An Erschöpfung gestorben...und was noch?
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...here i am, finally at home on this Tuesday night...and no, it's not stay-out night...i heard that RSM finally got it abolished (maggots! Damn.) but here i am, home and dry, to get some R&R (that's Rest & Recuperation) because of what's transpired yesterday, before i go for SILL tomorrow.
Let's see...Monday saw us at the then-Yankee end of Gun Hill, doing our TPQ-37 deployment drill. The weather was maddeningly hot, as Sol beat down upon us with all his focused might...many trainees fell out over the course of the day; most would see action at some time or other again, except for garrick; came down with a case of mild physical exhaustion which prompted the MO to take him out of action. Sigh. And yours truly, being the Safety Officer, was running up and down between the deployment ground, medical centre, battalion Ops Room and what-have-you...was tired like maggots already, wye hong breathing down your neck notwithstanding.
Boss and uncle Hoo came down in the evening too...boss was like commanding moi to make sure the trainees sit down between deployments and to make iced water available to them. Well...the iced water part was already a tad too welfare for me and mel...but sitting down?! Why don't we indent field chairs and maybe install air-conditioning for the Yankee and X-Ray training sheds?! Fucked up sia! Sigh. Speaking of uncle Hoo, he came to the Xenon garage this morning, fucking all the specs and i think lodging a complaint against us...although the authenticity of that is yet to be proven...Aiyo...i was waiting for Survivor to confirm if the vehicles were coming at all. Maggots. KTSC sucks because they cannot, and will not, provide us with prompt support.
King came down in the evening and brokered a deal between us and them; deploy properly and they'd cease-fire. But before they could, i was already off with another one of the trainees, bernard, was facing some difficulty breathing properly...and after being kicked from one medical centre to the other, i found myself at TTSH A&E at 0100 in the morning, checking him in. I then settled down to some hot sandwiches (dispensed from this...machine. Hmmm.) and water before i dozed off...and it was shortly after 0300 that i woke and got ready to go back to Khatib. Turns out that the quack couldn't confirm what was wrong with him, either. Maggots! I feel like i went one huge round for nothing! And to think that melvyn, the conducting, slept at like 1 plus. I only got to sleep at 4 plus. Dammit sia...life never is fair huh?
Some takeaways from that fiasco:
1. A tan (but with those horrible Smart 4 tan lines)
2. A headache
3. Experience? Now i can just go to hospital and like not lose it...
Kah Yee said that maybe i was going through a rough patch when all this would happen...well...can't say otherwise...maybe it is lah. But i guess after this...you learn more and i guess you'll be able to handle more things....but still...shack sia!
I hope the abovementioned doesn't happen during SILL. If not i will go bloody nuts. I think. Sigh. Don't fuck up mel's show la you bunch of maggots...
Das Treffen | Cranberry Toad
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...heute habe ich 2 Prinzessen aus der Leper Kolonie getroffen...also...Prinzessin Heidi und Mabelle! Haha...das war ja was Schönes, oder? Wir haben uns getroffen, um Kaffee zu trinken und uns ein bisschen zu unterhalten...Mensch...wie die Zeit vergeht! Seit einem Jahr hab ich sie nicht gesehen...heute war es so: sie sehen nicht anders aus, aber sie sind doch zum wunderbaren Mädels geworden (also seid nicht beleidigt, ihr...ich glaube Frau passt noch nicht so ganz, da ihr gar nicht schon so alt seid! =P)
Und was haben wir besprochen? Über fast alles was jetzt in unseren Leben abgeht, übers Uni-Leben, über mein Wehrdienst, wir redeten, während wir assen und tranken...und plötzlich ist eine Stunde vergangen. Wie schrecklich, nicht, wie schnell die Zeit vorbeiläuft, wenn man Spass hat? Danach...sind wir Bücher kaufen gegangen! Heidi wollte deutsche Bücher kaufen, aber zu einer Entscheidung ist sie noch nicht gekommen =P Warum schreibe ich hier wie Joda? hahaha...
Es war schön, sie wiedersehen zu können...machen wir das noch mal, lieber mit taryn...das ist ja versprochen, oder? =)
Okay. Back to anglais. Drinking a Cranberry Toad now...no it's nothing poisonous...there's nothing particularly toad-y about it as well...just a weak, sweet cocktail. Here goes...
Cranberry Toad
60 ml vodka
120 ml orange juice
120 ml cranberry juice
30 ml iced water
Fill up a tall glass with ice. Build, then stir.
Simple as that. Orange, unfortunately, dominates this cocktail; the addition of cranberry and water only serves to make the cocktail look like it was made with ruby red grapefruit juice, and to render the taste somewhat sweeter. You can taste some vodka, although it's just a hint of it...all in all, something great to cool a hot person down on a sweltering summer day,. without being too strong...its all still tutti-frutti and relatively safe (when you compare with a Cosmopolitan, that is...) so...drink and enjoy!
Guck mal, was ich gefunden habe! | Langweile | Ein Besuch beim Krankenhaus | All Fucked Up
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...today i made a visit to the hospital where my man was hospitalized undergoing treatment...what can i say? The ICU is boring, to say the least (not even a TV! sigh.) He says that he sleeps all day because there's nothing else to do...haha. No wonder he was sleepy at 1300, that maggot...but it's a bit scary, seeing him still hooked up to all those sensors...sigh. i guess that's the ICU, for you. Bleah...Krankenhäuser machen ängstlich. It's just the sense of foreboding. Oh well...i hope that he'll be okay soon. Heard that the course and the specs are going to visit him tomorrow. Hmm. Mal schauen.
After that, it was quite a boring Saturday in town...except for being hot and sunny...i like! Could tan along Orchard Road, haha...but that's not the crux of the afternoon...the crux was that someone decided to pang seh me...am i right or not, 3SG Kelvin and CPL Reuben? You bloody maggots. Say so earlier, mah! Luckily i had some business on at the Goethe-Institut, if not i would have probably given you 01 x gao lat gao lat fucking over the phone. I simply hate...no, abhor being stood up...it goes to show that you can't give a fuck enough to even call and say so beforehand. But anyhows. I also discovered, to my horror, how out of practice i am with spoken German. I mean...i still can speak it okay, but i have to grab for words as i talk. What made things perhaps even more beleidigend was that i was replied to in english by a German. Ack! Well...now i have an e-mail address to write to so that i can request for more information on German Stipendien. (scholarships) Sigh. I don't really want to work for the government. I think i was being just a scholarship slut back last year when i went for everything. But then again, perhaps everyone's like that...we'd like to know that we can choose rather than being the chosen. So...let's see how my written German is like!
-ich hoffe, dass mein schriftliches Deutsch noch nicht zum Scheiss geworden ist. Das wird mich sehr sehr ankotzen.
