世界盃八強

終於來到世界盃八強競賽，11pm阿根廷對德國，開波了........

Vocabulary

indiscernible
impossible to see, see clearly, or understand
看不清楚的；不容易見的
Example: an indiscernible change/shape/reason

QE 超聲波

等到頸也長了，今天終於到QE照超聲波。醫院的儀器的確比診所的好，影像較清晰，頭身手腳都看得很清楚，不過，政府醫生始終是政府醫生，怎樣也不肯說是男還是女。

其實，仔有仔的好，女有女的好，讓上天安排吧!

世界盃

今晚11:00p.m.巴西對加納，明天又請了假，可以放心看畢全場了!

結婚一週年

結婚一週年了，作為新婚實習生的我，覺得自己仍有很多不足之處。回望過去一年，總算樂多於苦。好......繼續報導澳門之旅：

氹仔格蘭酒店：早餐自助餐。
瑪嘉烈：吃新鮮葡tart。
身份証明局：補交文件。
聖羅撒女子中學：簡單參觀。
社會保障基金：查詢。
社會工作局：查詢。
消防博物館：有很多歷史介紹。
黃枝記粥粉麵：午膳，麵條很彈牙。
邊度有書：環境很舒適，背景音樂好好聽。
世記咖啡： 凍奶茶是由雪櫃冷凍，並非加冰。
聖厄俾爾修院 ：純粹外望。
Lemon Gelato ：食好味軟雪糕。
盧家大屋：望門興嘆。
大利來：食豬扒飽，水準沒有變。
文記餅家：買香芋老婆餅。
氹仔格蘭酒店：拿回行李。

回港後晚膳於香港澳洲牛奶公司。

澳門之旅

為了慶祝我們的結婚一週年紀念，今日我們到了澳門，會玩至明日 (即結婚週年正日)。今日行程有：
1. 漁人碼頭：觀光，有歐陸feel，但遊人很少，有待發展。
2. 船屋：午膳，有水準葡菜。
3. 氹仔格蘭酒店：check-in，放低行李，休息。
4. 法老王娛樂場：地方有特色，無端端入左會，無賭錢，玩了15圓角子機。
5. 聖奧斯定教堂：望門興嘆。
6. 三元粥店：晚膳，手造豬肉丸好好味。
7. 新口岸：原意到Mickey主題餐廳飲o野，最後滿座走人。
8. 金沙娛樂場：無賭錢，飲free drink。

Baby talk

Attended a talk sponsored by a milk powder company. The doctor explained how medicine would affect a pregnant woman. Quite useful. The doctor's presentation skill was good, his speed of speech was not fast at all (I should learn this)!

Burberry

There are only 2 days left before our 1st wedding anniversary. Today Ceci bought me a Burberry shirt with blue stripes as the annivsersary gift. Yeah....I love it. Will wear it when I deliver a talk in July.

阿正結婚

今晚飲阿正的結婚酒，其實是補請的結婚酒，他上年在Toronto結婚，今日只是補請香港的親友。阿正這個表弟，我可謂由小看到大，雖然說不上很熟，但看到他現在大個仔，成家立室，我也很高興!

Shift duty (Cont'd)

Continue to work shift today, the morning shift from 7:45 am to around 1 pm. And then the night shift from 9:45 pm to around 8 am tomorrow morning. So........work and sleep engaged all my time today. Fortunately, weather is not so bad......

Shift duty

At first I think that it will be an easy shift since the weather is quite good. However, many unexpected tasks flooded in..........made me come back at 10:30 p.m. Poor..........

輕鬆寫意

六時左右放工，會合剛買好菜的老婆，回到家中睡一睡充電，醒來老婆已準備好晚飯，邊看日劇邊吃飯，極速把碗碟洗好，和老婆上網看看週末到哪裡玩，到現在才10點，還有很多時間剩。如此輕鬆寫意的生活，我喜歡。

相提並論

上次隔鄰部組發放的Press Release沒有邀請外人說一兩句好話，並不構成今次我們部組發放Press Release也不邀請外人的理由。兩件event性質不同，前者是自己成功研製新儀器，難找人家代說好話，後者是推出供市民使用的產品，值得有人從用家角度說一番話。

所以，要舉案例支持，必須找合適的、能夠相提並論的。

父親節

今天是父親節，在早上的彌撒中，神父叫所有父親上前接受祝福，我首次以準父親的身份站起來，排隊走到祭台前，心情既開心又興奮。似乎天主要提醒我已經改變了身份，以後又多一份責任了!

