Melbourne Review

In one word: fantastic. Whilst the "four seasons in one day" still rings true, this trip introduced a variety of sights and sounds, from The Great Ocean Rd, to the dark little lounge bars along Hardware Lane in Melbourne city. I like Melbourne for its structured-ness i.e. the trams, and the wide walkable streets in the city, not to mention the tourist-friendly assistance of the locals, both on the street and at the places we stayed.

Maybe it was Cup fever, but there were so many people out and about on the streets!

So the obligatory top ten (I swears there are some copycat sites out there :))
1. The craps table at Crown Casino. The buy in was only $5 per bet, so much cheaper than Star City!
2. Great Ocean Rd drive. I had forgotten how dramatic the scenery was off the Victorian coast, especially on a windy and rainy day.
3. Vintage clothing. I am officially a convert! Looking forward to more markets and vintage store shopping for my clothes.
4. Free trams. Well, no-one asked me for a ticket....
5. Sake at Kazen. So much drunkenness for only $8 each!
6. XR6 Falcon. Maaaate, she goez! Plus some quality rally driving from Bec :)
7. St Kilda. I like the casual laid back atmosphere of the place, plus the markets there were really good.
8. Albrect Dürer at the NGV. Really impressed with his drawings, I am a bit etchings fan myself. Was disappointed not to find some decent prints at the NGV, but will get some one day.
9. La La Land bar. Big tumblers, comfy couches all add up to plenty of entrepreneurial ideas for doing the same here in Sydney.
10. Deliberately losing our watches. Always helps slow down the pace of the trip, and makes everything relaxed, as a good holiday should be.

Looking at her list, we're almost the same! Goes to show that the highlights of a trip are always the ones where fun is had by everyone.

Good times, will post up some photos soon.

Only one cheap call:

Fantastic indeed. Looking at your list - who's calling who copycat??!! =p
beckster (link) - 02 November '05 - 02:55

Neurotic Imposture

Reading this symptom is Boss magazine, and the actual research paper, probably the best way to describe this symptom is with a story.

A bright young employee is promoted to a mor senior level within the company. He/she is very clever, but feared that they couldn't take on the new job's responsibilities. At the root of the dlemma was their suspicion that they are just not good enough, and they lived in dread that they would be exposed any minute. Whilst on the outside observer their achievements are great, annd that they are extrememly successful leaders, deep down inside they see themselves as frauds. It causes them to believe that they don't deserve their success at all.

Now the problem with this is that as you go higher up the corporate ladder, there will be a time where you will be in the number one position. This is where the person is expected to stand on his or her own. When this occurs, risk aversion sets in, and the organisation with a neurotic impostor as its CEO will fail to tackle entrepreneurial and high risk activities, stifling growth.

Something struck me in that article, it seemed to be quite similar to how I feel. Granted, I'm not top 5% of the INSEAD graduation class (as per the article) but I often tell others that I think the achievements I have made have been due to luck and right timing more than anything else. I look towards the future of my career and there is a fear that I will head up some business unit and I will just not have the right stuff.

But there can be a cure. Of course the first thing is self-identification of this issue. The other is to recognise that mistakes and failures can offer great opportunities for learning and personal growth, and that the fear of failure should not be debilitating. Constructive criticism should be welcomed, not a catastrophe.

Anyone out there a neurotic imposture?

Damn! seven cheap calls already:

as a 'professional services' professional, i think ppl pay waaay too much for my services. then again, i know other 'professional services' professionals who charge at almost twice my rate. i also feel that i'm over-paid, which probably explains the need for my exorbitant rates, but that doesn't stop me from wanting more money!!

impostor, i don't know, but definitely neurotic. bwahahahaha

btw, u were mighty stoned or drunk or your left pinky must've been hanging off your hand when u typed that post. check out all the typos!! :b
ken (link) - 19 October '05 - 09:50

Yeah, it was a bit of a rush post before dinner :) Not of the usual high standards.

Ah, the key to the exorbitant rates is known as "overhead" ie drunken corporate parties, karaoke nights, free birthday cakes, stationery etc etc
JookBoy (link) - 19 October '05 - 09:59

Dude, you're not an impostor. You've worked hard up until now. Give yourself some credit.

When the day comes for you to head up a business unit and you don't have the right stuff, you'll probably stuff it up. You wouldn't be the first.