But guess what, i actually met kelvin for pool later in the afternoon. My pool has improved substantially from all that playing in the Officers' Mess (since yours truly obviously doesn't play Winning Eleven...) won a few games and lost a few games...ohh wells. The fact is that long ago, when i played with those boys, i kept getting raped...just ask ween if i can play pool.
Me and kelvin were both discussing why our lives seemed so fucked up at times...like kwok always pronunces it...'faktup'...sigh. He's right that only at the very closing of your life, when you take a look back at all you've done and all you didn't do, then can you see if your life was really faktup or not...haha...yes i shall write it as so, just to take a dig at kwok...if you're reading this, too bad! haha! Imagine...at your deathbed...with all your loved ones gathered around...only to hear your final words: '...faktup...' oh dear...that's going to be so, so ugly...
...but with what reasons to say so! Now...things are quite faktup because of the lack of company, i guess...it really does make one worry if they will still be alone when they go to work, still be alone when they're old, grey and wrinkly...and watch while everyone gets attached. Sometimes i worry too. Maybe it's because my mind works like i'm already 27, even if i'm only turning 20 this year. Hmm. Maybe. All the office life is getting to me, maybe. Making me older than my years. Haha...things are also faktup because sometimes the people you expect to know you really don't anymore. People change with the times but being out of touch has that nasty effect of making people miss the changes you have gone through. But i guess that's life. You never know what life will bring...it's like a dream...ever-changing, but always a wonder to behold.
Life is a dream - maybe i'll write something about that. haha.
Anyway, after dinner, kelvin decided to come to my place for a drink - funny how my house is becoming a watering hole already...only that i don't have kegs and kegs of booze for you all to guzzle, you maggots. Haha...made him a Scarlett O'Hara...and it seems that he likes it! It's so fruity that you can't taste the alcohol...in fact...the Comfort only contributes the peach taste, not that of the alcohol...but the cocktail still packs a punch. So be wary.
And guess what i found tonight...a bottle of my momma's Bénédictine herbal liqeuer! Haha. It's not just for health-conscious tai-tais, as i just found out...it's also an ingredient of some cocktails, including the world-famous Singapore Sling! Haha. Maybe i'll make some one day.
When all my ingredients are collected and present, that is.
Wie alt ich eigentlich bin...?
You Are 27 Years Old |
27
Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.
13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.
20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.
30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!
40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.
|
Frag mich nicht, wie soll ich denn dir beantworten?
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...finally it's Friday again...after 2 days have dragged slowly by in camp...such a short time, but so much has happened, so much...
Thursday morning. SOC training for the Trade Course. Because mel and i were both still feeling so wasted from FIREBALL, we decided to heck the Life Run (aha!) and go down to see their SOC training instead. Forest was the Safety that day, but what a fateful day it would be for us all...one of the trainees from my course collapsed from heat stroke. I hauled ass down to the medical centre to see the MO slapping his face, shouting at him to stay with the medical crew (i.e. stay conscious) while frantically directing instructions to inject so much cc of some drugs...
Scenes from ER? Think again.
My trainee was laid on a stretcher placed precariously on top of a metal trolley.He was stripped down to his underwear. Ice packs were placed below his armpits and groin. A drip pack and an I/V tube lay haphazardly between his legs. A respirator placed above his nose and mouth. Blood flowing from wounds caused by the natural tensioning of his muscles, which blocked injection needles...
Implied meaning? He's lost all voluntary muscular control...all is a simple action-reaction cycle...
Tourniquets tied around his calves. Hooked up to sensors measuring his heart rate and respiration. But what i will never forget is how scared he was. A hand, gripping that of the MO's tightly, never letting go. Words like 'adrenaline, hospitalisation, emergency, fuck...' did you know how that felt? I was at such a loss as i saw the ambulance race off.
Saw something like that happen to an OCS buddy of mine, guanqing during ST I in Tekong. Shivering body. Losing total control. Trying to say his fucking name but failing miserably. LTA K² shouting at him. Julius already in tears. One very angry Delta Platoon 3. How a close brush with death changes everything, shaking what you always believed in, making grown men despair. I told the trainees that he wasn't in a good shape, but he was being taken care of - only to have some warrant tell me that it wasn't the right thing to say. Bollocks. They deserve to know everything. They are JC men - men who are more than able to comprehend what i am telling them. I know it will affect their morale - but we can't tell them just that the SAF and Uncle Lee are taking care of your buddies. What's going to happen outfield when someone is shot stone cold dead? Talk about a morale booster. That's why i never believed in hiding information from my men once i know for sure what happened.
So, sorry, boss, sir, but...no can't do.
I think i will go to the hospital tomorrow to pay a visit. He still lies in the ICU...
The Trade Course also wants to pay him a visit - Course 1, TA/Radar, of course...and i am proud of those guys. For all the fight and spirit they've shown, even if he wasn't one of the fitter ones, he never gave up during FIREBALL or deployment drill. And the entire course grew closer over the deployment drills, tekaning, as well as FIREBALL. They came to take each other as people they could count on, people they simply had to count on. A trainee came up to me and told me that he didn't mind being punished as an entire course because that showed real brotherhood. Quite unlike the other course, where people who wanted to slack simply fell out from EAGLE. My course did have people who fell out, but they always wanted to join back. Most simply gritted their teeth and carried on.
Do my men respect me for all i've done? Sometimes i feel that i seem to be too polarised as a person - outside of training, i am relatively informal to them...i laugh, smile and joke. But during training, lessons, or briefings, i am dead serious. Ask them when they go outfield. The jokes stop when the deployment begins...although kuek and derek can see something funny always but well they're them, they're specs already...i'd rather they hate me but respect me and be a close united course than like me but climb over my head and be selfishly me-myself-and-fucking-i.
I don't know. Don't ask me - ask them.
FIREBALL | Zwei Seiten desselben Bilders namens Leben | Der neue Papst
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...So...my first FIREBALL has come to pass...two more to go! Yeah...after that...ORD loh. Puts everything into perspective, doesn't it? Not really. I still have loads of overseas to go for...But anyway, not to digress....
So yesterday up to this afternoon, i conducted EX FIREBALL for the trade course, with mel, JJ, kwok, and a huge gang of sergeants (and not to mention jun kiat...the outstanding one) and in the beginning, i...no...WE were none too impressed with their deployments...making stupid mistakes, committing safety breaches...yes...you should all get my drift by now. Come nightfall at Simpang, the boss man came by...which raised already-high blood pressure another notch...goodness...sigh.
I thought that i could slowly ease the iron grip we had on them by nightfall, considering that they were already quite familiar with the equipment...but i guess i was wrong...
Simpang.
2200 hours.
Action Front.
After 14 bloody minutes they still hadn't gotten the system fired up yet...plus a huge battery of mistakes to go with...so, i called them to ceasefire. My one and only cease-fire in the middle of deployment...but i guess by then we were all fired up enough to do something evil enough.
