Knee Guard

I got a new knee guard today. Tried it out... it's definitely a lot more comfortable than my old one and the cool spiral strip does actually help to alleviate the pain. ^_^ Gonna buy a couple more before I head into NS. Only 11 more days... o_O



I feel bad about my parents spending so much money on my account just for NS. New knee guards... new glasses... watch repairs... sigh. Oh well. I'll make it all back, hopefully.

I'm heading off to Bintan with my dad for the next 3 days to play some golf and enjoy my last bit of freedom. Should be fun. :D

Do Not Disturb

Yessir. Duly noted.

Got a letter from CMPB today... I'm PES B. Quite happy about that, except that they haven't mentioned my elbow problem at all. There's an excuse from "dusty and smoky environments" (where did that come from?!) and also from "prolonged kneeling" (I'd be rather put off if that actually happens in BMT), but not from "prolonged elbow strain." Hmmm... makes me wonder if they took enough time to evaluate it. I'll call them on Monday to find out.

Handicap Test

I passed my handicap test - just. ^_^ Now that I have a handicap of 24, I can play on weekends. Woohoo!

Since I have time I may as well recall my scorecard over 9 holes from Tuesday:

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Par 5 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 36
Score 8 6 8 4 6 7 5 5 5 54

So, yeah, my first 3 holes were an absolute disaster... +3 +3 and +4. I was pretty bummed about the par-3 2nd as well, since I had a good shot off the tee to just the left of the green, but I messed up everything after that.

That is not to say I wasn't expecting something like that... I know I suck, it's just usually I don't suck that badly on a par-3, especially after a fairly decent tee shot (by my standards anyway).

The two green committee guys were making me nervous - quite business-like and unfriendly. Fortunately I was playing with this guy who was my dad's UOB colleague from 20 years ago, so we made good conversation. It helped that we were both playing equally badly.

The 4th hole was ok. I pulled an 8-iron to the left and it landed just inside the water hazard stakes. Couldn't ground my club but still managed to hit a decent pitch up onto the fringe, and then two-putted.

The bright side is, of the four of us taking the test, I had honours from the 5th hole onwards. Surely they noticed that. :D Of course, it means everyone else was playing really badly too (although there was this 13-year old kid who actually did really well on the first 2 holes, before his drives started going left right and center).

Don't really remember much about the 5th hole except that I was thirsty.

The par-5 6th is an index-1 hole so I'm quite proud of my double-bogey there. I hit a long drive down the right side of the fairway and it ended up in the rough just behind a clump of trees. Then I blasted a brilliant 3-wood right through the narrow gap in the trees (couldn't have asked for a better time for my 3-wood to be working right). Unfortunately this landed in a bunker which took me 2 shots to get out of. Hit a 9-iron to within maybe 15 feet and two-putted.

So, I was +15 after 6 holes. I needed to do really well on the last 3 holes to have any hope of passing at all - and fortunately I did. I'm quite happy with my 3 consecutive bogeys. ^_^ They made my day. I guess I figured I had nothing to lose by that point.

The testers must have taken my score of +8 over my 6 best holes and multiplied it by 3. I am grateful for their mercy. But I'll be the first to admit that I'm nowhere near a handicap of 24, realistically. Eh heh.

33rd post

It's funny... I spent the whole 6 months leading up to my projected enlistment bemoaning the fact that I would be going into the army and criticizing that entire military paradigm. Then I finally get fit enough to pass NAPFA, am assigned PES B, and actually develop a kind of positive attitude about the whole thing. I honestly do want to go into NS and slog through it and suffer with everyone else.

I'm not a masochist, really. Consider it a product of months of psychological angst. This is my resolution.

But now I've found out I may be PES C. How can I possibly spend 2 years just sitting at a desk doing clerical work? Not only that, but if I'm in PES C I may not even be enlisting in October.

A few days ago I was extremely frustrated at x-institution. Come on, you make an appointment and threaten legal action if I don't make it, then when I get there you make me wait over an hour to see a specialist not even qualified enough to properly evaluate my situation? You made an appointment. This connotes preparedness. Not bumbling inefficiency and inexcusable laziness.

Anyway I've calmed down a bit now. It's the 95% of life I don't have control over at the moment, and I'm not going to be fussed about it. At the very least, I hadn't realized the songs I'd picked for today's youth service were particularly relevant, "Trading my Sorrows" especially. I suppose I need to take a plank out of my eye and start seeing things a bit more clearly. If I can serve God better in another context, then I guess that's where I'll be. His purposes, not mine.

And I need to recognize the blessings He's already given me. Cambridge has proven to be surprisingly receptive. It's a matter of realizing that He has a plan for me, even though I can't see the big picture. I resolve to be a dog, not a cat (nonetheless, I do still prefer cats).

I am fighting a cold now (meaning my training regime is shot). On the bright side, in a few days I will be immune to yet another strain of that diabolical cold virus; i.e. in the event of a secondary infection, memory B- and T-cells will react quickly enough to destroy the pathogen before I begin to show any symptoms. Brilliant.

Four years ago something happened that changed the world.