One rainy afternoon

You know, sometimes, when these two are not fighting, they're quite manageable. Just today, my Dad bought them some crisps and both of them sat there, happily eating them (after I told Krsitine to share with her sister). And then suddenly, there was thunder and lightning.

Kristine then used her hands to cover Kaelynn's ears as she was scared. It was a suprise for me as we (not to my knowledge) did not teach her how to do that.

The girls were peacefully eating their crisps and drinking milk

And even with some mangoes, they did not fight

And then, thunder came and they were frightened.
Big sister made sure Kaelynn is not frightened much

The girl with the NERF gun

This is a NERF foam bullet for the NERF gun

This is what I found on the rubbish bin after
Kristine has chewed it

Playing the NERF gun was fun until I showed here
how to load the gun with the foam bullets

This is her first shot. She was happy too.
Until she realised she cannot reach for it

See her ingenuity? Kristine tried to use other
objects to get to the dart still stuck on the door

Finally, she got the bright idea of opening the
wardrobe doors to get to the foam dart.

So, I gave her a CD cover for her to shoot at
Needs to practise more.

And she was so happy

Chopsticks

Krsitine was trying to learn how to use chopsticks during dinner. So, after taking these shots, I taught her the correct way but she was bored already.

I am starting to like this even though
they're not fresh. But after a while, I
find that I like to eat it with almost
anything. Oh, and I fart a lot after that

Lightning strike?

I was called to this place because a few extensions did not work. The very first thing when this happened, the most common question we would ask would be:

1) How many phones were out?
Because if they're more than four or ten, this means, an interface card or two could be the culprit.

2) How do you know its not working?
Its a very simple question but the answer is very important. Sometimes, its the incoming lines that are out and the confused customer would say, the phone's not working.

3) When did you notice this problem?
If the answer coincides with "last night was OK, and then this morning it went nuts, etc.", or "a few days ago" or even "last week" might give you a clue the cause of the problem. Maybe last night's lightning storm contributed to it. Maybe last week, the other contractors had a hand in it while laying cables and so on.

Me: You kena lightning strike la?
Him: How you know?
Me: I know, one

The top is a fully funtional lightning arrestor cardtridge
The bottom one (customer's) does not work

Me: Your sixteen extensions all out, right?
Him: Yeah, how you know?
Me: I know, one

One of the extensions caused this. Its a sure sign of lightning

Conclusion?
His place was not properly protected as the Lightning arrestor did not do its job since the gas tubes were missing. Not only that, there is no sign of any earthing done at all, which is crucial for the lightning arrestor to draw the lightning away. And the cause of all this? An extension at the back which for some reason, was long and maybe had its wires at the top of the zinc roof.

When the Boss is not around........

I saw this when I was visinting a customer. I wanted to sent this to The Star but I was beaten to it. Cheh. Could have won RM50.

The submission

Single Channel Remote control

While I was at one of our normal supplier's store, I came across this remote control. Its a single channel remote system with momentary on action. But it also responds to how long you press the button. For example, if you keep pressing it, the relay would be activated until you lift your fingers.

Unfortunately, after having so much fun with it, I realised that with only a single channel, I am only having half the fun. Maybe I should as them for more than one channel for my other projects..............

For that price, I get three transmitters and one receiver.
But when I looked closer at the board, it can house two
relays which means, there is a two-channel version out
there. OI can test it with another relay but with only
one button on the transmitter, it won't do much
(Had to take this picture fast as Kristine was just sitting next to it)

Malta Quench

I was feeling for a bit of malt the other day. And so, I got a six-pack. Instead of the usual Guiness Malta or its equivalent, I bought the Malta Quench.

And how does it taste?

Imagine drinking:
1) Vanilla Coke LITE
2) Very diluted A&W Root Beer
3) Very diluted Sarsi

Yucks! I'd stay away from this Malta Quench and go back to the full rich Guiness Malta (without alcohol, of course!)

Lots of froth, very little body


[update: 15042008]
WTF! This is so expensive!
Luckily I bought a 6-pack
which costs a ringgit less

Just laying cables........

Ever been curious how telephone cables came pop up from the ground and onto your table?

Well, here is one of the answer. One of our customer is renovating his office before moving in. We have to lay the cables before tiling can commence. Since the original cable trunking was full of cables, we had to lay another pipe next to it. We have to do this before the other guys can put in tiles or else it would be too late and too expensive to break the tiles.

