Was writing my resume just now. I decided that I shouldn't be limiting my job search to just retail. Granted, I do kinda like retail alot, but I rationalized that, as much as I value sales experience, I am going to be studying commerce in Australia, and having experience in the admin spectrum of things, especially as an accounts assistant, is definitely gonna be at least equal to actually preparing for studying by doing some reading-ups on my own. So, yep, I guess its time for me not to be so picky, and stop thinking that since I have all the time in the world in future to be stuck in an office, I should be trying other stuff now. Who knows, sticking myself in an office now might just ensure that I stick to offices in future.

Although I still think that my ideal temp job would be at Famous Amos. I don't mind getting paid only 4 bucks per hour, because the smells I'll be getting are worth an extra buck or so. And I can steal cookies at leisure. Hopefully. Heck, I might do it even if they are paying only in cookies.

Anyway, my poor uncle got driven out of his house by his wife. I find it kinda deplorable, the antics that married women would employ in order to provoke their beleaguered husbands into divorce, and coercing them into paying maintenance, otherwise known as alimony. I swear, there's got to be some way to counter such devious acts. My uncle sought refuge in our house, and my mum advised him to make a police report, just so that it can be documented and used against future possible legal actions that might lead up to divorce. Smart move.

Which was what my mother did, although she didn't go as far. The marriage is legally in place, and she has managed to convince my father into transferring the house, the shop and the KL condo to her name. Those are the only concessions that I know of, I do not know of any other possible transfers made. Anyhow, I learnt that the KL condo is to be sold, presumably to finance my studies in Australia. Was it necessary? I don't know, but I sure hope I make it worth the while.

I cooked dinner again today. I tried preparing pork liver, and I realized that I don't get the squeamishness that often anymore. Pig liver is kinda tricky to slice properly, but I think I did an ok job by splashing it around with leek, chilli and ginger. Tasted sweet even. I screwed up on the chicken though, can't tell chicken meat from chicken entrails, and ended up steaming something inedible. Oh well. Just as I was having my dinner, I was just thinking about how I had a slight envy for those who had a home-cooked meal to go home too. I mean, I was never that keen on family warmth, but home-cooked food had that appeal to them, cause you do get sick of hawker fare sooner or later. But heck, with my mum always busy with her shop, and my grandmother's visit an irregular occasion, home-cooked food was a delicacy. Add to that my grandmother being a vegetarian, so the best I got was plain and admittedly wholesome vegan diet.

How do I fix that? I simply learn myself. I was like, yeah, this is what I learnt cooking for. To do for myself what I want. So, yep, no wonder my food tastes twice as good. Firstly, I did it myself, and secondly, I'm tasting the fruits of making whatever I want happen.

That was just a thought.

Anyhow, I'm progressing nicely with The Da Vinci code. I can see what the hondrums are all about, the object of dispute has been legendary, exceeding that of Atlantis, Garden of Eden, Shangri-la, and other legends which humans in the past have sought after. Plus, its crafted really beautifully, like a tapestry, whereby you take the time to examine each weave and notice how the intricate strands form a complete picture. Like observing the completion of it.

Phantom Dust. I did remove the other Invulnerability and added a third Mephisto's Pact. It is confirmed: Mephisto's Pact is officially my favourite card in Phantom Dust. Second comes Disintegrate, for the sheer destructive factor. Anyhow, my Suicide has been tuned very finely by way of Mephisto's Pact, which certainly speeds up the deck, getting the key cards required for efficiency. The deck is now filled with zero-costing skills that I find Aura particles to be an annoyance. The only skill that costs aura is a 2-cost enviromental that increases all damage dealt by 1. That is pretty useful. Aside from that, my suicide arsenal has been chalking up kills consistently.

Now, for my Stasis arsenal. There are 3 things that it is weak against: 1. A suicide arsenal. I have yet to come up with a decent defense against it, and thus my only option is to use it in arenas where suicide isn't the best idea. Yet, however, I get the odd opponent coming in with a suicide arsenal. One Bloody Ritual, and I know I'm dead. 2. A smart opponent. Most opponents sift through their arsenals looking for their ideal combo, often consuming alot of Aura particles in exchange. Then, when a Disintegrate hits them, the psychological damage can be almost too much to consider. Losing all your levels in one fell swoop; recovery is gonna take awhile. But the skilled players kinda know what might be going on, and as such, they seldom choose to over-commit. Which isn't that great, because it would mean that I gotta make the Disintegrates count.

And for the third, and most major annoynance. 3. Orb. It is a 2-cost status skill that triggers automatically and prevents the effects of any erase skill targeted at the user itself. I cannot even begin to underline how this foils Disintegrate. I had observed Orb in use a while ago, but it puzzled me, since I did not have any copies of the card, and had no idea that it existed. I actually thought that it was a defensive skill, and tried to test and see if I could defend against my own Disintegrate. Anyhow, Orb has a solution: Chaos, but still, it isn't an extremely reliable solution. Hmm, look, Chaos Orb. Yet, however, it is only of probably 2 solutions, the other being another environmental costing 5 and prohibits all Nature skills.

Herein lies the dilemna. There can only be a maximum of 3 schools used in each Arsenal. My Stasis Arsenal was Ki, Optical and Faith. Orb was Nature. Optical gave Disintegrate and Level Amp, both of which are essential ingredients. Faith provided Mephisto's Pact, Invulnerability and Diabolical Trick, the kill card. I did a check, and found that Shatter was from Psychic and Eliminate from Optical, so if I wanted to get rid of Faith, I would have to add Psychic in. Ki provided just Chaos, so basically, it was a choice of Ki vs Nature, or Chaos vs Orb. Now, there were quite a few considerations. Chaos generally gave me a safety net, but Orb protected me from my own Disintegrate. I evaluated the pros and cons. Chaos annuled alot of the popular skills, and most importantly, it cancelled out an Orb. Orb, however, protected me from most Erase skills, notably, Bloody Ritual, one of the most deadly Erase skills I could get hit with, since the Arsenal relies almost solely on smart utilization of Aura levels to win. Orb will also reduce the need for micromangement of Aura levels, and remove the downtime required for me to recover from a Disintegrate.

So I gave it some thought. The major point I considered was this: if I met another opponent with Orb, it would be almost an automatic loss. And also, Suicide gave me problems with Bloody Ritual, but Lingering Flame was another problem, since it was a 0-cost skill. Orb helped make my wins alil smoother, but made my weaknesses more glaring. Chaos has an offhand chance of stopping Suicide, and Chaos cancels out an opposing Orb. Chaos did make things slightly smoother as well, providing an extra Aura level. Although Chaos, being an environmental, can be cancelled out if it was the second one, it can cancel out another environmental as well. Although I would have only required a singular Orb, what with the Mephisto's Pact, there was not alot more I could do with the additional slots. Chaos gave me reprieve as well, from fast assaults, and helped with locking down opponents when going in for the kill with Diabolical Trick. So, in the end, I stuck to Chaos.

Reading along nicely with The Da Vinci Code. Its turning out pretty interesting, and although I'll never be a believer, so far I haven't identified any damning proof that would severely shake my belief, however dormant it has been. I think I'll end my entry here, and get back to playing Phantom Dust. If not, I'll never stop babbling.