My Blog Has A New Home

Nothing wrong with Blogger, but decided to move my blog over to blog.albertchau.com, to see what that's like.... seem to have a bit more features to offer.

See you over there!

Albert Chau
xxx

Eye-Poking Fun

I never like anything going into my eyes - no, not even eye-drops. It must be rather hilarious to watch me applying eye-drops into my eyes, as half of the drops would end up on my face. And it was the eye surgery documentary which I saw on television when I was young that put me off becoming a doctor.

Recently I went to the optician to get my eyesight checked, and I was told that the intra-ocular pressure (IOP), according to the puff test, was higher than normal. So got sent to see an opthalmic surgeon, who did all sorts of tests to check that the pressure was OK (one of the devices was the Goldmann Tonometer), the corneal thickness was higher than usual (that could explain the higher IOP) and I didn't have glaucoma, optic nerve damage or loss of vision. Even with the anaesthetic eyedrops, it was still quite difficult to keep the eyes open so that he could poke various instruments onto my eyes. Nevertheless, the doctor was absolutely brilliant with his patience and his steady hands.

Even went to have the fundus photography done. That was a bizarre experience as eyedrops were used to dilate the pupils, and for about 4 hours after that I could not focus anything at near-distance. So imagine not being able to read a book, nor read the menu at a restaurant, nor even tell the time on a digital watch, nor even read the computer screen. You would never have thought that something that you take it for granted could become impossible with just the dilated pupils.

So far, nothing wrong with me..... so fingers crossed. It would not be nice to lose the vision - imagine a world where you can't take photos, look at pictures, read, watch television, or even simply look at spectacular sunrise and sunset.

Big Brother's DisGrace

Usually I would only watch Channel 4's Big Brother as mindless entertainment and don't really think much about the characters, but this year there is one participant who I found truly irritating and a total disgrace, and it's Grace. Nasty piece of work.

Just come across a rather interesting song about Grace though, and pretty much sums up what I thought of her too. Here's the lyrics:

You stab in the back,
But you smile to the face.
The house thought you were nice,
But we know that's not the case...
whooa Grace...
...you're a dis-grace.

You stir and you lie,
You laugh when they cry,
Your body's on show,
But you got a face for radio...
oh Grace...
...you're a disgrace.


So whatcha gonna do now babe?
You're game plan went wrong,
We're all so happy,
Your bitch-ass is gone...
Enjoy your five minutes of fame,
and many years of shame...


How will anyone trust you again?
Cos you stab in the back,
But you smile to the face,
The house thought you were nice,
But we know that's not the case...
whooa Grace...
...you're a disgrace.


You stir and you lie,
You laugh when they cry,
Your body's on show,
But you got a face for radio...
Wooah Grace...
...you're a disgrace.

Well I suppose you got a little lovin'
and made a good friend -
But I've just seen Mikey flirt with Imogen!
Girl your so damn malicious,
so jealous and vicious -
You're the one that has lost in the end...
Cos you stab in the back,
But you smile to the face.

The house thought you were nice,
But we know that's not the case...
whooa Grace...
...wanna slap your face...
Cos you stir and you lie,
You laugh when they cry,
Your body's on show,
But you got a face for radio...
Wooooh Grace...
...I really wanna slap your face!

Oh, no, oh -
I never wanna see your face on my TV again.
No, oh, no...
I never wanna see your face on my TV again.
No, oooh, oooh...
I never wanna see your face on my TV again.

How To Boil An Egg

I love boiled eggs. While I don't usually have any problems making soft-boiled eggs or hard-boiled eggs any more, I find this new invention of using heat-sensitive technology and invisible ink rather interesting, esp for those people who really can't boil an egg. OK, for friends I can forgive them, but I hate it when I ask for soft-boiled eggs at hotels, and I ended up with hard-boiled eggs - how am I supposed to dip the bread into a hard-boiled egg?

This new gadget will probably come with a higher price tag unfortunately. For the cheap option, here's what I suggest: Put the eggs into a saucepan of cold water, then put the saucepan on medium heat and bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling, then start the timer - 3 minutes for the soft-boiled eggs, and 7 minutes for the hard-boiled eggs.

Easy peasy!

Approaching the Fifth Anniversary

This morning I got a large envelope from my accountant - it's the financial accounts and annual tax return forms... I do hate seeing these every year as they are so complicated and my accountant seems to have a knack of making me feel so inadequate when it comes to finance.

I suddenly realised that it's fast approaching the fifth anniversary of running my own business. I still can't believe that I had the courage in 2001 to quit a job that I liked and set up my own consulting business. One main reason for taking such a drastic step at the time boiled down to one promise I made after I left my first job in 1994 - if I ever took my work-related anger and frustration out on my friends in my personal life, I'd leave the job. Also it's about time to venture out of the big corporate green-house and set myself one of the biggest challenges in my life.

Somehow my staff at the time sensed that I would leave the job before I even sat them down and told them the news - they were so supportive. I still keep in touch with them and I am so glad to see them excel in their professions too.

I must say the last 5 years have been a roller-coaster ride. Being self-employed means that I am detached from office politics, but it brings in other worries such as "will I get enough work in the next few months", "are my clients happy with my work", "am I charging too much / not enough" etc. But certainly the whole experience so far has opened my eyes up a lot, and led me to opportunities that I would never dream of having before. And somehow work just seems to find its way to me. So I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank all of those people who have helped me along the way (you know who you are), whether it's to recommend me to colleagues/friends, or to give me valuable advice on my business, or to lead a sympathetic ear when I go into one of my venting sessions.

Where will I be in 5 years' time? No idea! Just like the answer I would have given 5 years ago.