My First Extra

It's been a really long time since I last posted on my blog, about 2 months from my last update (or 6 months from a proper update); so let's start the story right today.


My day began well... But before I forget...

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Okay. *takes a deep breath* My day began well. Splendid in fact! We had a wonderful free breakfast at our cookhouse courtesy of our guests from overseas. The army is seriously the only place where you can get breakfast for free without doing anything much. Most of the time, we get rubbish food that tastes like shit (if I am perfectly honest), but today our food was really wonderful. It felt like my day was going great!

Then they called us back for a nonsensical meeting/briefing, thanks to a stupid cockup from another unit and which will subsequently trouble us. After the briefing, there wasn't much to do, so we napped till lunch time. It's been quite a while since I had last napped at work (about 2-3 months?), I was always so busy at work and got used to the busy-ness so much so that I would find something to do or eat when idling.

Woke up for lunch and met "M". Let's just call him "M" for now. Well, the thing was, it was his duty tomorrow, and he HAD to be at work and not at the guardhouse doing the pass exchange duty. I'm not very sure what the big idea, but apparently the comd gets 2 PA and just so happens one of them is going on leave and "M" has to be there tomorrow. I was M's reserve, so I agreed.... (let's pause here alright?)

I have a "Greatly Annoying Fiendishly Uncouth Crazy King". He's the king around here alright, but his name is too long, so let's just short-form it to "GAFUCK". Nevermind the bad word, it's purely coincidental! GAFUCK said that we weren't allow to take leave/off on that fateful day (but he didn't say DUTY was included). And anyway, isn't doing the duty supposed to take priority over our work?

But, at that time, being the simple minded me, I didn't think so much. I merely wanted to help out our friend "M" who has been bullied by "BrandKok" into doing his duty by taking MC on duty days. "Brandkok" was our ex-colleague but was kicked out due to under-performing at work. Since our dear friend "M", cannot make it on that day, I might as well help him out since I'm the reserve personnel anyway.

So during last parade, I mentioned I was on duty tomorrow and my immediately superior, "Helpme", being a fucking asshole like always, mentioned it to our king GARFUCK. Wow, like immediately, GARFUCK peltered expletives at me like a torrential rain. Many frantic calls follows but there wasn't anyone to do the duty anymore since the reserve doesn't have a reserve...

At that moment, I was really helpless and really wanted to take an M16 and shoot him in the head with 30 rounds and taking a SAR21 and shoot him in the head with 30 rounds and taking a SAW and shoot him in the head with 100 rounds annddd nevermind.. But I cooled down when I was thinking about it on the way home.

And there you have it, my first extra...

Given a chance to redo in that situation, I would have done the exact same thing. I rather help a friend than pledge allegiance to a worthless king who plays the disappearing act during working hours.

I admit, I was, to some extent wrong on my part... But hey, show some respect, we're the boys who gets the work done around here, so stop raining me with expletives when we commit a small mistake..

That "helpme" too, seriously I can't stand him any longer, he gets more irritating by the day. I can only pray for my army stint to quickly come to an end, and for better days ahead, but hell, what are the chances of that happening? I must be kidding myself LOL.

Ok signing off now, gotta wake early to do the stupid duty tomorrow. If there's anything I gained from this experience, it is a friend.

posted by sLaCkErZ™ @ 11:50 PM, ,

Immah gamer!

One of my friends told me that girls don't like guys that game too much. I died a little inside, then I re-spawnedz

posted by sLaCkErZ™ @ 11:23 PM, ,

So.. What's happiness..?

‎"There is one only happiness in life: to love and be loved."
-George Sand

posted by sLaCkErZ™ @ 10:45 PM, ,

Your words felt like a knife

it's been a really long time since I’ve updated my blog, and since I have nothing to do in camp, I’ve typed out this blog post from my HTC Snap.

So, what's happened in the few months in between my blog posts... Quite a lot, actually... When my BMT stint was completed, I was posted to Ayer Rajah Camp as an armored vehicle technician but subsequently dropped out of course and got posted to Kranji camp as a store man. What I feel about being a store man is that while it may get really mundane at times, especially during ICT lull periods for us, it is generally a very relaxed vocation with some occasionally heavy lifting of stores.

My job scope in camp includes taking care of a block of barracks which the NS men occupy during their ICT (In Camp Training aka Reservist Training) and a store, as well as a coy office for their administrative purposes. I top up the office supplies in the coy office after every ICT and make sure my store is clean and tidy. Inside my stores are things that NS Men would require for their training, like camo nets, sledge hammers and iron pickets.

