Thank God it's over!!!!!

Finally....the very boring job is over. Today's the deadline (tomorrow would be too late) and I could make it before I get sick of it. These last 2 weeks I had to face my students' papers on article review and final project's draft. Everytime I read one, I had a sudden headache. And I had to hang in there for about 34 article reviews and 11 drafts.

It's a tough job, you know...and I think it's not worth 10 thousand rupiah each since I have to read not only the review but also the article. Bleeeegggghhhhhhhh.....I practiced my defense mechanism for that kind of job, and eventually I could earn a proper sleep. Think if I had to face another 5 papers, I could be hospitalized. Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh...Superman, help me! (asked Lois Lane).

Guess what! I miss Calvin and Hobbes. Am glad I could be relaxed for just a moment before meeting other deadlines (hehehe...who says life is a boring experience), and have a laugh with Calvin and Mr Hobbes. It took years to realize that I really miss them.

And guess what number 2! I found my necklace!!! I searched everywhere, almost gave up, suddenly I found it laying under a piece of photo on my table when I'm preparing my laptop. Oh, life's beautiful.

PS. This morning I got a sad news, one of my seniors in undergraduate school (Wenny Widajatmi) had passed away at around 8 this morning because of heart attack. She's very dear to me, always remembered me when we met somewhere, and I always forgot about her - 'think I know the face but I forget the name' is my habit - so we went on talking warmly while I secretly kept recalling who in the world she was. Maybe my brain harddisk's little bit too full. And now, hearing her sudden death made me shocked, and Thank God I remembered her smiling face clearly. Selamat jalan Mbak...

A Poem from a friend

I just got a forwarded email from Pak Wilman, one of my seniors at work. I don't know why he sent me the email (since I noticed that he only sent it just for me), but when I read it I think he knows me better than I am. No wonder, he's a psychologist. Actually I've read the poem somewhere, but this time I place the poem here just to remind me that it's very me whom this poem intended to. Here they are:

Around the corner I have a friend,
In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friends face,
For life is a swift and terrible race,

He knows I like him/her just as well,
As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine but we were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim
Just to show that I'm thinking of him."

But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away,
"Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today."
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.

Around the corner, a vanished friend.
Remember to always say what you mean.
If you love someone, tell them.
Don't be afraid to express yourself.

Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you.
Because when you decide that it is the right time it might be too late.

Seize the day. Never have regrets.
And most importantly, stay close to your friends
and family, for they have helped
make you the person that you are today.

Days of Lebaran Holiday – reflection of first day at work (1)

After one week of laziness and hedonism last Lebaran in Ciumbuleuit (wooops I think today's still Lebaran, in fact my muslim friends say that Lebaran is a whole month of Syawal) now I have to face reality. R E A L I T Y S U C K S!!! Uhmmm....is it true?

I recall a movie I saw last week at Ciumbuleuit, CLICK starring Adam Sandler. Kris own the DVD film, and it's a very good movie for everyone who wants an easy life, that life is not a boring thing (thanks Kris!). What is boring actually is, when you do not want to face reality. Hmmm...this is usually leads to a philosophical thing that I sometimes interested in, but most of the time hated it.

During my visit to Bandung, I found a shocking experience. I met my childhood friend whose family is in jeopardy. I mean, she's in jeopardy since she is the only person to support the family. What a tough woman! I admire her a lot for the burden she takes, but people have limitations, you know. Two of her 3 brothers have schizophrenia, and no psychologist nor psychiatrist can heal the disease. It's sort of an unrecovered mental illness. Her father’s dead, and her mother is only a widow with none to do. I'm kind of worry about her, but it seems that she's all right. I hope that she can find happiness soon, she deserves it.

When we have dinner after church, I told her story about the movie I saw (CLICK) and the philosophical thing about the movie. It’s about our position in the world, sometimes we are in upper position, and sometimes we’re under. To tell you, the movie doesn’t give me insight about the “up and down” things though, it’s just popped up in my head and I think everyone knows about that. But it’s a shocking to me that my dear friend didn’t know about that. She asked if we’re already in “under”, is it possible we’re in “upper” position later? I replied, everyone experiences the “under” and “upper” situation. I recalled our happy childhood, friendship back there in Sungai Pakning, happy time she had in Sidney instead of me, bla bla bla… Maybe she’s in under position right now, but she would be in upper position later. I hope so….She makes me learn a lot, that I never give thanks for the grateful life God has given me and my family. I just find myself caught in a routine and mumbling all the time that it’s not a fair life I live right now. Thank you God…and thank you my childhood friend, you open my eyes indeed.

