Monday, August 28, 2006

I want... No, I need the air-con fixed.

For the sake of my sanity, I need that thrice-damned aircon fixed, and I need it fixed now. I don't think I'll be able to survive very long without it, and everyday without it is torturous to me. I will suffer, on a daily basis, if the aircon is not up and running.

But it's not my aircon that is broken. Oh no. The one in my room is working fine. It's purring beautifully. It's the aircon in my parents' room that is broken, along with the ones in the dining room and living room. Those 3 units are linked to the same compressor, and I believe it has broken down, rendering all the linked units to cease functioning too.

My dad, unable to sleep in a warm room, cooled only by an electric fan, has decided to move into my room, to take advantage of my still functioning aircon, whilst his is broken. So he's sleeping in my room now. And he snores a little; about as softly as a chainsaw.

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night at all. If he wasn't snoring, he was talking, and it has kept me up most of the night. I can't keep my ears covered under my pillow because the moment I actually fall asleep, something slips, and I can feel the full force of his snores and I'm jolted awake again.

I finally moved to the couch at about 4am, trying to catch some sleep in quiet. My mom woke up shortly after, and offered her bed to me. So I did manage to catch a few hours of peaceful rest.

But I may be in for more torture if that damn aircon isn't fixed and soon. I'm shattered here. I'm about to crash.

Monday, August 21, 2006

Why geeks and nerds are worth it.

I just read over at a friend's blog lamenting why she can't get a normal guy. I also just heard about another friend's recent breakup.

This, coupled with the coincidence that I had heard about this list from a recent podcast, made me want to share this with everyone.

In the wide world of dating, there are many options. Do you go for the flashy guy with the smooth smile, or the dude in the corner typing away on his laptop? The following are reasons why I think my fellow females should pay more attention to the quiet geeks and nerds, and less attention to the flashy boys.

1. While geeks and nerds may be awkward, they’re well-meaning 9 out of 10 times. That smooth dude with the sly grin and the spider hands? Wonder what HIS intentions are... plus, I’ve never had a geek guy not call me when he said he would. Score major points THERE.

2. They’re useful. In this tech-savvy world, it’s great to have a b/f who can make your laptop, desktop, and just about anything else that plugs into a wall behave itself.

3. They’re more romantic than they’re given credit for. Ok true, their idea of romance might be to make up a spiffy web-page with all the reasons why they love you, with links to pics of you and sonnets and such... but hey. It lasts longer than flowers, plus you can show your friends.

4. Due to their neglected status, there are plenty to choose from. You like ‘em tall and slender? There are plenty of geeks/nerds who are. You like ‘em smaller with more meat on their bones? Got that too.

5. They’ve got brains. Come on now, how can intelligence be a bad thing?

6. Most are quite good at remembering dates. Like birthdates and such, especially if they know it’ll make you happy. Due again to their neglected status, they’re more attentive than guys who “have more options”. Plus, with all that down time without a steady girlfriend, they’ll likely have mental lists of all the things they’d love to do once they GOT a girlfriend.

7. Sex. Yep. Sex. I’m not really familiar with this myself, but I’ve friends who’ve been intimate with geek guys and it’s raves all around. They say a virgin wrote the Kama Sutra... all that time thinking about sex, imagining sex, dreaming about sex (they are male after all), coupled with a desire to make you happy? Use your imagination.

8. They’re relatively low-maintenance. Most can be fueled on pizza, Twinkies and Mt Dew. No complicated dinners needed here, so if you’re not the best cook, eh. Can you order a pizza?

9. Most frequent bars as often as slugs frequent salt mines. You won’t have to worry much about your geek guy getting his “groove” on with club hotties because, frankly, he’ll be too busy rooting around under his computer wondering where that spare cable went. You won’t have to worry about him flirting with other women because, 9 out of 10 times, he’ll zip right by them in a perfect b-line towards the nearest electronics store. I’ve seen this happen.
Me: “Eww. Victoria Secret’s Models... They’re so skinny. How is that feminine? You can see her ribs!”
Geek Guy: “ooooooo...”
Me: “Hey!” *notices he is staring lustfully towards the computer store*
Geek Guy: “What?”
Me: “Never mind...”

