Anything Goes!

Women Are From Venus, Men Are From Mars And Female Dogs Are From ... ???

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:29:00 +0000

Pebbles is not on speaking terms with me. In fact she's even staying away from me. She decided to boycott me for today all because I scolded her! Darn, that dog sure knows how to sulk ... LOL!

Ever since she figured out how to climb the stairs at home (she doesn't know how to come down the stairs yet though), she'll always be running up the stairs with me every time I go up to the room to get something. This evening was no different.

After my run (yes, I started running again which I will post about in another post soon), I decided to go up and shave. As usual, the moment I walk up the stairs, she'll be running enthusiastically up the stairs alongside me.

So there I was in the bathroom shaving and there she was as usual running around the room and fighting with her favourite soft toy. All of a sudden, I see her through the reflection of the mirror and notice that she's come to the bathroom mat, starts smelling it and then start to go round and round, a sign that she wants to pee.

Now, right in front of this bathroom mat is her 'toilet', so to speak, which is a non slip rubberized mat that we placed in the bathroom which she always uses as her toilet. So before she can squat and start peeing on the bathroom mat outside, I quickly shout at her,

'Pebbles, that's not your toilet!', admittedly I was a little harsh sounding (but not something she isn't used to).

The next thing I know, she runs to the corner of the bed, puts her head down on the floor and gives me this totally hurt look on her face. Normally when she's in her sulking mood, all I have to do is go and play with her and she'll be back to her happy and enthusiastic self. But today, the moment I went next to her, she gave me this look and ran under the bed!

God! That was a first. So I try the next trick which is to invite her up the bed, which is something that she loves doing. But not today, in fact she even goes further under the bed. Well, I'm not out of tricks yet, I try my last trick which is to pretend to open the room door to go which would ALWAYS have her scurrying out to follow me but even that didn't work.

She doesn't even budge from under the bed and when I look down at her under the bed, she turns her head away from me with a hrrruummppphhh look! Can you believe that? She snubbed me! That's when I decide to use my secret weapon, which is to shout for wifey,

'Honey, Pebbles is 'merajuking' (sulking) with me!' I scream from upstairs.

The moment wifey comes up into the room, she rushes out from under the bed and jumps into her arms ... Wifey gives me this 'what did you do to her look' and I told her what happened. She laughs at me and says,

'Aiyaa, don't you know you can't scold her'

Even when wifey put her on the bed, she doesn't want to come anywhere near me and just stayed on wifey's lap ... That dog can really sulk. She acts just like a human being whose feelings have been hurt and totally ignored me after that. No amount of molly coddling her seemed to work. She must really be pissed at me.

She has changed so much since the day she first came to stay with us. These days she's so much more pampered that she has me or my older boy feeding her from our hands. Yes, really, I actually feed her her dog biscuits one by one cos she won't eat it from her doggy bowl if I'm home.

But she is an adorable little thing that sometimes you can't resist being her slave. Yes Anny, you're right when you say that they're the masters and we're their pets ... LOL! They've got us wrapped around their paws.

At least she has finally made peace with me or at least I think she has cos she's back to following me around everywhere, which in her terms means she's forgiven me for scolding her. She's snugged cozily sleeping at my feet on the floor while I'm typing this post :D Phew, for a while there I thought she was going to sulk the entire day.

Are all females like this, ah? LOL! Oh, the pix below is one of my favourite old photos of her when she first came to stay with us :D

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More Takes

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:20:00 +0000

Work has been keeping me too occupied to blog and by the time I get home, I'm too tired not to mention too lazy to think up of a post. I've got a lot of things running around in my mind (such as fat burners) that I would just love to put down in my blog but I can't seem to compile them into some ounce of order long enough to write them down. All I managed to do these days is to just blog hop around, then catch an hour or two of TV and head straight to bed.

In fact the moment I hit the pillows I'm out in a flash so much so that wifey has a new saying for me which goes along the lines of:

'You Maggi mee last night la.'

Which in both our terms means that I fell asleep instantly, just like a packet of instant noodles, you know cooks instantly, falls asleep instantly? Still don't get? Never mind ... LOL! Yes, yes, we do come up with all kinds of funny sayings and weird association to things. (Note to my foreign readers - Maggi Mee is a brand of instant noodles over here).

Seeing as how I don't have very much to say today, I'll just revert to one of my usual short takes posting.

Take One.

My internet connection is still hopeless at the moment. The problems I've been having with P1 Wimax hasn't been resolved yet. If anything it's gotten worse with the connection slowing down to a crawl in the early evening onwards that a snail would look like Usain Bolt in comparison. Siggghhh!

They did send over a technician to my place and after troubleshooting the issue admitted that the fault lies on their end though I don't know what is being done to rectify the issue. I think the connection has deteriorated even worse since then.

It takes ages just to open a simple page. Half the time, both wifey and me will be staring at each other while waiting for pages to load. Fastest wireless broadband indeed! I'm seriously contemplating finding other alternatives.

I think hooking up my old Motorola Lifestyles dial-up modem would probably be faster! Come on P1, I'm waiting for an answer here to how you're going to solve this problem!

And talking about P1, I heard on the radio that their radio and print 'sudah potong' (cut already) campaign is being scrutinized by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for using the word 'potong' (cut) repeatedly.

According to them, 'When we say 'potong' ... it is very vulgar. We understand (that it refers to cutting the Internet line and changing to broadband), but for most people, 'potong' hints at the act (of circumcision).

While I am at present not liking P1 very much but good god you people at MCMC, don't you have any creativity at all? Do you think people are so stupid as to think that P1 is asking everyone to get circumcised? I cannot believe the mentality of the people we have in the government!

Take Two

In my line of work I meet all kinds of people. I have clients from quite a few industries and sectors. But there's one thing in common with all of them. They all think that they're the only clients we have.

Take for instance, today we had this walk in client who needed something done really urgent (aren't they always urgent!). I've never heard of a client who walks in and says that they need something done but to take my own sweet time! Ok, I'm drifting away from the real subject here.

Anyways, this fellow comes in and says he need a bunting done. Fine, no big deal. I ask him when he wants it? Right now, he says. I tell him politely that we're already in the middle of a scheduled print run and it can only be ready tomorrow the earliest. You think he understood? Not in a million years.

'But you can print it now, right?' he says.

'No, we're already in the midst of a print run'. I tell him.

'But you can do it now, right? he asks again.

'No, we have other work to complete, your job will just have to wait in queue.' I tell him.

'But you can start now, right?' he asks again.

'No, I have another job to complete now! I tell him.

'But my job urgent, you can start now, right? he says.

At this point I start to ignore him. It was either that or I start to scream at him for being a stupid idiot who can't understand the word 'No'. Why do all clients think that we open a business to solely serve them, that we don't have any other clients and that we must drop every other job instantly to do theirs? Morons, that's what they are sometimes!

Take Three

Urmmm, there really isn't a take three cos I think I've written too much already for takes one and two. Short takes indeed, I really got to go get a dictionary and find out what the word short really means ... LOL!
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All By Myself ...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:50:00 +0000

I haven't really been blogging or even doing any internet surfing for the past couple of days due to the really crazy workload I have. We've got some crazy projects running in the office which requires a constant hands on approach not to mention some back breaking tedious labour work as well.

We recently (more like a month ago) purchased one of those large format ink-jet printing machines, the kind that can print buntings, banners, backdrops, stickers and a host of other things to complement our existing digital printing machines and people are becoming aware of its existence and are starting to give us more jobs.

We're not a big setup but a nice small one and that means that my boss and me have to practically get down on our hands and knees to do the final finishing for all the jobs we get which is really back breaking to say the least. In fact we just finished a huge order yesterday and have another set of orders lined up for next week which means my blogging time will be quite limited ... siggghhh ...

Anyway, that really wasn't what I wanted to talk about. My boss rents a small room at the back of the office to this elderly gentleman, somewhere in his 60's I think. Initially he was just renting the back room to run his small format printing business but now he's also staying in the office. I don't really know the history of this guy except that he's not married and don't really have a family.

