Nice little Diary

My Wife just passed two Diaries to me, asking me to pick one. I chose this one since this was the last Customer which I dealt with before my Life changed again. I am not sure if the customer has chosen more designs and this was part of their package but I am very happy that they are still with my Company.

Part of me wants to go back as I am starting to like the Diary Manufacturing or rather, the designing part. But part of me wants more technical challenges.

This time, I have noticed that they have used new material and also made the elastic much better. And the best part is, the paper is in the right shade of yellow with the faint Logo printed on.
However, you won't get this being sold on the street though. Its very exclusive.

My new Toolbox

With my new job, I felt that its quite appropriate that I have a new Toolbox with me. Oh, I can use back the old one but I want that to be the House Toolbox. And so, finally, yesterday, I was the proud owner of a Hilti case. Now, when it comes to tool cases, the Hilti, to me, is a very hard to get item. Not that no one is selling but it has a lot of conditions attached:

1. You must buy it with the tool, or
2. The shipping fees are horrendously obscene, or
3. Its always the wrong item.

And so, after so many years of on and searching, I finally got one. And the best part of all? It was a swap, well, more or less.

This is how it happened...
During my 'free' time for the past few months, I tend to end up at HHQ, esp on Saturday afternoons. As a result, I start to get to know more about the 'regulars' there and also, the owner Mr. Low, starts to get friendly towards me as well. (No, I did not buy the whole shop). And so it happens that one day, we struck a conversation about toll cases and I was looking for a Hilti. Although there was a member working at Hilti downstairs, it was not possible to get one. But this kind gentleman, I call him 'Kow Lou' menationed that he has a lot of tool cases and if he did find a Hilti, he will get one for me.

Fast forward three weeks later, when I came to HHQ, I saw one below the table and sure enough, it was for me! And so, after much pleasantries, I offered him something in return for his troubles but he would not accept. When that failed, I offered in exchange, my Army ammo case which I am using as a tool case. And he refused too. However, one of the regulars heard about it and wanted it. So, in the end, I gave it to him.

And here, we learn more about the ammo box-
A. At a roadblock, you can be detained for owning such item, pending on the searching person. As this is an Army 'item', he would like to know where/how you got it, you see.
B. Its a machine gun ammo box, which was made in 3rd November, 1985. (Oh-oh)
C. The seal is intact and if it was submerged, the items inside would still be dry. (Well, they're bullets, of course)

And so, Ladies and Gentlemen, I present you, a Hilti case

Of course I cannot use it straight away since I need to remove some of the walls...

NERF Damansara 13102012

Just a stop-by for me as its raining and all. I was rushing to just meet up with the peeps and give a bit of support before heading off to ICW.

Billy with his broken running shoes

Taking shelter from the rain

Backlane action

So, why the sofa at the backlane?
Its definitely not for the cats, I can tell you that...

My new VISA card

Well, not really. Its a VISA Debit card. I opened a RHB bank account because my new job requires me to do so and not only that, it allows me to pay/receive money directly to my PayPal account!

Little Ms. Engineer?

As I came home from the temp work, what I saw shocked me. There, sitting at my usual place on the table, was Kaelynn, holding a screwdriver. She was opening the battery hatch of her Tamagotchi toy. The battery I gave her a few days ago has died and so, she found another piece and well, decided to replaced it herself.

The first thing you must know is that I did not teach her how to use a screwdriver. Nor did I show her where the battery hatch is. I asked my Wife and she too, denied teaching her. So, in conclusion, she did this all by herself.

After talking to my Wife for a bit, we speculated that Kaelynn could have seen and observed me working on stuff. So, this is where she picked up the knowledge.

I am both happy/proud but also afraid since I did not teach her about the dangers of mains electricity

Kaelynn's First tooth...

Now, its Kaelynn's turn...

Well, almost. Its juts little loose now...
Its the one on the bottom right, or fourth from the right

Things not to do on the plane...

The girls with the swing which they call it their plane

I am very confident that Kristine made the sign herself

Clockwise from top left:
No piping (No pee pee-ing), No Pupying (No poo-poo-ing), No climbing assep pilot, No vomiting, No drawing and No food/drinks

Kristine's first Monopoly game

Kristine bought a Monopoly set from her school yesterday for RM3.00. OK, I was a bit angry because she used her pocket money for it. But then, I realised that this is her first boardgame and well, for RM3.00, apart from the quality, its a steal.

