try to make her happy. But I also make sure that I'm happy as well.