Random thought of the day

"Smokers kill each other willingly everyday...with a smile on the face." 

Think of it. 

If you are a smoker, it is quite often that you would offer a cigarette to someone else as a gesture of 'good will', and vice-versa. 

There are also times when someone asks for a lighter, you will notice that all other smokers, including yourself (if you are one too), would be more than happy to pass a lighter to the person.  

Also, there are moments when a hapless fellow smoker runs out of cigarettes, and asks whether anyone can spare a stick; most other smokers within the vicinity would be glad to offer one.

It is a funny culture it is. I guess its some form of camaraderie amongst people who share a common interest.  

Oh well, since we are going to die anyway might as well take a few more with us. 

ho ho ho.

Relationships = Meat market

Relationships. 

It is sometimes equivalent to that of buying meat at a market.

No seriously. Don't take it in a bad light. I actually mean different, here is the explanation:

Choosing a partner is just like choosing a piece of meat at the morning market. Think of it as a metaphorical way of looking at the entire process. Markets are like avenues, places where people gather so you can make your selections. Sort of like looking at different types of meats from different butchers. 

Soon we finally stop at a promising looking 'market', and start sifting through the abundance of meats available at the place. Some are brimming red of freshness, some look good but are not cut well enough or may have imperfections, and some have may have already turned stale and rancid. When posed with such a vast array of options, it is a good idea to pick and choose, not grab the first thing we see (unless of course you are that type of person which just grabs whatever comes). Research my friend. Do research on all these types of meats before making the final decision. What type of meat is this? What kind of dishes can you make with it? What kind of textures does it have? How do you think it would taste in the end? 

After the lengthy selection process, we settle with the type of meat we want.  We bring it home and chill it a little to preserve its 'freshness' while we conduct further research to understand what works best with this type of meat. We research and test what spices work, what makes the meat more tender, what enhances its taste. Just like finding out what your partner likes.

Remember that the 'freshness' can disappear after awhile, turning the meat stale and ready for the bin. Act fast. act quick, but not too quick my friend. Haste makes waste. Do your research first. 

So after the extensive research its time to 'marinate' it. We work the extras into the meat, smelling and tasting to see if all the different enhancements make it better. We also need to test how long do you need to marinate the meat. Sometimes if you over-marinate, the meat gets soft and looses its original taste. If you under-marinate it may not be as tasty. This is the same as testing out what makes your partner tick, what buttons you need to push to start their clockwork. You know what they like and sometimes guess what they like through observations. 

Now cooking time is a challenge in itself too. You need to know how long to you need to cook it. You also need to know how much heat you need to use. Too hot, you scorch and send the meat up in flames. Too little heat, the meat goes undercooked. Sometimes we tend to be too over-enthusiastic in relationships, scaring your potential partner away. Sometimes we are too complacent, resulting in boredom and the eventual abandonment. 

Finally, after all the hardwork and time spent, we get to 'eat' the meat. This I leave it up to your imagination. 

Bon Appetit. 

Brain drain

Knowledge is garnered through experience and the proactive collection of informative material. In the days before computers and the Internet, we sought for knowledge through dusty books in libraries, journals, 4-inch thick encyclopedias, 9 o'clock telly sessions of Discovery and National Geographic, newspapers, magazines, and the grapevine (word of mouth) - to further enhance brain capacities. Information sharing was far slower as we need to be more physical, and manual with our reception of messages. I remember obtaining an Internet line way back in early 1996, running on a 'superbly-quick' 14.4 kbps dial-up modem that made funky beeping noises when it was connecting the lines. This was when everything in the world started to change significantly. 

The way we consume information is entirely different now compared to that of 20 years ago. Now we can look up and learn about something faster than making a cup of instant noodles in a microwave. All it takes is a little curiosity and flicks on plastic keys to know something new. Stroke of keys. Zap. I know more about alien dolphins, and that Aristotle died in 322 BC. 

Kids nowadays however, through my somewhat unbiased observations and non-prejudicial predispositions; have concluded that they are getting dumber (in the sense of general knowledge) than the average kid of the same age, 20 years ago. Tech has been so interwined with our lives that we take for granted its capabilities. For most of them as what I have observed, do not take this new age channels of intellectual material. A lot of things can be learned at much greater speeds compared to what we used to have in the past, but alot of it is wasted on hours and hours of wasted kilobytes of redundant games which bring one nowhere except impaired social skills, less vitamin D, and probably a level 73-sword of 'superbly-awesome-killa-of-digital-monsters'. 