'Gentlemen, can anyone explain what just happened? Because i myself cannot explain what just happened! 14 minutes and you haven't fucking powered up! Plus a huge list of mistakes! Never mind. Rifle over head.'
The specs proceeded to reel off a long list of mistakes individually...for which those guilty as charged had to do some PT while the rest watched...take note: all after a cease-fire, without rest, no helmets off, no water...but i guess we were just so pissed that after so long, they still couldn't sort themselves out. A second deployment resulted in the same treatment, mainly because the section expected the phantom trailer spec to power up for them. Bollocks! Sigh. Poor gabriel (not Survivor) i guess he was quite traumatised by how me and kim were fucking him upside-down...well, it's because we actually do want you in the TA family, darling. Don't take it to heart.
I guess a raping like the abovementioned would do only 2 things; make the team, or break them totally. Luckily for us, it worked. They pulled together and learned to function even more effectively as a section. Today, at SADA hill, despite the CO (gasp!) coming down, they all managed to perform well, getting their deployment down pat - doing it once and good. We were suitably impressed - i was particularly struck by their fight and spirit. People who fell out wanted to join in. That was impressive. And that's what TA is about. In a sense, we're much luckier than fats during his EAGLE.
So FIREBALL ended on a positive note. On the other hand, my personal life today has been looking a bit fucked-up...it all started with mel who said that CO rejected his pictures outright and so he needed me to bring in a thumb drive with photos for him...so today i had to go home. Mom wasn't free, but then, neither was poppa...so it went from here to there...finally mom said she'd pick me...but because i was sleeping i didn't catch all the details. Unfortunately, it was a very annoyed person who picked me up, sped all the way home while nagging non-stop. Well...if it's too troublesome for you you can just say so! I can go home myself, thank you very much. Jeez. It all started with that CO. Maggots! Sigh.
Nag! Nag! Nag! Aye. I don't like that. The worst part was when she said i slept at times like way later than the time i really went to sleep...that was what pissed me off. I guess i did that in the past, sleeping way too late, but i don't now. Please don't doubt my responsibility for what i have to do. I will deem what's right and do it. Don't NAG me with fake details!
Have you watched the telly lately? Why is the NKF always telling us to call and donate, call and donate? And the calls are getting more and more exorbitant. Maggots. That's why yours truly never called. NKF began with only one show and now there are three shows. If it's one thing they should do, it's to stop milking the population. At first we gave it because it was right. Now we give it because we see the stars sweating their guts out performing precarious stunts on stage. And some of us give only because we want to avoid a bad conscience. Goodness. I wonder if there's some ulterior motive to all this charity hoo-ha.
Der neue Papst Benedict XVI stammt aus Deutschland. Er heisst eigentlich Kardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Seine Wahl jedoch ist nicht zum Jubiläum geführt, sondern zur Enttäuschung in viele Städten und Orten, wo man danach gebetet hat, dass der neue Papst aus der dritten Welt stammen würde, denn wenn es so wäre, würde er vielleicht die vielfältige Probleme der 3. Welt verstehen, ausser immer nur so konservativ zu bleiben, besonders wenn es sich um Probleme wie Contraceptiven, u.s.w. handelt. Also ist das zum nichts gekommen und was ist noch zu sagen? Man muss immer damit rechnen, dass das, wonach man sich gewunscht hat, nicht erfüllt wird...das Leben geht also nun weiter.
Cosmiroska: Spot the difference! Classic drink for the summer...
Visions
If only i could see the world through your eyes
If only i felt through your hands
If i understood words the way you do
Would i know the workings of you?
Many times i've tried and failed
To see the world as you do
To see the difference between your light and night
To see how you perceive black and white
And i'm sorry - it's all kinda different
You say you see the differences
Between being gifted and giving
Between laughter and one laughing
Between true vision and seeing
You say that you could always differentiate
Between true love and utter hate
Moments of light from the hours of darkness
Between giving and being forgiven...
Are you disappointed?
Do you see me in another light?
Please tell me
How i shall see with your sight
If only i heard the way you hear
If only i spoke with your voice
If only i knew where your Sun was
If only i knew all your weaknesses
If only i knew what you lack
I would go and steal it back.....
Und kein Fotoapparat dabei! | Ich kaufe mir mehr Gläsern
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...today i was supposed to go out with kah yee but i guess she wasn't free...turns out she was in the end...but oh wells, c'est la vie, things'll get better if you believe they will be...i mean...we can always meet another time, can't we?
On another note, i'll be meeting up with heidi and mabelle next Sunday...Prinzessen der LEPer Kolonie...i haven't seen them for ages! And now that school's out for these ladies...it's time to let your hair down and enjoy the good times! Like the French say, laissez le bon temps rouler!
Today i went and got some new tumblers to replace the one i cracked. My home bar is beginning to look like a real bar, considering how i am stocking up on glasses, liqeuers, and ingredients like limes, oranges, juices, etc etc. Soon, soon. I haven't gotten ice-cream yet or found my blender. But that's another story i figure...I still need martini glasses and probably champagne flutes. Slowly loh....i mean...if i really want to keep a small but well-stocked bar...there's lots more to do yet!
I mean, i'm still lacking...
1. Bailey's Irish Cream
2. Kahlua
3. Blue curaçao
4. Crème de Cacao
5. Bacardi Superior Carta Blanca
6. Jim Beam Black
7. a functional blender
8. Martini glasses
9. Muddler
10. Barspoon
Wow...schon so viel...and the list builds on...i didn't know buying glasses could lead to so many things. Hmm.
Anyway...i ran into a very special person today...emelyne! Haha...yes you naughty girl you don't even recognise your kor anymore. I'm so dejected. Sigh~~~ and to think i recognised you despite you cutting your hair short! Anyway...you look nice with shorter hair. Adds some sort of edge to your person...you know...a bit fiercer...a bit more independant...i like. =)
And...i didn't have my camera at the ready. Maggots! How come a camera is never there the moment you need it?! I may never see her again until i ORD or maybe never ever ever ever. How sad it is at times like this when it dawns upon you that there are people who are really that important to you but you will never get to see them for quite awhile. And every time you see them again, it's like knowing a new person. New look, new personality. Just ask emelyne...she hardnly recognised me! Haha. I guess it's like that.
Life is but a play on a stage where characters come and go. And at the end of the night when the play is over...people will remember it, but slowly, slowly it fades away into oblivion.
The Caïpirovska. Class. Be cool.
Terroristen an die Arbeit! Teil Zwei: Terroristen!
Hallo wieder...continuing from just now...well...and with that downpour came Monday to an anticlimatic end. No offs. No nothing. Dang...Oh wells. It's an experience. Plus, what with 24 SA operating such unique systems, there will be many many more displays...yet. Bleargh.