正常發展

等到頸也長了......終於周醫生回港，我們可以再覆診了。超聲波顯示寶寶一切正常，感謝天主!
是仔還是女?有待下回分曉了!

Stand-in

忙了一整天，終於完成了今天的工作，亦寫好Stand-in的handover note，待下星期老闆回來交待過去數天公司發生的事情! 現在輕輕鬆鬆，迎接週末的來臨!

More on Press Release

More to come about press release, from http://www.press-release-writing.com/10_essential_tips.htm :

1. Make sure the information is newsworthy.
2. Tell the audience that the information is intended for them and why they should continue to read it.
3. Start with a brief description of the news, then distinguish who announced it, and not the other way around.
4. Ask yourself, "How are people going to relate to this and will they be able to connect?"
5. Make sure the first 10 words of your release are effective, as they are the most important.
6. Avoid excessive use of adjectives and fancy language.
7. Deal with the facts.
8. Provide as much Contact information as possible: Individual to Contact, address, phone, fax, email, Web site address.
9. Make sure you wait until you have something with enough substance to issue a release.
10. Make it as easy as possible for media representatives to do their jobs.

Press Release

Guidelines on writing a good press release: http://www.nsti.org/press/prtips.html

I extracted some of the main points:

Is your news "newsworthy"?
The purpose of a press release is to inform the world of your news item. Do not use your press release to try and make a sale. A good press release answers all of the "W" questions (who, what, where, when and why), providing the media with useful information about your organization, product, service or event. If you read your press release and it reads like an advertisement, rewrite it.

Start strong
Your headline and first paragraph should tell the story. The rest of your press release should provide the detail. You have a matter of seconds to grab your reader's attention. Do not blow it with a weak opening.

Not everything is news
Your excitement about something does not necessarily mean that you have a newsworthy story. Think about your audience. Will someone else find your story interesting? This is a common problem. Let's assume that you have just spent a lot of effort launching a new online store. Announcing your company's opening is always an exciting time for any business, but the last thing the media wants to write about is another online store. This is old news and uninteresting. Instead, focus on the features of your online shopping experience, unique products and services. Answer the question? Why should anyone care? (Avoid cliches such as "customers save money" or "great customer service".) Focus on the aspects of your news item that truly set you apart from everyone else.

Economy of words
Use only enough words to tell your story. Avoid using unnecessary adjectives, flowery language, or redundant expressions such as "added bonus" or "first time ever". If you can tell your story with fewer words, do it. Wordiness detracts from your story. Keep it concise. Make each word count.

Beware of jargon
While a limited amount of jargon will be required if your goal is to optimize your news release for online search engines, the best way to communicate your news is to speak plainly, using ordinary language. Jargon is language specific to certain professions or groups and is not appropriate for general readership. Avoid such terms as "capacity planning techniques" "extrapolate" and "prioritized evaluative procedures".

你有壓力，我有壓力，顧客也有壓力

美國紐澤西州的一家本田汽車（Honda）經銷商，將賞車經驗娛樂化，去年總共賣出三千三百輛新車，是本田所有經銷商平均銷售量的三倍以上。經銷商的店面裡，有一面像牆一樣大的放映區，播放著公司最新車款的影片，另外，上門的顧客也可以坐進大型的模擬機中，感受一下駕駛某款新車的感覺。
正因為賞車有如娛樂，該經銷商決定拿掉顧客心中的壓力。當顧客走進店中參觀時，店員會先詢問顧客是否需要任何幫忙，如果顧客回答：「不用了，我只是看一看。」店員會在顧客的衣領上貼一張黃色的笑臉，上面寫著「只是看看」，只要看到這張貼紙，其他的店員就不會再來打擾顧客。
這家經銷商透過這個做法，先降低顧客的防衛，讓他們有充份的時間好好參觀店裡的車款，之後等到顧客主動把貼紙撕下來時，他們通常都已經有了較高的意願要購買車子。
(擇自EMBA電子報)

逆境波代表作

今晚世界盃剛上演了一場澳洲對日本的賽事，日本在上半場先開紀錄，直至完下半場前6分鐘仍然以1:0領先。出乎意料之外，澳洲在第84分鐘成功反擊，拉至打和的局面。故事還未說完，在89分鐘，澳洲再下一城，以2:1反超前。日本全軍覆沒，兵敗如山倒，在補時階段再慘痛失多一球！最後，澳洲以3:1大勝日本。

