Fitter Happier More Productive

Have pushed it to the brink of exhaustion over the past month. Sick twice, submitted two assignments and two resubmits and have worked on through the entire way. Yes, all hail me. I think I look good in martyr's clothing. It fits nicely.

Read an interesting article by Sumiko Tan in one of the Sg rags on the weekend. She wrote about how unmarried people are actually severely disadvantaged in the work place. This is an issue that never really meant much until I moved here and saw how many co-workers take time off. How many of them blame it on their children. How any slight emergency becomes a red flag for unlimited days off. How they generally get better schedules (less nights, less weekends) than unmarried types. And yet, the unmarrieds are the ones who very very rarely take time away from work for any reason. They cost the company less as the company doesn't need to provide medical insurance or flights for any dependents. The most insulting thing is the 2 days off extra a year (this is going to seem petty...) that people with children get off to attend to "family matters", which is theoretically reserved for things like parent/teacher interviews etc. Sorry, but I don't give a toss about other people's parent/teacher nights. I don't get 2 "recovery" days off per year for all the boozing and random sex that we unmarried types supposedly do and have. If the decision to over-populate or accidentally copulate is worthy of 2 extra days off a year then surely my own decision to engage in extreme hedonism is an equally valid lifestyle choice (and less damaging on the environment too!). Where are my 2 days off?

I really couldn't care less about the course I'm doing. It's bullshit hoop-jumping that has no basis in the real workplace. It's essentially 1950's style education masquerading as 21st century edu-trainment. Relevance? Zip. None. Nothing. Of course it means $1500 extra a month to me upon completion, but I really wonder whether it's worth it. If anything, and make no mistake because I love my job, it's made me that little bit more determined to leave it behind and try something else entirely. I can always come back to this later. After 8 years of doing this, I'm starting to feel the burn. More importantly, I want to challenge myself. Of course I can always be better at my current job, if I didn't think that then I wouldn't be very good at it, but I also think I have achieved a certain level of expertise where I wonder how much further I can realistically go. So once this course wraps up it will be on to the real pondering about what to do next. The biggest problem about a total career change when you have little experience outside one industry is that I want to stay in Singapore (for now anyway). Guess I'll answer these questions more thoroughly when I have more time to think about them.

What Teachers Really Mean on Report Cards :

XXXX struggles to maintain concentration in class and often engages in conversations in other languages instead.

XXXX doesn't care for this class, he has no interest in any activities we do (and I've been through the entire book trying to see what will work for him) and is generally unpleasant to be around. I'd rather he weren't in this class.

XXXX needs to listen carefully to teacher instructions and ask questions when she doesn't understand.

XXXX has no idea what's going on, and with 19 other students in the room, it's tough to make this the one on one tuition that your child so desperately needs.

XXXX gets distracted easily.

XXXX is a complete tool and would benefit from a healthy parental spanking.

XXXX always tries hard in class.

XXXX still doesn't get it, but at least he's not a complete tool.