Nat King Cole Day

Today is Nat King Cole day because Lisa brought her Nat King Cole CD collection. The soothing voice of NKC played softly on Anton's exceptional speakers throughout the day.

Some observations after a whole day of NKC in my ears. NKC's songs - music, voice, lyrics, co-singers - mainly evoke feelings of romantic-ism. If you're feeling romantic right now, playing NKC can make you in the mood for more romantic-ism.

NKC's songs can evoke other feelings too, I realise. Sleepiness. Especially after lunch, it makes you feel more sleepy. Sadness. If you begin thinking about sad events, it deepens your sadness. Whichever feeling it evokes in you; romantic, sleepy or sad; it just intensifies it, I don't know why. Lisa agrees with me too. I hope there's no more NKC tomorrow. No, there shall not be NKC tomorrow. It's too distracting.

In a Christmasy Mood..

...I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

I'm not actually dreaming of a White Christmas right now. It's my colleague, Anton. He has been playing Christmas songs since the beginning of Nov. He got us all in a Christmasy mood all over now by playing Neri Per Caso's a capella version of White Christmas through his ultra powerful speakers.

The songs make us feel warm in our freezing cold air-conditioned shophouse office. Xmas is the season of snow, celebration and presents exchanging. It used to be so much more exciting when I was a kid - wrapping presents, decorating the tree and watching Home Alone and Disney's adaptation of Scrooge on TV/videotapes while the rain (not snow, unfortunately) pitter-pattered on the windows on Xmas day.

The rain still falls on Xmas day, but somehow there's less of present exchanging and not as many good Xmas movies around too. I can only reminisce on those days.

Anyway we are supposed to decorate our office but nobody has done anything yet. Never mind, the music alone is good enough :) Let the music play on..

...And may all your Christmases be white...

Satisfaction

There are a few good things that have happened in my life which have given me great satisfaction:

1. Obtaining excellent results in my O Levels without tuition
2. Teaching my students at my alma mater in the 6 months before University lessons commenced
3. Obtaining a good Honours degree in Computer Science without any prior IT background

Now, I can add one more:
4. Purchasing what I really need from hard earned savings

Recently, I bought 2 objects of desire which I can now happily strike them off from my wishlist. One of them is a pair of running shoes, the other is an mp3 player. I used to own both objects but they have worn off with age. My mom bought me the running shoes. My brother and sis-in-law bought me a 5.0 GB Creative mp3 player on my birthday. My running shoes have zero friction on the soles now and my mp3 player has simply stopped working. Sadly, I can't live without both.

Like all entry level graduates, I used to spend huge amounts of my earnings on things that I have only ephemeral interest in: fashion (which grows out of date quite quickly) and food or entertainment with friends. Then there will always be the inevitable *extra* expenditure: friend's wedding, visit to the doctor's, someone's birthday, supporting a friend's concert, mother's day, father's day, etc. I will then find myself not saving much at all at the end of each month.

I can't remember when but I did finally sit down to think about financial management seriously. Perhaps due to good friend Eileen's constant reminders to save *wink*. It became clear to me that I have to save, and only spend on things I really need. This became my financial goal. It's tough work but I was quite determined to give it a try.

I started saving in July. My wishlist, containing "Things I really need", was drawn up in September. I wanted to achieve these things on my own, without subsidies from loving parents or doting friends. Top on the list was running shoes for the upcoming Standard Chartered 10km marathon. Second on the list, you guessed it, the indispensable mp3 player. Music plays an important part in my life.

Eventually I bought a new pair of red Reebok running shoes from Why Pay More and a new 512MB iRiver mp3 player from Sim Lim. Although my purchases were a slight downgrade from their predecessors (my previous Reebok was more expensive and my previous mp3 player had more memory), I still felt great. My purchases were respectable: both Reebok and iRiver are very good brands, meeting my requirements and within my comfortable spending range. They were from my savings, no subsidies, no extravagance. For the first time, I felt independent, in control of my finances and very satisfied. It was also now that I fully appreciated the sacrifices my parents made to raise us.

I still have more things to strike off from my wishlist. But you can be assured I'm not hinting for anything, even though I wouldn't mind it if someone offers :p