1. my maid often quarrels over the phone with her 'friends'. i don't understand how she manages to quarrel so often and yet still have so many friends. maybe fillys are very forgiving people. anyway i am rather amazed by how much venom she is able to inject into her words without having to resort to shouting (usually).
she speaks in filly so i don't understand what she says most of the time, but she really manages to throw her anger across the great divide over the phone using her intonation. she sounds so irritating that i sometimes have to tell her to shut up, but she's pro, really.
2. pain IS good. i somehow managed to do my ippt (ran my best timing) and 16km march hobbling on one leg until the pain in my thigh disappeared after the march. magical! i have no idea how or why it happened, but the pain shifted from my thigh to my knees. i think i'm destined to be in pain.
now i have 24km march on monday and then some other exciting activities coming up, like my final ippt test and other stuff. i think you can expect to read a post next week where i will tell you that the pain has moved down to my calves or ankles.
the above quotes were said in reference to rough sex, but i suppose it could be used in context of army life as well. after all, there are many things that bring us pain there on a daily basis.
pain is unpleasant, we must avoid it. such is the way we all think and behave, but what IF, IF i manage to change my mindset to the opposite?
pain is good, i love it.
when this is achieved, the island would be an absolutely heavenly land where i get to experience things that i enjoy Every Single Day.
i can put this to the test come tuesday, where i would be doing my ippt test with 1 functioning leg and running for my first 2.4km gold timing.
there's something about the swedish accent that makes them sound so incredibly sexy, and they definitely know how to make full use of this. disagree? then you obviously need to listen to more swedish girls sing.
since michelle is so interested in army stories (and because i have absolutely nothing else to say), i have something to share.
last night i went up to my bunk alone to get some stuff, and as i was opening my locker i heard my buddy's locker bump once. it sounded like either something fell inside the locker and hit the door or something was pulling the door and it hit the lock.
"ok, freaky," i thought, and went back to do my stuff.
then after a little while, i heard "PSST!" coming from the direction of the windows. i looked up but there was no one there so i assumed it came from another level. then it came again, "PSST! PSST! PSST!" it sounded very much like it was coming from inside the room.
fuck me, that was it. i ran out of the room and went next door to get my platoonmate back with me to finish up my shit.
(also note that we don't normally hear voices from other levels due to the excellent sound-proofing qualities of hard concrete flooring, so i have no idea where the PSST came from.)
i fell asleep on the sofa this evening and my brother woke me up a while later because my phone was ringing. for the first few seconds, i was in a state of panic and confusion because i couldn't remember where was i, or who that guy was.
it took a little while before i got myself straightened out and took my call.
i remember in the past i noted that my newly-enlisted friends would only talk about the army when we met up. it was as though 6 days of army per week wasn't enough and they had to think about it on the remaining day.
now i understand that it's because army is evil and it sucks the life and creativity out of your soul, leaving you with nothing.
we're really cut off from the world in that place. there's an annex room with tv but we're not allowed to use it so i have no idea why it's there. there's newspapers but they don't get delivered or we're too busy to look at it.
basically it's just 6 days of army army army army army army. when i meet up with my friends i struggle to think of things to say because my mind is a blank. all i have are my stupid experiences in camp and everything else army-related.
this is still alright with people who have experienced army, since they can understand what i'm talking about and share their own stories, but others really have no interest in fucking army stories, just like myself back then.
this lack of imagination and creativity is also evident in here. all my posts since my enlistment has been about that stupid place and nothing else. how very interesting.
i have always taken pride in being a rather healthy person. i haven't had a real fever in years, bouts of flu would go away in 2 days. my immune system is strong, i thought.
but there's something magical about that island, probably because it wants me to die early. i have been coughing for 3 weeks now and still showing no signs of recovering. other illnesses inflicted upon me include flu, diarrhea, back pain, knee pain, foot pain, sore eyes... the list is amazing, really.
on thursday morning i went to report sick for diarrhea and sore eyes. i thought this would be enough for me to get 'attend c' status and ensure an early book out. i even rubbed my eyes to make them redder.
unfortunately the medical officer was more interested in my slightly red eyes than my 3-day-old diarrhea problem, and decided to send me to sick bay. fine enough, i thought. at the very least i'll have a few more hours of sleep.
the sick bay looks something like a hospital ward. i was assigned my bed and spoke to an indian beside me who also had sore eyes. he told me he had been there for 3 days, and in the 3 days, he haven't had a shower, brushed his teeth, or made a phone call, because he didn't have his belongings with him and they wouldn't allow him to get them.
the sad indian looked like a caveman and i thought just what the fuck have i gotten myself into. so i sat on my bed, reading old newspapers and time magazines from november 2006. the aircon got so cold that i couldn't even put my hands out of the blanket to flip the pages so i went to sleep, and spent the next 18 hours sleeping, only waking up for dinner and in the middle of the night because i was freezing.
there were some even more unfortunate souls in there, dressed in their grubby uniforms, camo paint still on their faces, with IV drips attached. they probably got sent there days ago, and like the indian, remained unwashed throughout their stay. i can't imagine how absolutely terrible they must feel.
fortunately i was discharged the following morning and so ended my short adventure in that place known as the SICKbay, where they aim to make life as miserable as possible so that people wouldn't want to go back at all costs.
last sunday night in my holiday resort i awoke at around 12am after about half an hour of sleep because i was sweating. i opened my mosquito net and tried to go back to sleep.
in that place, i have a habit of not opening my eyes when i wake up at night for fear of seeing some friends around in the room. also for some reason i wake up every single night so i would quickly force myself back to sleep.
that night wasn't much different, except that i spent 2 hours trying to sleep. i lay awake from 12 to 2am with my eyes closed and heard all kinds of strange noises, which then further caused me to be unable to sleep.
here's a list, not in order of appearance:
1. keys jingling, as though they were thrown up and caught
2. unknown noise which i suspect to be bunkmate grinding his teeth, except that my brother grinds his teeth every night and it sounds completely different
3. locker banged, could be bunkmate hitting it while turning in bed
4. some other random sounds
5. i also felt my mattress shake, as though something was dropped onto it
this went on until somewhere after 2, when i decided to open my eyes and look around the room. good thing i didn't see anything around.
i then smsed my mother and amazingly she was still awake, so i spent the next 2 hours messaging her and there weren't any strange happenings after that.