23 Jan 10

1. General. Oh man rough day. Started with last night when I SMSed Kenta to confirm our usual skating/cycling at 10.30am. He said he couldn't make it. So I quickly SMSed Brendan: "eh, Kenta n Joey aren't coming tmr at 10.30!" He replied: "they're coming dood..." I got the feeling like he was treating me like I didn't know anything and I thought that was pretty rude. I replied to say that Kenta just told me via SMS that he can't come at 10.30am. His reply: "I was just talking to him..." I got the impression of like, "I'm smarter than you so I'm right and your wrong". Urggh. So SMS to Kenta again and he tells me he had Kendo so he can't make it at 10.30am. Notice how I'm harping on the time? That's our usual time we meet. I told Brendan exactly what Kenta told me and finally, he says: "they're meeting me earlier at 8.30am." arggh!!!! So frustrating! He couldve told me from the start if he was READING my message! I then replied that I would meet them at the soccer field at 8.30am then. Next morning (today), I got there at 8.32am and called Kenta. He overslept, so I told him I'd wait for him. Then I called Brendan. He said he was ALREADY AT THE UNDERPASS! I'm liked what??? Didn't we agree to meet at 8.30? And he said "yeah, but you weren't there at 8.30 so I left first. Meet you at Ray's shop." (there are not enough words to show how angry and upset I was that he didn't even wait 5 minutes, didn't even bother to call Kenta) Okay he tries to call me before he left but I was cycling and didn't feel my phone vibrate. Sigh. Later Kenta and I met Brendan at Ray's shop and I asked him why he didn't wait for us. He said we were late. Fine. I was technically 2mins late but couldn't he have waited??? An not even an apology... We were cycling back from the skate park to Ray's shop then I slowed to check something. The rest went ahead. After I finished, I went to catch up with then and found Kenta waiting at the corner, then he left for Kendo after we caught up with Hafiez. Apparently, Hafiez and Brendan had a race and Brendan won, so he was far up ahead and we couldn't see him. We pedalled faster but after awhile, I was beginning to wonder where Brendan was. I assumed he'd meet us at Ray's shop as usual. When Hafiez and I got there, he wasn't! I quickly called him and he took awhile to answer. When he did, he told me he had sat down somewhere and took a nap! A NAP?! Outrageous! Wow some leader he turned out to be. Doesnt wait for his team members, sleeps on the job, and is gives the impression of arrogance. We (Brendan, Hafiez and I) then decided to go for lunch at the Lagoon. Brendan and Hafiez were talking and I didn't really feel like talking so I put on my music. Halfway through, Hafiez speeds up and then Brendan suddenly turns away. I thought he was just going to rest then catch up with us so I pedalled faster and shouted to Hafiez to wait. When we turned back to find him, he was gone. I later found out he had told me he was going home but I was listening to my music and didn't hear him so that's partly my fault. I didn't even realize he spoke to me. I thought he was angry with something so I let him go. After lunch I called him but his phone was off. Or so I thought. I called his home phone and he answered. When I told him his phone was off, he said no, it's on, try calling again. So I did, but the female voice said that his phone wasn't responding. I called his home again and told him. Know what his answer was? "something wrong with your phone." As if straightaway, it's my fault and not his. Can you believe this??? I hung up. I'm seriously beginning to reconsider our friendship.

2. Magic, the Gathering. Very black and vampiric again. 4 out of 12 were black and one artifact which is vampire based but not vampire required. Which is good. Red also getting quite strong. Searing Blaze, RR, instant, common, Searing Blaze deals 1 damage to target player and 1 damage to target creature that player controls. Landfall-Searing Blaze does 3 damage to target player and 3 damage to target creature that player controls instead. In effect, it's a double Lightning Bolt at it's best. So you could potentially run 12 Lightning Bolts using only 8 card spaces! Coolness. That's gonna be another $1 common.

3. Love. Man, should I step forward? Should I step back? I'm stuck now. I dunno what to do. She still hasn't replied about the movie. Why not??? And I've made a terrible mistake. I thought she lived in yio chu kang when she doesn't. Arrgh!!! Damn. I still dunno if she just went through a rejection, breakup or argument or if she even has a boyfriend. What should I do??? Maybe I should just stick to loving Monique.

4. Comedy. Sorry guys I'm too pissed at Brendan and confused about Her to joke now. Maybe tomorrow.

5. Trading/Investing. Uncle Van helped my download some audio and video tracks on iTunes U about econmics several weeks back and I've been listening them. Not absorbing much becuase it's damn confusing but this is only making me wanna study economics even more. Macro- and Micro-economics are fascinating... Confusing? Yes. Tedious? Yes. Fascinating? Hell yes.

6. Personal Development. Finally managed to read chapter 9 today.  It's all about taking action. First before a discussion, decide on how to decide. The four ways are:
Command- Decisions made without involving others.
Consult- Input is gathered from the group then a subset decides.
Voting- An agreed ob percentage swings the decision.
Consensus- Everyone comes to an agreement and supports the final decision.

Each of these tools have their strengths and weaknesses, and each one is and should be used in different situations.
Command- One authority makes the decision because it's crucial. Eg, a parent decides his/her children's punishment. However, explaining why helps alot, especially in a company.
Consultation- Similar to command but the authority considers everyone's input and bases his/her decision on that.
Voting- This is a bit touchy because in the end there will be winners and losers. This should be used as a pre-decision, eg vote to reduce a list of 20 things to just 5 things and use say consult or consensus from there. Don't use it as a "okay we'll never agree, let's vote." All you do is make enemies.
Consensus- The best kind of decision because everyone one is involved and everyone is supportive. When used correctly, it's extremely powerful but when it's not, it's just a time-waster. Do not force consensus. If the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem starts to look like a nail. Consensus isn't the only way to make a decision. Do not accept martyrs or become a martyr, using sarcasm to snap at people. This just pisses everyone  off. And don't take turns to give in. Give in because the other party is right or has a genuinly better idea. Base the decision on merit, not whose turn it is to be walked over.

Finally, decide WHO does WHAT by WHEN. Be clear and set follow up dates and milestones.