Blob in the Fridge

Cocolala, Coklala. etc. That was Kristine's attempt to say Coca Cola, which happened to be her latest favourite drink after numerous trips to MacDonalds (I think they serve Pepsi there). Still, this is what happens when you want your Coke to cool down fast and then forget about it hours later. I know, someone could have just used ice-cubes instead....... But I cannot name that person or else I won’t get any Ang Pous next year. Ha ha ha ha.

It looked as if something exploded inside

Some brown Iceman or something

Makes for a good John Carpenter's The Thing sequel

Spare Parts

As soon as we have moved office, my desk was automatically filled with a lot of electronic parts, even if those parts are not for phone systems. This is one of the hazards of being a Technical Manager. Still, I took them with relish because there are some items I would like to salvage. For today, these are the parts from a digital camera of unknown origin. I mean, if I had known where it came from , I would have scolded the owner for not putting in the camera’s plastic housing as well.

This is from an old Samsung PBX. I can salvage the switches
the phone sockets and some Eproms.

This is one of the circuit board from the camera.
I can salvage the small battery and its holder
plus the black buzzer.

This is the flash unit, note the big capacitor
How I can activate the flash, I have no idea

The opticals. The lens and prism (left), the CCD
(middle) and the lens (right). No use for me but
I can use them for scratchbulding a spaceship
or something

Pissed by a Rat

This is the year of the Dog and for most dogs, this is not a good year until after the middle of the year. Why am I saying this, I have absolutely no idea. Nor could I say anything nice to the customer except "You pissed off the cat, didn't you?". They have installed a Toshiba PABX years ago in an area which is now officially Rat Central after Happy Hours. And since their office was built next to the cemetery, I wouldn't even want to touch the rats. Even the cats don’t want to touch the rats. Really.

Throughout the years, the system has accumulated tremendous amount of biological material and ammonia based liquid. In other words, the rats pissed and shat on the system. It was so bad that it corroded the system’s power supply, burnt a few extension ports and rusted a lot of parts. By the time we came over (after they called for the main distributor who gave them a very bad corporate experience, that is), we had to quote them a new system and also salvage as much cards as we could for them since their big Boss does not want to have the system repaired. I mean, its already on its last legs when you switch it on/off, you can hear the power supply’s transformer plates chattering like crazy. Its like your heart going on and off a hundred times a second.

This card was slotted vertically. So the piss just dripped down

Some of the copper tracks turned black

And some components were compromised

It was so bad that this board was beyond repair

Mind Enhancing Products

Apart from newspaper comic strips, comics, in-Tech and Sci-Fi technical books, I have never read a real book for more than... more than... OK, ever since we got married. But then, I met Jason who lent me his book Who Moved my Cheese and then David Schwartz's The Magic of Thinking Big. He asked me to read chapter two and I did. (please do read this chapter first and depending on your perception, it could be from "Oh My God, this is so true, how could I have been so fucking blind" to "Huh?" or something in between). After that, the reading bug sort of materialised again and bit me in the *censored* and with all the saved up lunch money for this month (and temporarily subsidised by Mr. VISA), I went ahead and bought two other books; Lydia Teh's Honk If You're Malaysian and Steve Chandler's 100 Ways to Motivate Others. This was because MPH was having a small booth at one of my Customer's Corporate HQ. (But I missed Lydia Teh by two days as she was there to give a talk). Of the three books, I have managed to finish Lydia's first. And if you like to laugh at yourself, (pointing and laughing at your own mirror image does not count) this is a great read. And if I have money for next month, I am going to get her two earlier books.

So, why am I reading these books all of a sudden? And why am I listening to all these motivation CDs while driving? Why? Well, no, I am not having a mid-life crisis. Even if I am, I won't even know what the heck its all about. The reason is more than personal because I want to improve my family's lives apart from having to go for lobotomy sessions and towing ATMs from the walls in the middle of the night. So, hopefully, within a few more weeks, I will know the outcome of my planning. Anyway, this is all the time I have to blog this entry as I really need to get back to the books and my hectic work/family life.

Oh yeah, go read the “Cheese” book first and if you have the chance, try to get the VCD as well. I know I have it somewhere, courtesy of one Mrs. Chow and her Red Engine years ago.

Its still under the wrappers

Do not read this in a Library

This one is goos