Sob Story?

Once again, I would to apologize for the lack of updates recently. I am going to use the usual 'busy la' as my excuse for not regularly updating my blog. And the last week has been quite turbulent for me.

Probably it started when I could not, despite the best efforts of me and my dad, install the Quickbooks Student Edition into my laptop. I need Quickbooks for my accounting assignment, but to my frustration, I just couldn't install it. I tried to contact Reckon (the company which created QB) for help, but much to frustration again, they just sent me on a wild goose chase. I don't want to go into the details, but what I can say is when Reckon finally responded, they had the cheek to offer help at 50 dollars for 10 minutes!! WTF!

Anyway, sorry, I don't like to get all boiled up when blogging, but yeah, I am just so pissed off (oops) with QB and Reckon and what not. In the end, I found out that there's something wrong with my laptop that somehow doesn't allow QB to be installed. *Sigh* Just my luck.

And the last few days, I could say I was emotionally rattled. To be honest, I used to take pride in my ability to remain cool and keep a steady head when things get rough, but the last few days, I feel really 'unsettled', although now I am much much better, notwithstanding the fact that I still don't have Quickbooks in my laptop. Now, I have a personal grudge against QB and Reckon.

Actually, upon reflection, ever since I was in Melbourne, a lot of things don't seem to be going my way. First, there was frustrating issue of my university subjects, where I wasn't good enough to take Accelerated Maths, and the Commerce student center didn't even tell me. Secondly, there was a problem with my Epson printer I bought here in Melbourne. The printer couldn't print properly, and I wasted so much time adjusting the papers, ink etc, and in the end I found out that I actually bought a faulty printer and had to bring it back to the shop.

Then, my laptop had to act strangely, and truthfully, it got me really worried, because sometimes when I on the laptop, I can't access my files and saved data. Next, I tried my luck in applying for the position of the First Year Representative for the Actuarial Students' Society, and when I went to the interview, the interview panel basically told me I won't get the position because I am taking Calculus 2 instead of Accelerated Maths. WTF.

After that, I went to Malaysia during the Easter break for the Maxis scholarship interview. When I was checking-in at the Melbourne airport, I was told that my name was on the system, but wasn't on the flight. Obviously, I panicked and had to endure another hour of waiting before it was resolved. Anyway, the interview was tough and I had doubts about it, and sure enough, I wasn't awarded the scholarship. More hard work down the drain.

Okay, enough of my sob story. These adverse situations can 'build my character', and yeah, it's really a matter of perspective. It's how we see and react to problems in life that matters. With a positive and never-say-die attitude, surely any problem can be overcome. We might be facing lots of problems in life right now, but we can be assured that nothing, even hardships, lasts forever. Even as I am typing this, I think, "Hey, it's easier said than done". It's true, it's always easy to talk about our grand plans for the future, but sometimes no action takes place. But what I am trying to say is, all of us have problems, and we all have our own way to deal with it. But if we know that 'we are never tested beyond our capabilities' (I quote, from a secret source), our problems will seem smaller and more manageable.

Wow, I have to say this post is rather wordy. But if you have read it till this point, thank you!! So now I will attempt to put in some pictures.

If you Google search 'problems' under the images search, you will come upon the above picture. I don't think it's very encouraging if we are going through a difficult period. The picture seems to suggest that our problems could be greater than perceived.

Yup, this is how I feel the last few days. Frustration is the word.

Food for Thought

Here's something for you to think about.

If the government choose to interfere with the free market, by introducing tax, tariffs, subsidies etc, will society as a whole be better off or worse off?

Which is better? Equity financing or debt financing?

What is the relation between sech x and arc sech x?

When spouses enter into agreement, do they intend their agreement to be legally enforceable?

Do you go 'Huh? What the heck is this about?' ? (notice: 2 question marks!! Never mind...)

Yup, these are the kind of questions I get thrown at me since I started my semester. And that's only scratching the surface. Okay, I won't bore you with more uni-related stuff, but I suppose it's worth mentioning uni life isn't very relaxing. I remember not too long ago I was told university life isn't as hectic as secondary school and college times. Well, I guess the statement:

'University life is not so hectic.'

is rather ambiguous. Why? It's definitely true I have more time on my hands (I only got 14 hours of lectures and tutorials per week), but that time is being taken up by the astonishing amount of work I have to do. Okay, this part seems ambiguous again. I don't have to do all the work, but I feel rather guilty if I don't complete it. So I guess it pretty much depends on each person. And the fact that I still spend my time on Facebook and Soccernet doesn't help my workload.

Okay, enough with the uni stuff (notice that I said something along that line a few sentences earlier). A few Saturdays back, I went to the Melbourne Aquarium for free!! Fine, it's not really free, the Melbourne Aquarium is part of Unilodge's (the place I am staying) planned activities for their tenants. Everyone who is staying at Unilodge has in a way already paid for these kind of planned activities as part of their rent. To be honest, the Aquarium was a little boring, because I have been to other 'aquariums' before, so it's pretty much like 'seen-it-all-already'.

Did you know there's a restaurant on wheels concept in Melbourne? The restaurant is on a tram and it moves around the city while the diners inside eat.

Once again I apologize for the grainy photos. Unfortunately, I only possess a 3.2 mega pixels camera with me, so the quality of the photos can only be that good.

So, right now, I am at home in PJ, back in Malaysia. Yeah sure, I didn't tell a lot of people I came back. The main reason I return home is for the Maxis interview which I just went today. It was tough, and honestly, I don't think I did well enough to get my hands on the scholarship. The questions they asked, coupled with my inexperience in interviews, didn't really help my cause. In other words, I don't have a good feeling about this.

I brought some books over from Melbourne to study, but so far, I have been procrastinating. Until now, I have not open my books and tomorrow is Wednesday already. I must start...tomorrow.

Actually, I wanted to post some pictures of my Melb Aquarium trip, but the photos are still in my mobile phone (er, I meant camera) and there's something wrong with the battery. First my laptop, after that the room light, then the plane ticket, then the interview, now the handphone. What the heck, nothing going right for me.

Speaking of food, since last Thursday, I was on a strict diet. Strict diet in the sense of eating as much as I can. Whatever weight I have lost over the last few years, surely it is appearing again in stomach. I feel flabby and unfit, and for some weird reason, lost my appetite for exercise. There's something wrong with me.

So, I did my part and finally update my blog. To GOD, it your turn to do your part.