Actually, as you know I started work out here in Hokkaido about three weeks ago. They've got me working as a Bell boy, so I greet the guests, take their luggage and show them to the front desk. Then when they have finished checking in I take them to their room, and explain the features of the room (air con, fridge, japanese YUKATA and slippers, the view, etc). Thing is, there's this whole seperate language for when you speak to customers/guests which I had read about but never actually used. Which could be the same as you - you can do stuff to prepare for the next big step, but there's nothing like actually doing it (there's no shortage of 'How to be a CEO' books out there).

So first couple of times I took guests to their rooms I stuffed up a lot. But by the end of the first week I was doing it like a pro. These days I have relaxed a lot more, and I joke with the guests in the elevator. At the same time I'm still trying to refine my language and do the best job I can.

RC
randomcow - 22 October '05 - 07:43

dude, sorry to hijack your blog, but I couldn't think of a more suitable place to put an update so that everyone could read it.

So this week I got kicked out of the place I was living. It was a shit place to begin with that the agent had found for me and this other guy working at the hotel for the same agent. 30 minutes walk from the station over a huge fucking hill (fun until winter comes along and it starts snowing. Like, this week). Asshole owners who don't let me use the kitchen, and are just dislikable people. strange smell. old. 200yen for a shower, or to use the washing machine. Cold. Expensive. Nothing open nearby after about 10pm. Well, the convenience store was open until 11:00pm. Kinda like a guest house except shit.

So me and the other guy living with me there had pretty much decided we were moving out, and had already started looking for a place in TEINE which is much closer to Sapporo. They have 24 hour stuff there, like a supermarket and bars that are open until late.

The thing is, there is a contract between the agent that we are working for and the owner of the shitty house. Please understand that the agent chose this place without looking at it. In fact, the agent that I'm working for has never been to Hokkaido. So of course when we let the agent know that we are thinking of leaving after just one month then he decides to try and get out of the one year contract as cheaply as possible. he ends up having an argument with the owner of the house, who says he wants us out THAT VERY DAY.

Luckily the guys in HR (HR people in Japan actually do stuff for their employees. So refreshing) managed to organise me and my mate to live with this manager who lives near by in his one bedroom place. Well, he lives there with three other guys who crash on the floor. So now there are six of us here in this one bedroom place.

But back to the day we got kicked out, I arranged with one of the guys from work who finished about the same time as me to drive me back in his van so we could pick up all our stuff. I was packing stuff into my bags like a madman. We apologised and left at about midnight, back to the hotel to drop of 95% of our stuff. I have been living out of a small backpack for about a week now. It's tough.

So we arrived at the manager's apartment at about 1am. The manager is asleep, but he wakes up at about 1:30 - "Ok, let's go to the spa!" We soak away our stress in the specially salted waters of this establishment for a couple of hours, go for gyudon and a beer, and end up in bed around 4:30am.

The rest of the week was crazy-busy. There was a public holiday last week (I think there is one almost every week here in Japan) and so between work, looking for a new place to live, and getting drunk every night with my new temporary sharemates I didn't have time to fully appreciate how crazy my Japan adventure is getting.

To top things off, yesterday the manager and I happened to have the same day off work. So after cracking open first beers at 11am, we went for japanese style gengis kahn (Sydney's is better), more drinking until he fell asleep at a beer hall at about 5pm for about an hour. I got bored and so I went and made some new friends. (^o^) Then the manager wakes up and we walk around the town looking for some action. We decide that there wasn't anything going on, so we catch a train to Sapporo!

First bar we went to was all-you-can-drink (that reminds me - when you guys are here, I found an all-you-can-drink for 290yen, that's about AU$3.20 these days, for 30 minutes. bar-style karaoke included). And you want to drink a lot, because each time the bar girl goes and pours your drink you can see her pussy. Oh, I forgot to mention that the hostesses were all pantyless, and walking around on our table reaching up to use the alcohol-pouring devices. and their breasts were out for all to see, too. Some busty girls too, expecially considering they're asian. You guys are probably not the best crowd to make that comment to now, but it's late and I'm drunk. I have my own private girl come sit on the table in front of me for a bit and hold my hand while we chat. She was dumb, but it's kinda cute. Lucky my time with her was up quickly. Nice tits, too. Smooth skin.

