HP7

At last , I have read the finale of the famous series. I'm so happy to reach the end, if only to find a closure to this much over-rated series. To celebrate my completion of the series, here is a recap of what I think of each book.

Book 1 - The Sorcerer's Stone

Short and enjoyable, I think of it as a boarding school story (ala Enid Blyton's Mallory Towers) with a magical twist to it.

Book 2 - The Chamber Of Secrets

A little more elaborate than the 1st one. Still ok as a simple children's story. I really enjoyed her inventive ideas on Muggles, Squib, Quidditch etc.

Book 3 - The Prisoner Of Azkaban

Here is where JK Rowling starts getting more creative, and more long winded. Very enjoyable , and the climax of the story regarding time manipulation is a nice touch.

Book 4 - The Goblet Of Fire

The best book of the series , here is where things really gets exciting. A highly inventive Quidditch World Cup starts off the story, an exciting Triwizard tournament and it ended with the resurrection of Lord Voldemort. With both the good and evil side gearing up for the ultimate battle, I just cannot wait to get my hands on the next book.

Book 5 - The Order Of The Phoenix

How I wish the series will just end with Book 5 . Instead I have to suffer 3 more books before I get the ultimate battle promised in Book 4. Back to Book 5, this one is a real yawn , lots of teenage angst and romance, and what the heck is The Order of the Phoenix , again ? Yawwnnn ...

Book 6 - The Half Blood Prince

More problems for the teenagers, more underground rebellion for the adults . And oh yeah , for this book, I know what the title means ... the Half Blood Prince refers to Snape, but why is he half blood ?? Don't remember , and don't care to remember ....

Book 7 - The Deathly Hallows

More red herrings thrown our way ... the Deathly Hallows ? I find that I don't even care to know what the Deathly Hallows are, just gimme the ending fast !

And it finally did end .... a little sad to say goodbye to the Boy Who Lived with us for like 10 years. And we know that he did get married and have kids and probably lived happily ever after. Kids ?? Yikes ??!! Can there be a Harry Potter The Next Generation ?

Much Ado About Something

Far from being a trivial pursuit, job hunting is one of the most STRESSFUL experience for me so far. Let's see, this pursuit has bugged me for 5 months ....

Step 1 - Preparing a perfect resume
You can't say you are looking for a job until you have done this essential step. Being quite a perfectionist, it took me 2 weeks the craft the resume to my satisfaction.

Step 2 - Looking for the perfect job
Haha, there is no such thing as the perfect job, and good jobs don't come falling from the sky. It took me like 2 months before I found a satisfactory one in a satisfactory company. Other than combing jobstreet and newspaper, networking aka asking frens helps too. I know I am being quite picky, but I can't imagine being stuck in a new job that is worse than my old one. You know, the fear of jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Step 3 - The dreadful interviews
Time to brush up on those long forgotten technical stuffs and basically, practice and practice on how to sell yourself during interviews. Having 3 interviews within the span of 1 month is truly stressful. After each interview, there will be a suspenseful wait for THE phone call, only to be told, congrats, you passed this one and there will be a next one coming, and so the whole crazy cycle repeats.

Step 4 - The haggling
I expected to be over the clouds at being offered the job, only to be send down by yet another 'not so nice' experience - negotiation over salary. I honestly do not care too much on $$ but I do have my pride and do not like being short changed in any way.

Step 5 - The resigning
The final step - handing over my resignation is also a very hard thing for me to do. As much as I look forward to a new job, I do hate leaving behind my frens and colleagues. Is there something wrong with the human minds, that we tend to remember only the joy and the laughter , and forget the pain and the tears ?

I do so envy those that sails through many jobs effortlessly. For me, this is one experience I do not wish to repeat, at least not within the next few years.