lull

It’s a new month and my female owner started her new job a few days ago. She says that so far, it feels no different from going for a placement (especially the nursing home one which didn’t really involve much psychological intervention and was basically a waste of her time). The positive difference is that she is being paid for doing nothing much. She is struggling to fill up her time but says it is a good problem.

So far, in three days of work, she has done the following:

Attend the children’s and adult’s team meetings
Attend the children’s clinic
Made contact with a few families
Fell in love with one of the boys (so cute, she says)
Attend a Melbourne Cup lunch
Had a supervision session with her clinical supervisor
Twiddle her thumbs during lull periods
Navigated her way around the hospital corridors etc

More to come, she hopes.

jobs

My female owner says that applying for jobs in Aussie is not as easy as doing it in Singapore. For one, being on a student visa, the odds are stacked against her. In addition, she has not graduated from her programme and hence, would not be able to apply for psychologist positions, which usually require full registration. Her best bet would be to look for counselling or social services jobs. But it might be difficult to convince potential employers that she has intentions to stay long at the non-psychologist job.

Anyway, when faced with such situations, my female owner would start to fantasise about going back to Singapore for good. She often questions herself for staying back in Australia. After all, she can easily pack up now and leave for home. Emo Sponge kinda distracted her shortly after by helping her to source for temporary administration positions, which kept her occupied the whole day. Not really sure if she would be able to convince anyone to employ her, given that she is “overqualified” but as my female owner said, better than doing nothing!

Hopefully she gets a temp job soon.

compartmentalise

My female owner had a surprise visit from a friend today. He’s Second Onli Fren’s ex/not-ex boyfriend. Anyway, that’s besides the point. This friend is an avid angler and wanted to pass (heaps of) stingray to my female owner. His generosity extended to essential ingredients such as limes and onions. Yumz. I can predict sambal stingray to be coming out of her kitchen pretty soon.

Anyway, they had a short catch-up session and he asked the inevitable – “so what have you been up to?” And my female owner gave an unexciting account of her current state of being. And his response was “so your life now is work, placement and school?”

Such a neat summary of her unexciting, compartmentalised life.

intense

My female owner had an intense week. For this week:

Monday – full day at placement, with little break, resulting in an early night
Tuesday – trod off to uni to meet her supervisor, help him with random stuff and the rest of the day is spent recovering from the intense meeting or damage control, prayer meeting at night
Wednesday – stay at home day, running statistics till night (coz of personal inefficiency, not that there were heaps to do)
Thursday – ½ day placement (extra, to clock more hours), flute, dinner and movie
Friday – full day placement, bible study at night

She ended up sleep-deprived, a little burn-out and just plain grumpy by the end of Friday. She ended up sleeping earlier to recuperate from the strain and woke up refreshed on Saturday.

My female owner says that this Saturday had been one of the best Saturdays for a long time. She did a bit of work in the morning and went out for the rest of the day. First to dinner with an intimate group of friends, followed by a dodgy movie (Alice in Wonderland). After that, a good-size group of friends went to Mount Cootha to see the city lights and to star-gaze. Mount Cootha holds happy memories for my female owner, coz of the friends she went up with in the past. The night continued with an adjournment to a house for supper and more meaningful interaction (where everyone actually gets to talk to everyone).

A good way of releasing tension, relaxing and cooling off from the challenges of the week, says my female owner.

schedule

After two weeks of ding-donging (a fave civil service term), my female owner finally sorted out her schedule for the first half of the year. It’s probably going to look something like this:

Monday: Full-day placement
Tuesday: Morning – work; afternoon – research meeting
Wednesday: Free day – for paperwork, thesis writing, reading etc
Thursday: Morning – work; afternoon – flute lesson
Friday: Full-day placement

Weekends!

My female owner was also toying with the idea of doing tutoring on Wednesdays, for extra money. She hasn’t quite decided if she want to push her limits, coz technically, she has to set aside time to write her thesis and do up a big organisational project (that amounts to 200hrs or 25 days or 1.5 day/ week till the end of her 17-week placement), along with her fixed commitments.

