US trip recap (part 1)
Note: This post is written during my 10 hour wait at JFK, so I'm slightly grumpy coz it has just effectively extended a 20 hr flight into a 30 hr one..... very productive indeed... This is probably the only time when I would be thinking 'I'd rather be working my ass off now!', & trust me, that doesn't happen very often to me at all!
You know how students always tend to be busy with so many stuff during exam, eg. Cleaning room & apartment (hey it hasn't been tidied up for half a year now, so it's high time to do it!), reading blogs (I've gotta catch up on my pals' stories!), stocking up junk food (it's called emergency rations, aka 'war supplies/comfort/anti-depression food', stupid!), long overdue run in the park (I haven't moved stretched my butt muscles for half a year, so it's IMPERATIVE that I do it today!).
The list goes on & on, and the common denominator of all those is of course that they are activities that you will NEVER, EVER do in normal free time. The only reasons we are doing those are:
a) because we ASSUME other people will be studying, so nobody will be interested to go out
b) Even if some DO want to go out, we will feel guilty if we don't 'study' at home when the exam is only 1 week away
c) So we end up staying at home, but definitely NOT studying. Activities listed above make us feel we are at least doing 1 part right, ie. Staying at home and cutting off any contacts with the world for the exam duration, so we will feel less guilty if we end up getting a F, or in the world of the uber-smart like Dee, Jel, Kel, & Ben, a 'H2A' ('it's the FREAKIN' first time ever I've got anything with the digit '2' in it for final results!!). Point taken guys....
Anw, slightly digressing from the point I wanted to make earlier. I've meant to say working, at least for me, is exactly like the exam period, only this time you can't run or hide from it EVER AGAIN. All the creative evasive maneuvres that I've come up with during uni days certainly can't be used anymore, coz it definitely doesn't work out in the long term. Anws, it's more of a question of survival now, so not working is unquestionably NOT an option. Plus all those skills learnt up to this point would really be wasted....
Seems like this post has NOTHING to do with the title at all *chuckle* due to my incessant rantings, so while I'm at it I might as well hammer home another one. It has to do with my business, and apparently for the duration of 1 month when I have been on hols, much of the world around me has pretty much collapsed into heaps, dragged down by the financial crisis and the resurgence of US Dollar. I've spoken to my European customers and both said the demand from their customers is basically nil right now, as much of Europe expects a recession so everyone is pulling back on their spending. Those are my 2 biggest customers and account for 60% of my sales, so to lose both at the same time is definitely quite a shock. I've had to make changes to my original plans and to shift my focus towards customers from other regions instead, such as Australia and Middle East, which are only mildly affected by the downturn.
Gonna have to re-configure the whole supply chain again and consider dropping previous suppliers due to their inflexibilities. Oh well, there's always challenges in biz, & in fact Jack Welch once pointed out 'the only thing constant in business is change'. Will have to work hard to put everything back on track again, but I'm up for the challenge!
All right I'll be signing off here coz it's almost flight time. Real post on the US trip recap in part II!
You know how students always tend to be busy with so many stuff during exam, eg. Cleaning room & apartment (hey it hasn't been tidied up for half a year now, so it's high time to do it!), reading blogs (I've gotta catch up on my pals' stories!), stocking up junk food (it's called emergency rations, aka 'war supplies/comfort/anti-depression food', stupid!), long overdue run in the park (I haven't moved stretched my butt muscles for half a year, so it's IMPERATIVE that I do it today!).
The list goes on & on, and the common denominator of all those is of course that they are activities that you will NEVER, EVER do in normal free time. The only reasons we are doing those are:
a) because we ASSUME other people will be studying, so nobody will be interested to go out
b) Even if some DO want to go out, we will feel guilty if we don't 'study' at home when the exam is only 1 week away
c) So we end up staying at home, but definitely NOT studying. Activities listed above make us feel we are at least doing 1 part right, ie. Staying at home and cutting off any contacts with the world for the exam duration, so we will feel less guilty if we end up getting a F, or in the world of the uber-smart like Dee, Jel, Kel, & Ben, a 'H2A' ('it's the FREAKIN' first time ever I've got anything with the digit '2' in it for final results!!). Point taken guys....
Anw, slightly digressing from the point I wanted to make earlier. I've meant to say working, at least for me, is exactly like the exam period, only this time you can't run or hide from it EVER AGAIN. All the creative evasive maneuvres that I've come up with during uni days certainly can't be used anymore, coz it definitely doesn't work out in the long term. Anws, it's more of a question of survival now, so not working is unquestionably NOT an option. Plus all those skills learnt up to this point would really be wasted....
Seems like this post has NOTHING to do with the title at all *chuckle* due to my incessant rantings, so while I'm at it I might as well hammer home another one. It has to do with my business, and apparently for the duration of 1 month when I have been on hols, much of the world around me has pretty much collapsed into heaps, dragged down by the financial crisis and the resurgence of US Dollar. I've spoken to my European customers and both said the demand from their customers is basically nil right now, as much of Europe expects a recession so everyone is pulling back on their spending. Those are my 2 biggest customers and account for 60% of my sales, so to lose both at the same time is definitely quite a shock. I've had to make changes to my original plans and to shift my focus towards customers from other regions instead, such as Australia and Middle East, which are only mildly affected by the downturn.
Gonna have to re-configure the whole supply chain again and consider dropping previous suppliers due to their inflexibilities. Oh well, there's always challenges in biz, & in fact Jack Welch once pointed out 'the only thing constant in business is change'. Will have to work hard to put everything back on track again, but I'm up for the challenge!
All right I'll be signing off here coz it's almost flight time. Real post on the US trip recap in part II!
posted by leonhart @ 1:23 PM
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