The gp that went to EPS

A very meaningful article

Happened to read this article in the Asiaone website. Those who have a job and are complaining, read this article.

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IT WAS a Friday night when I walked into my usual Japanese restaurant.

To my surprise, the small place was packed and I was glad I had made a booking, despite being a regular patron.

Another surprise awaited me as I took my seat at the counter: There was none of the usual greetings and smiles from the chefs. In their place were black faces. There was no eye contact; it was as if we customers were 'transparent'.

Something told me there was more to the extraordinary situation than meets the eye.

The busy waitresses were told off rudely by the two chefs either for not writing the orders clearly or for not serving food fast enough, all these within earshot of the customers sitting around.

My heart went out to the poor girls.

The atmosphere was tense, like that in a courtroom. Halfway through my dinner, my curiosity got the better of me and I asked one of the chefs what the problem was.

Unknowingly, I had touched a raw nerve, sparking an outburst. The reason for the outburst?

He felt that the crowd was more than they could handle, that their boss and supervisors were not doing anything to reduce their workload...

The two chefs were even contemplating resigning to teach the owner a lesson, without giving enough thought to the consequences - to them and their families. Unfortunately, their attitude is not uncommon in the workforce.

There are workers who prefer days when there are fewer customers and less work, or who go on leave or call in sick during busy periods. To them, busy days are a chore. But have they thought about the consequences of not having enough work or customers?

How long can a company, no matter how big it is, last if there is not enough business? The workers may end up without jobs.

The work in most jobs is often periodic in nature - there are peaks and troughs. What workers need to do is to learn to compromise, to give and take. Unfortunately in life, taking is easier than giving.

If there are genuine grievances, these should be discussed with management in a constructive way.

Suffering in silence is not the solution. Bottling up frustrations is bad enough. Venting them on customers is even worse. The company's image suffers. Resigning en masse is not a way of getting back at the boss. It is plain stupidity and workers will end up losers. You can never fight an institution.

Frontline staff are the ones that make or break a company. The chefs lost their restaurant a few loyal customers that Friday night. I, for one thing, would have second thoughts about dining there again.

Let us appreciate the fact that we are still employed in these difficult economic times and treasure our jobs.

Flying Fox @ Edgefield Pri

Day 2

Cable Ski

It was fun. Though I did not manage to complete 1 full loop due to lack of techinque but the consolation was that with each attempt I ended up further and further away from the launch site. It looked scary at the start but once you get the kick, it is addictive. Perhaps I will do better next time...Basically, the 27bucks per hr is worth it.

Some pics

More F1 testing

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen charged to the top of the timesheets on Tuesday, as this week’s test continued in Bahrain. Clocking a best lap of 1m 32.102s around the Sakhir circuit, Raikkonen’s quickest time was over a tenth of a second faster than that of Jarno Trulli in the Toyota.

Despite setting the fastest time, the Finn endured a frustrating session, after a problem with the cooling element of his car's KERS device marred his final day in the Ferrari. Forced to stop for three hours of repair work, Raikkonen managed to cover 107 laps. Team mate Felipe Massa will test the F60 on Wednesday.

"Until today the car's development went well, although we were mainly concentrating on its behaviour and the tyres," said Raikkonen. "Anyway we drove many laps. The whole car improved during this test, but it's still too early to say where we are compared to our competitors."

Trulli, meanwhile, carried out set-up, tyre and suspension work in the TF109, completing 149 laps in total. With his Sakhir test now over, team mate Timo Glock will take charge of the cockpit on Wednesday.

“This has been a very good test for us,” the Italian explained. “I've covered well over 2000km in three days and I feel happy with the car. It seems competitive and reliable so a start like this gives us a solid base for the season ahead. There is still a lot of time before the first race and there is plenty of scope for teams to make big steps between now and Melbourne. So we will have to keep pushing hard to keep up the momentum in the factory and at the remaining tests. Still, so far so good.”

Third fastest was Nick Heidfeld for BMW Sauber. Heidfeld concentrated on the mechanical set-up of the F1.09, evaluating various specifications of dampers and torsion bars. The German, who covered 104 laps, also carried out some practice starts in the morning and towards the end of the day.

“Today I drove the new BMW Sauber F1.09 in warm weather conditions for the first time, so the most important thing for me was to learn more about the general balance of the car,” he said. “Overall it was a good day because I tried a lot of different set-up solutions. I already feel happy about how the car reacts to changes.”

Heidfeld's day, however, wasn't entirely trouble free. In the morning, the car stopped on the track when a standard kill switch accidentally cut off the main electronic control unit and engaged the automatic fire extinguishing system. But with some modifications to the switch linkage - and a cleaned up car - he was able to get back out on track.

Testing continues in Bahrain on Wednesday.

Unofficial Tuesday times from Bahrain:

1. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:32.102

2. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 1:32.230

3. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:32.585

1 down 2 more to go

Stats was basically alright except for a few careless mistakes plus some which i was not very sure. However, I think I had better focus on computational maths tomorrow and then it will be number theory on thu. I still need to complete my finite maths of which the last 3 questions are quite a handful...

Hellish wk ahead

Those guys who served their NS in the Navy will probably know of the infamous 'Hell week'. Or thsoe who attend the 'Combat Survival Course' or the 'Ranger' course will surely have stories to tell. Basically, the hell week for this semester is this week. Perhaps it might be the last one or the one where I have 4 things in that week will be a lot worse?

