Mechanical Failure week

Got a bit of a withdrawal symptom now. My 'equipment of torture' as been rendered unusable and the technical support cavalry will come and look into it tomorrow. Man, this is the second time in about six months into the ownership that it given me problems. Gonna wait for what's the verdict tomorrow, if it's the same one as the previous one, I'll consider writing in to them for a change. I mean, it's either design flaw or shortcoming in material used for the same fault to recur again.

On that note, a few of my toys are also out of service and to top that off, my car had a flat. So the old adage does come true, when it rains it pours. Just like the Japan F1 at Fuji today.

ps.. someone had a craving for a classic ploughman sandwich, hehe ... also for a pure, unsweetened ice blended watermelon juice....all home made, mind you...

SMS Our Angkasawan

I saw the headline today and it got me thinking, is it going to be like the popular 'reality-tv' show where they put up the 2 competing astronauts and decide to leave the election process to the masses instead of professional space trained personnel. Only after reading it I saw that this was a ploy for the monopoly satellite broadcaster way of milking extra moolah out of their customer.

But, lets say in Bizzaro world and this do comes true, then I think our "Raja SMS" ould surely beat all other contestant hands down. Some people just worship the ground he walked on and would blindly sms their vote to him.

As for me, the money spent on this angkasawan thingy could have been better utilized. Granted that it was part payment of our export, but so much could have been done with it. But that was just me.

ps. I know of at least one person who would SMS the angkasawan... hehe ... you know who you are ....

State of Indefference

Have we turned into a nation of apathy? How many reports in the news hat we have heard about people who needs help in the middle of a crowd but none of them actually lend a helping hand? We would crowd and slowed upon an accident or even a snatch case but none of us would actually administer first aid or even calling the emergency services.

I had similar encounters before, the latest last weekend. I was window shopping when among the crowd of people when I heard "Tangkap, tangkap!" and saw a man with a helmet being chased by another guy. Nobody even bother to stop the guy until a good samaritan just held the man running away and threw him against the wall and pinned him before the one chasing him caught up and whisked him away. The crowd that has parted suddenly gather around to watch the drama.

If I were closer to the guy running away, I would also be in the position of not knowing what to do. But I wasn't anywhere around him and fall into the 'guilty' category. Now, where are Spiderman when you need him eh?

So Proud Of You Son!

Aiman did something that I thought he could do today. Something that everyone at home tought that he did not have the endurance to do. After a few days of puasa setengah hari, he finally did manage to finish the whole day today. One whole day!!! OK, we had to give in to a lot of his demands just for him to continue with his fasting, but in the end he kept his word.

We're so proud of you son!

Glorified Coffee/Copy Boy

Due to my company's new policy, certain type of meetings especially dealing with tenders, the job that used to be run by us the menial boys are officially delegated to the upper echelon of the management but get this, the paperwork is still done by us.

So in order not to violate this, our presence in the meeting is not minuted and if anyone asked, we are there to do the coffees and happened to be subject matter expert in the area of discussion. Oh and due to Ramadhan, the term can be interchangeable with copy. So we were asked to commit our presence and time, but could not officially appear in any documentation. So its like a loop hole.



ps.

Alfatihah to a colleague who lost a daughter yesterday and also to Nurin Jazlin Jazimin.

Shakedown on the 1st Day of Ramadhan

First day of Ramadhan & I felt my body shaking at 7.50 am today. In my mind, "Eh, first day of puasa, not even yet 4 hours into it I have suffered from low blood sugar?"

Turns out to be the tremors from the afterquake that hit Sumatra earlier during the night. Now I really felt the earth moving under my feet. The next questin is going to be, was it as good for you as it was for me? ;-) -

Ramadhan Mubarak

Selamat menyambut kedatangan bulan Ramadhan kepada Muslimin & Muslimah dimana sahaja anda berada. Semoga amalan kita diterimaNya.

CNN...this blog is not...

Sometimes I might get stumped on what to write,
Thinking about it day and night,
Sometimes I can't find anything interesting to share,
As I can't seem to find any ideas anywhere.

Sometimes my life is just plodding along,
Shades of gray between what's right or wrong,
Sometimes I can just be a bore,
And at times I wanted to be much more.

So if you thinking of finding updates after updates, all done in a timely manner, then you would be better off, searching for it elsewhere...

Signs that you have arrived...or not...

