Duking to the Office

I wanted to blog about this weeks ago, almost a few days after I started to use the DUKE Highway towards Damansara. In less than a week, I noticed that the exit route on the opposite side of the road was accessible. This means, in theory, I would be able to use the route from Damansara to Jln Kuching.

So, one day, I took the risk and searched for the route even though I know I would be late for an work if I failed. Heh.....

(Don't worry about the weird sky as this is the car's windshield tinting reacting to the circular polariser on my Nikon D50 which I am too lazy to take it off. Maybe some day.....)

So, you turn off at Jalan Damansara and onto the road towards
the Science Centre and Sri Hartamas. I can tell you this before
hand, that this route is virtually traffic-light free. Yeah!

At the Hartamas junction, keep to the right as if you are going
to Jalan Duta or the NKVE highway. Try not to turn left yet
because if you did, you would end up in Sri Hartamas or the NPE.
And that would be bad.

And so, you will reach this route where it forks out. On the Left
would be the route to the Jln Duta's NKVE entry and to the right
would be the Jalan Duta/Segambut/KL route.

So, you would need to keep to the left. There is a "Jalan
Kuching" sign that tells you to use the right turn off.
Don't do it. Trust me on this.

Now, this is the time to start keeping to the left. Because
in the front, there would be another fork in the road.

See all those cars in the opposite direction? Its the
building up of the morning jam to Damansara

OK, the fork is just right ahead. You will now see the actual
yellow "Jalan Kuching" words in the new sign.

Now, see that left turn? Yep, get ready because the fun
is going to start!

The first fun starts after you take the left turn.
Did I forget to mention that there is a lot of good
turns/conners on this route? Yeah!
But coming from the opposite direction is boring

After that, you will be faced with a nice view of those new Condos,
the ones which looks obscenely expensive, that is. Get ready for
another turn!

Then, there is the big one. This is a nice downhill curve to the right

Whoooo hooo!!! A-ha ha ha ha haa ha ha!

And after that, a nice little S-curve before you meet the
actual main Highway route.

So, you just merge with the road. Nothing
much but a 90Kmh straight stretch.

Now is also a good time to reflect if there was any
hidden speed traps or if your passengers srpung
any leaks in the car....

The front of the Highway is still closed but that is another
matter. As the only exit at the moment is the one which
leads to Jalan Kuching towards the Kepong/Batu Caves

I am beginning to fall asleep already.........
This is a very long stretch which I makes mee feel
vulnerable to speed traps and speeding cars.

And oh, here is the exit. Move along, move along

And the last pleasant surprise from Duke

One final swing to the left....

And a little downhill slope for you to increase speed

To hit the small lazy S-Curve

And you've arrived at Jalan Kuching!

In retrospect, I feel that this route saved me a few minutes as the old route have seven Traffic lights. The backlanes however, would take slightly longer due to the slightly busier than normal traffic behind Kepong and Hartamas backlanes. The alternative route, if there were no 25 minute jams, would reduce my journey to about 18 minutes but I can only try this on a Saturday. As soon as I get my Nokia 5800 back from repairs, I am going to take a video of this journey.

Oh, did I tell you about my Nokia 5800? It refused to retain charge even though I have it on the charger for more than 12 hours.

Saturday in Jalan Ampang

So, we got home in one piece last night and now, my tech and I were ready to handle this customer. At first, I was a bit worried because there were so many things to do and not only that, the system refused my remote access. This would mean I need to restart the system. And being on a Saturday, I had counted on the fact that none of the staff would be working. I was right.

However, because my customer was in maintenance, they were working full swing. Anyway, the job was simple. I had my tech lay the groundwork on Thursday and so, today, it would be a piece of cake. Unfortunately, we were not expecting concrete cake.....

A very simple thing, this. On the left was the original cable which
the cable guy pulled from the PABX in the office. On the right are
the cables to both sides of the office, connected from the fifth floor.
You getting this so far?Good.
The job is to relocated the massive thirty pair cable on the right to
the junction box on the left while maintaining the Direct Lines. So,
after about two hours work, my tech finished it and proceeded to
the cabling inside before relocating the actual phones. And he
finished this by 1430 or so.