My necklace’s gone!

This morning I had a very hectic time finding my necklace. Today’s the first time work after Lebaran holiday, and I have to robot washed my car at Wijaya Motor since he has turned out to be the ugliest car in the world after I cameback from Bandung. He only got washed once in Bandung - thanks to my li’l brother - and hadn’t been washed after nature had Bandung rained since then, hiks!

I usually get my car washed myself every two days, and the car would get reward once a month at Wijaya Motor, just like me having my hairdo once or twice a month at saloon. And I think now is the time for Timmy (that’s what we used to call him) to have his best time being showered and tingled by the robot.

That means I have to prepare quickly this morning, since the washing car business would take much of my morning time (usually it takes half an hour to finish, and I badly need the time to finish my work).

Almost nine in the morning, and I’m still in my room looking upset. I lost my necklace! I looked everywhere, and I thought back to the time when I was aware that I had it around my neck. To my dismay, I recall I had it around my neck before I left Bandung. So I send sms to Mogly, asked him whether he saw me wearing my necklace when we met yesterday. Mogly said that he saw me with the necklace before I got showered. My God…I lost the necklace after that, and aware that I lost it just now.

It’s not the price of the necklace that made me upset. I’m sure I can buy a new one for me, but I don’t want to. It has a history in it, not that I got that from a boyfriend, since I haven’t got an expensive item from a boyfriend, sniff…sniff…

I gotta go to office, so I left home without my necklace. Looking at my dirty car, I was more upset. Okay, we will go to Wijaya Motor to wash you, Timmy. 5 minutes in the robot machine, voila…..he’s shining again! I have no time to vacuum clean the inside Timmy, so I rushed to my office and got busy shaking hands with everybody there. Seems that everybody’s happy, except me. Where are you, necklace?

Flu yang tidak sembuh-sembuh

Aku kena flu dan batuk sejak hari pertama puasa, sampai sekarang tampaknya tidak ada tanda-tanda flu itu akan beranjak dari tubuhku. Padahal sudah berapa jenis obat aku tenggak demi memaksa flu ini pergi. Yang ada aku malah ngantuk nggak ketulungan, atau pusing karena terlalu banyak makan obat. Oh my God, what's wrong with my body?

Flu dan batuk yang menyeramkan ini membuat aku tidak bersemangat menyelesaikan pekerjaanku, padahal I have to do some errands. Ternyata begitu banyak pekerjaan yang not yet finished, and I hate unfinished jobs. Obat apakah yang mampu membuatku kembali sembuh seperti sediakala?

Di sela-sela kesibukan membasmi flu, tadi malam aku dapat sms dari Mbak Liche yang mengabarkan berita di Majalah UI terbaru tentang tesisku yang mendapat predikat riset unggulan UI. Sumbernya katanya Jurnal Makara yang memuat artikel mengenai penelitian tesisku pada tahun 2004 yang lalu. Weleh...aku malah tidak tahu kalau artikel penelitianku sudah masuk Jurnal Makara. Aku memang tahu dari DRPM kalau artikelku akan terbit di Jurnal Makara setelah mereka melakukan peer-review, tapi sampai hari ini aku belum melihat wujud artikel itu setelah masuk Jurnal. Hari ini berencana ke DRPM sama Mbak Liche untuk minta dua copy jurnal tersebut.

Hal kedua yang harus aku lakukan hari ini adalah menyelesaikan terjemahan Bang Pet, yang sudah seminggu dia serahkan tapi tidak kunjung dikerjakan karena sibuk dengan flu. Hal ketiga adalah menyelesaikan urusan akreditasi Program Doktor, sudah ditegur sama Dekanat karena tidak kunjung selesai. Hal keempat adalah menyelesaikan sisa-sisa pekerjaan administrasi akademik yang ditinggalkan Robin, I hate it when he's not here to help me with those boring jobs. Hal kelima tentu saja membuat aku get well again, this is too much for me. Itu saja dulu for today. May God help me.