Sam Fung Journal

Continuing improvements in Royal Dutch Shell

2009-07-03T22:50:00.007+12:00

It's been a while since my last post. Since March, Shell New Zealand was under a strategic review by the portfolio strategists in Royal Dutch Shell. The 'For Sale' sign is now hammered down into the front-lawn of our national downstream business. UBS, popularly known as the Swiss Bank, has been appointed as the dealer.

Most of my time during the strategic review has been within our strategy, marketing and sales businesses. Not much on projects. Nevertheless, exciting times await.

We also have a new CEO now - Peter Voser. Jeroen van der Veer retired after many progressive years of service where he placed a springboard to lead through the challenge of increased global demands, balancing the energy mix, and greater corporate social responsibility to stakeholders. It's a difficult job being the most senior leader, and I'm fortunate I'm not going to be yet.

There has been a major planning and transition underway since June. Upstream is journeying through a planetary-wide restructure. Mr Voser has set a new focus on business agility, maximising ourselves of the global economic downturn, and conserving resources. In a couple years, I can picture a company that's more leaner, responsive, sustainably more profitable, and better for all stakeholders. My revised mid-year career plans will be inline with these prospective themes. As a (very very) junior officer to another chief XO, I wish Mr Voser bon voyage.

2009 - the year of business challenge and opportunity

2009-01-04T14:02:00.002+13:00

Jeroen van der Veer, our CEO, said this year will be very tough. Cash is king in this global recession. His main message was to focus on doing the essential things, and reduce non-essential expenditure and investment. This was not just good advice, it was advice for survival for business and jobs.

This has led me to think more carefully about my 2009 goals and plans. My goals will be much more adapted to this business climate. I believe that the Enterprise-First mindset and behaviour based on leadership, accountability and teamwork are even more relevant. To stay in business requires good teamwork, and leadership of integrity by every team member.

As a national business, Shell in New Zealand still needs to continue to simplify, and continue to excel operationally. By doing business better during difficult times, we will earn greater trust and staying-power with our customers who are also in hardship.

We do not have to go about massive-spending projects to achieve these changes. Cash is very tight now. We need to do things differently. So our actions will require more innovative and critical thought prior to any spending or investing. The simple question before doing anything is: Why do I need to use money on this? What is a better way?

This year is not necessarily a year of gloom. We can turn this year into opportunity. It is difficult to think in a positive light, but I strongly believe anyone can think of newer and alternative ways to make business better.

Note: also written within my Shell Blog (intranet)

Unsustainable biofuels bill repealed today

2008-12-11T19:08:00.003+13:00

Today the new New Zealand National Government repealed the biofuels bill. This is the Bloomberg article of the news. It is encouraging news for New Zealand (and the world). The excerpt below is especially poignant.

Governments worldwide are tempering their drive for biofuel use after a surge in production increased land clearance in Latin America and Asia and reduced food production in some regions. In July, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated wheat and corn prices may rise as much as 7 percent in the next decade because of greater U.S. and European production of alternative fuels.

You can see how negative the effects of foodcrop-based biofuels can be. There are better ways to manage energy. Number one is making things more energy efficient, and conserving fuel and power. So let's start doing that.

I'm off to Malaysia on a Mission

2008-11-17T18:01:00.002+13:00

That's correct - I'm going overseas from 18 November and returning 8 December. Here are our team's websites:

http://arisemission.blogspot.com for the blog
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6519024 6112 for the facebook group and photos

Enjoy.

Future energy challenges and future scenarios

2008-10-20T09:48:00.002+13:00

In 2007, our CEO Jeroen van der Veer, said there are three hard truths of global energy challenges.

The global demand for energy is growing, both in the developed and developing world. This will mean greater demand for oil and gas.
Supply will struggle to keep pace. Easy oil (accessible, conventional oil and gas) cannot keep up with the unconstrained growth in energy demand. Society has no choice but to add other sources of energy including alternatives like solar, wind and biofuels and 'unconventional' fossil fuels like oil/tar sands, oil shale and contaminated gas. Even with huge improvements in energy efficiency and substantial growth in renewables, fossil fuels will still be the major part of the energy mix by mid century.
Environmental stresses are increasing. More energy means more CO2 emitted at a time when climate change looms as a critical global issue. The societal imperative to limit greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level less than 550 ppm will require the strict management of CO2 emissions from both the production of energy and its use by consumers.