Right about this time, the customer told me that the office on the
left needs to be done too. And so, with nothing else to do, I got on
the job. Unfortunately, the cable guy has not installed the Box for
me, just the cables only. I had to wait for him to complete it. And
so, while waiting, I mapped out the cables to the tables.....

I must say, this cable guy is loaded. Many cable guys just pull the
cables and leave about a metre extra. But here, we're talking of
about a minimum of three metres!

Two and a half hours later, the job is done. By this time, my hand is
sore from all those cable cutting, peeling, punching, etc. Then my
tech finished he work and took over from me, relocating all the actual
telephone extensions.

No one, and I am enforcing this to my techs, no one is allowed
to waste cables. During the dreadful 2007/8 metal crisis, the
prices of cabling has risen through the roof. And so, I wrapped
these cables and will take them back to the office so we can
"recycle" them since they are of the "correct"lengths.

By six in the evening, my customer told me there are more work to do, to swap between fifth and sixth floor extensions. By this time, it was already raining heavily and the break was enough for us to get to our cars and bikes. So told him, we would come back on Monday (if its possible, as we have a sudden workload piling up again).

The Trip up North . . . Prai

Today, we were rushing. Rushing because we need to be on the road by 12 noon. And rushing because our 1030 stretched to 1330. Rushing because I went to the wrong place to pick my Boss up. And rushing because wee need to be in Prai way before 5PM so that while I worked in Prai, my Boss can hop over to Penang to do a site inspection for another customer.

In the end, we could only reach Prai. Since both of us have experienced these snafus before, there is no point in arguing or pointing fingers but to go on. I was half expecting to pack the Sitiawan trip together too but alas, the customer was still too busy to entertain us for their repair bills. But one good thing is that we do not need to stay overnight. The priginal trip was to go to Penang first, do the site inspection and then, if there is time, work on the Prai customer, stay the night and continue the next day.

"Oh no, you don't. My tech and I have a big customer tomorrow and I would like to go back tonight (If that's alright with you. Ha ha ha)", I told him.

Still, after the job, we stopped by Bkt. Tambun for a seafood dinner (which I would hazard to guess, contributed greatly to the pain on my leg and now, the right thumb). The dinner was so-so, as if the standard had dropped. Also, they have this Ceremony for the God, and there were some Dell people holding a Sony Alpha, I did not have the mood to stop and take photos of anything and everything since it was already a bother walking about with the pain in my leg.

Still, my Boss got some sotong for me and my Wife. Its one of those dried sotongs where they grill it, then put under the rollers to stretch it into long crispy wafers. Unfortunately, despite all the protections of the plastic food cover, the cat snatched it in the night and left traces on the floor the next morning.

And so, we reached Prai 5 minutes after 5, saw the Penang
Bridge jam and turned back. The Penang customer goes
home at 1730 sharp. We went to the Prai customer instead.

A simple job, really. Find all the seven new Telekom numbers.
Then find all the seven tables. And then, find the big cable to
connect all the Seven Telekom numbers to the Seven cables
that leads to the Seven Tables for the Seven Credit Card
machines. And it took us sev...er one and a half hours.

There bad effect of wearing a dark T-shirt when you're
sweating. The white stuff are the things that come out
from your sweat and dried on the shirt. But you can
just "rub" with off after wetting the palm of your hand
and wiping off.

Then, horrors of horrors, my right foot became very
painful by the time I came back about one in the
morning. Yeah, I was either walking too much in Prai
as there were seven tables to go back and fro to, or
this is another Gout attack, the first for this year.

Oh, while we were in Damansara Uptown for the meeting, I
popped by the 100yes store hoping to get another of those
mini containers like the one I had (orange, on the right) but
since they did not have it anymore, I opted for the bigger one.
But I was disappointed when I came back and opened it s the
lid is too loose. So, I hope to "bend" it back with hot water.

