Flashback No. 2

Feeding time for Rudolf.

Not to forget a bear hug from Mr. Polar himself

The Christmas Tree
As early as 4000 years BC, evergreen trees were used during winter solstice as a symbol of life, promising Spring's return. In the 7th century Saint Boniface, as English monk, was sent to Germany to spread the word of God. After spending a great deal of time in Thuringia, he chose to use the fir tree as an analogy of the Holy Trinity, with each corner of the tree's triangular shape representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Soon, the fir tree was regarded as God's tree. By the 17th century, the trees were displayed every Christmas to depict the everlasting hope of mankind.

Hiking on Gulkana Glacier

By the way if Santa ever happens to read my blog, or if anybody had noticed, I had updated my new Wishlist. These are all the items I need to get before I go back. All are necessary to setup my ultimate home theatre system in my bedroom. Some are just gifts that I want to buy for myself as Birthday or Christmas presents, as I am always alone...
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all gone, just like that... 5:50 PM

Numbed

Winter's calling... It's freezing...

Erm... It's not very cold actually for Arizona. This is the most popular state where everybody from up North move down here to avoid the harsh Winter during the end of the year. Time to bring out the winter clothing. Erm... Again, there is actually not much of winter clothing that I have. I just need to thermal-fied myself and it's good enough to survive here. Even though the temperatures falls to 0°C at night, I wouldn't be staying outdoor most of the time by then. It was only until yesterday that I felt the winter is here because I was shivering when I stepped outdoor to have a smoke, during the Mahjong session break. It's quite a torture to have smoke in winter.

Yes, Mahjong again. Nothing else better than gathering with another 3 friends over a game of our favourite. I made "大三元". Complete set of 14 tiles altogether with "中發口". Total of 8 folds maximum. Lucky me, all my "good friends" never let me down. Win a total of USD$250. Yesterday was a good day for me in the poker game too. Starting I was down by USD$300, in the end I win everything back and plus a winning of USD$470.

Boring Sunday as usual... I called AC to see if he wants dinner, else I am going out for dinner alone. No way I am gonna feed on instant noodles again. We had a Vietnam style dinner and was still kinda early so he suggested bowling. Oh my god... I don't even know how to bowl. But still I went for it anyway. Just to kill time and it doesn't kills me by just throwing a few 12 pound-ers down the lane. We went Tri-City Bowling Center. Had a total of 6 games. Surprisingly I did quite well. Lolz. An average of 100 points and above for each game (so much for an amature). Seriously I don't bowl at all. Maybe I'm a fast learner. After all that my fingers were kind of swell & aching... Argh...

These are all my collections from all over the world. The 5 rings (It's such a hassle to go through the gates of the airlines that I fly). The fingers that I wear on my left & right hands are a balance. I got my 'mood ring' replaced with the COACH sterling silver and a thumb ring from ALDO. I will be getting one from Tiffany & Co. to add to my collection soon. Hanging on the wall is part of my weaponry collection. Don't think that they are only my palm size, all are life size weapons.

all gone, just like that... 2:57 PM

Eureka Seven

What a week... No, what a month actually. Started off with a Technical Data Violation [TDV] by 2 personnel, then comes a Direct Safety Violation [DSV] by another 2 personnel, then another JOAP error TDV by 1, and last but not least 2 more getting de-certified to their minimum qualification and the Record Of Verbal Warning [ROVW].

This is the first time I see so many screw ups in a month contributed by our DCC flight. *sigh* They just keeps adding to the statistic. All are either getting corrective or punitive punishments from our flight chief and the management. As part of the flight, what I can do to help as much as possible is only to watch out for them when they are working. I don't know what is in their mind really. Not only those new rotation personnel that are making the mistakes, those that are going back in 3 months' time also adds to the statistic... With very senior people too.

I must help Angelo translate his message across to all.

"When you choose to be posted here in America, you are given a choice, nobody forced you to come here. And get this in your mind why are you here, what is your purpose. You are here because the aircraft are here, that's why work is priority. To generate healthy aircraft stats and successful missions daily without human factor related incident or accident. You guys don't come here because of Disneyland, Universal Studios, Hollywood, New York, Las Vegas, etc. Majority of the people here don't have the right mindset. Saturdays & Sundays here are confirm day-off. Whereas, back in SG, you have got tonnes of appointments and duties to catch up with. On top of that you are actually getting an extra allowance. If you can't hack the work tempo and not up to the standards, you should be doing more self developing or if not pack your stuffs and go back SG! Don't be a B********h that just do the task without knowing what is the rationale, get your basics right and understand the system. Then you will never go wrong or put other people's life at risk when working with you."

