Night In, Day Out

Halo to all.

Our human minds think alike. Not the same though. We may pursue the same lifestyle, but our ways of living them out may differ. Take Shift work vs Non-Shift work as an example, which I will talk you through in this blog. As someone who already had gained experience from both sides, let me convince you as to why I prefer doing Shift work.

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1) AVOIDING THE CROWD

The fact that my shift work schedule is never fixated on a 9pm till 5pm work time means that I get to easily stay away from large crowds of people who are making their way to work or back home. Not just that, I won’t get stuck within a long line of vehicles along the roads during peak hours, whether I’m in a taxi or bus. Moreover, if I happen to be working at night, I would be travelling in a direction opposite to many people (I go to work, they go home, and vice versa). Hence, if I am travelling aboard a bus in the hours nearing midnight, there would be little to no passengers inside. Indeed comfortable without the feel of rushing to places.

2) WEEKDAYS BECOME WEEKENDS AND VICE VERSA

What can really make your off or rest day better? If it falls on a weekday. With a lot of non-shift workers busy doing tasks during the weekdays, this leaves to many areas of interest ‘open’ for opportunities. For example, you can do groceries or shop for goods in malls without expecting long queues. You can go to the swimming pool without expecting so many people to ruin the serenity you need just to relax. You can also call out your love to a date (If they are not working on that day) at a restaurant without expecting so much noise just because all seats are taken. To summarise, you make more of your life without worrying of many people getting in your way.

3) MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

Follow through the chorus of the song ‘Paper Planes’ by M.I.A.: “All I wanna do is ‘Bang, Bang, Bang’ and ‘Ka-Ching’! and take your money.” Nope, I’m not asking you to go and start a robbery, but rather let you know the satisfaction of getting more than just one ‘Ka-Ching!’ just because you do shift work. Based on where I currently work, I am entitled to a lot of bonuses. Firstly, 2nd Shift & Meal Premium bonus, whenever I work during the afternoon (1:30pm - 10:30pm). Secondly, Night bonus, obviously whenever I work during the night (10:15pm - 7:15am), with an increase on weekends or public holidays. Lastly, Overtime bonus, whenever I work during public holidays, or beyond the official work time, or during my off and rest day. Cumulate all these in one month, and I’ll be getting 30% more than the basic salary. 

4) DIFFERENT TIMES, DIFFERENT TASKS

Based on what I experienced during my non-shift work internship at a company 4 years ago, I noticed one thing, and it’s that I’ve been doing the same routine of tasks day by day. Of course, it was boring just to grind through it over and over again. Compared to where I work today, the tasks that had to be done differs by our shift times (Morning, afternoon, or night), or even by the day of the week. This gives me a freedom to rotate to accomplishing multiple different tasks within just a period of days. Now this is what I call flexibility at its finest, while not expecting to do the same thing.

5) GIVE ME A CHALLENGE

Shift work does give my mind a challenge of endurance, especially during the night. When majority of the people are tucked up at their homes sleeping, cuddling, or even doing it (Pardon my innuendo), I’m here exercising my mind to be capable of making production at work, even when the night begins to shine. Let’s be real with myself. My sleeping times have been all over the place since I was young. Which means, I am flexible in terms of my body clock. Even my days during National Service, I had to be prepared to undergo tasks beyond midnight.

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And there you have it. The reasons why I recommend you to go for shift work if you happen to go job hunting. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide which is best for your preference, but seriously, the one thing you only need to adjust for shift work is your sleep schedule. You’d still be sleeping at least 8 hours a day.

Anyway, gotta get back to work, cause you know, money money money! Till then, see you starside.

"Life is never about looking into someone's script and just blindly follow it. Life is about you taking a pen to write down the many scripts of what you want to do. That is what I call leaving your mark on this world."

Epiphany Is Cupid's Play

Halo to all.

Perhaps I wanted to upload this blog on this month. Not because of the fact that Cupid was shooting arrows, but rather it could be because I wanted to say some stuff out of my own fantasies and daydreams. Just think of it like I’m falling from Cloud 9. Anyway, allow me to show you a few scenarios of them.

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SEGMENT 1: TWAS' THE NIGHT

It was the 12th of December. My family and I had just confirmed a Christmas celebration taking place at our home. Of course there were lots to prepare: Food, decorations, but most importantly invitations. I immediately sent them to my friends. Only 3 were able to make it. Nonetheless, it was better than nothing.

Then, I came to a thought of someone else who I really wanted to invite. Her. Thanks to my INFJ personality (Refer to my October 2017 blog if you want to know more about an INFJ.), I was hesitant to send it. Took me 3 days before I bravely did it. Of course I sent it while I was still busy doing work when she had already left.

