2010

Happy holidays and Best wishes for the New Year!


The glance back @ 2009:

Wow – what a zoom ride that was… In superstitious ways of the Far East, I’ll be hopping the 2009 will set the long-lasting foundations for the next 100 or some to come…

• TRYING START

- A year ago I wished to all lots of luck in the wake of the economical crisis, and especially applicable to my/stupid/self after making the difficult situation worse by failing the very last hurdle towards the masters degree. I hope the wish came true for you as it had for me:

- Thanks to Ninja for smacking me silly and reminding me that I’m one very lucky f …ellow. I relaxed, embraced the essence and enjoyed few uncertain months of the year as happily unemployed. I bunked with friends in Singapore (thanks Timo and Peteri) while waiting to hear from The Melbourne Uni if they’ll give me yet another life line to complete the degree. They did.

• MELBOURNE

- From March till May I was in Melbourne, attended the Knowledge Management lectures and with it finally completed the degree.

- One weekend in May I flew back to Singapore to evaluate the surprise job offer - 6 months after the last contact with the company.

- Roza visited for few days and met the family in the April. Observation: The love of (same) foods and drinks creates the foundation on which common ground and mutual appreciation between people from varied backgrounds can develop quickly.

• EUROPE

- May till July I’ve spend in Croatia, and then two weeks in Budapest at Roza’s new address.

- In the mean time the contract negotiation for a Singapore IT job came to the conclusion.

• BACK TO SINGAPORE

- On the 10th of July I started the new job. Finally, after first looking for a real job back in 2001 I got one.

- Initially, the plan was to stay with Dr Love only until I find my own accommodation. Before I got something suitable (thanks Aunty Susan), Love and I got engaged (for the technical reasons) and are happily living in the open relationship under the same roof - Much love, Love.

• GRADUATE

- One weekend in August I flew back to Melbourne for the graduation ceremony.

• REAL ESTATE

- On the 30th November the settlement was completed for the two bedroom investment property. When I first started looking for a real job in 2001 I've decided that I'd get into real estate - 10 years later I got there. Appreciation to parents and Roza for helping out.

• HOLIDAYS WITH FAMILIES

The coming Thursday (24th) Roza and I are flying to Perth where we’ll spend Christmas with my family. Then, via a day in Macao, we’ll get to Hong Kong to be with hers during the New Year's celebrations.


Look forward @ 2010:

- Back on the 4th of January I’ll be at the work, hoping to extend my contract, that expires in the mid-January, in spite of the company's current struggles – I can forget about realising any negotiation dreams this time around - next time...

- Work more actively on the on-line identity.

- Give the relationship with Roza a real test by sharing the same mailing address without any pre-booked flying-away tickets between us.

Cheers...!

60th wedding anniversary

On the 10th December 1949, my grandparents (Dad's parents) got married, both of them at the time being at the tender age of 16. Four kids, 7 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren later they happily live in the same place where it all stared.

Congrats...!

Info Addict

Whereas, I pride myself of (relatively) easily adapting to new situations, and thus not holding onto old habits too rigidly but rather finding ways to modify them and/or embrace new, the craving for the new information has been ever present one. My Google Reader feeds span many different topics and too many subscriptions that require some organisation and direction through filtering in order to acquire more focused knowledge. Than again, variety is the space of life where creativity brews readily.

This article, nicely explains our constant desire for 'more (...)' fuelled by curiosity and envy. It cites number of psychology studies to explain the information addiction. Though, it can equally help with better understanding of any other over/consumption.

More than helping with the addiction, my interest in the article is in understanding how a good advertisement makes a product insanely desirable.

Interesting...!


Credit: 'insanely' great => Apple 1984.
Article: Aaron via Twitter.

Inbox count: Zero

This has been my - in a day-and-age of powerful search engines and huge storage spaces - pointless ‘down-time-task’ during the last week or so. While deleting, labelling and archiving messages in my three (personal/career/fun) consolidated email addresses I have come across some interesting stuff that GMail remembered, and I long since forgot. In spite of risks, and unlike what Viktor Mayer-Schonberger believes, I’m all for the digital remembrance in a pursuit of ‘global consciences’, which - as the Internet matures - is obtainable.

The cool find is the Photoshop work by Monkey from 2005; whereas a surprising one was the apparent finding of the measurable change in my personality.

...!

