Freedom from Discipline

dis·ci·pline (dĭs'e-plĭn) -
Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement.

Self-discipline comes from our own self-enlightened interest, and what it does is form habits. In the corporate coaching world, it takes several months for coachees to drop unproductive habits, and to form new, useful habits. But before we even get that far, a more fundamental issue needs to be resolved - are we climbing the right mountain? In the quest for something we think can bring us joy and fulfilment, are we doing something that simply isn't aligned our higher purpose? Perhaps some of us are like the decathlete, a great all-rounder, but believing we need to pursue the path of another to achieve fulfilment and satisfaction.

When discipline seems like a joyless force in our lives, we need to consider if the actual faults of the discipline and routines are in our own self-interest. If eating healthily is good for us, as is exercise, we might need to consider if our resistance to it is because we haven't imagined an exciting future where we are living a quality life in fit, healthy bodies. This could well be the cause of our reluctance to conform to the discipline needed to shape great, healthy bodies - we haven't created exciting enough futures.

A climber knows that all the hard work will pay off in a gloriously executed climb. A climber does not seek danger or suffering, but accepts this is the price to pay for the moments of ecstatic self-actualisation upon completing the climb, or sharing these moments with like-spirited individuals. A climber doesn't have a 'death wish' but a 'life wish' - a wish to discover the deepest potential in his capabilities. In that sense, each climber has a higher purpose which transcends the mundaneness of daily living. We have our own destinies to design, and our own mountains to climb. Before the discipline of doing things, we need to be disciplined to find our what our destiny will be or should be. Freedom follows.

Freedom from discipline is the best discipline to cultivate, because our passion makes even the task like a pre-dawn run seem desirable, or at worst, a practical habit we actually like somewhat, we get meaningful results. What we can learn and should apply are:

- A habit of asking if what we do is aligned with our higher goals in life
- A habit of seeking clarity in why we are doing what we are doing
- A habit of doing what we need to do to get to where we want to go

Acquiring right habits is an easy discipline - if you can find alignment with higher goals first.

Training so far ..

I haven't been conscientiously recording my training so far .. I thought I'd put it up here so at least I've got a record. It's nothing to shout about, but it's something for me. :) Since I didn't record everything, here's what I can remember ..

The one that started it all,
Climbing Gunung Panti, Johor, Malaysia, 531m above sea level (Bt. Timah Hill is only 163m .. Haha) 5/5/07

Misc runs and swims for 2 wks after that ...

22/5/07 40min run - 5km - avg. heart rate, 172bpm

24/5/07 30min run - 4kim - avg. heart rate, 166bpm, 40min swim

26/5/07 8km Inline skating - avg heart rate, 169bpm.

28/5/07 40min run - 5km - avg heart rate, 163bpm

Home Team SO Promotion 2007

Went for the Ministry of Home Affairs Senior Officers' Promotion Ceremony tonight.

The one thing that amazed me was how "easy" it was to get everyone to keep quiet and pay absolute attention. Most of the highest ranking officers in the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) were present including Chief of Staff, Senior Assistant Commissioner Soh Wai Wah and Permanent Secretary Mr Benny Lim just to name a few.

All the MC needed to say was, 'Ladies and gentlemen, may we have your attention. Minister of Home Affairs is now in the building.'

In an instant, all conversation ceased and everyone went back to their seats from catching up with old friends and chatting with colleagues.

What amazed me was, the minister was not even in the room yet. In fact, he was scheduled to have a cocktail reception and enter the room in about half an hour, but for that period of time, except for working personnel, most of the Senior Officers in the room sat at their seats and conversation was kept at a minimum. At the end of the ceremony, no one left until the minister left. In fact, you could see people rushing off after Minister left. I could see how much of a hurry they were in, but following protocol, they didn't leave till the guest of honour left.

Now, you say, why am I talking about all this? Well, it always amazes me how important PEOPLE can have such a huge effect on huge crowds, and I can't help but wonder why people can't show the same reverence and respect when they attend church. :) I mean, it's God's house after all, and we're suppose to have fellowship with Him, so why do people still use their handphones and talk among themselves in church? Why do people come late to church? Why do people still leave early from church? What protocol are we following? I'm baffled ....



Anyway .. coming back to the ceremony, the food was pretty good. :) Here are some pictures to whet your appetite.