So...on to Tuesday! Tuesday was a blur...i can only remember 2 things: Getting arrowed by the acting RSM (bah!) to lead the battalion for that stupid Life Run in cadence...something which i really cannot tolerate...mainly because of its pure idiocy...i mean...surely everyone is fit enough to go at their own pace?! Ended up getting so tired again...sigh...i think i really have no stamina. And that's not good.
But speaking of the RSM, JJ did something really bright...haha...in response to the RSM's e-mail regarding first/last parade and taking OFF/LEAVE, he replied...'so what about golf at 4pm?' a mail which sparked off a huge fiasco...haha...amazingly, JJ got off the hook. My guess is that the S1 thought more or less the same of the acting RSM...i mean...who are you to come around with that air of authority about you and come and order us here and there?! Please. I mean, if you think that seeing some of us brushing their teeth after 0800 is ill-disciplined, you can get it corrected by telling that person outright or by calling for a private meeting. I understand that you are trying to save us face by circulating it in an e-mail. But all NSF officers? What about regulars? Is it to say that we are doing nothing and that we can fuck off after 2 years? If you want discipline, have it your way. Why don't we conduct a battalion first parade in the mornings? With everybody? I mean...won't that be even easier? Regulars included. There are also regulars being like that. If you want to know who, you can always check. We are officers. It means that there should exist a certain amount of trust between us and the powers that be. Things like us not having to sign a book-in/out book, or not having someone to check on us in the mornings. But with all your new ideas, you are handling officers like bloody recruits. What's next? 0 respect sia!
So...hey JJ! If you're reading this...Outstanding work sia...
Anyway...on to the terrorist part...Wednesday was TPQ-36 Deployment Drill. Why were we terrorists? Firstly...i kicked off the day patiently enough with the explanation during deployment and the first few deployments...then in the afternoon me, mel, and the specs (especially kuek) began to seriously evil up. They were just making so many mistakes...not meeting the timings...yes they could not even meet 30 minutes (my demo deployment took just eighteen) and making mistakes so stupid that even civilians wouldn't commit them like...touching a grounding rod when the system is LIVE. They knocked it down on the spot and i shouted at them...
'You idiot fuckers! Don't you have common sense NOT to touch the fucking grounding rod when the system is fucking LIVE?! Would you stick your bloody pricks into a live electrical socket? Eh gentlemen! If you want to kill yourself, come and find me! I will FUCKING KILL YOU FIRST! GIVE ME THIRTY!'
And so it dragged on into the night...i gave them a final timing which they missed by (alas!) 5 seconds...but...i also didn't bother to give them any face...just carry on and ceasefire...i think maybe they gave me about 150...which wasn't a lot...but...they are obviously not very fit...once they put on that bloody kevlar helmet they just cease to think...and i guess JJ was right. Come FIREBALL, it will be no more talk. There will still be shouting, but time for talk is over.
Safety breach? Cease-fire.
Missed the time? Cease-fire.
Fucked up? Cease-fire.
Of course, all will be accompanied by some extra PT...outfield i hope i will have more freedom with those maggots...make them run around and do some rifle PT, perhaps...And boss says to let them sleep more so we can carry on later into the afternoon...sir...don't tekan me lei...
I have already made it clear that come FIREBALL i will not really care about their welfare. If you guys screw up, then unfortunately your specs and officers will need more cordial because they have been shouting themselves hoarse. That's way too bad. And if they want to keng...let's say that i have my ways.
Made them echo a news report to the entire battalion because they failed to echo during deployment drill. Now everyone knows that Britney is preggers. And they will do it again if they don't echo during FIREBALL. Only this time, they will be echoing to the entire Khatib Camp. I guess that being A-Level students...they hate being embarrassed and doing extremely idiotic things like that. So...hopefully they will remember this lesson. I can always think of dumber things for them to do.
And as for today...Half Day Off! Woooooooot!
Terroristen an die Arbeit!: Teil Eins: Der Vortrag
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...can you believe it? Yet another bloody week has passed. And i'm still alive, come to think of it...after...
1. doubling my blood pressure
2. shouting myself hoarse
3. incurring bad karma with a too-liberal use of vulgarities
4. TPQ-36 deployment drill
5. sleeping in the office
Well i guess that's about all i can recall for now...but it's been a really, really long week. Ever since Monday...goodness...what did i do on Monday? Ahh!
6. that stupid screwed-up display
Okay. So let's start the week with...
The Display.
I can't believe i went back to the office just for that display. Ended up that ryan was in the house as well (BDS) so we caught some telly and watched Whose Line is it Anyway? until maybe 0030 before we got into bed and turned out the lights...only to wake up at 0600, feeling a bit tensed up regarding the display. Got up early, rinsed, shaved, brushed my teeth and then hustled down to the Xenon garage...luckily for me all the stuff i published in the RO was actually followed...0700 and the garage was open! And by 0730, most of the locators were downstairs ready to help me with the action-front. Sigh. These locators (the ORD batch) are still really great folks...i mean...they actually bothered to come down...sigh.
So everything was up by 0900 waiting for the first JWOC (Joint Warrant Officers' Course) visit. And it was waiting, indeed. What a waste of time...waiting in the parade square for 2 hours! Luckily the ARTHUR was there too...which meant that we could duck inside and enjoy the air-conditioning! But they came at 1030...and so there we were sweating like pigs, introducing the radar to the uninitiated masses, while the hot sun beat down upon us and the asphalt. And i discovered something interesting.
Most are simply interested people who will ask you questions. But Commandoes (those with the maroon beret are more interested in asking questions like...
'Sir, what are the weak spots of this radar?'
It's kinda freaky. But oh well...it is a fact that a weapon-locating radar IS a very fragile thing.
On to the SCSC (SAFTI Command and Staff College) visit! To be perfectly honest with you, Monday was quite the eye-opener because i myself have never seen such a large gaggle of Master Sergeants (JWOC) and Majors (SCSC) together! Okay besides that...the SCSC batch is a group of senior officers which call from differing arms, services, nationalities even. I found that out when i was introducing my radars that explaining to an Indian major or something like that would be very, very challenging indeed.
I thought he was asking about the radar broadcasting over mountains when he only wanted to know the METHOD the radar operated on. And what's more, his tone was arrogant, demanding and that little intimidating. Not very good at all. Luckily someone came to my rescue.
To you, Sir, I salute you.
Hardly was the first group gone that the leaden skies above us decided to release its load of water upon us...so me and ryan were there getting drenched and getting generally quite pissed off...especially when adrian zipped away in his ARTHUR and sven & co. ceasefired their stuff in a flash. I mean, come on. We really could use some help there...we ceasefired the 36 first...threw on the weather shield...and then called poh and yoga frantically, hoping that the DGU would come. But yoga, the driver, was eating (maggot!) and so he wouldn't be down in a zip exactly...We did as much as we could already...with a little assistance from mongster, but when the DGU was still MIA after 10 minutes, ryan and i reached a consensus.
