Its been awhile since my last post. I've been down with sinusitis, which is something like a cold or flu. I guess its an illness that belongs in that category anyway.
I've had this cold for a few weeks now, a couple of weeks ago I went to the NUS clinic to see the doctor and he gave me some medicine to tide me over. After finishing the course I got better for like two days and had a relapse, this time worse than before. I went back to see him again and he told me that I was down with sinusitis. He prescribed me a course of antibiotics and other medicines amounting to $42+, my previous visit had only cost $2 (subsidized by the uni or government I guess).
Anyway, got a boatload of assignments and essays due next week so the stress is building up, coupled with the fact that exams are not really far away. At least I'm beginning to feel better somewhat.
I don't like antibiotics, they leave a funny aftertaste in the mouth and a funny "smell" in the nose. As if the "flavour" of green phlegm wasn't bad enough. They make your stomach feel funny too, queasy...
Becaused of this illness I missed Calvin's birthday, they were having steamboat. It felt bad not being able to attend someone's birthday when initially you agreed to go. But it would be very irresponsible of me to go there and spread my germ all over the place. Well, I gave Calvin a call to wish him well, it was the least I could do. A very belated happy birthday to Calvin! Hope you guys had fun eating steamboat. Thinking of it makes me hungry...:-P
Bear with me ok? I don't have much time these days to do blog writing. Been thinking up a poem to go along also, maybe I'll post it when I complete it, or when I get the time...;-)
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The School of Hard Knocks - Year 1, Dusty Stores and Unsavoury Characters
Ok...so here I am in ATC (Armour Training Centre). Didn't look to bad, the building looked nice and colourful. So maybe things won't be too bad eh?
Initially I was quite upset that I was going to become a "Supply Assistant." My dad said to just give it a go and see how I hold up with the vocation. I was upset mostly because I had heard some bad press from the rest of my BMT mates that the life of a storeman is really quite tedious and monotonous. I managed to psyche myself up to feel better, I mean hey? Going around counting stores isn't so bad right? Think of it as a kind of working holiday?
It was ok for the first month or so before I went for my storeman training course. Technically I was supposed to be a storeman trained to manage and look after radio sets, communications equipment and the like. As it turns out my training had little real relevance as my office was looking after some really old and antiquated looking radio sets (Vietnam War era from the looks of it).
The work of course, was boring, dusty, musty and occasionally back breaking (those radio sets are HEAVY). My main gripe was that I felt I wasn't really contributing. I was hoping for something a bit more cerebral in nature, and counting stores and doing store work (when there was any store work) isn't exactly intellectually stimulating. Ok I confess, I was in fact hoping more for a cosy desk job shuffling paper, a wish later over fulfilled to my chagrin a year later.
There wasn't anything interesting really. What was interesting were the characters that I met and had to deal with on a daily basis. Most of them were ok people and talking and hanging out with them was real fun. There was a small category of people however, that you wish you could put a bullet through.
This chap for example. Now this dude is deceptive, he'll befriend you and tell you that as friends we'll go out and have fun, except you wind up paying for everything. Everything including taxi fare, his food, and food for his girlfriend which he conveniently didn't tell you was tagging along. He loves to borrow money from you, citing that he has financial and family problems. In the end the only way I got my money back was when I got sick and tired of him delaying and complained to my boss (who was also a young NS guy except he managed to become an officer).
He's the kind of guy you love to hate. He loves it when he has "power" and "authority". Put him in a leadership position and he'll delegate ALL the work to the people under him while he chats on the hand phone and talks dirty with his girlfriend. If he's in a subordinate position he'll question every decision you make and generally make life miserable for you through his insubordination.
He also has a reputation for being a sex maniac. In a rather humorous conversation, he related to me how during the course of a years he had approximately ten girlfriends, the most recent one being the only girlfriend that he has not had unprotected sex with. The ironic thing was that he was not combat fit because he had some problems with his genitals. Figures...
A guy like that becomes quite infamous around the unit, and all the other guys pretty much hate his guts. Let's just call this guy "A hole" for now.
This next fella is actually quite nice, except that he has a penchant for slipping off work and disappearing to some dark corner where he'll probably be sleeping (his favourite activity). He's notorious for being hard to find. Aside from that, he also has a really fast and big mouth. When he starts talking he probably won't stop, and sometimes the things he says things that offends people and get him into trouble. Often though, he's just one hell of a joker with a big mouth. He can be quite hardworking, under strict supervision and when someone is breathing down his neck. But overall a nice chap.
