Waste Not, Want Not

Have been working hard today. Much much harder than at the office. Hopefully tonight I will just snooze off automatically as I put my head on the pillow. Sleep sweet sleep.

Before that, talking about sleep brings us to another favorite issue: Eating. You can never walk in the streets here without the talk automatically turning to 'food'. It's as natural as saying 'Hi'. It's always : 'How are you? Come, let's go to the Coffee shop for a drink'. For most people, the work routine is like: breakfast, coffee break, lunch, coffee break, teatime, pre-dinner drink, dinner and supper.

Finding a place to eat is also as easy as ABC. Just say what your heart desires: Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Chinese, French, Italian.. It's all there. Just prepare the money. Other than you just have to plan on what, when and where to eat.

Alas, in all the facility of getting food, we sometimes have the tendency to waste food. Even me, I cannot avoid it. With competition getting stronger, the portion in each plate also becomes larger. And people like me just cannot finish off my plate. (Hope that mum is not reading this or else I will surely get a lecture on wasting good food).

But really..the only complaint that Malaysians have nowadays are having the stomach 'too full'. The best way is to cook your own food, knowing the amount that you can eat. But that is not always possible as most of the time we are working and being a part of the sales team, eating and communicating plays a big role. To eat or not to eat..that is the question. :) And when you eat: To waste or not to waste?

The packaging for most food also is tailor made for families.. A loaf of Gardenia bread is a week supply for me..and even that sometimes has balance that had to be thrown away because of the expiry date. Whereas the newspaper was stating that everyday an average of 14,400 children of hunger and in a year the total is a devastating 5.256 millions of children in Malaysia. That is not counting the whole world.

As a friend was saying: There's nothing wrong with eating well or eating richly. But there's certainly a difference between eating a lot of food and throwing away a lot of food. And all that thrown away food is not leftovers or scraps.

The food that I am talking about are those that were bought during a shopping spree but never consumed till it has to be thrown away because it can no longer be eaten. Let us just try to do our part. Don't laugh at me just because I ordered half a plate of mee goreng.

Let's start by using the part of the money saved from not buying too much food to donate to those in need. If a little bit can help one child, it would be sufficient. Everything starts with a small step. Waste not, Want Not...

Do you turn from your work with a smile?
Do you feel that it's all worth the while?
As you dream the twilight hours away,
When you come to the end of the day!

Procrastination

What is 'procrastination'? No, it's not a bad word (grin) ..only a long one to write and a mouthful to say it out loud. To 'procrastinate' means to delay doing something. Procrastinators have a problem in having things done on time. Cat just knew the word today and the best way to remember something like that word is to use it the first chance you get. Voila :p

The problem isn't so bad when it's your own time that you are delaying. It becomes irritating when it's someone else's time that you are wasting. Have you thought about it? If you like doing that, the person that you are going to hurt the most will be yourself. The more you let that pile of file stacked on your desk.. the harder it will be to clear all those stuffs. It just hurts cat eyes to see the files not even been read yet and it hurts cat's ears to hear you requesting to 'just have one more day to get it done'. How can you work when your fingers are stuck at that handphone of yours, girl?

Time is a very important thing, as you cannot get back the time that you have lost. Alas, most of us prefer to play with it, waste it and kill it.

The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule BUT to schedule yourself according to your priorities. Well, you should know what is important and you should be making time to deal with it. You need to put meaning in what you do everyday so that you will be motivated to put your best effort in it.

If what you are doing doesn't have any meaning to you, then why do it at all?

Okay.. now that we have concluded on this, can Cat have that file on her desk at exactly 3.00pm today? If all those sms have more meaning than the pending work, then by all means, collect your last salary and use the  the day after tomorrow, and after tomorrow, after tomorrow on sms-ing .

Hmm..6 out of the 9 working hours spent on 'sms'? Can I work for you instead? :)

No, Cat is not angry..:) just explaining the meaning of 'procrastination' for you. And another good word that you need to learn after this would be 'resignation' perhaps?

