How much do you love.....

How much do you love your Winnie?
(Her Winnie the Pooh soft toy)

No, that is not how much but how tall.

Oh, I see. You love your Winnie this much

Why I cannot drive my Satria

Drove it for the weekend. Left the
keys in the rain for four days. Now,
it shorting out. Damn. Its the (one
and only) last spare.

[Update 28032009]
OK, its dry now, all it needs is a new battery. I think I am going to drive the car tomorrow and see how it is.

RS Catalogue 2009

Hooray! This came in through the post! Now I
can have something to read and see new stuff!
But this would also mean its a reminder for me
to go down to Farnell to beg for a copy of their
catalogues. I hate this because its very hard to
get them, what with all their requirements of
needing you to register your company and so
on. I have to do this almost every year as their
reps resigns faster than I can go through a box
of invisible condoms.

New Education Toy

Wife really had to make me sit down before telling me the news. Yeah, she spent a few Million Ringgit in getting some new education stuff for the girls. I could be jumping, shouting and cursing for spending so much money. But then, I respect her as a teacher who knows what is best for the girls. And so, I just sat there, secretly feeling happy and proud that we're doing this for the girls's future.

The kit comes in several boxes and we will open them a bit at a time because there is a lot of material for the girls to learn. And I am amazed how Kaelynn could pick up so quickly too. She knows the basic stuff and we just have to lay the rules. All in all, I am happy that the money spent is worth every sen.

Still, money can be earned back but not opportunities lost.

Kaelynn stopping Kristine's brain from thinking
too much.

This is the first material we used and she is good at it.
We just have to get her to learn and remember them.

For Kristine, she is used to it and does them very fast.
She is a fast learner but I hope she does not get bored.

Once the tiles are assembled correctly, you just turn
them over. And here, Kristine is showing that she
has gotten all the answers right.

The trip up North ..... Sitiawan

This is one trip which I was not really looking forward to. The main reason was, there is a full day between this trip and the trip to Penang. Try as we might, we could not get both customers to stick to "the" schedule, which is for me to go to Sitiawan first, and then spend the night in Penang before doing that job. This would not only save time but more importantly, money and resources. Yes, I was needed at two sites which I could not tear myself away from.

Added to the problem, my Notebook has been sent for repair due to a few failures rangin from cooling fan to USB ports to logic board and also, the LCD screen bezel. Because of this, my Senior tech could not help since I had to take the only Laptop in the company with me.

This is the system we loaned while theirs was
taken away from repair.

And in just 30 minutes, I swapped back the system
and got it running. It could be sooner if not for all the
Tom, Dick and Harry asking me when they can use
the phones.

Since I am early, I had to wait for the Earthing expert
who is also my friend. The reason for his being here is
to find out why the phone system failed. And after a
few minutes of detective work, we discovered what
we would suspect, bad workmanship. Here, the Earth
cable is not going where its supposed to be. And after
waiting for the contractor to arrived, things were not
that friendly anymore.

One thing led to another and this is one of the points where
the Earth cable is supposed to pass through but it seems to
be "missing".

And why is there not Earth cable here? Oh, Mr.Contractor
said this is for the building's Earth. And so, where is the one
for the phones?

Er, um, ah...... yes! Mr. Contractor suspect someone else
have tarred over the Earthing point meant for the phones.
You know, the whole experience can be summed up as
seeing a deer caught in your car's headlights and with
nowhere to run. Then again, in this case, its illegal to
shoot that deer.

And I am not having any of this. So we quickly wrapped
up and let the customer deal with the CONtractor. My
other agenda is to go back to Teluk Intan for my Chee
Cheong Fun. Once they're ready, one look at the sky...

Its amazing how beautiful the clouds look at this moment.
Maybe its the circular polariser which is stuck to the lens
as it could not take it off now......

This was the last shot seconds before all the cats and
dogs fell.

On the way to Sitiawan.....

It was boring to drive up all the way to Sitiawan today. And its a very bright and hot day too. But this time, I came prepared because I wanted to take some photos of the padi fields on the road to Sitiawan.

Along the way, I saw this cloud which looked
as if I am driving down this road onwards to
the land in the sky.

The vastness of a vast vast.

OK, unfortunately, the water
was not very clear today.

The case of The Bulging Batteries

Our customer called us today and told us to come over to have a look at their UPS system which was bolted on their computer server rack. From the front panel, it seems like there is some problem with the backup batteries. Tried as I might, I could not get the battery drawer to open and so, I had to lug it back to the company with me.

And it is very heavy. Only when I arrived back at the office, I discovered that the system housed two sets of batteries and a big power transformer.

And this is the reason why I could not get the
drawer opened. The batteries were so badly
warped that it we eventually had to bend the
metal bars to get it out. We could not unscrew
anything as they were all riveted together.

And the batteries were worryingly hot.
Its like carrying a time-bomb in the car

The girl and the scarf

Girls does what comes naturally
when they find a scarf.....

