26 Oct 2005

Almost everyone around me knows that I like to play computer games. However, different from what most of my friends would expect, I'm not such a person so into computers stuff. I mean, of course I like surfing the internet and ICQ and what else. But I’m just not those kind of person that like to study what is BIOS, what is backdoor, what is firewall, what is CISCO...blah blah blah. And so I didn’t' develop the ability to handle the computer when there is something wrong.

And when the computer goes wrong, it's just so similar to the sky fall. And I'm not exaggerating it, you know. Those that had their computers something wrong before will feel as frustrated as I am as well if there is. We are so relied on such things already.

Then I developed the habit of leaving the computer's problem until someone will voluntarily help me or the problem will be solved by itself but just not me to open the casing and remove the darn parts or to reinstall the whole damn windows again. Time goes on and I guess I have developed a kind of "phobia" towards downed computers.

===============================================

Recently I have took out the game of Red Alert 2 to play AGAIN. Well I admit that I really LOVE the game and I have nothing to play too. I would really like to buy some computer games but those pirated ones are so rarely seen and the quality is so low now. I've heard pirated CDs the quality so low that concert VCDs are actually AV porn and games CD-ROM are actually cartoons record from TV. My goodness. How on Earth could I trust them anymore.

Speaking of the Red Alert 2, It's really fun and diverse. For so many times i played the game there is almost never the same response from the computer.

So because of the admiration to the game, I search for the game when I was working with the Wikipedia to search port names. To my shock, there is a story behind:

Westwood studios had been making good games. Their greatest success was the launch of Command and Conquer, which is groundbreaking for the Real Time Strategy games (RTS).

Another game that I've bought and played is the "Lands or Lore 2: Guardian of Destiny". 4CDs the game has. The game is so complicated, the maps are so large that I've tried more than 5 times but never able to make it to the last piece of CD.

The success of smaller companies are always ending happily. Westwood Studios was soon being "purchased" by Electronic Arts games, which is the famous EA Games. Something, then, happened which makes the old staffs in WW Studios unhappy. They left in a bulk and set up another Studio called Petrogylph (something like that). Petroglyph mainly consists of old WW staffs. Those that unwilling to stay in EA games later also joined the Petroglyph.

Maybe this is the reason why the third C&C game (Generals) is so lousy. The Elites are all gone.

So what's the exciting news? Petroglyph is undergoing a project (of course an RTS game, it's their game) which is using their skills and experience to blend with the Force. Yes, they are making the RTS game for Star Wars! Wow. Although I'm not as exciting as playing the similar game for Lord of the Rings, I am, anyhow.

24 Oct 2005

Another new week start. This should be the last week of the month already. I have been waiting for this week for such a long time already. And the only reason for this is money.

Today my working morale fell to lowest. I feel like I'm so sick of everything around here. I don't want to sit here, nor do I want to sit in another office. I don't think I will feel calm too if I lie on my own bed. It's just doesn't feel right. I just want escape from everything. It's just not right. I just feel pressures all around.

I don't want to do such boring work. But deep in my heart I actually appreciate it. Well, think of this: I can go to work at 10 (deadline). The office is just in Causeway Bay, the favourite place for me in HK. And it's very close to my home too.

I can visit the Pet Street every lunch time because it's in the Causeway Bay and I have 1.5 hours of lunch time. Just looking at those cutie and lovely puppies and kitties could really cheer me up for the rest of the day. I have plenty of food to choose in Causeway Bay. I have a Central Library close to my office where I can go read some books during lunch time. I can go for a stroll in the Victoria Park. I can go to the games arcade in the World Trade Centre. I can go to the Cat Cafe to have lunch and play with the cats. I can choose to eat expensive meals or just buy breads from bakeries or supermarkets. I can window shopping during lunch time (although I seldom do).

In the office, it's kind of boring. But actually it just depends on whether I want to work or not. That's because my boss isn't checking me from time to time, but I have my duties to do. Since no one is really keep checking, I do so the same amount of work within one day or spread it over a whole week...no one knows. You can say it's so free or you can say it's so meaningless. Yes, my seat is facing the wall / entrance while the rest of us can face the windows and admire the skyline of Causeway Bay and some even the Victoria Harbour. And yes, everyone else can see what's my monitor is showing so I can't play games in the computer (Ouch! That hurts!). But, Hey! This job got nothing to do anyway. This diary means that I am at least so free to do other things instead of working. Many of the others outside are still working hard everyday just to contribute all their time in working. To them, I'm living in a slice of heaven on Earth.

So what am I feeling not contended with? I keep asking myself this question this morning. Everything seems fine here. Am I really adventurous to get some excitement from another kind of job or am I just being too picky that nothing on the world will satisfy me?

Gee, what the hell am I up to actually.

One thing I'm for sure: If I cannot figure this out ASAP would not have the determination to find another job and leave this one. And always "time and tide waits for no man".

