It’s official. Civilian clothing to the camp isn’t scary at all. In fact this morning went rather well.

Of course you factor in a relatively nice guard who checks your bags and belongings rather fleetingly (blame the large crowds) and you have a generally fast book in line.

Tomorrow is Sports Day of the Week. Badminton as again. I hope it won’t trigger muscle aches all over as it once did last week.
I hope to play a little better tomorrow, though my mood is a little off for tomorrow. Hopefully it’ll get better.

I’ll sleep now.

sdl2

I really got to stop thinking — and planning — stuff I ain’t gonna start to do.

Civilian clothing today? Scrap that.
Change of bag? Scrap that.

Even go the cookhouse earlier ended in failure. The cookhouse wasn’t even open when I arrived. Things will change. I can feel it. As in “Carrie Bradshaw in Blaniks” feel it, feel it.

sdl2

I absolutely am in a rut right now. For one thing, I really am considering going to work in civilian clothing, rather than the Smart-4 that I’m conventionally required to. You might say that my camp is very lenient in terms of the articles of wear. And I should take advantage of that, right?

Let’s weigh it all out.

(And for the rest record, let it show, that I did ponder over this since Friday, so this delay is not exactly off the mind for days now.)

So wearing civilian clothes has one big advantage for me. I no longer needs to put up with the crappy stares that commuters on the train pass me. I absolutely cannot stand seeing those losers freaks with their stupid eyes, staring at me in my Smart-4. And honestly, you cannot be in uniform without someone giving you dagger eyes. So it would be nice if those terrible episodes will end.

And another thing that will be good is that should the need arise for me to have to be outside, for whatever reason, I need not fumble around in my Smart-4.
I mean come on, I’m in my Smart-4 for some nine hours every day. Whats is wrong with a little reprieve in the morning, and again in the evening?

Cons are mostly reserved with transporting my uniform from home to work.
But I have most of the things sorted out. I have to bring my boots and slacks to work, and then leave it at work.
I plan (should I go in civilian) to leave those two items at work, and bring only socks and my top uniform everyday. Or on days when I’m not sweaty, I can just leave all at work.

I cannot believe I’m planning all despite still being unsure whether to dress for work, or not. Most who do dress for work, do it mainly because they stay-in and thus bring only a few articles of clothing. I on the other hand, with my steadfast persistence on staying-out, have to consider everything.
But looking at the stay-out people who I see board the bus everyday with me, I do presume, that they have their own accommodations to the whole stay-out but daily-civilian routine.

I’ll go figure.

sdl2

Went out today with my sister to shop around for clothes. I didn’t really plan on getting anything, but managed to snag up a smart white-beige pants as well as a beautiful woolen vest sweater. My sister went mad and bought three jersey shirts as well as two jackets. We bought magazines to read as well. We hunted around Borders looking for medical journals, but we couldn’t find any, so we settled for a scientific journal instead.
I couldn’t make up my mind between three top-notch policy publications. One was my beloved Foreign Affairs which retailed for $27, which is $8 more than what I earmarked it for. So there it went — out the window. The second one was the Atlantic Monthly, which takes a a mixed heavy and light hearted view of the policies of the world. But it’s quite US-centric, so I pass.
I bought Foreign Policy, which I felt was quite the good balance. Apart from being bi-monthly which helps the price factor, it’s focus is quite spread out, though still tinging on US-geocentricism. But I’ll read this first and perhaps consider something else next month should it arise. Or I could get Foreign Affairs next month, since it too is bi-monthly.

Just tried to do iBanking on DBS just now. Completely have no idea what my UID was, and needless to say, I was fumbling on the site. Apart from a mediocre FAQ section, the site offers no immediate assistance what so ever to help me through should I encounter some issue with logging in. I mean, it’s just so crappy having to print out papers and then fax them through. The biggest irony is that we can’t email online for help on online banking. Talk about plain stupid in the face of the bank. DBS online banking just reeks.
It’s one thing to try to deter possible fraud or misappropriations, but another to make personal online banking a real hinder.

Regardless, I shall move on to another bank ASAP. In fact any other bank that offers decent, human online banking services. LOL.