He's quite pitiful actually because for some reason or another, my boss has an axe to grind with him. Anything that goes wrong somehow becomes his fault one way or another even though sometimes he's got nothing to do with it. I often wonder how he is able to swallow the indignity of being a punching bag for the boss, he tells me that he just gets used to it. Let's say this guy's name is "Joker."
One more other guy. This guy was a bit of a newbie and came in much later than me and I was assigned to show him the ropes. He's a nice chap with a funny sense of humour combined with a sometimes overactive imagination. He once related to me a story of how he got put in the clink by a Sheriff for getting involved in a bar fight in Texas. The minute details of his little tale are of course, kind of hard to believe but I will not relate them here.
He's a bit of a slow learner and quite naive also. He also has/had a steady relationship with a girlfriend (which involved sex as well) which would later cause trouble between him and A-Hole. Lets just call this guy "Tex".
One of the more happening moments was when Joker and A-Hole got involved in a fight which I happened to witness. It happened in the store that I was managing. The two are sworn enemies (pretty much everybody considers A-Hole a sworn enemy). It was morning, lack of sleep combined with bad mood combined with mutual hate combined with Joker blocking A-Hole's way in cramped store resulted in an exchange of nasty Hokkien insults to their respective mothers which soon culminated in flying fists, pushing and shoving. Luckily no real damage was done to human and equipment. Another guy (I think it was Tex) and I tried to break up the fight but they kinda quit fighting by themselves. I called the sergeant, he asked, "who won?" I said, "It was a draw." His reply, "sad, I was gonna bring the popcorn."
I'm not sure what happened to them later but I remember they both had some form of informal punishment involving them staying back during weekends and sweeping roads. They were lucky, considering that fighting in the SAF is punishable by being charged and sent to the Detention Barracks (military equivalent of jail).
Another dispute involved A-Hole and Tex. Apparently A-Hole had somehow gotten hold of Tex's girlfriend's number and was calling her at obscene hours of the night and harassing her. Tex, seeking to defend what was rightfully his and his alone, confronted A-Hole, ensuing in one hell of an argument, verging on flying fists. But of all things they had their argument in the Duty Sergeant's room. So the sergeant managed to out-shout them into submission. Previously Tex had an ok relationship with A-Hole, but after that he became his sworn enemy. I mean the dude REALLY hated the guy.
One day, A-Hole carelessly lost his 11B (Military IC), Tex found it. But instead of returning it to A-Hole or to the relevant authority, he destroyed it and threw it away, an act that if discovered might see him wind up in a lot of trouble, not just with A-Hole but with the organization as well. The other guys knew what Tex did, Tex was practically boasting to them that he did it, but nobody told. Not to A-Hole or to the bosses. Regardless, Tex's standing among the other guys fell. Everybody hated A-Hole but doing something like that was no better.
It was an interesting year I spent as a storeman. Mostly it was boring except for the people that I was with. Most of them were really ok guys. It was fun hanging out with people from all walks of life, across the spectrum of Singaporean society. A-level, Poly, ITE, it didn't really matter, we were all pressed into service, most of the time reluctantly. But it was fun hanging out with the guys, they don't have the same interests with me (soccer always made good talking, though I had little interest) but still, it was nice sitting together bitchin about the boss, life in the army and A-Hole (everybody's common enemy) and telling dirty jokes.
Unfortunately, storework didn't quite agree with me and my sensitive skin condition. It was the dust you see, and the camp I was in had dust in abundance. My skin got bad enough for the camp Medical Officer to send me to National Skin Centre (I still go there for check ups still), where they downgraded my vocation to a clerk (admin assistant). I was happy at first, thinking that I get to work in the Manpower Branch and sit in a comfy air-conditioned dust-free office (my store was air-conditioned but extremely dusty), with the added perks of the branch having the only female (that was marginally attractive) in the unit. I thought that perhaps it would be better for me also as I get to put my writing skills to better use in a (somewhat) more intellectually stimulating job. That was until I heard I was to be posted to Logistics as a Finance Clerk. Among the clerks, being a finance or logistics clerk in the Logistics Branch of my unit was the most dreaded job for all the clerks (you will find out why soon).