And so, we played together for the very first time. And yes, Kristine went to JAIL on her very first dice roll. Then Kaelynn bought most of the properties and ran out of money. As for me, well... I just had most of the cash...

But I am going to get them a proper set since the Property cards and the money are all the same colour. Its very confusing and also sucks the fun out of the Game...

The Interview

To be honest, when Jeffrey Loo asked me to call this company, I was quite reluctant since the person there, although he was someone was both knew when I was in Tele Dynamics, I was not sure if I would accept this job mainly because it was located in an area I was not so comfortable with.

Still, I cannot let my friend's goodwill go to waste. I mean, I'll just go with the interview and get it over with. I mean, worse to worse, it just to meet up with an old friend and see how he's getting along, right? Yep, you got me there, I really wanted to throw this one.

And then I got the job...

I GOT THE JOB! WOO HOO! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

Guess where I will be come November 1st?

Conversation with Kaelynn

While we were burning the offerings, we had some conversation. At first, it was about me not being happy with them watching TV, esp Kristine who never listen to her Mom. Then, it shifted to my Brother whom Kaelynn was revealing her feelings...

"When Grandma died, Sook-sook did not do anything but went up to watch TV whole time. I feel very angry because he did not help..."

OK, this came from a girl who is not even seven years old and she already can feel and realise when things go wrong. I sat there speechless, with my jaw on the floor.

And the Fire kept on burning...

Pencil Lead Art

Sometimes, you really need to be alert and also, be aware of your surroundings. This was because with the two girls around, I really had to be stingy when it comes to praising them. Oh, they're good with their imaginations and all, to achieve the end result. 

But its the middle process which really gets them into trouble.

Take this pencil lead art for instance. Its nice and very creative of the girl/s.
The the next question that comes to your mind:
How can they finish so much pencil lead in such a short time since their daily homework did not involve writing lines and lines of text.

So, now, I have to be very suspicious when they ask for more pencil leads...

Temp-ting work

I would like to relate to you a very bittersweet irony I just experienced. For weeks I was applying for work online and at the same time, trying to get as much part-time as I can. Both to me, were as common as Unicorns strolling around in a park. Online job applications are a great help when it comes to jobs because when we were looking for technicians years ago, we had a lot of applicants passed to us. On a daily quota. Within a specified time period. Because that's how much we paid for it.

But from a potential employee point of view. It sucks. There would be a lot of potential employers reading your resume but there would be no response from them (just like in this Blog) apart from some sympathetic, automatic email from Jobstreet, stating, on their behalf of the companies you have applied for, that the position is now closed yada yada yada.

It really makes you feel unwanted, as if confirming your position as some low-life pariah in the society.

But the funny thing was, within a day after  my 'outburst' on Facebook, I had a minimum of three potential leads for a job from my friends. Three jobs. Yes, three actual jobs and they're all 100%, ready to confirm, ready to start jobs. That is the power of friendship and social media.

And also, in the meantime, I had a temp job from one of my good friend and classmate, Raja Azhar. Its a 5-day week job until the end of the month. Its a win-win situation because not only do I help him, he also teaches me the ways of garnering awareness and also, how to start online businesses.

And so, every morning, I get on the LRT to his office after I did my morning chores.

Nice keyboard. Niiice keyboard. Dont die on me. Please don't.... aw no.

The good thing is, on some occasions, I get to walk over to meet up with Bruce for lunch via the KLCC walk.
I cannot remember how long the stretch was but when I brisk walk, it took me about 15 to 20 minutes.

Woo hoo! My first cheque! I am rich again!
Now I can buy all the tin food I could not have for dinner!

By now, I have more or less decided on the job I want to take and all I have to do now is to give them a call and see how we can go from there...

PISCEAN WORKS

As adviced by a friend of mine this morning, I have started a Facebook Page. To be honest, I don't even know what a PAGE was not that it exists. But its there now. And I noticed that it was started on a special date too.

The name PISCEAN WORKS (I wanted it to be PISCEAN WERKS, though) was drawn from various combination of personal reflections and well, I wanted to start a new Company and all but did not have the balls to do so since at that time, I was really unsure of the future. I know that anything I started, I can not see it to fruition mainly because of other commitments and/or being too impatient.