When I arrived, my technician has alrady re-opened up the
concrete on the floor for the new pipe. See the half buried
pipe we put in earlier?

All these pipes would lead out to the square access hole

While I was busy taking pictures, one of my technicians has
already bent the pipe using a special tool. i was too late to
catch it. Then again, its a trade-secret for these PVC pipes

We took hours to pull these cables because some of the
trunking was so full of earlier cables, it was hard to get
them through. No, we do not use lubricants. Just pure
sweat (not on the pipes) and careful brute force. Ha ha

Nightshot

As I was coming back home towards the street again and I took one look. Yes! Tonight's sky is beautiful. So, using the tripod and the camera remote, I took a lot of this shot mainly because I forgot about the UV filter which gave a lot of reflections. This is the only few "clean" shots I am satisfied with.

And not only that, it reminds me of Tim Burton's Batman where the sky is bluish. Anytime now, the Batwing or the Bat Signal is going to show..........

Lovely rain.....

Lately, its raining more and more and when you do see clouds like these, you know its going to rain in less than three minutes or so.

Trust me, this is quarter past two in the afternoon in Kepong Baru

And this is Damansara (near The Curve) ten minute later

Kristine and the medicine

She was a bit feverish, so Mommy had to make
her take her medication. Now after some coaxing,
and diluting the medicine with water, she drank
it without any problems. Phew!

Nerf comes to Malaysia!

I am so happy Toys R us brought some of them in this time! Maybe it was the prohibition of sales of toy guns in the States and/or UK which caused this. I mean, where else would Hasbro do with the current stocks? I know its the curent stock because all the painting scheme are in yellow whereas more than three years ago, they were in blue/yellow combination.

For years, I was trying to get them locally with no such luck. Even Singapore does not have them. And most of the time, we had to use eBay. And the runny thing is, the Chinese does not even copy much except for one particular model.

Anyway, I do hope TRU are bringing more of them in soon. I was so elated, its like finding something rare in your own backyard that caused you to look all over the Earth for it in the first place. I have had mixed responses from eBay because of the postage and customs. And so, if it comes to Malaysia, it would have solved a lot of problems. Except for the money part, that is.

This is the Nerf Nite Finder which I bought for RM35.95 or so.
Nothing spectacular except that you stuff in 2xAA batteries
under the gun's grip to light up a red LED behind the lens.

Its said to be an improvement over the Nerf Scout (won from eBay)
But for me, its not going to be an issue because I am going to take it
apart and cut it up anyway.

Outside Toys R Us, there is the play area for children.
Kristine and Kaelynn showing how dirty their feet are
because everyone (including parents) did not take off
their shoes despite my subtle warnings to them. Oh,
and Kristine nearly started a fight with three girls over
a house but i eventually ended up in a stand-off.

When I woke up late this morning, Kristine took me
Nerf to play while Kaelynn took my favourite Scout

This is the Nerf Longshot which I am hoping they
would come to Malaysia. Potential prop material

This is the Nerf Disk Shot which I am REALLY hoping
they would come to Malaysia. Until then, the Scout is
still my favourite Nerf.

This is the CS-6, interchangeable Nerf weapon. Well,
its going to take some time to like it eventually. Its a
Nerf weapon which allows you to modify it depending
on what firepower (read: Mission) you need it for.

The problem of thinking too hard

This case is a problem from all levels. The customer has three floors of office. Initially, only the Main Office wanted a PABX to replace its ageing NEC system. So no problem there. Then the upper floor office wanted a PABX as well. And we were reccommended to them since out job was satisfactory. And when the second floor job was done, we were introduced to the third floor office was well! By this time, we realised they were all inter-related with the lowest office being the Headquarters. The two upper floor offices were not "shown" at the main office's board because they were relatively new. We did introduce a bigger Panasonic model which is capable of serving all three offices but were refused. So, we had to install three Panasonic KX-TDA200 instead.

Now, here is the big problem: All the three offices would like to communicate with each other.

