The Beast

That was what we all knew him as. Not in a derogatory sense but because he was ripped and smart like the character in X-Men comics. He was a great classmate and friend to us all. An exceptional teacher and someone who epitomizes the term physical educator to the very last letter. He was fitter than all of us and was great at all sports, basketball and soccer alike. I dont think anyone else had more physical educator qualities than he did. And he was smart. Masters student and all. Was always above everyone else in all the chiim modules we pe teachers had to take.

And no he was no social retard. There were hardly any outings which stephen was neevr a part of. And he was humble so generally he was well liked by everyone. He was eloquent and witty and understood a lot of my jokes and rantings.(Something we both had in common, something many of my classmates couldnt get...)

The thing i dont get is how is it, that out of all 22 people this had to happen to him. Ok I know, its the way things are, fate and everything else but its just really depressing. The same case for Zam, out of all the other student teachers there it had to happen to my bro... This is truly a depressing year.

I have found the love of my life, but I lost two brothers. I hope this is the end of it.

What have I gotten myself into?

I am getting extremely worried. I think I am going into a financial crisis soon.

My car broke down yesterday. Initially it was the alternator cos the battery light came on. Then as I approched the carpark wanting to park, the temperature gauge shotup and smoke emitted from the bonnet. It was also extremely difficult to park because the power steering stopped working. Two passers by had to help me to push the vehicle. I had the car towed this morning.

I am fearful that they might have to overhaul the engine. I worry that the labour costs, and the towing and everything would amount up to a thousand dollars. And this had to come in at a time when I made so many other financial commitments.

I just signed up for a new investment policy with japz. I also created a compulsory savings account with DBS which works like the SAYE but with a few modifications. The problem here is that I committed $300 every month. They will start deducting next month, on a month when I am going to have a lot bills to clear. There is the cat's bills this month which I need to pay my mum. Thats about a hundred bucks.

I also helped to pay for my kids chalet upfront, 85.60 for the chalet and 110.60 for the satay and the otah-otah and a 50 dollar deposit. They are supposed to pay me back but I doubt I am going to get everything back. As it is, the authorities deducted 18.80 from the deposit for excessive use of electricity.

There are also so many birthdays and weddings this month, all of which I have evaluated and there is no way I can get out of spending money from. So all in all, I could actually end up spending 2k this month.

I dont have any tuition money coming in this month. I dont have access to some of my savings for reasons I cannot divulge and I used up quite a huge amount of it this month because of Hari Raya.

So I am really worried. And this was just when I thought life was good and I had everything figured out. I even thought of getting a bike this January and changing my car in March. I think I might have to evaluate my plans once more.

I am still waiting for the mechanic to call me. Its been more than 4 hours. I should just sell my car.

Sigh

Out

Smoke Poisoning

Today its not the cold. My nose is no longer running. But I still have to use the handkerchief but its not that bad. Today is the side effects one suffers from standing in front of the bbq pit for too long.

My form class had a chalet. Initially it was my idea. Sometime during one of my talk cock sessions while addressing the entire class, I sort of asked them what were their holiday plans. This was like two to three months ago. Then i asked whether they wanted a chalet and left the conversation hanging while they were getting all excited about it. Knowing I was never going to bring it up again, one of them asked if I could help them book the chalet. Although later on I tried to evade from that responsibility, due to time and other administrative constraints, i did it anyways. I did it always reminding myself and them that this is their chalet and me and my colleague were just invited guests. Then yesterday came and I had ti check in. So i spent 85.60 on the chalet and had to come up with another 50 dollars as deposit. I hope I get that money back. So i checked in, confirmed everything was intact and made sure the kids were all settled in before I left to get the otah-otah and satay. Then they asked if I could help them buy tongs, butter and the metal mesh for the pit. So i went off to Defu Lane 10 to get the food stuffs and stopped by the supermarket to get the other items and went back to the chalet to drop off the stuff. They were all not back. Everyone of them either went out cycling or were at escape theme park. SO i arranged everything nicely for them and called them telling them ill drop by later tonight. When I came back at around 8, I was shocked that a lot of the food was untouched. They were more interested in playing water bombs(of which I was a victim of) instead of eating and cooking. And when I asked why were the food still not cooked, I was told that they were unsure whether the food was ready to be eaten or not. SO that was when I decided to reignite the dying fire and start cooking for them. I never liked barbequing. You get all hot and sweaty and everyone else sits around enjoying the luxuries of a chalet while you are busy making sure they are well fed. But yesterday I somehow enjoyed it. I figured that my boys and girls are childish. They are rascals and naughty but thats about it. They are just being children and chalets for them are a whole load of fun because they get to play. This i thought was better than what I had imagined teenagers wanted to do at chalets. Hence, cooking for them and watching them gobble everything up was very satisfying. I knew they were never going to bbq if I didnt and I knew after all that running around the entire day, they were going to get really hungry so I spent the most of my time there cooking for them. I intended to arrive and leave in half an hour but I actually stuck around until all the satay, chicken and sting ray were cooked. By the time i left, the only thing left was the otah-otah which had already been cooked and they would finish it all up because I was sure they would stay up all night. I would if I were in their position.

I left the chalet contented and satisfied. I hardly ate but I was certainly more satisfied then when I used to just eat at chalets.

Alas, I woke up this morning with a sore throat and burnt skin. Therefore, I still hate barbequing.

Out

I hate Colds!

I woke up with a bad cold. The kind where your nose keeps on running and running. And unfortunately I use a handkerchief and today I only brought one and that one is really wet and disgusting now but I really dont have much of a choice. I tried looking for tissue in school but no one seems to have it. I have also exhausted all the extra supplies I bought previously to stock up for such emergency situations. I need to go out and get them soon. But I dont think I am going to to remember to do that. I have quite a lot on my plate today. Not really a lot but when compared to other weekdays during this time of the year, it quite a mouthful.

I just finished editing the stack of graduation certificates I was allocated. I await another stack tomorrow when my colleague is done with hers. Then there is the daily preparations for the camp middle of this month. I called the Bowling fella and he told me he will email me again but its still not there. So will need to call him again. Did i spell my name wrongly? Twice? Maybe this time i should sms him instead?
At around 2, I will need to go down to Hometeam Holiday Chalets to check in for my class, cos we are having our annual class chalet today and tomorrow. Its not really an annual chalet, just something I came up with to get students all excited and for them to have something to remember since they are all going to seperate classes next year. They are Sec 2s by the way. Before I check in, I might need to get the satay and otah-otah I promised as part of my contribution. The problem is I dont know where I am going to find these things. I am certainly not one of those market-goers. Hopefully Ill find those ready made ones in the supermarkets. I am going to have to ask my mum. I knew I would regret promising them this.

Once I am done with that, Ill be going home. Ill probably go over to the chalet tonight with my co form teacher and we will see how that goes. Actually thats all that I have today. Oh yes, I need to prepare for a friends birthday I am celebrating tomorrow. Its kind of a secret so I cant really elaborate on that, but that is going to take some time. So all in all, it is going to be quite a busy day. But I think I should be able to squeeze in time to get tissue. I think I need to.

Argh I Hate Colds!!!