10. Although he may not want to go to every outing with you, you can arrange swaps, as in, you’ll go to his Gamer Con dressed as an elf princess if he’ll take you to the ballet. Plus, if he doesn’t want to go someplace with you, you won’t have to worry much about what he’s up to. You’ll probably come home to find him asleep on his keyboard in a sea of Mt. Dew cans with code blinking from the screen. It’s ok. He’s used to this. Just toss a blanket over him and turn out the light.

11. His friends aren’t jerks. I can’t stress this enough. You’ll more likely get “Omg! A GIRL!! Can I see?!” than “Hey hot stuff back that ass up here and let me get some grub on...” They’re awkward geeks too and will, 9 times out of 10, treat you with the utmost respect and, more than likely, a note of awe. A cute girl picked one of their clan to date? It could happen to them! Hope! Drag some of your single girlfriends over, open up a pack of Mt. Dew, crack open the DnD set and get working. Nothing impresses geek guys more than a girl who can hack-n-slash (well ok maybe if she can code... a geek can dream).

12. They’re rarely if ever possessive. They trust you, so you can be yourself around them. You like to walk around the house in a ratty t-shirt for comfort? He won’t care. He does too! They won’t get pissy if you don’t wear make-up or don’t want to bother primping your hair. If you gain a few pounds, they won’t try their best to make you feel like crap.

13. They’re usually very well educated. Physics majors and the like. See #5. You won’t have to listen to him blathering on about his car (ok maybe a little), he’ll have loads of other interesting things to talk about. Politics, world events, how much the chicken burgers down at the local place rock, so long as you douse them in hot sauce...

14. You’ll almost never have to hear, “Yaw dawg whazzap!!” plop out of their mouths. Unless it’s in jest. They spell properly, use correct punctuation, and are able to tell the difference between the toilet and the floor. They almost never get “wasted”, so you won’t have to worry about coming home to find him and his friends passed out on the floor amidst a pile of beer bottles. Mt. Dew cans, perhaps...

15. And the final reason why geeks and nerds make great boyfriends: They actually give a damn about you. Not how you look (though that’s a plus), not how skinny you are, not how much make-up you primp yourself up with, but they like you for you. That kind of thing lasts longer than “DaMN baby you got a fine ass!!!” Believe me.

Geek guys are worth it.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Nintendo DS Lite

This title straight up tells you what I want. I want a DS Lite. I have the original DS and I think that it is a really great gaming machine. The only downside to it, and one reason why I don't bring it out as often as I should, is because that it looks like a big bloated whale. It's ugly. It's a big block of a gray brick, and I wish it looked prettier. The DS Lite solves that problem, and I want one. Now.

But besides wanting a DS Lite for myself, I want each of my friends to have one too. That's right, I want all of you to go out and buy yourselves a Nintendo DS Lite. If ever you were thinking of getting me a birthday present or something similar, that would be the BEST birthday present ever. Get yourselves a DS Lite. All of you. Every single one. It would be so awesome.

Remember when I borrowed an extra DS from Yancun, and we all played multi-player Meteos? We had everyone so excited about it, and we had match after match with each other. Most of you couldn't get your hands off it, and more than once, you all were the ones who asked to play it some more.

Now imagine we could do that on a regular basis. We could meet up and play all sorts of games together. We'd whip out our DS Lites, and we'd challenge each other to a game of Bomberman. Or race against each other on Mario Kart. Or we can continue to challenge each other on Meteos.

The DS Lite has moved video gaming from a solitaire experience into a social activity, and I would like to be able to do that with my friends; To do the things that I like with the people that I love.

I want to kick your ass, wipe the floor with your face, taunt you and humiliate you. I want to beat you down, do the chicken dance, and yell "Who's your daaaaddy!".