Hmmm…. Methinks she will be stretching herself too thinly (as usual). But my female owner’s argument is that she probably won’t be needing to work every week, so she might not be as taxed as it looks.

Anyway, my female owner, in her rare moment of inspiration and passion, did up a timeline for her thesis and aims to submit the completed work by early to mid September. One month ahead of the deadline that most people would seek an extension for anyway. She says that she needs to make sure that she can graduate by December…. And get her doctorate while she is still in her 20s. Haha..

faq2

Another FAQ my female owner encounters is “so, what are your plans after you graduate – will you look for a job in Australia or come back to Singapore?”

“err…. I don’t know leh”

“should i? what do you think?” – this response often stuns her friends (as if they can make such a big decision on her behalf). Anyway, most people either say “its up to you” or “don’t come back lah, stay there, better prospects”.

Recently, there was some possibility that my female owner might return to Singapore to work. She told a few people in her bible study group about it and weeks later passed a prayer request through one of them to ask the group to pray that God’s will be shown clearly to her. My female owner later learnt that the group ended up praying that she would NOT leave Brisbane and that rumours that she was leaving end of 2009 started to abound. What a mega big miscommunication!

So erm... what do you think? Should she return to Sunny Singapore?

faq1

One FAQ posted to my female owner in recent weeks is, “so, what do you want to do after you graduate?”

The default answer is “eh…I don’t know leh”. Certainly a highly disappointing answer from a doctorate student. A more elaborate answer (if she is in a sharing mood) would be “I don’t mind starting work in a hospital but eventually, I want to work in private practice and lecture in a polytechnic or university”.

If she’s more chatty, she would add “I want to work somewhere with great earning power, I’m tired of being poor”.

Then someone asked an insightful question, “what would you choose, if you can only be one and being a lecturer pays more?”

A scenario which my female owner never thought about. She paused for a while and answered “then I would be a clinician, coz after all I’m trained to be one, and I want to do individual work to help people directly”.

(there goes her earning power)

tripped

My female owner had one of the most hectic day of her life today, which left her feeling exhausted, mentally, muscularly (coz she spent the whole day talking) and spiritually (just flat-out).

It started at 0900hr, where she had a tutor meeting with the lecturer, sorting out administrative matters. Then a RA meeting with her thesis supervisor at 1030hr. He spent 40mins telling her what he wants her to do… a long laundry list that left her wondering if she is competent enough to meet his demands (you know how some people are just not cut out to do dirty research). And he spent the next 40mins talking to her in a fatherly, mentorly manner about her career and Singapore. The switch from boss to mentor was so abrupt, my female owner had problems adjusting.

He ended at 1150hr, which gave her just 10mins to get to her 2-hr long tutorial class. And in her usual scatter-brained manner, she lost her way and ended up being late. And then, the next tutorial class at 1400hr. Barely enough time for her to go to the toilet. She was honestly so exhausted by her second tutorial class that she tripped over her words and had to will herself to look energetic.

Work finally ended and she went looking for Therapist Fren for lunch/ afternoon tea. With their arsenal of cookies and more cookies, they fed each other’s need for procrastination. Afternoon tea was hilarious, coz my female owner was absolutely tired from talking the whole day that she just couldn’t formulate her words and her thoughts. Therapist Fren was so entertained that she said that she would seek her out every Wed afternoon just to laugh at her.

And when you are mentally exhausted, the best way to end the day is probably to go for a jog… do something physical. Based on prior agreement, my female owner pulled herself out of her house soon after reaching home to jog with her friends. For an hour, she jogged largely by herself, thus allowing her time to rest her mouth muscles. Somehow, the jog was so liberating that she went longer than she normally would (but less than what her friends would like her to). After an uncertain day at work, it seemed as if it was the only thing she could control right now in her life.

lunch

My female owner gave church a miss today coz there was some special event which was happening, which meant that there would be heaps of people congregating at a specified place. Her social phobic genes were activated, causing her to stay home to avoid the crowd.

