& you're the one for me ;

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Back at last to update.

For the past eight days (25/01 to 01/02), there was a sense of deja vu as I returned to work at Watsons Hougang Mall.
The main difference from the work I had performed there in Dec 2007 was that this time, I had to take on the role of cashier at the concourse area.

While I admit this is somewhat better than toughing it out in store, I wouldn't want to assume this role ever again.
On two of the eight days, the till checks at the closing gave me a major scare.
One was due to shortages of credit card charge on 28/01 (over $37), the other was cash shortage of $40 on 30/01 but was resolved by voiding one of the $40 transactions.
Fortunately I didn't have to pay for these shortages, save for a $5 penalty on 29/01 due to a $7 cash shortage.

These events were perhaps a telling sign that I wasn't fit to be a cashier after all.
My colleagues had given feedback that I tended to rush through transactions which wouldn't do myself any good at the end of the day.
But what to do? It's hard to change my work habits once I get the hang of it. =.=

During the middle of last week, my handphone crashed.
Crashed as in the memory card being corrupted and when I tried to reformat it, the phone decided not to obey instructions and instead chose to shut down automatically.
So I'd sent it to Nokia Care Centre over at Century Square for repairs.
And I received the good news last night that my phone will be ready for collection today.
Very efficient indeed, taking only four days although the staff told me it will take about a week to get the phone system upgraded.

Chinese New Year may be coming, but the celebratory mood seems to be absent among Singaporeans this time round.
Here are three reasons why that's so.

Many Singaporeans are understandably concerned about rising inflation that causes prices of necessities to rise substantially.

For the record, the Consumer Price Index for January 2008 is expected to show an increase of at least 5% compared to the same period last year.

In addition, the revision in taxi fares has also become the talking point of 2008.

The most controversial change, arguably, is the adjustment in peak period surcharge from $2 to 35% of the total fare.

Now, that will burn a big hole in the pockets of unsuspecting travellers, particularly those on long distance journeys.

Reason being a $20 journey will now cost at least seven bucks more, and that doesn't even include ERP charges and other extras.

The final nail on the coffin? The unravelling sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US.

The full impact of this crisis is expected to be felt this year, and financial markets are already feeling the heat although only one month of 2008 has passed.

Case in point: Straits Times Index - Opened at 3,482 on the first trading session this year but only managed to close at 3,007.80 yesterday, a loss of over 13.6%.

I guess the abovementioned three factors are more than sufficient for the average Singaporean to feel pessimistic about the economic and social prospects for the rest of this year.
Hopefully, things will brighten up from the second quarter onwards. (Though at this point of time that sounds like wishful thinking?)

those memories. 10:35