Mission P3 - day 6

Continuing from yesterday's reading, I covered about 3/4 of the syllabus. Not too bad I guess considering I kept getting distracted by other things (i.e. anime, newspaper, tv, etc.....)

As I read it more often, I highlight more stuff I read along the way and sign post my way through the notes. That should be a good sign telling me I am getting a better understanding, and I am seeing more things that I never did before. :)

Time sure flies and it is already the closing of day 6 of my revision. Everyday I am moving closer to exam D-Day.... God have mercy on me.... 

Mission P3 - Day 5

Day 5 of mission P3 definitely turned out better than yesterday. Concentration was more acute and I am pretty sure the picture of the syllabus is getting clearer. :)

I completed reading the syllabus yesterday, day 5's objective was to re-read the syllabus and try gain a stronger grasps of the syllabus. At the same time, look through questions and answers I have done in class to get the mindset of pulling together the right concepts and models for the relevant case studies.

In terms of confidence, I dare not say I am confident since it is so unpredictable in terms what to expect. I haven't relied on spotted topics or targeted questions and neither do I intend to. No point risking myself by focusing on a few selected topics. Like everything else, even exam requires some sort of risk management.

My thoughts on day 5 - has been fruitful and I am satisfied. ;)

Mission P3 - Day 4

Progress today was absolutely slow. For the better part of the day I found it difficult to concentrate on reading my lecture notes. My mind was easily wandering and I kept dozing off in between my readings, not forgetting I kept getting distracted by animes........... 

Today's goal was to finish reading up the remaining syllabus. As at this time, I have yet to achieve the goal but I intend to make sure I finish reading before I allow myself to sleep. After all, I have to take responsibility for failing to concentrate during the day! :)

Always the problem with study leaves - makes me feel like I am having a holiday due to the fact that I have never taken leave from work. 

Anyhow, guilty as I am for failing to read up before bed time, its time to get serious and read up!!!!!! 

Everyone needs to recuperate.....

4 weeks back, I tore my hamstring playing squash for the 4th time in my life time. All in all, I have injured my knee and hamstring 4 times now. Makes it even eh? Sounds funny, but no, it is far from funny. A person my age in my early twenties should be healthy and running around enjoying youth. 

Being of young age definitely have many ups - faster recovery is one of them, but as one advances in age the quick healing eventually will slow down. This brings me to one very important point - allowing the body to recuperate. 

My point is clearly expressed in the story below:

How I Spent My Surgery Vacation

I had big plans for my postop time off--shopping, writing, cleaning. Unfortunately, I didn't actually include recuperating.

By Eileen Mitchell

I'll confess: I did a hap-hap-happy little jig when my surgeon told me I'd have to take six weeks off from work to recuperate from maxillofacial surgery. I seriously questioned how a simple little procedure, like realigning my jaw and chin to correct my open-bite, could require six weeks convalescence, but hey, whatever.

 

So I gave the good doctor, whom I'd christened Dr. Hottie (for reasons which the name implies), a nudge-nudge-wink-wink sort of smile.  "Whatever you say!" I amiably agreed. "You're the doctor, the boss-man, the big cheese. And by the way, is that a wedding band I don't see?" Oh, but I digress. Six weeks off of work, you say?  

 

SaWEET!

 

I started making plans, big plans. Granted, I'd probably feel sluggish in the days immediately following the surgery, so this would be a good time to snuggle on the sofa, catch up on reading and watch all those movies in my Netflix queue. Then, after those first few days, I'd start writing my memoir, the one that has languished on the backburner all these years due to lack of time. During creative breaks, maybe I'd polish off a few scrapbooking projects, do some spring cleaning, schmooze with friends at the local coffee shop, and enjoy leisurely afternoon walks with my Greyhound, Elvis. Hey, I could even go shopping! What a treat it would be to peruse the stores without having to fight my way around the teenage swarms that monopolize the mall on weekends.

I was practically salivating, giddy with glee over the thought of six glorious, delicious, decadent weeks all to myself. Whatever would I do with all this time?   

 

Never once did it occur to me that I might actually need to, uh….recuperate.

 

But it didn't take long for me to learn otherwise. You see, from my naive viewpoint, jaw surgery was like playing with LEGO® toys. I imagined the brilliant Dr. Hottie unhinging my upper and lower jaws, gently sliding them into their proper position, tweaking my chin, snapping everything back into place and voila, problem fixed!

 

I now suspect my scheming shyster of a surgeon, who has since been rechristened Dr. Pol Pot Beelzebub, took the lazy way out and simply smashed my face with a sledgehammer. The better to make his scheduled tee-time, I'm thinking. 

 

Oh sure, I knew I'd be a little puffy, but I wasn't expecting my distorted black and blue mug to look like a ten-pound butternut squash. At least that's what it appeared to resemble, since I couldn't see much of anything, thanks to the glacier-like ice pack that swaddled my entire swollen face. Every time I moved, blood gushed from the nostril where the breathing tube had been inserted and my entire head felt like one massive, rotting, throbbing toothache. My jaws were wired shut, rendering it difficult to breathe and challenging to consume my liquids-only diet. And the coup de grace? My entire face, from the nose down, was completely dead-as-a-doornail numb.