Smoke Salmon Rosettes, Citrus Scallop
& California Crab Cake














Cream of Asparagus














Baked Chicken Ballantine filled w/ Foie Gras & Forest Mushroom Duxelles,Tarragon Reduction














Seared Lemon Salted Salmon Fillet w Basil Pesto & Tomato Salsa














Manuka Honey & Coconut Bavarois

New sport .

Ok, so far, I've been running, swimming and cycling (in the gym). Went skating at ECP on Saturday and I realised that In-line skating is actually a great workout sport too.

Needless to say, it's a great cardio exercise, but on top of that, it helps build your balance, especially when you're tired, but still gotta balance - if you know what I mean .. :) It trains your coordination when you're tired which is what most athletes need. It also builds a lot of your core muscles and little muscles you seldom use when cycling or running.

On top of it all, it's FUN!! I'm gonna incorporate skating into my training - CROSS-training. :)

Now, it's time to get new wheels for my skates! :)I found 2 wheels on mine snapped in half when I took them out last week - probably cos I haven't touched them for too long. :(

People

I seriously don't understand people. I'm just so frustrated. Why do people have to pass comments on everything not done by them? In the first place, why didn't they go ahead and do it?

I also don't understand how leaders can assume their roles and not lay a finger on anything and only pass comments AFTER people have finished doing the work. Oh well, they're just people, just like me, and I don't think many people understand me too .. :)

They must be thinking the same thing about me when they see me all worked up and frustrated, why is Jeremy so upset?? Well, that comes in an entirely different post.

HAHA ... and they say Men can never understand women. Well, I say 'People can never understand people.'

A trip into the forest ..

Just finished sorting and uploading photos from my last trip, this time to Selai, Endau Rompin National Park, Johor, Malaysia.

Here are the photos, I'll add comments later. :)

CRASH!!

Went up to Selai, Endau Romping National park last weekend. Met with an accident on the way - the guy behind was driving really fast and couldn't stop in time. Heard a LOUD screech and BANG!!

Thank God no one was hurt - that experience taught me one important lesson - if you can, always drive a 4x4. Here's why -




As you can see, the Proton was SMASHED up. The Ford Ranger we were in didn't get a scratch. :) That dent you see on the bumper is an old dent from the owner bumping into a dust bin while reversing. How ironic. HAHA.

I wonder what would happen if it was another make - maybe a Toyota or even a Renault? OK, maybe I don;t wanna find out. :)

What exactly do you see??

Many people have asked me why I like "Looking at the stars" so much ... No one seems to understand the beauty of it all .. :) So, to answer everybody, here's just an example of what I see. ALL these photos were taken in Singapore with my telescope:

Tri? Try!

OK, I've made up my mind. I'm gonna complete a Triathlon. When? I don't know yet - I don't even know when the next race is gonna be. But once I hear of a triathlon to sign up for, I'm gonna register immediately. I'll probably do a Sprint distance as a start.

In the mean time, to pave my training, I'm aiming to finish my first 10km race in July, and then do the Army half marathon after that. I've gotta build up my base fitness now .. :)

The beauty in "Tri-ing" is you compete against yourself. I wanna race against my mind, I wanna beat it, I wanna bring myself to where I never thought I could go. I'm gonna train and race with my old mountain bike, run in my shorts and COTTON T-shirt. I don't care. I'm not competing against that guy with that Italian Tri Bike and Dri-Fit all over, I'm competing against MYSELF!

Paradigm Shift!

Who is the real Jeremy??

After so long, I've decided to re-open this blog. I can't believe more than a year has passed since my last entry. I think I've let the last 2 years slip through my hands. I've been working hard and doing so many things - work(NS), teaching music, performing, church - yet I've not been working to leave a legacy. I've not done things for the future, I've been doing things for the now. Recent events have opened my eyes to who I really am and what I really wanna do. I wanna live in my passion. I wanna see my dreams come true.
After 2 trips to Malaysia in the last 2 weeks, I can now FULLY understand what John Eldredge means when he say that boys grow up to be men who are Wild at Heart. Where's my passion? Where's my heart? It's time to get Wild!
For 2 years I lived a life I tried to like, in fact, I thought I liked it. I thought that was it, that is how I'm gonna live my life from now. Little did I know God would open my eyes in such a dramatic way! Dreams I had as a little boy, adventures encountered as a youth and people who shaped my life all came rushing back to me in the last 4 weeks. It's time for a change, a change in perception, a change in my life, time for a Paradigm Shift!!

