I would like to proudly proclaim that I have been a good, moral citizen (albeit not Canadian) today!!
I was walking to take the Skytrain home as usual, and when I got to the platform, I have to walk to the front end where it's easier for me to get on the train, as opposed to the rear end where people are usually congested because of the location of the stairs.
So when I was heading towards where I had to go, I passed by 2 old ladies whose backs were facing me as I walked. One of them was carrying a little backpack-handbag thingy, which happened to be unzipped and a very large wallet with many cards was staring out into my face.
I happily walked past them without much thought, but in a split second my mind wandered back to the wallet that was screaming to pickpockets "Pick me! Pick me!" No, I cannot let that happen to an old lady.
I retraced my steps (I had only taken about 5 steps when this occurred to me), and politely interrupted the lady, who was talking to her friend. "Excuse me, I couldn't help but notice that your purse was unzipped and your wallet is in danger; someone could easily have taken it."
I was a little nervous because I don't know if I will be told off for my nosiness, but thank goodness Vancouverites are a kind and friendly bunch and she said gratefully, "Oh thank you!" Her friend looked genuinely surprised and also added a "Thank you!", smiling at me.
I uttered a "You're welcome!" cheerily and went on walking to the other end of the platform.
It sure feels good to have your kind intentions well-appreciated, not like in certain places (which will be elaborated in another post) where I get verbally bashed for just trying to be an efficient, thoughtful person.
This made my day! :)
Thursday, September 30, 2010
I'm Just Trying To Save The World!
If that's not good enough for you, how about this: Killing trees and wasting paper is a sin.
At work, there are definitely inevitable encounters with throwing away a piece of paper that has only been used on one side. People try to comfort themselves by saying, "It's okay! It's going into the recycling!"
What a total fallacy. You cannot bring a forest back to life, needless to say, not even a tree, just by tossing that once-used piece of paper into the blue bin.
I don't have actual numbers, but from my knowledge, it does take a lot of trees to make a small amount of paper.. So why kill the tree first, when you can choose to THINK whether it is absolutely necessary before using the paper itself?
I have tried to effciently reduce the amount of paper I use at the workplace. We have to enter orders from a source and then print this order out and it goes into a file. When invoices come later on, we match them to the previously entered orders and finalize them by posting. Prior to the posting step, we have to ensure that the dates on both documents match. Frustratingly enough, many a time they DO NOT match!
So we have to go back into the system, change the date and REPRINT the order to match the invoice. Most of the time, the dates only differ by a day. Just because of this one-day difference, we have to waste a whole piece of paper!!! We cannot control how the dates appear, but I believe we can get rid of the step of printing before the invoices arrive.
So, the brilliant me thought of a more efficient way to go about this procedure, which is both time-saving and reduces the use of paper altogether.
My way is to enter the orders from the source as per normal, and then put the sources in a pile neatly (sadly the sources are also on paper, there's no way around that - yet..). I totally skip the step of printing this order. Therefore, when the invoices come, I simply reach for my pile of sources and pull the relevant one out, and if the dates do not match, I go back on to the computer to change the date, and then print the final copy of the order and then post it!
You may wonder and have questions to my way of doing this. I will explain myself hereafter.
1) How do you know that the sources have been entered into the system?
Firstly, each source has a unique number to it. It can range from 5 to 10 digits, and when it is entered into the system, it cannot be entered again. If you try to enter the same source twice, an error message will come up and hence it will not be double-entered.
2) Isn't it more time-consuming to look for the source that has been entered?
Each order comes with a number that runs in sequence and it is only 4 digits. After entering the order, I write this 4 digit number onto the source and stack the sources according to this sequence, so it is very easy to look for it when you receive the invoice and search for the order number in the system, which will automatically have the 4 digit number with it.
That's about all there is to it. The only issue that I have not thought about is when we have to pull out all the orders to post them at the end of the month. But all I do is go through the pile of already entered sources and take out whatever dates I need.
The lady who is in charge of this is forbidding me to do things this way, only because she is concerned about whether the sources have been entered. I have just explained my efficient way of doing this! She gives the excuse that it will only work while I'm here. So why don't you try this method too? Oh never mind, older people cannot accept changes. Let's not get into the discussion of rebellious young trying to change the ancient ways of the world now, shall we?
Did I also mention that this saves a lot of time by not having to:
1) Staple the first order to the source, remove the staple when I reprint the order, re-staple the new order with the source - 30 seconds.
2) Pull out the big binders sorted by supplier, file the order+source according to location within the binder, return the binder to the shelf - 50 seconds. (Longer if the binder is really thick and it takes forever to flip through them - 90% of the time..)
Multiply this by about 50-80 per week and voilà! How much time can we be saving over here? Maybe that's the reason why I have been able to have free time to do other odds and ends that dates back to years ago, like sorting invoices and whatnot.
You get my point. Does this make you want to think about the way you use paper? Are you really going to recycle that single-used piece of paper which is good for other uses?
My advice: Think before you recycle. Think before you use! Ask yourself, "Is it really necessary?"
Today I'm gonna try to change the world, one piece of paper at a time.
At work, there are definitely inevitable encounters with throwing away a piece of paper that has only been used on one side. People try to comfort themselves by saying, "It's okay! It's going into the recycling!"
What a total fallacy. You cannot bring a forest back to life, needless to say, not even a tree, just by tossing that once-used piece of paper into the blue bin.