We would crank the bloody TPQ-37 antenna down.
Dammit, i wish mel was there. He was only calling me almost every other 2 minutes asking me if everything was alright. Wow...he's a brother man...but oh wells...i guess anyone'd be worried if you saw someone standing out exposed with lightning and thunder all around, furiously doing something which seems like cranking or pumping but you can't really be sure of. Anyway, i wish mel was there because he is going for TPQ-37 FATEP, not me. Anyway...it took the two of us 20 minutes, including switching, to crank the entire antenna down. With the DGU...it's way faster...i donno...several minutes? And you don't have to crank, too. Hmmf.
Interesting (or is it ironically?) enough, yoga appeared just as the antenna was fully coming down, towing the DGU. Sorry, babe. You're too late, maggot! He came so late that it was not worth connecting the cables and powering up just so that we would be able to cease-fire.
Maggot!
After that, i went for some dumb meeting in my wet smart 4. It's a wonder i haven't caught pneumonia yet. More to come!
Cointreau Caïpirinhia | Gedenken über sie
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...today...i did a lot of soul-searching. Sorted out my thoughts about her...and today...i will present to you a mosaic of all my jumbled screwed-up thoughts...the fact hangs heavily upon my heart...a chip in the glass fabric of my heart - a heart carefully rebuilt out of broken crystal shards...and after speaking with kelvin for a tad, it struck me that although she was here in Singapore, she was further away than rain was to kelvin in the United Kingdom. Komisch, oder? It's not that i'm now suddenly crippled - far from that - but today i went around with a sense of loss...it was like suddenly missing someone who you know will disappear from your life forever and ever...and that you'll never see her again in person...
Blame me if i do sound too fatalistic, but i get this little ache...this little feeling of nothingness where there was once light. Okay, so it dimmed recently - as i said before, even i saw the end before it came...there's also this feeling that she's slipping away...much, much too fast for me to do anything...
And all there is to do is to stand and watch.
Please don't blame me if i have to be the one to spread it to the entire world - funny how i should know huh? And please don't look for the person who sold you out - i think that i would have to know in the end anyhow, and knowing it now is better than knowing it later - i'd rather keep the impression that you were one of the closest friends i had than as someone who was nothing more but a heartbreaker.
That's that. Today i finally made a proper Cointreau Caïpirinha - don't ask me how to pronunce it because i can't as well...finally got my hands on one of those huge U.S. Limes...which are basically huge limes the size of lemons, only green. So geht's...
Cointreau Caïpirinha
Half a lime, halved and quartered
45 ml Cointreau
Ice
I cracked one of my tumblers when i tried to muddle the lime quarters in a tumbler with my momma's trusty old pestle...which obviously knocked around a lot...but! it's a good reason to get new tumblers. Okay not to digress - place the quarters into a glass, add sugar - maybe 2 teaspoons or so and then, using a pestle (or better, a muddler - a mini-pestle i gather) and muddle those limes. The sugar not only helps to sweeten the lime juice a tad, but also helps to draw the essential oils of lime out from the skins. After that, place ice on top and then top it with the Cointreau. And voilà! The drink is complete.
Cointreau is sweet but don't get me wrong. Despite the liqeuer and the sugar, the drink is sour. Very sour! The lime sees to that. And the drink is very presentable, as it is...i shall take a picture of it next time and show it to you. Basically...it's citrus extreme, although the orange taste of Cointreau is kinda overshadowed by the extreme lime...
A word of warning, though...this cocktail is not for the faint-hearted or the alcohol-intolerant: Although the alcohol is mostly masked, it is very strong! Even so, it's a fancy summer drink, classy and stylish, but without any hippy implications like most tutti-frutti drinks around. But...the Cointreau really makes someone hot...so...maybe you won't appreciate it in the hot sun. Unless you believe that feeling hot improves tanning. But it's a joy to drink cold...ice-cold.
Le jardine d'enchantée: A bud of a flower...growing in a herb which almost NEVER flowers...
Le jardine d'enchantée: Ginger flowers
Erschöpfung | Eine magische Nacht, wobei die Zeit ausser mir nichts verändert hat... | Sie sieht mich nicht
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...heute bin ich erschöpft...i can't believe that i slept and slept and slept today...like a bloody swine...maybe it's because i slept at 0300 yesterday...don't tell my parents! Woke up at 0900 to go for breakfast...why do i agree to such things when i'm dead tired? Goodness. Haha sometimes i scare myself. Despite loading myself with caffeine, i still went back and concussed. Woke up again to go get my provisional driving licence done...then i went home, had lunch, went shopping for groceries (bought myself some sweet Vermouth!) then went home, surfed idly for awhile and then concussed again...this time good for like 2 hours...i totally missed like two-thirds of Laith Al-Deen's Live in Köln concert...but it was a slumber with strange, vivid dreams, but dreams which still remain beyond my grasp. Then i woke up at dusk...to a greying sky...and i decided to put on the concert again, listening to songs like 1000 Tage, Noch Lange Nicht Genug, Jedesmal...and much more...as i went for a long, hot shower...it's quite therapeutic to stand under a hot shower and let the music flow over you...
Read ween's blog...last night was magical...i'll give you that...it really was. It was a different kind of warmth, something which i didn't have to express to feel...something which was invisible, yet i was swimming in it...and she's right. Some things haven't changed. We're still JC classmates, if only for that 4 hours...ween asked if i was sian...why should i be? But i'm quite surprised that in her eyes, i haven't changed. Maybe because i was trying to get infected by the atmosphere, to be all loud and lame like the past. But...it's not the same anymore. Things aren't the same anymore. Maybe i'm still loud...but for people like me...you simply have to be loud...and yes...we were talking about the army...which the ladies would have nothing of...and mister Lai too...
Gatherings are like time machines...time seems to run backwards because for once, for just that once, we've all become what we were 2 years ago...friends. People who i'd never talked with really until circumstances brought us together. And reading her blog showed how much we cared for each other as simple friends...well maybe not simple...but...as people who do care and feel for each other...how ween was so touched by a simple gesture that lai made, just by standing there making sure she'd get home absolutely unharmed...Sigh and for me...small talk with ah cheng on the bus was basically...one-sided but still...just us talking was different than the past...for reasons i cannot fathom...
Félicitations...?
This is for a certain someone...i honestly hope you'll be happy...after everything we've gone through, after all the hell i put you through...i really really hope that now you will be happier with him...happier than i ever could make you happy...Of course, i'm asking myself 'Why?' but...as a saying goes, 'die Zeit heilt alle Wunden...' so lass ich es. Be happy for all that you've got...and i will be happy for you.
