Oh!pEnions: October 2007

Trip to Melaka

So, there was an emergency trip to Melaka as we were needed to install two extra telephones. There was nothing much to post about but this is a sign for things to come as my tentative schedule said I will be in Johor on Monday till Tuesday and then on Wednesday, I will have to be in Terengganu and lastly, in Kuantan.

This means more driving from South to North and will be very tiring for me. I mean, driving up to Terengganu from Johor in one night is going to make me go nuts. Not even a 5GB worth is MP3 will satisfy me....... (As if I have 5 GB worth of MP3 and SD cards)

This is how the telephone looked like at the Guardhouse
as it was exposed to the environment. Nice shades of grey

Spooning around

Due to the high incident rate of customers cutting their lips,
the Plastic Spoon Manufacturers for Nasi Lemak Association
have therefore come up with an alternative design for the
plastic spoon. Although the new design has solved the initial
problem, many customers found it very difficult to use the
handles to dig their ears, scrape for fluff in their belly
button or even scratch their backs

Goodbye to you

Remember the NEC system we dismantled on the eve of Hari Raya? Well, we just returned after the customer has finished their week long holiday. Nothing much for us to do but to cart away the system and all of its accessories. Back then, in 1984, this must have cost them a fortune.

What you're seeing here is the front panel of the NEC's power system
Lots of switches, so I salvaged this

The NEC system at the back of the van

This is the last sight I'll ever see of that great mighty NEC.
These people have converted our old office to a scrap shop
For 59Kg, we got RM53. Later, we took their almost bulging
batteries and they gave us RM87 in return. Huh?
(So now, I will scout for more batteries and aluminium. Ha ha ha)

But I saved one circuit card as it has some EPROMS
I am interested in experimenting

Another Kilostone

Nothing to see here. Move along, move along.

Trinkets

So, being outstation, it is now a habit for me to seek out small shops selling toys whenever I can. And so, I spotted more Chinese made guns. For RM10.00, it was quite expensive because in Kuantan, the toy gun I had was bigger, had more electronic lights & sound and with a laser pointer too. But anyway, since I was here....... heh heh heh.
Anyway, the reason why I got these guns were the fact that the laser module that comes with the toy is not properly secured. I can just open the black enclosure and take out the module. This was much easier than cutting open those stupid metallic casings and damaging the laser module in the process. The fact that the Chinese has been able to put these into toys (and disregarding eye safety) means the module is quite cheap. Now, I just hope that the green laser would follow the same way in a few years time.

I got this trinket for Kristine for RM5.90. Its solar power, which I think
is the same technology as my Casio's Pro Trek. You just expose the thing
to some bright light (or just sunlight) and the clear solar cell would start to
produce enough power for the LCD to blink on and off. Amazing.

This is the RM10.00 gun. The pellets are carp and its going straight
to the bun anyway.

See? I just uncrew the front cap and out pops the laser module.

Going to Langkawi

OK, this is going to be one trip which I will try to forget (Ha ha). Heck, I don't even know where to start, so I'll just write it in chronological order.

25102007 1930
Rushed back from work. Set phone alarm to go off at 2230 and went straight to bed

25102007 2225
Kristine and Kaelynn jumped about on the bed, woke me up. Set phone alarm to 2330

25102007 2315
Wife called from Nilai, away on a course. Let her speak with Kristine. Set phone alarm to 0030.

26102007 0001
Kristine still not sleeping so my Mom dealt with her. Set phone alarm to.... ah, forget it. Went for a shower and ate dinner. Watched Astro's conclusion on “From Dusk till Dawn” starring George Clooney and Tarantino. What the fuck, it was heavily censored. Must get DVD as haven't even seen the beginning. Continued with Discovery Channel about Explosive orces (I.e. Bombs)

26102007 0240
Packed my stuff and drove to Boss's rendezvous point. Boss used his 4x4 and we started the journey. Halfway after Penang, I became the driver.

26102007 0835
Reached Kuala Kedah jetty. Boss bought tickets for 0930 ferry. Arranged our stuff, had some light breakfast consisting noodles and ice coffee.

