Spiff The Spaceman

That Hazy Feeling

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 05:00:00 +0000

Good God! I woke up this morning and the place was enveloped with a thick layer of haze! And let me not even start about the acrid smell. What is happening to this country? What do we have to do to get reasonably clean air to breathe? Do I need to put on my Devils Wink clubwear and start doing some weird idiotic ritual to chase the haze away? Maybe throw in some coconuts and a magic carpet ... hahaha! Ok, ok, I don't want to start on that.

But seriously though, the air is simply not livable anymore! I really wish I had a rocket ship to leave this planet and travel around the stars out there.

My Kingdom For A 5 Day Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 04:40:00 +0000

The weekend is almost upon us and I simply look forward to it. Unfortunately though, I wish the weekends were more than just two days. Wouldn't it be much better to have 5 day weekends and two day work week? Well, vote me to be supreme leader of the world and I'll make that happen :D

Ok, maybe I'm talking rubbish. Then again, that's pretty normal for me. It's when I'm not talking rubbish that you should be afraid ... LOL! Though it's Friday already, there's still close to 5-6 hours before I pack up for the day and I'm already damn lazy at work. The worse thing is I still need to find out what a rudy muck 25 actually is!

Where's My Groove?

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 08:58:00 +0000

Did I just write a few minutes ago that I'm finding it hard to get back into the working groove again? Well, this proves it. I really can't get back to working at the moment. My mind drifts back to wanting to laze around the house, which was exactly what I was doing the past week.

Even trying to figure out what this martin little martin series acoustic guitar sentence means isn't helping all that much. I keep staring at the clock on the wall and willing it to move faster. I think it's purposely moving at a snails pace to piss me off. Oh well, another hour or so and I'm outta here!

A Gloomy Outlook

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 08:54:00 +0000

After nearly a week off work, I'm finding it difficult to get back into the groove of working again. My mind is still on holiday mode at the moment! Thank god that I don't have all that much things to do at the moment.

It's already 2 days into the new year and things are not looking all that rosy in this country. And I'm betting it won't be looking rosy anytime soon, especially not with the current ruling regime we have lording over everyone.

Just read some pretty disturbing news about and it saddens me that the government can resort to such things. I don't know where or when this country slipped in the doldrums and I don't know when we can dig our way out of this and live like we used too, in total harmony.

These days, even the alesis percpad doesn't look look too promising and please don't ask me what an alesis percpad is cos I have no idea!

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Tue, 24 Dec 2013 13:51:00 +0000

I know it's a little early to be wishing anyone a Merry Christmas but heck, I have a long Christmas run to do tomorrow morning so I'd probably be in bed when good fat Nick ... urrrmmm ... I mean Saint Nick squeezes his way through my chimney. Boy, is he gonna be surprised cos I don't have a chimney ...wahahahahaha!

Anyways, let me take this opportunity to wish you all a blessed Christmas and if you're all planning to get me a gift, don't bother, just head to some jewelry stores and get me some jewels already!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle All The Way ...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 13:37:00 +0000

It's that time of year again, when the snow falls and that jolly old fat man (who seriously needs to work out badly) comes around around again trying to squeeze his fat butt down people's chimneys, which for the life of me can't figure out how he does it.

Actually in this day and age, I'm surprised somebody hasn't already shot the poor fat guy for trespassing. Ok, I should really stop calling Santa a fat guy or I'll be staring at lumps of coals in my compression socks this year for Christmas!

Christmas is in three days time and I really don't know what happened to the rest of the year. It's like I fell into a time warp or something. I really gotta pay attention to what happens around me more often cos I can't really remember what U did the entire year. Even this best yamaha flute at Musicians Friend words seem like total gibberish to me.

Cat Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 04:50:00 +0000

Mrs. Spiffy and me have recently taken to' looking after' the three stray cats we have roaming the back yard. We've been feeding them and they're so used to us that they're out there every morning waiting for us to feed them breakfast much to the annoyance of our little doggy who simply hates the sight of them.

We take pity on the poor cats and if we were rich enough, we get them some heated cat houses to live in but unfortunately all we can do is make sure they have food to eat and clean water to drink. At least that's something. Just hope they don't bring along more of their feline buddies to our cat restaurant ... LOL!

Heavenly Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Sun, 14 Jul 2013 11:57:00 +0000

The weather today has been pretty awesome! I hardly saw the sun all day and running the FRIM trails this morning was simply heavenly. If only the weather could be like that every single time I ran.

It's really an about turn compared to when we had such hazy and unhealthy air conditions just a couple of weeks back. Back then, just trying to breathe was an effort. Today, the clean, cool and fresh air of FRIM was so welcomed.

Let's hope we can have weather like this every so often but for now though, I need to check out this site iolo.com and see what it's all about.