So please, do go out there and get yourselves a DS Lite. I'll go get one too soon. And let's play some games together.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Temasek

I just completed a major project at my current company, and I'm feeling very glad that it's over. At the same time, I'm also feeling quite excited about it, because I was given very good feedback regarding the programme, both from my boss and my guest. But also at the same time, I'm feeling a little trepiditious about the next upcoming project. It's all a mess of conflicting emotions inside.

During the last 3 days, I had a guest whom I was escorting throughout his stay here. I looked after the logistics end of the visit, arranging the car and making sure he was on time for his appointments. I also picked him up and sent him off at the airport.

Prior to the actual event, there was a lot of planning to do, and alot of various events/appointments to confirm. That took alot of adminstrative details, and paying alot of attention to multiple things.

Overall, I think my programme was quite successful, and my guest was pleased with his visit to Singapore.

BUT... having performed so well, it might mean that I'll be given more responsibility and projects to handle. Maybe I shouldn't have been quite so outstanding, and flown a little under the radar. But it's very hard to hide my radiant brillance. It's a tough situation I'm in, I think.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Thurn & Taxis



I managed to play Thurn & Taxis today, and I'm really glad that I did. I enjoy this game very much, and I think it'll have a place on my gaming table for a long time. I think this game balances very well between a family friendly game, and a more gamers' game. It can appeal to beginners, and still offer enough challenge to a seasoned player.

There have been comparisons to Ticket to Ride, and I can most definitely see where that would come from. However, I think Thurn & Taxis is more suited to those who have previously found Ticket to Ride a little too 'light' for their tastes.

In this game, you are trying to building routes for postal services across Germany, and this game is set in the late 1800s. You build routes by playing city cards from your hand, with the condition that the next city card that you play must be adjacent, on the game board, onto the table and next to the city that you had played in the previous turn. One key thing to remember is that you cannot insert a city card in between any of the cards that you had already previously placed on the table. You set the cards in a row, and each new card can only be placed on either side of that row. City cards are designated with a colour to represent the region they belong to. This is important for scoring points.

You draw cards each turn from an open set of 6, which are placed on the actual game board. You may choose to pick any one of these cards and add them to your hand. You must also lay one city card onto the route that you are currently building. If you are unable to do so, you must remove all the cards that you had played previously and discard them.

If you are able to complete a route (3 cards in a row or more), you will now place postal houses onto the game board. You may decide to claim the route at any length, as long as it is more than 3. You can decide to build up to 7 or more if you felt crazy enough. Placing the postal houses can get a little confusing. You can choose to either place 1) 1 house in all the cities of 1 colour, or 2) 1 house in 1 city of each colour. Placement of these houses are important because they affect the manner in which you claim bonus points. You can score certain regions once you have 1 house in every city of that colour. Others only allow you to score once you have houses in all the cities of 2 different colours.

Every time you complete a route, you may be able to pick up a carriage card. The carriage card is both a bonus and a liability. There are carriage cards for 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 card routes. When you claim a route of a particular length for the 1st time, you may pick up the corresponding carriage card, provided that you have already taken the preceding one in a previous turn. If you want to claim the 5 route carriage card, you must already have claimed the 4 route carriage card. Each carriage type has a certain score, but it must be pointed out that the scores are not cumalative.
Each new card is laid over the previous card, and your score will be similarly overlaid. Each bigger carriage card has a bigger score.

One of the most intriguing parts of the game is the special abilities that each player may employ once each turn. Each player has a choice of 4 abilities. 1) Pick up 2 cards and add to your hand, instead of the usual 1. 2) Place 2 city cards onto your current route instead of the normal 1. 3) Discard the open set of 6 cards and deal a new set of 6. 4) Pick up a carriage card up to 2 more than your current route (route must be at least 4 cards long).