In doing so, she managed to catch a friend who was still working at her former organisation on MSN. Through the yummy updates (which can be summarised in one line: things have turned for the worse), my female owner started to reconnect with her former life.

She also learnt the different diplomatic ways that the people in the office had been using to avoid social contact:

• Say you want to eat in (your office)
• Say you need to run errands
• Say you are on a diet, so you are not eating
• Go to the gym
• Lunch with a clique
• Be on medical leave

Other tricks she tried in the past (some require prior planning with other like-minded people, usually through email):

• Make external lunch appointments
• Run off just before lunch-time before the person approaches you (make sure you don’t walk past the person’s office)
• Say there is no more space in the car (if you can, look apologetic)
• Close your office door before lunch-time (and keep quiet!)
• Arrange your schedule so that you will be at external sites before or after lunch
• Say you haven’t decided whether you will be eating (if you are caught unaware)

After a while, the person will get the idea and stop eyeing you as a potential lunch partner.

sudden

Might be good for you to know that my female owner is still alive. She has just been busy.

Another one of her bible study group members is leaving Brisbane for a very long time. Possibly for 5 years, as her mother became ill suddenly. As a result, my female owner has been busy spending time with her (take today as an example, she just came home and its 2am already). That kinda throws my female owner off-track with her work plans and got her a little concerned about the progress of her research. She’s not even sure if she has time this weekend to do much work….

Oh man… she really cant work without deadlines. She also hates sudden separations.

run-ins

Oh no… the new week has started and my female owner is feeling blue about her upcoming placement again. The mere thought of having to go into the facility and put on a fake smile and happy persona when her actual mood is incongruent to how she feels about the whole arrangement makes her feel sick and hypocritical.

Self-CBT! (as if it works).

She also had a few minor run-ins with an anal diversional therapist (DT) when she ran her first group therapy session last Thursday. Just small things she did or did not do and uncalled for discouraging comments that pissed my female owner.

Being a wet blanket
FO: “yah, it is hard to get a group therapy running but probably the next psychologist who comes in will have a better time, coz the residents here would be used to the idea”

DT: “oh, not really, they would have forgotten everything by then”

WT... Besides the sublimal suggestion that my female owner’s efforts are in vain, this lady is actually saying that all the residents are suffering from severe memory loss. How’s that for stereotyping the very population you are supposed to help?

Immaturity
DT: “Oh, I noticed, as I was moving around that some of the residents were paying attention to what you...”

FO: blank look, wondering what the hidden message was. Finally, she got it …. “and some of them were dozing off.” Applause to the way she brought her criticisms across. No big deal. Residents sometimes sleep in the middle of activities. Their mere presence at activities is, in some ways, a great improvement from being cooped up in their rooms.

Non-action (passive-aggressiveness?)
DT (with an accusing look): “Oh, Grace (a resident) came at 0900hr (time the group was scheduled to start) and she left because you were not around, maybe next time you can come in earlier”

This is a prime example of a non-action. The normal response would be to ask the resident to wait for a while (“thanks for coming to the group. Why don’t you take a seat at one of the comfy chairs. We won’t be long, we are just trying to round up the rest of the residents”). My female owner was held up trying to bring up some residents for the group and yes, she came in 30mins earlier that morning.

Conclusion: B***h.

scheming

One of my female owner’s Impromptu Frens suddenly told her recently through msn that “you are not scheming enough”. Yah, all of a sudden, she seems to be receiving random social feedback from people around her!

Unfortunately, he was not able to articulate any specific examples or reasons and said it was “just a feeling lor”.