These three hard truths pose obvious dilemmas that can only be reconciled through joint, concerted efforts by governments, industry and consumers. The task of balancing the accessibility, affordability and acceptability of energy will not be an easy one. Humanity faces a challenging outlook for energy. This can be summed up in five words: "more energy, less carbon dioxide".

To help think about the future of energy, long term planners developed two scenarios that describe alternative ways it may develop. In the Scramble scenario policymakers pay little attention to more efficient energy use until supplies are tight. Likewise, greenhouse gas emissions are not seriously addressed until there are major climate shocks. In the Blueprints scenario, growing local actions begin to address the challenges of economic development, energy security and environmental pollution. A price is applied to a critical mass of emissions stimulating the development of clean energy technologies, such as CO2 capture and storage, and energy efficiency measures. The result is far lower CO2 emissions.

Mr van der Veer said he was determined to provide energy in responsible ways and serve customers and investors as effectively as it can. Both these scenarios help the company do that by testing their strategy against a range of possible developments over the long-term. It is in his view, the Blueprints' approach offers the best hope for a sustainable future, whether or not the scenario arises exactly in the way it is described.

World Food Crisis

2008-10-08T00:00:00.008+13:00

What did you and your family have to eat this week? With food prices going up, a greater portion of our household income is being spent on food. Many Kiwis are having to cut back even on basic food items. But have you ever considered what the average family in France, Chad or Aussie is eating and how the rising cost of food globally is impacting them?

To check out what other families around the world are eating click here — there are some amazing and shocking differences. Thank God that He has blessed me as a Kiwi living a comfortable life, but it's my (and all of our) responsibility to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.

Can Google massively reduce fossil fuel usage in USA by 2030?

2008-10-07T21:34:00.004+13:00

Clean Energy 2030
Google's Proposal for heavily reducing U.S. dependence on fossil fuels by 2030

Right now we have a real opportunity to transform our economy from one running on fossil fuels to one largely based on clean energy. Technologies and know-how to accomplish this are either available today or are under development. We can build whole new industries and create millions of new jobs. We can cut energy costs, both at the gas pump and at home. We can improve our national security. And we can put a big dent in climate change. With strong leadership we could be moving forward on an aggressive but realistic time-line and an approach that offsets costs with real economic gains.

The energy team at Google has been analyzing how we could greatly reduce fossil fuel use by 2030. Our proposal - "Clean Energy 2030" - provides a potential path to weaning the U.S. off of coal and oil for electricity generation by 2030 (with some remaining use of natural gas as well as nuclear), and cutting oil use for cars by 38%. Al Gore has issued a challenge that is even more ambitious - getting us to carbon-free electricity even sooner - and we hope the American public pushes our leaders to embrace it. T. Boone Pickens has weighed in with an interesting plan of his own to massively deploy wind energy, among other things. Other plans have also been developed in recent years that merit attention. More...

This is great, but far too idealistic. I do not think most of this achievable. The biggest reason why this can't be achieved is that mankind is addicted to materialism, power, money, pride and selfishness. The US government can't amass that effort in their citizens to replace the addictions of black-gold with the alternatives in two decades time. For everyone to work together for all of these initiatives is improbable. For example, the Clinton and Bush administration were far too defensive to get into the spirit of Kyoto, while much of the Western world did or tried.

I agree everyone can conserve more energy with habit change and efficiency initiatives. However we need a fundamental change in the hearts and minds of people. We need to get into the spirit of contribution, interdependence and synergy for a win/win scenario - for Google's proposal to take effect.

Yah! I'm attending the Shell International Nanotechnology Forum

2008-10-03T12:06:00.008+13:00

I've taken up a special opportunity to participate in the Shell International Nanotechnology Forum. It's in Houston, Texas. I will be watching this virtually since travelling to Houston won't be economic, and it's not helpful for the environment or my workmates. Here is the website

This forum is going to talk about what I love about nanotechnology. It's a hot topic in the scientific world and world academic experts will be there. Nanotechnology is about the controlling matter at a molecular level. Being able to control matter at a really really small scale is opening up a range of opportunities that could further help the company meet rising energy demand. Already, we're is seeing projects here in Australiasia benefiting from the nano-engineering of conventional metals, composites and other materials. For example it means we can drill ever deeper, work at greater depth offshore, and lay pipe safely in extreme conditions. The forum will discuss further opportunities as well as the direction the science could go in the coming years.