The Graduate

The flight which I boarded straight from the office was delayed for an hour. It landed at 8:40am. I was in the car at 9:05, on the way from the airport to the uni . Picked up my dress at 9:25 - the official cut off time for gown dressing was set at 9:30am. The ceremony started at 10:00am and finished at 12:30pm. With it my extended journey towards Masters in Information System was officially completed, and so has the university education that started in 1998 - at least for now. As expected, Mum was ecstatic throughout the ceremony (3rd point in the letter). Surprisingly, both Dad and Sister had fun during the proceedings... And me, well most of the time I was bored, tired and falling asleep - as expected. But also - in strike contrast to nine months ago - feeling the immense amount of gratitude, accomplishment, happiness, pride...!

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Rethinking the Graduation Plans

UPDATED: I will attend the graduation proceedings. As of 11:30am this morning, my request (see below) has been approved, the airline ticket bought (Emirates for SGD630), and the gown rental paid for. All set. Mum will be ecstatic, the rest of us will be bored :)

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Yesterday's post on my 'Phoenix Degree' got me to rethink the plan to graduate in absence for the third straight time. Current thinking says this likely will not be the last degree for me, but still the chances are quite high that it might as well be. This led to some phoning and writing (below) after the run this morning in order to secure my seat at the ceremony. The RSVP was due three days ago on the 30th July, last Friday at 5pm - being late, business as usual...!

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Singapore, 3rd August 2009

Attention: Graduation Office; The University of Melbourne

To Whom it may concern,

I would appreciate if I can still attend the graduation ceremony on the 8th of Aug 09.

I apologise for the late notice, but please take the following points into your compassionate consideration:

- Even before the official end of the semester I had to leave Melbourne for a visit to my home country (Croatia, Europe). In the mean time, after the departure, I have managed to secure a job in Singapore. Considering the current economic situation, there was no much room for deliberation, and I had to alter my travel. Instead of coming back to Melbourne, I flew directly to Singapore to start the work on the 13th of July 2009.

- I speak to my parents couple of times per week over the phone, and just during our conversation on the last Saturday (two days ago) they have told me about the later that I received from The Graduation Office. Hence, I am responding to you in the earliest time possible. Considering that the official deadline was on the last Friday (30th July at 5pm), only the weekend had passed since the time when I had the right to reserve the seat for the graduation ceremony and now when I am asking for your favour to arrange the spot for me.

- This is all about my Mum, a lady who grew up in poverty. As a kid working on other people's fields in order to be fed, she made the oath to herself that her kids will have an opportunity for a decent education which will give them choices and prosperity in life. In 1995, after the civil war ended in our home county, my Mother convinced my Father that in order to give their kids this desired education they would have to move. Thereafter, we migrated first to New Zealand in 1996, and three years later they settled in Melbourne - I stayed in Auckland, NZ two additional years to complete my undergraduate degree. As I graduated in absence from The Auckland University, and have been living - on and off - in Singapore since 2006, my parents never had a chance to see me graduate. This is the point I have taken for-granted, and was thinking from my perspective only - having no desire to go through the ceremony proceedings myself - not considering how my parents would feel to experience it. Again, this became apparent only this last Saturday after the conversation with my Mum regarding the latter from your office.

- As I have just started my current job, in this competitive job market, I am not in the position to take an annual lave at my convenience. It just happens that Singapore celebrates the National Day on the 9th of August, and everyone is given a holiday on the following Monday, the 10th of August. This gives me perfect opportunity to fly for the ceremony on this particular occasion.

I hope my justification is adequate, and in time, to still secure my seat for the upcoming graduation.

I thank you for your understanding, and apologise for the inconvenience cased.

Sincerely,

ZB
(Id: )

Email:
Phone:

The Phoenix Degree

As February 2009 was coming to an end, so was the unpaid holiday, and two choices were left standing as the possible next step:

• go back to Melbourne, should the uni approve my request to continue the study for one more semester and complete the degree; otherwise
• get to Zadar from Singapore without the use of the aeroplane transportation in time for Puhi's wedding on the 30th of May. I gladly accepted Puhi's ultimate compliment to be his best man a few years earlier.

Luckily, I passed the two out of three subjects while studying during the August-December 2008 semester at NUS. Thus, providing the proof to the UniMelb that my leave of absence has not gone beyond 2 years - one of the sticky points - and more importantly, a justification to resurrect my degree from the ashes.

