Quit too soon

My insurance agent's Facebook post struck me very hard today. She posted "Most people quit too soon because they are impatient for success".

That message was like hitting the nail on its head, although I am not in the insurance line.

You see, I am feeling rather stagnant in my job lately. It's like I am doing my boss's job & was implied that I am ready to go to the next level of my career. However there is no such opening available until some people leave or when there are some new re-structuring. So I am pretty much stuck.

So am I unhappy with my job? The answer is No. What I am unhappy with however, is that I need to do somebody else's job as well & they reaping the credit for it. Moreover the rewards for me in doing all these extras seems practically non existent as compared to those who do much less.

So the thought of greener pastures did cross my mind.

Then the FB post reinforced what I have been thinking... perhaps I should wait a little longer. I have slowly sown the seeds, so there need to be a waiting time for them to grow. It would be a waste if I throw them away now.

Yeah... I'll wait.

Conair Garment Steamer

I have always been very glad that I can wear casually for my work. So my usual work attire has always been collared T-shirts and jeans/khaki pants, except when I need to go to my HQ where formal wear is compulsory.

You can call me sloppy all you want and I will agree with you. I am not the type who cares a lot about what I wear, and I really hate ironing. Sometimes the T-shirts that I wore to work are full of creases.

So when all these garment steamers came into the market, I was pretty amazed by them. They seemed to be so easy to use. However the price is rather expensive (more than RM300). So I couldn't get myself to buy one.

Recently out of the blue, the idea of garment steamers came to mind again. This time around, I took action. I checked Citibank's Rewards catalogue and found a garment steamer for redemption. It's the Conair Garment Steamer (Model: CGS18H). Cost me 93,000 of Citibank points but I think it's worth it!

Checked from Lelong.com and this model cost RM499.

Placed my redemption via Citibank online last weekend, and my package arrived today!! Very fast!

So now I will need to figure out how to use this steamer effectively. Is it as easy as shown in the advertisement??.. we shall see...

Doing it just good enough

A colleague shared with me the other day about his thoughts on doing things just good enough. A simile given by him was like taking an exam. If 75 marks can already give you an "A", then why strive to get 100.

I sort of disagreed with him but at the same time felt he has a valid point.

Looking at my working environment now, there are these people who are doing just enough to cover their asses, some even less than expected.

Then there are those who are doing more.. some even doing their manager's jobs. Usually these people are the ones swarmed with more work because they are seen as being high performers.

So there must be a catch on being a high performer, all of us would think, right? Unfortunately that's not always the case. Some companies do not have much difference in terms of the % of bonus or increment for people who do just enough and people who do more.

Oh.. promotion maybe? Well some companies expect you to do much more than the more that you are doing in order to be considered for promotion. That again is no guarantee as it will also depend on whether there is a vacancy for you to be promoted to! So at times you get the promises but not the rewards, and ended feeling short changed.

I agree that job satisfaction is not only about dollars & cents, or about promotion. There are also other factors such as environment, your boss, your colleagues, the potential of learning & contributing etc. However like it or not, when you feel you are being taken advantage of and other people are reaping the benefits, it just feel so demotivating.

So is it still worth to deliver more... or just good enough is already good enough?

Be@rbrick Series 22

Be@rbrick Series 22 is out today and selling at Action City, The Gardens.

They are having this launch promotion called "LuckyPick of 6" where you buy 6 blind boxes for the price of RM100 and depending on how many duplicates you get, they will give you a free gift. Oh.. and by default you'll get a free 70% Pepsi Nex be@rbrick.

If you get 3 of the same ones, you will get another blind box for free. If you get 4 duplicates, they will give you a 400% be@rbrick! How interesting is that?!!! This promotion is only until end of July 2011.

Unfortunately for me, I only got 2 duplicates i.e. the Jellybean. I was hoping to get the Green Lantern one from one of the 6 blind boxes, but nope...no luck with that.

I got
1) Animal theme which is from a Japanese TV show's mascot. I think it's rather ugly though.
2) 2 from the Jellybean theme. Very light color which made it very uninteresting.
3) Basic "R". I really love the shiny gold color although I am not so crazy about the letter's font.
4) Flag theme. From all the series that I have, I can say that the flag theme is never been a favorite of mine.
5) Sci-Fi theme which is really cool. Part of the head is translucent.

So will I go for another "LuckyPick of 6"? Don't think so. The be@rbrick fever has cool down for me, which I think is a good thing considering the amount of money I have spent on them. However I will definitely still buy them now and then especially when I see those designs which I really like.

Anyway, Happy 10 years Anniversary, be@rbrick!

