Mars 500

It has been a tough week. Unfortunately, not much different from the last. A few colleagues left the firm this week again. This may seem like a regular occurrence by now and nothing much to be alarmed about anymore, but this time, one of them happened to be in the same team as me. In a way, I'm happy for her. She's been in the same role for more than 4 years now and any fool can see its not going to lead anywhere. Although I do feel a little sad that I've lost some help, on the other hand, I guess she can finally get her career going. Its too bad I can't really say the same for myself. I've got to find some new ground pretty quick. Its getting pretty shaky where I am currently.

In any case, for some reason, I felt the need to splurge last week, so went down to town and got this.

Come to think of it, it has been quite a while since the last time I bought a watch. If I remember correctly, that was about 2 years or so ago, when Damien(also leaving the firm) got me 2 rare watches from Japan. Since then, I've pretty much been lurking in the forums, sniffing out the deals but not pulling the trigger. Initially, I had gotten my eye set on something full of heritage and value. But on second thought, given the nature of my work, I figured a tool watch might be more appropriate. So here I am. Anyway, some more pictures of the piece.

Here's a lume shot. Its actually orange lume but it seems kinda yellow in the pic. In any case, I noticed the lume isn't as impressive as the RXW that I had. I guess the sandwich dial makes a big difference.

 

By the way, its a limited edition watch, "limited" to 2012 pieces. Though to be honest, I'm not sure a watch with a production run in the thousands can truly be called "limited"

Probably the view I'll be seeing a lot in the coming days.

Anyway, went for a midnight car wash again today. I remember when I was in University, I used to enjoy doing this. Now I remember why. In the dead of the night, its just you. There's no one around and its dead quiet. Its hard to describe, but its precisely this solitude that gives me the company I need. That might sound a wee bit contradicting, but that's just the way it is. It's such a serene feeling that I think I do not have the ability to convey it in writing. Anyhow, one more day to the start of another tortuous work week. I really do need all the luck I can get these days.

SSDD?

Today a really interesting thing happened. We had a team meeting today and the content was unusually unusual for a team meeting. Normally the purpose of meetings, especially among teams, is to update and foster better working relations; this one had the boss telling all of us that its about time we start looking for other stuff to do. In all fairness, there wasn't any malice in the discussion, its more of an insightful look into whether its likely that we still find ourselves doing the same thing, say 5 years down the road.

Although I don't agree with some of what he said, one thing did struck a chord. I can't picture myself in my current role forever. Neither can any of my colleagues for that matter. One of my colleague even mentioned to me after the meeting that he now just plain hates his job. Its the same old thing, day in day out. I personally don't "hate" what I do, but I'm far from enjoying it. Although my gripe differs from him significantly. I don't mind a repetitive routine if it adds value to myself, the problem is its hard to see that lining in this cloud. In any case, I can tell this little session has got most of my colleagues pondering over a career change. I won't be surprised from tomorrow onwards to see some behavioral changes as well. I might even exhibit some symptoms myself for all I know.

Anyway, enough of that. My assignment is all submitted and thats another piece off my mind. Although I do feel a little guilty this time, since its a group assignment and I personally feel I did not contribute as much as 2 other members in my group. They are like some little effervescent creature; with long emails back and forth on what to include in the bibliography, what other points to add, some theory that we could use, etc. I am amazed and impressed at the effort they are expending and I'm sort of ashamed to say I can never do that. Oh well, no use thinking about the assignment now, its all said and done. Now, I'm looking forward to the exam!