I don't have actual numbers, but from my knowledge, it does take a lot of trees to make a small amount of paper.. So why kill the tree first, when you can choose to THINK whether it is absolutely necessary before using the paper itself?
I have tried to effciently reduce the amount of paper I use at the workplace. We have to enter orders from a source and then print this order out and it goes into a file. When invoices come later on, we match them to the previously entered orders and finalize them by posting. Prior to the posting step, we have to ensure that the dates on both documents match. Frustratingly enough, many a time they DO NOT match!
So we have to go back into the system, change the date and REPRINT the order to match the invoice. Most of the time, the dates only differ by a day. Just because of this one-day difference, we have to waste a whole piece of paper!!! We cannot control how the dates appear, but I believe we can get rid of the step of printing before the invoices arrive.
So, the brilliant me thought of a more efficient way to go about this procedure, which is both time-saving and reduces the use of paper altogether.
My way is to enter the orders from the source as per normal, and then put the sources in a pile neatly (sadly the sources are also on paper, there's no way around that - yet..). I totally skip the step of printing this order. Therefore, when the invoices come, I simply reach for my pile of sources and pull the relevant one out, and if the dates do not match, I go back on to the computer to change the date, and then print the final copy of the order and then post it!
You may wonder and have questions to my way of doing this. I will explain myself hereafter.
1) How do you know that the sources have been entered into the system?
Firstly, each source has a unique number to it. It can range from 5 to 10 digits, and when it is entered into the system, it cannot be entered again. If you try to enter the same source twice, an error message will come up and hence it will not be double-entered.
2) Isn't it more time-consuming to look for the source that has been entered?
Each order comes with a number that runs in sequence and it is only 4 digits. After entering the order, I write this 4 digit number onto the source and stack the sources according to this sequence, so it is very easy to look for it when you receive the invoice and search for the order number in the system, which will automatically have the 4 digit number with it.
That's about all there is to it. The only issue that I have not thought about is when we have to pull out all the orders to post them at the end of the month. But all I do is go through the pile of already entered sources and take out whatever dates I need.
The lady who is in charge of this is forbidding me to do things this way, only because she is concerned about whether the sources have been entered. I have just explained my efficient way of doing this! She gives the excuse that it will only work while I'm here. So why don't you try this method too? Oh never mind, older people cannot accept changes. Let's not get into the discussion of rebellious young trying to change the ancient ways of the world now, shall we?
Did I also mention that this saves a lot of time by not having to:
1) Staple the first order to the source, remove the staple when I reprint the order, re-staple the new order with the source - 30 seconds.
2) Pull out the big binders sorted by supplier, file the order+source according to location within the binder, return the binder to the shelf - 50 seconds. (Longer if the binder is really thick and it takes forever to flip through them - 90% of the time..)
Multiply this by about 50-80 per week and voilà! How much time can we be saving over here? Maybe that's the reason why I have been able to have free time to do other odds and ends that dates back to years ago, like sorting invoices and whatnot.
You get my point. Does this make you want to think about the way you use paper? Are you really going to recycle that single-used piece of paper which is good for other uses?
My advice: Think before you recycle. Think before you use! Ask yourself, "Is it really necessary?"
Today I'm gonna try to change the world, one piece of paper at a time.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Quando Sento Che Mi Ami
Le stelle chiamano. La notte va.
Il giorno che vivrò non morirà.
Il mondo cambierò solo per te.
È impossibile, ma non per me.
Sole o pioggia, io con te starò.
Sogni buttati via, io li rivedrò.
Guardando te, vedrò l immensità
Nel mio mondo sei la verità.
Poi ti farò vedere come ero io,
La solitudine, il passato mio.
Ma le mie lacrime lontane già.
Tutto è più facile se tu sei qua.
Amore! Quando mi ami,
Mi sento forte.
Ti salverò ovunque tu sarai.
Ti porto tutto cio che chiedi.
Niente sembra troppo.
Io splendo anche nell oscurità,
Quando sento che mi ami.
Senza di te, il mondo non puo più girare.
Solo il tuo amore mi puo salvare
Amore! Quando mi ami,
Mi sento forte.
Ti seguirò ovunque tu sarai.
Ti porto tutto cio che chiedi.
Niente sembra troppo.
Io splendo anche nell oscurità,
Quando sento che mi ami.
Quando sento che mi ami
Le stelle chiamano. La notte va.
Il giorno che vivrò non morirà.
Il mondo cambierò solo per te.
È impossibile, ma non per me.
Sole o pioggia, io con te starò.
Sogni buttati via, io li rivedrò.
Guardando te, vedrò l immensità
Nel mio mondo sei la verità.
Poi ti farò vedere come ero io,
La solitudine, il passato mio.
Ma le mie lacrime lontane già.
Tutto è più facile se tu sei qua.
Amore! Quando mi ami,
Mi sento forte.
Ti salverò ovunque tu sarai.
Ti porto tutto cio che chiedi.
Niente sembra troppo.
Io splendo anche nell oscurità,
Quando sento che mi ami.
Senza di te, il mondo non puo più girare.
Solo il tuo amore mi puo salvare
Amore! Quando mi ami,
Mi sento forte.
Ti seguirò ovunque tu sarai.
Ti porto tutto cio che chiedi.
Niente sembra troppo.
Io splendo anche nell oscurità,
Quando sento che mi ami.
Quando sento che mi ami
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