Saturday 21 December 2013

Message: Why Still No Post This Week?


Do you hunchback?
Image from gawkerassets


Hi everyone, sorry for not writing anything till now. Several things happened this week. First thing, I was having too much fun acting as a human swing for my baby girl and/or maybe I was too exhausted being woken up 3 times in the middle of the night, my bottom of my neck "cracked" loudly last Wednesday when I sneezed and then from my neck down to the left hand fingers, there was only severe pain. I had to call the chiropractor whom I have recommended on this blog before. Checking the past records of my neck injuries, it appeared that I basically visited him every year. However, the chiropractor's business has improved so much that he said he wouldn't have a single slot for me until 2015! Thus, I had no choice but to visit another Chinese physician and lucky that now I have my left arm and neck working fine again.

The morale of this story, when you sneeze, be careful!

Image from chartclinic.co.uk


Nah! The real morale of the story is we should all pay more attention to our sitting as well as our 'smartphoning' posture.

Image from phdcomics

Second thing, after months of waiting, I finally received an interview invitation for the PhD program I have applied. It was Monday and the interview was on Thursday, so I devoted all possible time for revision and preparation. I was lucky enough to have done well, but before the result comes back, I try not to get ahead of myself.

Hotel buffet
Image from Openrice

Third thing, my baby girl was officially a month old on the 18th, and so we are planning for some sort of celebration. Checking the price of hotel buffets, it appears that it is more expensive to book the entire venue than booking all seats individually. Doesn't quite make sense to me. Since the food and drinks are the same and there isn't anything added to the services. I don't really need the stage for any special show, I don't even need the microphone, so I don't know what the hotels base on to charge me more. Maybe this is an unspoken rule in the industry?


Vocabulary:
'smartphoning' -- (n)[U] The action of using smartphones
posture -- (n)[C or U] the way in which someone usually holds their shoulders, neck, and back, or a particular position in which someone stands, sits, etc.:
get ahead of myself -- (idiom) To focus excessively on one's plans or on prospective future events without paying adequate attention to the present.
unspoken rule -- (n)[C] unspoken rules are behavioral constraints imposed in organizations or societies that are not voiced or written down. They usually exist in unspoken and unwritten format because they form a part of the logical argument or course of action implied by tacit assumptions.


Resources:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/get_ahead_of_oneself
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/posture_1?q=postures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unspoken_rule