Viola had introduced me the Jardine's MT programme. I thank her for this but I'm kinda sure I'm not as eloquent and able as those guys / girls. But if I can really be one of them that would really be a great leap forward in my life.

Perhaps if Jardine's recruiting clowns...I might have a better chance. Just not with data again, please. Suit yourself, not me.

p.s. It's past lunch time already. I came back from a walk in the pet street with those lovely puppies and some leisurely reading in a book store. The world is as beautiful as before provided that I don't fell asleep on my own desk. My only wish now it to lie naked under the burning hot sun on a beautiful tropical beach alone...eh, heck with it.

21 Oct 2005

老實講呀
我真係唔多鐘意用英文打日記架

今晚開番個日記出來看, 一眼望落去, 嘩, 一大「咋」雞腸, 連我自己都已經唔想讀落去。

但, 無辦法~~~~

21 Oct 2005

Have you ever imagine why are you always so sleepy when you are working? Maybe it's because there is not enough oxygen inside. Just s few weeks back we have heard of a research's results showing that most of the Hong Kong air conditioning is too cold. Actually most of the places in Hong Kong is having a air conditioning too cold problem. even in restaurants, shopping malls, buses (especially buses, they are fridges on wheels).

why is everyone talking about being more "civilized", talking about civil education in the fields of environmental protection, but on the other hand we are doing something that we could have avoided in damging the fragile environment?

i don't know the exact reason for each unit for wasting the energy and creating more CO2, but i guess i am able to summarize / guess some of the reasons out.

the first one i think is because chinese lack the civil heart. we mean civil heart is considering others more than ourselves in a sensible way. the very moment diners walk into the restaurant from the steamy hot street must be expecting a chilling old drink together with a comfortable cool air condition in the restaurant. if this requirement isn't satisfactorily met, either the diner silently complains or just explicitly leave. this is not acceptable to the restaurant, right?

working in office is really damn boring. if the staff is getting dozy during the afternoon then no one will be working...this one will not be tolerated too, right?

in people walk into the shopping mall and discovered that it is as hot as outside, they definitely won't stay any longer. business is flowing to locations with lower temperatures. not good again, right?

i understand the very difficult in hong kong in applying the "fresh air" policy for the premises because no matter which place in hong kong there is no fresh air, especially in the central areas. everyone walking into the area is acting like moving filters help cleaning the city's air...at the cost of their own lives, of course.

but at least, do something about air circulation. trapped air in closed system does nothing good to no one.

no, i'm typing this not because i'm sleepy right now. and, no, it's also not because of i really want to leave the office now. and, of course no, i don't think the air is thick and dirty in the office now. and, i said no already, i don't need a fan to circulate the air in the office although it's cold enough already.

think i'd better bring compressed oxygen canisters (those for scuba diving) next week to work...my goodness...i'm going to faint...@_@

20 Oct 2005

Good morning everyone. This is the everyday direct report from the very busy office, reported by the staff that has almost nothing to do but seeing the others being very busy.

On the headlines:
The coffee machine's water tank ran out of water. People fed in panic. Tommy came and filled the tank. After hours of struggling he finally saved the whole office by refilling the coffee machine. There is no injury in this accident.

Later on, the water dispenser ran out of water too. The government had issued red alert to the public. Supermarkets are loaded with people trying to stock water at their home. Tommy came and appeased the crowd by using his amazing strength to refill the 18L water bottle. Peace and order is again restored.

In the washroom, the boss and Tommy met and had a meeting for 30 seconds. Both declared a closer co-operation in the future. The two leaders agreed to dispose their own WMD, also known as Weapon of Mass Destruction e.g. bad data.

The pantry is running out of teabags. Jasmine and Green tea today had their stock keep falling since the market started. Market speculation is that the share price of Po Lei and red tea is going to rise.

The research on the forth quarter Price Index show a slight rise of 0.5% with a relative increase in bakery products for 10%. It is believed to be caused by the introduction of the Pumpkin and Ham pastry from the Maxim's which is too delicious and inexpensive that Tommy had been purchasing in bulk every morning, pushing the price to a new high. Experts believe that the phenomenon will sustain for a period of time.

The business war of Wrigley's Airwaves (ginger orange flavour) and Wrigley's Doublemint is rising. While Tommy favours the clear flavour freshness of the mint, he also regards the ginger orange as refreshing and revitalizing. Recent studies show that the struggle on chewing gums will not diminished in the near future. Market is observing according to the slack price on the two chewing gums.

The weather:
The thick boredom hanging over Causeway Bay is expected to be staying for the coming few days, or at least as long as someone still working in a stupid post. Some drizzle of excitement will occasionally come during 1230 to 1400, cause unknown. Continuing boredom extends to the rest of the week. The Mind Blankness Index is high to dangerously high, government warns on public health, suggesting staying home instead of working on meaningless duties.

The Mark Six numbers are: 4,14,24,,44,94,104, and the extra number is 0.

And that's the news for this morning. Have a nice (and meaningful) day. Goodbye.