2 hours before midnight, just as I was about to finish my work, a notification sound resonated off my phone. And the thought of it possibly her reply made my heart race. I grabbed my phone, opened it, and I was right. It was her. The good news was that she had replied to my invitation. The bad news? She was unable to make it.

It may have turned out that way, but I myself tend to picture “What Ifs” just to keep that positive hope going. Came Christmas, and of course with a few of my friends, we talked and played to catch up. It was indeed fun. By the time they had left the party, I started to picture a “What If” moment and here was what I was fantasising.

— What if she declined just to fool me? —

“As my friends had left the party, I decided to return back to my room to take a rest. Suddenly, a few minutes later, my phone sounded out. I picked it up. It was a message from her, saying she was waiting at the gate. My reaction? Immediately storm out the house and rush towards the gate.

There she was with that smile. I couldn’t help but go towards her and hug her. Never mind whoever could see us. Never mind if she fooled me into thinking she couldn’t make it. Her presence just made this Christmas truly a gift.”

SEGMENT 2: GREETINGS OUTTA' NOWHERE

Came the 10th of January; A day before my birthday. Typically nowadays, a lot of people know when would your birthday be, all thanks to social media. A notification shows up in their phone and boom! I’d get a birthday greeting posted on my Facebook wall.

I’m fine with the spammage of greetings flooding my wall, but ultimately the ones who matter to you are the ones you would appreciate, especially if they don’t come from Facebook. To emphasize, Number 1: My family. Number 2: Close friends. And Number 3: Someone you like. Let me tell you more about Number 3.

My birthday had come, and I woke up feeling refreshed. First thing I did was to look at my phone. What I would expect are the multiple notifications from Facebook. What I didn’t expect: A birthday greeting from her, and it’s not even from Facebook. I was surprised though, as I didn’t mention my birthday to her, but at the same time, I was heartwarmingly happy.

Obviously I had another one of them “What If” moments pictured and this was what I had dreamt of.

— What if she wanted to say more? —

“After entering into a lovestruck phase upon seeing that message, she messaged me with an emoticon of a blushing but smiling face. This surprised me, as I began to wonder if she was really interested in me.

Hence, I replied with a question mark. And then, within a minute, came a 5-second video response from her: Just simply her looking at me with that genuine smile. I myself felt warm and fuzzy inside with her looking towards the camera.”

SEGMENT 3: IDEA FROM IDEA

February had arrived, and one of our colleagues would be resigning in a week. So, an idea was made in a form of a card to wish him farewell, hence she placed a small note into my locker for me to pen down what I wanted to say to our colleague. Although I was already triggered before to slot something nice into her locker before this happened, what she did already tempted me more to do this.

When I finished penning down my farewell note, I slotted it into her locker. But you know, I did it when no one is around, because I had this blushy feeling on someone seeing me do this like as if I was doing some kind of love letter (Shoot, I’m feeling warm the moment I’m writing this out.).

Anyway, a few days later, Valentine’s Day had arrived. I went to pack my stuff by the time work had ended. Then, I briefly looked at her locker and thought of a “What If” moment.

— What if I really slotted something cute? —

“As I had finished packing, and saw that no one was around, I immediately tore out a piece of paper and simply drew out a face with tongue sticking out to one side. After which, I slotted it into her locker. Somehow, I felt like I just pulled a risk that could end up getting reciprocated or rejected.

I was then on off-duty for the next 2 days, so I was left to wonder about her response. The thought of just fantasising and dreaming about her was not enough.

I returned back to work, and the moment I opened up my locker, I saw something that I expect and didn’t expect at the same time. It was the same piece of paper that I drew. This time, something else was drawn behind it: A red-inked heart emoticon.

Holy shoot. She knew. Not wanting to waste the time of timidly waiting, I messaged her to meet me at the workplace’s garden for lunch and she agreed.

Lunch came. And I was sitting at a table waiting anxiously for her to show up. Fortunately no one was within my vicinity, cause I’m about to do something that could send me and her into a warm mess. There she was, walking towards me with that sweet smile. Upon sitting down, I placed my hand over hers, and she held it like as if she really wanted to. With that, I mutted out what would be a love confession.

Wanna know what happened next? Nah. Let’s just say that I finally got what I needed.”

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Let’s hope that things would get better from here on out. I mean to be honest, never did I have a chance of going this far during the previous years. I went to lunch with her sometimes during work. Not only that, she’d tap me on my shoulder whenever I didn’t see her yet (Physical contact. Is that a sign?). But most prominently, that smile. I know she does this to her colleagues as well, but I swear the ones she has given me has vibes of “I’m happy you’re here”.

Well, I gotta get back to playing my Xbox. Got new games that I’m anticipating for its release next month. Till then, see you starside.

“Don’t look down on the floor as it won’t let you see anything new. Instead, look up to the sky, as it always changes day in day out. That is what I call believing in tomorrows.”