Pre Exam Ramblings #1

I really shouldn't write all these when my exam is about to start in less than 48 24 hours... Oh well...

If you're the sort of person who has troubles finding discussion materials, you're in for a treat! We are currently facing two colossal events that most people can relate to: Indonesia Presidential Election and World Cup 2014. You will never run out of topics to talk about! It will be enough until next long holiday, which is Idul Fitri in July, where relatives and extended families normally gather and discuss all ranges of possible topics, from science, business, to numerology (clearly I'm speaking from experience here).

Anyway, this post will not discuss politics (the number of Kompasiana articles posted in Facebook about this topic is too damn high!) nor football (cannot say I'm a fan myself). Let's proceed with something lighter, yes?

Crimea, anyone?

As I promised in my previous post, this time I'll write about the follow up of my 'No Excuse Week'.

In a nutshell, the project was a big success. It was a great week actually. Some of the things that I managed to pull:
- Finally ride my bike along the bike trail nearby my house. I've been meaning to do it since ages ago but kept postponing it.
- Finish my assignments for the week earlier than due date.
- Bought a yearly planner and actually using it for my schedule.
- Auditioned for a theatrical play (and actually got the supporting role for that)

Funny thing happened at that time. The day after I posted the article, just after I finished my lunch in my campus Union House (a place for food stalls + common rooms for clubs + etc), a gym instructor started gathering people for a session of Zumba. I never had a Zumba session before, and it seemed interesting at that moment. And just like that, once the thought of joining them for the session pops in my mind, I realized I cannot back down from it due to my own restriction. Argh, darn it Universe! Why did you bring the class in this exact moment!? So yes, I joined the class, and it was not the end of the story. We did the routines, in front of the watching crowds, and at the end, the instructor asked for 3 volunteers to join him on the platform... Well you can guess the rest of the story. No excuses were made that day, and with that, no regrets.

"No regrets", he said to himself as he performs some weirdly-
choreographed dance moves in front of the watching audience...

Maybe I need to explain a little bit on why I do all of this. By default, I'm someone who doesn't enjoy being under the spotlight. I fear a lot of things: meeting new people, talking in front of the class, having different opinions with others. To have fears is ok, but dictated by it is not. It hinders your growth, and is something that I don't want to ponder in my deathbed. This realization is what drives me to do these sorts of seemingly trivial things.

I was extremely happy with my result, but it's not easy maintaining a state of no excuse for more than a week. I haven't reached that stage yet, and it's fine. Still have 1.5 years to practice it while I'm still in Australia. Who knows what I'll get at the end of this journey? 

Well then, with all that being said, time to go back to my study.
See you next time, folks!

Breaking My Habit, Day+12: Snooze!

My laptop charger broke last week and it led me to a full week of no laptop. Thanks to this, I was forced to write only on my 3.5" cellphone, which, frankly, was good to take short notes but not so much for a complete one. I also tried to write at the office, but I found it to be too distracting, so I gave it up. Thus, no single post in this blog for a week (well, almost 2 weeks actually).

I found the break to be a much needed refreshment, like a snooze in the morning. Lately I've been spreading myself too thin, juggling between work / friends / families / other stuffs. Focusing on this single project, no matter what positive effect it created, had also taken its toll (less time for friends / families / rest to name a few). 

Next thing you know, you sleep for like an hour

At the end, I decided to just post here weekly instead of the usual daily. There are so many things to do out there, it's time for more exploration! 

I'll see you guys, next week! :)

Breaking My Habit, Day+11: Best Ages to be Alive!

Several days ago, my friend and I were discussing about our lives. One of the things that we agreed on was that 20s is definitely the best ages to be alive! I'll explain the reason why, but before that, let's take a look at this picture below.

The picture differentiates people into three types: young, adult, and old. Most of the time, the descriptions are correct: young people usually don't have a steady supply of income, they can only rely on their parents for money. Adult ones, probably just finished their study, are occupied with their first jobs, and are running out of time. Old people, having retired from their jobs, are (supposedly) having a lot of time and money, but not the energy.

Of course the description are not always true. For instance, not every adult can get a decent job that pays well; some are stuck in a job that drains all of their energy but doesn't pay that much. Also, not everybody can retire with loads of money; some haven't acquired enough during their younger days and are still 'forced' to work even when they're supposed to retire. Yes, shit does happen. 

So, what does this have to do with my notion that 20s are the best ages to be alive?

It has to do with the fact that the balance of these three components are the key to your overall happiness. Problems start to arise when one of them are not sufficient enough: not enough money, time, or energy.

The biggest benefit for us 20s is the combinations of traits. Our energy is still overflowing just like the younger ones, but unlike them, we already had a steady supply of money. We are not too burdened with responsibilities like kids or family, and we can still experiment with our career (which is hard to do if you're already in your 30s or 40s). We have some experience with life, but not too much that it made us cynical (like some old people would become).

The biggest challenge (not the only, mind you) we will be facing in our 20s is the time management! If only you could manage your time well, balancing between your work and other stuffs, you can do whatever it is that you wanted to do in your spare time. Combined with your limited-but-still-enough supply of money, that's really a sweet spot to hit on!

Breaking My Habit, Day 39: Awkward

Considering yesterday I didn't write much, today I'll write 2 stories for you guys. Here goes!


Story 1: Daily Commuter

I commute using buses on daily basis. When the bus stops, it's quite often that I see a passenger who doesn't intend to alight but stands near the exit, blocking everyone else who wanted to get out of the bus. It's really really annoying, especially if you are the one who's being blocked. It slows down everyone

Even more annoying is when the said person is fat, or at least bigger than 50% width of the exit. Come on lady, some of us need to pass through here! >:(

Story 2: Awkward

Awkward moments can come anytime. 

Yesterday our team was having RNA isolation kit suppliers demoing their reagents at our lab (for those who are unfamiliar with lab, omit the words 'RNA isolation'). Our lab already use another brand of RNA isolation kit, so to benchmark their kit, they asked us to use our kits in parallel to theirs, isolating RNA from the same samples. We don't have any problems with that, so ok, let's isolate the RNAs together.

Fast forward 1.5 hours, and our work was done.
The next step was to count our RNA concentration using Nano Drop (higher concentration means the kit works better). At this point, I realize something. What if our kit works better than their kit? Wouldn't it be weird for us? Because I don't mind if their kit works better than ours, that's the whole point of doing these comparison anyway.

As I thinking of that, the results came out. As I feared, our result were better than theirs. 

If you're having problems grasping why this situation is problematic, imagine this. The suppliers came to our lab to give demo of their kit. They're trying do impress us, so at the end of the day they can say: "See, our kit works better than yours. Why don't we move over there and negotiate the price?" 

But when that goal is not fulfilled, everyone feels weird. They feel weird because they cannot boast about their kit, and we feel weird because we kinda feel sorry for them. Yep, awkward indeed.