Friday, November 30, 2007

Been a lot of action lately. Tonnes of things that have yet to come as well. Quite a roller-coaster ride of emotions, really, and it's awfully tiring. And of course, I'm on call again tonight, so wish me luck and loads of torrential rain and flash floods.

Quarter-life crisis looks like it is indeed setting in. Troubled, just troubled.

Wenky
6:45 AM

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Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Feeling freaking annoyed. The new roster is out, and I'm getting postings I DON'T WANT again. 1 month of gastro (which was excellent), 1 month of renal overflow, 1 week of endocrine, another half a month of renal overflow (AGAIN!) and I'm in endocrine again next month. WTF?

Wenky
6:41 AM

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Saturday, November 24, 2007

Saturday Night Fever

Yeah right. Just had an uncomfortable round (which lasted beyond when I started call, OMG!), and for some reason, almost missed out seeing a patient. Oh well.

Yes, I'm on call. How very depressing, on a nice Saturday like this. Only comforting thing is that the flu seems to have relented somewhat, but looking at the number of empty beds .... urghhh. Wish me luck though!

Wistfully thinking about doing leisurely stuff. Wistfully, I said. I will blog more soon, but in the meantime the room's going through a minor makeover. Maybe I should have bought some new curtains too, but I really couldn't be bothered. Too much hassle.

Wenky
12:14 PM

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Friday, November 23, 2007

The flu's reaching its peak now, which is horrid. You know - entire wastebins full of tissue paper kind of scenario. Trying desperately to recover before call tomorrow!

Life's definitely less fun lately.

Sudden urge to stay home, just to watch the sunrise.

Wenky
6:36 AM

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Thursday, November 22, 2007

Feeling quite annoyed now, after being accused of something quite far-fetched. It might even have been comical, but I agree that the circumstances surrounding this do appear suspicious, even incriminating. Ever been misunderstood?

The flu's starting to have a free run now, couldn't quite stop it from coming. This is so odd, but I barely got past half of my first day back when the desire to have yet another break came. Post-holiday blues, perhaps. 40 more days... Then 4 more months of something new, which may very well turn out to be a case of getting out of the frying pan into the fire. Then 6 months of a new start, and 2 whole years of shit, and back to more madness for another 3 years at least. Urghhhhhh. So bleak. "My life, Mr Hut, is so UNfunny."

Hmmm. Looking forward to the electronics sales at the end of the month, although Citibank's offering of interest-free installments for a phone I wanted is pretty attractive too.

Wenky
6:32 AM

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Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Back to the madhouse

As again, the break's over before I know it. Was hoping to wake up this morning to find that it's just started, but fat hope! It's been a rather fruitful week however, so no regrets here. The only thing I didn't manage to do was to catch up with sleep - insomnia and early morning wakenings still plagued me - and I am now down with a sore throat/flu prodrome. Didn't manage to meet up with some other friends too, but how many people can you hang out with in the space of 1 week?

Hmm .. gotta get something to look forward to. I'm so going to miss waking up with the sun in my face and the birds chirping away.

Wenky
6:29 AM

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Friday, November 16, 2007

First Bottling

At last! The fermenter has complete stopped bubbling, and measured specific gravity was 1.010, which leaves the alcohol content at 4.5%. I've bottled out 2 x 750ml bottles this morning and tasted some of it before carbonating them. Hmmm .. there's this yeasty flavour to it still, not unlike Hoegaarden's Forbidden Fruit, but that's probably because the yeast hasn't completely settled out yet. A little odd-tasting. I'm hoping it's because it's young and flat, and that it'll improve in a week or two, and with carbonation. Leaving the rest of the batch in there for at least another week before finishing up with bottling so I get a clearer beer.

The mead's still bubbling strongly, but I did after all use a champagne yeast strain which has a higher alcohol tolerance. No wonder it takes months to make.

Wenky
2:38 PM

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Thursday, November 15, 2007

A fine solution

I seem to be full of pun lately.

Can't help feeling annoyed with myself - I've been waking at the most unearthly hours, i.e. working day waking hours. The standard of working 8 hours a day (which effing idiot came up with this?) is just so wrong for the circadian rhythm. We should all start work at 10am and go home at 4pm sharp. Makes working so much less like work.