Was going through my mails and through the sea of bills and spam there was one surprise : an RSVP to test drive a brand new 2007 E90 BMW 5 series. I turned the envelope front and back just to see whether they've sent it to the right person. Did they know something that I don't? Like I'm due for some windfall in the near future that I would even consider trading up to it. Or maybe they've found some money that someone with similar name as me have stashed away. But this wasn't the first time that they sent it to me. The first one was to test drive the new X5.

Why does the 3 pointed star never sent me a invite for test drive? Granted that I'm driving a 9 y.o. model, but the way the propeller signs are working their marketing, time for a change? The dark force is strong on this one....

The Long Weekend

First and Foremost,

Selamat Menyambut Hari kemerdekaan yang ke 50, Malaysia!

Went back to kampung on Merdeka day, been about 4 months since we were last back. The drive east was uneventful, not a lot of traffic or any hidden policeman trying to catch you in the act of exceeding the speed limit. Got there around 5pm, sempat singgah pekan sari lagi for fixes that couldn't be found in KL.

The boy was excited and when we got there, straightaway he wanted to get on his bike, (yes, we brought his bike back due to his request).

The next day they're were having some kenduri for one of the mrs. cousins who's getting engaged and the order of the day was to slaughter 7 chickens. These were not the run-off-the-mill poultry, these are the free range (ayam kampung) of the Isreali breed, means that they're easily 1.5X bigger than the local variety. Me had the task of holding them still for the slaughter and the cleaning afterwards and I would say that this went better than my last venture. I looked like the butcher of Pekan after it ended. Sorry folks, no pics as wouldn't want to upset PETA or something, suffice to say that cleaning them up by the river was a new experience to me.

Also in season was rambutans and the dragon fruits (white variety). Had loads of them and managed to whisked some home. Those homegrown dragon fruits are much more nicer & sweeter than store bought ones...now thinking of ways to grow my own ..

Being back in kampung did provide me with some sort of break from my normal routine ( meaning that I could sleep & eat & sleep to my content without the mrs. bising-bising...hehe) also being away from the hustle and bustle of the city ...

Next schedule back is during the Eid ....

Of Premium & Ordinary

How many of us are normally suckered into the word special - special offer, mee goreng special, burger special, special treatment - anything for them to get us into forking some premium over the ordinary stuff. I mean, a normal burger is RM2.00 but a special one is additional 50 cents.

For me, its OK if the premium paid was worth the difference, I mean from a plain old mee goreng, but with some extra ingredient it will transform into finger or fork licking good, so good that you need to have a second helping of a second helping, but what if when you have paid the premium then it taste the same as the 'normal' ones?

That happened to me last weekend. All the usual haunts were closed during dinner, so had to order dinner from the 'premium' diners/cafe in my area. What I meant by premium is that they serve the same food albeit at a higher price, up to double than the normal haunts. Granted that they do have a more posh outlook & premise, but food is food. Its not like we are ordering any cordon blue/fusion cooking, just the old plain dishes but the prices are tremendously high. Its ok if we having it in, but as a takeaway? A bit steep innit?

On another note, my watch battery almost died on me, displaying the 5-second jump since last week. So off to the shop where I bought it from for a battery change. Premium brand watch, premium battery change right? I don't mind paying for it but what got me was that the old battery was already leaking and could cause potential damage to my watch. I mean, for f**k's sake, buy a premium brand put la premium parts in it, not charging your customer and arm and a leg but outsource for the cheapest parts that you could find?

In the end, the bottom line is the profit & loss without the regard of perceived value of service or goods that the customer gets by patronizing or buying the products. Caveat Emptor!

Firework Extravaganza

With the school holidays and nothing planned to keep The Boy occupied, I decided to take him to the Malaysian International Firework Competition in Putrajaya. Set out from our house at 9 pm coz knew that it would be jammed packed with cars, especially when nearing the venue. It's held near PICC and true enough, we just beaten the rush as the traffic flow was quite light but with people stopping at anywhere they fancy, it constricts the traffic flow. The Boy wanted to go in the fun-fair where they had rides, so being a spoiling dad I obliged.

The thing that got me was that you have to pay for entrance at RM5/3 (adult/child) and then have to purchase tokens for rides min 2 tokens/person/ride @ RM 3/token. See how they milk money out of you? Preying on guilt that most parents have for not spending quite enough time with their offspring and have to make up by spending on them....(guilty as charged).

The firework starts at 10pm, with all the lights at the funfair plus the surrounding area being turned off. I didn't manage to get any good shot with my IXUS 55 plus haven't got a decent tripod to prop it. So the photos were taken mostly by The Boy, thinking that he could be a budding photographer in the future.