I don't really interact with him all that much, not because I'm snobbish or anything but simply because I mind my own business most of the time. Since our new machine came in, my boss kinda hired him to help us out and he's pretty eager, sometimes a little too eager that he gets on both my boss's and my nerves. But with him being much senior than both of us we don't tell him off out of respect.

Not to be mean or anything but he's also a little weird in the head. Many a times you can hear him in his room talking to himself or simply sitting in the pantry and smiling away. Then there are times when he will just run into my boss room, excitedly and forcefully tell him to get a pen and a piece of paper, write down a particular number and force him to buy one of those Magnum 4D lottery numbers which till this very day has never won anything, not even close.

Now that he's more or less working for us, he gets on my nerves quite a bit by insisting we do the production work his way, not that I really listen to him all that much. I still do things my way. But he has his fair share of genius ideas that helps us to get things done much faster, if only he wasn't so insisting about wanting to do everything his way. I can't blame him though, he's at an age where he thinks he knows way better than us 'younger' people. I suppose everyone goes into that phase eventually.

But what really got me thinking was the fact that he lives in a small rented back room in the office all on his own. What happened to his family? Doesn't he have any siblings? What about kids? Has he even been married before? Is he all alone in this world?

He doesn't have much friends because people think he's a little weird. Most of the time, he only talks to me, my boss and some of our regular clients. There I am after work happily heading home to my family in this nice house, sitting and having my dinner and then watching TV and stuff while there he is, all alone in this tiny room, having to go out and buy his dinner every night with no family to call his own.

I do feel sorry for him at times but then maybe that's the life he chose. Maybe he wants to be independent and live on his own. Maybe he can't get along with family or relatives and they kicked him out or something. I don't know and I really don't want to find out the reason anyway. All I know is I don't think I could live without my family and my close friends and I hope I never have to.

I'd probably lose my mind if I was all alone most of the time with no one to talk to and I'm so thankful that I have wifey by my side to constantly irritate all the time ... LOL! What about you guys? Do you think you could live on your own in your old age? Stay in a small little room at the back of some office? With no one to talk to, no family or friends? I know I couldn't.

With that all said and done, have a great weekend :D

Note - And if any of you need to print buntings, banner, backdrops, stickers, posters, profiles, booklets, wedding cards, business cards ... well just about anything that can be printed on ... you all know who to look for, right? :D
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Oh, The Shame!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:16:00 +0000

I'm sure you've all seen people in some embarrassing moments before. I'm sure you've even laughed at some of those poor people caught in those embarrassing moments. In fact, I'm even more sure some of us have even taken pictures of people in those embarrassing moments and featured them as clown of the day in your blogs even. Well, I'm hoping not to see myself in someone's blog as clown of the day soon. Let me tell you what happened.

This evening our cooking gas ran out halfway while wifey was in the midst of preparing dinner. So I took out the empty cylinder and headed to the nearby sundry shop to get a replacement. The sky was getting dark from a brewing storm. I thought I could get to the shop, buy the gas and head back home before the sky opened up.

Unfortunately, the rain was much faster than I was. It started to rain, though not very heavy yet, the moment I reached the shop. I ran in, paid for the gas and got the shop assistant to lug the new cylinder to my car. Now, the rain was starting to get heavier and I was hurrying to open the boot of my car for him to place the cylinder inside.

I stepped on some wet sand and a slight puddle of water from this afternoon's rain session and the next thing I knew, I was doing the split, albeit rather painfully and while trying to stop my fall, I fell flat on my right ass cheek with a huge plonk, twisting my back and sending a shooting pain up my left body right there in the middle of the road with everyone looking at me in amusement and some even snickering away, darn them!

The shop assistant looked at me in disbelief at the pose I was striking in the middle of the road. I think he wanted to burst out laughing but refrained from the evil stare I gave him ... LOL! Well, I don't blame him cos I would have laughed too if it happened to someone else. I could feel my face flushing from embarrassment with everyone looking.

I got up with whatever dignity was left in me, closed my boot and drove the hell out there like Michael Schumacher on steroids. I don't think I'll be going to that sundry shop for a while, at least until I'm sure the people there have forgotten the entire incident. I'm just hoping no one decided to take a picture or anything cos I was down on the road with my split leg pose for quite a while before I managed to get up and high tail it out of there.

And now my back hurts like crazy, especially the left side which I think is a little swollen. I probably pulled a muscle or something. Sitting here and typing this post is not really helping the pain much but I need to search for some material on weight loss pills that work so I'll just have to put up with the pain until I'm done. I had an earful from wifey about trying to be a little more careful when I'm doing things. She knows how I like to rush and get things done and always end up hurting myself in the process.

Ok, maybe I really should log off now and go get some rest cos it hurts even pressing the keyboard. Have a nice weekend folks.
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Reset Your Head la P1 WiMax!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:37:00 +0000

A couple of months ago, I spoke volumes about P1 Wimax. I spoke about how incredibly fast they are. In fact I was even trying to get people to sign on. Well, let me eat my own words and beg you people not to even bother signing up with P1 cos since the time I started using their service, it has deteriorate to a point that it's driving me up the wall.

When I first started using P1, it was excellent. I was surfing constantly at speeds that were promised to me and downloading stuff was heavenly. Surfing was stressless and I was laughing out loud every time I read someone complaining about their useless Streamyx connection. These days just to get connected to a network takes ages and when I do, a snail could move faster than the speeds they give me. And they claim to be the fastest wireless broadband network in the country! My foot and a half!

I've called their customer service people a million times and trust me, none of the conversations with them were ever friendly ones. I think they have my picture and number pasted on the wall and probably dread to answer my calls. The thing is I wouldn't be so pissed off if they did admit that the fault is on their end. Here are some of the silly and ridiculous excuses they give me:

Maybe your modem is facing the wrong direction.
Oh I see, where should it be facing then? Planet Pluto? That modem has been in that position since I purchased it and it worked fine without any problems before.

Maybe the network is congested with too many new subscribers.
Then stop signing up new subscribers if you cannot cope with the demand or upgrade your bloody network!

Maybe you're sharing too many PC's.
I only have two systems connected to the modem, one is a desktop and one is a laptop. And It worked fine all the while so don't give me crap excuses like that!

Maybe your laptop is too near the modem (I'm using their WIFI enabled modem with built in router)
Too near? Too near you say? Now that's a new one. Hey morons, it's the same even if I sit in the toilet with my laptop.

I'm seriously getting fed up of all the excuses they've been dishing out. All I know is that it worked great before and now the service has gone totally down the drain. It's not like I'm using it for free, I pay a monthly fee every month without fail and on time at that. In fact, I pay more than than what I'm supposed to pay every month so I EXPECT to get what I'm paying for!

This is unfortunately the sad tale of all Malaysian companies. They start out promising the world and for a while, they do deliver the world, then they slowly but surely start dishing out crap and expect the public to just keep taking it without making a fuss. Well, I'm sorry to say, I'm not taking this lying down. If I have to call up their customer service everyday and give them hell I will.

In fact, just last night I gave them hell to the point I think the poor fellow almost cried on the phone ... hahaha! Here's a small part of the conversation. Mind you, I was boiling already from the earlier excuses he was giving me.

P1 Customer service (P1 CS): Try resetting the modem.

Me: Reset your head la! You know how many times you people have told me to reset my modem? Can't you come up with something better?

P1 CS: Urmmm sorry sir, but try resetting the modem cos maybe your IP is jammed.

Me: (With a huge exasperated sigh!) Ok, ok, I'll try it again.

After going through the motions of resetting, I'm still unable to connect.

Me: Now what? You want me to run out naked with the modem on my head and dance?

P1 CS: Urmm, no sir but everything looks fine here.

Me: Do you want to come over to my house and see for yourself. I can even come and fetch you.

P1 CS: Sorry sir but it looks fine, maybe I'll generate a report for you to get our technical people to look into it.

Me: Sorry, sorry, sorry, that's all you people say.

P1 CS: Sorry sir but our technical people will get back to you in 48 hours.

Me: Yeah right they will, just like the other 20 times I called and you guys told me the same thing. Your technical people are not very good are there?

P1 CS: Sorry sir but they will call you in 48 hours.