As for yours truly...i don't know. I've been feeling simply empty for quite long. Maybe because i figured that it'd be a lost cause and that my naivéte was leading me the wrong way...maybe it's been the mountains of work looming over me...so many 'maybes' but i guess all of them, big or small, played a small part. I felt you slipping away...it's kinda scary, holding on to something which you know won't last...and i guess i saw the end...so the question now is...was nun? I don't know - bury myself in work again? Not that it'll be hard - those maggots are already wearing thin my endurance and yes...i still have much to conduct for them yet...TPQ-36 deployment drill and FIREBALL notwithstanding...and i may be sent to CRESCENDO for 3 months on exercise (i got arrowed as the Admin OIC for all 3! 23 SA FATEP, EX ROLLING THUNDER, and EX BATTLE KING!) and at first i felt...sian...i don't mind going for all 3 but 3 months overseas? That'd be nuts...what's more i'll miss my opportunity at buying alcohol...now i can only buy once instead of twice or thrice, you catch my drift?
But now? Now it seems that it may be just the right thing. A rest cure from all this shite which is happening in my world. All of a sudden i've become this solo knight...my blog says Coeur de Lion...a lionheart in the face of adversity...but...even the spirit can dim...even the greatest of giants can bow down...perhaps i have to go away. To leave all this. For 3 months of a simple life, maybe not so with all the admin, but a simpler life. Sans all the complexities of life in Singapore with my friends. Sans all the complexities of the fairer sex. For 3 months of fresh air. For 3 months of Thai hospitality. For 3 months of the great outdoors. For 3 months of deliverance.
I will gladly go. To mend the chinks in my armour, to mend the rents of my soul...
Sie Sieht Mich Nicht
This Knight has travelled far, his breeches soiled
His eyes are tired, speaking of endless toil
His armour is torn, his chainmail broken
His pennant, his pride, lying in tatters...
Er hatte hungrige Augen
Doch zu sehen kann er jetzt nicht mehr
Liebe ist überall zu empfangen
Doch wollte er diese Welt verlassen...
He keels over now, his soul a blank
As light faded, so his soul sank
In the corner of his eye - a mirage, perhaps -
A women dressed in the shades of light...
Her golden tresses fall freely...
Er öffnet plötzlich die Augen
Now thunder comes to his life...
Warum sollte er denn nicht lachen?
She was his hope, his cure, his salvation
The most wondrous being of all Creation
Reaching out a mailed fist, he called to her
But ringing echoes were all there was to hear...
Sie geht ihm langsam vorbei...
A brilliant starburst of light
He is dazzled, he calls out once again
Aber sie hört ihn einfach nicht...
'Weiter zu kämpfen kann ich schon nicht
Wenn ich vor ihr niederknie
Ich hab mich offen gelassen
Doch sieht sie mich einfach nicht...'
Light fades, replaced by reality
She brought thunder to his life
That very same thunder will take him away
His heart split by an invisible knife
'So lass mich hier jetzt verlassen
So bereite ich mich jetzt, lang abzureisen...'
And so he departs, to lands unknown
One day his story will be known
It is, for him, a simple cure
The only way of easing his pain...
Und um zu trösten sagen Freunde, mit der Zeit vergisst man
Man vergisst die Stimme, das Lachen, die genaue Farbe der Haare und Augen
Doch genau das will man nicht, nichts will man vergessen
Denn das Wichtigste passiert immer nebenbei...
And now a translation...from top to bottom of course...
He had hungry eyes
But now they see no more
Love is everywhere
But depart this world he had...
Her golden tresses fell freely
And he suddenly opens his eyes
Now thunder comes to his life
And why should he not laugh?
...
She passes him slowly...
A brilliant starburst of light
He is dazzled, he calls out once again
But she does not hear him...
'I can fight no longer
When i kneel before her
I have left myself totally open
But she sees me not...'
...
'So let me leave this place right now...'
...
Friends often say as consolation that one forgets with time
One forgets her voice, her laughter, the colours of her hair and eyes
But that is exactly what is unforgettable - one will never forget that
Because what's important happens always so, so nearby...'
And i don't care if it doesn't rhyme here because it's supposed to be read in German anyway. Sigh. So empty. Just so empty.
Interessante Ereignisse | die Arbeit macht frei...? | Enigma | Project: Cosmopolitan III | Suffering
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...living in the office does have its interesting moments...haha...like last night...when my men were all going out for supper at 2200 (i didn't know they could go out so late) and offered to buy supper for me and Vagen, the BDS...haha...they're really great guys, offering to buy supper...but oh wells. Maybe it was that they felt paiseh that they went to buy supper for their buddy but not for me...i don't know also lah. Anyway...for them...ORD loh. Yours truly however still has a long long way to go...sigh. Cannot ORD! sianz.
Anyway...supper came at 2300...which was really nice...Hong Kong-style fried noodles...haha...i'm such a pig...imagine me eating at 2300! I should have been asleep by then but oh well they wanted to watch The O.C. so...oh well! I was surfing and reading my mail...i couldn't go back to work because the maggerous OA system doesn't allow me to log-in after 2200. Or that's what johnny told me. Hecks. After vagen left i thought i'd be able to read my Anleitungen zum Unschuldigsein and maybe grab some shut-eye but...after staying on the net until about 2345, bumming around and listening to Class 95, surprise, surprise....
My BOSS walked into the TA Office.
Wow...that was unexpected. I mean, you certainly don't expect your boss to walk into the office at 2345...goodness. How would i be able to sleep after that?! I was traumatised to say the least...my Boss is like this terrorist who walks into the office at the witching hour...to catch donno who...haha...liting postulated that maybe he was looking for the toilet...aber...wer kommt zurück ins Büro, um aufs Klo zu gehen? Doesn't make sense, does it? Boss asked me if i was sleeping downstairs...to which i said yes...then he just left around midnight. No questions asked.
I like that about my boss. He doesn't question decisions his officers make. But it's kinda freaky to have him walking around the office at such an unearthly hour...
Another interesting about overnighting in the office is waking up. Again, the BDS will come down around 0700 to the office...which is normally locked since they normally sleep in their own bunks (yes if any senior officers read this, apprehend them now!) And so i will be up and about maybe 10 minutes before they come down...Strangely, i seem to wake up earlier sleeping in the office than in the bunk. That's not to say that sleeping in the office is uncomfortable - i place a matress on the big table and sleep on it and well it sees me to the morning. The only gripe, perhaps, is that because the office is air-conditioned, it tends to be rather drying on the skin and eyes. I've been waking up with dry eyes. Hmm...