26102007 1006
Ferry was packed. No aircon. Very bad waves. Feeling nauseous. Shouldn't have eaten breakfast......

26102007 1112
Arrived at jetty and took taxi to customer's place. Completed the work and also made sure the problem does not happen again. Did extra repair work (not in our job scope) to solve another of their problems.

26102007 1350
Bought tickets for 1430 ferry. Went looksee at the Duty Free. Realised the prices are a rip-off. RM149 for a 1Gb microSD when I got mine for RM79 (if I went to computerwar.com.my, it could be much cheaper). Stopped ogling at the Nokia 5700 and took more photos. Since we're still early, I decided to leave my stuff on the seat and took more photos. Realised it was not my seasickness but the jetty is actually floating about. Came back in, a fat man took my seat and the seat next to him was available only for anorexics. Instead of arguing, went to the back only to be cornered by three fat men.

26102007 1630
About to drive to Alor Setar customer when lady driver parked next to us and scratched her own car. Finished our job and left for KL by 2030.

26102007 2150
Stopped by Bkt Tambun for dinner. Total cost for some Tofu soup, 2 plates of fried squid and one plate of la-la, accompanied with four plates of rice (we did not eat lunch) and chinese tea: RM27.50

26102007 2213
After nice dinner, fell asleep while Boss drove. He will wake me up when he is tired but he never did. Driving his 4x4 is awesome, man. Reached Petaling Jaya by 0132. Transferred my stuff to the van and drove home with volume up on Enigma's Mea Culpa and keep rewinding on The Fray's Look after you (dem sad when played on the ending of Ghost Whisperer's episode, Deja Boo. Made the song more emotional for me)

26102007 0215
Reached home. Took more photos and prepared this blog to upload.

26102007 0430
Can't sleep. Shouldn't have drank the Chinese Tea. I always forget this fact.

26102007 0511
Still can't sleep.

26102007 0628
Body's internal alarm woke me up before phone alarm. Too tired. Set phone alarm to 0730

26102007 0901
Shit. Late for work.....

[1] This was taken at three in the morning. I wanted to take a picture of myself lying on the road but it was wet with rain.
[2] The breakfast that helped with my seasickness. But the soup was great. For just RM3.00, it was garlic soup.
[3] Little boy in front playing with the Nokia 5300. The more I look at it, the more I wanted a Nokia 5700 or a Sony Ericsson 850i. But nah, I still cannot see any reason for changing my Sony Ericsson T630 yet. By if I can find them second hand.....
[4] We went all the way just for this. Later on, to make our trip more meaningful, we did some system programming, looked into their alarm sensor problem (even though it was out of our job scope) and re-established customer relations.
[5] This is one car you do not see outside Langkawi. Yet. Wanted to go for a test drive but the rain dampened our moods. OK, but because I did not have the guts to go ask the Salesperson.

[1] This is a Disney Smarties sweet dispenser. What the hell were the toy designer thinking?
[2] An Abandoned project. What a waste
[3] We had to make a detour as the main bridge is under construction/repair/renovation/whatever
[4] Waiting in line for ferry tickets.
[5] Special sign Engerlish people. But read the Malay closely, “Passage for tourists who are not citizens of Langkawi” (maybe my Malay sucks)

[1] These things hold up the floating jetty
[2] OK, so the sky does not look so good. This means choppy water.........
[3] While everyone was boarding in the front.........
[4] Mudfish and crabs
[5] All went well until a lady swerved too close to our 4x4's tough rear bumper. Later, she reversed and re-parked her car and the result was that the car came even closer.....

[1] See the deep scratches? The one near the door, I think she had damaged it before.
[2] In English, it is the Family Kitchen Restaurant. Now pronounce the three letter word....
[3] Took this under low light conditions by resting the camera on my Boss's 4x4 AFTER he stopped shaking the car (to make sure there are enough space for more fuel)
[4] The belacan sauce on the top right was very fresh, my Boss said. I did not care until I dipped the deep fried squid. Boy, it was delicious!
[5] No crab this time was we're running out of time. Later on, we order a second plate of deep fried squid and extra rice. Oh, yeah, I finished the whole plate of garlic too. Ha ha ha ha ha

Digital Photography

By now, almost everyone who has a camera, it would be a digital camera. And by now, most of us would not have heard about film cameras anymore. Even if we did have one, we would not use it as much as we like due to costs and problems getting the picture to com eout. Welcome to the Digital Age.

