A little whisper in the dark

We made it!

Had to run like mad, cross our fingers, but we got in just in the nick of time!

posted by Chung Leong @ 9:08 AM 1 comments

Be a man, do the right thing

So today I had my first accident. It was minor, I had misjudged my car while doing a U-turn and hit another car. Well, it happened in school, in the full view of many passersbys. At that moment, part of me wanted to curl up somewhere and hide, or maybe run away hoping no one noticed.

But last year, someone left a few nice dents on my car whilst parked on the roadside. I'd thought evil thoughts of whoever did it, as did the guy who bent my bumper a couple of months back on my current car. Before that, one of my friends got given a phony number by the other party in an accident where he wasn't at fault.

I decided I wasn't going to be like them.

So I left a note on the other car's windscreen, a fairly dirty white Hyundai Elantra, detailing where I had hit it (it was a long scrape) and my (genuine) number.

But till now, I've still not received a call. Part of me hopes it will never come, but the suspense is killing, thinking it just probably will, sooner or later.

posted by Chung Leong @ 10:49 PM 0 comments

Writing, not driving, under influence

I haven't drunk hard in a long while. Friends would know of my collection of empty Johnnie Walker bottles (yes, a good dozen). But I don't think I'm alcoholic. I don't feel addicted and needing a good hit of alcohol every now and then - but I'm fully aware of what the stuff can do. Other more important stuff have come up this month, for sure, it is winter - you really have to feel cold in order to enjoy the warmth that a stiff drink provides. But I digress. I've got a lot of work to clear, and not a lot of time to clear it with. That's not the way I work, though, my motivation comes from deadlines, and as the deadlines loom as the end of the semester nears, so does my urgency. The culmination of a year's worth of work.

Its been a tough year, in terms of blood and sweat and tears. At certain points of I wondered why I was paying good money on the honours year. I was fully aware I was doing what some would deem a labourer's job, putting up with the physical strain, the time, the flies hounding me, and the blisters, and I was paying for the privilege. Feck, back home, you'd pay a foreign labourer the equivalent of $20 to work all day at the same rate. But here I am, the labour's nearly over, the slog is at its zenith. Essentially I am left to assemble a log of my toils, to make scientific sense of my sweat. I hope it was worth it. If nothing else, I sweated more than most postgrads, I suppose, even if I didn't put in the same amount of mindless hours hunched over a microscope.

But the examiners won't see all that. It all comes down to the thesis I am currently in the process of writing. And when I write I tend to zone out, get into that frame of mind. Everything has to be perfect, and conducive to my writing. If I have come across as snappish in MSN, curt in person, rude in body language, I sincerely offer my apologies. I can't say more than that I'm a poor multitasker in that aspect that I cannot hide my annoyance at being disturbed. Looking back, it tears me up that I hurt relationships with people that I care about, but I need to put it all into perspective.

I am on the final lap, and I cannot let my parents down. I have to finish, and finish as well as I can.

posted by Chung Leong @ 1:09 AM 1 comments

Sandwiches and coffee

Recently I've been finding the time to have breakfast before heading out for a day at uni, and it really makes a difference from just going out with a stomach filled with just a strong shot of International Roast coffee.

It makes even turning up late for appointments feel worthwhile.

posted by Chung Leong @ 7:19 PM 0 comments