My female owner agrees that despite five years of working, she failed to pick up skills in manoeuvring office politics. She won't even know if she's being taken for a ride by her friends, much less colleagues. What a failure!

ex-colleagues

My female owner had dinner with some ex-colleagues just now. Hmmm.. it’s beginning to sound as if she has lotsa ex-colleagues. I should take some time to clarify the different categories of ex-colleagues.

The real ex-colleagues are the people who are still working at her former workplace and whom she detests to varying degrees.

The unfortunate ex-colleagues are her friends who are still working at her former workplace for various reasons (i.e. stuck).

The remaining ex-colleagues are her friends who are working in the same organisation or have worked with the real ex-colleagues, and hence, shared a common (often unpleasant) working experience (e.g. some of her Impromptu Frens who are still in service).

The comrades are those who used to work with her but like her, have left the place for greener pastures. Together, they have many years of working together in the same office and survived many classic moments.

Tonight, her dinner was with the comrades. They held different positions in the same office (e.g. some were the lowest life form while one was sandwiched between layers and two others were the lowest life form of the highest class) and together, they shared their individual stories about the horrors of working with inefficient colleagues, mimicked the bosses’ idiosyncratic movements and once again, groused about their “best friends” in the department. It’s funny to see how different people developed different “best friends” even though the collective group of “best friends” was common enemy.

Although the five of them have not gathered for a long time, their shared past made the fellowship was so comfortable, heart-warming and free-flowing that there was an obvious reluctance to say good-bye. Ah, it would be at least 10 months before they would meet up in such a capacity again. Kudos to the organiser for persisting through conflicting schedules to arrange the meet-up!

high

My female owner is having a packed week. She went to NUS twice this week to meet her supervisor and did some freelance work at another place which ate up a good part of her Wednesday.

In-between her work obligations (which included doing up lecture slides and sieving through SPSS data), my female owner also managed to catch up with some friends e.g. her Impromptu Frens in different combinations, a former colleague, a Brisbane Fren, a long-time friend from secondary school.

My female owner is one to feel anxious if she does nothing for more than a day. So even though this week had been hectic and a little sleep-deprived as she juggled work and play, my female owner felt more accomplished as compared to last week. Last minute work is her drug, it just gives her the adrenaline rush and gets her high.

I think she is mad.

frog

My female owner says that she is starting to feel the heat of things. She has taken on more things than previously and is now suffering the consequences of “spreading herself thinly”.

Besides her schoolwork, she is also a tutor. That takes up about ½ to 1 day’s work a week. She is also trying to spend more time with her fellow Asian comrades by meeting them regularly for peer support. In church, she has agreed to a few stuff that requires time and commitment (another vulgar word in her vocabulary, besides “resilience”).

She is like the proverbial frog in the cooking pot now… her time and energy is slowing cooking away…. What about her fats?! They are being left behind!

stability

After being a professional student (whatever that means) for a larger part of the year, my female owner started to reminisce about the working life she left behind.

The stability of workload – no matter how busy she was, she could leave her work behind after she left her office. Clear boundaries.

The stability of her schedule – related to the former point, she could plan personal activities in advance and know that unless some major incident happened, she could pursue her personal interests. Now, her life is centred around her clients and her coursework is centred around the leftover time after fitting in clients and her research is peripherally arranged around the small pockets of time after clinic and coursework. And her social life is, well you guessed it, impromptu-ly arranged at best.

Having said that, there were times when her life was interrupted rudely by some major incidents. e.g. being activated on her birthday because of the Asian Tsunami, or being activated when she just started chilling out at a watering hole because of a sea accident, or having to perform crisis intervention for a sudden death incident when she was going through a personal crisis herself (okay, that was when I was ill, my fault). That instability within an otherwise stable worklife was something which she couldn't appreciate after a while. But I know it was not because of the instability per se. It was how work was "unstable-ly" distributed among her colleagues during crises.

The stability of her social network – there was always a consistent group of friends in the office she could turn to, in times of boredom and frustration. Because everyone in the course is so caught up with her own work, you hardly get beyond the cursory hello.