More than ten years ago, having a Digital camera was like being the first sucker to buy a version 1.0 product. Yes, you have the latest expensive novelty gadget And the quality really sucked. Getting the pictures into the computer was even worse. And also, at that time, photo paper trickled warily into the market. Let's not even mention memory cards and the format war that nearly broke out.

Back then having a film camera has its own advantages. You could take thirty six pictures in blind faith, and hope one of them would come out well. Only to be disappointed three days later when the laughing technician handed the thick envelope back to you. And when you're bored, you could take out the brownish negatives and try to imagine the “actual colours” of the image that might come out. And when you're done, you just put them back into the thick negative book/folder/shoe box.

With a Digital Camera, you could shoot as much as you want depending on your memory card capacity (and battery power) and still get to piss the volunteer on the spot who took blurred/cropped pictures of you and your smiling friends. Not only that, you also get to shout embarrassing instructions that retard for not knowing how to use a digital camera. But if you had a film camera back then, a few days later, you know that volunteer has the last laugh. Especially if you're a tourist and forgot to remove the lens cap too.

But above all, the most important thing about having a film camera actually teaches you about photography. Pretty soon, with the tremendous amount of money spent buying films and what nots, you start to learn very quickly from your errors such as removing the lens cap, parallax error in close ups, ASA rating and most important of all, the types of films you need to use. And when you're serious about photography, then you would go deeper into subjects like apertures, f-stops, compositions and so on.

And some would even go into processing their own negatives and developing their own photos. And with some imaginative darkroom techniques, the pictures would be amazing. But now, there are reports that some are starting to go back films. They claimed that the image from a film has a richer (and a slight 3D effect) compared to the flatness of a digital image. And in time, those who started off with digital cameras would not have any good photography skills or discipline. Everyone would be like me, a point & shoot guy, who just take photos without much thought about composition, “lines”, angles, etc. Ha ha ha ha.

But here and now, like it or hate it, the Digital camera has really arrived. And it brought with it the some of the biggest advantage that no one can ignore: The ability and the ease to produce an image within the shortest time and with minimal cost and in a format that can be viewed all around the World instantly. Some camera manufacturers went with consumer demands and as a result, phased out film cameras. Even camera shops invested in digital printers. By now, a digital camera is so common, it has been the norm for mobile phones as well. And digital cameras have improved so much that they offered feature unheard of compared to film cameras such as low light photography, face/smile recognition, image stabilisation, and with more to come. In effect, a moron like me can now take as much good quality pictures as possible and then download it to my Notebook where I can select the best shot, edit it with some software and then upload it onto my Blog. And if I feel like it, I can pay some jerk RM5.00 to take the memory card from my hands, slot it into their computer, print the picture out and throw it to my face. All within less than 20 minutes or so.

This team took some pictures of a shophouse and edit it on the spot. And
if the owner does not like it, they can then re-shoot, edit it and even put
some effects there and then. This saves time as they do not need to go back
to their office and come back days later with test shot photos.
or
She is uploading the photos on her blog......

From flat to worse

Do you know what is worse than an already flat flat tire?

When it starts to rain
You can't put the jack under the van
You're late for work
The @&#% spare is under the van and it takes ages to take it out

I hate this. I really really hate this

Later on, this deep gash shows the tire needs to be replaced

The water bottles

I have a habit of only saving the coins when I feel like it. And when it is full, I have a problem of looking for a container since the banks are usually closed when I am free. So, this time, I found a big container (was inspired from a movie about two conman using it to collect money but in the end, used the money not for themselves but for a children baseball team. I forgot the movie). Then, we went to Econsave and I found this miniaturised version and bought it for RM5.90.

I know there is a joke but I just can't think of a punchline right now

Kristine modeling the two containers for me

Girls on Bike

Be confident and brave.

Then you won't be so afraid

We will be right behind you and catch you when you fall

So, go.

Go an explore the World and feel it.

