Tasks for You

As I've mentioned, I'll be trekking over the wild in Australia for about two months. From the description of the Lonely Planet guide, the difficulty ranges from a relaxing stroll across grassland for a few hours to a tedious journey through mountains and hills over a few days. (Say, why does that sound familiar?... but fortunately without any unnecessary weights! I might carry a radio... a transistor radio, that is.)

From an objective perspective, my chances of dying seem higher than before. For much of the journey, I'll probably be going alone. So, you'll never know if I'll miss a step and dive into a ravine, or if some poisonous snake finds my butt highly delectable. Or if I got lost in the jungle and ends up as dinner for vultures. Or if I'll stumble upon Blair Witch or Wolf Creek.

And therefore I think it serves well to write a list of things for you my dear blog readers to note in the event of my untimely disappearance. And this list need not just apply if I die in wild down under; it kicks into effect if I get dissected by Bus A1 while crossing the road, or blown into smithereens by incoming bombs, or get gunned down in NUS.

So here goes, in no order of priority:

1) No coffin for me please, assuming my body is recovered in the first place. For goodness sake, I find it such a waste of wood to put a dead, useless pile of organic molecules inside a huge wooden box and then set it on fire. Why not just throw my body into the stove and be done with it? Wouldn't that be more efficient?

2) And following from the previous point, no paper money or paper houses or paper whatever. In my opinion, it is a foolish thing to do. Sure, I don't really mind doing it, but for myself I find it excessively wasteful. Why not save those trees? And at the same time avoid a disgusting mess of ashes and smoke and carbon dioxide?

3) If my body was recovered and its individual parts still functional, then please take them out and install them in another person who needs them. However, chances are that my organs are probably not suitable for any transplant if I die in the forests, but in the fortunate event that I managed to hang on until I reach the hospital, then my organs will be fresh and useful.

4) I always have the worry that people who seldom keep in contact with me will wonder where I disappeared to if I die without their knowledge. So do let these people (whom I seldom keep in contact) know: my secondary school friends in Catholic High (1997 - 2000), some of my less contacted friends in NJC (2001 - 2002), and, oh yeah, PlanetDiablo Forum, since I post there perhaps far too often that I should.

5) I have a small collection of physics textbooks myself, and I think it'll do the best good when donated to the SPS library when I have no more need for it.

6) I also maintain a neat collection of personal notes for some of the modules I took. Anyone who finds them useful can feel free to re-use them. Remember, environmentalism is the way to go!

I'll add in more if needed. This list will also be posted on my website.