The perks – the buffet of development trainings and conferences which she had easy access to, which also provided valid reasons not to work. Now, she has to pay for the extra trainings she is interested in and wonder about the time lost

The stability of an income is certainly a plus. But not having a stable income also helps her to identify what is really essential for survival and it really boils down to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – physical needs like food, water and shelter. Everything else, like booze and dining out are bonuses. She would much rather have health and peace in her life (including her loved ones).

Me too. Health and food and love are good enough.

five

5 years ago, on 13 August, my female started her first day of work. She was introduced to her work buddy, E, who didn’t like her at first. The animosity evaporated about two weeks later, when the pair was sent for an overnight field trip to Batam. Their mission was to get business contacts from a Singapore-Batam businessmen dinner so that they could establish a network to propagate their organisation’s safe sex message.

E was to make a lasting impact on my female owner’s outlook on life. The two of them quickly form a strong alliance at work. Despite the more than 5 years age gap between them, they shared a telepathy and communication style that others could only watch and appreciate in amazement. At the same time, my female owner found that E was fiercely guarded about her personal life, to the extent that E did not want to reveal her birth-date. My female owner found out later that they shared the same birth-date! This, she felt, explained the chemistry between them.

Anyway, I am digressing again. All I meant to say after my first sentence is that, when my female owner started work, she wondered how the next five years would be. For instance, how would five years of working change her. Well, she has just crossed the five-year mark. It was certainly an eventful half-decade, with things panning out differently from what she had envisioned her life to be, when she stepped out into the working world as a naive 18+++ year old girl.

Hmm… I wonder how the next five years would be like for her. Things should remain pretty much the same for us turtles.. Stability is our core value.

tutor

My female owner had a time-out weekend where she did absolutely no schoolwork. The closest she came to was to dedicate 2 hours to preparing for her tutorials this afternoon. She spent the rest of her time sleeping, watching DVDs and going out. Somehow she feels guilty for being paid 9 hours for just 2.hours of work. The pay is pretty good too. For just 9 hours of work/ week (or 36 hours a month), she earns the equivalent of a low-wage worker in Singapore.

This financial provision is something which she thanks God for. Previously she prayed to get a tutor job this semester and despite her lack of experience, she was allocated a position. Her pay covers her daily expenses (and a litte more). As mentioned, she works only 2.5hours a week. Most tutors have 3 one-hour class, but she has only 2 one-hour classes. Tutors usually have a full class load of 25 students. She has a total number of 40-5 students (down from the usual 50). This is important, coz apparently tutors have to make student assignments. So the less students they have, the less they have to mark. Some courses require their tutors to attend lectures. She is not required to. Tutors often meet for an hour/ week for a tutors' meeting. Hers last only 30mins, because there are only 2 tutors and 1 course coordinator. In short, she probably has to put in less hours than the average tutor.

Okay, so back to the guilt part. Because she felt guitly being overpaid, she spent some time reading through some background materials in order to prepare for tutorials today.
My female owner wanted to be a tutor for two reasons. One, because she wants to teach at a polytechnic/ higher institute of learning in future, she hopes that the tutoring experience will beef up her cv. Second, she is tired of not having money to call her own. While she is unlikely to be able to save up any money from her tutoring pay (ie cannot go for any holidays even), at least she is supporting herself throughout this semester. I think I mentioned before that her supervisor also offered her RA work. My female owner was considering it for a while… until a second year senior (also a Singaporean) cautioned her about "spreading yourself thinly".

Familiar words of advice.

hymns

My female owner finally sent an email to the church wind ensemble she used to play with today. The reason was that someone started sending out some hymn jokes.