After work is done you can all relax and do whatever you want, nobody will bother you, this is a Land of Freedom. But everyday I see people surfing the Internet for maps to go tour, booking hotels & online shopping for good deals during operation hours. These people are always hogging on to the computer terminals.

"Knowledge is Power" I came out with this phrase myself, even before I heard it, when I was an On-Job-Trainee [OJT]. I philosophized this and take every opportunities to improve myself all the time. I look at every occurrences in life as a learning phase. I remembered also once, my instructor told me that I must start working as 1 rank higher on every promotion. If you are not yearning for your next higher rank than stay dull and work within your job scope.

Since the day I joined the Air Force, I had been hearing alot of inspiring speeches given by many leaders. Some are only logical in words but not actions. Whereas some, talks practical. One of them is Angelo. I had been hearing him since I am an OJT in Aerosystem Flight [AEF]. Many find him fearful, but I find him approachable. He is just a funny old man. I don't meant funny as in nonsense or what, it's just that it's fun to work with him. This is one of his favourite quote: "Mangkali Gan lah". Same goes for Derek Ng, who is coming to join us here soon. These people are the best to work with because they know what is happening and most importantly they are practical people. They help to improve the working environment by being a pests buster in the Squadron...

all gone, just like that... 5:40 PM

X'mas 2007

"Borat" did a special guest appearance on the event, all the way from the Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan.

SYK, CKM, me, TYH, Philip, Eric

SCH, Andy

Scrooge came to wreck the X'mas.

When you see Santa's ride, you know he is near...

Of course not forgetting Santa Claus~! I was giving him the "knuckles" and he returned with a "finger".

Kids meeting Santa & receiving presents are the happiest... My memories...

Not really a smooth Christmas for the committees as there were many setbacks and Situation Awareness (SA) issues. Regardless, we had the event over without casualties I guess. *shrugs*

After everything was over, it's Mahjong session again. This time was with John, Shirley & Yam. Argh! More than 10 years of experience in this game and I actually made a "炸胡". Oh my... I can't even remember when was the last time I did such error. My mind was somehow not right. Played 3 games total and I was holding "东风" all the way. I had been holding on to it since 2 weeks ago. This is the 10th or 11th consecutive "东风" I think. Haha, and they call me the "Mr. 东". Till the end of the day I lost USD$130. If not for that fatal mistake, I would have break even somehow. Damned.

all gone, just like that... 2:59 PM

4 Players

24 hours a day are not enough for me, if only I don't need to sleep, I can get many things done. I find sleeping a waste of time... I keep fighting the "Z-monster" with caffeine but eventually I got knocked out in front of my laptop. Some people just like to sleep their life away, whereas I think that when you are finally lying in that coffin of yours, you can "sleep" forever till the end of time...

So much for not updating my blog recently. Had been working in the morning shift for the past 3 weeks. Time is not on my side. I hate 8 to 5. It's tough for you to run errands as when I am done working, most of the places I need to go are already closing. All the time is wasted at work. Rushing here and there, skipping lunch during break time to get my car and the Christmas function preparations done for Saturday.

Nothing much in the recent week. Work, work, work... Weekends are all about Mahjong. Haven't been interacting with my buddy lately. Seems that now I am a member among YSK's players list. I love Mahjong. It's a game of wits (of course luck involved) with a combination of 14 tiles and there are so many winning hands you can make out of it. I like strategic games (not only Mahjong). Work with your mind often and you wouldn't be much of an idiot or moron. Everybody have got their ups & downs. I am feeling lucky recently, had been winning most of the time, winning hundreds, losing tenths. I hope this streak keeps up, at least I have something to look forward to in my life... Added USD$210 to my winnings today at YSK's house, with Kenneth, Yam & YSK.

all gone, just like that... 2:59 PM

Transporter

Kenneth Cole - Watch, Shoes & Wallet

all gone, just like that... 12:48 PM