The trouble with air-cons

And so, as luck would have it, my predictions came through. The aircon at the customer's place is now giving problems. When I first opened the door, I was shocked to see a big water puddle on the floor. As the partition wall is fiber it will absorb water and then rot. Not only that, the water has also splashed into the PABX system as well. I have informed the customer about it and they did try to get the aircon guy be faced with the "Its like that and I can't do anything about it". I know the two units run on a timer and activates alernatedly everyday. So, getting this from the aircon gu is pure bullshit. So, I gave them the "fix it or else" ultimatum as we're going to be busy for the next few weeks and such system down situation would only screw our schedules.

Later on in the evening, the only thing they could do was to mop up the floor and put a small bucket next to the system

Luckily, the water did not seep into the
small grey enclosure on the floor as there
are a lot of cables in there.

Even the batteries are wet and judging from the
watermarks left on the tiles, it nearly went to the
server rack on the left. Not in the picture. I think
this has been happening for months now and only
now that it got worse.

Well, if no one does anything about it, the rot
would weaken the wall and everything mounted
on it would fall down. And this is the only "solid"
wall as the other three walls are made of glass.

I fyou look closely, you can the see the aircon spitting
the water in the middle of the picture, just next to the
vents.

Stan Winston RIP

Remember Terminator 2 when it first came out? It broke the Special Effects mould (at that time). How about Aliens? Galaxy Quest? Jurassic Park? How about Predator or the latest Iron Man?

Stan Winston is the most talented special effects guy around. Without him, the magic in the movies would definitely be as exciting as watching paint dry.

And so, on 15th og June 2008, Stan Winston passed away peacefully in his sleep after battling years of multiple myeloma (or Kahler's disease), a form of cancer. He was in his early sixties.

Damn. I don't know what else to say.


You can see more from his Website and Wiki

Nightshots

Driving the whole night was very tiring for me. It did not help when my assistant was sleeping throughout the whole journey. In one of the few rest stops, I really had to take a nap. But because I was too tired to sleep (and did not want to switch on the van's aircon due to the expensive petrol) I decided to take a walk to wash my face. Then, when I got a bit sober, I decided to take some shots since I had the tripod with me. And tonight, there was a full moon too!

I got careless here because you can
see the dustbin. I also forgot to take
off the UV filter which created lens
flare

When I looked up, the clouds were moving very fast
and sometimes, blocking the Moon. I wanted to use
ISO1600 as the moving clouds cause a lot of problems
for me. But I stubbornly set at about ISO400.

This is one of the few clear shots it got, using the zoom lens

Again, there is this irritating lens flare even on the zoom lens.
But for this photo, I think it looked just surreal. Twin moons!

By the time I changed back to my Kit lens, the coulds went

wild and I started to take more pictures, this time, I took
off the UV filter.

Funny Ice Cubes

This is what you get when you use the other half of
an egg container as icu cube mould

The trip down South ..... Johor

OK, here we go! Another trip outstation to Kulai and then Johor Bahru. The first stop was to go to Kulai and solve the problem of the customer being able to dial out the "#" key. Somehow, the original installer did something to the programs and I had to get it done. If not for the "slowness" of my Notebook, we could have left long time ago. Actually, the software in the Notebook has a very funny idea about processing speed. Once I exited from it, and reactivated the program, it went fast and after a few minutes, it slowed down to a crawl.

Anyhow, I thought it was the "Virus Mawar" pest but days later, after it was purged, the problem is stilll there. By the time we arrived in Johor, it was already close to four in the afternoon, no time to rush over to pay my 2004 parking fine. Yeah, apparently, some stupid salesman promised to pay for my ticket in 2004, did not and now, I have to do it myself. But it was too late and so, we got to work instead, finishing at about eight in the evening. The PABX had some corrupted software and so, I had to reinitialise and re-program the system again. And I thought to myself, maybe I should be selfish and stay a night there so that the next morning, I can pay the fine instead of mailing it.

But now, the nearby Hotel was fully booked and so, I had to hurry and finish my work, visit Holiday Plaza for some DVDs and drive back home. By the time we reached KL, it was about four in the morning. I was so tired and while my assistant was alseep, I counted nearly six near-fatal crash if I really did fall asleep at the wheel. Damn.

The next day, I reported for work at 2 in the afternoon as I slept seven hours straight. Seemes like waking up at seven to start the journey is not enough. Maybe I should have told my assistant to be ready at five in the morning....