They would like to talk to each other without having to use the Telekom lines which charges for every call. So I was tasked to solve this problem. Having been servicing Toshiba systems for years, the most obvious solution would be to use the DISA (Direct Inward System Access - a Toshiba Term). All I would have to do is to connect a SLT (single-line port) to an incoming CO port and vice versa between each system, and thus a pair of channels were born!. After having created three pairs of channels, I realised I took a bit off more than I could chew because in the Panasonic TDA PABX, a DISA system requires you to have some external cards. So, I was literally knocking my head on the wall for days or even weeks.

It was not until went to my Sundance Forum that MrGemini pointed out the obvious to me. I was so engrossed with using DISA that I overlooked the answer which was right in front of me! So, now all I have to do is to follow up on my SLT-CO channel creation with a series of codes where each extension on each floor (except for the Main Office which would prefer to have to SLT ports instead) would have to enter in order to access any one of the three channels available to them. The reason is because almost 98% of the extensions are SLT. And then, once they got through to the other Panasonic PABX, all they have to do is to dial the extension. I had to deny these systems from giving the caller the ability to grab an outgoing line as this might have detrimental effect for all offices concerned. The solution is then to place these SLT ports in COS (Class of Service) that denies them from dialing a 9 followed with any digit after it.

It sounded almost to easy but then, because the Panasonic is relatively new to me, I had to struggle with the TDA software for a while as the Trunk Groups, COS and External Call Block segments are my main obstruction.

So, the solution is as follows:

Original code to access CO Line 13 and then dial the extension 211, and they cannot dial any numbers starting with 90- to 99:
[*37013 + 211]

Modified code to access CO Line 13 and then dial the extension 211, and they cannot dial any numbers starting with 90- to 99:
[7013 + 211]

We installed the Panasonic system but using
Toshiba cabling methods using Krone connection
modules. pardon the mess as I was testing both
connections using SLT ports from both floors.

Waterproof Boxing

My Boss has recently highlighted to me that most of our CCTV customers have had their CCTV installed outdoors. This could be a very big problem in the near future. the reasoning behind this is simple: When connectors are exposed to the environment, it will be compromised sooner or later. And not only that, any person with suspect intentions can easily disrupt the cables (and the power supply), thus rendering them useless.

My task is to look for a suitable casing in order to protect these points of interest. But after weeks of searching, the boxes were either too small or too expensive. And so, after some searching my Boss found the ideal case. However, so was the price! But still, the case is enough for us to do a case study. Still, if its successful, we might negotiate for a better price for our customers.

I was playing with the idea if using these little stubs
and the come with different diameters. But in the
end, I think we'll settle for flexible hoses

The casing which is ideal for our purpose. It even has those
waterproof seals (right). It has the right depth to house the
3-point power plug and the 12v adaptor.

The Wonders of traffic Jam

It does not matter what car you have. From a RM5,000
junk to half a Million Ringgit or more, once you are stuck
in a traffic jam, everyone is the same. This is the great
Equaliser. After that, make sur your car is fast enough
to escape the embarrassment of being stuck with peasants

I got robbed!

It was on a Friday evening that the event happened. After finishing installing a Call Billing Software at my customer and bading farewell to my technician for the day, I went to my car. Because it was raining, I decided to take a turn behind my customer's office and then it happened.

I saw them before they saw me but when I tried to turn away, it was too late.

Men: Boss, what you want?
Me: Er, nothing. Nothing at all
Men: Sure or not?
Me: Yeah. Er, bye. Hey, have I seen you somewhere before? [I walked closer to have a better look]
Men: Not really.

And the trap was sprung. There was no way to escape. And I saw it with my own eyes, just in front of me, ready for the taking. Damn it to Hell. My body was ready to leave but my mind was adamant for the fix. It needed it badly like a junkie to a fresh snort of cocaine.

Me: Can you keep this for me? Its only ten days before my salary comes in
Men: Nope. You can always use this [Credit card machine]
Me: Oh, please, please. Pretty please?
Men: It might not be here in ten days time.......... [They are good, I tell you]
Me: Er, ah, uh, mmm............
Men: Its valid, we're been here for years and no surcharge
Me: Umm.............. ah what the heck. I'll take it!

Appleseed: Ex Machina and 20 discs of all Star Trek Movies [Director's Cut]
Including First Contact which I was looking for it for years

The Cable

Sometimes, when we are asked to solve a problem, we really have to use our wits and also any other (legal) means so that the job does not drag on. Because the longer you are there, the more it will cost the company. And sometimes, we really have to fight with our inner demons too.

