Raising, Rising, Reaming, Ramming, Ripping, Rubbing, Revealing, Pushing, Pressing, Protruding, Pinning, Parting, Penetrating, Pumping, Pounding, Pulling, Poking, Lubricating, Loading, Locking, Lengthening, Loosening, Jacking, Jerking, Joining, Grabbing, Grasping, Gripping, Opening, Holding, Hardening, Filling, Fingering, Flooding, Forcing, Vibrating, Tying, Trapping, Thickening, Thrusting, Thrumming, Touching, Teasing, Drilling, Driving, Denuding, Deflowering, Displaying, Deepening, Stiffening, Stripping, Sliding, Slipping, Socketing, Sheathing, Slotting, Stretching, Screwing, Shaking, Showering, Shooting, Spraying, Spreading, Splurting, Splaying, Shafting, Sucking, Impregnating, Coupling, Coating, Covering, Bonding, Banging, Binding, Blowing, Wrapping, Widening, Uncovering, Mastering, Manipulating, Massaging, Exploring, Easing, Exposing, Entering, Extending, Enlarging, Encasing, Engorging, Enveloping nice lovely Erections.
Gosh! No wonder you have been MIA for a while...........
ReplyDelete;-) but sounds like a lot of hard work..
Haha, for a minute, I thought you were talking about your sex life, and I went : not bad for such an old guy ! Then I saw the pictures... Right, seems more real, all of a sudden !
ReplyDeleteCool pics ! I wish I was a civil engineers, the thing I do can fit on a USB card, which are getting smaller and smaller these days.
Liang Jieming can raise buildings ... you can raise children ... no contest there.
ReplyDeleteAnd the buildings he raised might well serve your children in the future ... heh heh heh
Who else but the Angry Boar, who could marry both love and work together...
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there were some many adjectives applicable to two diverse activities..Sure been busy ;)
ReplyDeleteHahaha could've been worse. My word choices were limited by needing to end with "ing"... and I'd like to state for the record that I have no idea what "other" activity you are talking about. ;)
ReplyDeleteHahaha I was bored. Freaking mind-numbing work, sitting around sipping kopi (and sugarcane juice), reading newspapers (so bored I now read the ST, BT & FT everyday!) and watching the Business School Co-eds walk by.
ReplyDeleteSo what can I say, I've been taking more "art" shots than work related photos. :P Expect more....
Wow, cool!
ReplyDeleteWell, again I state for the record that I have no idea what you people are talking about, but I must say that lunch time at the NUS canteens are just such pleasurable distractions. Great food, drinks and candy.
ReplyDeleteEye candy? :P
ReplyDeleteSimi eye candy... sweets and tarts lah.
ReplyDeleteHehehe...
ReplyDeleteSo this was unintentional... It is even worse than thought !
ReplyDeleteYou just want to wear your little yellow safety boots, your little yellow hard hat and ogle all the sweaty muscle bound workers on site, whilst singing you little lumberjack song don't you?
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, and maybe they'd invite me to share their lunch, in the barrack, you know, that big worker food, and the smell of sweat, and guys who just say a couple words, like "been colder today, eh? seems so !", words which seem simple, but mean a lot...
ReplyDeleteOr, I could have been the Mr Engineer, you know, the guy who has a white helmet, and red gloves and boots, and a blue jacket and pants (everyone's else is black), does not come close to the heaving front, or other dirty places, and utters yet another word of wisdom like "be careful, beam the roof or it'll fall", or "no it is dirty out here" (yeah, like if we didn't know), and then walk away to the next gallery, or site...
oh boy! behave
ReplyDeleteSinging the Y-M-C-A!!!
ReplyDeleteMy apologies m'lady. I admit this is one of my greatest failings to sometimes allow myself to be lowered to their level, and as some would say, "rut with the pigs". I really mustn't allow baser creatures to drag down my own standards of morality and decorum. I thank you m'lady and stand entirely chastised.
ReplyDeleteI'm into my final few weeks here. It's been fun.
ReplyDeleteBook fair sales here are just awesome with some very unusual books for sale. I think I've already spent over a hundred dollars on new and 2nd hand books here. Sipping kopi in the canteens have also been... uh, interesting, making the climb up the many flights of stairs every morning well worth the effort. I also don't think I've read as many newspapers in so short a time span in my life. My arms and face have decidedly gotten much darker than usual from the frequent need to go out into the sun. I've trashed 2 pairs of pants, snagged on sharp objects as well as condemned 1 pair of shoes which I am only waiting for the last day to throw. Work swings between extremes, from utter boredom to frantic criss-crossing of the site to verify/check/inspect/approve rock levels, concrete tests, piling lengths, reinforcement accuracy, concrete placement and site safety. Gotten used to getting up early at 7am for work and rushing to get past the ECP ERP gantry before 8am. The distance to site from home is about 25km which has upped my weekly petrol spending as well as ERP payments. Learnt quite a few new things from the site these last month and a half, which has been good because its always a pleasure to try new stuff and immerse in new experiences.