What is Nanotechnology?
There are several definitions of nanotechnology. To choose one, according to the National Nanotechnology Initiative, “Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications.” One nanometer equals one thousand millionth of a meter. There are three elements to this definition:
1) Size: materials or features that have at least one dimension in the range of 1 - 100 nm. As a comparison, to understand what one nanometer is, a human hair is approximately 50,000 nm thick, the HIV virus is 90 nm long and a DNA helix has a diameter of around 2 nm.
2) Unique phenomena: Ordinary materials (like gold or carbon) often show novel properties when reduced to the nanoscale. For instance, 12 nm gold particles do not have the typical gold colour; they are red. Other novel properties that some materials show at the nanoscale are higher strength, electrical conductivity and increased reactivity.
3) Novel Application: We talk about Nanotechnology, when the unique phenomena can be exploited in an application, in something useful. For instance: stronger and lighter composites, more sensitive sensors, faster electronics, etc.
Another common definition for nanotechnology is that nanotechnology is engineering at the molecular scale.
When was nano technology applied first?
The concept of nanotechnology can be traced back to 1959 when Richard Feynman from MIT gave a speech entitled “There's plenty of room at the bottom”. He put the idea forth of atom-by-atom construction. The word “nanotechnology” was first used by Norio Taniguchi in 1974 to refer to “production technology to get the extra high accuracy and ultra fine dimensions, i.e. the preciseness and fineness on the order of 1 nm (nanometer), 0.0000000001 meter in length”.
Nanotechnology as we understand it today, started taking shape in the 80's and the 90's with the development of new characterisation tools with atomic resolution and the discovery of new nanomaterials (fullerenes in 1985 and carbon nanotubes in 1991), which intrigued scientists due to their unique properties. Although some commercial products based on nanotechnology appeared during the 90's, commercial applications have started to spread faster only in recent years.
Health, Safety and Enviroment (HSE) - There is a lot of debate about the HSE implications of nanomaterials, but they are not all the same. Different nanomaterials might pose different HSE risks - as different chemicals do. As yet the limited research that exists is rather inconclusive, even contradictory. The nanotechnology group in Shell Westhollow Technology Center (WTC) has worked with the WTC HSE department and internal safety guidelines for the use of nanomaterials in Shell labs have been established. Extinction Level Scenarios such as a 'grey goo' will be far from occurring.

We won the Shield! Let's have a parade on Tuesday 23rd Sept at 12.45pm

2008-09-22T21:32:00.004+12:00

The heroic Wellington Lions – and the Ranfurly Shield - will be paraded before adoring Wellingtonians in a lunchtime parade along the Golden Mile on Tuesday 23 September 12.45pm. This parade will offer the perfect chance for us to welcome the Shield back after 26 years' absence - and pay tribute to the team. That game was one of the great tough Shield challenges - we overcame some terrible pressure from Auckland in the first half. By holding the parade on Tuesday, it'll just give us a little more time to get over the fact that the Shield is back in Wellington - and to prepare for a rousing reception. The Lion's match performance has ended 26 years of psychological torment in the Wellington region. I know we will be out in force on Tuesday and it'll be a parade to remember. In our heart of hearts we've always known the Lions are far and away the hardest and most entertaining provincial side in the country. Now the long dark years of paranoia and self-doubt are over. Life is good and we are content.

Man vs Walls

2008-09-20T22:22:00.007+12:00

This epic struggle explains why He made us what we make and do what we do. He is why we get out of bed every day - it's our prospect of creating pathways above, below, around and through walls. To start a connection between thousands of people and a world of ideas. He lifts up the smallest of us. And catapult the most audacious of us. But, most importantly, He connects all of us to the four corners of our own lives and to each other. To go on doing the little stuff, the big stuff, the crazy stuff and that ridiculously necessary stuff. On our own or together. This is more than our own self-effort we're talking about. It's an approach with faith. He's dedicated to fulfilling the purpose of life and to anything that might stand in the way of Him.

Today, more than one billion people worldwide have God as their interdependent sovereign Lord. Which is just another way of saying we have each other.

Prose based from this campaign here.