Do you know your HYMNS?
The Dentist's Hymn........ .......Crown Him with Many Crowns
The Weatherman's Hymn........ There Shall Be Showers of Blessings
The Contractor's Hymn........The Church is One Foundation
The Tailor's Hymn........ .......Holy, Holy, Holy
The Golfer's Hymn........ There is a Green Hill Far Away
The Politician's Hymn........ .........Standing on the Promises
The Optometrist' s Hymn........Open My Eyes That I Might See
The IRAS Agent's Hymn........ ......... ......... ...I Surrender All
The Gossip's Hymn........ ......... ......... ......... ..Pass It On
The Electrician' s Hymn........ ......... ......... ..Send The Light
The Shopper's Hymn........ ......... ......... ...Sweet Buy and Buy
The Realtor's Hymn......... I've Got a Mansion Just over the Hilltop
The Massage Therapists Hymn ............ He Touched Me
The Doctor's Hymn........ ......... .The Great Physician

The emails started shooting around and my female owner couldn’t help but ask “any hymns for the psychologist?”

And the answers came quite quickly:

Take Thou Our Minds, Dear Lord
God Be In My Head
Whispering Hope

Haha!

She also received a short email from one of the veterans of the ensemble who asked how she was and added that he was waiting for her to return to join them. My female owner thought that he was referring to the ensemble and replied accordingly. It turned out that he was referring to joining his organisation. The history is that, before she left for Brisbane, he had briefly broached the subject to her, but my female owner had forgotten about it until today. My female owner is not keen coz it’s a governmental department dealing with restricted information.

After all, my female owner didn’t resign from the civil service, to hop back into the civil service. Then she might as well have taken a sponsorship!

Anyway, more hymns were compiled by the end of the day. You probably can find one that suits you.

