RECYClear

With moving out in mind, since some time before Chinese New Year I've been (not spring cleaning, but) spring clearing. As in spending the spring (well, the Sundays up to now) clearing out not-really-needed stuff. Which I've got a lot of. Ha.

So I've been looking up local recycling channels for various materials, especially those that cannot fit into the neighbourhood recycling bins* and those that I think could be better channeled somewhere else. Here's sharing a few channels that I think are useful, as a quick guide; you can definitely find more via Google.

Save That Pen
[Reuse/Recycle] If you've somehow accumulated from conferences / exhibitions more free pens than you can use, or maybe you / your kids have outgrown those color marker pens, this program will help you get them reused, or failing that, pass them on to the recycling bin for you.

StarHub e-Waste Recycling
[Recycle] For electronics. I'm not sure how updated the list of collection points is, but at least the bin at StarHub Customer Service @ Plaza Singapura should still be around for some time, I believe.

Salvation Army
[Reuse] Stuff that are still usable can go here.

Tzu Chi Community Recycling Points
[Recycle] This seems to serve the same purpose as the paper/plastic/metal/glass/other recycling bins, but there are volunteers manning the collection points if you need human intervention to maybe clarify your categorization doubts or the like. I also hope they have a more discerning sorting process, for cases where the stuff can go to a better channel.


* By the way, if you need to locate these bins, there's a handy app on OneMap. Find "Themes" on the top bar, choose "Environment" > "Recycling Bins".

Centum

I think of the word reliable (100).
I think of the word reliant (100:0).

I think of the word division (50:50).
I think of the word collaboration (x:y, x+y=100, x>0, y>0).

Then I think of how my hundred does not equal your hundred.
I think of how one's hundred makes up x < 100.

Then I think

Fifty percent from you and fifty percent from me
is contribution.

But to do this together
means a hundred percent of you and a hundred percent of me.

Benefit of the Doubt

I want to be understanding
But all I understand are my own assumptions
Because I don't know how to ask the questions
Because I don't know if I should ask at all.

I can't say I don't want to do this alone
While I still believe in doing it my way
I can't say I want to rely on you
While I don't trust enough to let go.

I want to give you the benefit of the doubt
But doubt is somehow the operative word here
Not just of you but of me
Because I can't figure how else things should be
Because I can't figure what the question really is.

Tech Trans

So, today's the day I finally left WinXP behind. The free Win7 upgrade (pushed into a partition) didn't make me; hearing about the end of support for XP didn't make me; but now we're developing some Windows library and I figure it's pretty foolish to keep coding and testing on XP, which until today was what my main development PC ran on.

Come to think of it, when XP first came out, I also stuck to Win2K for quite some time. When I first upgraded to XP, I still set the look to Classic. All those square edges looked much neater to me. =D Now, though, they just look old-fashioned. (Or maybe it's the colour?) Which goes to show it was all inertia...

Anyway, I just spent the last few hours installing and configuring stuff on the Win7 partition. It wasn't so daunting as I've installed a number of programs since the actual OS upgrade a long time ago, and some of the other programs can still be run from the XP drive. Migrating Outlook used to be what I hated most about changing systems at school or work, but it's quite easy now that we use Exchange; almost everything stays at the server.

Another recent abandonment, an unwilling one, was iGoogle. This is a greater loss! Now nothing is forcing glimpses of daily news and trivia on me. I checked out a few recommended replacements, but I wasn't motivated enough to create a new account for any of them*. I resorted to bookmarking Google News and Chrome Apps, but then I rarely remember to click on them. -_-0

* It was kind of a wake-up call too, of how much of my online life was hinging on Google and its convenient synchronize feature. Dangerous!

Ah, the nature of technology. Moving on...


[Edit:] I forgot to update that I have since managed to get my paws on The Long War. NLB, you're awesome. (我們永遠支持你!)

[Edit II:] The Long War turned out a rather tedious reading for me, though. =( I ended up not finishing it.

A Day of Kindness

Today I received so many acts of kindness (including material manifestations of it) that I have to write them down to remember. :)

Rushing from my team's exhibition booth to the MRT station, I left my water bottle behind. My colleague noticed and took it back to office for me.

Met Shixuan at the station and she helped me carry my bag while I lugged my laptop along.

Ai Ling fetched the two of us and gave us a ride to the charity dinner, where we were to perform. She also lent me her high heels which were much more comfortable than my own.

I got a bag as some kind of door prize. The draw chances must have been quite generous, as I'm usually not lucky at this kind of thing. :P

Weng Hong won a trolley bag at the lucky draw, but gave it to me.

I somehow won a crystal vase at the lucky draw, despite just telling Hwee Mei that (as I said earlier) I was usually not lucky at this kind of thing. In fact I just went to the restroom as I thought it wouldn't concern me, and Ai Ling went up to collect the prize on my behalf. ^_^;

I saw our institute ED Dr. Tan at the charity dinner as he went up to collect a prize, but didn't think he'd remember me from just a few presentations my team had with him. Hence I didn't go to greet him. It turned out that Mrs. Tan recognized me when we Soracco were up there singing, and they were the ones who came to our table to say hi. *_*

The organizers further gave us perfume bottles and vases as an appreciation token.

The dinner itself was sponsored for us (by Angie?) as we were volunteer performers.

Hwee Mei and Shixuan again helped me haul my stuff (plus all the loot) back to Ai Ling's car.

At the dinner, and at the exhibition too, I was having a good time, surrounded by friends and colleagues I could comfortably talk with (it usually takes me some time to warm up to people). In fact I was slightly worried that in my high spirits I might have been unmindful and blurted out inconsiderate things. :X

All these that I received today felt much more than I was giving back. Guess I can only be thankful to everyone for now, and slowly try to give more in the future. :)

借りてきた言葉

ぶつかり合う時も来るさ　綺麗な事ばかりじゃないだろうから
全てを君と　越えてゆくと決めた

共に歩き　共に探し
共に笑い　共に誓い
共に感じ　共に選び
共に泣き　共に背負い
共に抱き　共に迷い
共に築き　共に願い

ささやかな幸せが　木漏れ日のように　やわらかに降り注ぐ
そんな日々を　描きながら・・・

November: Thunder x Ender x Steam...er

November is looking set on becoming a happy month for my fandoms!

Although, for my own part, some of the happy things may happen much later than that. =/

So, for some time we've known that Thor 2 is going to be released on 8 Nov (in the US).
All the ladies are so fabulous in this trailer, they're reviving my fading excitement for the movie. ^_^

Even more looked-forward-to is Ender's Game the movie, on 1 Nov (again, in the US).
I'm afraid there are too many good parts in the book to all make it within the length of a single movie, so I'm telling myself I'll just be there for the null-g stuff. And shiny visuals.

And I've just found out that the next Discworld book will be out on 7 Nov (UK, I suppose).
Obviously I haven't been a good enough fan because I hadn't heard about its release before its delay was announced. But no matter! What's important is there's going to be more Moist von Lipwig!

But of course, I won't be seeing that book anytime in November. T_T
In fact, NLB, I'm still waiting for The Long War. Pretty please?

(Entry title has to do with the fact that I've recently started reading Hunter x Hunter. Another fandom in the making? =X)

cloudy with a chance of firewalls

clouds overhead are overrunning the sky
dearies, this is really not the time
i'll love you at sunset, and i'll love you at sunrise,
but please won't you let me have my planets and stars when it's night?