I enrolled into Knowledge Management class. Landed in Melbourne on the 5th of March 2009, just in time to make it to my 1st class of the semester. Taking all the events that took place prior this into consideration, it's needless to say that I enjoyed the study like never before. For a change, I did the work as it was suppose to be done - to the best of my ability, and on time. The subject did not have the final exam - a lucky coincidence, as I choose it quickly based on the 'sexy title' (as Ray might say) - so I managed to arrange to make it to Puhi's wedding and stay for half a year - if not more - away from Melbourne. After the wedding, there was two more weeks of school work that I did remotely while in Zadar. Gratitude goes to the KM teaching team and my project group who OK-ed my contribution to be provided remotely. When it came to the last bit of work, the individual component, I did well, but not as well as I could have. At the end of the day, the grade did not matter so I compromised my effort on the final component in favour of enjoying the time being back home-home. The main objective was just to pick up few more credit points and close the chapter on the formal education (at least for now). In addition, being a teacher for a while, I knew that the work done for the group project was by itself already adequate for a decent final grade. After the final submission - the individual component - the feeling of contentment/happiness/pride was making me do the triple-backward-flips - in my head that is. On the outside, I just had a slight grin. Actually, thinking about I grin now as well. In the end, I ended up with 83% for the finial subject mark, and with it successfully completed the journey that started back in February 2002.

On the 8th of August 2009, they will call out my name - in the absence for the third ceremony of this kind (plan changed) - during the graduation for The Master of Information Systems...!

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Thirst for Travel:

As the unpaid holiday was approaching to an end, and with no news from the UniMelb, option of going back to uni was becoming less and less likely, and simultaneously, option b) more and more exciting by the each passing day: to travel lightly - very lightly - from Singapore to Zadar on trains and buses, slowly moving from on place to another... At the end of the February, with the approval to continue the study finally secured, part of me was sad that the option b) will have to stay on the back burner until the next opportunity... maybe to (motor)bike the route.

Unpaid Holiday

The paid holiday came to the end with the end of September 2008. Making it exactly two years since first arriving to Singapore to take on a full time post as a teacher..., and more importantly to travel around.

At the time when the teaching job came to an end, I was already a student again for a month, giving me something to do, and with it, the ever needed feeling of purpose. I was to successfully complete the three subjects during the one semester at NUS, and subsequently my way-overdue-degree. But it wasn't to be. I failed one subject - and since my home university gave me the strict condition to complete ALL the requirements for the degree by the end of the year, or lose it all - I lost it all. Beyond stupidity: Seven years of invested effort, time and money that went towards the degree got flashed down the toilet due to submitting one last assignment, for one last subject, one week too late; all thanks to my old companion, the procrastination. I failed miserably - or so I thought.

About half way through the semester I had some very positive job interviews with the IT consulting company, HC. I was expecting I'll start work in December, just after completing the NUS semester. Eventually, all that happened was that I wrote another letter trying to recapture their attention in order to get yet another interview. I failed. No interviews were to take place any more - or so I thought.

So there I was: degreeless, jobless, ...less, and considering the current economic situation, with no hope of finding an industry job any time soon. Though, luckily it took only few days for me to go from feeling sorry for my (lucky) ass to get back to best enjoy the situation that I was in. It was a conscious switch that took only seconds, but made a world of a difference to my attitude: I went from unemployed, to HAPPILY unemployed.

From then on, it was all about the fun times on the unpaid holiday...!

New Year, old tune

While back in Melbourne, enjoying the time with the family, I also tried to resurrect my degree from the ashes. There is some hope it might happen. It's very slim, but worth a shot. During the meeting with the representatives from the UniMelb's Science Faculty, I was told that they will take my request into consideration...

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Dear A and D,

Thank you for seeing me on the last Friday.

As discussed, I was able to successfully complete the two out of the three subjects listed below, and hence humbly request approval to enroll into one more subject in order to finalize my degree.

As you will know, during my time in Singapore I had full time employment lasting all the way through till the last quarter of the semester. Since my residential visa, apartment and the laptop were tied up to the job, I had to invest time and effort to sort those logistical issues. In addition, I looked for a new job and went to three interviews. Lastly, out of the three subjects, I was most unsure of receiving the approval for the 'Mapping Global Economic Change', leaving it's major assignment the last. This resulted with the submission that was one week overdue. The assignment was heavily penalized for lateness, resulting in the failure.