The urgent shortage for engineering staff is still affecting the site however, and there is still the possibility that I may be asked to extend and stay for another couple of weeks beyond my original 2 month contract. I'm rather undecided on whether I should. On the one hand, I do need to return to my own training work and see to this year's training schedule. No one knows how long this construction boom will last but eventually it will end and the extreme cyclic nature of the industry requires me to be prudent and ensure my training business stays profitable for me to fall back on when engineers start getting laid off. FuRen too has been complaining that I hardly have time anymore with her, either too tired to go out or working late.
On the other hand, because of the nature of the work, I do get quite a bit of leeway in doing my own stuff in my office and can actually continue to work on my other work through the internet. On top of that, the project Professional Engineer I'm nominally under on the consultant's side is a friend and I can't leave him in a lurch because, without a Resident Engineer on site the works cannot move and to date, I understand he has yet to be able to secure a replacement. Then there's the salary to consider too. Added to my usual sources of income, I've never gotten it this good and this added extra is a welcome bonus savings for the future. The hot construction market doesn't come but once every decade and I'd be a fool not to cast my net while the fishing is this good, but I do miss the freedom to do as I please and the short leash I'm on, the need to stay near the site in case I'm called to inspect/approve something, is rather chaffing. Then there is the issue of responsibility. The professional liability I'm taking on gets heavier with each item I sign and approve. Mistakes in engineering can literally cost you the shirt off your back. House, car, everything.
Sigh.... what do you guys think?
I think you do love engineering, and you do love money.
ReplyDeleteThe free-spirited Angry Boar might have wait just a little while more before the lucre loses its lustre to Liang Jieming.
Baobei of course, can extend her patience with some diamonds, but nothing can postpone her yearning for her hunk for too long.
SB, thanks for your opinion.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't think it's engineering that I love but rather I love being challenged and that's something engineering gives. Besides, I've no choice since engineering is also what I know that currently brings in the big bucks... speaking of which, it also isn't money that I love but rather the options that open up that having money provides.
If I truly love engineering and money, I would take up one of the many offers to slot myself into a nice comfy consulting firm. Salaries are practically for the asking right now. The shortage of engineers is so acute that a friend of mine once said, "Ask any engineer you know to just write in to us. Good or bad, we'll hire." My ex-boss recently confided to me, "We used to set test and look for competency indicators during job interviews, now we just ask if they have a degree and when they can start work."
Personally, I'm leaning to accepting an offer for extension mainly because I'm still in need of rebuilding my finances after the massive expenses of the wedding year. The current site work, isn't too bad since I'm left to my own devices here almost all the time. This actually gives me quite a bit of time to continue gaining income from working on my own freelance engineering design work (I recently picked up some cool work on the Sentosa IR Universal Studios!) as well as to focus on my property watching. The Resident Engineer (RE) on site answers to only 3 people, the Owner, the Architect and the PE in the office. Also, because everyone knows I'm only here "to help", no one pushes me much (I took this to help the PE who is a friend, as a stand in until he gets someone permanent). The fact that I'm overqualified for an RE position also helps I suppose (I'm at the same level as my "boss" and hence, there is professional courtesy). On the other hand, I really dislike being tied down to a regular job with fixed times and structure. The current "good money" is also partly because I also continue to draw my regular salary from my training company. If this "short-term" project becomes "long-term", the income from the training company is likely to suffer. I would also need to relinquish my salary there as it become increasingly untenable, less easy to justify pay vs. work-done the longer I stay away. The site work is also likely to pick-up as more and more things get built and hence, also eat into the free time available to do freelance design work. The ironic thing about this whole project arrangement is that the money is only high provided it stays short term. The longer it drags, income starts falling on a diminishing curve.
Buy Furen a diamond? Hahahaha wait until I sell my house enbloc. She wants a carat size that I cannot reconcile with my bank account.
Like you said, it's cyclical, and not a balanced 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine ... more like 2 out of 10 for years of plenty, so it is shrewd to be like the ant preparing for winter.
ReplyDeleteSpeak of the devil. I've just been asked to stay on an additional 2 weeks. Very well. 2 weeks I can manage. Besides, you're right of course. Maketh hay whilst the sun shineth.
ReplyDeleteEspecially when you're like Rumpelstiltskin who spins hay into gold ... :P
ReplyDeleteOnly to get swindled by a woman? Nay, I'd rather be Sun Bu-er who could change lead into gold.
ReplyDeletewahhhhh.......
ReplyDeleteya, took me a few tries to get a nice one.
ReplyDelete