Friday is Skating Day!

The time I re-established contact with inline skating

I hardly skate in school as I find it a hassle lugging a backpack with your laptop and then adding the weight of the skates. It's worse when the area we have for skating is so limited that I can't put my fitness skates to good use. I drop by every week to watch the skaters at practicing at our weekly skating sessions though. I might not be in skates, but I can still teach.

Today was slightly different. I was looking for some Friday evening activities since my parents' happen to be in Indonesia. Anything that can keep me occupied and provide me company would have sounded good to me. I brought my skates to school, joined in the skating session, then followed the crowd when it got to the night urban skate. Man, urban skate is a whole lot more fun with a big group. Back in school, HH and I finished off with a sprint race up the giant slope.

The last time I had a great inline skating urge was back in JC, when I'd skate as part of my training for 2.4. But back then, I didn't know the value of good skates. I bought cheap skates which ended up hurting my feet and I wasn't very keen on skating for very long periods. Then, during the summer holidays in 06, a bunch of us from the EllTeeBee class got together to skate at ECP. What a surprise soft boots turned out to be! I had never experienced such comfort in inline skates before. Very soon, I was making trips to ECP early in the morning to rent skates and doing "the East Coast Run" just to drown out my post-Kili blues.

I somehow managed to scrimp enough to buy a new pair of skates despite being so broke after Kili. The first time he saw it, XZ looked disappointed. "You'll never be able to do slalom with those fitness skates." It didn't matter to me: I prefer the wind in my face to swirling around cones. I got into the mailing list for the skating sub-activity in SMUX. When I got into Kroo, I decided to run for XSeed manager partly because of skating.

The skating sub-activity grew under commendable leadership from XZ and Ter. They were both passionate about skating and never complained about teaching any newbie how to skate. The members also proved that while they can't commit on a regular basis, they'd still make an appearance during the events that matter. Me, since I re-established contact with skating, I've found that I like teaching others how to skate. Part of it is from the sadistic glee of watching newbies fall. But the other part is from watching as these newbies work hard to learn new skills and eventually flourish on their own.

I guess that's part of the draw in my involovement with SMUGS. I love the outdoors. I love outdoor activities. And I love how in SMUGS, I could enjoy the outdoor activities that I love with a bunch of like-minded people. And I love how, after enjoying the outdoor activities, I also get to interact with others and get them to enjoy the outdoors like I do. I guess that's what Yujian meant when he urged me to run for Kroo last year. "As long as you embody the SMUGS mission, you will do SMUGS a service." My term as Kroo is coming to an end, but I know I will still pop by for SMUGS activities. There's no other place I see myself in. -Jimmy

You're in my Prayers, Auntie Jane

About a year ago, I talked about how Auntie Jane had been stricken with Stage IV cancer and that her days are numbered. I have a confession to make: since then, I've hardly met her. She's in increasing discomfort, so she hardly goes out. Which is fine, cos my parents will make the effort to visit her. But I never follow when my parents go visiting.

I've always had this impression that she's still doing well. Even though her treatments have had limited effect, my parents say her fighting spirit is commendable; that she's willing to live life to the fullest while she could. In my mind, Auntie Jane was how I remembered her: smart, joyful and definitely not someone you'd imagine suffering from cancer.

A week ago, while I was having dinner with my family and Auntie Lin, she mentioned how Auntie Jane is clearing showing signs of her sickness. I'd heard from my parents that she'd gone for several operations, but Auntie Lin gave a more graphic description. She mentioned how her abdomen has been operated on so many times that the doctors would no longer make incisions there. They thus cut further up, closer to the ribcage. Auntie Jane has been cut and patched up so many times that her abdomen can no longer stretch out as it would when a person stands up straight. She now walks with a perpetual hunch, aided by crutches.

My father was commenting how she was complaining to him, "Look at me. I'm hunched like this; like an old woman!" On the surface, it was simply a complaint about the crutches, but it was also a complaint about many things. Why cancer? Why her? Why now? Why not later, when she has seen more to life? Can it be cured? Will things ever be the same?

It's interesting how we conveniently forget things that are not immediately in front of us. Is it true that the age of instant gratification has really shortened our attention spans such that "out of sight, out of mind" truly holds? Was I being ignorant? Perhaps I was being optimistic: if I don't remember her as being sick, she might be fine the next time I see her. Maybe I'm just apathetic.

Maybe I was simply practicing what the education system has brought us up to be: extremely pragmatic worker drones, continually improving our work efficiency, without realising the uncaring cores that we're harbouring.

Unlike the optimistic ending I had one year ago, I'll end off sober this time. She's out-lived the doctors' expectations and judging from what I've heard from my parents, she's enjoyed when she could, what she could. Auntie Jane, you're in my prayers. -Jimmy

Monday Talks to Friday

Monday looked over to Friday. Friday was wearing his favourite pout and furrowed brows.
"Why so glum, Friday?"
"I'm having a freaking bad day la, Monday. Can't you tell?"
Monday's reply was a short sharp laugh of disbelief. "What's so bad about your day? I'm the one who's supposed to be complaining. Everyone sighs and pulls a long face on Mondays. Their tempers flare up so quickly, they tsktsk silly emails that they have to answer with political correctness and everyone wears blue to the office!"

Friday deadpanned, "And that's supposed to be better than people who don't do work over the week, people who don't plan in advance and then realise that they have to get things done on Friday? That it's better on Friday cos people start pushing their panic buttons and pulling all the strings they can just to get things done in time for the weekend? That it's fine that people are put through someone else's frayed tempers even though the latter simply was inefficient but had to take it out on someone?

"Tell me why I should feel happy that these people think they have the right of way to get things done on time when they were the ones holding work up. Tell me why no one thinks that these people were the ones who were slow, that they were holding the line up. Tell me why it's only the people who consolidates the reports, who eventually sends out the email blasts, who has to reserve a room for meetings, tell me why only these people get blamed for being "slow"? What about the others who took their time doing their bits for the report and submitted past the deadline? What about the others who couldn't do their graphic designing earlier so that the email could have been sent out on time? What about the others who couldn't decide when to hold their meetings and decide to put off that decision until wayyyyy past the meeting room booking deadline?"

"Oh gee, Friday. That's some temper you've got brewing. But look on the bright side, you've got Saturday and Sunday to keep you company. They sure have hot figures. By the way, can you pass me Saturday's number? She's still single, right?"

"Yea? Well, these people who want things their own way simply laze through another week, then push the panic buttons again the next Friday. It's disgusting. F**king idiots." -Jimmy

Random Thoughts Collection - Batman

How come Batman doesn't have a sense of humour? Take for example when Batman drives the Batmobile and drops a Batmine (which, for the purposes of this Collection, is supposed to stop the Jokermobile from giving the Batmobile such a heated pursuit by way of a massive explosion which in theory should destroy the Jokermobile. In actuality, however, the Jokermobile will appear in the following week's episode of Batman. Blame it on a studio's limited budget; creating a new character and car is far too expensive.)

*Klunk* [Batmobile drops a Batmine]

Batman: [Cheeky smirk] I call it my personal guano

*Boom* [Jokermobile goes up in a huge fireball]

Robin: Holy shit!

Batman: Quite right. That's some really explosive shit I put in there.