I was very intimidated, but also cocky. I thought, "how bad could it be?" So I decided to give it a shot. So I was to undergo the most traumatizing and strenuous (however strenuous a clerk's life can get) period of service in the SAF, shuffling paper and being Johnny-on-the-spot.
Initially I was quite upset that I was going to become a "Supply Assistant." My dad said to just give it a go and see how I hold up with the vocation. I was upset mostly because I had heard some bad press from the rest of my BMT mates that the life of a storeman is really quite tedious and monotonous. I managed to psyche myself up to feel better, I mean hey? Going around counting stores isn't so bad right? Think of it as a kind of working holiday?
It was ok for the first month or so before I went for my storeman training course. Technically I was supposed to be a storeman trained to manage and look after radio sets, communications equipment and the like. As it turns out my training had little real relevance as my office was looking after some really old and antiquated looking radio sets (Vietnam War era from the looks of it).
The work of course, was boring, dusty, musty and occasionally back breaking (those radio sets are HEAVY). My main gripe was that I felt I wasn't really contributing. I was hoping for something a bit more cerebral in nature, and counting stores and doing store work (when there was any store work) isn't exactly intellectually stimulating. Ok I confess, I was in fact hoping more for a cosy desk job shuffling paper, a wish later over fulfilled to my chagrin a year later.
There wasn't anything interesting really. What was interesting were the characters that I met and had to deal with on a daily basis. Most of them were ok people and talking and hanging out with them was real fun. There was a small category of people however, that you wish you could put a bullet through.
This chap for example. Now this dude is deceptive, he'll befriend you and tell you that as friends we'll go out and have fun, except you wind up paying for everything. Everything including taxi fare, his food, and food for his girlfriend which he conveniently didn't tell you was tagging along. He loves to borrow money from you, citing that he has financial and family problems. In the end the only way I got my money back was when I got sick and tired of him delaying and complained to my boss (who was also a young NS guy except he managed to become an officer).
He's the kind of guy you love to hate. He loves it when he has "power" and "authority". Put him in a leadership position and he'll delegate ALL the work to the people under him while he chats on the hand phone and talks dirty with his girlfriend. If he's in a subordinate position he'll question every decision you make and generally make life miserable for you through his insubordination.
He also has a reputation for being a sex maniac. In a rather humorous conversation, he related to me how during the course of a years he had approximately ten girlfriends, the most recent one being the only girlfriend that he has not had unprotected sex with. The ironic thing was that he was not combat fit because he had some problems with his genitals. Figures...
A guy like that becomes quite infamous around the unit, and all the other guys pretty much hate his guts. Let's just call this guy "A hole" for now.
This next fella is actually quite nice, except that he has a penchant for slipping off work and disappearing to some dark corner where he'll probably be sleeping (his favourite activity). He's notorious for being hard to find. Aside from that, he also has a really fast and big mouth. When he starts talking he probably won't stop, and sometimes the things he says things that offends people and get him into trouble. Often though, he's just one hell of a joker with a big mouth. He can be quite hardworking, under strict supervision and when someone is breathing down his neck. But overall a nice chap.
He's quite pitiful actually because for some reason or another, my boss has an axe to grind with him. Anything that goes wrong somehow becomes his fault one way or another even though sometimes he's got nothing to do with it. I often wonder how he is able to swallow the indignity of being a punching bag for the boss, he tells me that he just gets used to it. Let's say this guy's name is "Joker."
One more other guy. This guy was a bit of a newbie and came in much later than me and I was assigned to show him the ropes. He's a nice chap with a funny sense of humour combined with a sometimes overactive imagination. He once related to me a story of how he got put in the clink by a Sheriff for getting involved in a bar fight in Texas. The minute details of his little tale are of course, kind of hard to believe but I will not relate them here.
He's a bit of a slow learner and quite naive also. He also has/had a steady relationship with a girlfriend (which involved sex as well) which would later cause trouble between him and A-Hole. Lets just call this guy "Tex".
One of the more happening moments was when Joker and A-Hole got involved in a fight which I happened to witness. It happened in the store that I was managing. The two are sworn enemies (pretty much everybody considers A-Hole a sworn enemy). It was morning, lack of sleep combined with bad mood combined with mutual hate combined with Joker blocking A-Hole's way in cramped store resulted in an exchange of nasty Hokkien insults to their respective mothers which soon culminated in flying fists, pushing and shoving. Luckily no real damage was done to human and equipment. Another guy (I think it was Tex) and I tried to break up the fight but they kinda quit fighting by themselves. I called the sergeant, he asked, "who won?" I said, "It was a draw." His reply, "sad, I was gonna bring the popcorn."