Something unorthordox

I went for a 15k run yesterday afternoon at about 1300hrs. Yes, there is no typo error. Revising for my 3 tests next week just got too overwhelming and I had to put it aside for a while. Left campus and came home before putting on my shoes and hitting the road. The afternoon sun plus the humidity was really demanding but it was a fantastic sweating session. It may seem a little unusual to run in the blazing sun but I just needed that outlet. Moreover, the evening is definitely out. Surprisingly, I did not feel that tired because the adrenalin rush was quite phenomenal. This is not the 1st time I did something like this. Last year when I was completing my DCE201 assignment, the much dreaded writer's block kicked in so I no choice but to leave it aside for a while and go for a run. Needless to say, the inspiration came and after that session, I came back and finished it in no time.

Another busy wkend ahead

1. Revise for AAM104 quiz 2
2. Revise for AAM203 test 1
3. Revise for AAM204 test 1
4. Choose questions for ACS301
5. Confirm articles for ACS201

Where can I squeeze in time to put in some distance into my shoes?

Whatcha staring at???

More photos taken on sunday morg

National Vertical Marathon 09

Pre-race jitters

I usually have pre-race jitters regardles of whatever event I am going to participate in. Whether it is running the full marathon of 42km or just a simple 10k running event, I usually have the jitters on the eve of the event. Perhaps it is my excitement level that is building up? It is especially so when it comes to me taking part for the very 1st time.

Tomorrow is the National Vertical Marathon. I signed up for it as I wanted to experience it first-hand. Heard many stories of people getting slight dizziness and the feeling of floating once past the 40-something storey. However, like in all races, I aim to give my best shot and enjoy myself.

So glad that I have finished my e-learning report for ALS101 as it is quite a ......oh well, don't complain.

Revising for maths quiz

Revising for AAM103 quiz tomorrow.

'Auspicious' apples

Marina Bay Circuit to be fine tuned....

Following the huge success of last year’s inaugural Singapore Grand Prix, organisers have announced that the layout of the Marina Bay circuit will be improved further ahead of the 2009 event.

Following consultation with the FIA and the teams, minor changes will be made to Turns One, 13 and 14 to further increase the potential for overtaking, whilst road surface improvements will be undertaken at Turns Five, Six and Seven, and revisions made to the pit-lane entry and exit as well as the Turn 22 runoff area.

“While the circuit and the event exceeded expectations around the world, as with any brand new event, there are always things which we now know we can do better,” explained Singapore’s technical and race operations director, Michael McDonough.

“Minor modifications are proposed on the track, at Turns One, Seven and 14 in order to improve overtaking opportunities whilst the main changes will be to the Pit Entry and Pit Exit to provide added margins of safety for cars entering and leaving the pit lane.”

The changes to Turn One will involve modification to the geometry to reduce corner speed so that it provides potential overtaking opportunities in the braking zone at the approach to the corner. The modifications will involve relocating the corner apex, reducing the corner radius and thereby cutting the estimated cornering speed.

When the cars took to the track last September, some drivers took a far wider line in this corner than expected, turning in from the concrete verge next to the wall. Kerbing will therefore be installed on the entry to prevent this.

Turn 13, the tight left-handed hairpin after the historic Anderson Bridge, will be amended to increase cornering speed, providing additional speed on Esplanade Drive and increasing the opportunity for overtaking in the braking zone at Turn 14. With the revision, the cars are now likely to reach speeds of approximately 275km/h along Esplanade Drive.

In addition, the geometry of Turn 14 will also be modified to improve overtaking opportunities in the braking zone. The changes will involve relocating the corner apex to reduce the corner radius and reducing the estimated cornering speed of the cars.

During the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, a significant speed differential was observed at the apex of Turn 22 between cars entering the pit lane and those lapping the track. To reduce any risk of interference between them, a dedicated pit-lane entry will be constructed.

The pit exit will also be changed. Last year it entered the circuit into the braking zone for Turn One, immediately after the pit wall. Following suggestions from the FIA, the pit lane will be realigned and lengthened for 2009, exiting on the drivers’ left at Turn Two, away from the racing line and onto a part of the circuit where the cars will all be accelerating.

Finally, the runoff distances at Turn 22 will be reduced, providing better spectator circulation in the area. The 2009 Singapore Grand Prix will take place from September 25-27.

An instinct update

Running instinct and Adistar Ctrl were overjoyed this morning. After days of indulging in all the CNY food goodies (More like sinful food), both of them were taken on an outing around NIE for about an hour. Initially, sleep instinct tried to wreck harvoc early this morning but failed. It only did some damage during the 1st science 201 lecture. However, all parties are happy as they all had their fair share of 'victories'.

So when will running instinct and Adistar Ctrl go on an outing again? Probably it will be on wednesday morning and it might be a slighty longer one. Asics Gel is getting envious being cooped up at home but will get it's turn when both shoes do their rotation.

Progress report

1. AAM 104 tutorial (left with 2 qns, the rest done)
2. AAM 203 chapter 1 ( attempted but with lots of doubts)
3. ACS 201 reflections (completed)
4. ACS 301 reflections (completed)
5. ALS e-learning report (just started......need to get this done quick...)
6. AAM103 quiz revision (not started, to get cracking after running tmw)