minime28
Thursday, August 18, 2005
physical test
In the lunar calendar, today is the 14th of july. The day where in folklore the gates of hell are opened and spirits spent their summer vacation on Earth.
The alarm clock sounded at 5am. A few hits on the snooze button later, i got out of bed and saw i was running late for my annual physical test. So i ended up taking a taxi. It was a long journey and while the driver was boring me out with his complains about telemarketing scams, I saw droplets forming on windscreen. The sky was massed with low grey clouds. Not good.
The security detail of the place has been beefed up. Beyond the security check at the entrance, a guard stood with a HUGE Alsatian by his side. Thank God it was on a leash, though I doubt the guard could have restrained the dog if it went crazy. I quickly walk past the pair and made my way to the assembling point. Turns out I was early, and I got into a chat with a career uniformed staff(Regular). The guy was taking the test too and he complained about the workload and how the people from other departments were biatches.
Years ago when serving my service, I observed that these regulars worked on a duty roster. When off duty, they have lots of free time to talk about hot issues like football punting, hot clubs to visit, cars and reading girly mags. Cars and their vanity accessories were a favorite topic, probably because these people earned too much money? The point is, for hours everyday these people are getting paid to sit on their butts. That was then. Over the past few days, I have been doing my in-camp refresher course and my observation is things remained the same.
I think many of these regulars joined the service straight from school, and have lived a sheltered life not knowing how corporate life works. Over the years, society has moved on. The term "job security" is now passé. People are facing retrenchments, pay freeze and contract jobs as the economic makeup undergoes a transition and companies moved towards out-sourcing. I hoped the regulars in the service appreciate their guaranteed jobs, and the regular bonuses and promotions.
The sky was still cast and i noticed the ground was still wet from an earlier rain. The safety guy arrived and after an inspection of the grounds, he duly announced the test cancelled due to wet weather. Damn...but may not be so bad after all. I have been feeling cold and lethargic the whole morning and wondering if i was up to the rigors of the test.
I went to bed early last night in anticipation of today's test but couldn't sleep. As midnight approaches, I started thinking about all sorts of rubbish like casper lurking outside the door etc. It was getting ridiculous so i shifted my thoughts to tomorrow's test, recalling the news of some unfortunate servicemen who collapsed after a run. What will happen if i collapsed during the run? Will anyone outside of my family miss me? Probably not. But my elderly folks will be in financial trouble, and i blamed myself for not looking into getting cover for this area. Amazing how the mind wanders at late night.
Back to the present, the test has been cancelled and i should look into getting cover. My conman of an insurance agent friend is going to get lucky.
The alarm clock sounded at 5am. A few hits on the snooze button later, i got out of bed and saw i was running late for my annual physical test. So i ended up taking a taxi. It was a long journey and while the driver was boring me out with his complains about telemarketing scams, I saw droplets forming on windscreen. The sky was massed with low grey clouds. Not good.
The security detail of the place has been beefed up. Beyond the security check at the entrance, a guard stood with a HUGE Alsatian by his side. Thank God it was on a leash, though I doubt the guard could have restrained the dog if it went crazy. I quickly walk past the pair and made my way to the assembling point. Turns out I was early, and I got into a chat with a career uniformed staff(Regular). The guy was taking the test too and he complained about the workload and how the people from other departments were biatches.
Years ago when serving my service, I observed that these regulars worked on a duty roster. When off duty, they have lots of free time to talk about hot issues like football punting, hot clubs to visit, cars and reading girly mags. Cars and their vanity accessories were a favorite topic, probably because these people earned too much money? The point is, for hours everyday these people are getting paid to sit on their butts. That was then. Over the past few days, I have been doing my in-camp refresher course and my observation is things remained the same.
I think many of these regulars joined the service straight from school, and have lived a sheltered life not knowing how corporate life works. Over the years, society has moved on. The term "job security" is now passé. People are facing retrenchments, pay freeze and contract jobs as the economic makeup undergoes a transition and companies moved towards out-sourcing. I hoped the regulars in the service appreciate their guaranteed jobs, and the regular bonuses and promotions.
The sky was still cast and i noticed the ground was still wet from an earlier rain. The safety guy arrived and after an inspection of the grounds, he duly announced the test cancelled due to wet weather. Damn...but may not be so bad after all. I have been feeling cold and lethargic the whole morning and wondering if i was up to the rigors of the test.
I went to bed early last night in anticipation of today's test but couldn't sleep. As midnight approaches, I started thinking about all sorts of rubbish like casper lurking outside the door etc. It was getting ridiculous so i shifted my thoughts to tomorrow's test, recalling the news of some unfortunate servicemen who collapsed after a run. What will happen if i collapsed during the run? Will anyone outside of my family miss me? Probably not. But my elderly folks will be in financial trouble, and i blamed myself for not looking into getting cover for this area. Amazing how the mind wanders at late night.
Back to the present, the test has been cancelled and i should look into getting cover. My conman of an insurance agent friend is going to get lucky.
posted by 桔梗, 9:21 PM
