First Singapore H1N1 case

We all knew it was a matter of time..
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_382278.html

Blooper: 15 Birds in Five Fir Trees

Oops. Paiseh. Haha.



Fifteen Birds in Five Fir Trees
source: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Pantheon/1868/tolkienpoems.htm#Fifteen_Birds

Fifteen birds in five firtrees,
their feathers were fanned in a fiery breeze!
But, funny little birds, they had no wings!
O what shall we do with the funny little things?
Roast 'em alive, or stew them in a pot;
fry them, boil them and eat them hot?

Burn, burn tree and fern!
Shrivel and scorch! A fizzling torch
To light the night for our delight,
Ya, hey!

Bake and toast 'em, fry and roast 'em!
till beards blaze, and eyes glaze;
till hair smells and skins crack,
fat melts, and bones black
in cinders lie
beneath the sky!
So dwarves shall die,
and light the night for our delight,
Ya hey!
Ya-harri-hey!
Ya hoy!

Back from Ho Chi Minh City

The trip was pretty enjoyable.  I'm still in the processing of uploading my photos and mapping them.  The stories and pictures should be ready in a week.

Dream: spa?

Dreams as they go don't make sense. I just thought that it's amusing to log them and read at a future date. Readers might want to skip this entry.

[dream]
With Butters, Ah Yam, GaGa.  Some misunderstanding; unhappiness.  Went to SPA?  Met some minor big shots, everyone pretty excited.  I'm still lost in my own world.

~skip scene
Playing game.  Got to choose 3 heroes; each confers a bonus.  I chose Spiderman for agility, Ironman for skill, Hulk for strength.  One game is to time a torpedo fight with a submarine as it surfaces.  Won.
[/dream]

Not my best recall.  This dream evaporated pretty fast as I didn't stop to recall it.

The Last Leaf

The Last Leaf by O Henry.
http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/1303/

excerpt:
"What is it, dear?" asked Sue.

"Six," said Johnsy, in almost a whisper. "They're falling faster now. Three days ago there were almost a hundred. It made my head ache to count them. But now it's easy. There goes another one. There are only five left now."

"Five what, dear? Tell your Sudie."

"Leaves. On the ivy vine. When the last one falls I must go, too. I've known that for three days. Didn't the doctor tell you?"

Going off to...

Ho Chin Minh =)

This will be my first major excursion into Asia, discounting places like Malaysia and Indonesia, which are culturally similar to our own.  Being unseasoned travellers, we expect many problems but what the heck.

Here's the rough plan:
Day 1. Get lost and frustrated by the traffic
Day 2. Explore the city
Day 3: Explore more
Day 4: Go out of town
Day 5: Wrap up

This will happen next week.  See ya.
~

Nothing like bad times to show you who the bad employers are

The double whammy of 2001 and 2002 have hit us hard. Loyal employees were let go, sometimes with no warning. They claimed it was due to security concerns.

In this current crisis, a public healthcare group have shown their hard hearted ways too. Everyone has been warned against going to infected countries, but does your company have these measures?

1. Initially, at yellow alert
All staff had to wear surgical masks.
Daily temperature monitoring.

2. Reached orange alert
Visitor restriction at hospitals.
All visitors had to be checked for fever.
All staff had to wear N95 masks (later relaxed to surgical masks).
All leave for the next 2 weeks are canceled, subject to fortnightly review.
All new leave applications blocked.
Staff were advised to write a letter, forfeiting their medical coverage in the event that they got infected overseas, regardless of where they caught they infection. Staff will have to take unpaid leave during their quarantine period.

The official explanation? To keep our staff safe.
Fine, they wanted to keep manpower close at hand. I can understand that.
The letter was a weird idea. I felt it made it sound as an "admission-of-guilt" from the staff applying for overseas leave.

3. Relaxed to yellow alert
All staff had to wear surgical masks.
Daily temperature monitoring.
Official memo frowning on all overseas leave.
Staff were required to write a letter, forfeiting their medical coverage in the event that they got infected overseas, regardless of where they caught they infection. Staff will have to take unpaid leave during their quarantine period.

Upper management now requires staff to write the letter, following an official template, in their own handwriting and signed by them. So don't care if you caught it in a ulu place like Siberia; you got infected means you are on your own. Pay your own hospitialisation; go on unpaid leave. Once you've recovered, welcome back to work.

~
Do you need to rethink your loyalty?
Is your employer a good one?
~

No nomination for best coach

Does this mean pettiness rules over meritocracy?

read more: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/318240.asp

Respect other people's time

1. Be punctual for dates, meetings and weddings.
2. Stick to the date which everyone have agreed on.
3. Don't cancel at the last minute.

Science Centre

I have always been fasinated.  Lots of interesting exhibits to play with.

Recently, I took PM leave to accompany ST.  Somehow, they lost their allure.  I can remember more than half the exhibits; I know the science behind almost all of them.  It's like re-watching your facourite cartoon from your childhood.

It's just different.
~