New components

While I was looking for another item, I spotted this 9volt battery holder and some red push-button switches. The battery holder might be of a better quality since its made of plastic. There were many times I almost broke the contacts because they were made from paper-like materials inside. As for the red switches, they were ideal as replacements for my Lightsaber. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of strength to push the button and so, although the shape is ideal, it would get a lot of Jedi killed in the middle of the battle.

And so, back to the drawing board.

Flying kite

While waiting for the tables to be ready and all, I decided to walk around the block. And when I turned the corner, the earlier "Pasar Malam" (malay for night market) which I thought was, in fact roadside stalls for the evening's event where everyone comes out to the park for a stroll. Yes, its a park. A park with a lake and a fountain.

Anyway, the first thing I saw were the kites which were being sold at the roadside. And just in front, was a big field where everyone tried their best to ... well... fly kites. Its a wonderful event as they come with their loved ones, their family and so on.

The kites in the sky. Luckily, there were no kite
fighting where some moron would come and cut
off the kites in the sky.

I cannot understand what the lady was saying but
she was really encouraging her kids to fly the kite
in a very excited manner, with her sweet, loud,
irritating, complaining voice.

Everyone loves to go fly kites even
when not being told to do so.

Kite flying is also a very sociable activity
where sometimes, the true feeling is
revealed. When the kite is up, you'll feel
some sort of achievement........

After all the running and losing shoes, that is.

You can also experience first-hand what child abuse
is all about too.

Not only that, when you do it in a group...

No one would dare say your kite design sucks.

All in all, kite flying is one of those things you can
do to impress chicks while maximising your cash

I just like this one because it stood out in the sky

Here is something different. A remote controlled toy
car. The kid thinks he's driving with a bad steering...

I like this don't ask me why

At the end of the day, you would feel tired after
all that standing and shoutint to whoever was
holding the kite for you....

See the kite still flying at the top near the leaves?
I wanted to improve this shot by going nearer but
without having to buy one of the kites, so I just
shoot like this la. Ha ha ha ha ha

Pakcik saw me taking photos and gave me some
of his advices about taking photos so that I can
one day, open a gallery. So I quickly bought
some cups of water from him and ran.

Its already late in the evening and my hands are
shaking from holding the zoom lens while waiting
for the wind to blow....

Why I was stuck in Seremban

OK, this is a very quick job. Dismantle the phone system, carry it across town and reinstall it back. Most to most, it would only take me about a few hours. Unexpectedly, it took me nearly a whole day. Things began to go wrong when the Telekoms people did not show up as promised. And then, the table guys were late. So, this affected the cable guys. Which in turn, affected the phone guy, which by coincidence, is me.

As I was required to be there at 10 in the morning, the dismantling job only took me less than half an hour. But its the reinstalling part which took most of the time due to the above and its not even my fault. By eight in the evening, I can't take it anymore and decided to go off since there was nothing much for me to do but to wait around, and terminate the cables after the table/cable guys. At this time, I suspect these guys went off for their dinner. So, I told the customer I would be back on Monday but unfortunately, they received the call from Telekoms a few mnutes earlier who promised would be there tomorrow (Sunday). Sigh. There goes my weekend.

Of course I old me Boss about this and he was surprised I was still working so long for such a small system. So, the decision is up to me and I told him I would have to go anyway, or screw up Monday's schedule.

This is the old site. Just to take
it out is very simple. Cut all the
wires and you're home free.....

Messy........

Since the previous installer connected
the cables this way, I could not cut all
the cables in one shot but I have to see
which ones cannot be cut as I can use
back the cabling to save time.

There you go. All done!

Unfortunately, chages were being made as I was doing my
work. They have to do this because although there are
more than 20 over extension points, the system, on the
other hand, can only support sixteen.

The fastest item from eBay

I really have to blog about this one. The reason I got this item was because all the stalls in KL Do not want to sell it as a single item but in a 300 or so fucking ringgit. In the end, I resorted to eBay. Waited and hunted for the cheapest price (plus shipping, of course) or for almost the same price if getting it over here. In the end, I got this from Ireland. And it arrived in 5 days.

In 5 DAYS! Woohoo!

And the price? Its just Rm20 extra, which can be translated to the same as driving to the shops, parking fees and of course, the usual meal requisites. I am so happy now.

I got this on my desk this morning

And upon opening it......... whooooo!

Days later, with some extra time, I took some
photos of this guy, Dominic Santiago, from the
XBox game, Gears of War. I am so tempted to
recast his body in transparent resin so that I
can light up the blue parts and also the two big
flat nipples (or induction cookers) on his chest
armour. Ha ha ha ha. Luckily, I know nuts
about resin casting.

Maybe I really should consider
getting a macro lens.....

Note:
This is how they look in the game. No helmets or any other head protection. Most to most would be a nice little black bandana. Put on those bulky armour and you'd look macho. Anyhow, this does reminds me of those soldiers in the Vietnam war.