Last Sunday wasn't a very good day to do duty. The MO from the other unit was around, so we were all a little nervous, not having the Medical Centre to ourselves. The Medical Centre was swarming with reservists for the first half of the day, and they had problems with the computer network. The person who'd done duty the day before hadn't done his job properly, so I had to help him do what he was supposed to do. People were watching TV until almost 1AM, making it was hard for me to sleep, all the while walking about my freshly mopped floor, and hen my bucket toppled later and the dirty water went all over the floor of the waiting area. And to top it off, when I slammed the door of the documentation room, the Milo in a packet that some idiot had put behind the door splashed onto the floor and I had to mop it up. And to think I'd been looking forward to a nice quiet Sunday to work on my essay... Monday wasn't very pleasant either - I got scolded for something rather trivial - diverting a phone line. And on Tuesday I had to run around the whole morning, busy doing various things.

I've no problem with slacking. Hell, when there's nothing important to do, and slacking won't shift the work to other people, slacking is good. But when there are few people around, or especially when you're on duty...

We're getting a lot of arrows now and we are totally maxed out and our strength is taxed daily. Argh. I hope we get new medics in June, or we're definitely dead after Yong Siang, Allan and Boon Huat ORD.

Due to the Army's obsession with safety (at least better than neglecting it), we're being forced to come up with Safety Slogans. I have some choice ones to share:

- Be safe, don't train
- Don't run, no sprain
- Know your limits. Downgrade.

This slogan thing is darn familiar. Dare I say 'Communist'?

SARS is here. Our lips are sealed. Did someone say 'Communist' again?

We went to SAFTI to cover the COC for the Chief of Defence. We were required to cover the reception. Wth. Anyhow the canteen serves very nice fruit juice. I especially liked the Sarawak Pineapple and Mango Juices. The Mess also has nice Root Beer floats, which at $1.50 for a can of Root Beer and 2 scoops of Ice Cream is very cheap. Big pity it's Swill and not A&W though!

We had to wear masks today which look like sanitary pads and smell like fish. I wonder if there's a connection :0

I have a new motto for BMTC. "Excel Through Basics" doesn't quite describe BMTC's mission well enough. I think "Knock it Down!" is much better :)

Someone else has started using an electric toothbrush in camp! Influenced by me, no doubt!

Many Regulars in the Army like to bully the NSFs and come up with ways to waste our time. I think 'Professionalism' shouldn't be a Core Value, at least not of the Army.

Our Unarmed Combat Instructor said he was going to ORD, and somehow he seemed very enthusiastic to show us parts of the new UC syllabus which we will hopefully escape. It looks awfully tough, wearing boots and standing on the field, and with lots of throws.


I think I haven't gotten release for too long. I was knocked down in a semi-friendly way, and the knocking down served as a catalyst, and I started crying for no reason, so I had to go to a corner to hide. Tim claims twas the physical exercise under coercion, but I had rather strenuous company PT the day before and apart from weird antics brought on my exhaustion, nothing untoward happened.


There was this advertisement on TV, with 2 girls with long hair. They looked very happy, and one went onto another's bed and then they started playing. I was guessing that this was an ad for either hair products or sanitary pads. In the end, it was for contact lenses.

I collected my customised insoles from Tan Tock Seng on Monday. They feel rather odd - the support is a new feeling. I suppose this is what getting a bra for the first time feels like. Too bad the insoles have a lifespan of but one year.

I wasn't feeling very upbeat on Monday, but after some time out of camp on my aforementioned Medical Appointment I began to feel better. Novena must have good vibes for raising the spirits (or maybe it was the hormones in the chicken I ate). It is said that town air makes you free - in Medieval Times, serfs who ran away from their masters and lived in towns for a year and a day became free men. In Singapore, doing that with the slavemasters makes you a deserter. Oh well.

Ban Xiong came up with a hypothesis about Vanilla Coke - it only tastes nice Virgin, and not On The Rocks. I'd tend to agree!

I seem to be growing senile in my dotage. I keep repeating certain catchphrases and telling people things I have told them aleady!

I was rather heartened to see an article in Monday's Today, by Ravi Veloo. The article is headlined, "For the sake of S'pore the PAP should split" and the blurb says, "When you crush alternative opinions steadily with a sledgehammer in the name of pragmatism and social unity, you encourage people not to have any strong opinions". Indeed. Just look at what happened to the all of 6 people who protested the Iraqi War outside the US Embassy. They try to impose conformity and uniformity and then scratch their heads wondering why the youth are either ignorant and/or apathetic. And they lambast us for not caring and avoiding politics! On a side tangent: It is popular to villify people like me for being ungrateful and the like. At least I still care. Sometimes, I wonder why I still bother.


I was in Popular bookstore and I saw a book - "How to write Romantic Fiction". Hah! I would've bought it but for the price. I also saw an Omega Megazord - $80! That's daylight robbery. What I actually bought during that visit, after browsing through all the items, was this book called "Butch and Girl Talk". It is published by VJ Times and though I couldn't find the name of the author/editor anywhere, it says "Sabariah" on the back so I assume that is her/its name. The book has no blurb, no preface, no editor's note - in fact, almost nothing, except for publication information, the main content of the book and an appeal for help for the next book. The cover shows 2 stylised female forms carved in bas-relief leaping lithely.

By now you'll probably have guessed at the content of the book - it's about butches. This book seems to comprise stories from butches - fragments from their lives. Most stories are sympathetic, but a few give the idea that being butch is unnatural and wrong. The bulk of the stories are very short, inconclusive and satisfying, like snippets from a conversation, which irked me immensely, but since the stories are real and presumably written by the protagonists themselves, who aren't skilled at writing and expanding their retellings, I'll have to be more tolerant. As with much Singapore fiction, the standard of English in this book is not up to par. I found myself cringing at many points in the book - on every paragraph, sometimes. I hope the impression I get of shoddy editing is warranted because the editor didn't want to spoil the stories - and not because he/she sucks. A few stories are only peripherally related to butches - the conflict is acutually about something else, like gossip - it's just that the main character happens to be a butch, but her butch-dom has no bearing on the story.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend this book as a good way to spend $12.48 unless you've exotic tastes, like me.


I'm not some way more into Fast Food Nation. The book's overwhelming message seems to be that the Fast Food industry is exploiting everyone. The key in my opinion, however, is that most people and groups *choose* to be exploited, so you can't blame the Fast Food companies totally.


Quotes:

Now I don't dare to go out. Everywhere I go, someone knows me... "Sir!"... One company, 190 recruits.c

Yay, yay, yay, yay! [Claps hands] [Me: Why're you so happy?] I see you then I'm happy. You're very cheerful. You're a happy baby

People with names like 'Judith' are usually debaters

[On the AJC Class Photo] They don't look like horses. I don't know what horses look like... They don't have tails... They're wearing skirts.

You're the only person I dare to speak Mandarin to... You're the only one who can understand my Mandarin.

[Me: Why are Army females all chubby?] The army makes them chubby so they'll be ugly. Maybe the Army Recruitment Centre only accepts chubby females so the males won't be distracted.

[On IVing pateints] It's for you all to practice. If he really needs a lot of fluid we will send him to hospital.

[Me on his handphone wallpaper: Why does your Jap girl like to do this? *I lean forward and use my upper arms to compress my chest so my cleavage is enhanced*] Don't do that! Don't do that!

You laugh like a schoolgirl

What's a better word for underlings? [Me: Minions]