Anyway, after a short while the show starts. Basically many variations of the same theme, where the girls spend a few minutes doing an activity before moving around the circle. Oh yeah, it was a circular bar, with all seedy gyuys like me sitting around and getting drunk.

So what were these games? Well, there was one where everyone had pen-lights. The lights went out, and while the girl in front was rubbing her pussy you use the penlight to see as much as you can. Funny stuff.

Then there was the one where the girls would grind their ass against your crotch in tune with the music, and the one where you have about 30 seconds fondling time. And then the one where they rubbed you crotch.

But the best game was the paper scissors rock, where the prize for beating them was a nice look at their pussy. Of course, they show you what they're going to play before hand, so you can't lose! I felt like a king!

I touched the breasts of about 12 different women last night. Closest I'd ever have come to that in Sydney is a measly 3 or 4 in one night, and they were all wearing a bra.

Anyway, the homeless thing will sort itself out. Hope you're all well.

RC
randomcow (email) - 06 November '05 - 21:49

Wow nice post. I've got a few wild KTV experiences to tell you about - but over email instead hehe
Al (email) - 09 November '05 - 12:48

Let the record show that my all-you-can-drink experience in Shibuya was waaay different to that. It was much more expensive, for one! :)

No wonder I'm getting referred to by all these pr0n sites. RC, have you been referring me?
Sounds like a great trip mate. Is your blog up yet?
JookBoy (link) - 09 November '05 - 14:57

I've started posting work-related stuff here:

http://participate.jhip.org/?cat=2

I don't know if you can set up a RSS feed to only read the stuff I'm posting though, so if you subscribe you might get all the unrelated posts too.

RC
randomcow - 19 November '05 - 22:19

Is Chivalry Dead?

On the news the other day on CNBC (go the Foxtel at work!) they ran this acted scenario in one of the local parks (middle of the day) where a man was shouting and pushing his girlfriend around. Then they filmed passer-by's reactions to the scene, and what people would do. They found out, compared to men, double the number of women stopped to tell the boyfriend to back off.

This is ordinary! I would hope that as a male, I would be willing to step up in these situations.

I hate to admit it, but I did watch one guy get beaten up by three other guys outside a dance party once. In those cases, your body just freezes. And you think too much, like "what if the other guy was getting beaten up cause he was beating up someone prior?". And another thought that comes through, "I don't want to get caught up with this stuff". Looking back, I'm still not sure if I did the right thing.

I would say, though, with a degree of confidence, that I would come in to defend my friends and and females. Lucky my friends don't get in fights all the time!

Damn! three cheap calls already:

hey i saw that too. pretty freaky stuff
sadly, it was also emphasised that due to legal issues nowadays, people are more scared to intervene.
i hope that my friends would help me if a guy was hurting me. i hope that my friends would intervene if one of their friends was being hurt. No i dont condone fighting, but if someones getting hurt, you will soon know who your friends are..
addy - 03 October '05 - 14:18

Mate don't ever doubt the Doraemon incident mate, not good to step into that one. I'll back you :)
PeeDz - 03 October '05 - 20:22

legal issues, as well as the chance that you get your head smacked in. There is more chance of the guy turning on you if you're a guy, rather than a girl. No way I'm stepping in to protect a girl from her boyfriend. Why the fuck is she going out with an abusive boyfriend?

RC
randomcow - 09 October '05 - 05:33

Search Strings

I can't remember if I've written about this, but I checked my search logs (yes, it's quite entertaining :)), and I have found that all the searches that rate on my site are pr0n searches.

It turns out that I am on the first page for searches on "girls going down on each other" as well as "four girls kissing". Not to be outdone, I'm providing for the 'ghey' community with "best looking guy in the world" (though not on page 1 of the results). People actually put these things in for searches?? And people actually click through to my site? This site isn't even trying to be hardcore!

To all your pr0n readers out there. Welcome!
Edit 22 May 07: Those search strings aren't up to date anymore :(

Damn! two cheap calls already:

me too! for some reason my site always comes up for searches where the words wild girls, petite asian girls, strippers etc etc!! and for awhile search strings for "xbox vs the girlfriend" or "halo vs the girlfriend" was a very hot topic leading to my site...it made me feel a bit better that it wasn't just me out there!!
mushiejc (link) - 16 September '05 - 15:25

Someone say pr0n? :)

Ohyeah... its how I ended up here...

