It makes an 'Ass' out of 'U' and 'Me'

OK, its now about half-past two. Earlier on, my old Boss called me up regarding my timetable for today. So, I told him I will need to do my errands and should be free by 1130 in the morning. Unfortunately, because of my Dad's car, I was delayed for a few hours and so, the eta went from 1130 to 1230 to 1320 to 1430.

He did call me us a few times and I told him, "I am coming over, so don't go away." Because he did stress that I should come when I am 'free'. So, I told him, my 'free' is on Saturdays and because if I cannot make it on this Saturday, it would be two or three weeks later. Something which no one, even the customer would like to wait. So, as I promised him I would be availbable this Saturday, I would be there. Just wait for me a bit.

Yeah, and then I have to go to Pasar Road before coming over. This is because, I know how long I will take in Pasar Road but not his customer. So, its better to finish this errand and then go over, which gives me a lot of time to service the customer in case the unexpected happens. Well, he taught me this one. Heh.

And so, finally, by the time I arrived, it was already half-past two in the afternoon. And the problem I found out, was a wrongly inserted battery. Which is not funny. The irony is, the customer bought all these electronic doors from China and asked us to R&D and then set it up for them, and then, half a year later, got the guys from China to change to new batteries while they're servicing the doors. The end result is, they assumed the battery orientation by looking at the spring contacts and not the diagrams molded into the plastic case. The problem is, the contact terminals for both positive and negative also have springs.

Anyway, I sorted it out, taught my old technician and Boss how to maintain these things. They have to learn this one. As I might not always be around except for weekends.

And one last advise is, whether he likes to hear it or not, transfer all the responsibilities to the Senior tech, let him learn and handle stuff so my Boss do not have to worry so much but concentrate more on getting the Sales in. This is better than salary increment in the long run. I know they're getting bored and facing a dead-end in their carreers but its up to my old Boss to solve this problem. And outsourcing technical jobs is not an option. We have created this technical team to cater for our customers and also for other dealers and to just outsource is no meaning at all.

While we were having a 'yum char' session, I came
across this cute kitten which has a very weird tail.
I think it got into a fight or accident when young
and when it walks, the tail is always held high as
if its an antenna. But it looked more like a squirrel
tail in the making.

Coming to Pasar Road during lunch hour is really asking for it. Bu because I am thee hours late, there is nothing I can do about it. I found out later, the shop which I wanted to go to, for another component, closes at 1300.

So, instead, I have to settle for 0.4" red 7-segment
LED display instead of o/3". Oh, and I bought all
the red rectangle LEDs from another shop too. It
costs me quite a lot but well, I am just being me.

There are about 120 red rectangle LEDs in this pack
and it could solve the problem of the missing LED
block which everyone was trying to overcome.

And as you can see, it is slightly larger than the normal
rectangular LEDs. The shop owner was happy to sell it
off to me, except for the husband or someone, who is
always an asshole when I talked to him, told her not to
sell all and leave some for other customers. So, in front
of his face, I sternly told him that I am taking it all. She
does not know it yet as she said there will be more
stocks next week, which I believe otherwise since no
one else makes LEDs of these sizes anymore.

Where Amazons hide.

Today is Saturday and yes, I am going to Pasar Road. But first thing first. My Dad needs to start his car and get it ready for inspection. However, the car is in a very bad shape since it has not been driven for the past two years or so. Heck, it hasn't even logged more than 50KM for the past five years. The problem was that the car was smooth when it was idling but when you rev it or try to make it move, it chokes, and stutters, with the occasional pop.


And so, we took it to the petrol station to fill it up with RON95 since there was no more RON92.
But on the way back to the house, the car took a very long time to climb the hill. And so, my Dad
needs to take it to the workshop. Unfortunately, this workshop does not do house calls unlike the other mechanic who has now virtually disappeared of the face of the Earth (no joke). And so, we have to drive it there and since its still literally driveable, we do not need to call AAM. But before we start the journey, I cleaned the distributor and spark plug contact points. Now, not only is the revving better, I can now see the fire coming out of the exhaust after every explosion. Ha ha ha.

But halfway through Pantai Hill, it was almost impossible to move the car further. Since I was following behind with my Bengmobile with the hazard lights on, I am the wingman. Anyway, we stopped the car and I continued cleaning the distributor. This car is so simple that within one look, I know where the distributor is, unlike my Bengmobile which I have to guess.

Ook. There is a lot of dirt at the spark plugs and so, I used WD40 to get rid of all the gunk. And after all four plugs were cleaned, the effect was slightly better but in reality, the situation only gave the car slightly more oomph. I do not want to touch the distributor again nor open up the cables since it is dangerous to stop at that corner with so many cars speeding round the corners. I was also thinking about doing the sparkplug gap there and then too but because we don't have the gauge, it could be disastrous.

Finally, we continue with the journey and my Dad still drove the car. There is a very logical reason in this. He drove the Volvo more than me and my last real driving was a decade ago when I started out work before I got my Bangmobile. And so, its better for him to drive the car. Moreover, not many others in my family would or could drive my Bengmobile.

On the way, we passed by another car which broke down. All the while, were we driving quite slowly with cars speeding past us, even on the emergency lane.

Finally, we reached PJ Old Town, the place where the mechanic is based in. Near the traffic lights, the car had some problem and we missed our chance, but I get to piss of a lot of drivers as the two lanes become one due to double parking.

Finally, we reached the mehanic. You would know because there are a lot of other cars parked in everywhere. These are the Volve 122 Amazons.

While my Dad was chatting with the mechanic, I saw a lot of sparkplugs lying about. Maybe I can get some to use as reference for the car's sparkplugs.

Nah, they're all different.

This 122 caught my eye, not because of the nice paint job and the white walled tires. Look carefully and you can see why its so different.

Don't get it? OK, here is another shot. Look carefully. Look very very carefully.

Yes, its a two door version and IMHO, very rare. I like the window design where the back passenger cannot do anything except open the side windows this way. When I was young we used to have a FIAT 147 and if I am not mistaken, it opens this way too.

I didn't know Puspakom have holo stickers too. Ha ha ha ha!

The interior of the car has been done up quite nicely. The original black has been replaced with cream leather. Even the doors have been given a wooden treatment.

I suspect its one of those printed stickers thing but I cannot elaborate more since I do not know much about this technology. However, one thing I felt was spoilt was when the owner used a black screw there.

Even the dash was nicely done. Personally, I feel that the owner should have used either cream or something of a lighter shade.

All was fine and well until I noticed the RPM meter. I mean,30,000? For an Amazon? Wow. But in actual fact, it might not be true. Still, this gives me an idea as I am very tempted to put such meter in Dad's car.

The owner also had the engine chromed, which is very nice. Now, only if he can follow up with coloured hoses and cables.

After tracing around, I think the RPM Meter can be DIY since I suspect on of the wires goes direct to the distributor with the other end going to the fuses. Too bad I do not have a cable tracer anymore. Maybe I should save up and buy my very own cable tracer.

Oho! So this is the fuel pipe! And what a nice little fuel filter there! I think its one of those motorbike ones and can be used since The Amazon is not fuel injected so the pressure is quite low.

Anyway, back to the car. Our mechanic's son has totally opened the distributor cap and found some insect making a nest it there.

Once he pulled out the connector, we saw the contact is quite worn. Oh, yeah, the cotton fluff is made by this insect. Unfortunately, its an empty shell. How it got there is a mystery since the distributor is very tightly sealed.

Anyway, it was time to leave the car in there while we packed lunch and headed home. After I dropped Dad off, it was time to return to my errands and I am three hours late....