日本在1:0的時候不能乘勝追擊，失敗！ 澳洲在逆境中仍能奮戰至最後一刻，反敗為大勝，充分表演打逆境波的精神！

English sayings

Came across some interesting English sayings these few days:

Smell a rat - To recognize that something is not as it appears to be or that something dishonest is happening
Example: He's been working late with her every night this week - I smell a rat!
Origin: It comes from the days when rats were common pests and carriers of disease. Dogs were prized for their ability to smell out and destroy them. A dog which began to sniff around might well have smelt a rat, and this idea was transferred to a person who was suspicious of something.


Face the music - To accept criticism or punishment for something you have done.
Example: After he was caught with the stolen goods, he had to face the music.
Origin: One theory suggests that the saying comes from the theatre, where nervous actors must literally face the music when the curtain goes up. Others think that the origin is military and based on the drumming out ceremony that accompanied dishonourable discharge.

女傭 (二)

日前談過有關僱用女傭的問題，今天有補充。事緣今天下午我們到了另一間女傭中心，獲得多一些資料，有一些新的看法。之前認為僱用現時正在香港工作但合約快將到期的女傭，好處是之前我們能夠和她面對面交談，有助我們作出精明選擇。可是，在香港工作已有一段時間的女傭會比較難管教，因為她們可能已經養成一些難戒除的陋習，加上之前已經賺了一些錢，對於新工的得失未必看得太著緊，自然不太怕僱主。

似乎還有很多關於僱用女傭的學問，有機會日後再談。

熱水爐

無緣無故，家中的熱水爐昨夜失靈，害得Ceci要用冷水淋浴。Shell的維修人員今天下午來過，花了半個小時，只證明了不是熱水爐的問題，而是浴室裡的入牆電線出現問題，所以問題未解決!未解決!未解決!(引用巴士阿叔名言)

最後，我們要再叫另一個水電師傅上來，花了大約2小時，重新鋪了一條明線，才解決了問題!

QE

前日母嬰健康院轉介我們今天到QE，一心以為可以免費照照超聲波，怎知又再量血壓、磅體重、度身高及驗小便 (前日不是統統做過嗎?) ! 最搞笑的，就是要人9點開始登記，但10點半醫生才出現，中間的時間便靠剛才提到達的「 驗這個量那個」及聽講座去打發時間，幸好，那個講座的內容是我們之前未聽過的，是有關照顧初生嬰兒，尚算有用。最後見醫生，她說要照超聲波，但要排期，即是今天無得照! Oh! My God! 幸好........我們有Uncle周! 哈哈哈!

再談 Sudoku

這幾天多玩了Sudoku，掌握多了一點心得，可是亦發現自己常常因為不小心的緣故，導致困局的出現，最後只有放棄，可惜...可惜...!

可怕的檢查

今天老婆首次到母嬰健康院檢查，起初是量血壓、磅體重、度身高及驗小便，由於我申請的Time-off只有2小時，所以提早離開，怎知..........之後由醫生來檢查，做的是盤腔檢查，據老婆描述，過程非常可怕兼痛苦，那種感受非筆墨所能形容! 老婆，苦了您了!

廣東話

今天上了一堂有關口語技巧的堂，一開始便教廣東話的不同聲調和一些容易讀錯的字，原來身為以廣東話為母語的我 (與及其他同學)，也未能夠準確地讀對一些常用字，例如「五」或「午」字要帶有鼻音，「光」不同「剛」...... 究竟這是學校的錯，還是社會的錯？

vocabulary - contemplate

contemplate
To spend time considering a possible future action, or to consider one particular thing for a long time in a serious and quiet way.
Example:
I'm contemplating going abroad for a year.
You're not contemplating a change of job, are you?

女傭

今天到某女傭介紹所進行面試，感覺是菲比印好，成熟一點較後生好，有經驗湊初生嬰兒比沒有的好。綜觀以上各點，今天還是選不到合適的，需要再等另一批。

Mi Dou

巴士阿叔

巴士阿叔這件事，隨著所有人物曝光後，神秘感已失去了，再加上香港人的善忙本性，相信很快便沒有人會再報導這件事了。

Baker's dozen

There is an interesting phrase "Baker's dozen" which means 13, not 12. Why? Please see here.
Key to success: When you perform a task, do something extra (especially something unexpected to your boss/client)!