The primary fermenter in the bathroom is slowing down already, and just as I was fretting about when to bottle or to leave it to develop more flavours, Yx came up with a really good solution! So, I'll be bottling half of the batch and leaving the other half in the fermenter for 10 more days, and then we'll have good fun tasting and comparing them. The mead's still fermenting strongly though! I have no idea what honey I used, perhaps it was adulterated. The usual (and awfully expensive) clover honeys etc have quite little in way of nutrients and are kinda semi-solid or very viscous at any rate. The one I used is wild honey from Malaysia, and it pours out like syrup. The silly thing's still bubbling away, and it'll be a couple of months before I find out if that pot sitting in my room actually turns out to be god's nectar or bacteria soup. Eeeks. Am so tempted to get a few more 25-litre carboys to make several batches concurrently. That, of course, would be illegal (I'm only allowed 30 litres apparently, and I can't sell the stuff as bootleg - as if anyone would risk getting poisoned anyway!!) And furthermore, mom's already shooting me dirty looks every time she hears the fermenter bubbling away, and I suspect my tinkering and experiments are stretching their limits already. =P

Dad's been awfully curious about that I'm doing in the bathroom (I was going to claim that I'm cultivating and isolating novel antibiotics, but then again I might as well claim that I'm hatching pet Martians in there ..) but mom and I talked about it - we aren't telling him it's beer. He will most likely either:
1) Steal (most of) the unfinished product, or
2) Stick a finger in to taste the stuff, or
3) Add stuff in to try and help with the taste, or
all of the above.

OK, supposed to start on waxing the car, but I'm feeling o o o h s o o o l e t h a a a r g i i i c. Right, you get my point. Ooh yes!!!! Time to use the detailing clay again on the car today!

Wenky
6:14 AM

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Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Scrapped my plans to go down to Lavender today - the sun was too good to miss! Spent the morning finishing up on the new stuff I got myself yesterday, and then off to the beach!

Anyway, here are some pics of what I've been up to:

Anything to keep my dad away ... hehe

And .. the revelation!

Yeah, going mad. I'm actually brewing BEER at home - or rather, in the toilet, of all places. Getting the malt ready was quite a pain though, with all the disinfection and the boiling and lugging all 23 litres in the barrel up a flight of stairs. In any case the fermentation's going strong now with frequent bubbling of the air lock at the top (allows CO2 to escape). Brownie ended up picking a fight with the fermenter this morning - the bubbling sound irritates him somehow. Ooh. 4 more days before I can bottle the beer, and 2 more weeks before finally drinking it - if it's not contaminated and poisonous, of course.

And the real reason why I'm doing this:

A small, 5-litre carboy sitting in my room. Remember Madam Rosmerta? First attempt at mead!

Wenky
8:24 PM

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Monday, November 12, 2007

Something's Brewing ...

Oooh, sweet, sweet holidays!! I'm so totally drinking in every single minute of this break. Well .. tonnes of admin stuff to do, but at least now I'm ABLE to do them eh. Settled banking today, immigrations tomorrow.

Anyway, bought myself an early Xmas present today. I'm trying very hard to keep it secret (going to be so coveted by my dad) but mom found out about it anyway. Yes, boys and our toys. Still too early to update as yet, but I'll post pics as soon as I can. The Object is now hidden away in a toilet (no kidding), draped with a towel and with a huge note claiming "Do Not Open - Toxic Fumes". Which is oh so not true, of course, but anything to keep my dad's fingers out of it. =)

Wenky
5:58 PM

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Thursday, November 08, 2007

Almost there ... almost. Such a long-drawn journey.
Didn't get enough sleep last night, and it's call day again today. Yes, how very depressing. Woke with quite a spectacular headache and dark circles blooming around my eyes. Maybe the rain will hold up, and it'll be a whole day and night of surgical traumas, orthopaedic fractures and infected bedsores. Wish me luck!

Wenky
6:50 AM

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Monday, November 05, 2007

Ah, the dreaded Monday morning. I foresee quite a bit to be done already, for work. Doesn't help that there's a complete nincompoop in this rather dysfunctional team. One of those clinical fellows that ought to be exiled from Singapore.

Went to visit my gran in JB on Saturday (yes, I know - I was post-call!) and had a BBQ in the rain. Food and all was enjoyable, although the entire trip wasn't too nice. Don't like it at all when people get tipsy.

Where the hell did my weekend go?

Spent a bomb with Yx and my sisters yesterday, we totally binged at Brewerkz. Hehe .. badly needed the booze.

Oooh, and I just discovered that one of my primary school classmates is now in a rock band or something. Yes, it was a most interesting discovery. Here's his blog, he's the lead singer. So reminded of those younger days.

Right. Call again tonight, wish me luck!

Wenky
6:23 AM

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Friday, November 02, 2007

Another 30 hrs to go for work. Just had a friend come over last night, and gosh .. the last time I met him was when I was still 15! It's so amazing how different everyone has become, and while I seem to stay so stagnated. And of course, it's again a stark reminder of a life of incarceration as opposed to where I was before. Could it be just us, or does everyone have to eventually end up so chained to the mundane side of life? Work, and struggling to grab on to whatever personal and family life, has indeed become all-consuming.

Before I sink any further, time to start an early day at work - new boss, new colleagues, new people yet again. Plus there's still tonight. Wish me luck!

Wenky
6:37 AM

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