super long blog

Oh dear… it seems like this could be yet another day when I have nothing to do. Actually I do have something to finish up from yesterday but I doubt it would take me the whole day to do it. So I thought I had best “save” it for last or, better yet, somehow manage to spread it out over the entire day. Maybe I could blog 1 hour before I do 10 minutes worth of work. This way, what should have taken only an hour to complete could last the whole day.




It has been about an hour since I wrote the previous paragraph. During that time, I have been finishing up the work my supervisor gave me yesterday. Why the sudden sense of urgency? Well, it turned out my supervisor did come to work today. He arrived for work a little late so I had previously thought he was not coming. Even after he arrived, I was still planning to execute my plan of spreading out that 1 hour worth of work over the whole day. Unfortunately, my supervisor was more concerned (read: kiasu =P). The impression I get from him is that he thinks this task is not easy and may take hours to solve. I would love to think I’m some kind of genius who can come up with simple solutions others could never imagine of. However, I really think it was more a case of the supervisor either thinking that an undergraduate wouldn’t know how to solve problems or he just didn’t have much experience with such problems and exaggerated its so called complexity.

But I digress. As I was saying, my supervisor came to talk to me. Probably worried that I looked bored, he asked me to finish up yesterday’s work. He even challenged me by saying, “I want to see if you can come up with a solution that’s fast and good.” Doesn’t that give you the impression he thinks it will probably take a long time to come up with a solution?

Well, that’s the impression I had anyway. Determined to prove him wrong, I went straight to the workshop, got some scrap materials and, within an hour, made a simple apparatus that fits his requirements, together with the help of the lab technician there. The design looks horrible, with scotch tapes crudely placed and odd shaped pieces of metals and plastics stuck to each other. But it works and that’s all that matters. After all, it’s only meant for internal use and on a temporary basis.

Of course, my life was made much easier because I managed to find scrap materials that fit my needs. Thank God for that (and everything else too of course =)). However, I still stand by my belief that few mechanical engineering undergraduates would think my solution was difficult to come up with. In fact, I even think they may have come up with a solution even faster than I did.

So now here I am, waiting for the next phase in this mini project of mine. Now that the apparatus is ready, the next phase would be to use it but my supervisor and I are waiting for the right time. Till then, I will be blogging on and on and on….

This reminds me. I am supposed to blog out my answer to one of the questions I asked before. The question was: If I could choose between Samantha and Karen Mok who would I choose?

Well I feel I need to first clarify that these 2 personalities only represent the personalities I could be attracted to based on impressions. There are still other kinds of attractions like those that developed through friendships or some great level of chemistry or both. I’m honestly not sure how many kinds of attractions there are but I definitely know Samantha and Karen Mok are not the only 2 personality types I could develop feelings for.

Also, I am assuming I don’t know anything about these girls. I only just met them so I don’t know if their personalities really fit the impressions they gave me and I obviously don’t know if they may like me too. My choice is solely based on my first impression of them. And most importantly, these are only attractions, nothing near “falling in love”. That comes much later after I know the person a lot better.

That said, I shall now reveal the answer. The answer is Samantha.

Why her? Well, Samantha is obviously much harder to find than Karen. I’ve already met a Karen Mok type person in school but never someone anywhere close to Samantha. That is precisely why I think Samantha is so perfect to me she could only exist in television shows.

Perhaps the real problem is that even if I do meet someone who behaves like Samantha, it is difficult for me to believe that is who she really is. After a couple of bad experiences (not as devastating as those BGR break ups but still hurting), I have developed a cynicism towards sweet girls. Simply put, I think they are too good to be true. I prefer if girls scold me when they are angry with me. Or if I’m wrong, they just tell me so without trying to be diplomatic and avoid hurting my feelings. It gives me the impression such girls would prefer to look demure and gentle than say what they really feel. I know it’s hard to say what you really feel when we live in a society where misunderstandings can be catastrophic and bad impressions are difficult to correct. But it’s not like I’m the girl’s boss or she needs my help. Friends should be able to be open with each other.

Perhaps another “problem” is that I do know such girls who are frank and open and I am actually very close to them. They may bitch at times but I think that only shows they are human and I feel I can trust them more. So perhaps I have subconsciously associated such “imperfect” girls with girls I ought to be close with. And perhaps that would imply that perfect girls are girls I ought to shun! Wouldn’t that be a good joke?

(Digress: I feel that bitching is ok if it’s purely meant to vent out your frustrations. Sooner or later, someone is going to make you angry. So it’s better to let that anger out than keep it bottled inside. What I don’t like is when people say how bad that person is without even considering that they could be in the wrong too. And while it is ok to complain about someone, once the complaining is over and the frustration is vented out, it’s time to forgive the person rather than constantly hold a grudge. It’s not as if the person will suddenly turn over a new leaf just because you are STILL angry with her/him. Forgiving, on the other hand, can make someone feel he should make use of this 2nd chance to change his ways.)

In the show, Samantha is perfect in every sense. She doesn’t make unreasonable requests or throw tantrums. It’s not like she never gets angry. She did punish her husband every once in a while when he was a bit too jealous or over-anxious. However, she was always willing to sacrifice for him not just because she loves him but also because she knew that sacrifice is required to make a marriage work. And for the feminists out there, the husband sacrificed too. So don’t worry.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t know so much about a girl just from a first impression. So as far as impressions go, even if she was Samantha, I would only be able to notice that this girl smiles a lot and seems to be the kind of person who doesn’t take life too seriously. Samantha would give me the impression I could come home to her after a long day at work and her smile would make me feel it was worth it.

On the other hand, if I met a Karen Mok, I would be attracted to her cool persona and her charm that comes naturally with confidence. She is someone I would admire a lot so that alone would be enough for me to want to know her better.

If I was pragmatic I should choose Karen because I know she is someone real. Conversely, there are too many girls trying to pretend to be Samantha. So why should this “Samantha” be any different?

However, I can’t help myself. I’m ultimately still a sucker for Samantha. I will always try to pursue Samantha as long as there is a slim chance this girl is really as nice as I think she is. I’m not saying Samantha has to behave like an angel to fit my impression. If she smiles a lot but still shows her anger when she’s angry regardless of who she is with I would think she really is perfect. It’s the smile I’m talking about. Is it really genuine or is it just something that she uses to hide her true feelings?

Karen Mok would make a fantastic companion and she is probably sexier to me but I would’t mind just being friends with her. I would definitely want to know both Karen Mok and Samantha more than any other person but if I had to choose someone I want to share my life with, I will still go for the fantasy come true that is Samantha.

Even if it ends up as a fantasy and this girl is not a real Samantha after all, I know I would still try again if another “potential Samantha” came along.

What else can I do? =)