I am required to go outfield at times to deliver rations and provide stores and top up diesel for the generators. It sometimes is a dirty and sweaty job, going outfield and doing shit.

Everyone under-estimates the role that a store man or any other logistics personnel plays in the army. However, there is a reason why our logistics unit is often larger than our army... Without logistics personnel, who will deliver the ammo to our troops and freshly cooked rations to boost their morale? Who will be providing transports to our troops? Who will be there to provide clean medical supplies to casualties? And as for me, my role is to provide equipments and a place to stay for NS Men in peace time for them to conduct trainings...

So, don't say that store men are useless. We all play a role in our nation's defense, even the clerks.

Alright, enough NS talk. Last Friday, I went for our 0709 class gathering at Clark Quay, I had pasta for dinner and a mango drink to top it off. Too bad I have no picture because I brought my Snap to dinner. Too used to having a non-camera phone I guess. We met at around 740 at City Hall and proceeded to Timbre but we were denied because it was too full. Walked around a bit more in clark quay until we settled for some Japanese pasta/pizza/(insert random cuisine) in Central shopping centre.

Had dinner and we talked mostly about NS? Was appalled when I saw that ShuiKit and TongPei had started smoking ciggs. They kept blowing smoke into our faces and I think the girls were quite turned off by the smokers and left early. I don't blame them, as after all, they haven't been serving the nation yet to experience the vast smokers. Speaking of smoking, I am really glad I didn't take up smoking after a speech by Chang and my log warrant. They both started smoking a long time ago and my warrant quit 10 years ago, but till this ago, has the urge to smoke whenever he smells/sees someone smoking. This shows that quitting smoking isn't that easy and will be a lifelong commitment.

After dinner (and my digression on smoking), the girls headed home and I had a couple of drinks with the guys outside a pub and I was watching the South Africa versus Mexico match and I left with Jackson to catch one of the last buses home.

Then I headed out with Yinzhi for the IT Show at Suntec on Sat. Bought pretty much nothing as I met up with Nicole for the first time ever. She's a girl I met and befriended in MapleStory and I still remember her as my guild master. She is significantly younger than me (3 or 4 years I think). We talked about some random shit and I bought her and her friend a drink and left because we didn't want to be near the crowds anymore.

We went to Raffles City to shop as I bought an Adidas t-shirt as well as a G2000 shirt that I reckon I could wear to formal events. The shirts were going for less than half price!! Loving the GSS~

Left for YZ's house to watch soccer that night with Norman. The England vs. USA match was highly disappointing. It looked promising at the start for England when Gerrald scored at 4 mins. But when Green miss-handled a shot from USA and let in an own goal, I could tell that the rest of the England players were disappointed and the rest of the match was uneventful. YZ and I were cursing Green for 10 whole minutes and Norman was visibly happy. xDD

We played poker with the chips that Norman brought over and YZ and I lost to Norman in 2 separate tournaments.. We slept over in YZ's house and we talked until I kinda drifted to sleep at around 6am. Slept till 11am and we had breakfast and left.

On sunday at 8pm, I met up with Jeff for the first time after his SOL and passed to him the iPod portable battery that I bought for him.

Haha this post is getting quite long now and my thumbs are kinda hurting after typing this veryyyy long post on the Snap. Shall end my veryyy long post here.. :D

posted by sLaCkErZ™ @ 8:01 PM, ,

Most Comprehensive Reviews: HTC Snap (S526), Best Phone For NS?

I got the HTC Snap (Non-Camera variant, a.k.a HTC Ozone in North America or European regions) for the remaining of my 19 months of my NS life.
You ready? For the most comprehensive review on the HTC Snap? Get ready because this will be a long post!
Here we go! Some exterior pictures and unboxing to do..

Unboxing (Click on image to enlarge)

Exterior of phone and size comparison to iPod nano. (Click to enlarge)

As you can see, the size of the HTC Snap is pretty slim and small for a smartphone. It looks very stylish. The only thing I hate is the rubber flap that you have to open up on the side of the device each time you want to charge the phone up or connect your headset. The rubber feels very fragile and looks like it could break in less than 6 months of usage.

Interior of phone.

Battery: 1500mAh

Such a large battery for a device with no touch screen should allow for some pretty amazing battery life! I've been getting around 3-4 days of battery life with some light usage and around 1-2 days battery life when I do hard core talking on the phone of around 1-2hours each day!

Starting up the phone!

Starting up is pretty quick compared to my Samsung Omnia despite the slower 528mhz processor as compared to the 628mhz processor on my Omnia.