"azn boy love"
PeeDz - 16 September '05 - 20:02

Moving On

Today's my last day out at Ropes Crossing (or St Marys), and I'll be heading back to the big smoke for some IT project management work.
What have I learnt?
1. That on-site work is totally different to working at Head Office. Things like internet connectivity are good most the time, but shocking other times. There is a sense of disconnect with the main office (especially with the remoteness of this site), and also a sense of tribalness. The people here are wonderful, and quite willing to help out and lend assistance to each other. Interruptions happen a lot often, mostly because everyone knows everyone else.

2. DLL is a company at a cross-roads. It's finding its identity through a myriad of organisational structures, and there is no lockdown operational processes that you find at a more mature company, which leads to communication problems between the different "disciplines" of the project. It is still growing, but needs to organise that growth and get everyone aligned to the same goals to maximise its effectiveness and value.

3. I still like IT. Marketing is fun, and urban communities I have learnt all sorts of wonderful information from, but the sign-offs that marketing requires and the sometimes ambivalent nature of the urban communities job detract from the glamour. I see these experiences as additions to the core skill of project management, and when talking to business people, having had business experience provides that little bit more street cred.
What of sales? Sales was fun, and I liked talking to people. As above, an integration of sales into an IT role is something to think about. I think the hours or the sales staff (no weekends off for the whole year) and the location of the job are not really what I wanted.

So back to Crows Nest for me. At last I can stop living out of a bag!

Only one cheap call:

As long as you remember all your sales lines... life is sales :) They'll serve you well.

Now, about updating your crappy Honda... would you like to come in Saturday or Sunday? :P
PeeDz - 16 September '05 - 20:04

My Sassy Girl

I am many years too late for this movie, but I don't get out much.
The bottom line for this movie is that persistence pays off in the end. And that Korean guys get some major thumbing! :)

I really did enjoy the movie, from the "school uniform" dance outing, to the quasi-vomiting face of the guy, to the part where he tries to chat up the girl of his dreams ("'Hey baby...your English is so good!'"), the movie had lots of quality scenes, and tied up the ends quite well.
It was sappy, but in a feel good way, and that "I Believe" song is the bomb! Can someone sing that at our next Karaoke?

The only question is why did the aunt want to introduce to the girl a guy that looks like her dead boyfriend? I find that a bit strange. Wouldn't you want to get over it by at the very least meeting people that don't look the same??

Damn! seven cheap calls already:

geez, you ARE living in a time capsule :P
That movie is the reason im soo into korean flicks. Although im finding a very strange trend that korean gals are PSYCHO and super demanding. Makes us other gals look like angels :P ding! *halo lights up over addy's head*
other cool korean flicks - My tutor friend and the series Full House.
addy - 04 September '05 - 06:46

hey kc, i know how you feel about scary movies, but how do you feel about violence? *grin* watch "oldboy" - it'll leave you disturbed for awhile :P and stay away from "save the green planet"...
reenie - 04 September '05 - 09:15

Violence not too bad, but from what you are saying I assume those movies are of the excessive category?
JookBoy (link) - 05 September '05 - 05:13

"oldboy" is a tad on the violent side, a tad on the squeamish side, and deep into the disturbed side. watch it! but you might look at beck differently by the end of it :P "save the green planet" is just insane. not worth watching...
reenie - 05 September '05 - 22:15

i recently (and regrettably) stayed up to watch some korean movie on sbs (i did cop a bit of titty for my effort) which was about this couple who make a road trip and as a gesture of goodwill, give this hitchhiking dude a lift. the ungrateful hiker refuses to leave them alone and at one point breaks into their hotel room from memory. if u think that's bad enuff, by the end of it, he kidnaps the woman and when the husband hacks into him a thousand and twelve times, he's still alive. i seem to recall something about a cattle prod up where the sun don't shine, or maybe that was another sbs classic. just when it was REALLY time to sleep the pyscho is hospitalised and the couple decide to exercise one of their lives by visiting him, at which point he wakes up and it starts all over again. ultimately both mr. brain tumours and wife die and said husband becomes a nutter himself -- the final scene being him being discharged from a mental unit and hitchhiking with another unsuspecting korean couple.....

moral of the story? korean pron just ain't worth it.
ken p - 06 September '05 - 14:36

That is some weird shit....what does "exercise one of their lives" mean? Is that an option to bank in?
JookBoy (link) - 11 September '05 - 13:50

My Sassy Girl taught me a lot about how to get Korean girls. I remember this one date, I went in for the kiss TEN TIMES. Every time I was met with a wall of tightly-closed lip. Then finally on the tenth time her lips softened ever so slightly. That's when I knew she was mine. Bear in mind that this girl had told me throughout the date that she wasn't interested in me at all because I wasn't Korean, that she could only have feelings for Korean guys, that she was saving herself for her future husband (who was to be, you guessed it, Korean), and that she wasn't interested in me at all because I had a playboy aura,...