I can't remember what I screamed at him and hung up before I started swearing vulgarities at him. That's actually almost the same way all my conversations with P1 go these days. If nothing is really done, there is going to be a time I will personally go over to their office and create a ruckus they will never forget. You might even read about some maniac being arrested for walloping some P1 customer service people ... LOL!

Seriously though, I'm not going to let them get away with this. I think the time has come for letting companies dish out crap service and not be challenged is way overdue. I'm going to get my moneys worth even if I have to take this up all the way to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)!

Fortunately today, the connection seems decent and I hope it stays that way :D Oh ya, I heard that YTL will be launching their version of Wimax soon, so if any of you are even considering P1, I'd say wait a little bit and see what they have to offer. I know I'll be checking it out when they do launch.

Note: To be fair, P1 did give me a one month waiver on subscription.

Flip Flops

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:22:00 +0000

Here's one good way to ruin your Friday. Take your car, drive it up an uphill and really busy stretch and then see if you can flip it! LOL! Ok, ok, I shouldn't be laughing at other people's misfortunes but hey, I can't help it. No one was seriously injured though the driver did have some cuts and bruises on her. Maybe I should have loaned her my electric blanket.

But it did succeed in making me get stuck in a nice long traffic snarl, not something I was looking forward to on a Friday. This accident was less than a kilometre away from where I live and it took me quite a while to travel that short distance.

But what I cannot fathom is how this lady managed to flip her car on a stretch of road which is perpetually busy during peak hours so much so that you cannot exceed speeds of 50km/h even and on an uphill stretch at that! But she amazingly succeeded in doing it. Women drivers ... LOL!

Sorry for the fuzzy image, after all I was using my cheapo cell phone camera and was already flaunting the law by taking a pix while driving with the traffic cop giving me the eye as I passed by ... LOL! Hope I don't receive a summons in the mail one fine day.

Happy weekend people :D
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Take One, Two And Three ...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 03:25:00 +0000

This is the third time I've rewritten this post. The first two were just a bunch of gibberish that would have put an elephant straight to sleep in an instant. Not this this third attempt is going to be much better mind you. I've really been staring at my laptop screen for nearly 20 minutes and cannot even come close to dishing out a decent post.

I really don't know how I could post almost everyday at one time. Did I really have so much to say? And the fact that I have three other blogs to take care of isn't really helping with churning out postings. Besides, no one pissed me of yet so I have nothing to bitch about and nothing really interesting is happening that is worth posting about.

So instead, to keep the momentum going, I'll just do some short takes, something which I haven't done in a while.

Take One

Would you pay RM42,320 for a laptop? I mean, is there even a laptop close to that price? Well, obviously someone did pay that much money for it. In fact, they even bought two of it totaling to RM84,640 which could buy you a nice little small apartment or maybe even two brand new Perodua Kancil 850's (one of our national cars) with cash to spare even!

Well, this college in Penang did just that. Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Mara Balik Pulau in Penang paid RM84,640 for two laptops. And these were not laptops that were used by NASA or anything like that. They were only Acer Aspire-5052ANWXMI models.

Wait, wait, that's not all, they also bought 450 units of computer CAD with network card at RM3.45mil for 12 labs. Each 19-inch monitor costs RM8,500 while a 17-inch monitor costs RM7,500. Apparently a check with local companies showed that the market price for the models were in the ranges of RM5,350 t0 RM6,500!

I wonder just how much money went into some big-shots pockets which I'm pretty sure it did. It was either that or the College is run by a bunch of stupid imbeciles! And to add icing on the cake, the Precision 390 Dell computers that they bought are no longer available in the market!

Take Two

I think I've lost the passion to run. I haven't really put on my running shoes, save for two weeks ago and actually gone for a nice long run in nearly ... urrmmm ... see, I can't even recollect how long ago it was. I've been putting targets for myself to start running again but when that day comes I'll have tons and tons if not millions of excuses.

'It looks like rain out there'

'I've had a tough day at work'

'I don't feel well'

'The cats are out to get me'

'There are aliens out there'

Those are only tiny list of the really flimsy excuses I often make up. Wifey has been reminding me constantly to start running again. She's been trying to motivate me with all kinds of things like promising me that she'd let me sleep with Jennifer Garner if I started running again (what? you didn't say that? Gee, I could have sworn I heard you say that ... LOL!) to threatening to throw my running shoes away and it still isn't working.

But I shall not give up. I will find my drive to run again even if it takes me all century cos I have this dream to one day compete in a full marathon. The best I've done are half-marathons and I know I shall achieve that dream. Gee, doesn't the sky look dark out there today?

Take Three

Good God, my memory is failing! I had an idea what I wanted to post for take 3 but by the time I finished take 2, I totally forgot what it was I wanted to say for this take! Damn, wifey is right. I am losing my mind ... hahaha! In fact this would be a great topic for take 3, my losing memory!

I'm getting very forgetful these days. I can do something in the morning and completely forget about it by noon. There are times (lots of times) when wifey would ask me to do something and I'll totally forget about it until I come home and she asks if I've done the stuff she asked me and I'll go like,

'What stuff?'

She'll look at me with this weird and sometimes nasty (LOL!) look and tell me that I'm getting so old that I'm losing my memory already. But I'm still young! I can't be losing my memory at so young an age (ok, well maybe not that young la ... LOL!). In fact just yesterday I bought a loaf of bread when in true fact, I only bought one the night before. I came home with it and wifey went,

'What? You bought bread again? Didn't you just buy a loaf last night?'

'I did? was my reply.

And I'd walk into the kitchen and see the nice big loaf of bread I bought last night staring at me. See, I told you guys I'm getting really forgetful these days. I wonder if I'll remember where I live in a couple of years time ... LOL! These days, to be sure I remember to do stuff, wifey writes me little notes to make sure I don't forget!
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Here We Go Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:38:00 +0000

Ok, now I'm seriously getting annoyed with the opposite neighbour. As if the noise they made with the firecrackers last Saturday was not enough so this evening they start blasting away firecrackers non-stop for god knows how long. It's still going on even as I type this post.

Come on people, like I said in my earlier post. I'm not against celebration but be a bit more respectful of your neighbours who harbour peace and quiet. Go ahead and blast all the firecrackers you want but not for two or more non stop hours! Some of us want to enjoy a nice quiet dinner and also catch some TV. Some of us have to do colon cleanse reviews!

The noise you guys are making are really getting on my nerves. And the amount of smoke being generated by the firecrackers is so foul that wifey had to close all our doors and windows. I'm not even going to mention about the screaming and unruly kids throwing all kinds of sparklers here and there. I wonder which house they might just burn down!

Come on you overly insensitive morons, I'm already getting really pissed and if by the time this post is done, you guys are not through, I am going to have some nasty words for you. Pebbles is so terrified by the noise that she's running around in fright every time a firecracker explodes. Even trying to carry her is not doing any good as she kicking and scratching me wanting to go hide somewhere.

She's really terrified and even tried hiding out in my laptop bag, the poor girl. Here she is trying to find cover in my bookshelf and you can just see the fear in her eyes, so much so that she doesn't even want to eat her favourite treats offered to her, which is really rare. Ah good, the morons have finally stopped! Peace at last.

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Festive Lights And Firecrackers

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:24:00 +0000

It's actually a public holiday here for the Hindus who are celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights but judging by the atmosphere, you probably couldn't tell, save for last night when the house opposite me decided to blast firecrackers (which are banned here mind you) at 12.00 am sharp and jolt the entire neigbourhood awake.

Wifey jumped out of bed with Pebbles scurrying out from under the bed in fear and jumped up on the bed into wifeys lap. Now I'm not against celebrations in fact I enjoy celebrations but I thought they went about it for way too long, close to an hour of firecrackers and whatnot's with children screaming and I mean really screaming at the top of their lungs.

Both wifey and me basically couldn't fall asleep after that with Pebbles snugly hiding out under my pillow every time a firecracker exploded which lasted for an hour. I wonder just where the heck they got all those supposedly banned firecrackers from. Maybe some video surveillance equipment would help find the culprits who sell these stuff!

But all that aside in the spirit of celebration and all, I would like to wish all my Hindu friends a very happy Deepavali :D I was supposed to go for an open house, well more like an open restaurant today but had to cancel cos I was not up to it. It's something my good buddy and me do every year.