Now that we are done with the hardware, lets go straight into the softwares! :D

The home screen you see here is bundled with the phone and comes as default on the Snap. It looks very stylish and is easy to use and gives you access to commonly used programs like task manager (shown later) and settings as well as profiles and audio manager.

Dialing is easy on the Snap. Start dialing a number on the homescreen or typing in the name of the person you wish to sms or call.

The task manager can be easily accessed from the home screen. Displays CPU and RAM usage and is easy to use.

One thing nice about this phone as compared to my previous non-camera phone was that the Snap can type Chinese easily due to its QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard is quite responsive but may miss some key presses sometimes when you type too fast.

The calendar is the same as that on Windows Mobile professional and is comprehensive and easy to use and see your appointments for the day, week or month. Your upcoming appointments are shown on the home screen so you are reminded of your tasks with just one glance.

Office mobile comes with the phone and allows you to work on your documents.

I find it quite useful in my work to take down notes or create barracks damage reports on the go.

Windows Media player comes with the device and handles mp4, avi, 3gp or any mobile video formats with no problem!

HTC has kindly skinned a version of the player and created the HTC audio manager for playing of audio. I find it easy to use and a great thing is that Chinese (traditional/simplified) song tags are shown without a problem on the device. I expected ugly squares to appear with most of my songs being tagged by traditional Chinese characters but thank god that didn't happen.

Windows Live messenger comes on the phone by default too. It is fast and free to use. Unlike other 3rd party messengers that add advertisements and random texts to the IMs you send out, this doesn't!

The email application is easy to use and set up. Just enter your credentials and you are good to go immediately!

Youtube doesn't come on the device by default but I found that you can easily install it by heading to m.youtube.com on your mobile phone. The application is nicely skinned and easy to use!

Facebook application can be easily downloaded from the marketplace. Nicely skinned and easy to use but some functions are restricted. For example, you cannot view or add tags to photos.

I installed PockeTwit as my Twitter application and it works great on the Snap.

The default browser that comes on the device was Internet Explorer mobile but I found it cumbersome to use. Another alternative is Opera Mobile Mini 10. It loads pages fast and is easy to zoom in and out of pages. One caveat is that you cannot view flash objects on the pages yet but this function will come pretty soon with new versions of the browser.

Google maps was the default navigation software that came on the phone. Google maps is a good navigation software. Additionally, it is a freeware application. However, it requires a constant connection to the internet, which can be costly if you do not have a data plan or if you are navigating overseas.

For an offline navigation browser, I turned to Garmin Mobile XT which is a pay-to-use software. However, it is worth the price as you get details that cannot be seen on Google Maps. You can see any fastfood or convenient stores on the maps and easily walk to that place!

Microsoft MyPhone (C) can be easily downloaded from the Marketplace and it allows you to backup your documents and SMSes to Microsoft for free! Great software for something that is free!

For games, needless to say, it is a pathetic list. What do you expect, it's a workhorse, not an arcade machine!

One great thing about Windows Mobile is the ability to install any application you need or want. SPB Wireless Monitor is something I install on all of my WinMo devices. It can track your data usage and warn you about exceeding your data limits!

A MUST PROGRAM FOR GEEKS!

A registry editor is what you need for making changes to settings that are otherwise hidden to the average users to prevent damage to the operating system! The program you see here is Resco Registry Editor and must be purchased.

One thing that I hate about WinMo devices is the lack of a timeout keypad lock. You can only lock and unlock your devices manually which sucks, if you forget to do so as proven to me by my naughty pocket. It dialed out to many people with names starting from "A" without me knowing.

I installed an app called Automatic Keylock (Go figure) and it came with more functions than I ever hoped for. Keylock aside, it came with a great and simple looking screensaver that shows the time and some other vital information with just a glance!

Right, this really is coming to the end of this very long post. Hope you enjoyed looking at what the HTC Snap can do for you. In conclusion, the HTC Snap is the best NS phone (relating to functions) with the 2nd closest contender being the Nokia E51.

It is rather pricey and stocks are running low for brand new handsets. 2nd hands are available readily but I recommend going for a brand new set and investing in one before NS so by the time you ORD, your contract expires and you can get a new camera phone!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! 5/5 STARS!

posted by sLaCkErZ™ @ 2:49 PM, ,

Hello world?

Hey there. I don't know if anyone is reading my blog (still), since I haven't updated it for a really long time now. The next on my to-do list was actually a review on the HTC Snap I got, but I really have so much on my mind that I need somewhere to unload on, so my slackerztm serves its purpose again and that review would have to come next time.