So, which is the real Jeremy?

C8 Mounting Screws

C8 Mounting screws to check whether the dovetail I want is suitable for my OTA.
The top image is the rear with 2 allen screws approximately 2.1/2.2" apart.
The bottom is the front of the OTA with a single allen screw in the centre.

7x35 and 12x50 Comparison

I took my 7x35s and 12x50s out tonight just to see the difference and to see if I'll be happy with the 7x35s.

First thing I noticed was the much much much less shake in the 7x binos. 2nd thing, it was light enough for me to feel the difference when I picked up my 12x50 which tired me after just 5mins of pointing up.

In terms of stars, the bigger FOV in the 7x showed me the "shapes" of the star patterns better making it easier to star hop. In the 12x the FOV was obviously smaller but still good enough for me to recognise shapes with a 5mag star map - I just needed to recognise a smaller section at a time.

In the 12x, the stars were obviously much brighter and sharper to the edge which of course means I could see more stars. In the 7x, stars were of course dimmer and I could only make out the few brigher stars in my area.

In a more practical test, a 5.66 star(Yale2565) was easily seen with the 12x50s while it was hardly discernible in the 7x35s and only seen because I knew it was there and looking for it. I would have missed it if I were just casually looking at that area. Neighbouring star (Yale2566) at 6.16 was almost invisible to the 7x while pretty much quite obvious in the 12x.
A 7 mag star nearby was lost in the 7x while the 12x could still detect it. (Yes, I've got really light polluted skies!!)

Overall, I find the 7x35s are very good binos for star hopping and learning the constellations and positions of the major stars. It is of course much better for casual handheld viewing.
The 12x50s are better for seeing a little more detail in the the constellations and actually seeing and hunting for things like star clusters and stuff which the 7x might now show.

For me, I'll probably bring the 7x35s out when I wanna learn about the constellations and for casual viewing. The 12x50s will be a complement to my scope for me to roughly locate the object and see where it is (or the stars around it) before I use my telescope. For travel, I would probably bring the 12x50s as they show more detail in clusters and are closer to actually bringing a telescope (very much different but relatively closer, if you know what I mean). For travels when I bring my Megrez 80mm, the 7x35s would complement it better I guess. =)

Well, just a short comparison between the 2 ranges of binos I have. Please remember that besides specifications, the quality of the binos are very different. The 12x50s are the better ones with better coatings and mechanics which I actually paid for. The 7x35s are China made Olympus which my dad got for free when he bought a camera.

I think these 2 binos will work very well together to satisfy the different viewing needs of their owner. The next thing to do is to get a 20x80 to get slightly more detail and resolve more stars ... instead of using a telescope.

I'm starting to fall in love with Binocular astronomy!!

SVP Intelliscope "Second Light!!"

After my first light with the Intelliscope last night, I was so excited I told myself I had to go out again tonight.
Decided to drive about 45mins out to slightly darker skies and thank God the skies were clear!! Only sad thing was the very very bright sky glow about 20deg in the East ...

So I set it up as usual, aligned everything and started my wonderful journey ...

Having not planned what to view that night, I used the Sky Tours provided by the COL. M51, M42, M41, M47 and alot more star clusters I can't remember all came within the FOV of my 25mm EP. (I neglected to bring my journal cos all I wanted was to check out how the COL worked and to do some Star testing/collimation ... )

Here's the wonderful thing, of the MANY star clusters I saw tonight, I don't think I would have found half of them if I had used my 8x50 RACI finder and RDF combo - when I looked into my finder AFTER looking through the EP (the weird reversal after getting a Push To device ... ) I couldn't see anything! Sometimes all I could see were just maybe 2-3 stars or maybe 5 at best I would not have thought that was a star cluster ... (That's how bad the light pollution is here in Singapore)

The only Nebula I found tonight was the Orion Nebula though (I've been looking at it every session since Nov... ) It looked beautiful tonight as it was the first time I was using my new (2 days old) UltraBlock AND Celestron OIII filter. It really jumped out at me with the OIII and I swear it was like someone turned up the dimmer to the Nebula although I know it's just the darkening of the background ... =)

No luck with the Crab Nebula, Californian Nebula and Eskimo Nebula though ... Never seen these before and couldn't find them with my 30mm(67x) EP even with my OIII on .... I might be using too low a magnification and the FOV might be too big for Nebulas ... I'm gonna try finding Nebulae exclusively tomorrow night ...

