wonderment

Crap. I wish my fingers weren’t faster than my head.

The pain’s gone but the neighbour next door is driving me nuts with their incessant drilling …

I’m a bit crazy today. For such a long time, I’ve not been blogging and now, I’m bloggin like there’s no tomorrow! I’m also dead swamped (got “kindly” talked to for not following up on a photocopying order early enough) but here am I with the 3rd post of the day! I promise this will be the last … I promise …

 Recipe for Scotch Eggs

Just so happens that my bloglines are turning up entries that I SO identify with. The latest being this recipe for Scotch Eggs. I last made them when I was 13 for Home Economics. I think I tried them again for my O’Level Food & Nutrition exam but Ms. Kee thought they were too easy!

I know when I did do it, John and gang would wait by the school kitchens for us all to be dismissed and swoop down on those “lovelies” like hungry seagulls.

I’ve never made them again because they are rather unhealthy (frying) and we’re a sausage-free household now but looking at Sam’s entry, I’m rather tempted to try again … at somebody else’s house. Any volunteers?

Isn’t this the prettiest thing ever?

Can you guess what this is?

It’s a wedding favour! How novel is that? I love it because of its uniqueness, its environmental meanings and above all, because its green and natural! Yay!

I wonder how we can replicate it in a Singaporean context …. a sprig of money plant?

Edit: The strangest thing is that when I eat something, it’s not so painful, otherwise it borders on a full-blown neck ache + migraine. Haven’t popped any Panadol because it’s still bearable. I don’t know if it’s from sleeping in an awkward position, but it started yesterday, declined after dinner and now it’s back!

I’ve been experiencing a rather dull but definitely painful sensation extending from behind the right ear down my shoulder. One way to elevate the discomfort is by slumping all the way down on my chair and resting my head on the back of the chair, but how am I going to tell my boss why I’m sitting like that???

If it gets any worse, it’s Panadol Extra! to the rescue or just some exercise in the constraints of your office chair …

Friction and the Consumer Experience

A great article written by Michael Hyatt, who is the president and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers. He talks about how friction reduces the opportunity companies have to quick-sell to their customers.

His theory was put to the test to me today when I was searching for a photographer for my upcoming graduation photo-taking. Initially, I thought of going with Werkz Photography since I got the gown from them and they  offered a rather affordable package.

I wasn’t so convinced I was getting the best quote so I decided to get in touch with Vincent, whom we use quite a bit at work, for another  quote. He not only gave me a good quote, but he made it easy for me to go down and actually give him business. Apparently, he was already full on for Saturday when I called him to book an appointment. He suggested Sunday but because I’ve got church and we’ve got other appointments in the afternoon, it didn’t quite work out. I told him I would think about it but 10 minutes after I put down the phone on him, he called back to say that he had given his Saturday morning job to a colleague and he would take me on.

For his effort, I’m taking him and cancelling my reservation with Werkz. On top of that, I’m adding another set of photographs that I want to take. I’ve also seen his work and like it.

Simple, easy and I love it that he made an effort to accommodate my schedule.

Translating that to my own work, what kind of processes can I change or improve so that my “internal” and “external” customers experience the least “friction” when I “sell” them a “product”?

“The GB girls are such a joy to teach. I taught them drill today and got them to yell out the timing together. It not only added to the fun factor, but to the solidarity and helped them remembered what the commands meant in Malay. I think it was also because I got the girls who were really enthusiastic and excited to learn. I saw the power of involvement and making learning fun.

It’s now a hard decision to choose between both my ministries. I wish I didn’t have to. I wish I had more time to give to everything that demands my attention and time. But Man only has 24 hours in a day, and I too have 24 hours. What comes first? Family and my key relationships. Second, my job for there is where God has placed me 40 hours in a week. Next, the ministry that I have followed through all these past 4 years and cannot abandon just yet. What will have to go or rather take a back seat for now will have to be the newest yet most burdening one on my heart.

May I have the heart that listens intently to what God wants me to do with my time and follow without question.”

~ Written 25 August 2007, Saturday

“…we can all look back at it 10 yrs later and laugh at ourselves…”

Oh yes we will.

Tonight, we saw the culmination of 2 weeks of planning, many late nights setting up and rehearsing and frantic running around.

A match I thought would look good together  4 years ago has come one more step closer to that life journey together.

Congratulations John and Pris!!

The good people at vuox.com (my old web host) resuscitated my info. I’ve downloaded my archives but I’m not so sure I want to put them back …

Hello world, indeed!

One minute everything I recorded for the past one year is here, and the next it’s gone - kaboom!

Well, thanks to a very procrastinating me, I lost all my data overnight when I shifted to a new web host but did not bring my archives and everything with me.

Imagine my horror when my old FTP login didn’t work anymore and I was stuck. To start anew. Fresh.

Well, as they say, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” Oh yes, kill me now. I just committed Cliche No.3496556255. Truthfully, I was a bit at a loss of what to do with my old homepage, but now that my old archives have disappeared, I feel like I’ve kinda stepped out onto a new platform. I think I can do more with a new blog, new homepage, even though it still bears the same name.

I shan’t talk much longer because its nearly 1 and I gave myself till 130 to fiddle with the new control panel and then go to sleep. Even though the boss isn’t coming in tomorrow and I effectively have the whole office to myself, I still want to make it through the day sane.

So away I go and change bits of the site so that it can look a little bit more befitting my current status of … corporatia. But seriously, I’ve a couple of plans in the pipeline that might require even greater use of this website. I’m keeping mum because this is a story for another day.

Good night, sweet dreams and see you tomorrow.