Shell World Article: Young hesitant to act on climate change

2008-09-19T18:16:00.005+12:00

By 2050 people will travel in flying cars, get much of their power from renewable energy and live a life of luxury in a world without borders.

That optimistic image of the future emerged from a survey of young adults in 27 countries worldwide. And while survey respondents believe their generation will have to adapt to rising sea levels and other effects of global warming, they are reluctant to make personal sacrifices that could help address the problem. More...

This is a fascinating article visiting the opinions of climate change from world young adults. I presume that young New Zealanders have differing opinions as well. Here in NZ, especially Wellington and Auckland, we have a hedonistic lifestyle, but we are still thoughtful about how we affect others around us. We still have a good outlook for the future, but that is affected by living in Godzone. Climate change is affecting NZ, but it looks like it affects mostly horticulture (e.g wine) and our power generation sectors since we're mainly powered by hydroelectricity which is dependant on rainfall levels. Tourism and other industries dependent on weather don't seem so much affected yet.

As a small nation, I wonder if we have actually made a difference to those not so materially rich too. What has history told us whether we've been effective with Fiji or Tonga, or East Timor? Has our environmentalism or conspicous-consumption affect those Pacific Islanders that are living in low-lying atolls?

Shell oil extraction and my old question into why fish don't freeze

2008-08-31T00:20:00.004+12:00

In 2002, I reviewed a special protein called AFGP in deep-sea fish. After a few more years in research and development, it is now being applied in the real world for improving offshore production of crude. By questioning why deep-sea fish did not freeze, my Shell workmates have came up with a solution to keep oil and gas moving along pipelines in very low temperatures at the bottom of the ocean. The answer was a AFGP that the fish produced and which our scientist workmates were then able to make a synthetic copy of.

In our deep-water projects, thousands of metres below sea level, temperatures are near freezing. Combined with the high pressure which is also present at these depths, oil congeals and ice-like hydrates form. And both these effects can block pipes. Companies solve this problem in a number of ways, and adding chemicals to prevent freezing is one traditionally used across the industry. But Shell’s approach, using a new additive based on AFGP, is proving to work better and more cheaply. Injected into the oil and gas as it is extracted, the synthetic additive can be used in far lower doses than other chemicals and have already saved millions of dollars in our projects in the Gulf of Mexico.

Shell World article: Delving deeper: unlocking offshore energy

Raybon Kan: It's all crazy at the Games

2008-08-22T14:49:00.005+12:00

My brother comedian wrote this. Quite compelling thoughts.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/4657433a25943.html

I know what you're thinking. Raybon, is that really you writing this? Or are you in act a cute seven-year-old girl with crooked teeth only pretending to be you? And it's not even like that girl's teeth were crooked in a bad way. They were crooked in a way that the First World finds charming.

Still, it's good the real singer finally gets the recognition she deserves. Imagine if she'd lived her whole life with that secret. Eventually nobody would believe her. And the girl out front, the girl who did the lip-syncing, will she grow into a bitter and twisted adult? Or will that happen to the other girl, the girl in the backroom, in the sweat shop, the Cinderella scarred by her country telling her at the age of seven she wasn't cute enough? I'm also curious to learn if the guy who blew the whistle continues to live at all. I predict he will be found dead after an earthquake. More...

When I am terminally ill and old

2008-08-17T21:28:00.008+12:00

A person from The Economist - an awesome weekly newspaper - wrote an article regarding looking into curing terminal illness for old people, and living in peace knowing that death is inescapable. It is here.

Here's what I quickly concluded for myself when I am old (like over 65) and terminally ill.

I do not want to be cured from a terminal illness that would only extend my life by say 3 years. That cure would be far too expensive, should I have to use my own money.
Instead I want to see that money more effectively invested into saving more people's lives. Those that are young and in poverty. I want to leave a positive impact, rather than spend all the money on treatment of myself.
So where do I want to see that money go to? Tear Fund or World Vision of course.
The other thing is that this is my choice. I won't judge how others use their money under similar circumstances, since it isn't right to compare my situation with another.

Biofuels and Cars

2008-04-15T21:26:00.004+12:00

This was a provoking cartoon by Mike Moreu. It resembles my thoughts about 'first generation' biofuels from unsustainable, energy-intensive food crops to fuel transport. Hunger and malnutrition are far more important problems to address than gas guzzling cars.

