MP or PM?

Update 30 June 2008, 5.17pm:


This test confirms that I am more of a Melancholic than a Phlegmatic...

Original:

Am I Melancholic/Phlegmatic or Phlegmatic/Melancholic?

Technical Problem?

Was it really a technical problem during the Transformation scene? Or was I just unlucky?

Coffee withdrawal syndrome...

I've abstained from taking coffee for the past 3 days in order to flush my system of the overdose of caffeine built up over the last few weeks.

Now I am feeling drowsy and not energetic, and I really need coffee!!!

A strong black espresso...


Or a fancy latte...


Or a Frappucino...


Just all sorts of coffee really!

Russel...

May you gain a better rebirth...

I so want to blog about this!

Guess which of the following Facebook feeds is newsworthy :)

Defragging my brain

I am losing my life. Past 3 weeks have been hell for me. Going through submission after resubmission after resubmission of the deliverable. Working 12 hour days everyday, with no time for my personal life and also my family. The work has make me so terrible a person that I even ignore those people closest to me. I become harsh with them. I go cranky, I go crazy. I totally give too much of my time and energy to my work that i forget the people close to me beside me crying for my attention and my love. Now I let it all out. I feel better but then my brain is still stuffed with so many things now that I need to sit in front of the computer to trash it all out and try to make sense of it all. Some more with the big bombshell that was dropped recently that make me realize how cruel this world is. They say that life is suffering, but always we think about it in a intellectual point of view. Only when I really experience it for myself then I really can agree with this statement. Recently life has been nothing but suffering. So much so that the people whom I love really can see the bad difference that has happened to me. I become easily agitated. I start scolding people and using really harsh words and tones. I don't bother about the world and the people around me. I am internalizing all my problems and stop all communication with the outside world. People misunderstand me. People misinterpret me. People think I am trying to avoid things. They think I am deliberately shutting myself out. But that is all happening on a subconscious level. Somehow being the Phlegmatic that I am, I try not to cause or be involved in any major confrontation. I try to just let it be and go with the flow and try to be happy go lucky about things. But when the depression really sinks in, that's where my Melancholic behaviour comes out. I start to keep all my feelings to myself. The outside world does not know what I think. I become a walking wall of silence. Nobody hears what I have to say. Because I don't say it. I expect the world around me to know what I am thinking but I don't want them to know. I feel as if I am bottling up all my emotions and hopefully they will dissolve into nothing. But sometimes the feelings are just too much. All the pent up energy has to be released somehow. And so the explosion begins. I feel as if all the pent up feelings released suddenly like a torrent of tsunami rushing through all the barriers, tearing down all the protection that I put around me to shield myself from the realities of life. I release myself to the world. I show my true face. And people around me notice me. Finally. I am now recognized. People know my predicament. But how long can it last? Before long I am back to my normal mode of operation. So, in the end I am back to square one. Nobody will know me as long as I am Melancholic. And I choose not to let anyone know by my Phlegmatic nature. Melancholic Phlegmatic is very potently dangerous. I always need a Sanguine person next to me to cheer me up. And so I have that someone. But sometimes that Sanguine becomes a Choleric and that's where I am scared. But somehow I can survive. Because those 2 traits actually help to balance me and offer me a differing point of view. So I become a better person because of this. There's just so many things happening in my mind now, that I can't seem to write anything more concrete. These past few days I have been operating on auto pilot. I don't even have time to stop and think about what I am doing, how I am talking, or what other people think of me. I was so hypnotized and engrossed by my desire to complete my deliverable that I choose to ignore all the realities of the world and concentrate on my internal workings to complete my task. Now I take a step back, and realize how foolish I have been. Finally I have released my energy, and I will be reclaiming my life back from the world. I want to be back in control of my life. I want to be in control of the people whom I love. I want to be alive again. Give me back my life!

I'm trying out for the free Evangelion 1.0 passes!

Garrrrrrrrr... git yer lazy bums crankin you lotta crab shticks!..... oh, wait a minute... I must be in the wrong movie set!

Help me?

Anyone can answer these questions. Just put your reply in the comments box. Thanks!