I know, I know, I don't have a macro lens.
Shot outside the men's toilet somewhere
outside some R&R I forgot

As I sat down, I realised that if I played my
cards right, we could be staying the night in
JB as Boss expected us to do so anyway. But
Fate decided otherwise and I thought to too
as there are other backlogged service calls
that needs to be cleared before next week

See the spots/smears on the windscreen?
A lot of insects were killed for my own
displeasure. And this was at 90Kmh

A cheaper snip

Again, I love going to hair salons. I can find peace and quiet there. Really. When you enter one, if everyone is not so noisy, the cool air from the air-con and the silent whirr of some hair dryers will give you a sense of peace. When the girl comes and wash/massage your hair, you will feel at ease immediately. The cool water and shampoo mixture does wonders for your scalp. Sometimes, if you know them well, they will give you extra time washing your hair if there are no other customers waiting. And then, you will slowly fall asleep or about to. And when they start to cut your hair, it is heaven! The wonderful sounds of the scissors cutting your hair and the vibration it generates onto your skull really makes you float sleepily.

And there and then, if everything is right, you will either fall asleep, go into a trance or start to daydream. Any which way(apart from sleeping), I find that I get a lot of ideas coming from my head. Which is good because sometimes, its to do with designs and sometimes, its about solving an almost impossible problem.

Alas, this little luxury has ended. Years ago, I have no compulsion about getting my hair cut every month. Even when the prices went up from RM24 to about RM34. Then, after getting married, just to save some money, I get it cut every two months.

When the girls came out, I get it cut every three months.

But with the recent price hikes, trips to the hair salon is now a luxury.

So, while we were out shopping at the Pasar Malam, my wife pointed out one of those new haircut centres at the Bangsar Village. Its called "Cut and Go" if I am not mistaken. You just slot in RM15 (RM10 and a RM5 note) into a machine and wait for your turn. No shampoo, no scalp massage, no nothing. They just cut your hair to the style you want, vacuum your head and thats it. Simple. And I get to save more than RM15!

The owner of this concept is an absolute genius! The machine takes your cash so there is no money dispute with the staff. They vacuum your excess hair, so there is no need for extra plumbing to the salon and this save a lot on the water bill. And so, with minimal equipment, the space is just about 1/8 or less of a normal hair salon!

But for ladies who wants to perm their hair, colour them, etc., this is not the proper place. They just cut your hair and nothing else.

But one thing I can say is that now, with the new haircut, my usage of shampoo and hair gel has drastically reduced to just a fraction. I only need a few drop of hair gel now since there is literally nothing much to hold. Ha ha ha ha ha

My hair is so damn short now, its botak!
So, I have about another three months
before I got for another cut! Brilliant!

Happy Father's Day!

I would have never expected this since I am sometimes, do not think I am a father. But once the card came, it just dawned on me. . . . .

This is Kristine's card to me

Although its a simple design, the message is profound

Kristine's new toy

Kristine has been bugging us to get her a violin. I am not sure where she got the idea from but as a Dad, I have to consider her request. First of all, I could get he a toy violin from some Pasar Malam which would fit into her profile as a 5-minute toy killer. But, then again, what if she is really interested in playing the violin and also, could be a prodigy at it? Nah. So, we went to Toys 'R Us (Mid-Valley) to get her one.

When we were there, there was no violin in sight except for those electronic toy versions which when I tried it, only plays a song when you drag the bow across. So, we decided on the next best thing. A keyboard. Not only does it allow you to play with different musical instruments, it also has a memory bank of a few of her favourite songs in it. And so, being RM69.90 poorer, Kristine forgot all about the violin......

Still, the anticipation of dreaded plinky plonks to our ears the whole day did not arrive. Which is a good thing. She can make some of her own music and it was bearable. Imagine if she asked for a drum instead.....

She is happy but unfortunately, the batteries ran out after 24hours

Tools of the trade

I have told my guys that they have to look after their tools well because sometimes, when they really need it, it might not be functioning or there is no one else to turn to. And I do not want to waste time checking their tools every morning.

This has happened many times and I am not happy about that. The effect of such malfunction can cost the company in terms of loss of manpower, transportation costs and more importantly, customer perception in trust.

To the uninitiated, this is just a piece of wire and plastic bits. To us,
this is a very important tool which saves a lot of time when we need
to check connections or lines quickly. Outside technicians would kill
just to have it. And one of my old tech who resigned, just threw it in
his drawer. The new tech also did not care much since it is "broken"
All I had to do is to prepare the cabels and solder it back. Cheh

Something new

This is something I never see on the road. An Avanza
being used as a commercial vehicle. Its very interesting
to note that it has a rear grill installed too.

Screwing the Rakyat even more

City Hall has announced that they will be imposing parking fees from 0730 to 2200 from Mondays to Sundays, including Public Holidays. And less than 48 hours later, they changed their threats to only impose from from 0730 to 1800 Mondays to Saturdays.

What the fuck.

It should be 0830 to 1730, la. Stupid. As if our lives are still not screwed enough. You think the we, the Rakyat is your ATM, issit?

