A Better Title

Seen on my colleague’s C textbook (scribbled on the margin; syntax corrected for display on this blog):

char *lineptr[3];
lineptr[1] = “I love you”;
lineptr[2] = “You love me”;
lineptr[3] = “Fuck you”;

Oh dear, I wonder what was on his mind…

PS: I left the office to meet up with someone, and I actually went all the way back to the office to take the book that I accidentally left behind, just so that I can take the photo and put it up here. Oh, the things that I do in the name of blogging…

Oh, and I ended up being late for my dinner date with two friends.

Those who know me well will know that I’m very sensitive when I’m sleeping. Which means to say that I get stimulated very easily. Any slight noise can wake me up. It was the very same reason that I had to switch rooms when I stayed in hall as a freshman.

In addition, due to the insane property prices lately, I have to forgo the privacy of a single room in my old house, to share a room in the new house with a friend. Which means to say that I’m no longer single. Which I thought was fine initially since we only use the room for sleeping.

Oh, I didn’t tell you that I moved to Bukit Batok? That’s for next entry then.

What I hoped was that he doesn’t do anything funny when I’m asleep. Unfortunately, this friend is also a snorer. Imagine being woken up at 1 am, 4 am, and 9 am because of the snores. So I retaliated by forcing his eyes open and shining torchlight into his eyes.

Snores + sensitive sleeper = disaster.

The solution turns out to be simple, and is actually the same one I thought about exactly 4 years ago.

I bought a pair of earplugs.

The earplugs that I got are actually quite cheap ($1.55 for a pair), but they are also a brilliant device. I’ve always wondered how does a person insert the earplug such that it will block as much noise as possible.

The answer lies in the fact that the basic earplugs, like the one I got, are made of memory foam. Tell the earplugs something, and they will retain it for years. Deform the earplugs, and they will slowly return to its original shape.

So what you have to do is to roll an earplug, compressing it to a small cylinder, and then place it in the ear canal. The earplug will slowly expand and fill the gap.

The experience itself is worth blogging.

First you feel a foreign object (the earplug) entering your ear. And then with a rustling noise, the earplug slowly expands. As it does, the sound that you hear from that ear slowly fades, until the earplug is in a tight fit with your ear.

Do it on both ears, and the experience is quite surreal. Everything you sense with the other four senses are the same, only that you hear nothing, or very muted, if at all. The usual noise of the air con, the taps on the handphone as you send your last good night messages, the noise you’re supposed to hear as you toss and turn in bed–they are just not there. If you’re lucky, you can even hear your own heartbeat!

Well, that’s what you’re supposed to hear–nothing.

For some people, like me, I hear a slight ringing noise. It’s the same noise that I get when I try to shut both ears with my fingers. Wikipedia suggests that this condition is called Tiny Toon tinnitus.

It is not a disease itself, but can be caused by many reasons, such as “ear infections, foreign objects or wax in the ear (most likely the reason), nose allergies that prevent (or induce) fluid drain and cause wax build-up, and injury from loud noises. Tinnitus is also a side-effect of some oral medications, such as aspirin, and may also result from an abnormally low level of serotonin activity.”

Tinnitus does not seem to be a dangerous condition though, so I guess it’s fine.

BTW, did you know that memory foam are used for mattresses too?

Half an hour ago, this was a very angry post that may aggravate some problems.

But after talking to someone unexpected, it turned to a realization of what might have actually happened.

Maybe she was right.

Maybe what I really have to do is to be patient.

Don’t rush things. Don’t blame. Don’t get offended.

And give everyone some time to cool down and heal.

Because eventually, things will turn out fine.

These few days my playlist keeps on consisting of Mocca’s songs. I think that these past 3 years of my life can be summarized by Mocca’s songs, from their first album (My Diary) to the second (Friends). In fact I can probably write a blog entry just with their songs.

Thanks to all my friends who have been around me, in particular the ones who were there at the lowest period of my life.

Thank you.

Read more for the lyrics.

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Remember 90 Day Jane, the girl who promised to commit suicide after 90 days and blog about it every single day? This blog has nothing to do with it, and neither am I going to commit suicide, so don’t you worry hokay? Anyway it turns out that 90 Day Jane didn’t really commit suicide at the end of the 90 days, but rather she revealed that it was actually an art project of hers.

Just that in 90 days time, this domain will be disabled. So there won’t be any more squoar.com. After all, the very reason why the domain is called squoar.com is no longer there. So what’s the point of continuing the domain name, isn’t it?

Anyway, she should be moving to a new domain soon, while myself… well, I haven’t really decided. I haven’t even decided if I’d like to take another break from blogging, or whether I will continue in another domain, or even just carry on blogging on Wordpress.com.

Notice I didn’t write “stop blogging”, since it has never been my intention to stop blogging. Besides, I’ve attempted to stop blogging a couple of times, as you can see from the holes in my archives, but usually they never last for more than a couple of weeks.

It’s been a week since I started working in GEC. The first week was… well… quite hard to describe. It was exciting, knowing what I am going to perform in the company, as well as boring as I can’t really start yet as my PR is not approved yet. My direct manager is also not around, so I had to rely on the other team members to guide me along.

It doesn’t help that one of the laws also prohibits me from knowing anything about the project as long as my PR is not approved yet. Not surprisingly, of course I can’t say anything about the project here either.

So I spent the first week performing administrative tasks needed for new hires, doing some readings on the basic knowledge needed for the project, as well as trying to get used to the company’s internal systems, like the tools available on the company’s intranet.

One of the good things about the company is that all employees are issued with a laptop each. I got one of the Lenovo T61, which is apparently more powerful than my desktop PC. Too bad we can’t install any personal stuff inside.

Oh, and I got my first assignment too, although it doesn’t have anything to do with the project I’ll be doing.

Perhaps one day, someone will understand what I really feel…

Perhaps one day, someone will know why I feel this way…

Perhaps one day…

Maybe what I can do here is blog once a day, until the time is up. It’s been a while since I blogged as frequently. Yup, I’ll blog while I still can, one post a day. Who knows what will happen after the time is up, isn’t it?

If one fine day, someone suddenly tells you that you only have less than 100 days left in existence, how would you react? And what would you do in the rest of the days of you existing?

Posted this long time ago, and right now this song is exactly like what I feel.

I’m not made of brick, I’m not made of stone.

Read more for the lyrics.

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