This restaurant called Sri Paandi which we used to frequent every day and night at one time always has this open house breakfast for all its customers on Deepavali morning and we've never failed to go every year. I just wasn't up to it this year though.

But my buddy was there for breakfast yesterday and got an invite from the owner for us to attend his personal open house tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll be sure to take loads of pictures of the incredibly good food that I'm sure will be on hand at the open house :D

Till then, hope you all are having a blast of a weekend :D
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We Of Little Faith

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:41:00 +0000

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for your well wishes on the quick recovery of my mom. She's doing so much better right now. You guys have been a great source of comfort and I'm sure my mom would appreciate all your kind words.

She's been staying at my aunts place since the incident and will be back this weekend after which I have to take her for the removal of the stitches on her scalp next Monday. Hopefully she's able to put all this behind, emotionally that is.

I actually wasn't really planning to blog much today except to just thank you guys but then as I was surfing the Star Online, this headline caught my attention simply for the absurdity of it. Read on before I give my two cents worth. For the benefit of my foreign reader, Puteri is the women's youth wing of the ruling party in this country.

PUTERI WANTS BAN ON HORROR, FANTASY MOVIES

KUALA LUMPUR: Puteri Umno wants the Government to ban the production of “horror, mystical and superstitious” movies, claiming such films can weaken the faith of Muslims in the country.

The movement also wants the authorities to empower the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) to take action against such productions.

The call was contained in one of the motions that were passed without debate at the movement’s general assembly on Wednesday.

“In view of widespread screening of movies with ghosts, superstitious and mystical elements, we urge the Government to empower Jakim to ban their production as they do not carry any positive message, but instead may destroy the faith,” it said.

The movement also called on the Government to issue a similar ban on all foreign movies of such genres.

It said film producers should concentrate on producing films of different genres that could serve as lessons, rather than show horror and superstitious ones which might not even deliver the intended messages.

It added parents must provide religious education to children to ensure that they would have strong faith to avoid from getting influenced by such negative elements.

I just have one question. Just where did these Puteri women put their brains, if they have any that is. Just what kind of stupid harebrained thinking is this? I have been watching horror, mystical and superstitious movies for as long as I can remember and it has in no way weakened my faith at all.

Granted they did say that they didn't want to weaken the faith of the Muslims in this country but I'll bet you my last dollar my Muslim blogging buddies would in no way lose any of their faith if they were to watch a horror, mystical or even superstitious movie, be it local or even a foreign one.

Do these clowns in Puteri have so little faith in their own religion that they think people will become maniacal and diabolical killers or turn into something evil if they watch movies of these genre? And to say that they want to also bad foreign movies of this genre just cos some of them are so weak in their own faiths is totally unfair to the rest of us.

I happen to love horror movies (though I am the world's biggest coward) and I especially like the old Malay pontianak (vampire) movies. I remember the number of times when I was young and these movies would be shown on TV, we'd all gather around as tightly as we could and peeked through our fingers and pillows watching these horror flicks and none of us got up in the morning with an ounce of lost faith.

Good God you moronic women of Puteri, please wake up and start using your brains a little. People lose their faith in things not because of movies, be it horror, action, supernatural, science fiction or otherwise. We're really all not as dumb as you to lose our faith so easily just cos we watch movies of these genre. We all do have some brains as to know what's right or wrong and to actually think for ourselves.

Maybe you Puteri women should also consider banning action flicks, comedies and science fiction too. Oh, wait, maybe you should ban the nightly news also cos people get influenced by that just as easily too! I feel like taking my patio cushions and smacking them silly. Stop trying to tell people what is right or wrong. We can think and judge for ourselves.

Maybe you should instead try advocating for people to frequent more movies instead which in turn might just reduce the Mat Rempiting (hell riders) and snatch theft incidents since that just might keep them busy instead of causing misery to others!

New Update:

I just read from The Star online that the Terengganu state government is now going to implement 1Toilet where students and teachers can mingle freely in the toilets! This is an excerpt from the article:

State Education, Higher Learning, Human Resource, Science and Technology Committee chairman Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman said the policy was mooted in line with the 1Malaysia concept, and teachers and students could have a feeling of 'oneness'.

I wonder what kind of 'oneness' this is going to lead to in the toilets. I'm waiting with bated breath for the next piece of 'intelligent' nonsense they're going to come up with!
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I Hope You Die A Painful Death And Rot In Hell!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:10:00 +0000

I read about countless people who've been victims of snatch thefts, some of whom don't even survive the ordeal. Most of the time, well all the time, these snatch thieves get away scott free because of our 'superb' not to mention 'efficient' capabilities of the Police whom I think have their agenda all mixed up!

But yesterday, my own mom was the victim of a snatch theft incident that left her falling and hitting her head on the gravel of the road, going unconscious and had to be rushed to the hospital to be treated for a head wound trauma. And the bastard got away scot-free with the main Police station being just 500-600 metres away. These guys are getting bolder by the day!

I wasn't there when it happened. My mom was out with my aunt and cousins for dinner in USJ 9, opposite Taipan. Most people who live here in USJ would know how busy and packed the place is most of the time, and yesterday wasn't any different. Like I said, these guys are getting bolder by the day.

After dinner, as she was leaving the restaurant with my cousins, this two guys on a motor bike came by and tried to grabbed her handbag from behind. Naturally, she resisted and ended up falling over backwards and smashing her hard on the gravel road. Of course, the two culprits got away even though two of my cousins tried to give chase.

By that time, according to my auntie, my mom lost consciousness and was bleeding badly from the head and also apparently stopped breathing or close to it. As fate would have it, a doctor happened to be passing by, saw the entire incident, got out from his car and proceeded to do whatever it was that needed to be done and got her breathing and semi-conscious again and my cousins rushed her off to a nearby clinic who instructed them to take her straight the hospital cos it was a head wound trauma case.

I couldn't be reached as I didn't really hear my cell phone ring and one of my cousins came over to my place hysterically screaming that my mom was robbed and was in a very bad shape and was showing me the blood on her hands which got me all panicky. I thought the entire episode could have been handled a little more calmly but that's a story for another day.

So I rushed off to the hospital and was just in time to see my mom being checked in by another cousin for treatment. To cut a long story short, she had to have her an X-ray of her scalp and chest which she said was actually hurting very badly (thankfully she was already conscious and able to talk by the time I got there).

After going through the entire procedure and getting her head wound stitched, she was given the all clear with no visibly serious injuries but was told that she needed to stay back for a couple of hours observations and was released on the same day.

I was thankful that it wasn't more serious than that. By the time I took her home and the entire episode settled down around 2.00am, I was visibly stressed out so much so that wifey could see the stress oozing out of my system. What a day it was for me. Never in my entire life did I think something like this would happen to a member of my family.

My questions is, are the Police seriously doing anything about trying to curb this snatch theft menace or are they busy with other duties nabbing all the innocent people in this country? Crime has escalated to a level so high and it gets worse every day but all I hear is that they're having this operation and that operation but with no results in sight?

Just what the heck do the Police really do these days? I don't see them patrolling the streets as much as they should. Communities have to hire personal security guards and fence up their neighborhoods just to keep themselves safe which boggles the mind seeing as how we do have a Police force.

Take the area I live in for instance, practically every section now has their own security guards and fenced up areas cos they're so afraid of crime that is still happening in their areas. Shouldn't this protection business be the job of the Police?

I'm pissed, really pissed. If the Police were doing their jobs properly, what my mom had to go through would not have happened. I don't care if they don't have enough personnel (which I'm sure they do judging by the amount of personnel they can mobilize in an instant during the curbing of peaceful protesters) but I expect my family members and me to be able to live in a safe environment without having to look over our shoulders all the time. After all that is why I pay taxes for in the first place.

I'm sure my mom is going to be traumatized for months or maybe even years to come and she's not going to feel safe when she goes out anymore. My mom is an outgoing person who is out all the time and now I'm not going to feel comfortable if she goes out again. In fact, judging by her reaction last night, she probably won't be going out on her own for quite a while.

Right now I'm also really not going to be at ease even when the boys are walking home from school or if wifey goes out on her own. Even this morning when we were out sending the boys for Sunday school and then doing our shopping I was constantly telling her to keep a tight reign on her purse (she didn't want to carry a handbag after last nights episode). See how one little incident can put so much fear into a person.

