lunar new year's round the corner...but am i excited?

I'd just bought a polo-T last night. Purple or pink. It's hard to differentiate. Most people, regardless of ethnicity, would buy lots and lots of new clothes during the new year festivities. Except me. Don't you think clothes are getting more and more expensive these days? As much as i want new clothes all the time, my Dad's not Bill the Microsoft Gates. I shudder even to think that he's my Dad. Wait! Is he married?..Mmmm....

Back to my new clothes. Or, rather, my one of two new tees. Polo Ts used to be like what...S$16...for Giordano, Hang-Ten, U2 quality....Mine cost like 29...And its like 2 for 39...I only need one...Why the hell would i want two tops of the same design with different colours? I could have used that extra 10 more something else. I do feel cheated. Very cheated. Dividing 39 by two would give you 19.50...which is slightly more expensive than the regular 16. Well, but now i'm paying 29. To put it simply, these retailers are coercing you to buy two. Only idiots like me would buy one. Look around and you'll realise that all these Giordanos are doing the same. 2 for 35. I mean, isn't that like copycat or cahoots marketing? On a pretext of a CNY sale, all regular items are marked up, bundled and promoted as if there was a sale. In fact these people are making more money than usual, considering the individual pieces now cost more (19.50 - 16), plus people are getting two instead of one. So for people who buy the promotion, they earn an extra $7 in profits. From idiots like me, they earn an extra $13. That's why i refrain from buying stuff during the festive period.

I was in the sales sector. And boy am i turned off and disgusted by the practices of retailers. As what my colleagues and i would say: The people on top makes cunning and senseless decisions while those below, puppets and sinners. How often a time do we have to lie to everyone in order to boost sales. Fancy cheating your own fellowmen. Cheating old ladies with bullsh*t promotions and inferior goods. People would often say thats the way businesses are. I hate businesses.

I was once ticked off by my manager while serving a customer and a shopping mall in the heartlands. She said i shouldn't be telling the truth to customers. Well, i said if she wasn't happy i was telling the truth, she could complain or fire me. And let the GM know about it. Let HIM explain to customers how good is inferior goods are. Let HIM tell them how value-added his promotions are. Put it this way. I'm from the heartlands and i know how much these people have to scrimp and save to buy new clothes. They are ladies in their 40s -60s. They dress modestly. They don't buy clothes every now and then. And here you are, trying to trick them into paying more for some inferior sh*t, so that you'll earn higher commisions and the GM can change his car. That's the problem with businesses. Profits are never enough. Year after year, bosses want higher profits than before. Maybe someone can write a post-doc thesis on that. Does this profit-targeting follow some kind of rule or law? Linear? Exponential? Is this profit-targeting ever going to reach a pleateau where your bosses say that as long as this year's profits are the same as last, you're doing a great job?

why me?

Yes, why ME?

Why must everything crumble round me? Why can't the heavens leave me in peace? I'm not Triptraka, neither am i yearning to be the next Bodhisattva...I do not envision myself to be the next mountain-climbing, Channel-swimming or living-in-a-tank national hero. I just want to be an ordinary citizen doing ordinary work and having an ordinary family. Why must my life be so miserable?

My Dad would always say: What to do? Life is like that...
Well, it seems we're all being manipulated by Fate. I do hope someone bribes Fate to give me a better life.

I don't want to travel to and fro school with a 10kg load on my shoulders, literally. Little wonder i'm getting shorter and shorter. No pun intended. My Dad says his lappy is heavy. He carries a Travelmate and me, the second cheapest 2003 IBM R40. That thing could kill. It's worst than my wife i used to carry in the army. All these do not even include the perils of travelling in crowded buses filled with rich, spoilt brats who own cellphones and mp3 players god-knows how long it would take me to save up to buy them. I mean, i'm like carry a time-bomb around. My lappy costs like 2,300++ and i don't have that much 2,300++ in my bank account.

I've always hoped my room's soundproof. Not that i'm like making out in my room or anything. I just want a quiet, peaceful environment to study, to do my revision. If you've been reading my entries, you'd have known by now the utterly irritating condition my mum has. I do hope my FYP supervisor reads this. As least he would know that not everyone has a happy and supportive family. At least he would hesitate before throwing a B for my FYP. I do need a B+. All my hardwork would have gone down the drain with a B. I loathe travelling to school in the first place. But where can i find a more conducive environment other than the school? But it means wasting at least 3 hours travelling there. I could have completed my revision with that wasted time if not for my mother-who-drove-me-out-of-the-house-with-her-senseless-i'm-talking-to-myself-nonsense.

I went to school again today. Felt real unwell. No other choice. Had to prepare my presentation slides for the interim presentation on Monday. Have lots to tell. But my mum's with her nonsense at 2am in the morning again.