I also got another container, which is to keep all the wires in
the bag. But because of the foam, I would need to cut the ears
off if I want to place it another 90º direction. The foam's OK but
my Boss is trying to get me some of the black "air-con" foams
which he claims can still retain shape despite my heavy
Tecra Notebook in there.

The Fender Bender

Kissing at the Lights
Done something stupid today. And it was something I never expected. I was at the traffic lights and I was a bit distracted with stuff under the seat. And, so, to cut a long story short, the car rolled about five feet into the back of a Wira's bumper. I hate accidents like this and I was sort of hoping the driver in the front did not notice. But noticed she did and she came out and started this pissed-off encounter.

"So, how? How are you going to solve this?".

Not even a greeting or even bother to ask me how MY car was. Yeah, this is the angry-I-don't-care-mother-with-no-nonsense-fleece-as-much-as-you-can attitude. So, I told her to exchange contact information and right off, she starts to ask if the phone number on my card is valid or not and calls it straightaway.

"How come you're not answering the phone? Is this correct or not?, so I just told her, "Its in the car, let me go in and get it out"

No fazed, she starts babbling about her bumper not having any accident and now, I have totally destroyed hers. And she wants it replaced. Bla... Bla.. Bla... Not listening to her, I start to go back to my car and took my camera out, taking photos of the bumper from every corner. And when she realised that, she kept quiet. I then told her that since this is a company car, I would have to report to my Boss and in the meantime, I told her to go to a workshop to get a repair quote. (Which she did, but at HER workshop)

Later on, just when I arrived at the company, there was some mysterious person who called and asked (I suspect) for me. However, either her mobile phone connection's n good or she cannot read, my name was mispronounced and so, my clerk hung up on her, saying "No such person". Ha ha ha ha. But in the end, she called on my Mobile and my Boss, now fuly aware of the incident and having seen the photos, took my call. It started out nice as my Boss was willing to help but since there was clues as to the car's bumper having been in an accident (with a motocycle), it was suggested that both parties go halfway in terms of repair bill. And year, minutes later, my Boss told me to go to HER workshop, and try to negotiate for a RM100 repair, with a last offer of RM150. If if that fails, go make a Police report. "This is the kind of money that you cannot pay with full satisfaction.", he says. And he handed me the cash even though I said I would pay from my own. "MY RM150 and no more" was the final say.

You want what? What about the two holes here? Is that a repair?
Oh, I see, a motorcyclist went and kissed it.
A Proton Wira and its variations have very weak bumpers both in
the front and back. As the car ages, the plastics would degrade.

Do you see any difference if I did not tell you about the bumper?

And the second clue is, it you have not been in an accident, how
do you know about the bumper's inner metal and its workings.
How did you know about the costs as well?

At the Workshop
And so, after numerous missed calls from her, (because I was looking for the workshop without the handsfree) I arrived. Since she was the only person there, I came out and quickly look at the bumper on the floor. And I quickly took pictures of them. When the mechanic came, I asked him about the damage. And he proceed to tell me about the tabs and how difficult it was to repair and so on. When I persisted about the side tabs twice only did he answered the question that it was involved in an accident. "My car has not accident, only some motocyclist knocked it". Right.

And so, looking at the bumper carefully, I told her that I only have Rm150.

"No, the repair cost is RM200.", she said, over and over throughout the negotiation.
"But this is all I have and my salary is still not in yet.", (which is true)
"Tell you what, that RM150 is from your company la, surely you can pay more bla.. bla.. bla.." And it goes on an on.

"Listen, this is my final offer, RM150 and that is all I have, I know this is an accident and I am very sorry..", "Sorry? What do you mean sorry? What about me? I have wasted my time here Bla.. bla.. bla.." Yeah, she can out talk me and I am already pissed off even though I am talkning calmly. By now, some of her "friends" have gathered around. So, I asked her, to "talk" to the mechanic in front of her to reduce to RM150 whch the guy nonchalantly replied, "RM200, la. Already discounted a lot" and without really trying, she just stood her ground. No RM180, No RM175, no nothing.

"I don't care! You settle this for me! Now! I just don't care!"