I mentioned above that I felt that this game may appeal to the more seasoned player better, and I say this because I find that each turn for the player offers more choice and decision making oppurtunities. If you do not have a card to play onto the route you are currently building, you will have to scrap it. And because of this, each player to forced to plan ahead to ensure that the current route is not wasted. Each player is also given more choice in ensuring this through the use of the special abilities, which allow the potential to change the draw of the card to their benefit. And thus, I felt that each of my turns were more purposeful during my game, because even though there was a random element to the game, I was able to mitigate that through the use of the special abilities. It was often a case of taking a chance, in either changing the set of 6 open cards or drawing two cards, but the choice of taking that chance is one that I am able to make myself.

I really like this game on my first play, and I think it's a worthwhile addition to my game collection. My first impressions are usually spot-on, and if a game doesn't impress me the 1st time round, it usually is quite difficult to change that impression. I'm glad to say that Thurn & Taxis makes a very good first impression.

Oooh... What a rush....!

I am on a gamer high. I really am. I'm still totally psyched out about the turnout at today's SOG session. We had a total of 30 people turning up for games today! Wow. I mean... That is just simply fantastic.

It's been half a year since I started organising this gaming group, and I have to say that the past 6 months have really flown by. Each month I'm just looking forward to the next SOG because I have such a blast organising it. And within these past months, I have built up a pretty strong network of gamers (56 names in the mailing list) and I've made many new friends.

If you've been reading this blog, you must know how excited I've been about SOG, and how keen I've been on promoting it to others. But really, I couldn't have done it with a few really dependable friends. They too have been helping me promote SOG to the people they know, and I'm real glad to have their support. Thanks. You know who you all are.

I had a few gamers today come up to me and thank me for organising such a session for them, and one even asked if I could do this once a fortnight. That's the greatest endorsement that I can ask for, and in response to that, I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed myself doing it, and if you all keep coming back, I'll keep doing it. It probably won't go into a bi-weekly session though. That'll just burn me out.

30 people! Frickin' crazy sick awesome!

Friday, August 04, 2006

Mood: Cheerful/Hopeful

If I wake up, and the sun is shining, and I'm tucked underneath my blanket, and the skies are blue and the clouds are white, and I am able to sit up under my own power, then it is a good day. If I am still able-bodied, and I have clothes to keep me warm, and food to eat, and a roof over my head, then it is a good life. Everything else that comes my way is a blessing.

I have a job to keep my financially stable. I have money to spend on things that I want. I have friends and family at my side. I have a computer in which to type this on! I have more in my possession today than what some people would have in their entire lives.

Boy, it sure helps to know that there are many miserable people out there who live more wretched lives than I!

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

All quiet on the western front

Nothing to report. Things have been plodding along and no particular highlights in the past couple weeks.

Work is starting to pile up because I am planning, and will be executing, a visit programme soon. I'm going to be busy the week starting 13 Aug. But I think I can manage. I just had my mid-year review yesterday. I've only been here for 3 months and I don't have much in terms of completed achievements. But HR requires a review of all staff, including new ones. So my superiors have deemed me as... cooperative, reliable, efficient and a team player. I'm not going to say that I'm not, cos I do try to do my work well. So I'm glad that they recognise this. I might get a little careless sometimes with the spelling and all, but I really do try. They also said that I have a very postive attitude. Hahaha... I guess I do have that.

The 1st ever Singapore Board Games Championship was just held over the weekend, and I was a judge at the event. I'm quite glad that I volunteered because I really do want to do what I can to support the boardgaming community. Boardgaming is my hobby, and I would like to see increased awareness about it. I enjoy playing with my regular gaming buddies, but I would like to see it grow, and I would like to be part of that growing process. It's not enough to just sit back and grumble about how bad things are, how they can improve, if one isn't already trying to contribute in the 1st place. Volunteering now will allow me to have a bigger input the next time this event is ever held again.

The next biggest thing to be coming along this week is Audrea's birthday. I'm real excited about it, and I'm glad that our friends can all make it to dinner. I think it'll be great. I just need to be ordering a cake now, and make reservations for dinner on Saturday.

Is there anything else exciting happening in my life? No... Not really. But that's alright.