替工

前星期有位陌生的小姐來電，她說是我朋友的朋友，給我介紹了一份臨時工，因為她快將生BB要放產假，正找人在這十個星期裡替代她的崗位，都是負責撰寫文字宣傳的工作。

那家是銷售多種保健﹑瘦身產品與美容品的公司，在荃灣的工業區內，搭港鐵由我家去荃灣剛好一頭一尾，要經過25個車站，需要約一小時多的行車時間，下車後還要走15分鐘的路，上天橋﹑過商場﹑再上天橋，兜兜轉轉之下才到，返工一程差不多要90分鐘，真有點累。但是力不到不為財! 唯有想像那步行的15分鐘當做運動吧!

荃灣工業區是一個我從未踏足過的地方，非廣告公司的工作也未曾做過，這是我的一個新嘗試。剛上了三天班，我們部門的同事大致上都很友善，這十個星期的使命，我應該可以完成的。

在這家公司上班的福利是，員工有機會一試產品，那天我便嗑了幾顆含野藍莓成份的補眼素，當然不是長期免費供應的，聽說可以取員工價購貨。

在此多謝給我轉介工作的朋友，這次的工作經驗應該會很有趣。

順帶一提，如無意外我會在那裡工作超過60天，即使是臨時工﹑日子短，也需要參加強積金計劃。從前填強積金計劃，一定會想想如何分配投資內容，保本還是增長好呢? 今次，填上100%高風險增長，真爽!

陽光燦爛

願你的日子都陽光燦爛!
昨晚在網上看到這片段,把內容來回咀嚼, 久未能釋懷, 因此, 滯住瞓覺。今早再看幾篇, 消化了好多, 幾回味,一起分享吧。(下面列有歌詞內容)

To Wear Sunscreen

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99 wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.

But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing. Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss. Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself. Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch. Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ve ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander. You too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth. But trust me on the sunscreen…

About this song, information from Wikipedia:

Wear Sunscreen or Sunscreen Speech are the common names of an essay actually called "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune as a column in 1997.

The most popular and well-known form of the essay is the successful music single released in 1999, accredited to Baz Luhrmann.

我家樓上有個貝多芬

現正是星期五晚上十一時十二分,當下, 在我家樓上竟然有人練彈鋼琴, 一下一下的琴音好像敲在我的頭殼上, 煩死人。琴音不是噪音嗎? 別以為人人都是你的知音! 現在已經是夜深, 請不要扮高雅! 這裡不是餐廳酒廊, 不需要鋼琴伴奏! 為什麼不理會別人的感受?

什麼時候將軍澳來了個貝多芬? 不是嗎! 如果不是聾的話, 怎會聽不見自己的琴聲。貝多芬先生, 你知嗎, 香港樓層很單薄, 斷估你沒有裝上隔音設備吧。

剛撥通電話到管理處投訴, 貝多芬, 真是對不起你。其實, 香港人都是噪吵環境的受害者, 久而久之對聲音反應遲鈍。

陪審員又輪到我!!

好嘢又唔見咁快輪到...

上回說到寫信申請免做陪審員, 終於得償所願, 很快便接獲當局回覆, 內容大意是:
好啦, 今次免你到法庭, 2008年1月預埋你, 嗱, 呢次務必依時出席。

新一封陪審員傳票上星期已收到, 列明1月9日早上9時40分, 我要到金鐘高等法院聽候。

原來,上次接到的陪審員傳票, 是關於東區死因法裁判法庭的聆訊, 所以列明死者姓名資料等, 如無意外, 必定如期開庭, 陪審員必定要到。

今次是高等法院的聆訊, 未必一定要出席, 因為如果在陪審員本應到庭之日, 沒有法庭案件需要抽選陪審員,陪審員便無須於該日到庭。陪審員可在出席日期前一天下午6時後, 進入司法機構網頁http://www.judiciary.gov.hk/ 查閱陪審團一欄中的陪審員出庭通知。希望1月9日無驚無險無案審!

原來, 本港有很多法庭 (click此看看吧), 審理不同案件, 真是不說不知。查閱資料, 列出陪審團每日津貼HK$280, 曾有案件審理長達7個月, 法官見陪審團十分勤力熱心, 故特別發放雙倍津貼。

我情願唔要呢種雙糧!!

陪審員知多啲, 網上資料:
一般情況下,陪審員每人每日可獲發$280津貼,不足一天也作一天算。如果揀中你做陪審員，而你又無足夠理由而沒有按照傳票的規定出席法庭話,即屬違法,最高可判罰款$5,000。陪審員人選,必須年滿21歲但未滿65歲,精神健全,品格良好,及熟悉聆訊時所採用的語言—即中文或英文。若你符合資格,又被人事登記處納入陪審員名單內,司法部會從呢個已登憲報核實為陪審員的名單中抽選。到達法庭後,再從20名候選者中抽籤選出其中7位擔任陪審團。

葉太, 我支持你!