Dominoes Effect

Oh wow... recently there's been a few resignations happening one after another in our product group. I have heard of 3, 2 of them being quite close to me. Although they are not from the same team as me, but I do feel sad about them leaving... or was it about me still not getting to leave? Hmm...

That's the thing about resignations. They are like viruses that can be easily passed to people who are around them.

It's like the dominoes effect... when the first piece falls, it will be followed by the next and the next and the next...

Guess this is a nightmare for the managers, as 2 of these people are team leads.

However I sometimes wonder... most companies acknowledged the loss over all these leaving talents and I would assume they have investigated the reasons... but why does it seem that they are doing nothing about it? If they are doing something, then why is it that the rewards for a job well done are still so demotivating, or why managers are still not behaving the way they should?

Oh well... perhaps the weight of "everyone is dispensable" took precedence over the need to retain these talents.

I wonder who will be the next piece to fall...

Sunday Blues

The term "Monday Blues" is already very well known, but have you ever heard of "Sunday Blues"?

Well for me, "Sunday Blues" is basically a be-early "Monday Blues". Yes.. I already started to feel a slight depression on Sundays... usually during the evenings.

Thinking about going back to the office, about the juggling between the meetings (I tell you, my meetings could take up almost 3/4 of my day!) and my tasks.. and of course those "wonderful" people whom I need to work with. Gosh... I just feel like screaming!

Oh well... usually the Mondays are not as bad as I thought and I will get into the momentum of craziness by mid day. So I shall remind myself that this crappy feeling that I am having now, too, shall pass.

Tokidoki Unicorno

Got my first Tokidoki Unicorno from Urban Tee shop at 1U.

They are selling the opened boxes and I picked Pogo, the cool looking Mohawk Unicorno.

I really love Tokidoki's designs. Thought of getting some Tokidoki tees there but they are just too expensive.

Case-Mate Barely There

So what do you do when you feel like having a new phone, but do not want to spend so much money to get one?

Change the casing la!

One fine night when I was having problem sleeping, I turned on my laptop and started to search for new cases for my beloved HTC HD2 (which by the way is now running fully on Android).

Saw this pretty looking casing and nothing beats an insomniac night better than the potential of buying something online.

Case-Mate's Barely There case for HTC HD2... supposedly thin enough to make your phone feel like it's naked, thus the "barely there" promise.

Well if you can't shouldn't be naked in public, then at least allow your phone to be... but with protection. Yes... protection which is very very important.

What tempted me more was that Case-Mate slashed the price of this casing from USD19.99 to USD9.99 which I thought was a bargain... and the rest became history.

Coupled with shipping price, the amount came to about RM51.

So now is the waiting time. Shipment from US will take around 3-4 weeks, and there will be the excitement of seeing the actual thing. For now, I have already enjoyed the pleasure of shopping online.

Damn, it's 1.18AM now... is this another of my sleepless night?

Nike Free Run+ 2

Nike Free is a technology invented by Nike which was incorporated into their sports shoes. This technology allows the shoes wearer to feel as if they are barefooted.

I bought my first Nike Free shoes more than 1 and a half years ago. It's the Nike Free 5 v4.

At RM349, it was perhaps the most expensive pair of shoes that I had ever bought during that time but it was totally worth it. It became my multi purpose shoes as I wore it to gym, to work, to shopping, to parties.. very much almost everywhere whenever I was not in my flip flops. This is for a simple fact that it was really really a very comfortable pair of shoes.

So when recently I saw that Nike released a new Nike Free series - Nike Free Run+ 2, I was tempted to get a new pair, well... cos the existing pair I have really need some washing! It is still in good shape, but no harm of having 2 pairs right?

So after contemplating between a new pair of Nike shoes or the new Tokidoki Tiger 400% be@rbrick, I have decided.... to get both! :-)

Oh well... the be@rbrick is not available in Malaysia yet and it will probably take some time for it to come. Moreover I got back my overpaid tax.

So this is my new pair of Nike Free Run+ 2. I was not very happy with the colour variations though.. as they are only available in light blue with orange or black with neon green. I settled with the black with neon green though cos I thought the other one is too flashy for me.

Cost me RM369 but like my previous pair, I am very sure it will worth it!

Sleepy

Android Mini Collectible Series 02 - Hexcode

Thought I would end up with a be@rbrick when I was at The Gardens and Midvalley just now but instead, got myself an Android Mini Collectible from XL-Shop. Yes! XL-Shop is selling Android collectibles now!

Android Mini Collectibles also come in blind packaging, very much a standard format among collectible toys that are released series by series.

Got the Hexcode by designer Andrew Bell. Pretty cool looking although I was wishing for the Noogler.

My 3 Androids...

A new addition to My Collection

I received 1 blind box of the Android Mini Collectibles Series O2 today from The Taken Shop. This is my prize for winning one of their contest on their Facebook page.

