Salam and good day I wish you on this cold and wet morning.
The monsoon is here... as expected. Cold, wet, windy ... the whole bloody lot. Mother nature is always reliable. It's pouring cats and dogs this morning. well, actually, it's been pouring since yesterday, and has gotten even worse today. Cats and dogs yesterday, cows and pigs today... LOL
As usual, I have tons of assessments to mark, but I just could not get myself to look at them yet. Instead, I went out, looked at the rain, shot a video and updated my blog. It's either that or watching Queen music videos. Well, f it makes you happy luv, do it. Anyway, I feel so much better now. I'm actually feeling quite motivated to work.
The last I heard, several areas have flooded and some roads are closed. Don't know how long this will last. I hope the best for all the flood victims and I also hope my flowers in my small yard will not die from too much rain. You know what they say... too much of a good thing ...
What can I say. It's been a long weary year. Covid is still lingering in the air and things are only halfway back to normal. Not sure whether we will be able to get back to pre-covid normal. A lot of people are taking the current situation as the new normal.
Well, new or old, I can't wait to retire... on this day next year, I will be free... for now... let's hope for a miracle...
Here I am again, ready to begin another semester. Seems like just yesterday I finished teaching the third semester.
This semester, instead of online teaching, (which I have sort of gotten used to by now), the university wants us to do hybrid lesson. Hybrid, meaning, a combination of online and face to face lesson., ie: 50% of each. Sounds simple enough. Well, it is anything but simple.
The 50% face to face and online only applies to students' learning time,
For the lecturers, its actually 100% face to face, but in the face to face class, only 50% of the students will be physically present and the remaining will have it as an online lesson. That's one scenario. I know. It's complicated.
Anyway, the hybrid lesson consists of six different scenarios based to the actual number of students who are physically on campus and those who are not. Therefore, if I have six sections to teach, and unluckily, have six different scenarios, well... chaos would be an understatement. I'm literally heading into a storm.
The bright side is this coming semester would be my second last before I'm off to my retirement. Sooo looking forward to it. I'm just too old for this mode of teaching.
Speaking of storm, it's October now, and we can expect a visit from our dear friend, the North East monsoon in a few weeks. Yes, Mr Monsoon will come with abundance of rain, leaving a trail of destruction in its path. That gives me an idea for a November poem. Hopefully, I will have the time to think about it, you know, with all the chaos.
But, for now, I need something soothing... here it is...
Despite, the title, My Melancholy Blues, This song is not at all depressing. It is the most peaceful and serene song ever.
Oh yes. As a Queen fan, I am very proud and moved that they played Queen's Teo Torriatte at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 opening ceremony.
If you don't know that song, then you might have missed their album 'A Day At The Races' It's a beautiful song, written by Brian May for their Japanese fans
It's no secret that the Japanese love Queen, and this just proves it. They still love queen, just as much as I do.
Sadly, I could not put the video of the opening ceremony here because for some reason, it was blocked. However, I did find a snippet of it in twitter ... here
Hear my song, still think of me the way you've come to think of me.....
I walked into my yard early one morning, around 6.30 am and I was greeted by a glorious sight. Glorious because it was such a rare sight to behold.
Yes. I was greeted by the still blooming Bakawali flower or its not so exotic scientific name Epiphyllum Oxytpetallum. Mind you, I was lucky to be able to catch it still blooming as it was already daylight and the flower was already wilting, never to bloom again.
also known as Queen of the night
, Gul-e-Bakavali, Kadupul, Brahma Kamalam, Beauty below the moon
Blooming only once a year, the blooming period is said to be from the end of June till early July, which was around the time I took these pictures. Being a night blooming cactus, they start to open after dusk, around 8 or nine pm and start to fade after dawn. hence the name Queen of the night. Not only that, each flower will only bloom once and only for a few hours.
That is why we will never see this flower being sold in flower shops and florist or blooming in the nursery. They could never make it to the shops. so, they can never be bought in all their entirety, which renders them priceless, ergo, the most expensive flower in the world.
Luckily, there were a few more buds that hasn't bloomed. I waited 2 days for them to bloom.
so here it is, the Queen of the night in all its glory, captured on 21.06.2021 at 11.35 pm
Oh, did I tell you about the scent? How would I describe the scent. It is soft, warm and sweet, and it perfumed my whole yard. Heavenly.
However, if you are an avid believer of the paranormal, smelling the Bakawali scent in the middle of the night would definitely make the hair on your arm stand up and send you scrambling indoor. Incidentally, just a few moments ago, a booming thunder cracked the sky. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Well, I guess that's my cue to stop.
Excuse me while I vent a bit of steam here, since I don't have a facebook account. Anyway, facebook is waaaayyyy to public for me to write anything substantial or of a personal nature.