如果昨天我可投票, 我會支持葉劉淑儀。

認為葉太曾經硬推23條, 變相抹煞民主, 所以對她沒好感? 我始終覺得, 那時候, 無論誰當保安局局長, 也要焗住推銷23條, 都是打份工,做好份內事吧。只不過葉太咁唔好彩,啱啱升到去保安局長呢個位置, 要頂硬上。

為何我會有此看法? 記得當日葉太辭官去留學之前, 鳳凰衛視跟她做了一個專訪, 看後, 對她改觀, 我直覺覺得她是個好上司。

葉太的掃把髮型﹑咀藐藐的表情不討好嗎? 只不過是外表而已。

笑裡藏刀更可怕。陳太買樓可向銀行取十成按揭,有違政府法例。在她任布政司時期, 她的大哥牽涉入謀殺案,在其物業中找到一副白骨, 卻不了了之, 近年法庭重審此案, 依然說案中死者死因沒可疑, 事件耐人尋味。這兩件事, 足以叫我不投陳太一票。

為什麼只有港島區市民才可投票?要是這次立法會補選是全港性的, 陳方安生未必贏。

如果葉太再參選,而又在我的選區內,我一定瞓身支持。她不是「孽瘤」,大家唔好咁講啦!

Am I bovvered?

補充上文:
Catherine Tate 扮演的問題女學生Lauren Cooper的口頭禪是「Am I bovvered?」 那個角色滿口街頭口音, 所以有人說她實際上是講「Am I bothered? 」(你有冇煩到我?)

這句「Am I bothered?」一反英國傳統, 從前的紳士怕自己說話太多太煩氣, 所以不忘客氣地對人家說句「Am I bothering you?」(我有冇煩到你?)

暗地挑戰傳統, Catherine Tate人氣急升, 不無原因。我看Little Britain劇集其實與Catherine Tate Show不相伯仲, 但輸蝕在一句punchy line!

說來奇怪, 英美的街頭口音, 語氣都像子彈般連珠炮發。

看電視‧看英美經濟

近年美國經濟不景, 受次按問題困擾﹑失業率高企﹑消費者信心指數長期處於低位﹑美元疲弱等等,一大堆負面消息。美國真的沒運行嗎? 最近看了一篇財經文章, 作者東尼Tony Measor (一位香港財經界的名人) ,他說「我恐怕是唯一的人,不太擔心美國次按的撥備問題,我不相信單單因為按揭,便能推跨美國整個金融體系。」

我也相信美國依然有韌力, 這是我憑看電視劇觀察所得的, 本人愚見如下:

去年,我很喜歡看一套英國電視喜劇, 叫「小小英國人」Little Britain, 二人組扮演不同階層人物,造形維肖維妙,以幽默的手法自嘲英國人。我問家姐這套劇現在還流行嗎? 姐說現時在英國,Catherine Tate Show(中譯: 牢騷絮語) 比Little Britain更受歡迎。這套喜劇也是來自BBC,已進入第三季, 內容類似Little Britain,由Catherine一人分演多角,有問題女學生﹑粗口嫲嫲﹑中產闊太﹑中年漢等, 她扮誰像誰, 演活每個角色, 於2004年贏得了英國喜劇大獎的最佳新進喜劇演員獎。

Catherine Tate Show曾在英女皇御前表演, 首相貝理雅Tony Blair亦曾在Red Nose Day粉墨登場, 這應是政客親民的手段。Catherine 扮演的問題學生Lauren Cooper, 有一名句「Am I bovvered? 」,成了2006年英國街頭年青人的熱話口頭禪, Bovvered一字更被牛津大字典選為Word of the Year(2006)。這句的意思, 據解釋是 to show sarcastically that you don’t care about something. 真是不說不知她的威水史。

說了很長篇, 這電視劇集與英美經濟何干?

結論是那管在本土如何受歡迎, 英國的電視節目, 紅不遍全世界, 大抵是因為太重的地方色彩。大英子民的作風有時候頗為封閉和自我。相反, 姐說美國的電視劇集如Heroes,在英國同樣瘋靡。這反映了什麼? 兩個字「國力」, 也是另一種文化和經濟侵略吧。美國, 爛船都有三斤釘。美國好, 即環球股市好, 希望我的錢包進賬也可以好一點!
(Photo: Catherine Tate & Tony Blair on Red Nose Day)

Catherine Tate & Prime Minister, Tony Blair

題外話, 上星期五, 沽出了手上的500股阿里巴巴, 今日價位依然向上, 衝破$40! 我的天呀! 少賺了! 還好,賺到的補貼損手的, 打個和! 心底裡, 還是信不過動盪的股市。