Signing off ,
Cat..counting 1, 2, 3 till 100...
Patience: It's the art of waiting for the right moment (and until patience runs out) before delivering the final bomb...

A Man's World

This is a man's world, this is a man's world
You see, man made the cars to take us over the road
Man made the trains to carry heavy loads
Man made electric light to take us out of the dark
Man made the boat for the water, like Noah made the ark

-James Brown-

**********
 Cat was having a problem with her car..again. Hmm, ever since the accident a few months ago, Cat's Viva has not been the same anymore. It;s still the same shiny silver coloured car..but there's a strange feel to it. There's also a slight off tune feeling when Cat turns sharply at the corner.

That's the biggest challenge for Cat: having a gut feeling that something is not right...but unable to express clearly what's wrong with it. And this being a man's world, you need to have the technical ability words in order not to be looked down (and not to be charged a bomb just because you do not speak the 'jargon').

As Cat parked her car at the tyre shop and step her foot in there, it feels like being out of this world , in a strange planet. There was the usual drilling and banging sounds that you would expect in a workshop. The difference is that everyone there acts as if you do not exist and just continue doing whatever they were doing. Trying to muster up her courage, Cat took a deep breath and with a so called air of confidence, went to the nearest guy, ' Excuse me..I do have this problem with my car...'

Not yet finished her sentences, the long haired guy pointed to another guy who was sweeping the floor. 'Ask him.' Cat was astonished..why does she need to refer to the cleaner..? Hmm.. well, here goes. Cat started again her explaination, 'Excuse me, ....'. He spoke with a loud voice. 'Seng, go and look at this lady's car. It need's aligment.'

Another guy came and asks for the car keys, started it and just went off with it! Gone all act of being the world wise Cat.. Eyes big as saucers, Cat looked up at the cleaner, but he just acted as if nothing is wrong and goes off whistling a happy tune. Okayyy.. Cat regains her composure ..and her car came back into view not so shortly. So, it was a test run to see what;s the problem.Can't they just say something in the first place..and avoid giving cat a heart attack..?

The next question was..where do you sit or stand while waiting for your car? And what do you do while waiting? There wasn't a chair in view..and the place is full of wires and tools. Act like a guy and talk about engines and cars? Hmm..Cat just wants them to repair the problem and makes an exit as fast as she can. Talking is  a problem when there's no one sociable around. Just guys whispering and seemingly laughing at this out of place person. But, Cat would do anything for her car.

Cat guesses that Cat is not the only woman who goes to a tyre shop on her own. However, it's really a man's place to be here or for those women that know and love all these men's toys and know the language. Not a place certainly for a soft spoken and unsure person. Maybe this is what a guy feels when they have to be alone at a lingerie shop buying something for their love ones. Out of place.

Lesson for today : Either you just act tough and bear all the embarassing comments or.. bring a guy with you when you go to a tyre shop. This is a man's world..

Dont Ever Give Up On Me

I know I break your heart

With everything I'm not

Don't ever give up on me

Remember that we're strong

And even as we fall

Don't ever give up on me

These tears I'm holding back

Could turn my whole face black

And I don't know if you'd love me

If you saw me like that

Would you?

Would you follow if I turned my back

Could you love me through this broken glass

I know I'm not who I was or where I need to be

But don't ever give up on me

Don't ever give up on me

My heart would turn to run

But even when I'm gone

Don't ever give up on me

I'm trying deep within

If you could hold my hand

Don't ever give up on me

This war I'm fighting havoc

It turns me inside out and

I don't know if you'd love me

If you saw me right now

Would you?

Would you follow if I turned my back

Could you love me through this broken glass

I know I'm not who I was or where I need to be

But don't ever give up on me

Don't ever give up on me

Holdin out

Holdin out

Will you love the rest of me

Would you follow if I turned my back

Could you love me through this broken glass

I know I'm not who I was or where I need to be

But don't ever give up on me

Don't ever give up on me..