Well, what's the problem, PC? you may ask.
Boy, are you going to regret asking.
Straight to the point, it's the issue of who would be granted the Work From Home option. Mind you, I'm only referring to my own work place here.
Back to the subject of who gets to WFH. The Ministry of Health has given a list of people considered as Covid 19 high-risk group. Among those listed are persons 55 years and above and children below 12 years old.
So, here's the problem. Firstly, I was born in November 1966 which makes me, technically 55 in 2021. However, my boss deemed me not eligible because my birthdate is in November, therefore, I am not a high-risk person.
They quoted the Public Service Department's circular stating a person's age must be counted from his/her birthdate, a rule which, apparently, is not applied in the education sector.
Surely that's not true, PC, you say.
Oh...But it is. If not, why would a child who is born on 01.01.2012 and another who is born on 31.12 2012 start school in 2019, when the previous would be 7 years old on 01.01.2019 whereas the latter had only reached 6 the day before.
See the discrepancy? But, that's ok, maybe a 54 year and 5 months old body is a lot more stronger than a 55 year old body. Who knows? So, I accepted their decision and respectfully said thank you.
Secondly, apart from my age, I also applied because I have my 9 year old grandson living with me, which, if you did not notice, falls under the category of 'children below 12'. And, surprise surprise, they said no.
Again, I asked them why? Didn't the MOH state children below 12? Surprise surprise again, no reply to my email.
Yesterday, the issue of who can apply for WFH came out again, this time in the Centre's WhatsApp group.
I casually mentioned in passing about the issue with my age and my grandson.
Guess what?
Someone replied, 'I think the letter mentioned your children, not grandchildren'
and another ' Public servants are only responsible for their children and parents, Other than that, they are not under your responsibility.'
I understood that one just fine. But, the issue is not about responsibility, the issue is about risk.
Are you saying that my 9 year old grandson, who is living with me in the same house, would not get it, even if I got it, just because he is not my child, he's merely my grandson,
or, even if he gets it, it would not be a high risk because . again, he's not under the category of 'your children', so he's immune? What bloody logic is that?
Then came a third reply: 'BDR is a privilege not a right'
wow...you don't say.
In my head, I hear Freddie Mercury singing ... foooools of the first division... But all three are PhD holders y'all.
I also again, casually, pointed out that
The MOH stated 'children under the age of 12 (as opposed to 'your own children under the age of 12') in the WhatsApp,
and... no one replied. Either nobody knew what to reply or nobody cared.
Obviously, the degree of EQ, if it exists at all, is not great among the highly intelligent.
Anyway, I'm done with all this. I won't waste my time applying for WFH this time around. What's the point? Nothing has changed, so why would the outcome be any different?
You're a sewer rat decaying in a cesspool of pride
Should be made unemployed Then make yourself null and void Make me feel good (I feel good) ...
a bit harsh isn't it Freddie?
Freddie Mercury : I'm just getting started darling...
3 hari lepas, sewaktu saya sedang mengemas bahagian hadapan rumah, saya ternampak setompok daun melekat pada eksoz motor anak saya yang sudah tidak digunakan. Namun, sewaktu saya mendekati untuk menyapu daun itu, saya dapati yang ia bukan daun, sebaliknya seekor kupu-kupu yang agak pelik rupanya. Pelik bagi saya kerana tak pernah terjumpa kupu-kupu seperti itu.
inilah kupu-kupu yang saya jumpa
Selepas mengambil beberapa photo, saya biarkan saja kupu-kupu itu. Out of curiosity, saya google gambar species kupu-kupu di Malaysia, namun tiada yang padan. Saya google pula rama-rama di Malaysia, sama juga, tiada padanan. Lama juga lah saya mencari, berpuluh-puluh gambar kupu-kupu dan rama-rama yang saya tengok. Akhirnya, saya google 'moth' dan saya dapat dua gambar yang agak serupa dengan yang saya jumpa.
s
species pertama adalah Daphnis nerii, the oleander hawk-moth atau army green moth dari keluarga Sphingidae atau hawkmoth.
Apparently, terdapat sedikit perbezaan antara keduanya, tetapi, saya bukan seorang entomologist, jadi saya gagal membezakan antara kedua species. Menurut cucu saya yang berusia 9 tahun, ' the top one has the same pattern, but, the bottom one has the same colour'.
Here we are , bracing the third wave of Coronavirus. still WFH.
Anyway, I found this while browsing for Queen videos, and I just have to post it. Lyrics by comedian Dana Jay Bein, performed by Adrian Grimes, music by Queen obviously. Just a bit of fun to see us through these gloomy times. Enjoy.