'Second generation' biofuels, such as sewage and waste cellulose, does not appear to have the same problems.

Another year

2008-01-31T00:08:00.000+13:00

It's going to be the best year yet.

Archive - The SFCC

2007-01-28T13:38:00.000+13:00

In the beginning, I classified some things about me under the three 'Smarts'. They were:

SmartCA also called Agpe
The Core Agent for Personal Effectiveness was about becoming a better person in character and personality.

SmartDS
Smart Development Solutions was about doing things better. The SF Acts 94 are part of a system for making actions more effective, and now this is incorporated into the work-DMS.

SmartEA
Smart Education Advancement was about the improvement of knowledge. The historical Education Advancement Schemes and Tripartite Action Plan are below.

The Genesis of the SFCC

In 1997, SmartEA, SmartDS, and Agpe was merged into the SFCC (Sam Fung Central Conglomeration) since there was much in common between the three. This is me viewed as a company rather than a person - a paradigm shift! The new SFCC shared a common foundation and vision. This vision was originally to achieve to a high level in the world marketplace. Due to high likelihood that this was not attainable, the SFCC pursued excellence in what it offered.

The DMS

There are two DMS. One is work orientated and the other is personal. The DMS are goals, outlines, plans and methods for the SFCC's internal character and external relationship. It incorporates or once had incorporated the following:

Time Management System (TMS)
New Years Resolutions
Strategic Plans
Education Advancement Schemes 2000-2003:

Week 12 Propositions (w12P)
Regulated Practise Restrictions, Rest and Relaxation (RPR3)
65 hour Average Study Programme
Semester Work Techniques

Tripartite Action Plan 1997-1999:

Strategic Initiatives for Advancement and Progress (ZAP)
ActiveSmart Exam Study Scheme (ASESS)
Final Scholastic Restoration Plan (FSRP) - example below

SF Acts 94

The Final Scholastic Restoration Plan [23/5/99]

This plan was the ultimate measure to increase academic productivity and attain academic advance. This plan was drawn since 1997 was a slow-down, 1998 was a flop. But in 1999 I was going to change the way I study. I wasted too much time in those bad years and since this year is my final year to do some good - I made this 'sort-of technical' plan that I will follow to improve my marks. It is called Final because this is my last plan before I go off to uni. It is very important for me to follow this plan because I need really high marks to get into Medical School. The other big words are all from the thesaurus. People who are going for such high levels but leave things to the last minute or are sometimes slack could adapt to this plan to help themselves improve. This whole thing may sound geekish but it is better than nothing to follow. Basically you can call it a study goal list.

A foremost increase in quality study time of at least one and a half hours a day
A substantially increased reading time on text books
Introduced supplementary note-taking of reading material
The completion of most exercise activities of material that has been learned
An increased study time towards the most difficult subject
Introduced end of week revision of class and home notes
An attempt of extension exercises from other text books
Extra-curricular activity work to be attempted after academic work
Assignments to be started after first week of hand-out
Assignments to be worked on at least once every two days
Tests to be revised at least one week before the test
Exam revision to commence six weeks before the exam
Extra exam revision for most difficult subject

Hopefully in 10 years time the SFCC will stay standing strong.

OOS is a pain in the fingers

2007-01-03T02:01:00.001+13:00

Midway through 2006, I developed some of the symptoms of OOS. That soreness and tingling feeling around my fingers from typing all those numbers into Excel.

I'll get straight to the point. More people should report their OOS or RSI or MTD, or more TLAs. When I first started, my job involved a lot of typing. I'm a fairly quick touch typist and use the number pad a significant amount of my time. After a while, I started to get some sensation in both my wrists and then it quickly spread to all my fingers. The feeling was stronger with on my right side. This had occurred before sporadically about five times a years on average. The past he use of my home computer but this time, the sensation did not go away by the next day. It is hard to describe this feeling. For me it was not painful, it didn't feel like pins and needles, and it didn't feel unbearably uncomfortable. So I went about my business, trying to ignore the warning signals my nerves were sending to my brain. Good thing I told my team leader and he got the OT onto it straight away. So now I try to do OOS exercises, but I usually forget. Now my arms, hands and fingers are feeling better.

