Wednesday, August 27, 2003

DEAR OL' SCHOOL

i reached dear ol' pittsburgh at almost 5pm on sunday. my baggage was late. it's so annoying that all the other bags before yours circle the conveyer belt a million times with noone ever claiming them. if only they had the decency to make the walk from the airplane to the baggage claim longer - then by the time you reach it your bag would most probably be there already. the perfect illusion for efficiency you see.

anyway, i got to my apartment at around 7ish pm and was pooped out of my wits. class the next day was at 930am so i was pretty much asking for trouble. all my classes this semester start way too early for my liking.

first class was Writing In The Professions. Apparently most were IS juniors so it was nice to see familiar faces. it ended around 11 so i slept as soon as i got back and woke up at 9pm. today was worse. class was at 9am. the good thing was that it was an IS class i've been itching to start taking. so it was worth it. but i'm actually waiting for tomorrow; tomorrow's the day i get to know if i can get into the Writing and Photography: Magazine Writing and Journalism class. keep your fingers crossed yah!

oh and by the way, say hello to the new 70643 Teaching Assistant!!!

Wednesday, August 20, 2003

ME THE HANDYMAN

got a delightful surprise this morning when nabe called. thanks lots :) and sorry to cut you off real fast but today i became the handyman and helped dad polish the masonry at the porch. tomorrow it's light bulbs. ooooo....look at it shine! anyhoo, it was pretty fun polishing, and the water repellant acryllic did make the floor shine. so all that crouching and squatting paid off. i finished this can...burp!

so now i'm half-way through packing (that's a lie. i'm putting it off til tomorrow) and this is when the grief settles in. but i guess i'll enjoy it while it lasts.

anyway, if anyone needs their tiles/masonry polished...you know who to call ;p

Tuesday, August 19, 2003

SO LONG, AND THANKS TO THE ELEPHANT

today was my last day. and what better way to end such a wonderful experience with a grand event at Sheraton Imperial.

Goodbye IBM :( I finally had to return my Industrial Trainee badge; but they let me keep the neck cord. yay!

anyway, it was rather sad when i had to say my goodbyes and i'd like to thank all IBMers and a couple of MINDEF people whom i met during my involvement with the Thought Leadership Seminar held this morning. But most of all i think i had the most fun with my sector (listed right off the top of my head so excuse me for leaving out any names): Pn Khairi, En Hasan, En Jasni (nice voice by the way), En Nizam (for recommending me Arthur C. Clarke!), En Rauf, Kak Ha, Kak Shafini, Kak Rozaidah, Nadia, Pn Faridah, En Radzi, En Hafiz (who i talked to only once but whose advice i really appreciate), and of course the entire 3A floor!!!

sigh. as much as i feel that this holiday surely was a short one, i think its the most rewarding yet :)

also, en hasan recommended i post the speech i drafted for Dato' Suriah. This isn't the final version, but it is the original that i wrote for her and the one she read with a few modifications. don't be too hard on me though, since this is my maiden speech for such a huge event :)

Establishing Security as a Business Enabler

Saturday, August 16, 2003

THE END OF GOOD DAYS

Boy oh boy it's been one hectic ride of a summer. a rollercoaster experience, if i may say so myself.
And all of it to end by next saturday :( (sobs!)

well, my days at IBM will end soon enough. it's only been a month and i'd been told that i wouldn't get much out in 30 days. but actually i've gained quite a lot than i had imagined and all of them are undoubtedly precious experiences. I'm also proud to announce that this morning, at a seminar on Infosecurity organized by IBM, Dato' Suriah, Deputy Secretary General I of the Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia, had used the speech I drafted out!

so...tuesday shall officially conclude my internship. boo-hoo. lots of fun, and even more lessons learnt. more on that on tuesday though (i hate goodbyes).

I had to write a report after the completion of Lou Gerstner's book - requested by En Hassan. I'll post that up later I suppose. However, I do have one essay currently written based on my encounter with a lady. Do read it. I'm not giving away the story, so let's just say it's a tribute to all the mothers out there - but specifically those mums who sacrifice their jobs for us :)

The World's Most Noble Job