Just when you wished everything would go your way

My Boss and I had one of our (five times a week) weekly chat (when I cannot get away from the office fast enough. Ha ha ha). The thing is, there is some problem. And so, we have to have a few things straightened out, mainly to save more costs. But there is another matter:

One of our friend turned ex-colleague turned competitor is going through a rough patch. Apparently, her (only?) partner is giving her problems and there is a real possibility of a split in their company. Since we do not know much about their company structure, we can only speculate. But what they have done, was not good. They know we are diligently servicing a very big customer and therefore, through an insider, they went it. Which is fine for us. But what really made matters worse was that they did not consult us about the pricing nor the 'permission" to quote the customer, which in the end, spoilt the "market". And because everyone in the industry knew about our customer, questions were raised in the sense, why did she go in without our "blessings"?. So, we know they have a few

Since the technical part of that company is having problems and my Boss refused to answer her calls, I guess some of their cases "stolen" from us needs to be fulfilled for that customer. And soon too. Too bad, because both as a friend and as business rivals, the bridges have been burnt and we do not want to have anything to do with them at the moment. My guess is, the technical personnel wants to increase his share of the company and more authority. This is the reason why I did not fight for my share here, but instead, work as an employee despite what everyone believed. I know the history of everyone who came out and why partnerships among the sales and technical when setting up the company would never last long, maybe, after two years. Because once the money (or lackof it) comes into the picture, everyone wants the biggest share possbile and with their Ego, more power in the company.

Whether this is good for us or not, we do not know. But what I do know is, the customers are not paying our bills. Guess my salary will be late again. sigh.

Haih. I want things to look up in the
company so that I can get more
money but things are going
sideways.

Thanks to giorgio11185!

My package arrived yesterday! And after opening it and tested the device, my only regret was that I should have bought more! giorgio11185 does free shipping but you would have to wait for at least a month (or less). The reason I wanted this is because in Pasar Road (at the moment) do not have current meters that comes with blue 7-segment LEDs. OK, right now, I am heading over to giorgio11185's stall on eBay........

And so, I am now one step closer to my PC PSU project. All I have to do now is to make the variable voltage circuit and also wait for the metal

This is what came in the package. I did not show the
documentations. The red item is a gift from giorgio
which is very very nice.

The back of the panel is slightly different from my red
7-segment LED voltage panel. When I have the time,
maybe I will open it but I suspect its the ICL7107 IC

Power it up and voila! Two meters with different colours!

Filming a filming film crew

OK, so there is not much work in the office and after my last customer, I went back home. On the way, I saw a film crew setting up their gear. Maybe it was for some interview. More than an hour later, they were still at it. So, I came as close as I can without causing much disruption, I took a few shots. And then I realised, this is where the zoom lens came in handy. I felt like one of those Private Investigators on TV, taking photos of some mistress and kid or something like that. Still, they did the same scene take after take.

Judging from the props, and all, it looked quite ok. But if you take into the account the lighting, you would be wondering, why is this kid going to school in the evening? Maybe they have alreadytaken that into account and from there, they might want to show it is early morning since the Sun gives off the familiar yellow lighting. It would be more realistic if they did this in the morning with all the chaos caused by parents dropping off their kids, the gridlock traffic jam and also, haphazerd parking. But as an afterthought, maybe not because everyone would start to stand around and look at the shoot instead of being "natural extras".

This is a very simple scene. The Mom drives her kid
to school. And that's it. But requires so many crews
and gear to set up before the shoot.

As she "parked" her car, out comes the kid and she
lovingly follows him to the school

Cut! And they were not satisfied. I am not sure who
the fat guy in brown was, but judging from the sitting
position, he could be the Director. And with the viewer
screen in front of him too. While the shoot is going on
this idiot started SMSing. Not sure of this would interfere
with the equipment, especially the sound system which
picks up GSM signals when you least expect it.

So, Mommy had to go back to the car and start again.
Here, she is demonstrating the Picard Maneuver
(tugging the uniform) from Star Trek: The Next Generation

Another take and another repeat

This time, her "car" was parked even further, maybe to
show the viewers what great legs Mommy has. Or how
she parks her car in the wrong direction because behind
the Mercedes, there is a parked schoolbus in the opposite
direction.

After a brief makeup, it was time to start, again. The
fasting month must be taking their toll. She looked a
bit pissed but still she has to be professional about it

Another Picard Maneuver. I mean, what kind of mother
would wear high heels and short skirts, sending their
kid to school late in the evening, and starting them
young in sex education? Only in Malaysian TV, folks.
By this time, I got bored and it was time for the girls
to have their dinner anyway.