And so, with the final round of negotiation, she still would not budge from her RM200 and her last statement really takes the cake. "Since you have RM150, you can pay it now, and when your salary comes in, you just pay the balance.". And another round of "You holding me at ransom" between me and her goes on.

No turning back
Finally, I said, "Fine. I am going to make a Police report instead." Because there is no point to this anymore since she would not listen to me and only bothered about her car and herself. And because this is not a neutral ground, its best to leave.

And for a moment, she sat on the chair, staring at her car, in a disbelief voice, "You rather pay Rm300 summons and all that just to avoid paying RM200 which you can settle now?"


"Yes, I should have followed the Law in the first place instead of doing this.". "But why? You can just pay the RM150 now and then the rest later. You can trust me, look, see that guy behind you? He can be a witness"

"How am I going to report to the Police (at Jalan Bandar, as we were informed)? I need to fetch my kid too." Maybe her mechanic friends sensed or assume she is trying on her pity act, tried to help call my bluff, "Never mind, you just fetch your kid, and then report later", "Yeah, Lady, go and report la."

And I stoked the fire further, "Yeah, you can report this within 24 hours. Go and make report."

"Oh, come on. Just pay him Rm150 now and you can pay the balance later."

"If there is nothing else, I am going to the Police Station." I looked at her, turned around and then walked off.

Everything was OK. The metal bar was intact, but only two out of five
plastic tabs were broken with one more about to break. Not in the pic
was the side tabs which, on the left (of the pic) was already broken and
she had someone screwed it back. On the right, the same damage was
there too. Although the mechanic said it could not be repaired because
of this, I start to get suspicious as Hell.

Right about here, when I took the picture, some of them panicked
and told me about rules and regulations of workshops that I
cannot take the pictures there and then. Rather than arguing with
them because they might be right since they are the experts in
this industry, I just put the camera away (And I have took more
before they came)

Downtown Station
The reporting was fast. Just about half an hour before my arrival, she did call me, which again I ignored because I know what the intention was. I felt as if I have done this countless of times, typing my report, that is. By the time I met the Sergeant and explained everything. In the end, he gave me the summons, and he sort of knew what I was feeling (or almost pity me?). I did not get much clue out of this except from his hint that she did come and yakked all over the place and so, I got until the end of April to pay the summons. But there was one thing which seemed a bit funny as he kept asking, "Is there anything else you want to add?". Since he has another "Officer"sitting next to me, I decided to play it safe. He did cautioned me not to be a "nice guy" since there are a lot of these people about in KL, make the Police report instead and sternly told me that we should have selected a neutral workshop too as the outcomes can be very dangerous.

After that, it was just a matter of formalities, where I got the summons, and he asked me to get my own photos printed by Sunday (to compare against his photographer's?) since I took some on my own and deliver it to his desk. He did say it to me that the fine is compoundable but the power lies with the compound officer and not with him, .Within an hour, everything is done. And I felt very relieved for the rest of the night.

So, instead of getting her bumper fixed immediately, she would have to wait until all the paper works are completed before the actual repair can begin. I did tell my wife all this and her answer is that the Lady sort of deserves it for being such a pain and would certainly get a scolding from her husband.

[Update: 22.02.2009]
Went to the Police Station and handed the photos as promised to the Sergeant.

"She's claiming insurance, you know." he said to me as he shook my hand.

"I know, I expected as much."

The Speedy Destroyer

All it took was just a few minute of unattended vigilance
and the ironing board is now rendered useless by Kaelynn

LED tester from Hong Kong

Just after I came back from that workshop, the postman came and went. And right on my desk, was the small parcel. Its the LED tester I ordered from eBay 18 days ago. This is a great tool for testing LEDs as there are no wires or probes compared to using a Multimeter. Just a box for you plug in the LED. I could have done one myself but the cost and time plus research is just not worth the effort. Ego aside, there are a lot of things already done, all I have to do is to use them for my projects and not re-invent the wheel.

I am not sure how much it costs in Pasar road (Or if they want to sell it to you) but I have seen most of the shops using it since 2004.