This was set up a few days ago. Back when
we were told this are would not have any
parking meters and that is why we moved

The interface is quite OK and it is easy to smash
it to pieces, I think. I can bet you, within a few
days, it would be vandalised or pasted with a lot
of stickers

And I want to be the one to take the Solar Cells. Might
be handy when I want to charge something. Heh

Friday the 13th

I do not believe that such things exist. To me, Friday 13th is just another ordinary day. Nothing more than that. But then, something happened.

First, my perfect knife broke just by falling on
the floor. I can't use it anymore without cutting
my thumb pushing the blade out. C'mon, it just
fell to the floor only wat.........

Then my hip pouch's clip broke and there is no time
to get it fixed. Not only that, my original pouch is
still sitting in the room waiting to be repaired. This
is going to cost me. Maybe I should take it to a
tailor to repair my original pouch.

And when things come, it comes in threes. Once I got home, and after everything was settled, only then did my Wife broke the news to me. We're definitely not going to have any Rat in the house anymore. There is no more heartbeat (again).

Damn. So, sorry if I had not posted for a week. I was too depressed.

RM2.70 per litre

I did not hear about the price rise until about six in the evening on the radio. By that time, it was too late to turn back or find another alternative route as all the roads were exceptionally jammed up. This is so stupid.

The Government could have announced it after eight in the evening or later. Imagine the chaos it created where the congested road were mixed with the evening rush and now, worsened by the long queues at the petrol station.

But just to save what? The 78sen increase to RM2.70 per litre is a lot. But this would mean I would save RM10 or so if I filled up now. Jesus Christ. All that one and half hour of queuing just to save that much? I don't care about the rebates and all when renewing road taxes.

Like all Malaysians, we cannot see beyond what is today. So, for the past few months, the Government has announced about reducing or changing the fuel subsidy where the general public would go, "Ho-Hum". But once the price announcement about petrol/rice, etc. increase, everyone would rush over to get it. Dammit to Hell. I can tell you, this is fodder for the Pakatan Rakyat and also fuel for more violent demonstrations to come.

And in reality, I don't give a hoot about looking at the big picture and all that shit anymore as I am very angry. Angry about it being my fault. And yours and the Country as a whole. Why? Because we did not vote enough to get rid of Barisan National.

I mean, which kind of moron would say its a win-win situation when all we got was a pair of rocks in the sea?

And I can tell you, some fucking moron would also say, our petrol prices are still the cheapest in the region. What? You mean we have to compete to be the most expensive? Give me a break la.

Come the next election, Barisan National would LOSE and I would make sure it stays that way even if Pakatan Rakyat performs abysmally.

And it took me two hours to get home on a normal 40 minute route!

Simple CCTV Tester

Doing a routine maintenance on my tools, I have completely forgotten how I did this one. This is a tester I made when I was doing CCTV at one time. It tests for the correct polarity from the power supply and also if there is any shorting on the video cable.

For example, when I want to test if there is any voltage from the power supply, I would just plug it in. If the LED lights up, then there is voltage. But if the lit LED is red, this means the voltage polarity is wrong and you'd have to rewire it until the LED is green. And the for the video cable, if the LED lights up, this means there is a short in the cable. Simple isn't it?

And when I opened it up, I forgotten how simple the
circuit was. And it costs less than RM10 to make!

Becoming the Traffic Phone Ranger . . . . almost

While I was coming back from Subang towards Kepong, there was a 3-4 car pile up with a Proton Saga sitting on top of another car. It was expected since there was a heavy rain minutes ago and now, this created a huge traffic jam on both sides of the LDP. So, since its almost five in the evening, I decided to call up radio stations to report (instead of the Police). The person who answered the call sounded like Priscilla Patrick and she was so courteous and nice to talk to.

And of course, I switched on the radio and waited for the first traffic report.

When when I came, I was disappointed because instead of the accident, she reported flash floods in that area. Haiya. She didn't even mention my name.

And worst of all, my technician was laughing at me. Sigh, my Ego deflated faster than a failed souffle.

The Global Priority Envelope........

After coming back from vacation, I saw this package on my desk and immediately, I was like a kid again, opening his surprise presents. There are 50, I mean, 50 6-position PCB mounted slide switches in there, which I got from eBay. As usual, I tried to look for this switch all over Pasar Road, RS and Farnell but without much success.

So, why do I need these switches? Yes, after I have finished the Star Trek Phaser Rifle, I will move on to try my hand at Judge Dredd's MKII Lawgiver. The 6 -position slide switch is for when a Judge selects one of the six ammo types on the Lawgiver.

Opening the properly packed package.........

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6! Six positions! Whoo hoo!

Testing the Zoom lens @ Genting

OK, while I was in Genting, I had a bit of time to test out the 80-300mm zoom lens. I have been carrying it everyday, in my Kani Bag but never had the chance to try it out. And so, while everyone was either sleeping or busy, I took it out and started shooting.