1) Can you describe an incident in which you had to manage a difficult situation or difficult team members/customers?
2) How did you feel during the incident?
3) What steps did you take to manage the situation/people?
4) What benefits did that bring about to the situation, and also to your personal development?
5) How do you think other people can learn from your experience?

Stressed out like crap

How I feel now...

Are the people really fed up with Pakatan Rakyat?

Apparently so, according to Muhammad son of Muhammad.


But, my question to him is... did he perform any survey regarding this matter? Did he really go around asking the opinions of the Rakyat? Or is this is own conclusion based on his own gut feeling?

If it is indeed just his own opinion, then The Star should have used a very different story approach!

Fed up indeed!

A story about subsidy

I got this from here and apparently the story is not credited to any author.

Anyway, here goes the story, with some minor corrections to the grammar and to improve clarity. I think you know how you can compare this to the situation we face now.

The story about “subsidy”…

A man called Maha owns a farm which can produce 10 apples every day.

He has 5 workers to operate the farm. The six of them eat 1 apple daily and it is enough to keep them operating the farm normally.

The remaining 4 apples, Maha sells them at RM10 each and he earns RM40.

His expenses:
He uses RM25 to improve the farm operation and facilities.
He gives RM2.00 salary to each of his workers.

His profit:
He keeps the remaining RM5.00 as profit.

Day by day, the farm is well developed and all of the 5 workers are happy with the money they can save.

When Maha passed away, a new landlord, Abdul comes to continue the farm operation.

He says to the workers: “We need to improve the farm quality and redefine our way of thinking. From now on all of you need to pay RM1.00 for each apple you eat. It is very cheap as the price is RM10 each outside the farm.”

The workers have no choice but to pay RM1.00 for the apple they eat daily. Their earning decrease from RM2.00 to RM1.00 per person.

As usual, Abdul sells the 4 apples and he gets RM40.

His expenses:
He uses RM25 for farm improvement
He pays RM10 to his 5 workers.

His profit:
He gets RM5.00 as profit.
On top of that, he gets another RM5.00 from the apples that he sells to his workers.
In total, he gets RM10 as profit every day.

Soon, the apple price increases to RM20 each.

The new landlord gets a higher profit as he gets RM80 for the 4 apples he sells daily.

Then, he decides to give the farming improvement contract to his close friend, Samy.

Samy says:”Apple cost naik, improvement cost also misti naik.”

So, the farm improvement cost increases from RM25 to RM50.

In actual, the improvement only costs RM30.

The remaining RM20, Abdul and Samy share evenly among themselves.

Let’s calculate how much Abdul gets daily:

His revenue:
Selling 4 apples in the market = RM80
Selling 5 apples to his workers = RM5.00
Under table money from improvement cost = RM10.00
Total = RM95.00

His expenses:
Improvement cost = RM50
Salary to workers = RM10

Total Profit:
In total, Abdul gets RM35 daily compared to RM10 initially when he takes over the farm from Maha. His profit increases RM25 and the workers are still getting RM1.00 daily per person.

The greedy Abdul does not want to stop there.

One day, he says to his fellow workers: ”You see ah, the current market price for one apple is RM20 and you are only paying RM1.

See how lucky you are! I have to SUBSIDISE you RM19.00 for each of the apple you buy and total I need to SUBSIDISE RM95.00.

This will greatly burden the farm and we might get bankrupt if we continue like this.

In order to avoid bankruptcy, I need to increase the apple price that you buy from RM1.00 to RM1.50 and I will bear the remaining RM18.50 per apple as my subsidy to you all.”

So, greedy Abdul adds RM2.50 to his current profit and the number becomes RM37.50.

SOS! Help Needed!

Friends...

I need some advice from all of you so that I can start work on this assignment:

Identify an initiative that you want to take in near future. Prepare an elaborate list of risks and benefits of taking the initiative, as well as of not taking the initiative. Prepare a detailed plan for making this initiative successful. Involve other team members also in making this plan, if you want. Convince and seek cooperation from the concerned people in order to make this initiative work.

Amigos Para Siempre

Friends for life not just a summer or a spring
Amigos para siempre

I need to start thinking about taking public transportation to work...