But managed to get some clip about it, as per below :

Transformer Quiz

Got this from screwboy's blog.

I AM
69%
BUMBLEBEETake the Transformers Quiz

Bumblebee

As an Autobot spy, Bumblebee is the ultimate robot in disguise. What he lacks in size and strength, he makes up for with courage. He enjoys the company of humans and would do anything for his Earthly friends.

Like Bumblebee, you are compassionate and your heart is pure. You want to be a leader and show some promise, but you have much to learn. In addition, you use technology when you need to, but you do not embrace the latest trends.

Feeling a bit melancholic ...

Her green plastic watering can
For her fake chinese rubber plant
In fake plastic earth.
That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plants
Just to get rid of itself.
And it wears her out, it wears her out
It wears her out, it wears her out.

She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns.
He used to do surgery
For girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins.
And it wears him out, it wears him out
It wears him out, it wears him out.

She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love.
But I cant help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run
And it wears me out, it wears me out
It wears me out, it wears me out.

And if I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted,
All the time, all the time, ohhh... ohh...

How about this for a change

I have been wanting to post about the issue brought by the petrol station operator association with regards to the opening time of their petrol kiosk but somehow couldn't find the time to do it.

What I would propose is something similar to the above picture, where I saw during the course on my travels. The above petrol kiosk has no cashier or the usual shop, all the transaction was done through credit / debit card at the pump. No pump attendant, no issue about security, lower operating costs. Just four pumps, a forecourt and 24 hours operation. How about that for a change?

True, not all have access to credit cards, but in urban areas I would think most of us have at least one. With somewhat aggressive recruiting campaign that some credit card companies are employing, most of us would safely have at least one credit card in our name. Hence the solution could be given consideration.

One Doggy To Go

Had been ordering the same menu as the place where I always stop by for dinner up to the point that they know it by heart. But that wasn't the thing that caught me, it was the way that the order was relayed to the kitchen, ".. and plus one doggy to go.."

In my not so 'clean' mind and because the order comes from a girl, it sounded so nudge, nudge, wink, wink...hehe...maybe it was just me.... maybe this is what she meant ...

[ Image from here ]

As useful as a chocolate teapot

That's what I felt today. Didn't manage to get a sound sleep, what with the temperature & my car alarm blaring away very half an hour in the wee hours of the morning. Went to see the GP, being prescribed rest to let me recuperate.

The boy was not feeling well in school so I had to pick him up, not after he shot his class photos. Then off to the gynae for a checkup, and the baby is developing well. We could see a pronounced set of limbs now, and from the look of it he/she (hopefully its a girl) is going to be a lanky one.

After getting back from the checkup, fatigue sets in and I slept, and said something that I shouldn't...I'm sorry about it......

Should be better tomorrow & functioning as I should....

My Simpsons Avatar

Ada macam tak?

Temperatures Rising

I knew that it was coming, the impending signs are there, stiff joints and pains, raising core temperature, stuffy nose tract & eyes. So time to starve a fever, feed a cold?

That wasn't the only contributing factor to my rising temperature. On the way back today, near a petrol kiosk at my place, the left lanes were clear, indicators to turn left into the petrol kiosk on, rear view mirror clear, side mirror clear, initiating maneuver only to hear metal on metal crunching sound. Apparently a di*khead motorcyclist decides to swerve onto my left from my right despite me giving indication that I'm turning left. Now I'm left with a dent on the rear passenger door. His defense, none cause it was clear he was in the fault as witness by most. He meekly said that it was a small dent and he was hurt in the process. Serves you right, PDD 68 and what goes around comes around.

This is the second time this year I was hit by a motorcyclist. I don't want it to escalate into the third time, where it could inflict more injury to the rider. Loss of life is not something I would wish for, but at the moment of heat and anger, it was the only thing that seems to flow out of my mind. Rant over, calm under medication.....

Thinning Crowning Glory

During a weeding reception, had some remarks wrt to the condition of my thinning hair, from close relations. Usual reasons cited, stress at work, exposure to swimming & chlorine, etc... until someone pointed out that I've been swimming in the wrong gene pool.

Ouch...yela mana nak tumpah kuah kalau tak ke nasi....but my brothers did not show any signs of thinning pulak. Seems to me that they got the lucky draw on that as for me, I'm grateful with what I have, thinning & all.

Now where did I threw away the Yun Nam leaflet? ....

ps. One another note, I would like to clear the air about longan & mata kucing, as per highlighted here.