Genting Highlands, Not!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 08:42:00 +0000

The outsides look like as if I'm in Genting Highlands but unfortunately, the smell brings you back to reality. The perennial haze is back in this parts of the world and visibility is down to 1 kilometer. Not good at all. Year in and year out we're faced with the same crap from our Indonesian neighbours.

Instead of sorting the issue out, everyone is playing the blame game. No one is seriously taking any efforts to find a solution. If you ask me, I have a few dastardly ideas that would solve this once but then, no one asked me so I'll just play my keyboard piano at Guitar Center and keep on playing until someone asks me!

You Still read Blogs?

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 07:06:00 +0000

Oi, you! Yes, you! Who else would be silly enough to still be reading this blog. In fact, who else would be silly enough to even be reading any blog for that matter. Didn't you know that blogs are so yesterday?

But since you still silly enough to actually read blogs, how would you like a free gift especially from me. Well, if you are really nice to me, I'll let you collect your free bongos at GC especially engraved for you.

All you need to do is tell the guy at the counter that you still read blogs and when he finally stop laughing at you hysterically, then just mention Spiffy told you to come along and collect your free bongo. There, it's as simple as that :D

Oh and this is not April Fool's joke, it's for real. Go ahead and pick up your gift. And you're welcome :D

A Tenor

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 07:15:00 +0000

Anyone knows where I can get a good tenor sax book? And no, it's not that kind of book, you dirty minded people!

But it's not for me though, I can't play the saxophone even if my life depended upon it! It's for a project we're doing for a client. It's a little too difficult and tedious to explain in detail but if you do know where they sell a good tenor sax book, gimme a buzz, will ya?

The Evil Doctor

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 10:59:00 +0000

I used to look forward to the weekends but not at the moment. I busted my freaking knee from too much running and am on doctors orders to not run for an entire month. I think the doctor has a mean streak if you ask me.

He was gleefully wringing his hands together with an evil smile while telling me that I have to stay off the busted knee for a month! I could tell he was one of those evil world domination type of doctors when he ended every sentence with muahahahaha!

Ok, ok, he's not really an evil doctor. He's a nice guy actually but anyone who tells me I can't run is evil ... LOL! Well, at least I can spend the time looking into those nutcracker ballet jewelry pamphlets I received in the mail yesterday.

You There?

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 04:44:00 +0000

Gosh! The last time I wrote anything here was way back in the middle of December! Geez, that's like an eternity ago. The cobwebs have started to form already in this blog.

I should actually visit my own blog a lot more from time to time ... hahaha! I've just been so busy with stuff that I hardly have time to look into all my blogs and I have four (or was that five?) blogs to keep up with.

I've got lots of pending stuff to update like this Ocean isle Beach Real Estate deal I want to tell you about but for the life of me just don't know how to start. I guess maybe I'll go make myself a nice mug of coffee and then come back to this a little later.

Till then, have a great day!

Christmas Spirit, Where Are You?

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 06:39:00 +0000

I'm in the midst of looking for a top electric piano to play some Christmas carols in the office. The atmosphere here is so dull that I'm just not getting that Christmas spirit! It feels just like any other work day and it shouldn't be happening when every where else I go I hear Christmas carols being sung

Maybe I should just switch on some carols on my laptop on high volume. Hmmm ... now that's a plan :D

12.12.12

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 06:04:00 +0000

I simply love this time of the year. The sounds of Christmas carols wafting through the air, crystal cruise employment flyers flaoting about, the smell of chestnuts roasting on an open fire ... urrrmmm, ok that part is not true. I can't seem to find any chestnuts roasting anywhere at all over here.

But seriously, I simply love this time of the year. Unfortunately I haven't even prepared a single thing for Christmas. Must start soon or I'll miss all the fun. Oh by the way, I just had to have a posted dated 12.12.12!

It's Christmas Time ...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 03:57:00 +0000

Christmas is just around the corner and I haven't even done anything yet. The tree is still in the store room along with all the decorations and the custom made church chairs. I'm guessing it might still be in there come Christmas morning ... LOL!

I just can't find a nice free available time slot to set up the decorations and the tree. I've been planning to put it up during the weekend but almost all my weekends have been spent indulging in my favourite past time which is running.

Even this weekend Mrs. Spiffy and me are going to be pretty busy taking part in an insane 12 hour walk event. I really, really must find the time to put up the tree soon but the way things are going, it looks like the tree might be up just in time for the Chinese New Year ... hahaha!

H&K MP5

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 15:09:00 +0000

A client of mine asked me today if I knew where he could find good stores where he could buy some good mpd32 items. I gave him this crazy look and asked him just what the hell he wanted to to buy an automatic weapon for? And besides, how the heck would I know where they sold weapons here?

He in turn, gave me this bewildered look and then burst out laughing and almost rolled on the floor in laughter. After getting control of himself, he decided to educate me a little on life.

'Spiffy my boy, an mpd32 is a professional MIDI/USB software control surface and NOT the H&K MP5 machine gun!'