Been working my guts out these days preparing the admin instructions for my upcoming deployment drill. Can you believe that i printed about 200 pages' worth of material today? Running between the TA Office, the Ops Room, and the Orderly Room with its photocopier has been tiring to say the least...Some people i'd like to thank:
1. Toby, for lending me the TSR
2. The Orderly Room folks for being nice, polite and very very helpful
3. My battery personnel who didn't bother me or give me sai kang to do...
4. Junjie for the Admin Instruction templates
And so now my admin instructions are done...now they're with boss for his vetting...goodness. I hope that i can do the instructions with as little changes as possible. Hopefully i shall go to the deployment drill with Admin Instructions, Second Edition...that'd be good...can't do too many corrections already, i'm running out of time...what with the upcoming visit on Monday...
And today i escaped early so i could meet my class for dinner. Not bad, the turnout...way better than what i managed...the girls haven't changed much at all. Especially siow ween, ivy, and juan...nothing's changed for these ladies...still same old them...laughing, happy and very prankster...tricked me into drinking a cup of salt water...i was tempted to call them bloody maggots but decided against it. So maggerous! Never mind...take it with a pinch of salt (again...) and laugh it off. They're like that...and i'd hate to spoil a night like tonight.
Okay, given that i don't find the jokes funny anymore, given that i'm not like kelvin, being able to put on a poker face and laugh, joke and enjoy their company in a way which explicitly depicts the enjoyment, but honestly, i did have fun. It was marvellous seeing all of them again. Been trying not to suan them because i don't want to offend anyone - be it if they can take it or not...i never want to degrade anyone (well, except my trainees, maybe...) so oh well.
I think that in ween's eyes, i am becoming more and more of an enigma. One who reveals little...and yes she just talked to me about it...she's confused and a little upset over it...hey girl...it's gonna be okay...just that times have changed k? I mean...you all are still the same old you...but as for me...it's become almost impossible for me to fool around all the time you know...yeah...please do understand...quiet doesn't mean not enjoying/troubled/upset. Yeap. It'll be okay. I was quite touched that you asked me...and yes...i'm okay...sorry if it kinda troubled you...no worries!
Also went for Project: Cosmopolitan III. I mixed the ingredients as the recipe at Bols Cocktails recommended...with fresh green limes this time...and...it turned out...sweet. Hmm. Although the alcohol taste is still very strong, the overall sweetness of the cocktail shows out. Hmm...it's still strong stuff though...well...it has to be, for such a potent mixture of Absolut Citron and Cointreau...hmm...okay...maybe i'll try to replicate this results and make it my Cosmopolitan. After all, there isn't a real benchmark for cocktails...it's up to personal taste.
Finally...my maggerous left foot is killing me by itching like crazy and peeling dead skin as though it were undergoing exfoliation. Maggots! I scratched it until it bled. Goodness. Hope it doesn't drive me hopping insane. Footrot? Maybe i'll Daktarinise it or inundate the aread with moisturiser...ack. Heal soon and quit itching! It's killer!!!
Obdachlosigkeit >-< Mach weiter, Sklaven!Hallo ihr alle da draussen...i am sitting here at 2300 writing to you all from the TA Office tonight...haha...yes you got it right the TA OFFICE...my workplace...mein Arbeitsplatz ist zu meinem Schlafzimmer geworden...wells...a lot has transpired and well...it's a long story.So geht's:Monday. Booked in to see the beds still there and so we all breathed a sigh of relief and thought that School of Arty had given us a very last shot at leading a life of normalcy. We then conducted the first installation lesson for those new maggots...sigh...despite repeated warnings, they still won't echo! I guess it was a mistake we all made in the past at some point of time during BTACC...But i got quite pissed because i had reminded them before, during, and they still forgot! I got quite worked up and fucked them...well...kinda to say that they deserved it too...sigh. i feel like this monster. But not that i mind. I actually like shouting at people. And what's more it's not for no good reason. The fact that the generator will drown out your pathetic voices if you do not shout and echo shall become evident during deployment drill...if they choose not to heed my advice...they can jolly well cease-fire and do some PT for me.The Boss Man says to cut their deployment drill at 2200. Bollocks! Like that how to train them? By 2200 they will not even be done with meeting the stipulated timings. I guess the deployment drill will be more technical until the evening and the night, and then FIREBALL will be killer...i can foresee it dragging well into the afternoon...and oh well its also an opportunity to whack them....AGAIN...Boss says that those maggots have training the following morning so we gotta close shop early so they get enough shut-eye...hooray for safety. SAF will never win a war. I don't recall having that much sleep myself. Sleep is but a luxury!Yes, that is easy for me to say...Anyway. I shall stop digressing. After that lesson on Monday, i went up to my bunk to get something, only to discover that all the beds missing. It was like someone went in there and made them vanish magically. All our belongings were left in haphazard piles on the floor. I wondered who in their fucking right mind would've let them in, until i noticed that the door was booted open. That Captain of Maggots...JASON TAN! Him and his stupid maggoty storemen. So now we have no beds. I stayed out (illegally of course) on Monday, but...i have decided that this cannot go on indefinitely...think of global warming and air pollution! So...i have decided to......move into the TA Office. I will sleep on the big table!Amazing, isn't it? Now i have a room which i basically spend about 20 out of my allocated 24 hours per day. A room with radio, TV, Internet, books, and air-conditioning! Haha...but i am still officially 'displaced'...actually i don't want to move into my allocated bunk because i've heard that it's occupied by regulars who don't care much about how their bunk turns out because they don't stay in anyway. Oh Kian Wee's mattress looks like prostitutes have been sleeping on it. Stained and the like. Tsk. Jetzt bin ich ein Obdachloser! What a discomforting thought, to be homeless. I wonder if i'll be like that about 10 years down the road, spending my nights in the office because i'm too obsessed over work. I dearly hope i don't become like that. I'm only sleeping in my office because the homeless can't choose their shelter.Can someone please do us a favour and stop slave labour? It's been horrible. Tuesday was plain and boring because we were on an OMER (Operator Maintenance) course...but today was killer again...because we had the vetting for the bloody SCSC display! I was already at the closed garage at 0730 (maggot! Who didn't open the garage?!) and there were problems with the drivers, the systems and everything...such that we got to the parade square only at 0900! Bloody hell...it was SO late...i felt like a bloody swine because PornoMan Sven and Adrian were already there, their systems action-fronted. I still had to action front both antennae and get the veehickles to screw off back to the Xenon Garage. Sigh. Running up and down the garage like some insane man, sweating like pigs...and then the whole thing started only at 1130. Sigh. I donno what's happening to me. I guess it was lucky that it only started then. I don't know what i'm going to do on Monday when i have to get the veehickles down to the parade square by fucking 0730. What sort of stunt/miracle will i have to pull off?! I am feeling just so, so dead!! I already ordered the garage open at 0700 on the day itself with all the locators down early so that i can hook up the veehickles and get down to the square early by 0730.0730! Help.Just feeling so dog-tired. Sigh. Must've been the Sun. I mean, i love sunshine and all, but standing under it just burns away all your energy as if by magic. It's scary. I guess i will know on Monday. I'm a tad scared because i don't want to face the music if i screw up...sign extra ah...i don't mind doing DOO (already done so many i feel numb) but i don't think i want to sign 14...or more...eeps.
