Tiu Nia Ma ger Chau Hai!!!

Translation: Screw Your Mother's Smelly Vagina
Loosely translated: F**k You!

That was the first public expletive I uttered at a customer's place today. And despite everything, I felt it (my actions) was totally justified.

It all happened when we were rushing to complete the customer's Hotel. While my techs were doing the CCTV, I was handling the PCs, and the door system. Previously, the customer was in a bad mood (or maybe because it was so close to hand-over time) rushing all the contractors that today, no one was in the mood to work anymore. And those who came, finished as fast as they could be literally ran off.

As I was held back by two other customer's, by the time I came over, it was already four in the afternoon. And so, letting my techs alone to do the CCTV installation (which was a bad idea because it never occurred to them to do the camera alignment at the same time. But then again, they too did not have the mood to talk to the customer nor bothered to set up the TV for viewing) I handled the Door system. The door system was the same system which they bought from China and handed over to me for testing a few months back. And now, its my responsibility to set up the PC and its relevant software. As the PC was to be located in the front counter, I had to do the setup all over again since the counter was being worked on. Once the electricals were finished, I plugged in and switched on. Nothing happened.

So I decided to check on the power points and this was when I got an electrical shock, thanks to my sweating arm as I was upstairs earlier, trying to fix two electrical doors where the installer screwed up but ran off. Yes, I know its not my job but since I was testing it, I learnt how to set and align the locks. Anyway, after getting the shock and still alive, I checked on the power points and found out all three (Earth, Live and Neutral) connectors were live. I called my tech as witness and he too confirmed the electricals were wrongly connected. And so, I informed the electrical guy of the problem.

Me: There is something wrong with the mains. I can't ge the PC to work
Him: What?! Its working la.
Me: No, its not.
Him: Then what the hell's wrong with it?

(The way he answered and his attitude towards me was rude and that's when I lost it)

Me: What the fuck are you talking about? I tested it (mains socket) with my test pen, all there points lit up and you tell me there's no problem? What the fuck is wrong with you? If I plugged in the PC and really switch it on, and there is damage, you're going to pay. You got it, asshole?
Him: So what do you want me to do? I'm going to pay for the damage? Dream on. And don't be so arrogant.
Me: What the fuck, man. What the bloody fuck! Tiu Nia Ma ger Chau Hai! This is your fucking job! Fine, if you won't do it, I'll just do my job and switch on the fucking PC.

A few minutes later, while I was about to really call my bluff, he rushed back and told me not to switch it on. He took his tools and discovered that it won't switch on which is an indication that the wiring was wrong.

Him: Next time don't be so arrogant
Me: What the....... Well, fuck you! Tiu Nia Mah! This is your fucking job, OK!

While this was going on, all my tech were watching me in silence (which I know, is that their mouths were open wide inside) because I have never done this before.

Later on, my Boss called me up asking about the incident because the electrician told hid big brother who then told the Supervisor who then called him. I explained my side of the story and he was laughing. Hard. I can almost hear him choking. Because, he told me, it was hard for me to believe him as I have never swore before.

After listening to his side of the story, my Boss told the Supervisor this: Yes, he (me) does have a temper but there are two possibilities, which is either the electrician made the story up or, the situation created by him was very bad.

But the politics is not that easy because the customer is actually related to my Boss and the Super is also known to him. Fortunately, they know we're neutral and do not take nonsense from anyone as we would report straight to the customer regardless.

But I was pissed off because of a lot of things:
1) That counter was ready for days and they did not do (wiring) anything to it.

2) The door system is related to their electrical system and we had to adjust our schedules to suit theirs and they could easily be off the mark by a few hours.

3) Some of the cables were hidden under the counter and we did not know until we asked the electrician. I asked,
"Where are the cables?"
"Under there"
"Why didn't you take it out?"
"You didn't ask"
"Fuck you, you think I am stupid?" [Yeah right in front of the customer too]

3) His brother, who took the full brunt of my anger, really did have an attitude problem, as if he was denied freedom from working in forced labour camps or something. But the customer did mention about him in their meeting, stating that this guy easily attract trouble and when it comes, he will either win the fight or get beaten to Death.

On the next day, we kept away from each other.
Just in case.

Getting the cake.......

Sometimes its frustrating that due to my work, I have to miss a lot of things. For example, it was my Wife's Birthday and because I wanted to surprise her with a dinner at Victoria Station, the plan went wrong. Very very wrong.

First thing was, the urgent need to complete our job at the customer's place by today as tomorrow would be the time for him to "hand-over". As I was under pressure to complete my first two customer appointments, by the time I arrived, everything was still not ready. So, I have less than three hours to get everything done.

Luckily, all my crews were already about to finish installing the four external cameras. Which is no mean feat considering the lack of ladders to reach between the first floor and second floor. But what they did not do was to align the cameras. But in order to align the cameras, they would need to set up the DVR and the mnitor. And in order to set them up, they would have to converse with the customer, something which they were not too keen on. And so, the easiest was to wait for me to arrive. In other words, we lost about two hours. But first thing first, which is to set up the Door System again and to make sure all 24 doors are responding to the card system.

By the time I got the DVR set up, they were about to leave and hope to continue the next day. Oh no, I do not want that because this morning, I have already stated that today is the LAST day for us to set things up. And so, it must be done by TODAY. Taking matters into my own hands, I pulled a bluff stating that the customer will not let us go until we're done on the CCTV. And as for the customer, I pushed a Walkie-talkie to them so that they can confirm the camera alignment eventhough they are in a meeting. I know them and they would not notice anything only after the meeting and panic. And then they would call us back tonight which is not going to make any party happy.

And so, with a simple cable, I set the DVR and the temporary TV

I told them to hold onto each other's
belts and not the underwear when
they're out there. Kinda reinforces
the Buddy-buddy system.

This is me with the CCTV Tester MKII.
By now, after a few hours of Field Tests,
it seriously needs a strap. It was so heavy,
the cables couldn't even support it.

By the time I finished, it was too late for the Dinner
and it was minutes before the shop closes. This was
the nearest Cake shop I was pointed to, as doing a
U-turn to JayaJusco is not an option. Unfortunately,
the KFC next door got robbed and all Police and
victims and other busybodies jammed the road. I
then parked next to the Police cars and got into
the shop. If they want to question me, they can
do so AFTER I got the cake.

"Darling, can you get me a banana?", I asked
"OK" and she went down to get one.
"I couldn't find any bananas", she returned.
Oh well, I hid the cake in the fridge where there
were some bananas. By the time I wanted to
tell her, everyone in the house was tired and
already asleep. So, we get to eat the cake 24
hours later without much Ceremony, of course.
I chose Chocolate Banana as the other cakes
were so "predictable". The cheesecake were
tempting but there was not much deco on it.

And someone really enjoyed it
as they have been bugging her
ever since they saw the cake.

Then Mommy said, "I don't like banana!". Haiyo