Anyway, I pray and hope that those two snatch theft bastards get what's due to them. If I ever see a snatch theft incident happening in front of me and if I have the chance to do something about it, trust me, I'll run over the lowly bastards, you can count on that! Then again, I just might burn them in an Amish fireplace!
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My First Time ...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:40:00 +0000

You see those tickets up there? I got them for free :D And it's all thanks to Daniel also known as Gallivanter. Dan has some ticket for the Da Vinci, the Genius exhibition that's going on right now and all I had to do to get the tickets was go down on my knees and beg him for it ... hahaha ... ok, ok, I lied, all I had to do was blog about the exhibition and he so kindly gave me two free tickets for it :D Since anything free attracts me like a moth to flame, I decided to grab those tickets by writing a post about it.

Getting those tickets also marks the first time I ever met a blogger in person. I met Dan and his wife to be Emelda this afternoon to collect my tickets and I must say that they're a really nice and extremely friendly couple :D And I'm glad that I actually had my acne treatment done a day earlier, you can't expect me to meet people with acne on my face now can you? LOL!

It was great to actually see the face, not that I haven't seen your pictures before ... hehehe ... and to actually talk in person instead of just leaving words in the comment box. And Dan, thanks so much for the tickets. You can be rest assured I'll be going for the exhibition soon and dragging my wife along for it whether she likes it or not ... LOL!

To be honest, I never really thought I'd ever meet a blogger in person cos I'm pretty comfortable with my anonymity. It has nothing to do with being stuck up or anything, I'm just shy (hahaha) and the fact that I bitch about anything and everything and I don't want some disgruntled person hiring some hit-man to take me out or something. So being anonymous is the safer option for me. And the fact that Dan promised not to bring a camera helped quite a bit ... LOL!

All in all, I must say that it was an enjoyable meeting and it was really good to finally meet up with you and Emelda in person :D If I'm ever in the Eastin area maybe I'll give you a call and we can probably meet up for a cup of teh tarik or something. Thanks for the tickets :D

Before I sign off, I just couldn't help posting a picture of Pebbles getting into the Christmas spirit, not by choice anyway ... hahaha! And I also found out from Emelda today that Dan has already been in the Christmas spirit for quite a while now ... LOL!

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The Thunderbirds

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:11:00 +0000

I had a blast yesterday and I owe it all to my good buddy :D If it wasn't cos he'd wallop me on the head and the fact that people might think we're queer, I'd probably give him a kiss ... hahaha! But seriously, thanks buddy for always including me in things like this :D

You might all be wondering just what I'm going on about, well yesterday I went for the preview show of the visiting US Air Force exhibition team called the Thunderbirds at the Royal Malaysian Air Base in Subang and I was as thrilled and excited as a four year old in a room full of toys!

You see, I'm a fan of stuff like these. Planes, tanks and ships drive me nuts. And my number one country on list of favourite planes, tanks, ships and just about any military equipment is the United States. And my buddy, who has ways and means of wrangling me in for stuff like these every time a visiting US military organization lands, docks or flies here makes half my dreams come true.

So far, he's got me aboard a host of visiting US aircraft carriers that docked here in the past. I almost cried the first time I stepped onto the deck of an American aircraft carrier and yesterday was no less an emotional moment for me to be up close and personal with screaming fighter jets from the most powerful nation (as far as I'm concerned anyway) and being able to touch an F16 Fighting Falcon. I was ecstatic to say the least.

For those who are not familiar, the Thunderbirds is the US air force quivalent to the Navy's Blue Angels air exhibition team and they're actually having the exhibition proper today but my buddy was able to get access for the preview show yesterday and what a show it was.

I've always wanted to see a screaming jet close up and this is a dream come true. Though I was half deafened by the roar of jets flying overhead I was nonetheless jumping up and down every time a jet flew by. The exhibition itself was top class and some of the flying stunts they did left me breathless! By the end of the show, I was left speechless which is a big thing for a big mouth like me ... LOL!

I also did get to see a little demonstration by our very own local fighter pilots flying the Sukhoi SU-30MKM and though I may not have much love for the military might of this country, I must say that they did put on a bloody good show themselves :D And the Sukhoi, what can I say about it except that it's an excellent beauty of a fighter jet. Those Russians sure do know how to build them pretty :D

Enough blabbering already, here's some pix of day starting with the F16 Falcons being prepped on the tarmac.

An F16 taxiing for take-off

A pair of F-16's getting ready for take-off

A huge lumbering cargo plane ready for take-off

The F16's in exhibition mode

Our very own fighter, the exquisitely beautiful Sukhoi SU-30MKM

A pair of our very own SAS called the Pasukan Khas Udara (Special Air Forces)

The walkabout among the F16's

Women Are Dogs!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:21:00 +0000

I've been pretty busy with some major personal stuff (and no, it didn't have anything to do with sexy adult costumes) over the past two weeks. So busy to the point of not being able to even blog regularly. Fortunately I've managed to get all my stuff completed as of yesterday. I've been on leave since Monday and I'm back at work today.

Unfortunately for me, my work has piled up considerable which is really no big deal cos I expected it to be piled up and besides it's not that I'm new to this. And the week, albeit a VERY tiring one was pretty pleasant but then I checked my email today and see this comment left by a very 'brave' anonymous person criticizing me for a post I did called 'I'm in deep shit' and this is what he had to say.

Anonymous said...

You are an effin pussyhole, women are dogs you treat them as such. Learn from a religion that knows how to handle women, such as Islam. You pathetic waste of skin, if I ever see you on the sidewalk I will slap you in the face and steal your wallet.

I have no issues with people leaving me comments and I most definitely welcome the utmost honesty in your comments. After all, everybody is different and have their own opinions, right? I don't expect everyone to agree with what I say. But if you're going to leave such 'thought provoking' comments, I expect you to at least have the courage to leave a real name instead of anonymous!

Now here's a guy who has this very kewered opinion about how women are supposed to be treated (supposedly like dogs!) and thinks I'm an 'effin pussyhole' for treating them differently yet he doesn't have to courage to leave his real name so I can visit his 'manly' blog (if he has one that is) and compliment him on his extremely 'intelligent' mind.

And you invoke religion into the matter at that. It's people like you that give Islam a bad name. I have many Muslim friends, both in my personal life and through blogs and I don't think they would even agree with you one single bit! In fact they might considered you a pathetic wasted piece of skin!

So Mr. Anonymous, I welcome meeting you on sidewalk somewhere so you can 'TRY' to slap my face and steal my wallet but I doubt you have the balls (forgive the language) to even come up to me and execute your threat, especially since you don't even have the courage to leave your real name so who's the 'effin pussyhole' now?

Note: To my regular readers, forgive to language, I'm a little pissed.
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She Left Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:44:00 +0000

Uwwwahhhhhh! Pebbles has gone home today! And I miss her! Uwwahhhhhh!

I had to send Pebble back to my boss today cos both wifey and me are going to be busy the next few weeks and we won't really have time to look after her. We don't want her staying at home all alone while we're out doing our stuff so the best option was to send her back.

I know it's for the best but I still feel pretty down about it. We've had her for more than two months and we've both gotten so very attached to her and I think she's gotten attached to us too. I hope that she doesn't think that we don't like her anymore and that's why we sent her away.

She's like part of the family now and we'll miss her pitter patter footsteps as she ambles along the room sniffing at anything that catches her fancy. I know I'll miss having her sit by our chairs (well, mostly next to wifeys chair) while we surf the internet. I know I'll miss having her jump up the bed and rub her snotty nose all over my pillow ... siggghhh ... I never thought I would get so attached to her.

Oh well, at least the good news is, my boss said I can take her back when we finish doing our stuff so that's something to look forward to. I hope he doesn't change his mind or anything. It was really painful having to leave her in the office with my boss after work today.

Ok, I really don't feel like writing too much seeing as how I'm so not in the mood so I'll just leave you with some pictures of her.

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Pink And Me ...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:56:00 +0000

I'm a huge fan of Tesco when it comes to doing my groceries. I think I've heaped loads and loads of praises on them in numerous previous posts that they should start paying me for promoting them and their products ... LOL!