I'm not sure what happened to them later but I remember they both had some form of informal punishment involving them staying back during weekends and sweeping roads. They were lucky, considering that fighting in the SAF is punishable by being charged and sent to the Detention Barracks (military equivalent of jail).
Another dispute involved A-Hole and Tex. Apparently A-Hole had somehow gotten hold of Tex's girlfriend's number and was calling her at obscene hours of the night and harassing her. Tex, seeking to defend what was rightfully his and his alone, confronted A-Hole, ensuing in one hell of an argument, verging on flying fists. But of all things they had their argument in the Duty Sergeant's room. So the sergeant managed to out-shout them into submission. Previously Tex had an ok relationship with A-Hole, but after that he became his sworn enemy. I mean the dude REALLY hated the guy.
One day, A-Hole carelessly lost his 11B (Military IC), Tex found it. But instead of returning it to A-Hole or to the relevant authority, he destroyed it and threw it away, an act that if discovered might see him wind up in a lot of trouble, not just with A-Hole but with the organization as well. The other guys knew what Tex did, Tex was practically boasting to them that he did it, but nobody told. Not to A-Hole or to the bosses. Regardless, Tex's standing among the other guys fell. Everybody hated A-Hole but doing something like that was no better.
It was an interesting year I spent as a storeman. Mostly it was boring except for the people that I was with. Most of them were really ok guys. It was fun hanging out with people from all walks of life, across the spectrum of Singaporean society. A-level, Poly, ITE, it didn't really matter, we were all pressed into service, most of the time reluctantly. But it was fun hanging out with the guys, they don't have the same interests with me (soccer always made good talking, though I had little interest) but still, it was nice sitting together bitchin about the boss, life in the army and A-Hole (everybody's common enemy) and telling dirty jokes.
Unfortunately, storework didn't quite agree with me and my sensitive skin condition. It was the dust you see, and the camp I was in had dust in abundance. My skin got bad enough for the camp Medical Officer to send me to National Skin Centre (I still go there for check ups still), where they downgraded my vocation to a clerk (admin assistant). I was happy at first, thinking that I get to work in the Manpower Branch and sit in a comfy air-conditioned dust-free office (my store was air-conditioned but extremely dusty), with the added perks of the branch having the only female (that was marginally attractive) in the unit. I thought that perhaps it would be better for me also as I get to put my writing skills to better use in a (somewhat) more intellectually stimulating job. That was until I heard I was to be posted to Logistics as a Finance Clerk. Among the clerks, being a finance or logistics clerk in the Logistics Branch of my unit was the most dreaded job for all the clerks (you will find out why soon).
I was very intimidated, but also cocky. I thought, "how bad could it be?" So I decided to give it a shot. So I was to undergo the most traumatizing and strenuous (however strenuous a clerk's life can get) period of service in the SAF, shuffling paper and being Johnny-on-the-spot.
Pressure Cooked
Beginning to feel the pressure somewhat. Two essays, one project and one book review due around the end of the month. Only a few weeks left.
Time to pick up the pace and up the tempo.
I've become a bit complacent lately. I was an hour late for my last SE1101E tutorial because I thought it was at 10am when it was at 9am. And I also completely missed my PS2248 tutorial last Friday. Supposedly my second tutorial for PS2248 as my tutorial leader was away on conference leave the previous tutorial. Combined with it being an odd/even week tutorial (every 2 weeks one tutorial), resulted in faulty programming in my head that I had no tutorials on Friday. I guess we're all creatures of habit. But still, theres no excuses for my own lack of vigilance.
Lesson learnt, time to move on.
Gotta work for that A.
Time to pick up the pace and up the tempo.
I've become a bit complacent lately. I was an hour late for my last SE1101E tutorial because I thought it was at 10am when it was at 9am. And I also completely missed my PS2248 tutorial last Friday. Supposedly my second tutorial for PS2248 as my tutorial leader was away on conference leave the previous tutorial. Combined with it being an odd/even week tutorial (every 2 weeks one tutorial), resulted in faulty programming in my head that I had no tutorials on Friday. I guess we're all creatures of habit. But still, theres no excuses for my own lack of vigilance.
Lesson learnt, time to move on.
Gotta work for that A.
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