Of Simple Words & Simple Things

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Have you ever thought of....?

How savvy you really are in IT? How knowledgeable you are when it comes to the financial market, or about financial planning? What about your grasp of the real working world outside? What is your take on relationships? So on and so forth...

I have to admit--my answer to these questions are mostly "don't knows". What I know, or what I thought I know may just be a tiny portion of what it really is. Take work for example, I have no idea how it really is. Whoever said it's a game where it's the survival of the fittest. Working probably involves a whole lot of relationships other than the actual work itself--the office politics is possibly something I haven't come into contact with, but only heard of. As a temporary staff for at most 3 months, the people I work with are also temporary staff like myself, and most of the time, people of my age. If there's anything, it would be a problem of (un)popularity rather than the politics itself.

How much are you able to apply what you learning now? Will you be able to survive out there? It's like the book-smarts (which most of us fall into now, since we are undergraduates afterall) versus the street-smarts. I haven't got enough experience to be a street-smart, neither am I educated enough to be the book-smart (how ironic at this level) because I hardly remember what I learn after one semester.

I happened to meet a financial advisor--a lady who made it a point to re-educate me on the fundamentals of financial planning. The most important is always protection, especially from critical illnesses. It's all about protecting your own income, your own health as well as protecting your family. Only when you have protection, then should you consider more savings, after which comes investment. I have no idea what to make out of what she said, very frankly. I just feel the pain of growing up--this whole decision-making and taking charge of your own life process.

When you look at yourself many (and many more) years down the road, where do you see yourself to be? How about moving the clock 50 years forward to have a look at how you will be when you're a grandmother or grandfather already? Being the yuppies, we all know how to use the computer, and some many gadgets. I kind of find it weird to imagine that grandmas and grandpas can be online and chatting on msn, not when you see some of them struggling to pick up computer skills now instead. I wonder what is the age of the oldest person who's using msn to chat with friends?!

My grandmother was just talking to my cousin on the phone. After she put down the phone with him, she just came over and said "Relationships are like playthings." She just could not understand why my cousin broke up with his ex-gf of (at least) 4 years, and get attached to another one. She even said "In her days, when one guy likes a gal, he will stick to that one person throughout". Sometimes, listening to her saying all these just makes me smile, and I will just think of telling Dear about it. Perhaps in one's lifetime, one can have many loves (and other relationships), but probably only one true love. And yet, you may not end up spending the rest of your life with that true love because of various reasons. Because I believe, when you get married, it's not all about love anymore, really need more accomodating and compromise to live together. Afterall, everyone has their own separate habits and such, there's never a perfect fit between two.

I am such an impatient grand-daughter. There are times when I just get rather irritated because I have to repeat myself several times to answer my grandmother. Or at times when she ask questions that I obviously don't know cos I'm not my father/mother/brothers. She will ask me things like where my father is going when she sees him walking to the car--it's like how would I know?! I know I really should not be so impatient but I sometimes I just can't help it. I know I would regret it one day--she's getting on in age. At least she's still rather healthy, though she might say things like "she's better off dead" sometimes because she has been on medication for her high blood pressure for a very long time now.

What a lengthy and serious post!! Haha..well, just some thoughts that happened to come to my mind. For now, another break is what I need. This semester is horrible, I'm seriously behind time in terms of understanding the lectures, especially for my core modules. This would really prove to be fatal when the exams come.

I don't know what wrong with me--but laziness is really in my bones. I never do my tutorials nor assignments beforehand, until the day or at most two days before the due date. Neither do I study for tests way beforehand. So I only have time to finish what is required, and just accepting what I see as the truth. I hardly question model answers, and answers given at the end of the book. How often can you stand firm that you're right, and the answers are wrong? Really barely, for me.

On the contrary, MH is super hardworking. She's way ahead for tutorials and studies so much in advance for tests that she had time to try additional questions, as well as question the answers for the tutorials. WL said that's the way a honours student should be. Yet, I replied, I rather be able to continue with my way of studying and still get my honours so my life won't be so difficult. There may be really be something seriously wrong with my mentality, perhaps. For one, I am a believer in luck. I don't understand why MH and Dear (who's always quite hardworking) didn't influence me at all. But I prefer not to as well, honestly.

Alright, too long too long!!! Shall end here. It's back to printing notes for tmr's lectures before I go off to watch some entertainment news. Seriously, I would miss xiao S when she's gone to have her pregnancy break. Her comments are candid, and it makes you laugh. Nitey! :p

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