The chiropractor's hymn - STAND UP, STAND UP.
The electricians hymn - SEND THE LIGHT.
The poor person's hymn - I CARE NOT FOR RICHES.
The rainmaker's hymn - SHOWERS OF BLESSING
The surgical patient's hymn - I LONG TO BE PERFECTLY WHOLE. T
he day you find out you're pregnant hymn - O HAPPY DAY.
The day you find out you're NOT pregnant hymn - O HAPPY DAY.
The Mountain Home Builder's Association hymn - MY HOUSE IS BUILT UPON A ROCK
My kid's getting even with me hymn - O THEY TELL ME OF A HOME.
The ranger station hymn - ON A HILL FAR AWAY.
The physical therapist hymn - ONE STEP AT A TIME.
The divorced person's hymn - OUT OF MY BONDAGE.
The WIDE LOAD hymn - PASS ME NOT.
The rescuer's hymn - SEEKING THE LOST.
The fisherman's hymn - SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER.
The last payment hymn - SINCE I CAN READ MY TITLE CLEAR.
The seamstress hymn - SOWING IN THE MORNING.
The dater's hymn - THE NIGHT IS FAST PASSING.
The thirsty person's hymn - THERE IS A FOUNTAIN.
The slingshot hymn - THERE IS A ROCK.
The telephone repairman's hymn - THERE'S A CALL COMES RINGING.
The dieter's hymn - THOU, MY EVER LASTING PORTION.
The chain gang hymn - GO LABOR ON.
The hiker's hymn - WALKING IN THE SUNLIGHT.
The car accident hymn - WE SAW THEE NOT.
The lawyer's hymn - WHEN ALL MY LABORS AND TRIALS ARE OVER.
The street crossing guard hymn - WHY DO YOU WAIT?
The prisoner's hymn - WOULD YOU BE FREE?
The home builder's hymn - A MIGHTY FORTRESS
The parade master's hymn - FLING OUT THE BANNER.
The weatherman's hymn - FROM EVERY STORMY WIND THAT BLOWS
The Darning Association's hymn - HOLY, HOLY, HOLY.
The Girdle Association's hymn - HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION.
The caterer's hymn - ALL THINGS ARE READY, COME TO THE FEAST.
The salesman's hymn - ALMOST PERSUADED.
The insurance man's hymn - BLESSED ASSURANCE.
The cowboy's hymn - DAY IS DYING IN THE WEST.
The accountant's hymn - EARTH HOLDS NO TREASURES.
The traveler's hymn - FAR AND NEAR.
The scuba diver's hymn - FAR AWAY IN THE DEPTHS.
The whisperer's hymn - HARK! THE GENTLE VOICE.
The whining spouse hymn - HAVE THINE OWN WAY.
The wagon master's hymn - HE LEADETH ME.
The hearing aid salesman's hymn - HEAR THE SWEET VOICE.
The lost traveler's hymn - HERE WE ARE BUT STRAYING PILGRIMS.
The oxen hymn - HIS YOKE IS EASY.
The new kid in the class hymn - I AM A STRANGER HERE.
The rookie hang glider's hymn - I AM DWELLING ON THE MOUNTAIN.
The Vegetable Grower's Association hymn - I COME TO THE GARDEN ALONE.
The explorer's hymn - I HAVE HEARD OF A LAND.
The watch repairman's hymn - I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR.
The Job Service hymn - I WANT TO BE A WORKER.
The ironing lady's hymn - I'M PRESSING ON.
The distiller's hymn - I REACHED THE LAND OF CORN AND WINE.
The lost dog hymn - I'VE WANDERED FAR.
The half time Alaska hymn - IN THE LAND OF FADELESS DAY.
The birthday hymn - IS IT FOR ME?
The night watchman's hymn - IT MAY BE AT MORN.
The nervous groom's hymn - JUST A FEW MORE DAYS.
The perfect person's hymn - JUST AS I AM.
The drunkard's hymn - LEAD ME GENTLY HOME.
The psychiatrist hymn - LET US WITH A GLADSOME MIND.
The pie maker's hymn - PEACE, PERFECT PEACE.
The Gold Collector's Association hymn - PURER YET AND PURER.
The Rock Collector's Association hymn - ROCK OF AGES.
The dynamite specialist hymn - SAFELY THROUGH ANOTHER WEEK.
The race car hymn - SPEED AWAY.
The payment book hymn - WE GIVE THEE BUT THINE OWN.
The escaped convict's hymn - FLEE AS A BIRD.
The coal miner's hymn - SOMEWHERE THE SUN IS SHINING.
An Alternative Hymn for LTA and the ERP gantries --- And Can it Be that I Should Gain
The Hymn for Peer Pressure --- Come Let Us Join Our Friends Above
The Trumpeter's Hymn --- Blow Ye the Trumpet Blow.
The Big Band's Hymn --- Christ Lay in Death's Strong Bands
The Weatherman's Hymn --- Lo He Comes With Clouds Descending
The Port Operator's Hymn --- Come To The Water. :)
The Hymn for Impatient People --- Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
The Hymn for the Pro-China faction --- Day is Dying in the West
The Pro-Globalisation Hymn --- In Christ there is no East or West
The Hymn for Slow Learners --- We Understand it better By and By

established

“how the hell u gals can carry on working in that environment”

An exasperated comment made by my female owner’s friend while recounting a recent experience working with her former colleagues. The preceding conversation also stirred up a cauldron-full of resentment, bitterness, resignation and injustice to (bad sign – she still haven’t got over many things).

The conversation continued:

XX says: we are the Gen Y la..
FO says: coz i'm still wondering if i should have taken the sponsorship
XX says: we have already established that fact already..
FO says: that?
XX says: not sure u will be happy to be bonded if u were to take it up..
XX says: u must remember .. 1 yr of enjoyment.. u suffer for 3 yrs
FO says: at a cost of 150k
XX says: yes

A timely affirmation indeed. That short but crisp exchange caused my female owner to realise that she had established “that fact” many months before (guys are just so logical and decisive, they waste no time in pointing out what "is" and refuse to get sidetracked by speculative thinking). It’s just that she has not accepted the inconveniences/ consequences to her lifestyle that had resulted from her decision.

After so many months, my female owner is still ruminating over something that can't be changed. Somebody help her to get over it!