Yes, the massive fuel hike has taken place. Now the per liter price of petrol is RM2.70. My full tank is 45 liters, and can typically last 2 weeks. That means that every 2 weeks, my petrol expenditure will be RM121.50. Compare that to the previous price of RM1.92 per liter, my expenditure was RM86.40. This is an increase of RM35.1 every 2 weeks. This is just for normal usage, not considering the extra trips I make to/fro BGF, Penang, etc. Now, my office parking charges will also be increasing from RM147 per month to RM168 per month. Yes, inflation is very real.

So I've been researching the various possible ways I can get to work with minimal driving involved. Rapid KL seems to have the solution for me in these following routes.

1) Drive from home to Carrefour Subang Jaya. Park there for free.

2) Take Rapid KL route T623 from Subang Parade to Kelana Jaya LRT station.


3) Take the LRT from Kelana Jaya to Asia Jaya.

4) Take Rapid KL route T629 from Asia Jaya LRT station to Eastin Hotel.


This arrangement will cost me RM135 per month for an unlimited Rapid KL monthly pass. Compare this to the weekly petrol usage of RM60.75 and monthly parking fee of RM168. I think this is a good option.

But I think I'll have to leave home by 7am if I want to do this!

The petrol price increase

So, our "beloved" BN government has decided to increase the price of petrol by 78sen/liter effective 12.00am Thursday. While I do agree that this will eventually happen as it is really necessary to go to market rates for this commodity, I am irked by the way it is actually implemented. And I do agree with the views of this reader.

Why did the government have to announce such a heavy increase in a matter of hours? This action will encourage kiasu drivers and petrol hoarders to fill up their vehicles/containers with petrol. It will also cause petrol stations to run out of the resource and cause multiple traffic congestions everywhere because of the long lines to fill up the tanks.

Why not implement it like this? Announce that at the end of 39 days, the price of petrol would have been increased by 78sen/liter. Then implement a 2sen/liter increase per day so that there is not such a big shock of increase and also this will discourage too many kiasu people to fill up at the same time (after all, you can only save 2sen/liter compared to the next day). It will also discourage hoarders, because the petrol kept for too long becomes stale.

How to transport more than 5 people in a car?

I don't know about you, but I think the writer of this letter is not very well versed in our local transportation rules. Apparently, the recent announcement by the government that it will be compulsory to use rear seat belts has caused much hoohah and misguided rantings from the public.
In the first place, for a normal 5-passenger car, the maximum number of people who should be in the car at any time is 5. Not more. Even if there was no rear seat belt rule, the maximum number still is 5. Not 6 (squeezing 4 people behind!).

Try squeezing 4 people into the back in more developed countries. I'm sure that this will not be allowed, mainly due to safety issues (the car was designed to transport maximum of 3 rear passengers, maybe there's a weight or stability problem if more than that is carried!).

So, indeed, what should we do? It's time to think more developed. Let's not be so selfish in squeezing so many passenger, potentially harming them and yourself. Upgrade to a minivan if you have big families or require a people mover vehicle. There are many affordable models to choose from.

Hopefully this will bring about a positive change to our road safety.

Am I INTP or INTJ

I remember when I did my Myers Briggs Type Indicator personality test some years ago, I had clear preferences for Introversion, iNtuition and Thinking. But my Perceiving was more or less tied with my Judging preference, i.e. no real preference for either P or J.

Now, after some years of living and growing, I tend to believe that I am more of a J rather than a P. But what about you guys? What do you think I'm more inclined towards?

Anyway, the results from MyType seems to confirm INTP (but still a very small swing towards P). Interesting...

MJ's favourite word

wuliao...

When do you most need leadership?

When the country is in the brink of self destruction after a political maelstrom, do you compel the "bad performing" Prime Minister to resign?

When your company is suddenly in the painful process of merger, do you ask the leadership to step down?

When a football team performs miserably in the finals of a championship match, do you fire the coach?

When INCOVAR is (hypothetically) going on auto pilot with no direction, no supposed future, do you abandon the position of chairman?

It's in time of crisis where you need leaders the most!