I am not saying that it is essentially bad to use the Internet for gaming use, but excessive durations till one holes themselves in dingy, semi-lit rooms which hundred of other like-minded zombie-ish, bloodshot-eyed individuals is not exactly aligned to the meaning of the word healthy. Use this new method of communication and information to good use. Find out more about the world. Learn things about the past, present and non-existant. Increase your general knowledge. The web is a vast and endless continuity; use it to your advantage. 

Learn something new today, and everyday.   

Reality

"Hey look, the sides are browning already"

Video: Sushi

Ever wondered what its like from the perspective of a sushi on the conveyor belt? This video shows us the delightfully eerie view of what its like to be a sushi; waiting for the moment to be picked up by a customer, and eaten.


lost in a moment from dennis wheatley on Vimeo.

Are your clients helping / killing you?

Obtaining a good network of clients is hard work. Most entrepreneurs whom have just started their businesses would like to get their hands on as many clients as they can. We will search high and low, ask for referrals and extend the word out to our most obvious contacts, which is our peers and family to help recommend their products or services. After a while, we manage to obtain a healthy amount of clientele which constantly give us projects to follow up each month, however we still find ourselves working long and tiring hours, only to be paid a measly amount for our sweat, tears and caffeinated blood. We won’t want to be doing this for the rest of our lives right? 

Why is it so that some other entrepreneurs work so much less, get to spend time with their friends and family, and actually have a life, while earning so much more than you? So what seems to be the problem here? 

TYPES OF CLIENTS 

In order to address this problem, we as entrepreneurs must realise that there are two totally different types of clients in this world. Not all clients you meet would actually boost your business. Some may even take down a spiralling staircase to the pits of failure if you allow them to hang around you long enough. The two types of clients you would definitely encounter in your business endeavours: 

- Clients that will pay you accordingly for the great work you have done 

- Clients that will work you to death and pay you peanuts 

This is what happens most of the time: In the quest to keep our start-ups alive, we tend to grab anyone who wants to do business with us first, even though they low-ball our prices. These types of clients pull our prices low because they know that we are new, inexperienced and client starved. They work us and squeeze everything out of us after that. This is what you definitely not want but it is a true fact of business. 

It is a dog eat dog world where only the strong and decisive will survive. Small clients who do not possess the means to reward you handsomely for your efforts is a good learning experience and it should just remain as that. These clients should not become your staple diet or else you will eventually gain nothing but pain and suffering (unless of course you have a penchant for torture). They would not just exhaust your capacity to perform but also put your business in the line of fire. 

This does not mean you should think about being ‘exclusive’.  It actually means that you should and must maintain a certain standard for your business. If you know that you are delivering quality work, only offer it at quality prices. The price clients pay must equal the amount of service that you provide to them (although giving a little bit extra to your clients is always a good idea). 

The good clients are more rewarding than you think. They don’t just give you that little extra in your bank account that you have been hoping for, but they also provide you an enriching experience which helps boost your confidence and drive to perform even better. These clients may also help connect you with their own contacts, which spell more opportunities of business for you.     

So here is a brief rundown of traits that distinguish a bad or good client: 

The Bad Ones 

- Those who have absolutely no idea what they are looking for and what they want to see as a result
- Those who only compare products or services by price point and do not understand the term ‘value’
- Those who have pitch you absurdly low budgets but still want something extra
- Those who have such tight deadlines that you will not have any room for adjustments

- Those who would not disclose everything about a job to you at once 

The Good Ones
- Those who are willing to fork out money for quality work
- Those who regard you as a partner in the project, not just another contractor 

- Those who will share with you tips and techniques on how to improve on the project
- Those who regard your services or products to be a prime factor in their long term plan

Support la! Good ma!

There has been something that has been bugging me for a really long time:

Football supporters or 'so-called' supporters.

supporting some other country's football (understandable because our own country's football is not up to the standard yet, and its glory days of yesteryear has dissolved to nothingness)

Why would someone give so much support to people playing a game, which one does not even play themselves? It doesn't make sense to me how can you love something so much when you don't play it at all? How does the undying devotion to a club or player make u 'in' or 'happening'?

I deduce this to a simple case of - Attention seeking and a method that people employ to have a sense of belonging. Yes we humans need a sense of camaraderie, friendship and a base, but this should not reduce you to 'become' someone else or force yourself to make yourself 'think' that you 'like' or 'love' that particular game - just to fit in.

Damn those glory hunters.