And when you're scared, Mommy and Daddy would be here

Waiting for you

Wiping that dirt

And kissing that wounded knee

Kaelynn is not so afraid of the bicycle anymore but
we're more afraid of her falling backwards.

Costumes

This girl, less than three years old, already got some fashion sense. And its fun to see how she thinks and imagines with the props about the room. So cute liao.

This is Kristine's dancing outfit

The new Toyoya Vios

I was at the Subang UMW Toyota's showroom and noticed that they have a very new VIOS on display. At one glance, it was an extreme custom job and the modifications done to the car made it extremely light. (This might be good for acceleration)

A lot of customers were eyeing it too as this edition could be one of a kind in the whole World.

Until you realised the truth is underneath....

Although much of it was painted with a brush,
(you can see brush hair on the bottom pic)
some were transparent stickers like the one
on the top, stuck to the side mirrors

Taking another step

OK, so now, Kaelynn is getting more confident now and just on Friday, she was at a relative's house and tried to walk. In fact, she tried walking literally the whole day. Using the walls and furniture as support, she can really do it. Not only that, she is not not afraid of falling anymore.

Later at night, she still could not stop walking..........aiyoh. Cannot sleep liao!

Here we go! Using the stool for support

A quick dash to Daddy

And after falling, it was just a matter of picking
herself up.

Know why she went to Daddy?
Because Daddy had more chocolate cookies!

Prop calculator

While dismantling some PABX for relocation, I came across a box of calculators that were obviously made in China. It was thrown there but the staff because most of them were not working or had leaking batteries. When I took a second look, the design really caught me since it has the right shape to do any prop. Yeah, and you know what happened next, needless to say.

Trust me, this was a working complete set when I was about to
take some pictures. I accidentally dropped it and the thing split
into two. Since the plastic was so brittle, the two pillars holding
the screws broke off. But upon closer inspection, there were four
plastic clips so I can snap the two cover back without worrying
about it coming off again. The funny thing was, inplaces where
they do not use glue, they used screws and vice versa. Weird

And another thing is the keypad membrane. Usually it is made
from those silicon/rubber mats with conductive carbon tracks
but this is different. Its made from a slightly tougher supermarket
plastic bag material. Must be due to the cost of the extra screws

And here you go, the whole electronics

With everything gutted, now, do you see the potential?

Oh oh

My period is late. It's all your fault!!!

Why my fault? You told me it was ok, ma.

Well, I miscalculated ma. So its your fault!!!

OK, OK. Its my fault. (sigh)

Moral of the story: When you hear the words "Late" and "Period" in one sentence, be alert

New stuff

love my Wife. I really Do. The problem is, I tend to not show it outward nor show it at all. But I really do love her. She has been with me for a few years now, and has put up with my temper a lot. Yet, in return, she gave me two precious gifts; Kristine and Kaelynn. Sometimes, I wished I could show my Love but being me, its hard to do so. I wanted to lift her to a higher quality of life so that she does not have to suffer so much. But then more often than not, reality steps in. Reality tell me that I cannot do this. And my Wife also tells me that, not to worry so much about it. So, I feel sad inside. There a lot of things I wanted to buy for her so that her life is much easier. But I can't. There are a lot of opportunities for me out there but I felt that it is always “blocked” by an unseen hand. I could resign and pursue this but with so much commitment, the risk of failure is unacceptable. In the meantime, the only recourse was to take things slowly and save money so I can buy her things. She would not like it because we know the money can be used elsewhere but I insist.

One such matter was today. Her mobile phone. I wanted to replace hers which she lost on Wesak day in a mad crowd while getting some gifts for Kristine. Luckily, she still keeps her backup Panasonic phone (which I gave her on her birthday years ago) and has been using it since now. But the wear and tear is getting on. So, for the past few weeks, I have been searching for a replacement model for her.