Anyway, it all started when our customer asked us to solve the problem of an incoming line which has crackling noises. They have called in Telekom which as expected, told them the cable was not their problem. So, I had to send my technician to take a look to determine if we could solve it or not (since I was too busy with other service calls). My tech took one look at it and advised for the customer to lay a fresh cable. But since he does not have any fresh cable (as his mode of transport was the motorbike), I have to do the follow up job.

When I was there, I took a look at it and say (in my heart), "This can be repaired!". The reason why I was reluctant to lay a fresh cable was that the current cable/s are lying outside the balcony and it would be very dangerous to step out there alone. Second, well, second, the cables below the balcony are a mess and it would be a very dirty job.

This is the cable. When I moved it for a closer
look, the orange pair came off...

So! since it was not protected from the harsh
weather, the rain came in and did a little
electrolysis which corroded the cable and made
it useless.

When I opened the protective sheaths, the copper
inside were black. This indicates that the cable has
been wet before. Where the cable rusted were the
signs of copper sulfate (green stuff)

So, I took another pair of cable and used it to join
both ends. Voila! The line is not crackling anymore
and has pure dialing tone!

This is the reason why I do not want to
mess with the existing cables. I have
done this last year and it was messy

You can even see a bird nest (on the bottom left) and
a pigeon here.

The trip down South

In just less than a week, I was to go outstation again. This time, South. I had two places to go, namely Seremban and Kulai. Knowing that Kulai is the furthest, it will be my first stop since Seremban's is to return a repaired phone. I am confident that I will be able to complete the two calls.

But this was not to be so. Boss was in a very bad mood the whole week. And he is looking for scapegoats to vent his frustrations. And because of new directive, I had a lot of paperwork which bogged me down until eleven in the morning. By then, I really had to rush for the trip. I was travelling a little over 90 trying to cover the long distance but in the end, it was for naught. By the time I was in Kulai, it was too late to get to Seremban and the customer is not interested in waiting until seven thirty in the evening.

So, the next morning, I was the scapegoat. I know my Boss's tactic of venting on me that morning. He took my trip's problem as a case study and tried to pin something on me. First, he asked others in the meeting that if they were me, which customer should I go first and the answer was Kulai. Both my technicians kept quiet. Not satisfied, he then calculated the time needed to take to each destination on the board, with me adding the actual figures for him. And still, he was not satisfied. He wanted the answer to be Seremban but the facts stated otherwise. One last try, I was to be chided for not informing the customer earlier. Lastly, I added the fact that the call in Kulai was more important as it dealt with system programming. But I left it at that because I know it will be an exercise in futility since he is the type of Chinaman who needs "Face" and authority and I have painted him into a corner unwittingly.

I know his bad mood was not because of anything but cash problems in the company. Still, his effect has shaken my team of technicians which I have built for some time. Just last week, one just walked off and refused to have lunch with him after his outburst. If this keeps going on, its a matter of time before the whole team cracks and my technicians all walk out on me. Sometimes, I am also thinking, why the fuck should I sacrifice so much for so little and still have to keep my temper while he does not?

I know he is taking inspiration and mirroring it from another customer where the Boss is quite personal and friendly (but with temper too). And my counterpart in that customer's company? A worried, scared and loyal Manager who is always on his toes. I don't want to end up being that kind of fucked up spineless cunt like that.

So, today is going to be a nice day

Solved the problem in Kulai and now, onwards to Seremban!

By the way, popped by Toyota and they're giving this
for even purchase of the new Toyota Altis. Mind you,
this is extremely limited edition. From the looks of it,
I think this could be from the same company who made
Mini-Z R/C cars; Kyosho. The tell tale signs were the fine
and detailed mouldings of the body

Oh-oh. rain is coming. Better leave fast!

These are I think, less than a week old. A plant
on a big bowl supported by three balls which
are not even cemented or bolted on. Imagine if
a vehicle accidentally brushed on it or a strong
wind blowing........

See? One of them fell already. I was here earlier but
did not take the photos since I was in a rush.

Ah, the evening sky! I could have stopped and took a
better photo but I was "rushing" to get to Seremban
which was too late. I should have stopped and to Hell
with everything.