You are fired !!!!

One of my colleagues Gin was 'ask' to go ...sigh... for those of you who think that we make lots of money, that's the financial world for you. No one is safe these days.  One day you were raking in tons & the next you are out! It's like a sudden death.

Last month she had a sense of things to come & had ask me, do I think she's next? She wants a big sent off with champagne, if it comes to that. "Buried or cremation", we joked - She didn't care how her being is being disposed of, she said. 

Later Gin text me this message: Bury me, freeze me, deep-fry me like KFC & send me to a giant corporate building with a giant corporate sign that reads SCIENCE. Nothing I did here in this company would have any bearing on the path I take in the next one. I sealed my fate 8 years ago when I took up this job! Sealed it & spat on it & locked it in. I never did have much of a sense of direction, but I knew that when I go, I would not be going to any more financial corporations!............ I know she's kinda dramatic, but that's our beloved Gin !!! It could have been me in the future, who knows....

Last night we did give her a big sent off party. What she intend to do now? Well she has a big mortgage, bills to pay,  life goes on. She has experience, & many contacts so it might not be that bad. I hope not. She's a good friend.

Life Lessons: The people with the power are never the most useful. Never.

I'm still learning how to function productively as a person, and am always surprised when things I should already know about how I should live are reaffirmed. So here you go guys, my best tips on the philosophy of living, garnered from 3 decades of haphazard living:

-treat everything like a job. No, not with distain and reluctance, but as if you are getting paid (at least somewhat decently). Including dating, making friends, calling your mother. I am a terrible daughter.

-always take the lead. Group inertia is the worst. People just look around hoping that someone else will tell them what to do, or make the decision. And you rationalize it because, "I'm the most junior" or "I'm new" or whatever. It's dumb, and people will always appreciate it when you make that effort to not be the lemming.

-never stop networking/hustling. A pity, because I really dislike both of these things. Precisely why I avoid sales/marketing jobs as much as I can. But life is about being a greedy little opportunist, while also throwing out tasty bits of bacon whenever you can to attract the other greedy opportunists, who inevitably will have other tasty morsels that they don't like (cheesecake bites, perhaps? or fruit leather?)

-don't ever ignore the "secretary". The people with the power are never the most useful. Never.

yeah that's all i got right now.

Gangs getting into white collar crimes like bank fraud !

Are you familiar with some popular US,TV series like "Major Crimes" , "Blue Blood"  etc... If you have been following these shows or at least follow the news from the states, you would have a fair idea of the gangs in America. In the past gangs are associated with violent crimes & drugs.  But lately these guys are moving into "bank fraud" !!!!

Very good show !!!

Some have been caught. Allegedly these gang members created & deposited fake checks & then quickly withdrew money from the accounts before the banks (including some big banks) could identify the checks as fake. 

Usually these gangs that TV portray  are usually kinda dumb but the real ones are far from it! Bank fraud & Identity theft requires sophisticated thought process that requires technology & an understanding of the banking system. Also these sort of crimes are much more lucrative , harder to detect & carry lighter prison sentence.

Well as we all know, bad things spread fast. Hmmm.... we are kinda worry this will spread here. So is good to keep your checks properly, away from anyone. Passwords be kept secret. You'll be surprise, according to the news many people are seriously using 123456 as their passwords! Please be cautious!

The oracle

Yesterday I went to the near-by Chinese medical hall to buy some Chinese tonic for soup. My mum loves cooking this kind of soup for us. The boss there always talk to us. Especially to me after I got a job in the financial industry. He's RICH ....haha.... through the years, he's always telling about his triumphs & misses. Yesterday is no exception. But this time around, he was so certain & told me " Shares will rebound tomorrow!!!" & wink ....WOW ... that's good to know.

Only I don't deal with shares:)) Anyway the oracle could be right. For all of your sake, I hope he is. Good Luck guys. And a prosperous year to all !

What to do when market is spiraling down?

Met up with a bunch of friends over the weekend & everyone is complaining about the market -not the wet market people- the financial one. Ya, the market is down, shares are sliding, business is slow. So what do one do?

Nothing! Yes that's what you should do ....NOTHING..... just wait it out. Do you have any other choice?

It's common sense, how can markets go up forever? Unless you want to cut lost, when it's down you just need to be patient, go for a trip, learn something new , read some books or whatever that works for you. And of course stop complaining. It is not going to help & makes everyone including your self feel worst!

The worst part about online shopping is the waiting!

With the ease of Online shopping , does the GSS mean anything anymore? Why not just shop at the comfort of one's home or office? Well the truth is, nothing beats seeing, feeling & trying on the real thing. Shopping online could be fun, but you'll never really know what you'll get.

The worst part about online shopping is the waiting! Yup.... the shopping the browsing through the numerous pages is fun Once you paid up, the waiting is terrible. With physical retailing, you just go in, grab the item, pay up & you leave with it, immediate ! You know & you get what you paid for.

With online shopping, at the back of your mind you always worry you might end up with something inferior. Well ... news has been circulating that online shopping is on the decline. I guess the major factor that contribute to it, is the huge number of sites of sellers pouring into the already saturated market.

Needed a break badly

I'm catching a late flight to BKK later. Needed a break badly. We 4 girls are going to have a great weekend of shopping, eating & pampering, massages maybe. Just thought I give a shout out here since I've not blog for months :)