Ok, how the heck was I supposed to know that. An MPD32 sure sounded like some automatic weapon, don't you think? No? You mean it doesn't even resemble a model number of a gun? You mean I'm really stupid? Oh well, at least you know who not to look for if you actually really need to buy guns ... hahaha!

Hot!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:19:00 +0000

The rainy season seems to be over and that only means, the sun is now the boss again. The past three days have been hotter than hell, not that I know how hot hell feels and I have no intention of finding out too.

The good thing about the rainy season being over is that I can now run in the evenings but the downside is, the place (and the run) becomes unbearably hot and humid. I find myself having to keep hydrated more than normal and sometimes feel too bloated cos of too much water.

I guess this is really a good time to bring out all those virco school furniture and place it in the garden and just bask (or burn) in the sun!

Shut Down

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:12:00 +0000

I'm extremely glad to finally get home from work. It has been a hell of a day at work for me. It's so bad that I don't even want to talk about it. I just want it to be a distant memory for now.

I don't think my mind could take anymore stress for the day. I need to do something easy for a change like maybe look at some wide selection of promotional frisbees. That would probably take my mind off the horrible day I've had but then, what do I even know about frisbees anyway?

A Scary Situation

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 04:05:00 +0000

It's a scary situation I'm in at work today. Everyone is suffering from the flu and I've decided to lock myself in my room and look through this japanese garden gates for sale brochure that I have lying on my desk.

I'm really afraid of contracting the bug from those sickly fellows and have even resorted to wearing a face mask just to be cautious. I have a marathon to run in about 12 days or so and I can't afford to fall sick, not now anyway.

In fact, the first sign of any flu symptoms and I'm going to head to the doctors for medication immediately. Maybe I should go over during lunch and get some medication as a precaution. You can't be too careful, right?

Digital Printing

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 07:38:00 +0000

We're getting a new high end Fuji Xerox digital printer in the office soon. We've been receiving quite a few repeat orders for a certain project and have been using our current large format inkjet machine to complete the project and it's become tedious trying to complete it.

The digital printer will make complete the job three times faster and besides we could finally stop sending our digital printing work elsewhere to do. My partner seems to think we can afford the machine and I have no objections cos I do have a load of jobs that I could use the machine for.

The installment and loan papers are being prepared by our leasing company and hopefully the machine will come in soon after all that is completed. At the we'll have available more Computer help and I can concentrate on other things.

The New Toy

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:18:00 +0000

My laptop died on me a few weeks back and even taking it to the shop to try and get it 'revived' failed. No matter what the guy at the shop tried, it just refused to come back to life. In the end, I just salvaged the hard disk cos there were a lot f information in there that I just cannot afford to loose.

Then came the hard task of having to look for a new laptop. It wasn't actually hard, just that it would have been hard on my wallet. A good laptop costs money and I need one with some heavy computing power since I use it for work which involves me working on illustrator and photoshop quite a bit.

The lower end ones were really going to cut it. Like I said, it was going to be hard on my wallet but it had to be done. So, after some searching at everyone's favourite computer park, Low Yat Plaza, I managed to find something that would suit my needs.

So now I'd like to introduce to you my new Acer Aspire Olympic Edition laptop :D Ok, to be honest, I didn't really realize it was an Olympic edition until took it home ... LOL! So far it seems pretty good and is able to handle most of the graphic intensive work that I throw at it like this metal puzzles that I'm working on.

Now, let's just hope it'll last till the next Olympics, at the very least :D

Whoosh!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 04:00:00 +0000

It's almost mid September already and time really flies. I know I keep mentioning this a lot but seriously, time really does fly these days. Half the the time I have no idea what I did the entire week.

The only good thing about September is that there are a lot or running races marked on my calendar till the end of the year. In fact I'm really looking forward to November where I'll be running the Powerman Malaysia event. It's something I've never done before and am quite excited about it, though I'll only be running the running leg while a buddy does the cycling leg.

I'm so excited about it that I designed a team logo and will be printing some custom design t-shirts for the team.

Damn! Damn! Damn!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 09:51:00 +0000

Damn! Damn! Damn! My laptop decided to die on me and now I'm left fuming cos I can't access any of my work stuff. It didn't even given indications that it was going to die and just decide two days ago to refuse to switch on and just blink some freaking LED lights at me indicating some hardware problem or other.

I'm hoping it can be salvaged cos damn, I can't afford another laptop just yet! I need to look for art supplies at MisterArt.com and get some stuff and that costs money too.

Maybe I should just print some money instead :P

A Legend Gone

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips (15/03/1967 - 04/11/2022)) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 03:46:00 +0000

Today marks the passing of the great Malaysian badminton legend, Datuk Punch Gunalan who lost his battle with liver cancer. I didn't even know the man was battling cancer. He looked pretty healthy to me whenever I saw him in the news.

May he rest in peace.