Sunday 23 June, 2002 at 5:35AM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (0)

What a day. Today (technically speaking, yesterday, since it's Sunday now) I went and sat an exam. The hardest part was physically getting to the exam. I'll explain.

I had applied for a government job as a Communications Technician for the NYPD (police) a few months ago, and as with most government jobs here, the method of hiring is via an examination. The reasoning is that it is the fairest way of doing it without the possibility of the interviewer being accused of personal preference or bias in any form. Fair enough. Basically the highest scorer in the exam gets the job, and renumeration has a quoted minimum, with anything above that being dependent on previous experience and/or qualifications of the individual. Nice and diplomatic and politically correct.

Ok, so I received notice about a week ago that the 4 hour exam was scheduled for 4pm Saturday at the Art and Design School on 2nd Ave in Manhattan. No worries. I leave the apartment about 2.15pm as it takes about an hour to get there on the subway, followed by a walk down E57th St from 6th Ave to 2nd Ave where the exam was being held.

I'm about halfway between 3rd and 4th Ave when IceQueen calls me on the cellphone to make sure I made it ok - it's about 3.45pm so it seems to be perfectly timed. No worries. I cross over 3rd Ave and start walking the last block when I notice a big queue starting on 3rd Ave heading down towards 2nd. I guess it's probably for some audition for a movie or tv show and keep going. I turn onto 2nd Ave and walk about half a block to where the exam is being held. Guess what? The queue of several hundred people starts at the same building, yep, they are all there for the same exam for the same job.

300+ people for one job? Now that is frightening. Just shows how tough the job market is in NYC at the moment.

Ok, so I cruise back up E57th St to 3rd Ave and take my place at the end of the queue. Of course the temperature at this time is near 90°F (32°celsius) and humidity is around 90%. *ack* Eventually the queue moves and I end up sitting in a room about to start the exam ..at 5.15pm. Still no worries, I'll just get home later.

The first 10% of the exam was memory-based, which meant you were given a booklet and given 10 minutes to read and memorize it before it was collected, and then the actual exam paper was given out after that. Of course, you couldn't take notes or anything while reading the booklet. I know I got all that part correct, fortunately. The rest of the exam I found relatively easy, except for the last 10% or so which you needed to have a basic working knowledge of the layout of NYC and landmarks to be able to fly through it. Of the couple of questions that I remember from this part, I guessed correctly.

Although the exam duration was supposedly 4 hours, I finished in an hour and a half so I bailed. I've been told that 90% of the time your first answer is correct in an exam, so I didn't go through the whole thing again and second-guess myself, so to speak. I ended up getting home earlier than originally expected so that was all funky and kewl.

The results come in the mail in about 6 weeks, and I presume you are notified at that time if you managed to get the highest mark and therefore get the job. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but there were a lot of people going for the job. Here's the kicker. Joy of joys, I have another exam next Saturday for another government job. Yipee. Ok, I think I am able to sleep again now. *waves*

shit happens in various religions

      Tuesday 18 June, 2002 at 6:58PM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (4)

To Anon, or anyone else that had a problem with the original entry here, please read the following statement.

The intention when I posted this entry (which was originally penned by an unknown author, not by me), was a light-hearted perspective of how different religions stereotypically perceive the same 'issue' in different ways, albeit with a tongue-in-cheek spin.

The original entry was not posted with the intention of insulting or making a target of any particular religion - the fact that the religion I was baptised into as an infant was a part of the original entry should be testament to this.

I understand that there are individuals who take their religion extremely seriously, in a way which does not allow them to appreciate any sort of humour in relation to it whatsoever. I apologise if you are one of these people and found the original entry here offensive or disrespectful, as that was not the intention of it. It is with respect to your beliefs that I have removed it (as at 13th October 2004).

While I believe in the freedom of speech and the right to publish whatever opinion or view I wish on my own website, I also believe in respecting others views in certain areas as much as possible, and can understand how some people may have found the original entry offensive. I do not wish to portray myself as anti-religious, because I am not - my basic idea being to 'live and let live'. In order to remove the false impression that certain person(s) may have got that I may have harboured prejudice towards religion, I have removed the original entry, and agree that posting this entry in the first place was probably not such a good idea.

Just to add some perspective, worth noting is that out of over 100,000 visitors over a period of 2 years and 4 months, only two comments (both negative) were ever made in relation to this entry, both of which appeared to come from the same person. That person took offense to the part of the entry related to Buddhism in particular. Worth note is that Buddhism advocates tolerance and respect of others' beliefs, and teaches its followers not to have preconceived ideas about other people but meet them with an open mind. Perhaps they should've tried to keep this in mind, just as I should have instead of reacting the way I did initially to their abuse. Growth is a good thing, but guys, get a sense of humour and learn some humility and realize that it's ok to laugh at yourself once in a while too.

eminem marked man

      Thursday 13 June, 2002 at 12:46PM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (0)

From SkyNews, apparently Eminem is now a marked man... sheesh, give the guy a break!

Eminem has received death threats from supporters of Osama bin Laden, according to reports. The video for his new hit single 'Without Me' shows the rap singer making fun of of the terror warlord by wearing a beard and robes and dancing around as 'Bin Shady'. His joke is believed to have offended bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, and US intelligence agents have informed Eminem that a bounty has been placed on his head.

As someone commented, "This sure does smell like a planted story." I tend to agree.

beware of sexually frustrated dolphins

      Wednesday 5 June, 2002 at 11:14AM (Nereus)  ::  permalink  ::  comments (4)

An eyebrow-raising article from Reuters.co.uk about a horny dolphin with a human fetish. Yup, you heard me right. Swimmers have been warned to stay away from a sexually frustrated dolphin off a seaside resort in Weymouth, Dorset, after it tried to lure unwary humans out to sea in a bid to mate with them. Apparently he has already attempted to mate with some divers. It also goes on to say that he (the dolphin) has a fascination for boat propellers and has been injured several times. I've swum and surfed with dolphins many times in the wild, but I've never heard of anything like this. What a perv. I'm sure Freud would have something interesting to say about this.

hehehe.. driver education.. check this out.

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