Saturday, August 30, 2008 8:56 PM
i caught the bug again!i couldnt recall, but mum said i've been sick for at least 3 times already within this year. good health doesnt seem to be on my calender any time in this month. the weather's been bad, the changes to temperature unexpected and way too cold for my own liking. but that't not how i fell.
it all started with one guy and now at least 4 people have been infected by that same bug that's been passing around. jason got the flu, and he has yet to recover since 3 weeks ago. richard's one guy that never falls prey to illness, and now he's down with the same bug that he caught from jason while hanging out together.
richard's got it bad, and because he has 2 other work colleagues residing in the same house as him, he's got him infected as well. gary's got the flu a few days after richard and jess, a week later (when she discovered it was already too late to move into her bf's apartment).
now jess had no choice but to come to work with a sorethroat, since wendy-boss wldnt give her leave, for the fact that she already had 2 staff on leave. i worked with jess that wednesday, and was unlucky myself. i had the sorethroat on that night itself and reported sick on thursday.
today, i went training with the rest, half expecting the amount of work to be done in today's rowing. believe me, i nearly died on the way back. i was so exhausted and was breathing so heavily, that even the sharon in the 3rd seat had to constantly ask if i could carry on. i guess it was pure stubborness, i wanted my team to carry on, so i had to since i was in the stroke seat.
starts : consists of 4 strokes to get the boat moving. paul made us do circuit rows- fast and hard strokes in preparation for the sprints 0n sept 13, starts-10, starts- 20, starts-10-normal row throughout. when we got together with jo's double, we did 5 small starts competitive, and ended up losing fairly because we had to carry paul's "weight" as well;D followed by starts-30 and long-d back to the boat shed. i was flat-out.
i slept the 2 hours before work started at subway. not surprising, i guess i pushed myself too hard, i ran a slight fever. hehe;D ...and i passed that fever to may, while working beside her. i guess i was working so hard, i perspired and the fever left me good. she was tired out even beforehand before i passed it. she felt dizzy and hot-headed halfway through her shift and was sent home, because she just couldnt work. ouch, now i feel bad.
i've been a bad girl this week. ann's supposely called me a bitch in front of everyone in dk in my dream. but the facts were real. she was angry with me because i told her i couldnt work for dk anymore, given studies and training commitments, plus family as well. i thought the new girl was hired to cover my shift but instead it was otherwise and she was fed up because of that. gosh, i cried in my sleep because of that.
im exhausted.
i wish i could stop the clock, and make time stand still.
catch a breather,
and twist the dial backwards to relive life again.
Saturday, August 23, 2008 9:55 PM
Curtin- All Saints row!it was a great day out there at champion lakes today. the sun was great and the winds werent as bad as the other few races we've all been to. the food stand was up and running (appealing appetizers- cakes and biscuits), with the sasauge sizzle heating things up. the tent was set up and so was the umpire's stand.
the first race started early at 10.00am, with the men's C grade singles all pumped up to start the day good. both me and galatee came early to have a training session before our women's D grade doubles at 11.15am. we couldnt find a right time to train since the winds werent great on both occasions we were down for. the change of seating didnt really work out great at first- we were so accustomed to our usual habits as a stroke and bow pair in thr prion.
we were off the waters an hour earlier due to the commencement of races in that area. we were both not confident of what our new roles should be, me as a leader and galatee as a follower this time. this time, things would be different. we started on time, and galatee managed to check the boat into position for the umpire to start the race, the first 20 strokes, were hard, followed by long strides in between till the 250m mark, where we did hard strokes all the way.
the balance in the boat was good and the boat's directions were fairly accurate- thus not having to panick about going off course; D with the speed and power settling in by the 250m, we made the 5th, missing 4th place by 1.08 of a second. damm, so close- maybe a lil more power should do the trick:D and 6th place came in 2 mins later.
coach jo was so proud of us- 5th place was hard to believe for a 4-month old team what became for us, from a team that capsized 100m from the end point to a 5th place, missing 4th by mere seconds would put us on the books for the most improved women's doubles team. D grade was no feat for us, we beat 6th position (2 years exp) with a 4-month old exp.
the next race was a women's D grade quad, with a cox at 12.50pm. we missed our race and start. before us, were 2 other consecutive teams that were using the same boat as we were, the osphrey. the changeover just didnt make it for our timing since the last team that used it came in last in their race. by the time we made our way to the course route, race 29 had already started. we started race 30 late by 200m since the umpire didnt want us colliding into other boats since it wasnt our race to begin with.
