Project Work

Now that the final product has been submitted, I think I can finally heave a small sigh of relief before continuing on the rest of my modules. I think its more or less confirmed that I'll be using another S/U this semester. GEM 2000. What was potentially an exciting module turned out to be the biggest joke of my university academic career thus far. Blame it on the chemistry between the student and the lecturer, the learner and the module... whatever... to quote Megna who quoted "Gone with the Wind"... Frankly (insert name of lecturer), I don't give a damn.

I regret my lackluster attitude towards my project work and the heart/headache I might have caused them along the way. They were a remarkable bunch... especially G, who took it upon herself to tidy up and see the project all through to the end. Impressive indeed :) If only I didn't loose faith in the whole lesson so early in the semester.

Its highly unlike me to dislike something so... impersonal as a university module so much... but I have to mention just how uninteresting and confusing my GEM 2000 has been so far. There is no doubt that the lecturer knows his stuff and is a highly regarded academic in his line of work... but the delivery of the lesson and the lecturer... the ridiculous emphasis on the formalities in class... frustrates me.

I decided that I am going to S/U this module... It doesn't matter if I fail the module and all. I just regret having signed up for it at all. I should probably consider Marcus's module next year on zoology... sounds like my cup of tea anyway.

The Mundane Task of Data Logging

There are many ways to look at a situation, in general, either a positive or negative way. What may seem like a good thing may turn out bad and what may seem like a disastrous turn of events could have some hidden sliver lining.
I was busy doing some data-entry work earlier this morning when I accidentally closed the whole file, in the process deleting 3 hours of painstaking work. I went all white as I tried in vain to recover the file from all possible sources. 3 whole hours of work... gone at the click of a button. I must admit I was rather pissed and seriously felt like throwing the whole laptop into the dustbin... 3 whole hours of hacking away at the keyboard... not easy for someone like me. Anyway I proceeded to play around with the various controls and learnt the joy of "vlookup" on excel and subsequently managed to re patch all my values from another worksheet back into the files... all in 10 mins... phew... Lessons learnt are as follows:

1.) Keep calm when pissed
2.) Save the work every 2 mins
3.) Read before you click anything

What an adrenaline rush at the desk today. Well at least I got all that out of the way for the morning. I doubt I'll have much to do this afternoon but... I shan't speak so soon.

I went for a 45 min bike ride with my dad last night and I must admit, it was time very well spent. We talked a lot about life and other stuff as we cycled around the neighbourhood and through the various park connectors. The night was crisp and refreshing as the showers late in the afternoon really cooled things down. My dad works outstation so his time back in Singapore is really quality time. I guess among my parents my dad is the one with the cool head. From him I learnt how to take things in my stride and really think before acting. "Always remember, 5 by 5 and all will be well" he said. "5 by 5" means when faced with a difficult situation be it a confrontation, difficult task etc, take 5 steps back and wait 5 mins before making an decision. This gives one the time and space to really rationalize things and hopefully make a wiser choice. Really applicable to a hot-headed individual like me I must say. Really am looking forward to more quality time like that.

I guess as 2007 drew to a close, I realised that whatever I have done in the past has affected the situation I am in now and whatever I do now will affect me as I travel down the arduous path called life. Certain events have definitely left an impact in me and despite those instances being really bad ones, I am glad I learnt from it and hopefully do not make the same mistakes again. "History repeats itself". How very true a saying. 2007 made me a wiser person and I hope 2008 will make me a successful one. :)

My manager isn't in today again due to sever gastric problems and all, so I am pretty much left alone for today. Most probably I am going to finish up with a bit more work before heading for lunch. Wednesday... that leaves Thursday and Friday before the weekend arrives... ahh... Going to start planning for it now. Hopefully I will be able to catch some good movies too.. 3.10 to Yuma looks good... :)

Till the next entry.