I had to rush all the way back to Marks & Spencer after I realise my pants were at least an inch and a half shorter than I would like. But the saleswoman was so polite and professional. Needless to say, I found my perfect pants. I mean, the waist and length were just perfect.

I plan to booking in in civilian clothing on Monday. I just am so sick of seeing commuters on the train give me ugly stares whenever they see me in my Smart-4 uniform.
It really irks to see stupid Singaporeans.

Today, I was trying to find Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in bookstores but to no avail. There are of course publishers who have copies in the bookstores, but I prefer Wordsworth Classics editions. For one, it’s far more affordable, and it’s pointless to pay more for the same novel. And two, their covers are generally quite nice as well. And being printed on recycled paper, it’s light and helps the environment. Coolness.
I think I’ll try elsewhere to find it before deciding on another publisher who unscrupulously make from the works of great authors like Austen and Woolf.

sdl2

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You want it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo

I must apologise for not being quite industrious as I would like to be — and have pledged to be previously.
But moving on.

Today was quite a good day. In a matter on just one day, people can really change their attitude towards you.
And of course finding out that they’re merely a month or two “older” than you over there at work, makes the whole job easier. I mean, it’s not like they’ve been there since forever. (Which if the case, would be really sad.)

You see today the OCTs came to conduct an exercise. I have dealt with OCTs before, so it wasn’t a big deal for the second time round.
What was big was their cocked-up arrogance.
I mean, like what the hell! I don’t give an F what the hell you might be (though one of them will be my TSO soon, in June) or not, but it’s my store and the items and equipments are for me to dispense and for you to take. You don’t just walk around and ignoring me while taking whatever you deem fit.

So much for officers in the making. It’s pointless to be so highly-ranked and yet be so lowly-disciplined. So it’s true. We salute the rank, not the person. I hope Zul is nothing like these people. He probably is the nicest one there.

But I ain’t throwing the baby out of the water over some of them. Their radio I/C was polite and nice. And a good laugh too. He smiled throughout the whole testing phase, and wasn’t like the other F-up OCTs who were either staring at you like as if they own you.
I find it really repulsive that they show an utter lack of respect for our space and equipment. Regardless of whether you used the sets before, we decide which parts/accessories go where. You don’t just walk around, ignoring us, and doing anything you want. Period.
Even my TSOs take care to ask our permission to look at sets or our records. And let’s not go into their ranks here — they are way higher than those OCTs rude-freaks.

On more sobering news, it looks like the campaign of my homegirl Hillary Clinton may be coming to an end. Though by no means, coming to any closure.

She’s really determined to win, and is really considering going in for the long haul. And by long haul, I mean she’ll probably needs to haul ass on the double.

She’s lost her lead in the delegate tally (both pledged and won) and she also lost her lead in campaign finance. What’s happening!?
I feel so frustrated now. (Though her comments on Iran recently made me swerve a bit to the Obambi camp. Just a bit.)

Oh well.

I realise two days back that I had a ton of credits for this year. So I went and bought 3 running vests (usually reserved for SGTs), and also 2 running shorts and a pair of socks. So now I have six pairs of socks. For what reason I am so unsure of right now.
But anyways, it’s really cool to have some thing that reads Camp Name (for personal reasons — and the Official Secrets Act — I will not mention names or places).
It’s all about the identity. The more you identify with the people or place, the more you feel more integrated and less of an outcast.
At first I had believed that you could be a social outcast around camp and still manage things, but after that rather disastrous attempt a few weeks back, I decided to change my approach and instead try to hang around and get to know people better.
And it seems to be working. From people who I usually won’t associate with and had previously not talked to me, to the people who I had known quite sparsely, I have really grown up a bit here.
I mean, there is this guy Joshua, who is quite the rebel. But he’s articulate and we talked before, mostly about work and stuff. But after yesterday tag-team badminton match (in which we won all our matches), things have gotten quite friendly. We talk more, and also about other non-work stuff. So maybe this new approach can work.

Cheers to all. I need not run on Wednesday. We simply need to play badminton. More cheers. I love badminton.

sdl2

p.s. Tomorrow is so the last working day of the week. Will so be happy. Maybe I’ll stay back for the sake of mending strengthening ties with my workmates. Ciao.