Season's Greetings

It's been an unforgettable year for many reasons and we'll cherish the good ones and learn from the bad. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2012!

An Altercation

Something interesting happened this morning. I was with a customer and suddenly there were these voices (a young man and an uncle) shouting at each other. I didn't see the incident before that but apparently a child was playing around while his parents were paying at the cashier and didn't see the uncle pushing a trolley in the adjacent lane and got his head knocked. A very minor incident, not even a bruise... but not for the father. His fists were raised and ready to strike the much older man down.

The younger man ironically shouted that the uncle had no manners and didn't even apologize, and the uncle said back to him in this frame 'as if you should be talking about manners'

To the uncle's credit, he tried to calm the younger man down saying that he didn't see the child running or turning, and the parents should have been more mindful of their child. The younger man got so pissed that it could have been his fault and started shouting at the uncle, that he should be more careful when there are children around.

The 'triumphant' father who has defended his family's honor...or has he?

The whole thing is silly really, it's really no one's fault and accidents happen all the time. So has the young man really won? It would appear so. But then again, what the father is saying indirectly to his child is

1) It doesn't matter if it's your fault, I will bring you their severed testicles on a plate for lunch.
2) It's ok to be rude.
3) It's ok to be disrespectful to strangers, especially the weak and elderly.

Great parenting dad! Watch out for the little one during his rebellious teenage years... you won't be spared.

Bugs and Beeps

2 bugs and 2 dragon beeps (soft shutter release)

Yes I'm preparing for the X10... heheh

Modified Nutella Cake In 90 seconds (+++)

It definitely took way more than 90 seconds to make this. I actually got this recipe from here which linked to here, who got the recipe from here (... thank goodness for rebloggers I guess?). It looked simple enough so I had a go.

I didn't have any cocoa powder at home, so I used the next best thing - Milo Fuze 3-in-1. This also eliminated the need to add any sugar, the instant pack milo is sweet enough.

Ingredients
1) 1 tablespoon (and a bit more) of Nutella
2) 1 heaping tablespoon of flour
3) half teaspoon baking powder
4) 1 packet Milo Fuze 3-in-1
5) 1egg (beaten)

Mix everything together and put the mixture into a microwaveable bowl or container. Set the microwave to 70% and set the timer for 40-60 seconds. I initially set 30 seconds but nothing happened. So I set another 20 seconds and saw the thing 'rise'. It's mostly trial and error, watch it closely to see it still retains that moistness.

Ta-da! Yes, it's as delicious as it looks. Seriously! Will add a scoop of ice cream next time I make this.

Wishlist

Fujifilm X10, I can't remember the last time I've been this tempted by a digital camera...

X10

Well to be fair, I was a bit tempted when it's elder brother, the X100, was launched but the price was a turn off. This one may be a stripped down version of the X100, but there are some things I like about it - Full HD video mode and zoom lens.

Image from Guido ... I want that black and white ladybird on the X100 shutter button too!

It seems I may have to clear out my dry cabinet to make a space for this fella...

How Come I Didn't Notice This Before?

A customer was returning some strips of blood pressure medications he had bought from me earlier because there wasn't a need for it anymore. He's one of the very few people who has managed to control his BP and come off the medications.

So I was checking to see if the medications have already expired and I noticed something...

Top to bottom : Spade, Heart, Square, Asterisk, Pentagon

See those symbols next to the batch number? Has it always been there? Why didn't I notice this before? There are 2 sets of each symbol in a box of 10 strips. This is the first time I've seen something like this and I think it's quite cute. Anyone else noticed this?

Some people handle situations...

...some situations handle people.

Recently my staff had a huge personal problem and took a few days off to settle it. Normally my stance towards issues like this is that work and personal issues are two separate entities and should never mix, but in real life that's not always possible. Days turned to weeks and to say that we weren't affected at all would be a lie. Yes, we were short-handed at the office, but more importantly concerned for her. We've all worked together for so long that we know each other quite well. To cut a long story short, she initially decided to 'settle' her problem by avoiding it and thought it will go away by itself, but we know that this can sometimes make it worse and it did. Thankfully she came to her senses much later on, put her foot down and with a couple of police reports lodged, things are heading in the right direction.

You know what they say, that challenges can either make or break you, and I'm glad that it was not the latter. I got to talk to her after that and I can sense the determination and courage in her, qualities that were lacking before. A couple of things I learn from this -

1) Never whine about what a deep mess you're in. Focus your energy instead of solving that mess. I won't go so far to say be thankful for challenges, but you'll definitely be better off one way or another after having gone through it.
2) If something calls for urgent action, ignoring it won't do you any favors. You will still have to face it later on, together with all the additional problems caused by your inaction.
3) It's important to have people you can count on for help and support. No man is a pulau.

I hope I'll remember all this when I'm going through a rough patch.