the best part of all was the confusion which arose when our card number wasnt showing 3, instead it carried the number 7. i guess that could be one of the reasons as to why none of the umpires noticed that we were missing from our lane in race 29, since there was already a 7 there. as to who changed our card number last minute, we have no idea.
leading from the stroke is scary/half of the time, i was wondering if the rest at the back could keep up with my timing and also if i were to give up before any of them would. aden was a really good cox. he kept the directions in line with the marker bouys and the motivational support was really effective esp. at the last 500m.
although it wasnt our race, we rowed race style, since everyone was going to watch us, coming in last of that race. imagine the number of eyes looking at your strokes- there's where we lengthened out to included time to check for little details such as is the blade going in 90 degrees?
we stayed for the day to load to the boats back onto the trailer and then into the boat club. the last race ended at 5.25pm while the packing up lasted till 6.00pm. i only managed to get home by 7.50pm after everything. i bet i'll sleep well tonight.
i have to.
i have training tmr, its sunday if you remembered and trainings start at 8.30am.
plus, mum and the rest went for church already, leaving me alone for church after training.
Sunday, August 17, 2008 7:02 PM
what have i been doing the last couple of weeks? running around.
yes, i've been up on my toes for the past few weeks. im so sorry, i havent found the time to blog, if its the day- im always out for work, if not at school and training, andif its at night, it's the truckload of assignments piling up on my guitar. (i dont actually have a desk just a small table which is big enough only for my computer)
it's not that easy juggling two jobs and school. but i dont have much of a choice do i? i just cant seem to say no to either bosses, even if my assignments at stake. i guess thats the reason why i got told off last monday by subway. i wasnt aware of my work schedule and when i asked to take a break to concentrate on my assignment- it was harder than i thought to get leave.
anyway, that was past. she didnt have much of a choice and gary was happy to do my shift, so in the end it was one day off my work schedule. that could do if i didnt have monday, tuesday and saturday at work as well, not to mention school on wednesday and friday as well.
im shit.
i know im foolish for taking on all of this pressure. i know im going to break down someday, somehow i would, but then, i cant seem to give up. i love the adrenaline. i like the fact that im always out of the house- running around. i may be stubborn, but am i stubborn for the right things?
did i set my priorities right? is everything going the way i wanted it to be? is life rolling out the way it should have been or am i just trying to rush through life? have i neglected the ones who love me in my run against time to please others? have i forgotten how it is to be loved and to be taken care of instead of caring for others? have i forgotten what life's about?
i came out fine in semester one. i managed but then again, i didnt have 2 jobs. i dont know if i'll be so lucky this time round.
Thursday, August 07, 2008 11:10 PM
i've been particulary tired this whole week.it's no surprise as to the number of activities i have going outside of the house. i had a medical jab for the prevention against cervical cancer. mum brought me and sis to the clinic to have it done- and i was first again. 'so who's the bravest?' without much thought, charmaine's eyes just fixated on me. oh thanks ah -_- ''. it was funny because everytime it came to needles, needless to say, it was always me first. she claimed that i had more muscle in my upper arms so i wldnt feel the pain much as compared to her, so she rather wait. you know, prolong her turn at the needle?
i've been at work for the past few days @ subway. im progressing well in terms of coping with the change in environment and people. on tuesday, i could only cope serving breads with 5 people, because i couldnt take the pressure of people waiting to be served. so i did salads the rest of the day.
today was different. no one else wanted to volunteer to do breads so i had to learn to cope with the pressure. while i only did breads during off -peak hours such as 3-5pm, it was totally different this time round since i was doing on- peak. lunch hour. now, i know why no one wants that job- i was naive then. i've been up on my feet for 6 hours, 3 hours, doing breads. it was tiring. i nearly fell asleep at doing the salads at around 3.30pm. i couldnt even stay awake, such that my memory skills were failing me then. the most i could remember was 3 salads at one go. i had to buy an energy drink from dk, to keep myself awake for the rest of my shift, not to mention training thereafter.
we went for training at 5.15pm. the winds werent so good today, and the waters were bad enough that even for a quad to go out into open waters, all we could only do was light rowing. we decided that going out in a double would be too risky and uncalled for. so we did ergo (rowing machine) instead, we did 2 sets of 2km within 10 mins each. it'll be a start, but i was just glad i managed to do 10 mins in the first place.
starlights of this week- i saw mild porn after my wed lecture at 8pm. i guess the next time i see a caucasian with an asian bitch, i might just puke. the guy was sitting down on a bench and he was definately getting creative with his girl, while she had her legs tucked at the side of his thighs. i know its rude to stare, but it was so obvious, even passerbys were looking, staring as a matter of fact, so i have an allibi. it was in the spur of the moment while they were kissing, that he tucked his hands into the sides of her pants, how i saw this? i had the priveledge to see it when i brisked past. eww. disgusted, totally.