And I have narrowed it down to:

1)Sony Ericsson W850i (She said it was too expensive)
2)Nokia 7500 Prism (We both said “too ugly and expensive”)
3)Sony Ericsson W710i (The seller told me its “out of production”)
4)Nokia 6110 (And I said this slider looked like shit)

But none of the phones met her requirement since she told me that she wanted a RM500 phone and not those fancy wancy RM1300 and above phones. But you see, everytime I replaced her phone, it must be take significant technological leap from the previous model. And this time, I want her to have a good camera, play MP3 from external memory cards and also, with good speakers. And so, I finally relented and searched for more and came up with Nokia 5300 Xpress Music at RM680.However, although it fits the description, it is too bulky and being slider phone, it is just asking for trouble.

One thing I have learnt about Salesmanship is that you really need to lead your target. So, first of all, you must establish a good trusting relationship. Then when it is done, you can now show them the crappiest product before showing them the intended one. So, I lead her to the bulky Nokia 5300 and wait for the complains. Once the signal was given, the Salesperson at the counter starts to introduce a better looking phone, which is the Nokia 6300. And she is happy with it. Hee hee hee.Budget-wise? It was really stretching for me but then again, I do not mind. After buying the phone, I secretly went to the IT center and got her a 1GB microSD card since the Nokia version was only 128MB. Now, all I have to do is to get some of her favourite songs, some Barney songs and a nice alarm clock sound effect MP3 files

So, for close to a grand, I got a Nokia 6300, a HP 1GB thumbdrive and a 1GB microSD card

The microSD is quite small and it comes with a USB adaptor which, again, is small too.

Here are the comparisons of all the SD sizes. [The miniSD is burnt]

Brand New Nokia 6300: RM768.00
1GB microSD card: RM79.00
Sakae Sushi Dinner: RM 75.21
She calls me Darling: Priceless

RAZR CAB

Saw this on the road. Didn't notice much until I read the papers the day after. Motorola were using this vintage car for promotion. Ho-hum.

I guess I got over the RAZR phones years ago. Its nothing to me now other than an overpriced toy. Even the new RAZR2 V8 doesn't create any excitement for me.

One step at a time

Its more than 15 months now and Kaelynn is still not walking. Kristine started to walk when she was about 14 months. We found out that Kaelynn can walk but she does not have the confidence. She will walk just a bit but there must be something for her to hold on to a the other end. maybe its just that she is afraid of falling down.....

Kaelynn falls just after a few steps

Encouranged by her sister, she tries again, this time on the mattress
(where the covers are being washed)

OK, she gets the hang of it now....

So close yet so far. Kristine is jumping with joy as she
knows soon, both of them will run about together
(Which is a nightmare for the both of us)

The iPhone

The World is going ga-ga over the iPhone. But there is a catch: If you do not subscribe to America's Telco AT&T, then the iPhone is useless. Right?

Wrong. In today's World, and in the Internet age, everyone wants things by yesterday. And everyone believes all things are free. Ha ha ha ha. So, now, everyone wants an iPhone regardless of At&T. Because now, they know that the iPhone can be hacked and they are willing to pay any price to have the iPhone hacked to use any GSM carrier.

The cost? Only RM2998 for the iPhone or RM3680 for the unlocked (hacked) version. So, for that price, would you be willing to pay for it? Is it really necessary? Would you die if you cannot have it? Would you?

Anyway, since I have not really seen the iPhone up close, I too, am not sure if I want it. But then again, at that price, it way too pricey for me. Personally, I think it should be priced at around the RM1300 mark. Heh. But then, what do I know about pricing?

Here is the link if you want to read more as it came up on the google search: Danny Foo

Both father and son were excited over the iPhone

Mid-Valley

Ah, back to more familiar territory. But alas, everyone thought the same thing too and so, there were a lot of people everywhere. I am not sure if the there is a tunnel to connect the two places but if there is one, I think its blocked at LG floor. So, you can either pass through to Megamall's Basement carpark or walk under the tarpaulin at G level. And with impatient crowds in the rain, it was a disaster waiting to happen. Still, my wife kept quiet until we're far away to tell me something or else I would have fought with a few men then and there.

Anyway, bringing Kristine adn Kaelynn along was more tiring that we expected. But then, this was the only time I was free from work and all those nonsense. I am not sure what happened after we left Jusco but half an hour later, all floors except the fresh food section were closed. The main entrance had their metal roller shutters down. And the were some reporters. On First Floor, the security guard came out but his boots were covered with white powder......