Ramblings at Random

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. " Self-Study Today: Aqua culture + hydro ponics = Aquaponics 2 years ago, I wanted to have a fountain at our balcony, to wake up at the sound of calmness almost similar to a waterfall. My husband wanted to make his own fresh water aquarium, his idea was that, anytime we feel like cooking a fish, just fish it from the balcony (but up to this day I still don't have the heart to fish our own pet 😲). We came to an agreement to build both and adding a portion for gardening as well. So we fabricated something like this, within our minimal budget. I would like to walk you through the anatomy of our project and ideas on what can be better: 1) The  tank  itself is a small plastic box that can fit part of our balcony. We may need to change it to a proper plastic that can withstand the volume of the water or it...

"Reading gives us somewhere to go when we have to stay where we are " Self-Study Today: Speed Reading B: What are you learning today? A: Finishing my course at Udemy about speed reading. B: What's there to learn about it? I can flip through books, does that count? A: Anyone can read very fast if they want, but it takes proper practice to store the memory of what we speed read. Don't you want to have the memory like Sherlock Holmes or Jack Reacher? B: Right, so how do we do it? A: Since I'm still learning, I'll just tell you the short version of this course. Firstly , practice improving our memory by picturing those information, the more detailed the better, best to have some connections or any personal experience with it. For example, when I read about the Great Wall of China, I pictured the Mulan cartoon part where they light the fire at the watchtower. Secondly, practice creating mental markers ...

"You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore." Self-Study Today: Marine Life This aquarium is almost 1 and a half year, the size of 4 gallons nano tank. No skimmer, no sump, no chiller, no dosing. Which shows that, with passion, patient and perseverance, this hobby does not have to be a very expensive hobby. Now, we would like to step-up our experiment and at the same time guide you through as well! Step 1 : Read, read, read and self-learn. From forums, books, watch YouTube, join communities. This is important so that you do not waste your money, time and effort. Also to avoid making huge mistake. Step 2: Decide what kind of marine life you want to care for? Only fishes or coral reef tank? For us, we chose coral reef tank with fishes @ saltwater tank (mixture of both). Step 3: What is the size of the tank that you want to use? We want to use 15 gallons nano t...

"Desserts are like books, there are new ones you want to read and old ones you want to re-read. " Self-Study Today: The Wonders of Baking It always amaze me how; 1) two same ingredients can create different products just by having different ratio 2) there's science behind the type of cookies baked 3) the medium used to bake will also affect the end product 4) over-mix or under-mix the batter can spoil the mixture 5) making a meringue itself has a troubleshoot guide Eat to Live Today's confectionery made is Honey Buttered Cornflakes 1) This batch act as a control (Temp.: 160 Celcius, Time: 10 mins) 2) Second batch higher temperature but same time (Temp.: 170 Celcius, Time: 10 mins) 3) Third batch same temperature but higher time (Temp: 160 Celcius, Time: 15 mins) 4) Fourth batch lo...

"Every little thing you do, leads up to a bigger thing. " Self-Study Today: Post about Compost I've done sufficient research on "how to make a compost for a small space house with no lawn or mown, odorless and wormless for a start", fuhh that's a long description~ Anything to reduce my waste and help the environment, not to mention free natural fertilizer. 5 main ingredients to have a successful compost: 1) brown materials act as carbon 2) green materials act as nitrogen providing nutrients 3) soil acts as blanket to suppress the stink inside 4) water to cool down the compost 5) air as aerobic that helps break down scraps 4 steps to make a compost: Step 1 - Prepare a bin with the size of your liking, create holes at the bottom to allow entrance of air. Step 2  - Layer the ingredients, adjust the depth based on your bin size. Layer 1 is browns (leaves, shredded cardboard/paper, eg...

"I'm looking up at the sky and I have no idea which cloud has all my data." Self-Study Today: Data Science vs Business Intelligence B: Why is there a lot of comparison article between data science and business intelligence? A: I think, to create awareness on the differences so that tasks can be delegated correctly. B: Ya think? Both uses the business data. How is it any different? A: First is the purpose. Data science makes predictions/forecast, business intelligence interpret past data. B: That makes data science predictive analytics and business intelligence descriptive analytics. A: Secondly is the approach taken to analyse the data. Data science can handle many kinds of data. Business intelligence on the other hand, strictly to structured data. B: Don't you think with the technological breakthroughs nowadays and the emergence of new features/softwares, these two can be used interchangeably on so...

"If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn" Self-Study Today: Pour Your Heart Out A: What are you reading about? B: Just some article about difference between project management and business management. A: I see, one is temporary and has a timeline compared to the other right? B: Yeah, project management is a one-off tasks that should help increase revenue as the end result. While business management is ongoing and act as a guide for the company to run. Both are important. A: Why with the sudden topic? B: Well, the news about workers being laid off, retrenched, let go, kind of gets under my skin. Although they said it's necessary to save businesses in the long run, don't they have a proper financial risk management? A: No one expected this kind of pandemic to hit rock bottom. 10 years back, would you ever thought of this situation to occur 10 years later? B: We h...

"The 'P' in PM is much about people management as it is about project management " Self-Study Today: Monitoring Progress A: I was never the one who like the idea of working from home especially with kids around, the struggle is real. I don't want the kids to think that their not my priority when I'm completing my tasks at home. Flexible working hour at the office, that's more favorable. B: But I see you're juggling well, and you seem to enjoy it over time. A: Yeah, if this situation keeps going on, I might incline to work from home more. B: I miss meeting with fellow workers, having lunch together, talk about whatever. Oh, also the Kanban Board. A: Kanban Board? The one at the meeting room? B: Yup, the one to track project's progress, it's very useful when everyone can see it at once. A: Are you sure? Because our team just use excel to trac...

"To achieve greatness, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. " Self-Study Today: Survive to Sustain B: You've mentioned hard skills and soft skills, what about survival skills? A: What about it? B: Shouldn't we be well equipped with that knowledge as well? A: Since when we're planning to brave the Atacama desert or Zambezi river or the Darien Gap jungle. B: You silly, the basics. Not that I'm requesting you to be the next Bear Grylls. A: What do you have in mind besides the first aid skills? B: Well, for a start, we're talking about surviving skills to sustain life. Don't go start babbling about skills of baking petit four to survive your emotional roller coaster. A: Essential elements for human to sustain and survive requires oxygen, carbon, a bit of hydrogen.... B: Do you really want me to whack you? These are the ones revol...

"Every ending has a new beginning. " Self-Study Today: To Leave and Live The world has a funny way of making our lives cross paths again. Small world isn't it? Either we're resigning or being retrench, always part ways in good terms. Because the last memory together is what people will always remember. This is an example of a farewell email letter to write, taken from  Medium.com ; Eat to Live Today's main course cooked is Daging Masak Black Pepper Food for Thought This post is dedicated to my teammates, hopefully throughout our journey together, I've been an exemplary leader to you guys. Till then, my prayers for you and your family 🌷

"People with average IQ's outperform those with highest IQ's due to higher EQ. " Self-Study Today: V.U.C.A. A: VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity. A concept that states the current situation of the world. VUCA is the new norm. B: Since you're talking about it, I want to share about this webcast from BrightTALK that I listened today. It's about how to leverage EQ to close more sales in this VUCA world. A: EQ? Emotional quotient, the ability to identify, understand, manage your own emotions and influence other's emotions. B: Yes, that EQ. The speaker was talking about finding ways to sell by identifying our prospects' personality using the B.A.N.K concept; (B)lueprint = inside the box personality type, guided by plans and rules. A bit reserved, they cannot be rushed. (A)ction = outside the box personality type, these people ...