makumaro.net

Warming Up

I know the temperament on my lenses. They produce different sharpness, colour contrast and bokeh. My favourite lens is still the 28mm f/2.8 AIS manual focusing Nikon I bought from B&H second hand while I was in NYC. The colours are vivid and always contrasty. Get your focus right and you have very sharp images.

* * *

Food for thought. The sharper one’s knife, the lesser the chance one will cut oneself. I bought a stone block a couple of weeks ago from the local Asian groceries to sharpen my cutting knife. Heh, as much as I ogle at the precision steel from the Japanese and German knife makers, I’m quite happy with a $10 cleaver (or el cheapo chef’s knife from the supermarket), a $2.50 stone slab and another $10 sharpening rod. The rod to keep a knife’s edge sharp, the block when it’s pretty blunt to get the edge shaped proper again.

I used to have cutting accidents occasionally when I am cutting without common sense. I’ve always wanted the stone sharpener and now I can run my knife through tomatoes without effort, as well as slice other harder vegetables quickly without them sliding off the board. The added precision from slicing stuff with a sharp knife has produced less kitchen accidents. Heh.

* * *

Work is picking up slightly. So many people to meet, so many ways of doing things. An accounting background is necessary to understand why different accounts are setup, the debits and credits and how they are applied, all these little items that make sense of it all. Not quite the start I expected, but at least I’m comfortable in my own skin when resolving problems, which is good.

* * *

The economy is puzzling. Asset prices (stocks, property, the AUD) can either go up or down and there’s plenty of argument for it to go either way. My Macroeconomics lecturer in Uni mentioned that if you pick up a newspaper, you’d be able to find two conflicting pieces of news on the same page. At times like this it seems terribly true. Stock prices look cheap at the moment, based on the sound financial management of local companies, so you think people would start snapping them up, spurring demand, and driving the prices up again. They also think that they could probably buy it cheaper given the current distrust of the market and are holding out for it to drop further.

Heh, my previous job piqued my interest in financial markets, so I’m always keen to understand why things are unfolding as they are. My new role in the health industry has given me insight into the demographics of Melbourne, and it is an entirely different subject that fascinates me on a different level.

I sometimes wonder as to the modern world, where there are so many procedures and systems in place to govern the rules on how things work. I wonder how did it start and how it evolved into something so archaic and over sized as it has become (the health care system). Lots of questions, little answers.

November is nearly here, last chance to finish my syllabus, do the practice questions and hopefully pass my exam. Heh. Really want to get that out of the way.

Initial Thoughts

I saw the tree against the red wall and realised I had a shot worth capturing. All I needed was a person walking past to make it work. Heh, this was a lucky shot with no traffic in the way and I snapped it quickly. I didn’t realise that I left my camera on manual focus as well, but it was set close to infinity, so that saved the shot.

* * *

So I’ve been at work a few days now. There are differences I have come to realise.

This is a big organisation. Things are confounded by the levels of paperwork and bureaucracy that needs to be prepared to get things done. It’s the first time I’m working with a team that’s not so personal or close knit. Maybe I haven’t had time to gel yet, but my permanent office is 3 people in a tiny room, away from the core group stationed elsewhere, so it may take a while to get to know everyone.

I think I’m sort of the youngest in the group of analysts I am associated with. I’m also the only one who doesn’t seem to have any prior accounting work experience. I’m not quite sure what to imply from that. I’ve learned a few things over the past few days, and find that things seem to make sense easily, as opposed to the first time I started in my previous role, where I had no idea what anything meant. I’m learning to ask more sensible questions these days, so maybe it helps me understand things more quickly.

I have lost that timid response into getting things done, especially things that required me to interact with someone else to get an answer, hoping that anyone would point or help out with things. These days, I try to be proactive in finding out what I need to do to integrate myself into the running of things.

* * *

Other trivial things include the really pricey cafeteria food in hospitals, so I’ve been needing to pack lunch this first week. I see that my colleagues bring their own lunches anyway.

I personally dislike driving to and from work. Car maintenance costs and soaring petrol prices aside, I liked the time to and from work where I could just walk or take public transport. These activities require little hand eye coordination, so it allowed me to just think through stuff on a daily basis while waiting for my legs to carry me home. With driving, it’s a little bit more tricky and I have to be a lot more attentive with the road. I’ve counted it takes 35 minutes on a good traffic day to get from home to work and vice versa.

My previous role was a pretty decent one. We had our own kitchen to prepare lunches/tea, or in the case of New York, access to very cheap but tasty food. The hierarchy was small, so work was easily allocated and accomplished. If only I knew back then what I know now, I’d have been able to implement much better system changes to save everyone time and effort.

That brings me to an inkling I have on what I’d like to do in a future role. Heh, working again for a hedge fund would be nice. I’d like the role my prior supervisor had, implementing back office processes and checks for position reconciliations. Her method was more traditional and manual, I’d like to do something a little more automated. The idea of designing an efficient system for doing these things excites me, and while I’m not quite ready for it yet, feel that my current role provides a lot of background knowledge in key processes. A role I’d look forward to, if I don’t end up being a professional photographer sometime down the road.

The work schedule is pumping energy into my system again. I’m counting the days to Fridays again. Heh.

Starting Work

Have always been fascinated with the night sky. I’ve never really pointed a tele lens at the stars before. Not sure whether that is Venus or just a satellite in the sky. Will take a look again during summer when the evening skies stay light and warm enough to spend time outside.

* * *

It’s only been 3 years since I’ve been in the work force. Heh, I’m not sure what it was like for my brothers or the previous generation. What does one expect when they start working for the rest of their lives, at least until they retire? The world seems to be changing at a sweeping pace these days, and you can see things change in front of you, yet you are not quite sure of how to deal with it.

In terms of skill sets, I am still very new to the labour market. I have gained insight into the finance industry, its peak at the middle of last year and its subsequent fall over the cliff since these past year. That peak allowed me to experience New York, and to really stand on my own two feet while I was there. I don’t think I’d have grown or matured that much if I stayed sheltered in Melbourne. I have a new found confidence in interacting socially with people and do not feel uncomfortable just talking to complete strangers.

I just need to get used to a whole new routine. I like the idea of knowing what times I can expect to be where I need to be so I can plan things.

Heh, it’s been four months since my body has had to push itself through a day’s worth of work. I hope I can adapt back to that lifestyle soon. Just hope to get through this month and still feel I can stay afloat with all the changes.