gym

signed up for the SAFRA gym last weekend, and have been going to the Mt Faber branch almost every day this week. quite tiring, but still ok since i don't really push it that hard. but getting up almost half an hour earlier than i usually do sure takes a bit of getting used to.

so here's how it's (hopefully) gonna be from now on :
- monday : gym before work
- tuesday : gym after work, or badminton
- wednesday : gym before work
- thursday : gym after work
- friday : gym before work
- saturday : rest (wat? i'm not superhuman!)
- sunday : badminton


hm.. the schedule makes it look like i'm some kind of professional athlete. lol.. but ya, figured since i've already dumped so much money into the gym membership, might as well get some mileage out of it.


some thoughts about the gym :

- running on a treadmill takes some getting used to. but somehow it's not as tiring compared to the real thing? maybe it's psychological - it feels more like playing a computer game watching the digits jump. but not having total control over your pace and letting the machine do it instead feels weird.

- i dunno if it's the correct way, but the way this 2 guys i saw doing bench presses just looks so wrong. so one guy lies down on the bench and he does the weights right. and the other guy spots him for safety - just to make sure he doesn't lose control of the bar and get himself injured. but... the spotter would stand so close to the one lying down. so much so that the guy lying down would be also directly below the spotter's crotch. hm..

- the heaviest dumbbell i saw at the gym weighs a staggering 45kg! who the heck could lift that?! and yes, it's a dumbbell - the kind that you lift with one hand. scary~

* * *

so i was reading this letter entitled "Wear specs.. or go buy another brand.." in page 38 of friday's Today. in light of the recent spate of eye infections probably caused by the contact lens cleaning solution, the writer was complaining about how rude the staff of the company was when answering her call. ok, see if you can understand the logic behind this woman's thinking:

(1) this particular brand of contact lens solution is suspected to be the cause of the eye infection
(2) i don't wanna get infected, so i think i better change to another bottle of solution
(3) but for some strange reason, i don't wanna change to another brand
(4) so why don't i call up the company in question and demand that they exchange a new bottle?

helloooooooo? if that particular brand of solution is suspected to be the cause of it, then why the bloody hell do you still wanna stick to the same brand?! can you seriously blame the staff for being rude?

* * *

so anyway, here's a little snippet from something else i read recently. something related to not having to please everyone all of the time: "Jesus said to pray for your enemies, he never said not to have any." hm.

changes

the days have been getting shorter for me this past week. i find myself starting to doze off at 9+ at night, so i go to sleep around 10:30 - about an hour earlier than i normally do. i have been sleeping this early since secondary or poly school days. hm.. i guess months of waking up at 6+ in the morning to go to work does get to you after a while. hehe.. which reminds me: come end of this month, it would be a full 9 months since i started working. geez.. where did the time go?

the Berlin Wall in the office has been torn down. East and West Germanies are now united! lol.. which means no more taking naps power breaks in my snug little corner of the lab. sob.. maybe that's the reason why i feel more tired at night nowadays lah. haha..

but more changes are coming: with the recent *ahem* clearing up of New Year goodies around the house, gained more weight and i'm now.. obese! not by a lot, just a little bit - but it means one thing: time to get off my lazy butt and lose all that weight i've been putting on! alrite, desperate times call for desperate measures. one good thing about sleeping earlier is that i wake up feeling more refreshed in the mornings. seriously considering joining SH at the SAFRA gym in the mornings before work. but i'll have to pay for 6 months worth of gym subscription up front which means it's a 6 month commitment. well, i guess it would be easier with a workout buddy. at least he should be sufficently motivated - he's getting married at the end of the year afterall, and wants to look good for the wedding.

on another totally different note, Valentine's/Friendship Day seems to be really big with the pervies in the office. received a grey piggy seat cushion from Rachel and KH and a bear handphone strap from NQ and CY. thinking of whether to buy them something in return.... nah, too lazy to go shop for presents. haha.. :p well, maybe write them some nice cards lah - assuming i can find some nice cards without any hearts or lovey dovey messages. lol.. time to get into affirmation-writing mode..

confidence & first impressions

i was talking with WK and he was talling me about some of the candidates that he was interviewing. and i've come to realise that there's really a fine line between being confident and over-confident. wat must you do to appear confident? and wat mustn't you do in order not to appear over-confident?

first impressions are never really the best way to judge a person but at the end of the day, job interviews are really all about that, isn't it?

there are some people who can make friends with other people right away. but for me personally, i tend to give people "low points" when i first meet them. and that they have to "earn" points and my approval before my impression of them change. i guess that's the reason why i always treat people that i just met very coldly. some call this kind of behavior as being "high status" while others might call it being snobbish. so am i a snob? i would like to think not of cos.. haha.

but the difference for me between being "high status" and a snob is that the former will give you his approval and accept you as a friend after you have "proven" yourself to him no matter wat your own status is. the latter will give you his approval only after you have proven to him that you are of the same, or even higher status than him socially or financially, ie. in terms of material things. and wat happens if you lose your high status? you will no longer be friends? hm.. i dunno - not an easy thing to define, so i'll let Dictionary.com do the honors:

snob :

1. One who tends to patronize, rebuff, or ignore people regarded as social inferiors and imitate, admire, or seek association with people regarded as social superiors.
2. One who affects an offensive air of self-satisfied superiority in matters of taste or intellect.