Firstly, I have been earmarked for overseas operations for NS. Suck because I might be posted to Brunei or Thailand with the best case scenario being Taiwan. So basically I get paid 3x the $420 I get in Singapore, which amounts to ~$1 to 1.2K per month. I will then have to work a 7 day work week, do my laundry myself and potentially get bullied by regulars. I am not allowed to bring my own laptop unless I have a LOA (letter of authority). Working term ranges from 9mths to 12mths to 15mths. I will have a good chance of being sent back to Singapore for major festive seasons like CNY or maybe Christmas. Some people argue that you go for the money, but to me, $1.2k doesn't sound like a lot of money. I could make that amount of money by giving tuition if I wanted to. Secondly, people say its for the experience, which I agree. I would hugely appreciate an overseas trip to Taiwan as I have wanted to tour Taiwan - Taipei since eons ago. It would force me to manage my finance by myself abroad, like phone bills and transport costs.

However I still have my reservations. The food there is cooked by NSFs (which sucks). Place would be visited by NSFs/Regulars who come and go (and might potentially leave me a lot of trouble as a storeman as they return happily back to Singapore). I would miss my family and friends (A MAJOR CONSIDERATION, THIS).

This overseas issue has been bugging me. Officially, I do not have a choice of whether I have to go or not, but if I do not want to go, I could easily come up with an excuse for the MO.

Sigh... Enough on this depressing NS piece of news.

Someone recently talked to me again, after not talking for a long time. I don't know whether I should talk back or not, because I am torn between partly bearing this hope inside of me and being hurt again. I feel like I am just a spare tire for you. I only come in handy when you need me. I share your burdens but not your happiness.

So...

Are they flaws if I'm in love with them?

posted by sLaCkErZ™ @ 9:46 PM, ,

楊丞琳 - 異想天開

Music playlist updated from the 2 latest songs in Rainie's Album!



Track 2)偏食
坐着藤椅讲故事
你摸弄我的发丝
敷衍了事
昨天我是你的天使
今天完我却变成你新同事
你可以在隐瞒什么事
那简单几个字
你懒得解释
我知道我不是个孩子
所以我得不到
你给的糖
是或不是

我对感情很偏食
只靠你的爱
我才可以过日子
你对爱不太诚实
我却总是
专心被你爱
是一种奢侈
我对爱感情很偏执
不靠你的爱
我到最后会心死
承诺是短暂的电池
用完为止
我爱你
三个字已经完全变质
你可以在隐瞒什么事
那简单几个字
也懒得解释
我知道我不是个孩子
所以我得不到
你给的糖
是或不是
我对感情很偏食
只靠你的爱
我才可以过日子
你对爱不太诚实
我却总是
专心被你爱
是一种奢侈
我对爱感情很偏执
不靠你的爱
我到最后会心死
承诺是短暂的电池
用完为止
我爱你
三个字已经完全变质
我对爱感情很偏食...
承诺是短暂的电池
用完为止
我爱你三个字
已经完全变质


Track 3)黑色月亮
一個人吃了晚餐 一個人躺坐在浴缸
一個人在城市逃亡 不簡單

逃開你給的過往 逃的我遍體鱗傷
我的感情總是跌跌撞撞

有一種溫柔在你身上才有 霸道的將我佔有
心直到現在還是你的
有一種難過在你眼裡才有 看著我走的時候

你說我好像黑色月亮 在黑暗中看不見愛的光芒
我們說的夢想 只是夢想 影子拖了很長
你說你想要我的原諒 好讓你的日子過的比較心安
心裡有個地方 關了起來療傷 那裡不需要月光

有一種溫柔在你身上才有 霸道的將我佔有
心直到現在還是你的
有一種難過在你眼裡才有 看著我走的時候

你說我好像黑色月亮 在黑暗中看不見愛的光芒
我們說的夢想 只是夢想 影子拖了很長
你說你想要我的原諒 好讓你的日子過的比較心安
心裡有個地方 關了起來療傷 那裡不需要月光

你說我好像黑色月亮 在黑暗中看不見愛的光芒
我們說的夢想 只是夢想 影子拖了很長
你說你想要我的原諒 好讓你的日子過的比較心安
心裡有個地方 關了起來療傷 那裡不需要月光

心裡有個地方 關了起來療傷 那裡不需要月光



Hear it first, at slackerztm.blogspot.com!

posted by sLaCkErZ™ @ 11:44 AM, ,

Let's talk battery

Your mp3, phone and laptop. Most probably, they contain a battery. In today's IT gadgets, the battery is most likely the weakest link, and will be the first component to break down.

