2nd, 3rd & 4th Day in Mindef

2nd day in Mindef was especially awful for me coz i was bombarded with tons of things to do from my mem. I had to do computer reports of all sorts, file documents for many regulars and photostat many pieces of paper. The computer reports were the worst as i don't really know what she asked me to do and had to ask many times before knowing exactly what she wanted. The correct template had to be fished out from thousands of documents in the different computer drives. Extracting info from the case file was really quite hard too. We had to flip through many pages before finding a small part of what we needed to type in the report. After that, we still have to make some Christmas props. I was totally stressed out and demoralised after being bombarded with many things that i have little knowledge of doing. I was thinking about life back in 3 Guards when all we did was eat, sleep and watch tv during the battalion lull period. We did not have to pay for our meals, have a comfortable bed to lie on, can play my gameboy freely, can play my music whenever i want and do not have to waste money on transport costs. I did overtime until 6 pm that day coz of the amount of work piled on our shoulders. I headed to Causeway point to buy a Christmas gift for our department's Christmas celebration on Fri. We will be going to an officer's condo near Mindef to have a celebration. A skit will be performed, some games will be organised and refreshments will be provided. But the bad thing is that we have to reach there at 7.30 am, that means i have to wake up at 6.20 am, sian. Have been really lacking sleep these few days, always sleep on the bus until someone wakes me up.

3rd day in Mindef is rather enjoyable coz my mem was clearing leave and not around. I completed the reports mem had assigned me to do the day before in the morning and was doing them in peace which is the more efficient way for me. Got nothing much to do after that and approached Benjamin, my department's most hardworking NSF for work to do. He had to do so many things that i think 3 people would be the more appropriate number to finish his load of work. I was happily sorting a thick pile of documents waiting to be filed to the various personal files. I completed them within quite a short time and demanded more work from Ben. He was really thankful for my help and i was really happy to be useful in my new environment. I mainly did filing and paperwork which are much easily to do than the computer reports. Sent some emails for him too. Went back on time on Wed at 5.30 sharp finally after 2 days of overtime. Was watching Amazing Race at night and did not have time to write all these.

4th day in Mindef was less stressful although my mem was not on leave today. She was bombarding work to me as usual but i have a much clearer picture of what she wanted. A busier day compared to yesterday but my stress has gone down to tolerable levels. Had to despatch some files to Chief of Army office and G2 army, went to a building 500m away get my SAF card password for my computer account, typed many reports and did some filing. I do not like to stay in the office for a long period of time so did not mind going to different places. Although i have many things to do, i was more at ease with the office system and have a clearer picture of what to expect. My mem is a really nice woman although her instructions are always unclear and likes to ask people to help her do work. We were laughing uncontrollably after i misspelled a superior's name to be Pow, instead of Pao and imagined her as a Prisoner Of War. Lian Guo was on MC today and was not able to share my workload, but i was perfectly fine with it. Had a huge list of things to do next Monday too. Went off slightly late today and met my JC friends at night for some late Christmas shopping. We spent most of the time talking instead of genuinely looking for gifts. Walking along the extremely packed Orchard road did not help our progress too. We left at around 11 pm and my good friend Derrick sent me home. CTE was jammed for a short while. I'm gonna be extremely tired next day. Have to wake up at 6.20 am when it's close to 2 am now.