Tuesday, August 31, 2010

On Burning Out at Work

It's become an increasing trend for a lot of younger employees in different fields of work to resign from good jobs because they say they are 'burned out.'

Really?

How come the older employees, guys who've been doing this for ten, twenty years straight, don't get burned out? How come they still come to work and bring their A-game day in and day out, without ever complaining about it?

I think the reason behind this is that younger people are more spoiled, less motivated, and generally are lazier than the older folk. Yes, you can include me here.

I've been battling this feeling of being 'burned out' since 2006. I started working in 2004. That's just bullshit, working for only 2 years and feeling burnt out is not burn out.

I think burn out is just getting lazy with what you do. Must have something to do with shorter attention spans and feelings of entitlement. I notice fewer people wanting to work hard just to get their goals. It's all about taking shortcuts and get rich quick schemes.

And yes, you can include me in that list. But there is one small difference.

I've been making an effort to get rid of these feelings of burn out. Because there is no such thing as burning out because of work. None.

Out.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Mobility

I now realize how important it is to have my own vehicle.

It's been a couple of months since I got married and moved out of the house, and only now do I realize how dependent I was on our car. During the time I stayed home I had access to a vehicle anytime I wanted. I could go where I wanted to go anytime, as long as the car had gas.

Now it's more of a hassle to borrow the car. I have to plan ahead, schedule when I can use the car, and then pick it up. Yes, small price to pay just so I can gain mobility. What's the major hassle? The fact that I don't have as easy an access to the car as I used to.

What about commuting? Yes I can commute. But it's been so long since I was regularly commuting that I find it a bit of a chore to actually start squeezing myself against others. I can still commute anytime I want, it's just that it's more convenient to have a car of my own.

Bottom line? Time to start saving for a vehicle.

It would have to fit my salary. Most likely second-hand. It has to be reliable, and it has to have been sold locally. I do not want to own those converted right-hand drive cars. Nor do I want to own a second hand car that wasn't sold here because it would be hard to come across parts for a 'unique' car.

Right now I've got a few ideas for an ideal car. The Toyota Echo Verso, Nissan Terrano, and the Suzuki Vitara.

Out.

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Hungarian Grand Prix Random Thoughts

Here we go! Formation lap before the start of the race. We've got Vettel, Mark Webber, and Fernando Alonso at the top three. Vettel's had this nasty habit of cutting of the 2nd position driver in his few previous starts. Most of which end up to his disadvantage as he always ends up losing places. And here we go...

  • Steve Slater (one of the commentators for Star Sports) loves saying, "Let's savor the sound of the engines" if he has nothing to say.
  • Five red lights!
  • No Vettel swerving, and an excellent start! Alonso overtakes Webber and takes 2nd. Wheel-to-wheel action as they start the race.
  • The four top cars, all Ferraris and Red Bulls, are leaving the rest of the competition behind.
  • Renault rookie Vitaly Petrov is 5th? Wow.
  • Blown engine for Algersuarri (did I get the name right?). One car down.
  • Where's Schumi? 13th? Sigh.
  • How would Ayrton Senna fare in today's Formula 1 world? I wish I could answer that.
  • Not much action anymore. Just cars going round and finding their pace.
  • Where's Kimi? WRC? Sigh. (Note: I know where Kimi is. Just wishful thinking.)
  • Button seems to be going slow, just dropped behind Schumi. Didn't see why.
  • Wow, Vettel is flying. See what happens if you concentrate on going straight at the start of the race rather than trying to cut others off?
  • Twelve laps in and Vettel has a 9 second lead on Alonso.
I'm ending this here. Why? I think it's going to be useless to try and do a live blog style blog when I can't even hear what the commentator is saying because the audio mixing has the car's engine louder than commentary.

Out.

EDIT: AFTER POSTING THIS BLOG FOR THE FIRST TIME, CHAOS ENSUES. A FRONT WING FLIES OFF, THE SAFETY CAR COMES OUT, CARS DIVE INTO THE PIT, A RENAULT LEAVING HIS PIT BUMPS INTO A FORCE INDIA ENTERING HIS PIT, AND NICO ROSBERGS RIGHT REAR TIRES FLIES OFF (BECAUSE SOMEONE DIDN'T SCREW IT ON PROPERLY?) AS HE WAS LEAVING THE PIT LANE.

SO HERE WE GO. MORE RANDOM THOUGHTS. MORAL OF THE STORY? DON'T PUBLISH THE POST UNTIL AFTER THE RACE - YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN.

  • Webber's now in the lead with Vettel 2nd. However, Webber has not gone to the pits yet. Vettel managed to his pitstop in during the safety car sessions.
  • Right now at lap 22 we've got Webber, Vettel, Alonso at the top 3.
  • Has Michael Schumacher really lost a second or so due to age? Or is his car just not that competitive?
  • Webber is just hitting fastest lap after fastest lap.
  • 10 second stop go penalty for car 11 for causing a collision in the pit lane.
  • Car 11 belongs to Robert Kubica of Renault.
  • What happened to Lewis Hamilton? He just parked the car. Mechanical failure? (Lap 25)
  • Uh oh, Vettel's got an incident under investigation. If he gets penalized this will be to Alonso's advantage.
  • I cannot wait for Gran Tusimo 5. Watching this race is getting me all excited for that game.
  • And Vettel gets a drive through penalty for exceedig the 10 car length distance between him and the safety car. I did not know they had a rule like that.
  • Is it me or is Vettel always up to some bone headed antic during every race that jeopardizes his chance for victory?
  • Vettel does the drive through penalty and he is pissed, waving his hands around as he drives through. Not a bad deal though, he still comes out 3rd and just loses a place.
  • Webber, Alonso, Vettel, Massa with Webber having a dominant 17+ second lead over 2nd place Alonso.
  • And once again the race gets 'boring' with a sense of normalcy coming in.
  • But it seems Webber is about to pit in!
  • Is it me or is Sebastian Vettel catching up to Alonso? (Lap 42)
  • Barrichello is in 5th, but he hasn't gone to the pits yet.
  • Barrichello has gone 50 laps on his original set of tires. No pitting as of yet. I hope this gamble pays off.
  • Multitasking while watching the race. Blogging, researching Red Dead Redemption, and surfing.
  • Ooh scary slip for Vettel on the 53rd lap.
  • Somethings going on with Vettel. He's suddenly very sloppy. Like he's out of focus or something.
  • Schumi's up to 10th place at lap 61. Mostly due to retirements, if you ask me. Either he's really lost his touch or he just needs this entire season to get back to optimal F1 shape. Either way I hope he gets a more competitive car. I'd love to see him go wheel-to-wheel against the likes of Hamilton, Vettel, and Alonso.
  • Speaking of Schumi, it's Schumacher vs Barrichello for 10th place! Former teammates, this will be a good battle.
  • Barrichello manages to overtake Schumi at the start/finish straight despite the fact that Schumi was trying to shove Rubens to the wall! Good move, Rubens! Spot on!
  • Lap 68 and a notice appears saying the incident involving cars 3 and 9 will be investigated after the race. I'm not sure who those are, maybe Schumi and Barrichello?
  • Checked formula1.com and yes, Car 3 is for Schumi and Car 9 is for Barrichello.
  • Webber wins! Alonso 2nd, Vettel 3rd.
Exciting race, and I'm glad I was able to post a live blog of it.

Out.