I don't really go to any other place (besides Cold Storage) for all my shopping needs that I know exactly where every product is placed on their aisles. In fact, there are people (you know who you are ... LOL!) out to trip me cos I visit Tesco so much.

I actually enjoy shopping at Tesco cos of their in-house products. They simply have one of the best in-house products available compared to the other three hypermarket giants here. I've shopped at all of their establishments and they simply cannot compare with Tesco when it comes to their in-house products.

For me and especially for wifey, packaging plays an important part for us in determining whether we would buy a certain product or not. Now Tesco, whomever they employ to work on their packaging really does a good job for them as far as I'm concerned. It's mostly tastefully done and attractive enough to make me wanna pick up their products and take it home. In fact, it's not just the packaging that is good but the contents of their product tastes pretty good if not excellent as well.

A week or so ago, during our normal grocery shopping session, we came across this new (at least to me anyway) product called Pink Salmon Fillets in brine in the canned food aisle and it instantly caught my attention. It was snuggled in among all the other local products of the same kind and this one was the most outstanding one of all. I'll bet you've all seen how lousy the local packaging for these kinds of food (sardines, tuna, etc) are when you shop haven't you?

I instantly bought two of them (the other was called Pick Salmon in mustard and dill sauce). I wanted to buy more but wifey said let's at least taste it before we buy out the entire store ... LOL! Yes, we have this habit of hoarding stuff if we like them a lot. And suffice to say it was pretty tasty so much so that I'm going to buy as much as I can afford to the next time I go shopping.

We had them with spaghetti, I know it's not the best combination, but trust me, it tasted just nice and blended in well with the spaghetti. But the best way to enjoy this is on it's own with some vegetables and maybe some creamy chicken or mushroom soup, which is exactly the way I'm going to try it next :D Between the two, I prefer the Pink Salmon Fillet in brine to the Pink Salmon Fillet in mustard and dill sauce though I recommend both of them.

I can't wait to go to Tesco this weekend and get more of this stuff. At the rate I'm going, I'm most definitely going to have to find the best weight loss supplement's pretty soon to curb the pounds I'm packing! All I've been doing the past two weeks is eating, eating and more eating!

Damn you Tesco for coming up with all these darned good products ... LOL! By the way, in case any of you people at Tesco do happen to read my blog, it would be nice if you gave me loads of discount coupons for promoting your company and your products. I know, I have no shame whatsoever ... LOL!
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A Little Steam And Some Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:46:00 +0000

I love to eat, which probably explains my perpetually losing battle with trying to keep my weight down. I can't help it. Whenever I see food, my stomach takes over and start it's manipulative pull on my mind asking me to go stuff my face silly! And half the time I obey its every command without question. After all who am I to argue with my mind, right? LOL!

If it wasn't for wifey giving me the eye (and what an eye she has ... hehehe) I'd be scooping a mountain full of rice, spaghetti and whatnot's on my plate to the point that I would be so bloated after dinner that I'd start having breathing difficulties, well maybe not that extreme but you get my meaning. I think I'd be bigger than fat Albert if it wasn't for wifey keeping her eyes on my food consumption.

These days I also like cooking (Adrian, I can hear you laughing all the way from here) and am perpetually trying to cook up (pun intended) all kinds of stuff. Things that I see in shops or things that I've eaten before will always be on my list of experiments, mostly ruined ones mind you much to the exasperation of wifey.

Wifey always does the cooking at home and she does a great job mind you but there are times when I wanna try a certain dish I've seen out there or see if I can make something that wifey has done previously on my own. Normally when I'm experimenting (and half the time ruining stuff) wifey will eventually take over and salvage my experiments though sometimes no amount of salvaging would help.

But last Saturday I managed to cook, well more like steam, something all by myself without needing any help from wifey. I love eggs and dishes that include eggs are on my list of all time favourites. So last week, I decided that I wanted to make steamed eggs, you know, the kind that you find in those Chinese restaurants that sells mixed rice.

I love this dish and if I happen to eat at any of these Chinese restaurants, I'd NEVER fail to order it. They come with different ingredients such as having salted eggs in some, or having minced pork or chicken or just plain eggs with sauce but I love it in any style. So, I pestered wifey to look up the internet for detailed instructions on how to make this dish and what ingredients I would need while I checked on the refrigerator water filters that needed some adjustments.

I know it's not the hardest dish in the world to make, in fact it's probably the simplest but you must remember, it's me we're talking about here. I can even ruin boiling water! But I must say that after getting all the proper ingredients and with lots of questions thrown to wifey as to what to do next, I managed to make the dish all on my own without ruining it. Heavens be praised! Miracles do happen. Urrrmmm, I'll just skip the part about the mess I made in the kitchen ... LOL!

Anyways, my first attempt at making steamed eggs turned out just perfect and tasty that even wifey enjoyed it. You should have seen me boasting about my culinary skill all day after that ... hahaha! It tasted exactly if not better than the ones you find in those mixed rice restaurants. I added bits of salted fish and minced chicken marinated with teriyaki sauce in mine which made it all the more awesome :D Suffice to say there wasn't a single piece left.

And I just couldn't resist posting a picture of Pebbles sitting and waiting patiently for her dinner and no, I didn't give her one bit of my yummy steamed eggs. I'm very possessive with my food ... hahaha!

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Can You Read To Me?

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:05:00 +0000

My posting frequency these days is deteriorating considerably. I'm not the kind who would simply do a post just for the sake of doing one. Well, unless of course I have assignments to do. Then you probably can't stop me from doing post after post ... LOL! If I have nothing to post, I won't post.

Anyways, the days have been pretty busy for me. I've had a few personal things that needed to be looked into and it kinda took away all my attention. I've got it sorted out now, well kind of, but it's manageable now which gives me a little time to blog. And the fact that one of of main printing machines is on the blink at the moment and no one can do much until the technician arrives a little later today also contributes to the free time I have.

Recently I've taken up a new hobby. Well not really a new hobby, it's more like an old hobby with a new twist. I love reading, I think I've stated that in numerous of my postings before. I read all kinds of books but they normally fall into the thriller, adventure, spy and science fiction genre.

I even read superhero comics from Marvel and DC and right now I'm not too pleased to note that Disney has bought over Marvel. I'm dreading the day when I would probably see Wolverine teaming up with Donal Duck or even Spidey having an adventure with Mickey Mouse or something ... Arrggghhh! I can't stand the thought.

Anyways, that wasn't what I wanted to write about. With my deteriorating eyesight and the fact that I'm too vain to get reading glasses, having to actually read a book these days is straining my eyes considerably. So, what is the best thing one can do when one is too vain to get reading glasses but have this urge to perpetually be reading something. Why, you start getting yourself audio books ... LOL!

Yes, I've recently started downloading audio books and uploading them into wifey's MP3 player (I don't own an MP3 player, pathetic I know) and start 'reading' them in bed. And to be honest, I kinda enjoyed it. I know it's not the same as holding a nice bound book in your hands and flipping real pages but it's an entirely different experience altogether having your book read to you instead. And the best part is now my hands are free to hold all my snacks and drinks ... LOL!

So far, I've only been downloading Star Treks books, I'm a HUGE Star Trek fan so of course that would be my first choice of downloads. And I'm right now kinda hogging my office bandwidth downloading 5.77GB's of 64 Star Trek novels and it's taking ages but I'm in no hurry.

I've already downloaded one or two other Star Trek novels and they were enough to keep me going for now ... hehehe ... One good advantage about these audio Star Trek books is I don't need to buy a new book shelf to store them. I already have this huge collection of Star Trek novels and it's already spilling of my current bookshelf.

So, if you've got bad eyesight like me and don't want to wear reading glasses cos you're a totally vain pot, also like me, then audio books is the way to go. The only thing is now I've got to go get myself an MP3 player cos I don't think wifey is going to tolerate me loading up her player with loads of Star Trek novels ... LOL!

Have a great Thursday people, it's only 0ne and a half days to the weekend :D
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Happy Monday, You Darn Selangor Folks!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 01:57:00 +0000

While the population of Selangor (the state that I live in) sleep and laze around in all glory, here I am having to come to work today just for the mere fact that I happen to work in the capital city. It's a public holiday for the folks in Selangor, which for the life of me I don't even know what state holiday it is ... hahaha!

