Propagator

Yep. Title says it all. I’m resigning.

Driving Lesson 6

“Just park with the bumper in.”

“Huh?”

“Steer right, full lock, just drive into the parking lot. Quick!”

“Okay,” I did the full lock to the right and the car was slanted but I didn’t quite bother (it was usual); I knew I needed the car to stop so I depressed the brake.

“Eh, you must depress the clutch!” Too late.

The car was slanted in the parking, bumper in, fully stationary because the engine stalled. I had depressed the brake and allowed the car to come to a full stop without depressing the clutch a bit. For a moment I was still wondering how the engine stalled.

Yeah, I’m still a noob.

After finishing a short stint of work at a small firm selling water filter systems, I’m back to being unemployed with a job offer pending. So this morning when I reading the article on Britain’s “Broken Society” from The Economist I was particularly intrigued by the concept of “Not in Employment, Education or Training”, or NEET. For this brief period I’m essentially under this sort of classification together with some of my friends, who might be lingering in this category for way longer than I do and will probably stay around until university comes.

Thanks to the Wikipedia article I got introduced to a whole load of similar concepts, including “Parasite Singles“, “Freeter“, and “Twixter“. This is an even wider concept of Boomerang Generation that spawned comedy films like Failure to Launch and Step Brothers. The idealism that is expressed by my generation of kids seem to hint that the figures for people in these classifications would grow.

For now I’ll be sitting back and relaxing at this new status.

After a week of working I started getting used to it; and in fact I started liking it. This is probably the trend when you start getting acquainted with the people at work and then you don’t mind helping them anymore. I experienced this while in National Service as well. Unfortunately I know the next step too well; you start getting to know people a bit too much and they are no longer that courteous to you and start making you the scapegoat for their mistakes. This next stage doesn’t set in all the time; usually if you maintain your integrity, stay as a great worker, it might never come in. For me, it set in really late during National Service. It was by a certain time when I started diverting energies back into the real world that I realised work feels crappy when it is done in camp.

So when I started out at work, I kept comparing it with the kind of life I had in camp and it becomes rather miserable. Then as life moves on, you discover that there’s something new you learn everyday and when you talk to people and learn about their lives, about their history and each individual’s purposes, you think there’s so much more to the work then what you have been dealing with and in most cases, you can actually find out. You can work on and fulfill your purpose and also that of others. You can commit yourself to a vision someone has shared with you, or you can be inspired to create your own and move ahead with it.

And soon enough, life is going to be pretty exciting for you.

My Jetstream pen costs me $1.85 and the refill costs $1.75. My question: should I be getting a refill or a new pen? I ponder over such questions frequently, often wondering if what we normally consider good value bundles or stuff that are ‘worth the price’ are truly good purchases. I figured out that we need to think about the value the goods offer us. If something offers zero value and yet comes at a cost, it is not wise to make the purchase at all. This is especially true for bundles. For example, I am offered to buy 100 Lipton Tea Bags at $7 and the package comes with a free mug. Should I take it up if I need the 100 Tea Bags but the mug would only take up extra space in my house without being used at all and 50 Tea Bags comes at a price of $3?

Basic math and cost-benefit analysis suggests that if I value the cup at more than $1 then I should buy the package. Unfortunately, most people would just consider ‘When would I get another opportunity to get a Lipton limited edition mug for $1?’ It is obviously the wrong question to ask. And that’s why I opt to get the refill. While I know that the pen casing with the spring and the clicking mechanism in the Jetstream pen probably cost more than 10 cents or comes close to being around 10 cents, it is a question of how much I value it. Since I can’t use the pen casing without a refill it’s value is zero and so I’d rather buy a refill that helps save me 10 cents.

Writer at ERPZ. Writer for Insights. Economics Tutor. Maths Tutor. Admin Support and Sales at a small firm. Learning Driver. IT Saikang Warrior for Alumni.

To think that for a time I thought I’m going to be very free. Well, to have time to blog this entry is probably good enough…