The FB Page, I realised, was a good in-between medium because if I post it on the blog here, if you did not follow the 'series', you'd be lost. And I cannot post it on my Website as its not 'completed' yet. So, this FB Page sits right in the middle which also helps in getting my product/s known to a wider audience. So, I will now post most of the electronic stuff and projects there and make this Blog more personal.

Move your mouse to see something disappear. Click on it or the LOGO above to go to somepelace weird...

You... light up my type...

Jeffrey Chan just dropped by with the Lighted USB Keyboard he promised to give to me. This is quite a nice keyboard and the advantage is that I can now type under dim lights. So, I happily unplugged my RM20.00 second-hand DELL SK-8135 keyboard and plugged in the A4Tech.

To be honest, the keys are a little stiff and I had to get used to the new layout especially where the RETURN key is concerned. Also, the left TAB keys are a little too small. Although the keyboard is a little stiff (did I mention that already?), I was realyl enjoying typing on the new keyboard.

[Hours later]
Yes, i am love this new keayboarf and althoug there are some mitype of works, I can near with it.

[Much more hours latr}
Yes, this keyboaf is qoog. befy very good and my ginfers are gettinga realy wrokout. Yep, I lvoe thes keyboarf.

[Very much more houts late\
My hands are hnting and its vey ptoinsful to type sin ful witho ut muych iztakes.

Sadly, this beings me to the quet ofgf geting new lghted keyboard liek dell isf I can.

Trip to Toys R Us 05102012

;;

Sisterly Love

With the coast being clear, I let Kristine walk across the school basketball courts to get Kaelynn. And both were happily walking back to the car. What I am trying to do here is to get the girls closer and also, let Kristine know that as the eldest of the two, she has a responsibility to her sister.

Yes, and Kaelynn admitted to me that she likes it when both of them walked across the School Basketball Courts. Maybe she feels proud that her Sister came for her when she was waiting with her other classmates and teachers.

The Sleeping Beauty

Yeah, she came down to the floor level and continued sleeping. In actual fact, it was Kristine who like sleeping on the bed and not her.

My sparkly bit

I had the opportunity to see one of my circuits again. This time, from the actual customer who brought it to ICW. He was very happy with it and well, this makes me happy too. What made me happier was the fact that I could get this circuit out within two days since by coincidence, I had a spare.

And he was testing it for more than a few days which is still going strong.
I cannot tell you more about what he is going to do with it since its for an upcoming model competition.

The things you can do in 28 minutes

My new daily routine now, which is, after I have driven Kristine to school and put the laundry out to dry, is to read my emails and also, to catch up on my electronic designs.

That is, if I wanted to. But today, I decided to try something else. Something which I should have done weeks ago but never did.

Yep. Deep cleaning my shaver with a pair of tweezers. It must be done within a stipulated time or else I would show up at my friend's place looking unshaven, as if I had not shaved that morning. Ha ha ha.

Knocking and shaking the shaver about is fine but it would not get most of the hair and other weird bits out. You need to clean the area around the spindle as these would create friction which easily exhausts the batteries. One day, I would like to open the whole shaver, and then dip it in a RM90.00 ultra-sonic cleaner...

(Yes, that is how much I need to pay to get one)

Merc vs Mitsu

Yes, I am still here at ICW, even though it was supposed to close by 2230. But then, this is the rare privilege given by Raymond Loke to his friends. And so, with the 'extra' time, I decided to have a look at some model kits and unfortunately, I came across these two models. I know, I know, I am broke but they're both so beautiful.

 

The first was this Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, which inside the box has a lot of 'extra' parts.
But for me, this is as close as I can get to owning an Evo X, the last of the Evo/Lancer series as Mitsubishi is not going to continue with the range anymore.

Next one up is the Mercedes SL65, for which on the first glance of the box art, was too good to be true. You have obviously seen these type of art before where, the artist would exaggerate/distort the subject to make it more pleasant. The good news is, this is how it actually looks and so, after searching for more photos of the SL65 on the Internet, what you saw on the box art is the real thing.

And so, I asked Raymond if I could reserve the Merc for until the end of November so that by that time, my salary would be out and I can pay him. Raymond agreed immediately and even let me have the kit o the spot but I declined.

Woo Hoo! I now have a Merc and one day, an Evo X!

Powerful Typhoon in Japan

It just so happens that I was near Hobby HQ today and just among us, the conversation of a powerful typhoon which rolled a car piqued my curiosity. A few days go, I did see the pictures of an overturned car but thought nothing more about it other than feeling sad for the owner.