Kids and Sugar

Sometimes, when they're hyperactive, I suspect people think we're loading them with sugar. But I kid you not. With or without sugar, these two monst....er, beautiful daughters of mine are very very Hyperactive. When we got married and Kristine was a baby, we used to joke about not letting them out of our sights even for a few seconds.

Boy, that is so true and its not even a joke now. Sigh.

My Aunt from Australia visited a few weeks ago and
she gave us some wonderful chocolates. Seeing how
Kristine was, I did not give any to her, because the
chocolate is Rum And Raisin flavoured. Yeah, I can
really feel the rum at that time and it tasted better
than the normal crap (Cadbury's or no) we get here

Where beasts roam

As I was waiting for my vendor's call, I parked my car at the side. And I saw something over the fence. Upon closer look, it was a very strange construction, something which I have never seen before. Whoever made them must be very skilled as the round pillars are perfect. When I went to have a closer look, I can feel the strange powers emanating from these mysterious stones. Its been lying unused for a long time, and judging from the grass, perhaps it is used once a year for mayhaps some strange ceremony.

Whatever it is, it is huge and it looked abandoned, but
as they say looks can be deceiving.

Being thousands of milimetres high,
they are imposing indeed. I would
think of some strange lion beast
traversing on top of these stones
in some form of ceremony, aided
by very loud noises and some
bald headed guide with a fan. A
fall would be fate worse than Death

Why I hate driving in the rain

When its raining, I hate to be behind the wheels of my Satria nowadays. Its not because I do not like my car but its because of the possible dangers on the road. For you see, the car's air-con is not working anymore. And because of the sudden change of temperature and the trapped "air" inside the car, mists can fog up the windows within minutes.

And so, I'd be driving blind, and I would have to clean the front windshield and side windows every few minutes. Yeah, its time to get the air-con fixed (as soon as my salary comes in, that is).

As the car aged, so did the plastics. Here, it started off
with a small crack and as the plastic became brittle, it
progressed into bigger cracks and eventually..........

To buy a new one, it costs RM35 for this. Maybe I should
be taking a trip down to the second-hand spare parts
shops soon. Since Proton cars are so "cheep", I hope
I would not be scalped. No point investing more into
this car as its resale value is so bad now.

Manual torch

I saw this torchlight at one of those DIY stores near the office today. It is one of those torchlights that uses kinetic energy as source of power, something similar to those wanking torchlights that came out years ago. So, for RM3.50, it was a real bargain.

When I first started using this torch, it was very bright.
Somehow, when I cranked it, it was not as bright as I
thought it would be. Something suspicious here.....

So I let Kristine play with it for the
whole day rather than letting the
torch shine by itself

And I was right! What a fucking scam! The small black
piece I saw was nothing more than a small housing
for two small batteries and not some small miracle
rechargeables. When the white LEDs got dim, no matter
how hard I cranked it, it was the same. Damn it!

So, feeling cheated and pissed (because I could not put it back together again) I decided to look at the box for some instructions or disclaimers:

"This product is a new science and technology product and made with high and new science and technology. It can illuminate only placing it in rhythm."

This is a cheap plastic product which you have to crank it constantly

"No need any power, no environmental pollution. Low noise and health. Comparing with common torch, it can be several times on lift."

Yeah, right. The noise made from all the cranking sounds like wheezing engine.

"Constantly using this health torch, it can benefit to your palm, arm and shoulder stretching and blood circulation, so as to let your hands relax and brain clever, hand and brain coordinate and promote your brain memory and health composition.

If I wanted to exercise my hand, I would have gotten that wanking torch, OK? And yeah, it really worked on my brain because now, I will remember not buy any more of this crap. Waste my money only, you stupid Chinese wanker.

Holiday Monday

This 3-day weekend made our schedules go haywire. And because its a Holiday, I do not know whether to go to work or sleep in, despite my body telling its time to make money. Anyway, after a lazy brunch, we went to 1-Utama as it was weeks since both girls had any chance to run around. (OK, so I lied. We went to IOI Mall last Saturday). We spent hours in the old wing and by the time I wanted to explore the new wing, everyone was tired. So, we had to cut short our trip but I did get extra time to have one round in the new wing. Seems that the "Area51" shop was formerly "Ultimate Toys". Why it changed or how it came to be, I am not sure but one look inside, its like going through a junk shop with non-moving stocks and all. Yeah, the "You have to buy them in a set" policy was in there and so, I leave it at that.