 

This was SO going to screw up my plans.

 

Because I soon discovered that surgery tends to leave most patients with the energy of week-old road kill and with just as many active brain cells.  Forget about starting my Great American Memoir. Who was on Regis & Kelly today?  Was this the episode where Lucy and Ethyl pretend to be women from Mars? Which was more expensive, a cotton-candy machine, soda-jerk fountain, or juke-box? And when did "The Price is Right" host Drew Carey start looking so hot anyway? 

 

Day after day, my codeine-addled brain seemed capable of nothing more challenging than trying to suck yet another banana and peanut butter smoothie through my wired jaws while watching "What Not to Wear" and "10 Years Younger." At least these programs served one useful purpose: a reminder to shower.  Afternoons concluded with my new favorite discovery, Ellprah [-noun: Ell-pruh: the simultaneous viewing of Ellen and Oprah achieved through channel-jumping). 

 

By week four I was starting to panic over my lethargic, swollen state: was something wrong? Would I ever feel normal again? But during a post-op appointment with Dr. Beelzebub, he reassured me that what I was experiencing was quite typical. "Most patients feel really lousy for the first four weeks," he said, "and then one morning, all of a sudden, they wake up feeling great!" Oh sure, like I'd ever believe anything this sadist might have to say. 

 

But guess what? Exactly five weeks and four days after my surgery, I woke up one bright Sunday morning and something felt different. Something felt…right. I bounced out of bed and discovered that the mental fog had lifted and my energy had returned. I actually felt like going out! Doing things! Maybe catch a matinee or call some friends. The lower half of my face was still completely numb and would remain this way for up to several months, but hey, my brain was functioning and my body felt alive! What more could I possibly ask? Well, maybe just one thing:

 

I still have one week left before I return to work. In the meantime, if you're reading this, Dr. Hottie, all is forgiven. Why don't you (nudge-nudge-wink-wink) give me a call?

Day 3 of mission P3

3rd day of my study leave - progress is pretty good in terms of digesting lecture notes. Probably due to the constant mind maps I have been doing over my free time for the past 4 1/2 months since the start of the semester.

Although I must admit, the time used for mind mapping cost me heaps of time from my anime, reading and music time. I guess such sacrifices are necessary if I am going to have even a slightest chance of passing this paper.

P3 is all about analysing businesses and giving recommendations on improving - filled with business models. Studying and knowing the models is merely the tip of the iceberg, since the bulk of the paper will be highly dependent on how one applies the models to the case studies of the questions.

Day 3 of my revision, I am feeling slightly more comfortable because I am getting a better picture of the models and sub-consciously able to tie the models to what a business may go through. Thank God!

Let's see what day 4 brings.......................................

Last day in audit......

After 1 year and 8 months in audit, I am finally making a move into a new field - tax advisory. Definitely a bitter sweet sensation to it. Not so much about missing my colleagues or anything like that since I am just moving to another department. 

One thing i'll miss will be the special non-audit engagements I did for a specialised client. After all, it was specialised industry and not something everyone got to do. Got to admit, although the clients were not really nice in most cases but the engagements really gives a good experience to do engagements that are not audit related. 

In terms of advantage, I can't exactly say it gives me any advantage in any way since it limits my scope of work since it is too specialised. The fact that I was doing non-audit work so often, I often had problems doing audit work. Guess, I can't have the best of both worlds. But heck, I still enjoyed the time I spent working on those engagements. :) After all, every learning experience is a learning experience! 

Next step - walk into tax and give it all I can...... may things work out. 

Days to exam = 24

Just like that, we are already coming to half a year of 2008. Fast eh? Another exam paper on the way. Ask me if it fun and I'll ask you whether you are mad. Once again, I am thrown into a state of confusion and demotivation. 

Just like the last paper I took in December, this paper sure isn't easy. What is it about this paper that makes it tough for me? This paper is called 'Business Analysis', like it's name questions revolved around the idea of students being profession accountants in the consulting field analyzing positions and strategies of companies based on a certain scenario. 

Most of everyone, and myself thought it was going to be easy. After all, you'd probably think it's just common sense when it comes to understanding a business and trying to put things right for a company. Apparently it isn't as simple as that because the course requires us to apply business models when answering the case study. Next problem is, even I successfully remember the models, I get problems with applying the correct models for the correct scenario. Situations like this only point to one very clear direction, it's called direction to limbo!

Nanotechnology and silver... good combination?

In the olden times, Phoenicians used to store drinking water in silver vessels for which many of us would think that it was for the aesthetic properties. Actually it was hardly for aesthetics but because they discovered it was healthier than storing it in other types of vessels. Research today has unfold the reason why it was healthier to store water in silver vessels - silver has antimicrobial properties. 

Researchers armed with that knowledge are now trying to concoct a more potent bactericide by coating products with silver nano-particles. In the USA, many manufacturers now coat their products with nano-particles ranging for soap to chopsticks claiming they destroy germs.

