Busy just gets busier

I bought myself a Blackberry. And that's just because busy is getting busier.

Having a Blackberry device frees me up for a bit more mobility without tying me up to a laptop.

It's quite funny - once upon the time, it was considered a liberating experience to get yourself a laptop ! Suddenly you can work from home ... no more getting stuck to the workstation !!! I remember the first laptop I had - it's a heavy Toshiba with enough weight to help you build very nice shoulder muscles.

Then, you can download your emails via dial-up connections. Then you disconnect, then you answer all the emails offline, and you dial-up again, then you send all your emails.

One day, my neighhbour showed me his broadband connection. And since then, I've had broadband (and all its ups and downs, and all the high blood pressure risks that came along with it), and I've never looked back. At first, I have wired broadband at home - I need to sit 3 feet from the ADSL modem because that's how long the cable is.

Then, one day, my company gave me a home wireless router to try out. And since then, I've been running a wireless network at home. It gives me the ability to move about the house and still be connected online - of course, I have to bring my laptop with me.

Granted my laptop is very light, but it's still a bit of a bummer. I can't really put my laptop on my lap when I'm in the washroom. Of course, you really don't wanna have to work or do anything online when you're doing some more serious business, if you dig what I'm saying.

So, enter my Blackberry. This simply means that I get to be online even more often, and I'm going to be more connected. Bad? No, I think not. Everytime I've added more connectivity to my life, I've been fearful that I'll loose out on more of the better things in life.

But the contrary has happened - I didn't need to be in the office all the time, I can work from home where it's reasonable. And I didn't need to be connected at all times. I can do simple tasks on the move whenever those work comes in, and that means I don't have to sit at one place for a long time to clear my work.

I hope that busy getting busier isn't going to mean I'll lose touch with all good things in life.

Ten years to start with ...

I started my work life ten years ago, on March 23 1998. It's so much like the literal blink of an eye ! Without much drama, the first decade of working has passed me by.

I must say that if you've told me ten years back I'll be doing what I do now, I'll probably laugh at your face and tell you to pull the other leg too. No way I'd think I'll be doing this. I wouldn't have believed I'd be even in this line I'm in !!!

Not bad for ten years of working - it's afforded me down payment for my current house, it's given me my current car, it's helped my parents live a more stable life, it's seen me traveling all over the globe and it's helped put some sense into my head.

I'm thankful for the opportunities I've been given, I will continue to work hard so that I can get lucky. And when luck comes my way, I'll work even harder to make the best of it. I have been taught early on in my work life by some very good friends of mine that you create luck by working hard - and your reward for luck is hard work.

As I write this, I am humbled by the experience of work, but at the same time thankful for what it has provided me with. There are plenty of ups, and equally as many downs. Sometimes, it feels like a major grind when the only constant in your entire work life is hard work. However, whenever I step back to assess what little I've been able to achieve, I think I stand before you a better person now than ten years past - and that's all that matters.

Nowadays, we young turks (I hope no one takes offense that I'm calling myself a young turk still) get so much opportunities, it'll be a crying shame if we don't embrace it and use them for personal advancement. To my bosses, past and present, I want to thank you all for your patience and kind coaching. Each of you have left in me some lessons that will stay with me for a long time yet.

Ten years is a long time, ten years is a short time. Ten years is but a blink, ten years is an eternity. Ten years is past, I hope for a better next ten years.

Top Ten New Cabinet Surprises

Well, in the aftermath of a historic General Elections, the new Malaysian cabinet was revealed earlier yesterday. Besides the expected down sizing, there were a few obvious surprises. However, not many media pundit pointed out the real surprises.

So, as a community service to Malaysians at large, I'm going to point out the Top Ten New Cabinet Surprises :

• What? Only 2 Finance Ministers?
  

• No Special Adviser with Full Ministerial ranking to advise on how to stay awake ? Disappointing !

• Many were relieved to hear that Mawi wasn't appointed as Minister to boost popularity amongst young voters.

• How the PM steadfastly refused to rename the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry as the Earth, Wind and Fire Ministry despite impassioned pleas from the other cabinet members.

• Samy's toupee wasn't appointed even as a deputy minister ! How can ??!??

• To try and connect with younger voters, the PM now starts each sentence with : "Yo, Dawg !"
  

• In yet another effort to appeal to younger voters, a new cabinet post is created to look for all the missing Edison Chen photos.
  

• What happened to the Minister in the PM Department In-Charge of Searching for Hidden Cameras?

• To keep BN relevant, Malaysians will vote out a cabinet member each week ... opps ... that's American Idol. Wrong channel ... :P
  

• Where's Kementerian Mat Rempit ?

So, there you go people ... the Top Ten New Cabinet Surprises ! Now, let's sit back, relax and see how the country either fall apart spectacularly or improves dramatically in the next few years !

Even less time for this now ...

"Congratulations ..."

With that email, the realisation hit me that now, more than ever, I'm going to have less and less time for personal things.

Sometimes, it's strange how people ask for things without thinking about what it means. I guess sometimes, you ask for it without understanding that everything you get, you have to give up something too. It's an equilibrium - a way things balances themselves out.

Getting more salary usually means you get more work. Getting more staff usually means you have more responsibility. I guess it's good for me - I have wanted it, and now I've got it.

I'll be on a 12 month program now, hopefully at the end of which I'll have better things in store for myself in terms of career. At my age, if it doesn't happen soon, it won't happen. I'm just happy to be given a stab at it.

So, here's to putting my heads down and concentrating on doing a good job for the next 12 months !