Also, please take into consideration that though my leave of absence has been prolonged, I have initially requested to enroll in two NUS modules (one per semester) after one year of leave of absence.

The next semester at NUS runs from January till May, with deadline for adding subjects on the 19th of January. With your kind approval, I would like to enroll into one more subject from the NUS's School of Computing.

Please find attached the page from NUS admin system showing the results. I will send you the original transcript as soon as I receive it.

Thank you,

Z
(student Id)

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I am asking myself, will I ever learn... Doing the same mistake over and over again... and again... Thinking of the lessons I 'learned' - or I should say: taken with me - from the previous failure, and yet failing to act upon them - stupid...!

Happy 09

Wishing you all the best in the new year! For all of us I hope we can enjoy some extra luck, as this seems to be something that we could use more so then usually in the following, what is expected to be, (economically) though year.

Cheers...!

Ps: thanks for all the warm wishes!

What a difference a day makes...

The job interview, arranged by the Director of the school where I used to work, has received the new lifeline. Apparently, they want to see me again. The email correspondence is included below. Also this morning, I received the resolution that I can stay in my apartment till the end of the year. The stars have been nicely aligned today. Some seemingly good news, amidst all the BS that I've put myself in lately, come as the breath of fresh air.

cheers...! 

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Sent: Friday, 5 December, 2008 9:13 AM

To: ZB

Subject: RE: My passion to join HC

Hi Z,

Good to hear that you have now completed your program.  Time flies, our meeting seemed like they had just happened yesterday.

Then again, so much has taken place in the past few months.  Would you like to come over for an updated discussion so that both parties can come up to speed.  S will contact you to make arrangements.

Best regards,

OT

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Sent: Thursday, 4 December, 2008 3:05 PM

To: OT

Subject: My passion to join HC

Dear O,

I hope this email finds you in good spirits. 

I am happy to say that as of now, all my university tasks are completed, and I am ready, and genuinely keen to contribute to HC as soon as possible. I can start tomorrow.

Having had the opportunity for extensive conversations with K [the founder] and yourself, I am impressed with the leadership of the company and its potential for the future. I have the firm belief that HC will continue its growth amidst the tough competition in the industry, and currently slow economic times.   

While initially I was looking to join HC in a role of System Analyst as advertised on the website, it was flattering to find out that you see my potential and skills being aligned with numerous roles at HC. This being said, I am very keen to prove my hard work and intellect at any of these exciting opportunities as required by the immediate business needs.

I am motivated to join the team, 'role up my sleeves' and work hard, learn and grow with HC while contributing my passion for the people, IT and knowledge as a valuable asset to the company.

Enthusiastically looking forward to hear from you. 

Sincerely,

Z

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Big credit goes to Babber, a.k.a ZhiqiTao, without whom 'the passion email' would not have happened.  

MIS R.I.P.

...and the runner was jumping over countless hurdles and through many hoops since the journey started in the early months of 2002. Along the way, he would occasionally trip and sometimes even fall, but he would always get back up - usually with a help of a helping hand. Then at last, after long 7 years, the runner sow the bright finish line. It was just inches behind the very last hurdle. Though, being tired and very exhausted, he stumbled again and fell over this very last hurdle. He wanted to get up and finally finish the journey, but this time, instead of a helping hand, he got shot in the head.

theEnd...!

Oooh Freedom...

• Schoolless,
  
• Degreeless,
  
• Jobless,
  
• Homeless,
  
• Countryless, 
  
• Planless,
  
• Responsibilitylees,
  
• Desireless,
• Passionless,
• Emotionless,

...less...!

Ps: thanks stupidity!

Ouch!

Dear Z

I have now read your essay. I am afraid it’s not good. Check out my comments and grading. This is final, I am afraid. All the best and hope you get more organized in life.

H

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Ps: giving the credit where the credit is due: the man was right to say that I will strugle. 

4th decade

"We don´t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

 George Bernard Shaw

And another lap around The Sun completed. Adding further to the already impressive distance covered, while going by a notch quicker then the last one.

I haven´t seen so much fanfare regarding the birthday in years, maybe even decades. Why so much excitement about the zero at the end of the number? Sure, if it was a three digit number, I might have less trouble understanding it. 