And now to the MOST BEAUTIFUL THING TONIGHT!! My wife who used to find coming out with the telescope too troublesome and tedious (although she loves naked eye and binocular astronomy) told me after the session that she couldn't wait to come back for more tomorrow!!!
It's the ease of pointing the scope and the fact that she could get involved in pushing the scope and "finding" the objects instead of waiting for me to find objects for her that gets her excited about the scope.
I foresee it's gonna be great for both of us! Another great thing is she's already asking me if they sell better accessory trays to place the COL and RA/DEC controller on and what EPs are good with certain things, which filter makes Saturn look better etc ... I'm gonna be able to buy so many more things now ... hee hee ...

On that note though, although objects were in view most of the time, they were not perfectly centred and were mostly off to one side in my FOV. It might be cos my mount was not properly polar aligned because the objects were off to the side that stars drifted to, =) So, it might still be my fault after all ...

This is one upgrade I really love and although I've been thinking of getting a beefier mount, I think I'm gonna keep this one just cos of the COL .... for now. Somehow I prefer the idea of a Push-To compared to a GOTO, I love the involvement.

Well, that's my SVP Intelliscope report for tonight and once again, I'm enjoying it more than ever. It's true - I saw more things in one night than Galileo in a lifetime ... =) In my case though, I see more things in one night than I ever would if I didn't have it to assist me.

SVP Intelliscope "First-Light"

Seeing that skies were clear, I brought my scope out just to see how well the COL works. I was pretty worried cos after making the DEC=0 mark, I actually took out the dovetail to add a washer to partially fix an RA axis problem.

After setting everything up, I aligned to DEC=0 ...Out came the message - "Thank you" .... Hmm, the Intelliscope's pretty polite - Just like Orion's Customer Service ...
Align Star 1 - Sirius, "Thank you" ...Align Star 2. Betelgeuse, "Thank you". DONE! (I was blocked from other bright stars so these western stars were all I could use at that time)
WARP FACTOR +38.1!!!!??? After trying to find my first object, it said "Encoder Error"

Aaahh .... the DEC encoder came lose ... so I did a quick Encoder test and pushed the encoder in .. DONE!
Did the whole alignment process, Warp factor +0.1 .... GREAT! =)

Oh no, I could see clouds coming in from all four sides, so I quickly tried to find a few items just to check the accuracy ...

M42, M41, M47 .... all came into the field of view ... even in my 25mm reticle EP.

Hmm .. there's a star just overhead ... wonder what that is(didn't bring any star charts), let's try the ID function .... "Searching .... " Prochyon" .... Cool!! Used it as the 3rd alignment star ... Warp Factor = -0.1 ... yay!

Saw Saturn just to the South Eastern sky, so I thought I'd try it. Enter Date, done. Saturn was not in the FOV of my EP but around the centre FOV in my 8x50 Finder (Keep in mind the 2 stars I used to align initially were both in the western sky and were very close together) .. so I centred it and used it as my 4th Alignment object. Warp Factor = -0.3 ... OK ...

Tried a few other stars, and they all came near the centre of my reticle EP. The clouds rolled in and I had to stop my session ....

I'm really happy with the Intelliscope! It's $200 well spent. Can't wait to try it out on another clear night with a wider sky area for me to move the scope. =)

Now with the COL working, I've gotta spend some time on my collimation, dew shield and a proper way to pack my scope and accesories ... =)

My Telescope ..

Been spending lots of time on Astronomy lately .. I guess it's one of those phases ... Still eagerly waiting for my Push-To Computerized Object Locator system to arrive .. it's taking ages ... And of course that pair of Nebula Filters that are supposed to make viewing much better ... Can't wait to try them all out!!
Well, here's my beloved C8 (Celestron 8) telescope on a SkyView Pro German-Equatorial Mount - My "Main" scope .. I've got a "grab & go" scope for travel and portability too ... will probably share pictures of it soon too ...

My first Post ...

Just thought I'd start a blog to easily share pictures and information bout what I'm doing ...