All I know is living in Selangor and working in KL sure sucks big time, especially if you have a best buddy who calls you the first thing in the morning to gloat that he's going to Ikea and that he's all sympathetic and sorry about me having to work while he goes out and have fun! Sympathetic and sorry my foot! Just you wait buddy, you'll get what's coming to you ... LOL!

But on a serious side, have loads of fun buddy and the roads will all be crystal clear for you. There won't be a single car to cause any traffic snarls and the parking bays will all be empty at Ikea ... hahaha! Ok, what was that all about you may ask, well it's a running curse, urrmmm I mean joke we play on each other. Normally the opposite of what we wish each other would happen and wishing him nice empty roads ... well, you get the drift don't ya :D

My buddy and me, what can I say about the two of us. We've know each other for god knows how long, maybe a little too long (LOL!). I was a nice obedient little boy before I met him. I remember it was a cold rainy morning, the winds were blowing wildly, the rain was pouring buckets when I first met him and then my life practically went to hell from there ... hahaha! Ok, the rain and wildly blowing wind parts isn't really true either ... hehehe ...

It was more like a hot sunny day and back when I first met him, seeing as how he was the biggest and toughest looking guy around, I immediately bought him a drink at the stall below our college during break time. Hey, what better way to make sure the biggest and toughest guy in the group was on your side ... hahaha! I suppose that's where our friendship blossomed and has never soured till today. Well, if he keeps on gloating about having fun while I'm slogging away, that may not be the case for long ... hahaha!

I suppose, besides wifey, he and another friend of ours are the only real friends I have. We've knows each other for more than half our lives and at my age, that's really a long time. Though we all have our own commitments and family and seldom hang out much these days but when we get together, it's always the same, fun, fun and more fun.

I suppose the fact that we literally think alike is what cemented our friendship till this very day. Don't get me wrong, we do have our disagreements, but they're normally not personal at all. Mostly he thinks Liverpool is the best team in the world while I think Arsenal would stomp all over Liverpool with their hands tied behind their backs and with slippers on even ... hahaha!

We have this uncanny ability to know what each other is thinking and at times even completing each others thoughts which oftentimes even baffles both my wife and his. But good god, why am I posting about that bum early on a Monday morning, especially when he's at Ikea right now and I have to work? I must be getting more and more insane these days! Either that or Monday is screwing with my mind already! LOL!

Oh and in case you're all wondering, though he'll tell you otherwise, I am the better looking one ... hahahahahaahahahahaha! Sorry buddy, I couldn't resist that!

Happy Monday people.
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When Will It All End?

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:24:00 +0000

You know, with Monday being a holiday for us yesterday, I thought that maybe I could for once start the week without having to suffer through the dreaded Monday syndrome. But no, Monday really has it in for me and decided to get Tuesday to help make my life difficult as always. Looks like there really is no escaping the Monday blues for me whether it's a Tuesday or a Wednesday or even a Friday!

What started out as a decent day started to get lousy the moment I stepped out the door to head for work. The day was nice and cool since it was raining, then I got stuck in a jam without a reason and by the time I inched my to the root of the jam, there was nothing there and I started moving smoothly again! What gives? I should have suspected the day was going to go downhill from there.

Then I went to the bank to get some banking done. I was there a little early and stood outside waiting for the door to open. There was this small bunch (about five of them) senior citizens also waiting for the doors to open. When the doors finally opened, they all pushed me aside and rushed through the door almost causing me to smash my face on the side of the glass door.

And then when I (a little heatedly) asked them where their manners were, two of them started scolding me about being rude to the elderly! The cheek of them. In the first place, you stupid old fools, you pushed and jostled your way almost causing me to get hurt without even an apology and when I tell you off, you say I'm rude??? And this with the bank not even being crowded. There really was no need to rush, I was already going to let you all go before me.

Damn, I felt like smacking the lot of them. But never mind I said, they were probably a bunch of morons when they were younger too. Even the bank personnel were shaking their heads at them. That was incident number two and it was only 9.30am.

While driving to work, my steering kept pulling to the right so I stopped the car and noticed that the tyre was a little low on air. No, don't tell me it's a puncture. Immediately after the banking, I headed to the tyre shop opposite my office. He took off the tyre, did the usual tyre check and found out there was nothing wrong with it. Then when he bolted back the screws to the tire, one of the bolts could not be secured properly. I asked him how that happened and he looked at me and said, it wasn't his fault.

Huh? Not your fault. When I brought the car in, the bolt was screwed on tightly and you opened in and now it can't be tightened properly it's not your fault? And when I asked him to replace it, he just brushed me off and told me it's not his fault so he's not going to be liable. I felt like taking something hard and heavy and smashing his stupid arrogant head in but then I'd end up behind bars which wasn't worth it.

Now I'm driving a car with three bolts fastened securely and one loose and will have to wait till later this evening when I head home so I can go to my regular tyre man near my house. Hopefully I can get there in one piece. And it was only 9.50am. Then I head to the office and thinking that things just might be a little easier but heck no! It's adds to my growing list of headaches.

A client calls me and asks me if we've emailed them an artwork they requested last week for approval. I asked my colleague if she has done so and she in a moody voice says yes, she did. The client is on the line and hears what she says and tells me that they haven't received it yet and whether she could re-send it again. I tell her what the client says (I'm still on the line with the client by the way) and she rudely tell me to tell the client she got no time and they can wait till she's free!

But of course, she's not actually busy. She was online doing her personal banking, mind you. The client heard what she says and politely telsl me that if we're not interested in doing their work, they could always look for other agencies. I apologise to them and said that I'll personally email them the artwork and then I hang up. That's when all hell breaks loose.

I walk up to her and in the loudest voice I can muster, give her a big chunk of my mind and how useless I think she is and that if she wasn't really interested in working she could just quit and go jump off a building or find some long distance movers, pack her things and leave here or something. She's too stunned to even reply cos I've never really raised my voice before but this time I think the neighbours could probably hear me. I was boiling!

My boss runs into the room to see what's going on and has to pull me aside to his room to even calm me down. After explaining the situation to him, he says he'll have a talk with her about her attitude towards working which he's also aware off. I guess I took everyone by surprise cos I've never lost my temper like that before. She's just too darn unlucky to catch me on a really bad morning but she deserved everything I gave her! And it wasn't even 10.30am yet. Good God, will this day never end?
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Fun Times Are Here Again

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:51:00 +0000

The weekend is here and this weekend is even much better than the rest cos it's our National day on Monday and we get an extra day off. Woohoo, I can sleep till noon on Monday. What? You didn't think I was patriotic enough to actually get up and watch the national day parade did you? I used to but not this time, not with the way the present government is tearing this country apart. Sleeping is a much better option :D

Anyways, I'm actually up early on a Saturday, which is kinda surprising for me. Since I'm up, I thought I'd do a quick check on my blogs and emails and one thing led to another, here I am writing a post. Don't worry, I'm not going to be bitching about anything today. I'm actually quite happy right now.

After the horrible week I had, I was really waiting for the weekend to arrive. Trust me, normally the week passes by pretty quick but this time it dragged on and on and on and I was practically jumping for joy when I came home yesterday. Well, weekends always makes me feel this way. There's even a big, huge, idiotic smile on my face as I type this post :D I hope this feeling never goes away.

Another thing I'm looking forward to later today is the barbecue we're going to be attending at my best buddy's place this evening. This barbecue was supposed to be last week but my older boy was sick and so was his little girl and his wife and our other best buddy couldn't make it so we postponed it until further notice. Everyone is feeling much better and is free from any other activities so we decided to have it today seeing as how it's a nice long weekend.

Which means that wifey and me have to go shopping a little later today cos we're all supposed to bring something for the barbecue and I volunteered to bring chicken wings. I'll probably be heading to the nearby hypermarket to look for some of pre-marinated chicken wings. I wanted to marinate them myself but got too lazy and getting the pre-marinated ones is really the best option. I wonder what the others are bringing though. I hope there's a lot of food cos I feel like going on an eating binge ... hahaha! Wifey is probably going to be calling me 'bulat' (round) again ...

