The Running Robot

t has been being a very long time since I penned a blog entry in the Running Robot. To be exact, 5 years since the last entry. Life have gone on with lots of changes since my last entry.   My little boy had grown from a little adorable baby to an energetic 6-year-old who couldn’t stop asking questions and making demands. While I am still a self-employed person, I had gone through some career changes in the years in between. I had headed a medium sized company and reached the pinnacle of my career. However, I missed my independence greatly during that time and decided to step away from that.   I had been struggling with the thought of picking up the pen again for a long time. Initially, I was worried about privacy. The running robot was after all a private blog about my life and my journeys. I am not sure if I should show too much of myself to what would otherwise be an international and anonymous audience. I wanted to write about hobbies and essays etc in other we...

The lonely and peaceful walk back to the car after a day's work Another long day, another late dinner. Another day in my days of independence and running my own show. Is it an easier life? Not really, while hours of work are short. They can end really late. In this instance. I was having dinner at 9.50pm after finishing all my classes. By the time, I finished my dinner and drove home. It was past 11pm. My boy is asleep and so was my wife when I reached home. The upside is that, I can sleep in the next morning (something that I seldom do). Instead I will wake up and after dropping my boy off at the infant care, go for a run. Yes, while the whole world is at work. I am out running, cycling or swimming. Only after that, I will head to my office to do some accounts work or lesson preparation. Money is alright and I am thankful for it but as an entrepreneur, it is not constant. Clients do come and go and money is not automatically credited into your account on...

Source: https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/gallery/AUDI-A3-Sedan-5811_10.jpg Upset at the turn of events in the day, I decided get distracted by driving to Audi to try out the Audi A3 Sedan. Audi, a brand that never resonates with me. A brand that I dislike. It is a bit of a dark side to me. But I forced myself to think out of the box to not always shortlist the usual suspects. The main reason is both the new Honda Civic 1.5 turbo and Audi A3 sedan cost similar. Similarly, a used 3 year old Honda Civic 1.6 and a 3 year old Audi A3 sedan would cost similar too. Hence, it got me curious. Source: https://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/gallery/AUDI-A3-Sedan-5811_9.jpg The agent had ran out of A3 show cars. Hence, he directed me to a test drive unit. I climbed onto the driver’s seat and the waft of “new car” smell overwhelmed me. It is a snug cockpit with lots of nice touch surfaces. The agent described the car as I scan through the buttons....

Life is not complicated. It is Easy… The phrase is repeated time and again by the Thai farmer, Mr Jon Jendai in his TedTalk. It struck a chord in my heart, as for the past few weeks. I have been worried about a lot of things. My father’s health How to grow my business and income What car to replace my current ride All this thoughts have been running through my mind, day and night. It is hard not to worry about my father’s health despite of my frustration with his self-destructive behaviour. There is also very little we can do. As for No.2, business is running well. Income is growing. However, as an entrepreneur I should always be on the lookout for newer opportunities.  Especially on sources of passive income. At the moment, I only earn when I work. There is little money coming in when I am not. It is not a good prospect if I am disrupted from my schedule. To be fair, I tend to run to No.3 as a form of refuge, as cars are a pe...

A talk that is really difficult for me to hear. But I forced myself to finish listening to this talk by BJ Miller about the end of life. As much as I would like to hope and wish that my Dad would continue to live as he is, I know that time may be limited. While I am no stranger to palliative care and I greatly respect those who served in it. I always approached it with great fear and denial, especially when it is prescribed to a patient. I am glad Mr Miller has made this poignant talk which touched my heart. I guess the most important to do in life is to treasure and live every moment with gusto even in sickness or disability. Make everyday count. Being part of this world is all it matter. Whether you have all senses or even only left with one sense. So do take some time and listen.

Tempting times Recently, an advertisement for a good valued, used Volvo V40 D2 came onto my radar. I had many good memories with the V40 D3 in Switzerland and it is a tempting proposition to make my next ride a Volvo. The time I had with the V40 D3 in Switzerland was truly magical. One of those great road trips moments that I had in my motoring life. I call them my "Top Gear" moments.  Hence, I shall pen down those memories in this post. Alps Crossing – 20 April 2014 Swarovski's Kristallwelten in Innsbruck My wife and I had left Swarovski’s Kristallwatten at about 2pm. We were at Innsbruck, Austria. It was an exceptionally sunny day in Austria, in fact, I remembered lowering all the windows using a button on the key fob to let the hot air in the Volvo escape before we got in the car. That was probably the only time I used the windows function in Europe. Route from Innsbruck, Austria to Lierna, Italy The 290 km journey calls a...

Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria Today I am not going to write an educational post. This is a more personal post. It is about my journey with touching an innate vein within myself and one that I am still trying to find answers with. It is about my brush with my inner German. Zurich, April 2014 It was a trip that I was looking forward to. I planned the Switzerland self-drive trip meticulously and tirelessly. My wife and me were travelling back to Europe for the first time since our honeymoon in 2011. Being a Top Gear fan and petrol head, I was looking forward to driving on the Stelvio Pass in Italy as well as on the speed derestricted German autobahns. The journey for this free spirited trip would require me to drive through Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Northern Italy. I had not driven in the continent before, hence there were much preparation like reading up on the dos and don’ts of European driving, driving through weather and even the testing of cars whi...