- i was working at subway: i was going to the back kitchen to refill some of the salads, 'i need lettuce, carrot and olives guys' when i saw richard and jason touching one another, like how gay birds do sometimes. im not against it. it fact i loved it. but seeing the both of them- i thought i was going green, and had to use my hands to cover the exposure and yes, my jaws dropped 'what the heck are you guys doing' - their reaction was almost laughable. they suddenly jerked back with those shocked expressions on their faces, and tried to clear up the mess by compounding me with a 101 reasons as to why they were touching one another. i tried to sound as though i got it, but you know me, so i persisted and kept asking. i guess jason got tired of defending himself that he started to turn on me by licking the air and pulling down his collar, exposing his left neckbone. sure hell, it scared me off.
- i was working with lee today, he's 50, and has been working with subway for almost 18 years, when it turns october. while he was working, i caught a glimse of his hand muscles, 'wow, tight muscles' the only problem was that i think i kinda said it too loud- one of the customers laughed when i said that. another was when lee was distracting me while i was working on a customer's salads. i totally forgot what were the salads she didnt want, and scolded lee, 'you disturbing old man' haha , it was funny.
- im a pig i know. i was chatting with a customer while serving him and he had in one of his hands, a bag of chips. i smelt vinegar in them and asked the equivalent of it. he nodded, and asked if i wanted some- i almost beamed. oh wait, i did beam, and he handed me a few chips; D
Monday, August 04, 2008 10:10 PM
i met an angel along the way,i missed both my weekend rowing sessions because i didnt have a ride, but i've had my fair share of fun throughout the weekend, after work @ subway on saturday, i met a lady who introduced herself as charlotte bland. it all started with one question 'is that book nice?', and our little friendship just bloomed from there.
since i had missed the only bus that could bring me home in time for mass, mum had to fetch me from work. our coversations had spread across many different topics. i got to learn of her life experiences and she got to learn about my life as a teen. did i mention? she's 68 and aging really well. we may be separated by 50 years of difference, but, the similarities we both spot are trememdous- the same outgoing, fun-spirited personality, the love for freedom and space, and the adventurer and risk-taker all in one.
before i had to leave as mum was already waiting as arranged, she did something no stranger would do to another in those 20 minutes that we've met. she gave me her mobile number, home address and her house number. not even new friends that i've made would give me their contact details in the first meeting. i guess she realised that i was a little bit taken aback by her offer, the fact that i suddenly went speechless, but she reassured me with a pat on my back, and said that if i should have any problems along my years as a teenager and just need a listening ear and a hug, she would be there for me. the most a stranger could do for another:D
jokes of the week:
Number Onealthough it was sunny outside, the house was cold. while i was wearing only a single layer, charmaine had donned 4 layers of clothing to shield from the cold. we just finished lunch and were washing up, while charmaine was busy suntanning from within the four walls of the house, absorbing the sun's rays that shone through the glass. while i was busy talking with mum, she suddenly grabbed hold on my arms, squeezed it tight and tried to snuggle in my chest, attempting to draw heat from my warm body.
my nervous system swung into action, and the next thing i knew, i shoved her aside, whilst commanding her ' Go There, SUN!' my main intention was that she leave me alone so i could do the dishes while she continued to suntan, mum's face came up with a blank and the second to that, she was breaking out into spasms of laughter. she was thinking 'why the hell would amanda call charmaine son?' i know i was slow. it took me minutes to even understand what was so funny.
Number Twowe had fish and chips for lunch today. 3 boxes of them for each of us. mum had hers labelled because she didnt like her chips too salted. she wrote a big capital, M in black which was a very distinct constrast against the red and yellow packaging. i ate at least half of my box in the car while mum was driving home. whilst finishing the rest of my meal, i realised i needed more salt- that my chips were too bland whilst mum was testifying that the chips were way too salted. plus, i couldnt finish my meal. i left at least 1/2 of chips in my box while mum finished all except a bunch of fries. when i finally closed the lid of the box- admiting defeat to the huge portion of chips, my eyes caught image of a lettering, black against the yellow background. 'damm, now we all know who ate my box' 'MAAAAA.....'
i have to watch "Dark Night", i really have to. everyone's starting to talk about it, and it's making me jealous. i cant wait that long to rent the dvd when it does come out, i have to watch it now- but it's just so hard to get people together just to watch a movie. the fact that almost everyone has school on a tuesday except for me, makes it even more harder to get people out of their busy schedule. but it hasnt been all work and no play for me this week.