Though I wouldn't go so far as to say that persistence "pays off" when it comes to Korean girls. Rather that it's a necessary part of the dating process, to push yourself past what would normally be "confortable" by Western dating standards. So make sure the girl you are trying to get is worth it!

(and as a general rule which applies to all women, alcohol helps).

Anyway, most of you girls are getting on in years, so you're probably old enough to just on the Yon-sama wagon, part of the mythical Korean Boom in Japan at the moment. Read here for details:

http://www.occidentalism.org/?p=61

Anyway, I'm no specialist by any means. We need to get the full details from Richard S. :)

RC
randomcow (email) (link) - 26 September '05 - 08:25

Kev & Ben's Excellent Adventure

Finally! It's organised. Ben and I just take a while :) Here's an excerpt of the email...

All you have to do is print out the following ticket:

and bring it on the night for free entry; otherwise the man will charge you $10!

Location: Jackson's on George, Level 1, 176 George Street.
Date: Two months too late! Saturday 3rd September 2005
Time: 10:00pm start. Get there early to make sure you can get in.
Music: RnB and Hip-Hop with the 1996-99 Golden Years of RnB mixed in just
the way you like it. Hope to see you there!

Damn! four cheap calls already:

See you there mate !!
JT (link) - 01 September '05 - 06:18

i was thinking about this over the weekend. for those who don't have home printers (a la moi), what about getting with the digital age and allowing people who have a pix of the coupon on their mobiles or digicams the same privis? :)
reenie - 04 September '05 - 09:55

Sadly since my phone is the "brick-style" Nokia 3310, the only pictures I can get is the dirty pr0n ones where you press the up and down keys of the mobile.
I should have asked Jacksons. And anyways, where were you?
JookBoy (link) - 05 September '05 - 05:15

ah hah! i have a brilliant excuse for this one. i was at a friend's farewell party :) inability to clone myself and my charming personality only left me with one event choice for the nite :P since you're still in the country...
reenie - 05 September '05 - 22:17

Social Capital

My company organised a presentation by the Harvard profesor Robert Putnam on the workings of social capital. If you click on the link, the information that is summarised is heaps better than anything I can write. My review here addresses what I saw as memorable sections of the speech.

• It is the connections we make with each other (this social capital) that adds value and productivity to our lives.
• Being socially disconnected equates to the same mortality rate as that of smoking.
• Social capital has to be based on physical networking. However, the key with technology is to work out how to utilise this technology we have now to better those networks.
• There are two types of social capital; bonding and bridging. Bonding capital is all about commonalities i.e. I would have a natural bonding capital with other asian male professionals in their mid-twenties. Bridging capital is the networks with have with people of different backgrounds, cultures, genders, age etc. A community must have both types for it to grow and succeed.

Bridging capital is obviously the harder one to create. So there are ways to increase the chances of this with groups.

1. Have lower barriers of entry i.e. make it easy to get in and get out
2. Have a cellular structure in your organisation, so that members will belong to small groups. People will feel the value in their small groups, and the aim of the leaders is to make sure all the small groups are heading the right direction.
3. Use common and less verbal activites to increase bridging e.g. arts, sports

It was a great talk. It's always good to get new perspectives on things. I'm keen on getting involved in a play now :)

Damn! three cheap calls already:

A play? Any excuse to perform in spandex pants right?

The article in your link is very interesting reading. It answers many questions, but poses more. Do we really trust our public authorities less now than in the past - do we today have a free voice to express it across mass media in a way not possible for previous generations?

Regardless, the data he provides is thought provoking. The physiological effects that intellectual stimulation and more notably human interaction provide are truly amazing.