This is the package on my desk. Right in front of my
Boss who was browsing my accident photos while I
wasaway to deal with that Lady.

For RM23 or so, I get a free battery too, which is
great because I can start using it right away

All you have to do is to plug the LED into the connector (at
the correct amperage slot, of course) and just press the
button to test.

Warhammer 40K Scout Biker

OK, I just had to get one. Scouting around in Malaysia, it was either too expensive or there is no stock. And I am not going to wait for them to order it, bla... bla... bla... (OK, so I was put off by the stocks in Mid-Valley as it was so..... sparse and the one in Amcorp Mall is gone. Just when I want to step foot into it......)

which is a real pain where There is a reason I like these models once in a while because when I was in UK, it was available in a very cheap price. However, at that time, the models were only available in white metalglueing is concerned. Years later, they came out with plastic parts which you can fit onto the metal figure. But alas, sticking them together is a nightmare. And the plastic parts are not cheap too. Later on, they came out with plastic figures, called the Space Marines and it was quit nice. The plastic sprues contains all the separate parts for you to make your own Marine in any pose you wished.

But now, more than a decade later, I discovered them again and this time, the choice is more. they now have tanks, bikes, better "articulated" figures, etc. And so, being itchy, I decided to get the bike. As far as I know, the bikes were used by the Marines (in their Power Armour) for making fast attacks. But the version I got was the Scout marine Bike. As to what is its true nature, I am not sure. Maybe as a passive scout or something.

Its a nice model but I have to stop here because of the price. It is not cheap when you unavoidably compare it woth other 1/35 scale kits such as tanks or those Tamiya WWII motorcycles.

By now, I think the Postman is trying
to tell me that he is not too happy about
delivering my stuff from eBay anymore.

Quickly, I got into the car, away from the Office and opened it.
And opened it, I did. Boy, this is some big box. Maybe the seller
gave me some extra sprues........And then, I saw another but
smaller box inside....

This is what the box contains: A water decal sheet, intruction leaflet,
one 25x75mm base, and two plastic sprues. The 50 sen coin is for scale.

Amazingly, for RM32, (yeas, these models are not cheap and not readily
or easily available.) its a bit steep compared to other plastic models such
as Tamiya and other brands. Due to the body's proportion, you cannot
even accurately scale it. If you do the head, it could be 1/35. If you do
the body, it could be 1/43 or so. So, everyone just call it 28mm figs. But
here, on the two sprues, there's a lot of detail and also, various optional
parts for you to customise both the bike and the figure.

And of course, in case you lsoe your head, you might
even get a bang out of it.........

OK, its two in the morning, I am tired, I should be sleep in at 12 but
at the last minute, the camera's battery needs recharging. So I just
use the temporary UHU glue to put some poart together. There are
seven parts to make up this basic model.

And then I had a thought.Why not put some LEDs for the headlights
and also the bike's screen? The headlight should be easy as I can just
hollow out the cylinder. But for the screen, I would need another LED
in there. This means I would have to use this part as master, hollow it
out carefully and then recast it in something clear. Oh dear, waste $$$

Being overconfident .....

The feeling when Winning or completing something extraordinary is sometimes so great what it masks your very self of being careful and be alert. Or when you are about to Win, you will disregard all warnings and plans but still push ahead. Maybe that's why I don't like to Win much especially when the spotlight's on you. This is one of my fears.

Ideas

OK, there is something wrong with me. I have to finish Peter's Phaser anytime soon and I am nowhere near. I am not even at the starting line. And so, while eating a huge Whopper at Burger King's, my train of though derailed and flew off into space. And so, this is what happened to Peter's Phaser. The ideas, I mean.

Ok, the rear is so cool. With the windows there, they can
see the back quite clearly.

Good, good, I like the front shape. It looks tough and with
the cabin at the top, the driver is very protected (not in this
van, la). I suppose the wheels can be bigger.

The Last Yee Sang....