That's why, the folks are Apple are smart! They encase the batteries of their mp3/macbook into the gadgets themselves. So when the battery starts to fail, you'd be better off buying a new gadget from them! By deterring you from changing the battery, they will be earning more by selling you a brand new gadget!

How do I keep my battery healthy?
I'll be focusing on a type of battery more commonly used for IT gadgets. Li-ion batteries.

Li-ion batteries have limited cycles. One deep cycle is using the battery from 100% charge to its 0% charge empty state. A good estimate would be 500 - 1000 cycles for a typical battery. Li-ion batteries have no memory effect and you can charge them at any amount of charge they have remaining in them. I like to keep my iPod fully charged all the time. So far, decrease in battery life has been unnoticeable even though I use my iPod for 5 hours daily.

On the other hand, I charge my Samsung Omnia only when its battery is empty. The battery is coming up to 2 years in age now, and there is significant decrease in battery life. My Omnia's battery is getting pretty screwed up to be honest.

If you're planning on storing a battery for use next time, keeping it at 60% charge will be optimal and will cause the least damage over time. If a battery is left unused for extended periods, it will tend to degenerate.


Well, hope I have imparted you with some knowledge on batteries. Keep your iPods running well my friends!

posted by sLaCkErZ™ @ 9:40 PM, ,

Malaysia Trip Again

Went off to explore JB with my brothers again yesterday.

The crowd there waiting for the buses at the causeway was mad! People were shouting and all when someone cut queue. I jumped queue like mad and probably cut short an hour of waiting, although I actually didn't know that I was cutting queue in the first place. I just wanted to head to the front to check things out and realised, OH THEY ARE QUEUING FOR THE BUS. So I slowly -cough- "blended" into the queue....

Not terribly exciting as there wasn't much to buy but rather we had good food there at sizzling stonegrill. Ordered a sirloin steak with a coke float and I cooked my steak till it became like chewing gum. Oops as I left it on the hot stone to cook for too long.

After that, we hanged out and I bought gum, and as usual, tried to clear all of them before going back into the checkpoint so I ate like 10 gums all at once. The gum ended up so big and tired my jaws HAHA.

Wanted to buy some ciggs to try out. But probably next time!

Alex keep wanting to head back to Singapore and back to Sim Lim to collect his computer which could not be repaired. So we went back to Singapore at around 5pm and shopped there. Hanged out until around 9pm and reached home at around 10.

So shagged after that and I fell asleep on the couch which gave me a sore arm now.

Upload the pix next time too! TOO LAZY HAAHA.

posted by sLaCkErZ™ @ 1:32 PM, ,

Go NS and stop bumming around!

I think some girls should be selected to do NS. I mean, come on, some of them (think: dragonboat girls) are fitter than me and PES C BMT should be absolutely no problem for them.


Some girls are so ignorant about NS that they think the whole 2 years, we serve BMT and cheiong sua! WTF! (And by the way, its one year and 10 months for combat fit personels.) They don't actually understand that Tekong is for basic military training (BMT) and is merely a small part of guy's NS life. Some think ALL SAF PERSONELS are located and based in Tekong. HAHAHAHAHA *LAUGH MY BALLS OFF*


Isn't the SAF trying to cope with the decreasing intake by trying to making various vocations more efficient? When other nations come visit our NAVY and see, they are actually "surprised" to see our frigates are operating with less personels on board. I bet they are laughing behind Singapore's back. ("SO MUCH FOR 3G ARMY!")


They say Singapore has 500,000 combat fit personel (NSF + Regulars) ready to activate any time. Do you really think those 1st Warrant Officers with tummies and PES A/B Status when they were 20 are still able to run and hold a gun and actually defend themselves and their Singapore during a war?


The least they can/should do is serve a 5 to 15 days BMT, in Tekong, learn to fire a rifle (and hit targets), and then fuck off and not go around asking guys when they come out from NS (POC from Tekong is not ORD, my dear girl.) You girls have to wait until the new university academic year starts right? That's in April, you girls have 8-10 months to spare, 5 to 15 days learning to SERVE YOUR NATION is nothing.



I hope you meant 2012, April for the PES B guys LOL. So ignorant aiyo.


If the current trend of low birth rates continues (which I am sure will), the SAF will not be able to cope with the rising threat of terrorism locally and overseas and will soon become outsourced to mercenaries. (A mercenary is a professional soldier hired by a foreign army, as opposed to a soldier enlisted in the armed forces of the sovereign state of which he is a citizen.)


I STRONGLY URGE THE SINGAPORE GOVERNMENT TO CONSIDER MY ARGUMENT!

posted by sLaCkErZ™ @ 9:26 PM, ,