Last Lecture

I attended this final 1 hour lecture although the lecturer had nothing to teach. My last official lecture in Inti, after 3.5 years there. Time flies.

The classroom was very empty.

The reason I was there was to hear my lecturer say "class dismiss" at the end of the session. It was his way of chasing all of us out (although normally he runs out faster than us). 

With this final "class dismiss", I close another chapter of my story.

The action continues in Perth!

Snake Awash

I chanced upon this guy when strolling along the stretch of beach in Tanjung Bungah. At first I thought it was an eel, but taking a closer look, I realised it was a sea snake. 

Meet Slimy, the slithery little monster from the deep blue sea.

I think the snake was dead, because it showed no reaction when I tried to get closer. The person beside me had the good sense to pull me away when I was a meter from the snake. I used my camera zoom to take the next photo.

A closer look at Slimy, the dead sea snake.

So when you're at the beach having fun, be careful where you place your feet. Heh heh heh...

Activated Charcoal/Carbon

After visiting the toilet 4 times, I decided to do some research on the black stuff I was consuming to help my tummy overcome whatever nonsense was (and is) going on in it.

Activated charcoal is basically carbon that has been treated with controlled oxidation. After treatment, the charcoal will possess a high degree of microporosity (gives the charcoal lots of tiny, tiny holes). Due to this, 1 gram of activated charcoal can have a surface area exceeding 500 square meters (says Wikipedia).

Activated charcoal has 14x the adsorption power of ordinary charcoal. *Cool scientific term* Adsorption (not absorption) refers to the adhesion of particles (atoms, molecules etc) from a gas, liquid or dissolved solid to a surface. This means when the carbon flows through your gastrointestinal tract, all those icky yucky ewwy toxins and impurities are attracted to the surface of the carbon. The activated charcoal works like a magnet, using its wide active site (read: surface) to bind with toxins that give your tummy the ouchies. When you finally unceremoniously dispose of the contents of your gut, the charcoal goes out with the impurities, leaving your intestines squeaky clean!

Besides diarrhea treatment, activated carbon is also used for treating drug overdoses and poisonings. It all works the same way. So if you accidentally ingest a can of herbicide, ask your local pharmacy for activated carbon. Taking carbon before having an alcoholic drink also decreases your body's ability to absorb ethanol from the drink, hence reducing your expected blood alcohol content.

Pretty cool, huh? Thank you black ugly tablet for helping me through my indigestion!

Dear Consolidation Accountants

After working through my consolidation assignment, I would like to say THANK YOU on behalf of the entire planet to all accountants out there working on drafting consolidated financial statements. I never realised you guys had such a sh*tty job. It must have been so hard on you guys.

We, the stakeholders and end users of the consolidated statements, would like to express our appreciation for those sleepless nights and emotional breakdowns and spells of violence and insanity and eating disorders etc etc etc you had to endure to present before us the Consolidated Financial Statements of ABCXYZ Ltd for the financial period ending 30 June 201X.

I believe I speak for everyone when I say you all are geniuses for being able to balance the unbalanceable, tie the untieable and tally the untallyable. I'm sure this makes sense to you guys.

Also, please note that I probably won't be joining you all in this profession. So with one guy short, please do keep up the good work :P

The Avengers

I'm not a fan of superhero movies ( I find the idea of a huge green guy smashing through my bean plants slightly intimidating). Nevertheless, I gave this movie a go, and I'm giving it the thumbs up.

I've nothing much to say about the special effects and the actions sequences. All superhero movies involve large things destroying larger things, resulting in noise, explosions and debris. Lots and lots of debris. The Avengers is no different. You get to see skyscrapers torn down to pieces the size of cornflakes. Cars being thrown across the street. Aliens scaling walls. You get the picture.

However, one good thing is that for The Avengers, the script itself is worth the ticket price. I was delighted to see superheroes with a way with words. No more "Never fear, Captain America is HERE!" and other corny lines that remind me of cartoon heroes.

Speed is Everything?

"Develop a sense of urgency in all things you do. Speed is everything." Everything. Well how true is this? Perhaps true to a certain point, but it really stops there. In many if not most cases, I observe getting it done right is always more important than getting it done quick. Mindless haste by some only results in extra work for others who have better things to do.

How many times have you rushed through a piece of work, only to realise you messed up some crucial parts in the process? I'm prone to making such errors, although most of the time I attribute it to the fact that I had my mind on other matters (like lunch). Still, unless you're extremely sharp and know very well what you're doing, simply speeding up won't get you anywhere.

Simply speeding up would mean driving at 160km/h on a 80km/h highway. And we all know that people who drive like hell, are bound to get there some day.

Urgency is a great tool, if you use it right. The presence of a right amount of urgency (and brains) drives people forward, but too much of it drives people straight into walls. Would you spend time to sharpen your axe now and fell trees later in just minutes, or not sharpen your axe now but take all day to clear the jungle?