Under the cloudy light, it was very difficult to hold the camera still as the lens is quite heavy. Even at ISO 1600, there is the occasional blur cause by camera shake. But oh, well, Life goes on, etc. I also tried it when we're up in the cable car and the result is quite nice too.

Still, I am enjoying the lens tremendously as it gives me the kind of results I wanted and could not achieve much when I had the two FujiFilm Finepix prosumers. Overall, I am quite happy with it. Just that I was too lazy to pack my tripod when I was there.

A flower bed outside Genting Hotel

Some flowers outside the apartment

Some flowers at Awana but with the Sun coming out

OK, I did not use the 80-300 lens on this as I was practising
how to pan. You know and I know, using the zoom lens is not
practical here. Ha ha ha ha!

First trip to Genting Highlands

With the school holidays here, we decided to take the girls up to Genting Highlands for the first time. And we're staying at Awana with one of my Sister in law and her family. It would be very interesting to see how the two girls would react to the cold up there and the new environment. But more importantly, we are also interested in seeing how the 1.5 Avanza performs when going up the Genting slopes.

Our trip began at 11AM (originally, it was 9AM) after making sure everything that is to be packed, is packed and put into the car. Driving the Avanza in something very different for me. I was so used to driving my Satria, changing or dropping gears at every corner. By now, I am quite used to driving an Auto except for the occasional panic where I would shift the Auto from Drive to Park effectively bringing the car to a halt (and destroying the gears in the process)

The trip from Genting Sempah up to the Police checkpoint (slightly after Gohtong Jaya) was a bit too difficult for me as I kept expecting the road to be an uphill route. So, I found myself shifting between [O/D OFF] auto to 2nd when cornering. I was doing this because I wanted the car to be always in the "forward push" (I don't know how to describe this) so that its momentum helps in getting the car move better. Only when Kaelynn started to vomit did I slow down for the rest of the journey. And going downhill, it was gear "2" all the way as I hate to use the brakes all the time. Maybe its not a good idea at all. I mean, a new set of brake pads would set us back about a few hundred ringgit compared to a new gearbox.

Anyway, while we were there, the girls did have a lot of fun. Most of the time we were indoors as it was raining intermittently. Which was great as it created a lot of mists. I was happy as Kaelynn starts to warm up with my Mother in Law.

Wakey, wakey! Kristine has started to brush her teeth
every morning and also before she goes to bed.

Kaelynn wondering why everyone was so busy all of a sudden

While waiting for Mommy to pack and freshen up, Kristine
took Kaelynn for a ride

The room at Awana costs us RM250 for two days. But
I like it there although I had to sleep in the couch as it
was so cool, I did not need to have the fan on but just
the glass doors opened a wee bit to let the night air in

It was Kristine and Kaelynn's first time
in a cable car. I was a bit afraid due to
the heights. And when it stopped in the
middle of the mists, my mind was thinking
about disasters in a cable car. There was a
long queue (beyond 30 minutes) to get into
the cable car. Luckily the ticket was free when
we got the Hotel room.

I was a bit jealous when I saw this car parked outside

But then, I felt pity for their stupidity in showing off.
A lot of people leaned on them when having their
pictures taken. I can bet you by the end of the day,
the cars would be slightly dented and has a lot of
fingerprints.

Kristine making sure her sister is well protected from the cold

There was a long line when we boarded the cable cars to to up and
it was the same when we wanted to go back down. Luckily, a kind
gentleman used his Worldcard to let us cut the whole queue and
straight into the main gate. We were thankful for his generosity
as both of us were already tired from waiting in line while carrying
the two girls.

I was still afraid in the cable car and watching things going
away from you did not help either. Luckily, taking photos
helped me calm down but wife was threatening to throw
my D50 out of the window as I was clicking away like mad

Still, the girls we enjoying themselves, thanks to the
Lollipops too.

For dinner, all the adults went to the Casino leaving us to
being the kids out for dinner. We ended up at the Japan-
Korean restaurant which was quite OK. I loved the kimchi

Since the bed was quite high up and we did not want
to move the girls, moving the heavy mattress on to
the floor was out of the question. And so, we all the
pillows and cushions we could find. This was a very
difficult shot for me since I took it in the early morning
with very little light and no tripod

Buffet Breakfast finds the two girls in jovial mood

They were so happy, they went up to the stage and did
some dancing there.

Since its school holidays, we have to make sure Kristine
knows here stuff as evident in her handiwork here. sigh

And while everyone was packing up to checkout.....

For the rest of the afternoon, we were inside here, walking about.
I saw this China sifu making model likeness from dough. Here, he
is starting to shape a customer's head

Kristine and I took a boat ride. Of all the rides, this was the
safest we could find. No ferris wheels, roller coasters, high
floats or even bumper cars for her in case she really freaks
out and we cannot stop the ride.

Just before we go home, Kristine was dancing again
for one last time