In a blink of an eye, March has come to a near end. I really felt like my life just zipped past by me. Work has been tiring - there has been no time for rest in between tasks, and I happily welcome the early release Fridays at the end of each month which is the only reprieve I get from work. I'm really feeling the burnout from countless mindless executions. I seldom have time to sit back and reflect on how I can do things better or utilise the tools that are available. It has been a very tiring journey so far in Klook.
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| A Faint Rainbow For Good Luck - Galaxy Note 9 |
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| New Asus Motherboard + i7 Processor - Galaxy Note 9 |
At first things worked well, until I changed the boot mode to UEFI without realizing that I should have converted the MBR to GPT first!! And that was when I had to fork out a bit more $$$. Apparently my graphics card was too old for UEFI boot and the motherboard's built-in display ports were locked out. Everytime I booted up the PC I encountered a black screen. So I had to order a new set of graphics card - GeForce GTX 1650. In all I spent over $1K for the upgrade. I had actually planned to get the graphics card at a later date, but I guess I was just delaying the inevitable.
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| New Operational Rig - Galaxy Note 9 |
And as soon as the new graphics card arrived, I immediately plugged it in and the display miraculously worked again, from where I was able to access the BIOS and changed the boot type to Legacy. Seems like I will have to plan my Windows 11 upgrade in the most careful manner. I have to admit, the new rig is definitely powerful. I created a 13+ minute video of stills and motion graphics in the range of 50 to 60 fps at FHD and the machine finished the production in mere minutes with no errors such as green lines or stuttered videos. It is really worth the money I spent.
Lincoln also went for his karate grading early this month and scored a scrappy pass to 5th kyu. I hope he'll do better next time. I have to get him a new set of Gi since he's outgrown the current one.
March also saw a slew of Klookers leaving, one of whom is a director specialising in communications with whom I had quite a bit of interactions during the December Secret Santa event. When I handled her laptop reset, I was really amused to see the new password she had set. She really is a very creative person whose wit I will dearly miss.
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| I Really Love That Password - Galaxy Note 9 |
I also went to the Apple Store again to deliver a laptop for battery service, sadly this laptop is going to serve its last year of lifecycle despite my best efforts to keep it in tiptop conditions.
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| A Lesswon With Few Takers - Galaxy Note 9 |
And of course, I had to catch "The Batman". I have mixed feelings about the movie. Its "ok" good, only, I'm not too crazy about it. Too artsy to my liking. The storyline is not bad, a modified adaptation of "The Long Halloween" sans the Two-Face saga. However, "Year One" is still a better storyline. And Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is still the best, by far.
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| Waiting For The Movie To Start - Galaxy Note 9 |
On one of the weekends, Lindsay had a visitor - her schoolmate came for a playdate. And since I had to play the part of a good host, I spontaneously baked chocolate lava cakes for them. Unfortunately I left the batch in the oven a couple of minutes too long and they came out not so gooey, but still enjoyable.
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| Yummy Treat - Galaxy Note 9 |
For some reasons I became interested in finding out what happened to my secondary school friends and I started googling and facebooking them. I stumbled upon the Ghim Moh Secondary School facebook page. I was quite shocked to learn that my former form teacher had passed away in February this year. I remember him as a friendly and smiley person who lost his temper once in class where he raised his voice at a group of classmates who kept on chatting among themselves and distracted the other classmates. Rest in peace Mr Ch'ng.
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| My Deepest Condolences to Mr Ch'ng's Family, Truly.... |
I also found my secondary school's year book in the National Library's e-resources section. When I looked at my year photo, I couldn't help but feel how old I've gotten now. But at the same time, I'm also relieved that I'm a lot wiser than my younger self.
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| Can You Find Me? |
There were the usual walks too on Saturdays.... I've gotten a bit bored of the walks really.
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| Looking For Symmetry - Galaxy Note 9 |
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| Cloudy Day Overlooking The Jubilee Bridge - Galaxy Note 9 |
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| Back at Alexandra Linear Canal Park - Galaxy Note 9 |
During the kids' term break, we took a trip to SEA Aquarium - which was my 2nd trip in 8 years. The place still looks very much the same.
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| Shark Tank - RX100Mk3 + Zeiss Batis 2/25 |
And sometime towards the end of the month, I started reading Lindsay's "Kiki's Delivery Service". I was so frustrated and bored with things at work which really affected my after work life. So I just picked up that book to break the monotony. For a book meant for children, the story is certainly poignant... bittersweet... The simple story explores themes such as reaching maturity or growing up, breaking traditions and also to let go.
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| A Beautiful Story - Galaxy Note 9 |
One moment that I can relate to was when Kiki was about to leave home, she asked her father to carry her up like he used to, and the father commented how fast she had grown up, he couldn't remember her being so heavy. It made me think about Lindsay, she's not my little baby anymore for sure too. I should really cherish these moments while I can still carry her around like my little baby always.
The story also explored the transition to modern ways, when Kiki chose to break traditions and settle in a big city against her mother's wishes, and also how she modified her mother's broom and made it her own. Modernisation does not mean fully letting go of tradition, else we lose the true essence of the cause.
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| Kiki Arriving Home For The First Time in a Year - Galaxy Note 9 |
Another poignant moment in the book was when Kiki returned home for her first holiday, she had to cut it short as she felt that she couldn't stay too long at home. She realised that many people will require her service in the city. That was the moment when she had fully transitioned into a responsible teen. As much as her parents love her, they need to let her go so she can become her own woman. It is an ending that gave me that sad, and yet happy feeling. While reading the book, I couldn't help but relate to Lindsay. To love is really to let go.
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| Kiki Leaving Home to Return to Koriko - Galaxy Note 9 |
Tomorrow, the 💀💢💣💥💩 MMTF will relax the COVID-19 rules by allowing larger groups to gather, up to 75% of people returning to office and optional mask wearing outdoors. It is more of a shocking than decisive decision. A friend had shared a meme which mentioned that the opening up is for economy, not because it is safe, which I fully agree with. So the opening has really made it more dangerous to be out and about. Lincoln's class kept on seeing new cases hitting his classmates every week, and one of his classmates who have just recovered kept on teasing him by purposely touching him or his food every now and then, which really pissed me off too. I really worry for the kids' safety and well-being. I don't know how things will end, but I really hope my family will ride out this Omicron wave safely. We will have to adapt to the situations in the best we can for sure.
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| This Is My Big Baby Too - Galaxy Note 9 |
And finally, here's a closing shot for this month's entry:
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| A Fiery Sunrise at The End of March - Galaxy Note 9 |
~Photos Taken With Samsung Galaxy Note 9; A7R3 + Zeiss Batis 2/25~
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