So, when I came back, I searched the YouTube and I was shocked...



The rolling car is bad but what is more dangerous was the flying metal sheets or over here, zinc roofs which when I was small, I used to hear about people being decapitated or seriously injured.

Kaelynn's Mooncake

We're not Celebrating the Mooncake Festival this year for obvious reasons. But there is no stopping me from mooning a cake, though. You just have to do this very quickly, and in private so that no one knows what you did with the cake.

Anyway, we're not celebrating it this time due to my Mom's passing.

Kaelynn's school encourage the celebration though. Apart from bringing their own lanterns, they made their own mooncakes.

Its so beautiful and for a moment, I thought it was edible...

Big sister examining the handicraft...

"How the heck did she do that?"

Ah, if you stop bullying me, I'll tell you the secret...

The Lawyer and his cigars

Subject: FW: Talk About Getting BURNED !!
A Charlotte, NC lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars then insured them against fire among other things. Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars, the lawyer filed a law suit against the insurance company. In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires." The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason: that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The lawyer sued.... and won! In delivering the ruling the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The Judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be "unacceptable fire," and was obligated to pay the claim.

Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000.00 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires."
NOW FOR THE BEST PART:

After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!!! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and he was sentenced to 24 months in jail and ordered to pay a $24,000 fine. This is a true story and was the 1st place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.


Its funny and too good to be true, right? You're right on the dot,

This is just another one of funny joke stories which is believed to be in circulation since 1960. From the UrbanLegends website, what you have read just now, was the more 'updated' version of the joke.

Nevertheless, this is just a joke and should be kept as it is. Because, there is no such thing as the Insurance losing....

Ben10's New Range

While Kristine was being violins, I decided to toy around...


At the local Toys R Us, there were some new Ben10 toy shipment and they're already on the shelves. So, let's have a look see. I suppose this is the start for new 'American' toys to come in since for the next three months, its Halloween, Chrsitmas, etc.

But why, oh why, must they put the words, 'Proto' in the front? Because when I read the name, my mind instantly goes into the Ghostbusters World instead.

New Omnitrix using touch control. Initially, it looks bulkier and nothing works when I tested it, maybe there is some battery connector tab which was not removed.However, I still prefer the original anytime because nothing beats turning the dial around and the slam it in for the transformation. Cool isn't it?

Nice bike, and it reminds me of one of the Masked Rider series. This has potential for other things but alas, the prices stopped me. Its called the Tenn-Speed cycle (10-speed a bicycle) which does not make sense because a 'normal' real bike for kids, as far as I know, does not have that many gears. Anyway, the toy's upper cowl opens up to function as some sort of wings. But one thing good about this is that the Ben10 figure has a helmet. Hooray for road safety awareness.

This is also a very nice transforming spaceship vehicle thingy.

If you fold it right, it would look like one of those Slave II spaceships from Star Wars.

OK, this is a weird one, the Proto-Scope. Its actually nice name for a periscope. I would prefer they coming up with better names like Proto-Pock or PackoScope or, how about Packet-vision...

When you add it to the gun and glasses, no one would even want to sit next to you

A closer look at the glasses, which is the Proto-Specs.
Not bad for the name. If its from the Ghostbusters, that is.

OK, I'll admit it. I like this one. The shape some how gels with a lot of concept.

That is, until you realise its some kind of a exploding thing. I do not want to hold this in my hand while 'imagining' new designs only to have it explode halfway, traumatising my thoughts.

Ben10 Tech Blaster. (for blasting Techs?)
Its a nice design, for a briefcase thingy which turns out to be a weapon. Tony Stark must be jealous because his only turns out to be a suit. But seriously, a gun?

The rustbucket with no rust. At first it looks good

But the more you look at it, it was so good, you do not know what to do with it except to stuff action figures into it and most to most, try to make it fly (anywhere but near a window)

Now, this is a very nice vehicle. (No 'Proto' names too). Maybe I can call it, 'Proto-quad' or 'Proto-bug' or the 'Proto-Kev' or sometihng. But Aerotrack?

But once it 'unfolds' itself, it looked more like a technological flying tick.

I have not seen the new TV Series or any episodes apart from the ones years ago so, I am looking at them from a outsider point of view. Now, with the new toy range which could be a hit (if not for the pricing since everyone is comparing it to Ben10 bootlegs which is everywhere), it seems as if they're trying to market them as toys...