Both girls during breakfast, leaving most of the
cheese everywhere except their stomachs

Kristine waiting for her food at
1-Utama's Arena. Yeah,
the food sucks

Kristine feeling worried as Kaelynn is in charge at the wheel

Who moved my cheese?

Well, nothing much to say except for the fact that
they love cheese

Alarming Tones

Ever since I changed my car alarm in '97 (the very same week I got the car), I am very used to the tones generated by my car alarm. But after more than a decade, the speaker is, well, suffering from a permanent case of larygnitis. It was then, that I sent my car back to my friend to have another installed. Because I was tight on budget, I opted for a single tone since the original tone costs RM85 upwards and it was not in stock. From that day on, I regretted my decision. Fast forward four months later, I scouted another alarm at Pasar Road and after some tests, it was loud and almost fits my original alarm speakers. So, I decided to rewire my on my own. I mean, what can go wrong?

This is the RM25 6-tone made in China horn

And this is the single tone alarm horn. Which incidentally,
is the same as a Proton Saga car which I hated. A lot.

Swapping the two horns is quite easy. All you need to
do is to remove the nut and the stand and then bolt
it to the existing stand in the car.

There! All done! Unfortunately, the sound that came
out was muffled. The funny thing was, it was extremely
loud when we tested it in the store. Maybe, when I
have the time, I will try to switch the polarity around
or test the car's battery voltage. But if everything is
OK, then I might need to buy another horn speaker.

WTF.... I mean, its just a simple swap, right? How bloody complicated can it get?

Eating porridge the Kristine way

And so, for lunch, we sat down to have some porridge. It was still hot even after my Wife sat it to cool for more than five minutes. There are various ways to cool the porridge ranging from scooping it at the sides of he bowl, stirring it, blowing it, teh tarik it, and so on. But this is what Kristine did.....

She takes the spoonful of porridge
and held it up to the fan to cool it

And if she does this everyday, she
will have a highly developed left
arm very soon!

Hotwheels Rogue Hog

All of a sudden, the price of a Hotwheels die-cast toy fell from RM5.90 to RM4.90. Well, at 7-11 anyway. And so, one hot and gruelling day, I decided to go to 7-11 for a cup of Slurpee. So, instead of asking the staff why there was a "Under maintenance" sign on the Slurpee machine, I decided to leave the shop empty handed. That was the plan untl I noticed the Hotwheels cars neatly hung at the sides of each display racks.

Yeah, suffice to say, I replace my would-be Slurpee with a Hotwheels car.

This is a second generation Rogue Hog. When it first
came out last year, it was a black Police car. Why did
I pick this one up? Well, the brighter paint scheme
made me take a more detailed notice on its design.

Yes, the rear fan can be a source for kit-bashign and
also the front driver seat which could be served as a
pilot seatfor a futuristic craft. I would say, its perfect
for a 1/48 or a 1/72scale figure. But I need an actual
pilot figure to determine its size, though.

Opening the car now is not just a simple 5-year old
throw-it-to-the-ground-until-it-splits-open tactic.
All you need to do is just get a proper sized drill
bit and drill through the rivets. Once it is done,
you can gently pry the car apart

And there you have it: from left to right, the chassis,
the metal chair, clear plastic canopy and silver body

This is the part which I am interested in. I will now
keep it in a safe place until I have a project for it

Another look from the rear. Somehow, the fan design is
mesmerizing. I could have it cast for multiple copies
but that would be very expensive though. Still lets
see what project needs these designs

Morons on the road

We're stuck in a traffic jam and he uses
his foot brake instead even when the
car was stationary for more than half a
minute. As soon as his foot got tired, it
rolled backwards and now, my bonnet
has a new scratch. No use horning him
as he knows what happened changed
lane asap.

This fella was so engrossed on his mobile phone and also
on the road traffic, I had to horn him repeatedly.

Meeting up with friends

Sometimes, I really wished I was still single so that I
can do whatever I want and still have time for my
friends and go to places where we can gather and
talk rot till the Sun comes down or goes up, etc.
But when you have a family, everything goes out
of the window as they come first. Now, all my
friends think I am a social recluse. Ha ha ha ha!

Eating Dragon fruits

Both girls love eating Dragon fruits, especially the red ones. And these fruits have a lot of liquid in them. As for me, I prefer to have the fruits in canned versions. Maybe I have not tasted the 'actual' Dragon fruit since the first one I tasted reminded me of something gross.

Krsitine with her new natural organic lisptick

And so did Kaelynn