Month: April 2002 (Page 2 of 2)

Hmm… I must be in the ‘zone‘
right now. With the right kind of environment (no unnecessary
distractions), mindset and mood, I actually managed to get a lot of
stuff done both personal and work related. Here’s something employers,
especially here in Malaysia, should consider. With all the stuff that
technology has enabled us to do, employees should be given the
choice of how they want to work. Although the infrastructure is not up to
par yet, to some who are privileged enough, telecommuting should be
made an option. Why is this? Think of it. For some people, getting to
work is really a stress inducing experience with all the traffic jams that
they have to contend with to get to the workplace. Not only that,
precious time is wasted during those said traffic jams when the person
can’t do anything else but sit in the car with the hands on the wheels
and occasionally give the finger when other drivers are being
inconsiderate. Telecommuting on the other hand, alleviates that. I for
one feel that I can produce better results from telecommuting. You
aren’t easily drawn into any gossip conversations, unnecessary banters,
people dragging you off your seat to help them out with something
minute, etc. At the same time, your form of “healthy” distractions, e.g.
having music blare from your speakers, won’t be in the way of your
colleagues. For working parents with children, you can also keep an eye
on the kid and/or babysitter. I’m not saying that we should completely
go into telecommuting and forget about establishing face-time
altogether, but if the facility is there, why not use it as and when
necessary? It’s all about knowing when to use technology and also
improving the quality of life for some people in the end.

I wanted to watch the Formula One race last night but my eyelids got
the better of me and it ended up the TV watching me instead. I really
shouldn’t have stayed up all night the night before. Anyways, Michael
Schumacher (Ferarri) won the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, Sao
Paolo in the F2002 with brother Ralf in the Williams-BMW taking second
place and David Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) finishing the race in his
first podium finish of the season at third place.


Is it just me or is April Fools becoming an old hat? Don’t see that many
jokes being pulled around this year. I did manage to pull off an April
Fools though by announcing my “engagement” and “marriage”. Heh!

Here’s one that went quite well over SMS with the Brickchick:

Me: I got engaged recently and am about to get married
soon
BC: WOW! Congrats! That’s great! Got a date yet?
Me: Yeah, it’s April 1. Happy April Fools, suckaaa!
BC: Bastard :P

Yeah I know. I won’t be the last one laughing if I can’t ever give that
statement out other than on April 1. :P

Ohh Gawddd! I really should put a big fat clock right in front of my
workstation. I started working on something last night and as I went on
completing one part after another, I didn’t realize that it was already
5:30am! So I waited a bit more till it was time to perform the morning
prayers before I went to bed sometime around 6am. :P Sheesh! See
how it goes, I might consider making the stuff I worked on available for
interested people to download. It’s something Nomad Jukebox users
might find of use.

The crisis in the Middle East is escalating no end. Israel is attempting
to isolate Arafat in hope of trying to supposedly stop him from giving
orders to those suicide bombers. Bush has reportedly said that he
expects Arafat to do more. The situation confounds me tremendously.
All this while, what frickin’ thing can they expect Arafat do all this while
when they limit his movements in Ramallah, what more now that he is
under seige with tanks and soldiers surrounding his headquarters? Also,
don’t they (Israel and US) realize that those suicide bomber groups are
acting on their own accord? If Arafat is killed at this juncture (God forbid!),
I doubt the situation would ease as there would be more fatal attacks
being carried out. At the same time, I also have a bone to pick with
those suicide bombers. It’s understandable that they’re acting out of
anger towards the atrocities commited towards them and their families
but doesn’t Islam strictly forbids one to kill oneself and harming other
innocent people? What more, such actions would only tarnish the image
of Islam and would cause much grief and hardship to those Muslims
who are still around because of the subsequent retaliations! The
situation is a simple one really but too much analysis and talk has
somewhat clouded and complicated the whole thing into absurdity. I’m
sure the remedy is a simple one that can be both fair and beneficial to
both sides. Thing is, no one smart enough has yet to come up with
such a thing. The situation needs real brains to resolve, not just plain
brawn. Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) and his caliphs have managed to
do that (getting Muslims and none Muslims to live in peace) in the
past.

In another note, the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth I has passed
away peacefully in her sleep with her daughter Queen Elizabeth II by
her side. She was 101.

This weekend is also a Formula One weekend with the race taking place
at Interlagos, Brazil. Looks like I’ll be staying up late again tonight! :P

Listening to: Leftfield Vs. Fatboy Slim – Planet of the Phatbird