The wonders of Nature: fresh limes grown from flowers, gathering nutrients from their parents...and potently sour, to boot!
Der Papst, Johannes Paul II, ist tod.
Also schreibe ich auf Deutsch. Gestern schlug in Krakow die Siegesmund-Glocke, die nur bei historischen Ereignissen geschlagen wird. Gestern klang sie, um den Tod des Papstes zu verkünden. Was tut man jetzt? Jetzt ist nur Trauer um ihn zu sehen...
Ich kenne weder ihn noch die Religion besonders sehr, und obwohl ich an nirgendeine Religion glaube, sondern bin ich ein...Pantheist, werde ich dafür beten, dass er endlich seine ewige Friede findet. Natürlich wird er vermisst - so ein Führer eine Religion, der der Welt so viel schon gegeben hat...wer vermisst ihn nicht? Ich muss aber sagen, dass Dingen ihre eigenen Fluss haben...wenn man weg musst, dann musst man eigentlich Abschied nehmen.
Das ewige Leben handelt sich nicht darum, wieviel Geld man hat, oder wie bekannt man eigentlich ist. Wer erinnert sich eigentlich an einem Millonär? Nein, das ewige Leben handelt davon, wie man das Leben von anderen ändert. Natürlich ist darüber zu sagen, dass es Menschen wie Hitler gibt, und niemand wird ihn vergessen. Niemand wird ihm vergeben. Das gilt auch für den Papst, aber er wird natürlich anders erinnert...so lebt er in den Herzen der Menschen, also ist er nie weg von euch, sondern immer nah...
Mir ist, als ob ich jemanden verloren hätte. Ich werde ihn vermissen, aber das Leben geht nun weiter...was man jetzt für ihn tun kann, ist nur ihn zu zelebrieren...sein Leben zu zelebrieren.
Komm zur Ruh, er hört dir zu
Er wird ewig bei dir sein
Du musst nicht mehr fliehen, nicht weiterziehen
Hier bist du nicht allein...
Khatib Camp parade square in the evening. Like a bloody ghost town...
Die längste Woche | Please do not tekan the DOO | Maggots | Scarlett O'Hara | Install
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...i just finished the longest week ever since commissioning...Let's see...it began on Sunday and ended today.
Sunday: DOO
Monday: DOO for half a day (Thanks Rico!)
Tuesday: Conducting Trade Course SOC
Wednesday: Lesson Prep
Thursday: 01 x shack² Life Run
Friday: Complex DOO
Saturday: Escaped 1000
So well...you have seen what my timetable looked like...Let's see...Thursday was horrible. Imagine waking up at 0700 to go for a 5-klick Life Run in cadence (which means a snail-like pace...) and now imagine running at that pace but not being able to overtake because of 01 x Boss at the head of the running squad, f*cking you every time you approach him. That amounted to something very very tiring because...well one now has to purposely regulate his gait and step and pace just to keep in step...which takes even more effort than running at one's own pace (which would be faster, incidentally) which resulted in me becoming totally wasted after that run. Add to that a warm-up/cool-down I/C which was a bit forgetful in counting his sets and there you have it. I was dead. Wye Hong can give you a detailed account of how dead i was...falling asleep in the PGM Computer Room at about 1130 (!)
But somehow, i managed to get my slides done...through a tough uphill battle...then...Simster, the battery 2I/C, called me and arrowed me to be Friday's DOO! (Schon wieder...) But oh well i kinda volunteered because my original DOO was scheduled to be on 110405, but i have this stupid display on that day, so i guess i was kinda the sucker for it. Oh wells.
Friday. DOO duties...which had to be the longest and most hectic DOO 24 SA has seen in a bit...let's see. Store checks. Taking over the armskotes. Mount guards. Close the mess after Gunners' RV, this biannual social event. Sounds easy? Hell no! I only closed the mess at bloody 0015...which is to say in other words, i spent all of Friday running up and down, between the TA Office, Ops Room, KTSC, Armskotes, Guardroom, and the Mess. One of the guards, Aaron, saw me going to the mess at 2330 with my beret in smart 4. Sigh. And i still had those maggots in the trade course to contend with.
Takeaway: Please DO NOT tekan the poor DOO.
Now, on to maggoty behaviour. The trade course are full of them. Can't do their drills properly such that the BDO has to go and demonstrate how to perform a proper lowering of arms. Dragging their bloody fucking boots. Screwing up the bloody book-in/book-out book. I mean, it's your book out. So please do it and don't fuck up! Stupid maggots. Made me open my mouth and heap vulgarities on them on an early Saturday morning. I think that i am becoming a terrorist in their eyes. Or a tyrant.
Either way, i'd rather be a terrorist. At least they'd be scared.
Just tried my hand at making a Scarlett O'Hara. Named after a character in the movie Gone with the Wind, it was a promotional drink by the Southern Comfort company to promote their liqeuer.
Scarlett O'Hara
2 parts Southern Comfort
2 parts cranberry juice (dilute if you wish)
1 part lime juice
Shake with ice, then strain into a cocktail glass
What did it taste like? Firstly, it didn't reek of alcohol. It was more like a mixture of fruit tastes, with the peach in the Southern Comfort dominating. The cocktail was quite sweet, maybe due to the fact that i diluted the cranberry juice somewhat, which tends to place some emphasis on the sweetness of the cranberry juice rather than the bitter/sour base. All in all, not half bad, but i think not many people have tasted Scarlett O'Hara, so...no yardstick to judge by. Until then? PASSED. =)
Watched Install today with Kelvin...you ought to go watch it, even if you don't understand Japanese...an adult issue (sex chat rooms) taken and then looked at through the eyes of a child...the awakening of a girl's sexual awareness, and more...go catch it! I shall not carry on proving you with a spoiler...
Lose Yourself (in the middle of Africa)
Hallo ihr alle da draussen...aren't you all quite tired of this urban life and all the disillusionment here?
When your dreams die and you can't see the light
When your day begins to slip into night
And you have to escape, to leave it all behind
The cityscape, the madding crowd, and those blinding lights...
Lost out in the desert, you'd rather be lost out in that desert...
Stand on a hill, parched plains spread before you
Watch the dark clouds gather...
As raindrops quench the thirsty earth
The prayers of many answered...
Never fear, come what may
I will guard you; i will stay
When you're lost out in the desert
Just lost out in that desert...
See the stars twinkle in the night
A velvet cushion with gemstones shining bright
Close your eyes, now take flight
Upon your dreamscape, take a ride...