My most-easily-memorable or favourites 'List' of the past few months

2006-10-07T13:06:00.000+13:00

Interests: Everything, Movies, Comedy, Dancing, Hiking, Watching sports, Travel, Cellular Biology, History, Technology, Computers, Science Fiction, Games, Business Development, Cars Information Books

Music: New Zealand Billboard 40 Singles

Movies: Braveheart, Back to the Future, Terminator II, Shrek

TV: Top Gear, Lost, BBC News

Books: New Zealand Atlas, Bob the Big Bible Brute, Study Bible, Bible Handbook, Oxford English Dictionary, Managing Projects

Heroes: Queen Elizabeth I, Benjamin Franklin, Sir Peter Buck, Albert Einstein, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bill Gates, Dad

Quote: Yes, I've heard. Kills men by the hundreds. And if HE were here, he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his arse.

Planned Trip to China in 2006

2006-04-04T12:51:00.000+12:00

There are over one and half billion and ethnic Chinese people which represents a large proportion of the world population. This size stems from its age as the oldest surviving civilisation. It is a nation with an extensive and diverse history. China is under a new enlightenment from the Dark Ages of 1930s through to 1980s. Now it is having a profound impact on international affairs in the third millennium, and I do not think that this effect will subside anytime this decade. In regards to business developments, it was logical for me to further explore the potential impact of Chinese global affairs - economically and geopolitically especially how it would confront New Zealand in the long term.

For this life experience and 'discovery', I have organised an informal yet crucial insight tour. Preliminary planning during the next few months will establish areas in my family life that will require further and better exploration. This fact-finding research cannot be done in New Zealand. The primary motivation for this tour is to add value to my personal development. This currently needs to be strengthened, in order that my identity can be better understood and characterised. I plan that the tour will occur in the third quarter of 2006. Significant factors such as weather, costs, time availability, security and preparatory readiness will be in favour for this time period.

Preliminary agenda places of interest are those within the Pearl River delta region such as Hong Kong SAR, Guangzhou, Shenzhen; and East Coast metropolises of Shanghai and Beijing. Many places in Beijing are consider World Heritage by United Nations, so this place will have much to offer. Other significant places include Great Wall and possibly more inner regions.

Oxburgh discusses climate change at Shell

2006-03-30T21:53:00.000+12:00

I was blessed yesterday to have a question up with Lord Ron Oxburgh yesterday. He was down to earth in his approach and he utilised an impeccable chorus of words to describe us his well researched opinions regarding global climate change. Most people already agree that climate change is inevitable or even occurring on this planet. However no-one can predict the degree of its effects of this phenomenon to human civilisation in this century. He said we do need to do something about it now, even though we many not agree on all the main details, the world has recognised that a small diversion in our culture of mostly unsustainable consumption has to change.

What can we do with the carbon emissions which most scientists agree has an effect on global temperatures? Lord Oxburgh discussed about carbon sequestration. This means to pile carbon dioxide units below the earth's deep surface. We can not only just sequester carbon through geologic ways but also from, my favourite, a microbiological means using highly reproductive photosynthetic algae. Reduction of carbon dioxide can also occur with utilising terrestrial carbon. The most promising way is to utilise enzymatic processes to digest useless organic matter such as household waste and coal to fuel like petrol.

All that talk brought me of back to the good old days of biochemistry and microbiology. It's awesome my degree was finally linked with an energy company.

Blogging by Workers and Blogging Rules

2006-03-27T22:51:00.000+12:00

I have blogged for quite a while now in one form or another, but it was specifically for a social or exploratory basis. This blog will be more serious but still comfortable. Blogging is already quite popular worldwide among millions people, interest groups and even companies. Strangely it seems like the blogging phenomenon hasn?t reached the majority of New Zealand people or companies.

The idea of everyday workers blogging for a company or organisation is really the interesting. My first impression was that too many company going-ons or secrets would effortlessly escape by over-chatty workers. Many people seem to speak their mind so readily on the faceless WWW, so when blogging from a corporate outlet they may blunder. This could lead to a PR nightmare and the worst thing than getting fired is being liable for the collapse of a company and hundreds of workmates losing their livelihoods. Just a little unintended slip of the tongue could bring about a calamity.