So many friends of the similar age are talking about getting old, slower, out of shape, etc, etc... Sorry all; I can´t relate at all. Partially, I credit my prolonged school life for this lack of the ability to sympathise with the generation. I´m surrounded with the youth, where average age does not exceed early to mid twenties, all my life. So somehow rather, my mind neglected to notice the changes in the mirror´s reflection. Though the looks might not support it, I still feel as youthfully energetic and crazy as ever. 

I don´t get - and I hope I never will  - why so many people stress about having yet another birthday. Not only it is a great excuse to make another day just a bit more special, and to catch up with your family and friends for few (too many) drinks, but it also serves as the greatest sign that, despite anything, things are still going great...!

Ps: my niece turned one today - Sritan Rodendan Petra! 

Pps: people having a drink in the name of my birthday from Croatia, Germany, France, through Iran, Spora and Australia, all the way to Mexico is very cool. - I´m one lucky F...ellow.

No effort gets wasted

“Be not afraid of going slowly, be only afraid of standing still.”- Chinese Proverb

The title of the post might seem false, or at least foolish (-ly optimistic) at the 1st glance. But, I am a firm believer for a long time now (guess, I had no other choice). I´ve had these BS kind conversations with quite a few senior citizens (the kind who´s been enjoying their retirement for a while), and many of them presented gems along the lines of hope and perseverance. Keep plugging on, and the benefit of the current turmoil will some day be one of, if not the main, reasons for success, happiness... Btw, on this note, they also advised to be patient.

This belief is a tad stronger in me after the last night. Instead of working on the assignment or sleeping soundly, I could do neither. My brain was running on the overdrive, connecting many dots that have been accumulating between my (klempavi) ears throughout my prolonged relationship of procrastination and academic assignments. The end result of the sleepless night is a feasible idea that can bring a great, tangible benefits to many. Unlike previous ones, I´ll keep this cat in a bag for a while longer.

...!

Ps: ...or in Einstein´s words: Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.

Pps: ´dot connecting´ phrase inspired by Steve Jobs´s speech.

Procrastination

Yesterday, on the day when the promise of change arrived to America, and hopefully the world as a whole, some things around here stayed the same old, same old: Here's the email that I sent to the professor of my Globalisation class regarding the assignment that is due on the 7th Nov, and he´s reply:

Hi H,

I need more time for my paper. With you approval, I will submit

 no later then Monday 17th at 2pm. I'm badly behind with the paper. On top of that, just moments ago, I have found out that my group for other module has decided to change the direction, and we need to rework the project before our presentation this Saturday, and the subsequent submission on the following Wednesday. Given the extension, I am confident of producing the work worth your reading time. I apologise for the inconvenience caused,

Z
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No, Z. I am afraid 13 Nov 9 am is the absolute deadline and nothing short of medical reasons can be excused. So you do have to work something out.

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Good luck to my assignments...!

Ps: pictured procrastination through the process of some trivial change.

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Fu...nny Money

Last Thursday, with SGD1 buying you AUD0.97, and not the usual AUD0.7-0.8, Jamie and I ran to the bank to transfer our 'hard earned' gratuities (contract) to Australia. Our (what currently seems as) good fortunes found in the unusually weak AUD are due to the current world economic crisis.

The following presentation and video, as spotted on PresentationZen, help with the explanation of what the crisis is all about:

Subprime Primer

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: subprime mortgages)

The Time article, written by Stiglitz - author of one of the books, that I read for my Globalization class - is a good, easy read further explaining the crisis, how and why other countries - manly European's are linked - and what needs to be done in order to fix the mess. Also, Pat shared this post to help with the explanation.

ass ... @

The caricature is by Jimmy, a colleague at work who was bored during one of the early staff meetings that I attended back in September 2006, when I first joined the school.  

Jimmy's work reminds me of the smirk on this photo that my Mum snapped during her visit to Spora last year. 

...! 

Roza's visit

It's been exactly three months since we caught up in Dubai, so it was very nice - to say the least - to catch up again for a week here in Spora. She arrived on the 23rd Sep, and was on the way back on the 30th, just before I went to clean up my office.

As an early birthday present, I got the new camera - sweet. Thanks Roza! Perfect gift, since I lost the camera (she gave me!) at the end of our Iran travels (yep, together with all the photos).

dec...!