19 Oct 2005

Unbelievable.

The time now is 1449 in the afternoon. My stomach is filed with the lunch that doesn’t worth the price itself. Bloods are keep flowing to the stomach to help with the arduous digestion below the ever-growing belly of mine. My brain is starting to feel dehydrogenated. While at this moment I really need some excitement and at least some noise around me, the office is so damn quiet that you will complain the A/C outlet being too noisy. Even typing is too noisy, even there is only two people typing at the moment. Damn. I’m gonna sleep very soon.

I’ve never seen the office so empty in the middle of the day. Now my boss is on annual leave. The big boss is out in France having his training (never heard that a managing director needs “training” too). The admin manager is still on her maternity leave. The secretary is now outside nowhere to be found (guess she’s down there in the HR Dept).

S&P Dept originally has 4 persons. Now 2 left for China to deal business. One left for nowhere…yes, everyone here can disappear in nowhere. The remaining one is a newcomer, and he’s really the only one remained now can see what I’m doing in my computer. If ever he’s going to washroom, I’m really gonna play games on the internet…or at least, solitaire in windows.

The Dry Dept originally has 2 persons. One left for “hanging out” with the client and having expensive lunch with tem in Pacific Place (my goodness). 1 of the 2 dry brokers left. 1 of the 2 accountant ladies left. 1 of the 2 secretaries left. 3 of 3 of the bosses left.

The office is filled with silent joy.

And no matter how many people left in the office. There is only one man that will make the difference (to me).

My boss.

Of course this is very easy to think of, especially when you know that I am just sitting NEXT to my boss everyday. Yes, close and next to. We have no rooms in this office. Everyone is under the same roof (metaphorically and descriptively). So there are basically no secrets or gossips at all around here (and that’s why it’s so damn quiet). Whenever my boss just turn his neck for a little bit, he can see what I’m doing on my screen. He can see everything I am doing even with just a glimpse. Or maybe not even a glimpse, maybe he can sense it with the corner of his eyes.

Now that’s scary, right?

But the good news is, my boss don’t really care what I’m doing. He seldom checks my progress, if any. In fact, he didn’t lay down any rules on how or what to do with the database that I’m handling. There is always the good side and the down side. You can say you are so free to do whatever you like, or you can say you are so ignored that you almost question yourself are you really an employee.

A real DIY job, anyone?

18 Oct 2005

Last night my parents had ask me about my job again. They asked me whether you would really like to quit or not. I’m not so sure yet. I don’t think I will have any future with this job. And it’s boring anyway. But I don’t know where can I go if I quit this job. I don’t think there is any one else who will be paying me a satisfactory salary for a job that doesn’t really so stressful. This job is lazy and has nothing to do. And I’m receiving a small amount of salary. It’s really like of a retired life in here. Though my boss is just sitting next to me and can easily see what I’m doing, I still feel this job quite good. At least, I’m typing my diary now.

But leaving this job…the feeling is like leaving a greenhouse when you have been in there for quite a long time. Therefore I don’t know how to deal with the feelings that I am going to have when I leave here.

My father suggest me to go study a part-time master degree, taking the advantage of this very free and boring job. I know, but I’ve never thought of what else to study. I felt like I had wasted 3 years of time in GRM already. I really don’t want to make another wrong decision anymore.

Sometimes I ask myself. Did I really wasted that 3 years of time? Will I really be much more happy when I am in another study? Will I be more happy in another busy job? Will I be really more happy when I’m not working in a job that fits my character?

Wow.

Thousands of questions.

I recall my dad saying something to my mom, saying that she “won’t buy Mark Six that doesn’t win”

Explain next time.

14 Oct 2005

As some of you might aware, this diary is typed in English (of course, I don’t treat you all as nuts, unlike how my mom treats me). This reason is that this diary is being typed in my office while it’s still office hour and I should be working in front of the computer instead of typing diary. But today something never happened before really happened now. My boss left me and had his (believed to be) sick leave.

Not difficult to guess because his face doesn’t look good at all during the whole morning and it’s not difficult to guess that he’s already in sick. I just didn’t expect he will leave suddenly during the lunch without even telling me! His own “horse son” directly under him! Eh…I really don’t know what he’s thinking.

Anyway, here I am, in the office, in the afternoon, having nothing to do. I wish I can type Chinese diary but you know, I’m working in a Danish company. Everything here appears on the screen in every computers are all English. It’s really far too easy to see that you are doing something unrelated to the company when there is Chinese on your screen.

Not even write. Everything that I have written so far are also in English. So I can’t do much in Chinese. And even though my boss had left already there are still many people around that can see what is appearing on my screen. So above this diary is actually a decoy of a piece of e-mail that I used to send everyday to all the offices in our company (some kind of stupid announcement). To really avoid the others from seeing, I have to lower the size of display from 100% of the real document to 88%, which both Viola and I think it’s a very good zooming proportion for doing documents.