Career Path

In the space of a couple of hours last night I had my thoughts on jobs and what they mean for the people who do them challenged. Perhaps it's better to say that the subject came up and I gave it minimal thought. Yeah, that seems a bit more like it.

I met a Swiss watchmaker for Bulgari. Very very cool guy, but his reaction to my reaction to his job was interesting. When I he told me, I commented "Wow, that's really cool!". He looked at me with just the slightest hint of exasperation and said "Everyone says that, I don't know why."
So what is it that makes meeting a Swiss watchmaker so damn cool? I think it's the idea of living a stereotype and also the idea that this guy can get inside the guts of something and rebuild it blindfolded. That has enormous entertainment value for me, though I'm sure he'd get sick of me getting drunk and pulling him out as a party favour.
"Hey look guys, it's a Swiss watchmaker! I'm going to smash this watch, blindfold him and watch him put it back together. The book is now open - opening bets start at $10!"... I'm really not a very good friend am I?

In case you need instructions on repairing your watch :


I also met a senior purchasing officer for Panasonic. Nerdy, petite, the whole librarian thing going for her . She revealed to me that she's also a Body Combat instructor. But wha..?! Yes, a body combat instructor. It reminded me so much of the Clark Kent change into Superman that I was distracted all night. Mild-mannered purchasing officer by day, microphone-toting, spandex-wearing combat instructor by night. I wonder if she gets her own phone booth with the gig.

In case you need to know exactly what body combat is here's a random guy in red trackies laying the moves :


So in the space of two hours I see someone living the stereotype and someone blatantly flouting the laws of accepted convention. Sigh... people are naughty for messing with my mind like this.

Oh yes, and here's a Superman changing in a phonebox. I like it when he "flies".

Misery

Some dreams are stranger than others. Last night I awoke fresh from being held captive in my landlord's apartment in a situation very reminiscent of Misery. I'm still shivering...

I'm a bad man

I'm a bad person and an enemy of the environment. I may even change the name of this blog to Eco-9/11.

Australia has green bags. The kind you buy at the supermarket for a dollar and then bring with you each time so that you are not wasting plastic bags which end up in the ocean strangling dolphins... or something like that anyhow. The general result? Everyone uses them (I'm making a broad statement but I think it's close to the mark).

I've seen one or two people with them in Singapore but haven't been able to buy any. Besides, as a single guy who shops on the spur of the moment, without a car no less, I likely wouldn't remember to bring it with me on the off chance that I did indeed go shopping. Wednesdays, as of this week, however are "Bring Your Own Bag" day. I think that one's self-explanatory. When the cashier asked where my bag was I couldn't help but look at her, utterly stupefied. Errrr... I left it in my other bag..?

Graciously she consented to giving me some plastic ones to carry my goods home. As I left the supermarket I began to notice the looks. Those looks. The ones I so smugly reserve for people who can't control their children because they only ever take care of them on Sundays when the maid is unavailable. The look that paints horror and disapproval in one crushing grimace of guilt. I was getting those. All because I had no idea it was Bring Your Own Bag day and am not in the habit of planning my spur of the moment jaunts to the supermarket. Maybe I should start planning my spontaneity in the future. Mother Earth might love me then.

On Why Men Aren't Getting Married...

I feel less inclined to write about relationship issues these days because, frankly, I find the whole topic kind of tedious. Additionally, it's rare that anyone has anything to say on a blog on the matter that hasn't been said before or doesn't sound trite.

So... at the risk of being trite...

I came across this article which basically says that many men are remaining single because they are more concerned about having a bad marriage than the ever-popular myth that men don't want a marriage at all. Now I have to say that I agree wholeheartedly with this point of view. I do want to get married, but the idea that I may end up in a bad marriage, or worse yet a boring one, scares the shit out of me. It accounts for some of the carnage I have left behind me in previous relationships, which is not to say that I may not have been in error in at least one of these cases. I don't subscribe to the "divorce is the reason why I'm too scared to get married" theory. That sounds like classic boohoo, wah-wah and smacks of a convenient scapegoat rather than looking at deeper issues. After all, I am not a product of divorce and yet here I am, in the same boat as many other men.

Anyhow, as I mentioned earlier, I'm really not that interested in getting into such topics. However I couldn't help but notice then end of the article where the researcher goes on to say he looked around at the people he was researching and promptly moved in with his girlfriend and is considering marriage. So his real conclusion was not that men are scared to get married but that most of those men are a bunch of sad fucks and he didn't want to end up like them. Weird way to sell your book...

The Future is Now

Is it just me that finds the fact that the Brit's new communication system is called Skynet a tad frightening?