This is so weird. All the while, this box was standing there for weeks and virtually everyone ignored it. As it turns out, its another Yee Sang pack but with a more eloquent style. So, once again, I get to eat Yee Sang sans raw fish, pomeloes, etc. but its good enough for me. Yum Yum!

Stylo mylo package
(with 50% off, bwahahahahahah!)

The package consists of two segments. The top, which is "concealed",
is full of crispy and oily packs. The bottom half, as revealed by the
holes in the box, contains the ingredients which, were vacuum sealed.
The carrots, cucumbers, etc. were all grated by hand courtesy of Dad

Although its past the New Year, we still get to eat it.

But with a more muted feeling since the gaiety has passed.

One Hundred and One Percent Fresh!!!

OK, while cleaning out the room, we discovered the lost juicer which we're supposed to be using years ago. So, Wife took the opportunity to buy some oranges over the weekend for the first trial. they say that drinking juiced stuff is good for the health as all the raw fibres and vitamins are still there, bla... bla... bla... I just wonder who the Hell are "they".

Anyway, if we can have some juice once a week, I am OK with it.

Wife got me to peel off the orange skins while she cuts them
into smaller pieces so that its easier to go in. The oranges
looks and feels very small without the peel.

Just add a few oranges, and its already 1/3 full.

And it took almost ten oranges to fill the cup. And it costs us RM10
for 16 oranges. Ouch. No wonder juiced drinks are so expensive but
here, we're not going to cheat bu adding lots of sugar and water. It
will just be honey and lots of water instead.

Feeling a bit more adventurous, we added a carrot and a stalk
of celery. Yeah, we made the first mistake of HPLA (Ham Pa
Lang Add). I tell you, with oranges, celery, carrot and honey,
the taste is well, a bit weird. So, I think I shall stop adding the
honey and celery together as these really bring out that awful
taste. Perhaps, the next try would be oranges, mango, kiwi and
apple. Or shall I add some nuts too?

The juicious pulp! Drink all these and well, despite everyone saying,
"Its good for you", I shall have to try them for myself. But wife did
philosophise what most of the times, good things are not tasty or
nice to look at. I got walloped when I joked at that statement.....
Seriously, do check this compartment time to time as it can
easily overflow and onto the floor........

The carrots and celery just won't mix naturally.

This is the pulp from the machine. It tastes great, except that
I am still not used to drinking raw celery. Makes me want to
vomit. Its still in the fridge, maybe I'll just sneak out and get

a bottle of Ice Cream Soda to mix it in. But I doubt that the
other tonic water would make the taste any more different.

Nokia 5800 Firmware Upgrade

Yes, there is a new firmware upgrade V.11.0.009 just a few weeks
ago but its nothing major. But on the Internet lately, the latest is
V20.0.0.0.12. Unfortunately, silly old me do not know how to go
about it. Even my Nokia Software upload says there is no update.
Oh well, maybe it will be official in a few week's time.

My new hiding place

[Note: Internet went out from this evening until 0113]

Well, what do you know, its almost ready! Just had a brief clean in there but its still too many things to clear up. When we moved in here, it was the store room. And for almost three decades, it was the room that not many dared ventured in. And it was also the same room that would be the store room again after some renovations.

Well, not this time, baby. I am going to make it as my own working room. Already, I am sick of so many delays for my projects and I do not want to think about the missed opportunities when I am old and tired then. So, this year, I am going to do something about it. No more putting stuff in boxes and forgetting them months later because someone wants their room back or the space it gone, etc. No more, I say.

So far, my Dad gave me the horse stands, to make the
table. Before I can start, it was New Year and all the stuff
that was gone or did not exist, mysteriously came and
took over. After I got busy with the broom, I reclaimed a
bit on the table. Next weekend, I am going to clear the whole
table and put all of my equipment in. Unless my Boss has
other plans because he did mention about outstation trips again.

Oooh. Looky! An antique battery meter in the 70's!

And this here, is the vacuum meter too! Compared to the modern ones,
this is much more interested and damn well rocking! I didn't know my
Dad had it in him too. Maybe without us kids, he could still be modifying
or even getting new cars.... Ha ha ha ha!