But over time, silver can accumulate in the environment and become toxic at certain levels. It is undeniable that silver's natural germ-killing properties stems from its extremely slow release of silver ions (electrically charged atoms, or groups of atoms). Problem with using silver nano-particles  is that it sheds more ions and therefore becoming more potent. Take note that a nanometre is a billionth of a metre.

As much as all of us one germ free merchandises and appliances, we should be weary of the fact that nano-silver is so tiny that it can go right to the surface of an organism and essentially shoot ions into the organism. This indeed makes silver nano-particles extremely effective as antimicrobial agent but not much is known in terms of human exposure to silver nano-particles.

However, in the medical arena much support is given to nano-particles since it can be highly beneficial. Good example, would be to coat a small amount of silver nano-particles on catheters to reduce the possibility of infection without causing any serious environmental worries. 

Bottom line, much research is still needed to find out more about how safe silver nano-particles are, since a lot of home products are coated with it especially famous washing machine brands (I won't make any mention of the brands to avoid any possible problems). Before you make a purchase of any nanosilver-coated products, make sure it is safe and if it comes from the USA, make sure it is certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Beauty as it is....

Superficiality is what I would call today's society. All too often, many of us are just all too concerned about how we look, picking on the imperfections of our physical attributes. There are some who even spend thousands of dollars going for treatments to improve or uplift their looks. Necessary? If you ask me - nope, absolutely unnecessary and a complete waste of money. 

I once had a friend who had a pretty scarred face from a motorcycle accident. Even with a scarred face, he eventually got married and to a fine young lady I must admit. Bottom line is, who ever said you need to have good looks to attract a beautiful opposite sex individual? That friend of mine, had a good heart and people always like who he was - honest, down to earth and never letting the bad scar just rob him of his happiness and freedom. He ignored the scars knowing there was not much he could do about them. It is always easier to accept how things are and move on.

This inspirational story explains about beauty and how we are all beautiful in our own way.... So wake up every morning, look into the mirror and say it out loud and proud, "God, I look great!!!!"

Beauty, Shining Through

My son's body was covered with scars, but his spirit came through pure and true.

By Lynne Massie

It was 4 o'clock in the morning on June 9, 2003, when I received the phone call parents dread. 

"This is the emergency room calling and your son was just brought in with severe burns on his face, neck, and arms. We have called for an airlift and are going to fly him to the burn unit in Seattle."

Seattle was 350 miles from his college, so we knew immediately this was serious.

The physician described the accident, which caused the burns. At 2am, our son and his friends decided to barbecue hamburgers in the courtyard of their apartment complex. Not exactly the dinner hour for you and me, but for college students, probably fairly normal. While they were cooking, an automatic sprinkler system came on, dousing the grill. They dragged the wet grill to another location and attempted to relight it. Doing what most adults know not to do, they squirted lighter fluid directly on the smoldering coals. The grill literally exploded, and, as it ignited, the flames caught my son's shirt tail. With his clothes ablaze, the flames shot from his waist to well over his head.

Fortunately, one of the boys was quick witted, grabbed my son, and rolled him into the sprinkler system. While it saved his life, it was not in time to save him from severe burns and the associated terrible scars.

After he recovered from the intense treatments, the doctors told him they would not do plastic surgery for 6 months because it takes that long for the skin to stop shrinking and wrinkling. So, he had to return to college with scars typical of severe burns.

When I was a child, my mother told my sister, who had a 10 inch, very visible and nasty scar on her arm, "Nancy, if you ignore the scar, other people will ignore it. It does not mean they will not notice it, because they will. But, it means it will not matter to them if it doesn't matter to you."

I passed this wisdom on to my son.

"Keaton, no one will pay any more attention to your scars than you do. If they do not bother you, they will not bother others." He took my advice to heart and returned to school with his head held high -- glad he was alive.

By the end of the six-month waiting period, he decided that the scars did not matter and did not define who he was. So he made the decision to forgo any plastic surgery.

We all have scars and flaws that we believe cause people to shun us. And we spend a lot of time thinking that if only we looked differently, or dressed differently, or could have more money, or a different and newer car, people would like us better.

But you see, like Keaton's scars, people will only judge you by your looks, or your clothes, or your car, IF you are judging yourself by these same false standards.

One of my friends in college was as ugly as homemade sin and yet, when people met him, they noticed his looks for about 10 seconds. This man felt good about himself as a person and spent most of his time concerned about other people's comfort and welfare. It never seemed to occur to him he would be rejected because of his looks -- and he wasn't.

What people saw was his kindness, his concern for them, and his sense of humor. They never noticed his looks because he set the standard himself. He didn't act "ugly" so people didn't treat him as "ugly".

What about your scars and flaws? Do you let them define who you are? Do you really believe that other people care about what is only on the surface? Or are you able to look beneath your skin and see the beautiful person residing within?

Today, put your imperfections out of your mind and concentrate on what you value within yourself. Because if you can see that beautiful person, every one you come in contact with will see the same beauty.

Let your beauty shine through.