The 2nd 10 km run

Last year I ran with 2 good runners and they kept me going till I lost them at the 5km mark. Later on, my ankle gave way and I stopped at the 7km mark and walked pretty much on and off from there till the finish line.

This year I ran with this guy. He was a veteran runner whom came in 3rd back when he was in secondary school. My bro was too suppose to run with us today, but I called a frantic call from him this morning. He said that his wife not feeling well, then added her breathing was heavy. It took some time before he actually said that he think his wife is going into labour.

PS. He is a dad of a cute baby girl now :)

Oh and months ago, we actually had this joke that he may have to sprint to the finish line if he knows his baby is coming during the run.

Anyhow, I met M in the dawn of the morning. He complained to me about the lack of sleep, a slight headache and a damaged bonnet which surprisingly din crash his hand. I myself had 4 hrs of sleep, mild flu like symptoms and pretty much lost my voice. We were 2 misfit runners.

We set about to complete the run in the best we can. And as soon as we are line up to start, the kenyans were finishing their 42km stroll in little more than 2 hrs.

I had targeted to run throughout this round without stopping. Also hope to better my mark of 1:13:20 (official) which I did last year. The ran was enjoyable and fun for most part. We ran together right up to the 5km mark (top of ECP bridge). Its there that M spoke to me like a wounded soldier. Go on, he said, dont let me slow you down.

Anyhow I went on my own. My ankles were starting to ache and my throat was killing me. The devil on my left said, its time to take a break. Walk like the rest of them. The angel said, WTF! you ^($^%@#*# better not stop.

So I carried on till the the 9km mark where for no reason at all I stopped. I was just passing Esplanade at that point and within a few short steps, I pushed myself on. Ran to the finish line and cross the counter at 1:13.

M ran pass not too long after at 1:20. He had been thinking of nasi lemak throughout the run and as soon as we were rested, we went for a good meal.

BTW, I am suffering from some dehydration. Gotten a mild fever since I came back. Dun think I would ever try running again when I am not of good health.

The Italian Police

This is what the Italian Police has in its arsenal to combat against the illegal racing speedster and the getaway bank robbers.

Its the Lamborghini Gallardo. Much much more powerful than the Subaru WRX which our local police has.

Unfortunately, one of only two of this beautiful machines had been totaled by a careless driver. You could almost felt the tears in your eyes when you see the picture below.

more info

new plants

The office tank (see earlier post) now has 2 lovely baby lobsters.

Now onto the home tank. I had remove the bottom netting that holds a bundle of moss. It was meant to be a moss flooring but the moss din ended up growing too well. Upon removing it, I shift it to the back of the tank.

this reveals plenty of shit. lots and lots of shit that have been lying underneath the netting. This is where the filter fails to gather the necessary dirt. Having said that, I set the filter on high and immediately the tank was cloudy shit. Everything looks like a dirty washing machine.

I bought 5 plants which were neatly pack in the bag. Having open them, I realise 3 will be all I need to cover the background. I have no idea they could expand so much.

Anyhow, I would pose some pics after the shit settle down. May take a whole day. In any case, I do hope my inhabitants wont mind living in a peculiar condition.

Update: Apparently the renovation is quite stressful to the little creatures. About 5 were spotted dead this morning and 20 more are missing. Sighs

baby lobsters

This is my second attempt at raising lobsters. Previously my $4 crayfish live for a week before laying dead in the tank. I could not find out any reason why.

Now I have spent $14 on 2 smaller lobsters. They seemed to be enjoying the new tank life. One is even feasting on a dead cherry shrimp as I speak.

They are no larger than 50 cents. And I mean the coin, not the rapper.

Long Weekend

I took leave for last Thursday. And with the Public Holiday on Friday, I practically had 4 days of weekend.

And boy was it bad for health. After all, with the thought of 4 days of rest, I spent Wed night out late, and slept at 2-3am throughout.

Only for last night to get used to this "jetlag" mode and slept for only 4 hrs.

Already today I had 2 shots of coffee to keep me going. However the effect is wearing off.

I should have come back to work on Sunday :S

ps. I realise I am talking rubbish throughout

the tea break

It was a pretty quiet day for me today. Seems like the people I am working for are away on leave. Time has been passing by slowly and was contemplating a nice teabreak in the mid afternoon to perk the mood up.

Coincidently, a colleague needed to get some table lights. I pop the suggestion, abt Ikea and in 10 mins we were finding a carpark lot there.

The coffee was good, the chicken wing was tasty and the meatballs were always fabulous. Which also brings to mind, the meatballs are made of pork and beef. Particularly taking away the halal and firm buddhist customers.

Anyhow, every teabreak should be this relaxing.

Behind the scene of Sesame street

Sure seems fun to be a muppeteer

work

If you notice my blog had been quiet for the past couple of weeks. You are not alone.

Aside from posts which I found interesting to copy and paste, the only other post I wrote was about my Maths problem. Well the truth is my Maths problem still exist and I would have to swap the adults and babies soon.

Anyway, I had quietly pass my 4 years of work mark. Interestingly, there were no joy, no sadness. It was simply another day.

What I could not believe is that I had been in the same organisation for 4 years. I recall wanting to leave twice but relented due to various reasons. And well, I planning to leave by early 2010. If only I could find the right place.

Speaking of which, there was a climate survey carried out for all employees. Strangely the level of happiness is as follows

1 year and less - Very satisfy
1 - 3 years - Not satisfy
4 - 5 years - Satisfy
5 years and more - Very satisfy

My director explained this to us that its a general J curve seen everywhere.

When you join a company, the initial excitment carries you on. After the first year, you realise what a mistake you had made. After the 4 years mark, you kinda become accustomed to things and managed to find the joy of work once more. It could also mean you have been promoted to a certain level where you can make the newbies life a living hell :)

Well, I never believe in torturing the newbies. Always enjoy working in a team to get things done. Its the teamwork that helps make the workload feel lighter.

To sum it off, I guess if I failed to leave by early next year, I may never leave. *insert Hotel California*

Maths problem

My fish tank at home is having a healthy population of 30 prawns and a handful of baby prawns

The fish tank in my office is roughly 5 times smaller and its meant for just baby prawns. It has however having a population of 20 teenager prawns reaching adulthood. In fact some teens are pregnant. ---- yes i know.

So I would have to bring the little ones from home to work and bring the bigger ones from work to home. The problems are as follows

1. Its difficult to scoop out the tiny ones from the big tank
2. Its even more difficult to scoop out the big ones from the small tank
3. There has to be a safe way to transport them

I have 5 tetras and I wondered where I should put them.

How to eat a chicken wing

I find this information very useful