Dealing with IT-Challenged personnel

I got a call from an outlet in Shah Alam saying that their keyboard is not working. So, when its not working, the barcode scanner is not working too. Fair enough.

But it quickly escalated to DEFCON 1 when she realised that tomorrow is the weekend where Sales would go nuts and they do not have temporary receipts or even time to write them. Plus, non of my Techs were available since they had other sites to take care of. And so, when I tell you that I got the call, I was already about 75% in reaching home in the rainy weather. So, I had to do a u-turn back to the office, get the correct keyboard and then drive all the way, in the drizzling traffic jam, replace the keyboard and then scold the shit out of the staff.


Seriously, I did not do that. In fact, I went home instead.

Before you all think that I am shirking my responsibilities even if its after office hours, I am not. This is because I remembered I had left a keyboard there when during the previous trip, Vee-Chai was too full. If I did not remember this, then I really have to make a U-turn, get back to the office, go to Shah Alam just in time to see all the shops close. And I am not in the mood to try this on the next morning since we had appointment with Dad for lunch. He just came out from his eye operation.


And this is the reason why it was not working... facepalm time.
And as usual, no one admitted anything apart from the usual,
"I don't know." routine.

Star Trek:Into Darkness

Once again, its time to don the Star Trek Voyager costume again. This time, its for the Star Trek Into Darkness's Premier Night located at 1-Utama's IMAX Theatre. Jeffrey and I got our courtesy tickets from Richard which was a nice gesture because these IMAX tix are not cheap.


(L-R) Richard, me, Alex, Kenny, Peter and King

Richard in his usual pensive mood...

Right before the show starts, there were some quizzes which I guess, only
Star Trek fans can answer.
  

But the ones after the show, was a little bit difficult since it was
so exciting, I more or less forgot about the details such as the
coordinates given by Khan.

Presents from Richard. A nice poster plus and very shiny key-chain

And well, Jeffrey and I had a lot of these Posters which Glows in the Dark.
There were given to us upon request but I did not expect the crew to give
us the whole box! Well it was late at night and after searching on the Net,
These are limited edition prints.
So, what did I think of the movie? Well, all I can say, was that its nice. I quite enjoyed it since prior to the showing, I ignored every advertisement and also 'news' from the Internet. So, it was more of a surprise when some of the plots revealed itself. But I was disgusted with the role-reversal and where Kirk sacrificed himself and the stupid thing with the tribble. The Wrath of Khan was a classic and although Cumberbatch did some fine acting, the excuse of being in an alternate reality does not justify such stupidity. Also, although it was censored out, Alice Eve's presence there did not do anything significant although she was supposed to be THE Carol Marcus. So, for the rest of the movie, I just concentrated on the 3D IMAX effects, the refit Enterprise and kept my brains in a box. No point nit-picking on a very expensive ticket.

But for new Fans, this is excellent!

QMx's TNG Commbadge

 And today, I can tell you that I am a very happy person. The reason being is that my USD19.95 TNG Commbadge from QMx has arrived! When QMx announced it months ago, I was already on the pre-order list and so, as you might have guessed, I ordered them asap.

Its not so much that the prices are reasonable but that I have an 'Official' prop eventhough for this item is 'glamorised'. Yeah, its gold and silver plated, which in the original prop was not. And their surface was never that shiny to begin with since its a resin sculpt. Where the silver meets the gold, its actually in two pieces.


I guess that I would need them to be casted in resin but I am mulling on this one. Should I get one from Roddenberry.com or use this as source? But fret not, its for my own personal comsumption, esp for the fridge.

Yeah, once I have some time off, I'll talk to the Caster....

Its the in-thing to use magnets for the Star Trek Badges nowadays since more than
10 years ago as those pins are really painful and if your badge happened
to snag on something...
The QMx's TNG side-by-side with my cast Voyager badge.
Its very heavy and so, if you put on a thin shirt, it will dangle about.

I think I need more fridge magnets instead...

Wasabi Crackers


This is the first time I actually seen such product and yeah, I bought it immediately. The price was OK, though and what I liked about this biscuit is that its very thin.

The wasabi flavouring was only on side and its not easy to see them. So, looking for the wasabi is 50-50. But once you tasted them. Whoa...

My Future has been Fingered







All it took was less than 4.25 minutes to decide the Fate of my Country. In the morning, the line was incredulously long. By lunchtime, it was even worse. The stroke of luck came when it started to rain which actually thinned the crowd. By the time I walked across, the line was virtually non-existent.

1. Walked in, went to the Counter where people with PCs were not playing Galaga confirmed my IC and told me to enter room #6.

2. I did as I was told but was stopped by a Policeman drinking 100Plus. Apparently, one cannot bring an umbrella into the room in case it contains hidden weapons of mass distractions.
3. After checking my details, the man starts to mispronounce my name loudly and I was then instructed to have my left forefinger blackened the controversial indelible ink. (you know, the idea that came from Ambiga. Unfortunately, many reported the ink can easily come off, could not, did, did not and maybe might.)

4. Then I was told to go to a private booth and cross out the difference. Luckily, one of them is of the gentler sex which made my decisions easier...
 
5. Then I folded and slipped my secret ballot into a TRANSPARENT Ballot Box and walked out.
 We need to do this every 5 years because going into the Parliament and kicking them out seems to be illegal. Oh well, I have done my duty and I hope, I will wake up to a brighter Malaysia tomorrow. I know it has to because tonight, I cannot look forward to digging my nose nor fingering my ears for wax...