Rough Week

Work week 3 of 2007 and I succumbed - for all my ambitious new year resolutions.. 1st losing my patience with Chen Ying - we still haven't resolved the CTO simulator screwup. Then on Friday afternoon, in a particularly difficult meeting with Helen, I lost my cool 2nd time in 1 week. Didn't even give Monty face - he was in the same meeting. Sigh.

Had a CaFE meeting in church and I got to church early. I was actually quite pissed off at myself for not being able to hold my temper in check. Went to confession and for penance was told to read all of Cor 13.

1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Moving Pa from Mt Vernon to St Mary of the Angels

Sunday morning 8am, we met at Mt Vernon to break into Pa's niche. Ken had purchased a chisel (guess he watched Prison Break) and we were trying to save and keep Pa's marble slab. I don't know why we wanted to save it, guess we're still nostalgic about Pa after 23 years.

Ken, Ian & Calvin took turns hacking away at the edges - without much progress. We were really disturbing the serenity of Mt Vernon as the high-pitched 'ping' from hammer against chisel was ringing off every single columbarium block. Very jarring against the silence of the early morning.

Finally God gave up on us and sent us a Bangla cleaner - he was sweeping leaves and offered to help, muttering something about us doing it wrong and that we'll never make it that way.

We had to sacrifice the marble slab - he whacked it hard and the marble just crumbles. He even carried Pa's urn down for us (of cos Pa on top floor la...).

Then it onto St Mary's of the Angels. There was a brief internment service and Pa's urn in his new niche in church. We had earlier decided this makes it easier for us to visit and to pray.Calvin & Ian blessing Pa's urn with holy water.

We had earlier visited St Mary's of the Angels' columbarium and really liked it. It's got open roof skylights which opens into a fountain. And the whole place is peaceful withot being scary.

After that, we had a great dimsum lunch together at the Fort Canning Club chinese restaurant.

Fingerboard

I had given Francis a fingerboard couple of years ago - he moved houses and cannot install the fingerboard in his new place. Very generously, he offered to fix it up in my room for me until he moves again - hopefully not for a while :)

After installation, this is how it looks just above my room door.

Unfortunately, my shoulders have been killing me recently, probably only hung off it a couple of times. And I cannot scrunch my abs enough to do a 90degree leg lift... I am growing fat! Wail!

Day time Getai

Walking back to carpark after lunch on Sunday, chanced upon what seemed like a getai in the daytime. Except that instead of sleezy singers, they looked like housewives. I walked closer and read off the banner on the stage - some community centre buddhist group raising funds for typhoon victims in Philippines. Amongst the audience was the ambassador from the Philippines. The things diplomats have to endure for the sake of country, honour and $. Poor guy - his ears are probably still ringing. Mine are...