Thanks for that post mate.
Taipan - 21 August '05 - 19:15

Interesting topic! I touched on Putnam and Bourdieu on Social capital last semester and yeah I passed! So what happens when there is a breakdown on Social Capital? If we are better off these days because as Putnam puts it that social capital adds value and productivity to our lives, why are we still finding less time but more work and pressure these days? and finding us spending less time with family and love ones?
lemon - 08 September '05 - 21:32

I think Putnam believes that the days around the end of 1960s were the good ones, and this correlates to the period of greatest "social capital" in terms of community involvement.

Now might be great productively, but pretty bad from a social capital perspective.
JookBoy (link) - 11 September '05 - 13:48

Karaoke

What pushes us to become pop diva's at the instant the lights dim and the words flash out to you on the TV?
How does someone make "Total Eclipse of the Heart" a hard rock ballad?

Tricks and traps for young players:

1. Don't go out hard on the first 2 or 3 tracks of the night...you'll be ruined. Pace yourself with a Rick Astley classic like "Never Gonna Give You Up"
2. Be drunk.
3. Like, really drunk.
4. Memorise your fave song codes off by heart, no need to flick through the song books, and you'll be first in line.
5. Pick crowd-pleasing melodies eg "Catch My Disease" by Ben Lee, so that other people will join in, and you sound wonderful.
6. Split your group into "Fools" and "Serious Idols"...this usually ends up as guys and girls.
7. 2 hours is definitely not enough for the quality that is produced!

More comments and suggestions!

Damn! eight cheap calls already:

You gotta watch out for the closet boy band wannabes *cough* Bernie *cough* :P
PeeDz - 13 August '05 - 17:48

it was interesting to see the boys all groan and point fingers when Rick Ashley came on but then ALL started crooning out the song knowing ALL the lyrics!!! :P

Meanwhile Belinda Carlisle still Rocks!
addy - 14 August '05 - 07:06

All the reaaal signers know the harmony sections of songs...esp those boy band tracks.

Signature, crowd pleasing tracks are also important, e.g. Get Low by Simon Watt.

3 hours for a group our size should be mandatory. Two just leaves you wondering...what if?
ricegrains (link) - 14 August '05 - 14:28

yeah and we gotta keep that remote away from 'button-happy' peedz :P

Skeet skeet skeet......
Addy - 15 August '05 - 12:59

Oi, I even sacrifice my own "Never done before U2 not so famous hit" for the pleasure of my fellow singers :) No finger pointing over here!
PeeDz - 16 August '05 - 20:06

It's Bernie "Boy Band" Wai :)
Yes, Peedz, I was waiting for some U2 that night. Till next time...
JookBoy (link) - 21 August '05 - 07:58

Ok let me tell a karaoke story that I posted elsewhere recently.


* * * * *


Call me a n00b, but I didn't realise that karaoke boxes here on Japan are intended for having sex in. I'd heard vague references to this phenomenon, but I guess people just assume that everyone knows this.

To be honest, it's not possible in Sydney's karaoke boxes (well, a friend had one room in one particular karaoke box that he reckoned could be used for doing the deed). And this is coming from me, the guy who has managed to find places all over the Sydney CBD.

I spent a couple of days in Tokyo this week, meeting up with friends I had made in Sydney over the years. One of which was a korean girl who would never let me make love to her in Australia because of her boyfriend back in korea, so I had to settle for sucking her tits and receving oral sex.

It was just coincidence that we were both in Tokyo at the same time - we were both there for two nights, and one night happened to overlap. We met in Shibuya and went to a Japanese "izakaya" bar for a beer and some food.

At about 9pm we left the izakaya and headed over to the seedy half of Shibuya. I suggested karaoke and she was cool with that. Of course, when we got into the room there were no korean song books, and so I took the hint and said that there were no English songs either. Our drinks arrived, and after a sip of beer I put a POWER MOVE™ into action and the rest is history.

Oh yeah, some points about these places being made for sex (just in case there are other n00bs out there like me)

* there are tissues there
* the seats are all vinyl = easy to clean
* if you're not entering songs in, the karaoke machine is making plenty of noise to mask any sounds you or her might make
* when you turn the lights off, I doubt you can see a lot from outside. And even if someone were to come and have a look (and they don't) they would have to be coming specifically to look for that kind of thing. They don't do this. They just don't.
* no cameras in there. Unless they are really well hidden. And even if there are cameras, and we were being watched, the staff didn't say anything.
* after 50 minutes when the courtesy call comes, you just pick up the phone and say you'd like to extend for an hour, and go back to whatever you were doing. ***TIP*** the phone can be reached from most places (and postitions) in the karaoke box.
* there are all kinds of possibilities for positions and so forth in there. Table, sofa/bed,... ok, there isn't *that* much scope, but for creative people it can be like a poor-man's love hotel.