Although I was wishing hard that it will turn out to be the Noogler, but I got the Bluebot instead. Oh well... at least my standard green Android figure has a friend now!

My collection so far.

I have to say, I have slowed down a lot in my be@rbricks shopping spree after finally sitting down and calculating the amount I have spent on them so far. Have to be very selective already and this Tokidoki Tiger 400% Be@rbrick is on my next purchase list.

ToysField Kuma 100% Be@rbrick

ToysField Kuma is this ball jointed bear designed by Ootsuka Katsutoshi that can stand on its own. Its limbs are highly flexible.

In 2010, Medicom created a be@rbrick with this design, and the ToysField Kuma 100% be@rbrick emerged.

It even comes in a box that is similar to how the original ToysField Kuma is packaged in.

Flea Market at CSC, Singapore

Am back from my short trip to Singapore and am feeling so moody thinking about going back to work tomorrow. Come to think of it, it's not really the work that I dread but rather that certain someone who's such a pain in the neck. Anyway, that's not the part that I want to blog about today.

So... yesterday I went to this flea market at China Square Centre (CSC), Singapore with my sister. As I mentioned in previous post, I have never gone for any flea market for toys, so not sure what to expect. However when we reached there, I could imagine that the one in CSC seems to be near heaven for toy lovers.

Although there are other stalls selling antiques and other stuff, the majority of them are selling toys. Coupled with the toy stores that they have in the building, I could imagine how every toy collector would feel... like a kid in a huge candy store!

I tried looking for be@rbricks but there are not many of these stalls and stores that are selling them. All the stores and stalls there seem to be focusing on action figures. Hmm...maybe be@rbricks are no longer so popular??

Anyway I got myself these 2 from the Dunny 2010 series, each selling for only SGD10. I couldn't find any dunny in Klang Valley but I would think they will cost at least RM30+ each. So I think this is a bargain.

Dunny 2010 - Travis Cain

Dunny 2010 - Esther Kim

Pepsi NEX x ZOZOTOWN SHIPS 70% Be@rbrick

I have been eyeing this for a while now for the simple fact that it's wearing the same spectacles as I am, which is also the very same reason why I have it as my blog's main picture.

Finally got it from Action City, Vivocity in Singapore today. It's the first be@rbrick that I get from the Lion City but will it be the only one? Hmm....lets see about it.

Planning to check out the toys flea market at China Square Central (CSC) tomorrow. I am sure it will be an interesting experience. I have never been to any toys flea market before as I only picked this addiction hobby up recently.

Qee Redrum Key Chain Collection 2.5''

Have you ever just shopped for the sake of forgetting some frustrations that you encountered at work? ...and then regretting your purchase when you got home?

If yes, then you would be able to relate how I am feeling now.

I went to Sunway Pyramid after work today, and ended up purchasing these 2 Qee Redrum 2.5" Key Chain Collection. They are from the same 2008 series and with the same design except for the colours of the body.

They are actually really cute... but what I couldn't get was, why buy two? I am not even collecting Qees! I could have just picked one from the other series!

What about the key chain part?

Well there is a separate key ring that's attached to this plastic hoop thing which comes with each Qee.

I am not sure how to attach this to the Qee to make it a keychain, but I suspect it's through one of the Qee's hands. However it would come off very easily with just a slight tug. So no matter what the box says, this is definitely NOT a keychain material!

Oh well... frustrations make people do silly things. One lesson I learned from these Qees...

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"

Update 25-Mar-2011:

I finally found the information on how to attach the key ring to the Qee to make it a keychain.

Let me try this when I get home. Pity the Qee though as it would be hanging on the neck as a keychain.

Ashley Wood & Tim Biskup Calli 100% Be@rbricks

Yay! The 2 100% be@rbricks that I ordered from Hobbycrazy, Thailand arrived today.

Ashley Wood Bambalad 100% Be@rbrick
This was released in the 2005 San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) exclusive.

Tim Biskup Alphabeast Calli 100% Be@rbrick
This was also released as a San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) exclusive but a year later i.e. in 2006.

Pepsi Nex Star Wars Be@rbrick 70%

One of my online orders reached me today from Hong Kong! Hooray!!!...

It's the Pepsi Nex Star Wars Be@rbrick 70%!! I have been waiting for them for 2 weeks already.

These be@rbricks were released in 2008 as free gifts for every purchase of Pepsi Nex in Japan. There are a total of 16 designs.

I bought them from ebay, and although one of them has a defective leg and one with rusty hook, I am generally happy with them.

My favourites are:

C-3 PO

Darth Maul

Storm Trooper

and Darth Vader, of course!