Sunrise over the Alps enroute to Munich Resonates with my soul An old friend, Asingaporeanson recommended Steve Pavlina's website to me and I came across the following paragraphs which resonate with me. " When I had a job, I didn’t care so much about optimizing my startup routine for each day. There was a disconnect between my productivity and my results. As an employee I sometimes prided myself on how little real work I got done each day. I didn’t like my boss, especially due to his bad temper and his use of fear tactics to manage people, so perhaps being unproductive was my way of punishing him for being such a jerk. Without a job, however, being unproductive makes no sense since it’s clear that I’m wasting my precious life. So I’m very motivated to stay sharp and squeeze a lot of juice out of each day. If I don’t keep my standards high, I suffer for it, and there’s no one to blame but myself. If I ever slack off, I can reboot myself whenever I want. I don...

I came across Isaac Lidsky while researching for a coaching session.  Isaac Lidsky, A man who lost his sight at age 25 Despite of his disability, he went on to become a successful lawyer and served as a law clerk under two justices in the Supreme Court The CEO of ODC Construction, a construction company worth USD$70 million  The writer for the book "Eyes Wide Open" Most importantly, a father of four kids who insist on changing his children's diapers even though he could not see. And he did a good job of that. Sight without Vision The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision - Helen Keller How many of us are guilty of that? Seeing an open door which leads out of our predicament but refusing it as it is unknown, foreign and fearful. Choosing instead to remain where we are and continuing with deal with the problems and constraints we are familiar with. In other words, choosing to remain stuck. In my early adulthood, I was c...

I went to an army mate's wedding last night. Being the only guy from my anti tank platoon in what is essentially a scout platoon wedding, I didn't expect myself to fit in their conversation. However, it turn out to be quite an experience. It has been a long while since I last saw this guys. Though we were from from different platoons, we have lived together for 2.5 years during NSF and served 10 years NS together. There were a boisterous and fun lot and now even at almost middle age, they still are. The dinner began as other wedding dinner goes. Trading of talks about work and marital status. Not to mention the flashing of children's photos on our smart phones. Guys in shirts, long pants and dinner jackets. Stuffy things. Then the talk on old missions and overseas exercises started. The shared experiences starting flowing. From the sands of Thailand, the rolling hills of Taiwan, the brutal jungles of Brunei to the wastelands of Lim Chu Kang. The stories kept ...

Aerial View of Seletar Airport The old 9V-BOQ The sun hanged lazily over the horizon as I peered out of my windscreen. It was barely 6pm but the sky was already darkening. The runway lights by the airfield was already lighted, ready to guide the next aircraft to the safety of the airfield. The airfield has changed so much since we last flew here. From the leafy, quaint Seletar Airport of old. The entire airfield has transformed to an vast industrial complex of aerospace companies. All the big names, Roll Royce, Fokker, Pratt and Whitney have facilities here. It has became a cold unfeeling place. No more the place to rub noses with parked Cessnas and Pilatus. "My son will never see the old greeny Seletar Airport of old. " AJ muttered. I nodded. Its being almost 7 years since we last took off from in our little Cessna 9V-BOQ from this place. So much has changed. So did our lives. He has became a father and will soon be an airline captain. I have gotten ma...

The weight of the world, Cuban Missile Crisis. John F Kennedy In the earlier post by asingaporeson, he celebrated negativity as his natural trait. He delights in it as the rest of the world remain baffled by his irrational actions. He becomes a father today. He had received the greatest gift that a man can ever asked for... A beautiful daughter. I offered him a succinct sentence today. "From today onwards, your daughter comes first. You, come last." I am probably the total opposite of him. While he thrives on negativity. I on the other hand has suffered the severe stings of negativity many times before. There is no joy in those stings... I can assure you. While I am not the absolute sunshine boy as my wife can attest, I definitely do not enjoy negativity. While I was young, unlike asingaporeanson. I do not play the dark figures. When I played the role playing game Dungeon and Dragons, I always choose to play the upright and fair Paladin knight. The lawful good. The knight i...

Source: http://timmessick.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/desert-night-sky/ It has been a day of grief for me. Life dealt me a terrible hand today and I am forced to continue playing a losing game. It is mediocre compared to the life and death experiences daily that I once was used to. To be frank, perhaps I rather deal with those now than the petty politics I have to deal with now. Probably I felt more alive back then and life was much more meaningful. As I gaze upon the inky black starless sky out of my bedroom window. My thoughts went back to those starry nights... January 1998 I trudged across the soft sandy soil of the savanna grassland. I took a deep breath. The pungent smell of the strange savanna thorny flower permeated my lungs. I breathed out, vapour condensing in the cold night air. My ride, a Mercedes GD290 jeep stood in the distance. The mounted Milan missile launcher stood sentinel against the back drop of the night sky. Feeling the usual ache on my neck fr...

I browse through my old blog today. A blog which I stop writing after my illness struck. It reminded me of the old life of the running robot. Back in those days, running robot was a professional teacher and was earmarked with a great future. His promotions were swift and he was the quintessential go-getter. However, his heart was always with his first love. Flying... After years of being told that the bespectacled running robot has no place in the world of pilots. A fellow flyboy AJ reached out his hand and brought the running robot into the cockpit. It was after all a myth. Pilots do not have to have natural perfect eyesight. Blessed with a license of the Civil Aviation Authority. Soon, the robot was a regular in the cockpit of a Cessna 172N earning his way towards his Private Pilot License. On weekdays, the robot will be teaching students Geography in the school. On the weekends, he will in the skies, buzzing overhead his home and school. The students that he taught were awar...