Anyway, I'm excited about this new discovery! Can't wait to get back to Tokyo and do it all again!

RC
randomcow (email) - 26 September '05 - 08:31

Haha, seems like you've become quite the veteran :)

However, I feel that everyone in Sydney karaoke bars looks into your room as they go past. Some of them even start singing the song you're singing!

Hope Japan is treating you well up in Otaru.
JookBoy (link) - 02 October '05 - 07:20

Working For Work's Sake

I heard recently that there is a family out there that makes $200,000 from government benefits. There are 6 in the family, and they are living it up (I'm assuming it's tax free?), chilling out at home and playing the XBox.

One of the major issues with unemployment is the lack of financial security. With "The Solid Facts: The Social Determinants of Health" paper from the World Health Organisation in Europe (it's amazing the stuff I read now for my work), the authors have stated that unemployment brings both mental and physical illnesses.
But what if that financial insecurity was removed, as is the case with this family. They are earning a decent buck.

Life is grand...or is it?

At much as we would like to be ladies and men of leisure, I think there is an urge in all of us to have a meaningful job. A job that we feel utilises our skills, encourages responsilibty and and promotes creativity and problem solving. There is a buzz from achieving, no matter what the task may be. We look forward to our reviews, not just to complain about a pay rise (which we all do!) but to see if the stuff we do is making a difference.

Do other people feel this is true, or am I off on the wrong path?
Would an extra 40 hours of relaxation make me a happier person?

Damn! six cheap calls already:

I think for most of us who want to achieve even a teeny microscopic amount of something/anything with their lives, a career of coach-potatoing will drive them certifiably insane. Particularly for our social clique, most of whom were raised in decent environments and privileged enough to receive a solid education. To squander it away is an injustice to all of that. A holiday is only a holiday if you have something to take a break from.

A job confirms your self-worth in a sense. Like you said, we all like to know that what we're doing is making a difference, that we're being constructive, not just taking up space. The politics, pain and endless biatching at work makes life interesting.
beckster (link) - 04 August '05 - 13:32

I've been off work for almost two months now. I don't really want to go back, to be honest. I couldn't really say I'm not adding to people's lives. I'm a funny guy, I make people laugh.

RC (the clown)
randomcow - 10 August '05 - 09:44

if you can keep yourself busy in your time off (e.g. travelling the world, surfing the net, house sitting or xbox) i don't think many people would not it back. Who's gonna knock back free-money? or who'd knock back a job with less work/responsibilities and more money? not me :)
Dessy (link) - 11 August '05 - 18:21

How much net surfing and XBox playing can one do?
As with all things, it's all a balance....although those all-nighter Halo events were fantastic!

I don't know though, having less responsibilities makes a job less interesting.
JookBoy (link) - 12 August '05 - 13:19

I think it comes down to your personal needs.

There are 6 basic needs we, as humans, all share -

1 Certainty
2 Uncertainty/Variety
3 Significance
4 Connection/Love
5 Growth
6 Contribution.

Addictions arise when people satisfy 3 or more of these needs by committing a various act eg smoking.

Needs 5 and 6 are what it sounds like people fear losing if they do not work or accept reduced workplace responsibilities. As most people reading this site are "achievers" the thought of not growing (#5) or not contributing beyond themself (#6) is unattractive.

People who don't like getting up for work every day and additionally don't like the thought of NOT working every day clearly value their need for Variety. It doesn't matter what they do, as long as some uncertainty about their day exists.

Surely there are alternate ways to meet these needs other than work, right?
Taipan (link) - 14 August '05 - 10:14

dude I haven't worked for more than three months now and I'm still not sick of it. I start work this Monday as a porter at the Hilton Hotel up in Otaru (near Sapporo) just in time for ski season :) I wouldn't say I'm not looking forward to it, but the time off has been great.

RC
randomcow - 26 September '05 - 08:34