Corporate blogging like any other communication tool has it rules. It is still quite early days for the universal business conventions to be set as rock. A company blogger will face evolving rules and guidelines for the next few years as the world gets used to the blogging scene. In one year it maybe encouraged to blog about departmental activities, like blogging I feel tired today, but the next year this maybe shunned. For the meantime, I think it is important to take a cautious approach and I believe a general rule to blogging for workers is to treat it as writing a corporate postcard open to the world. So I think workers should not write anything opinionated contrary to company direction even through an intricate mask of careful sarcasm. The returns for risking an audacious blog are not worthwhile for most workers.

I hope that my blog will be interesting and I envision my thoughts will be of some use. I encourage you the reader to make comments but regrettably I won?t reply to all because replying can take up lots of time.

Here?s for a flourishing future! Cheers.

Cold day for starting out

2006-03-03T17:50:00.000+13:00

Yesterday Wellington was battered by an Antarctic southerly which probably cancelled a lot of public events. Wind, rain and small bullets of hail dropped itself on my home's corrugated roof producing metallic tap dancing above my head. I had to cancel my planned long walk/jog through Wellington City from the Botanical Gardens to Island Bay. This was going to be a four hour workout for the old pumper, but instead I hibernated in bed till the afternoon. It was freezing like hell, so I ignited the computer and signed up to MySpace for the first time.
So far I have no friends there right now, and the nearly everyone in my Gmail address book doesn't use this site. Perhaps I'll just wait and see.

Doing the Northern Walkway in work clothes

2006-01-18T14:49:00.000+13:00

Yesterday, I walked home in my work clothes along most of the Northern Walkway. Starting at 5.30pm from the Big Oil HQ at Queens Wharf, to major Tinakori Road/Karori Intersection... Through the Town Belt, into Wadestown Village, then Trelissick Park, onto the Ngaio/Khandallah/Crofton Downs Main Road. Then into Cummings Park and saw a dodgy ugly sculpture. The stone thing was a 'Gift' to Ngaio. Why not just put a sculpture of a giant fruit or Ngaio tree or a scallop shell.

Then the outside signs outside Cummings Park went crazy and pointed me to Skyline walkway but Awarua St was very unclear that I walked up that road for 15 minutes and turned back because I didn't think I was going anywhere. That was a huge waste of time. I got a burger from Ngaio Takeaways to feed my hunger and it was my only food.

I decided to go to Mt Kaukau from the entrance of Khandallah Pool after walking 30 mins along the Main Road again. That uphil track from the Pool took a weewhile and by 8.30pm I was on the exposed places of the hills with a strong ferocious wind just chilling my non-covered head. There were signs back to J'ville and although they were tempting to sidetrack, I told myself to go up the mountain. So by 9.00 I made it and just missed the sunset but the views were good. Didn't know it was private land. The brightest thing I saw in the twilight was the bright yellow Shell Crofton Downs station, really strange eh.

Then I made my way back home by going through the tussock farms which were not officially part of any council path. It was quite dark by that time, so I ran alot just like Gimli, Aragorn and Orlando looking for Frodo & Samuel. The wind was ever so strong that people can just curl up and die - just like Antarctic explorers. The atmosphere was bleak.

Made it onto Mcclintock Road and shortcut to my place along the undeveloped Old Coach Road path and via Flinders Landfill Park to My House. Now I know the path direct to Mt Kaukau from My House. I used to look all over with my brother for a path to Kaukau (without using the Trescott St entrance) from the Old Coach Road area but all I use to see was gorse. I calculate it will only take 30 - 45 minute normal walking to Mt Kaukau from My House. That's really close.

I got home very dehydrated, windswept and with dirty/sweaty work clothes. Leather shoes had scraped away 1mm of sole. Had a small left-over dinner and took a shower (that maybe unusual to you but that's the Chinese way - i.e. taking showers at night). I can't imagine the non-Chinese: going to bed in work clothes all dirty and sweaty. I wasn't tired so went to bed late again.

I wish I had a digital camera to prove all this.

Learning stuff and blogging

2005-12-29T23:20:00.000+13:00

I'm a passive web user. I do not write or contribute much because I prefer to read other people's opinions and learn from current events. I decide on where I stand by reading than typing. In real life I listen to people more than express my opinions, because I am not a confrontational person. I don't really post questions on forums or blogs but when I do need to know something I use Google or Wikipedia. This is the way I learn on the internet. For me the internet is far more a information tool than a social tool. It's probably why I don't write on this blog much.