Other than that I'm going to do nothing but laze around the house and enjoy the long weekend. With that said and done, I wanna wish you all, especially true blue Malaysians a wonderful National day holiday :D Have fun and urrrmmm, let me know how the parade went ... LOL!
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The Grandmotherly Remedies ...

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:46:00 +0000

I was having a slight headache a couple of days ago while trying to find out everything there was on Seattle personal injury lawyer's and was complaining to wifey about it, the headache I mean. She asked me to pop a couple of Panadols but unfortunately we ran out of them and I was too lazy to go out and get some. Then she said why not go crush some ginger and rub it around the side of your temples.

I looked at her quizzically? Crushed ginger? Rub it around my temples? Yes, she said. I don't know if it'll work or not but back in the old days, that's what my grandmother always suggested, she said. Oh, it's one of those grandmotherly remedies, huh? They had quite a lot of weird remedies for all kinds of ailments back then, that much I know.

So, we both got down to comparing our grandmother remedies. Wifey and me are both from totally different backgrounds but when it comes to grandmotherly remedies, we found out that it's almost always basically the same with a slight variation here and there.

When I was young my grandmother had a 1001 remedies that supposedly could cure anything and everything. Take for instance earaches, which I used to suffer a lot from back when I was a kid. I'd always run up to her (I was grandma's pet grandson by the way ... hehehe ...) complaining that my ears hurt. She in turn would go into the kitchen, take a piece of garlic and slowly toast it over an open flame. Then when it got hot enough and after peeling of the burnt skin, she would stuff it in my ear and tell me to keep it there for at least half an hour!

Trust me, it wasn't the best feeling having a freaking piece of hot garlic just out of the fire stuffed in your ear for half an hour ok, but then she was grandma and you had to listen to her. The hot garlic was supposedly able to urmmm suck out the pain or whatever was giving me the earache ... LOL! But strangely enough, the bloody pain would actually subside, whether it was psychological or not, I don't know.

Actually wifey's suggestion about rubbing some crushed ginger on the temples for a headache wasn't too far off from what my grandma would do whenever I had a headache. My grandmothers version of a headache cure was to slice some ginger really thin and stick them around the sides and front of the head and to leave it there for as long as the headache persisted.

And that also wasn't a really nice feeling cos the blooming ginger started to sting after awhile. But again, strangely enough, the headache went away after awhile. I think the sting from the ginger probably caused me to forget about the pain from the headache ... LOL! Sometimes I had to grapple with just trying to keep the darned ginger stuck to my head cos it'll just keep on falling off.

One of my grandma's worst remedies that I would be in fear of is when I suffered from a tummy ache and if going to the toilet didn't help clear it, then grandma would head into the kitchen (almost all remedies back then involved the kitchen) and take a piece of bread, toast it over an open flame till the bread turned really crisp black and then soak it in hot water and make me drink the blasted concoction!

Trust me, it looked and tasted and sometimes even smelt like I was drinking something straight out from the sewers! It was horrible and bitter and had this burnt wood kinda taste. I still can remember the awful taste till this very day! It was so horrible that I think whatever it was that was giving me a tummy ache in the first place probably upped and ran away ... hahaha!

There were a lot more remedies for a lot more ailments but I can't remember them these days. It's like a dying culture altogether. Maybe I should go and do some research along with wifey on this and compile a book of 'Ye Ole Grandmommy Remedies' or something ... LOL! I wonder if we can try some of these on the boys and see if it works. They might just report us to the authorities for prescribing medicine without a license ... LOL!

What about you guys? Care to share any of your grandmotherly remedies?
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I Haven't Made It In Life!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:18:00 +0000

Does having a luxurious and expensive car define you as someone who has made it in life?

This morning when I arrived at work and was parking my car, one of the printing agents that normally come to my office to get stuff done was also in the midst of parking next to me. After we both parked our car and got out, the usual good mornings and hello's were exchanged.

Then he looked at my car and said to me rather bluntly,

'Hey Nick, when you going to change your car to something classier?'

'Why?' I asked him.

'To show that you've made it in life' he said.

I was dumbfounded by his answer. You mean to tell me that the way to judge if a person has made it in life is by how expensive his car is? Good god almighty, judging by how old and beat up my car is, that must make me a loser. OHMYGOD! I'd better go buy myself a brand new Mercedes Benz or something. I mean, I can't very well drive my old clunker if I wanna look like I've made it in life!

Geez, granted my car is pretty old and all that, but it doesn't necessarily represent my status in life. It's only a blooming car that gets me from point A to point B. I could always go out and buy a new car, something cool looking but what would be the point? I'd be owing the bank for the next 5-9 years. Then one day when I can't pay my installments I'd have the bank chasing me like crazy. I don't have that with my car now seeing as how it's fully paid up.

I was really dumbstruck by his statement. This coming from a guy who owed people, including us a heck of a lot of outstanding payments. This coming from a guy who would always NEVER offer to pay when we have drinks at the mamak stall downstairs. This coming from a guy who had to once or twice rush to our office to tell us not to bank in the cheques he gave us cos there was not enough funds in his bank account!

And yet he tells me that just cos his car is better, bigger and more expensive than mine that he has made it in life. I'll bet he's even probably defaulted on his car installments and has the bank chasing his to pay up constantly. Well, if that's his way of saying that he's made it in life, well good for him.

I really cannot understand this obsession with some people that they have to show off that they're doing well (which half the time is the actual opposite) and flaunt their big, huge and often times luxurious cars so that people might just look at them with awe and say,

'Whoa, check out his car, that's a guy who has made it in life!'

What do you think should be the criteria for one to have made it in life? A big house with some plasma mounts? A huge car with state of the art hi-fi? An expensive Patek Phillippe on your wrist? Would those portray you as someone who has made it in life? I don't know about you, but it doesn't work that way for me.

The next time he comes to my office pleading with us to not cash his cheque, these words would definitely leave my lips,

'But I thought you made it in life, what? You mean you got no money in your bank, ah?'
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Mood Swings

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:51:00 +0000

My brain these days is a blob of utter confusion. There are too many things happening at any one time in my life right now that just trying to get through the day is pretty stressful. And it gets even worse at work. I seriously have no mood to work and am perpetually looking at my wrist watch waiting for time to head on home.

And it's also affecting my blogging as well. I can't think of anything decent to post no matter how long I sit here. I'm totally uninspired and unmotivated these days. I'm sure there has to be more to life than this. Unfortunately I haven't discovered it yet or for some reason it's avoiding me.

It's not a nice feeling walking around aimlessly half the time. Trying to put up a cheery front takes huge chunks of effort from me. Just working up a smile is like trying to climb a sheer faced wall. By nature I'm a happy go lucky kind of person and normally nothing can affect me to the point of me being listless. One only needs to ask my best friends, all two of them, and they'd easily tell you that hardly anything affects me for too long.

But these days, things affect me pretty easily. I tend to think or worry about stuff more and more and it's getting harder and harder for me to get out of these doldrums. Maybe I need a nice long break (something which I cannot afford right now), something to recharge the batteries. Maybe I need some new acne medication. Maybe I need a new change of scenery, something to stimulate the mind. Maybe I just need to chill out a bit and not be such a worry wart. A lot of maybe's but with no answers in sight ... siggghhh!

I'm thankful that I have a wife that understands me (well, I hope she does anyway) and knows what to do when I come home all moody and grouchy. Besides I'm always happy when I get home anyway. All that aside, I seriously need to do something about my moods these days. It's really draining the very life out of me. Maybe the coming long weekend will give me a chance to take a break and sort things out. Maybe September will be a better month for me, I don't know but I'm keeping my toes and fingers crossed.

But till then you're all just going to have to put up with my boring and lacklustre postings until I can sort myself out, which won't be too long I hope.
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Oh No, Not You Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Phillips) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 03:04:00 +0000

Everyone knows I hate Monday's like the plague. This Monday is no different. In fact I think it's out to get me with a vengeance! I've had a not so great weekend. Certain things popped up that is playing heavily on my mind and made me a little functionless all weekend.

Then having to wake up knowing it's Monday that I have to face is not something I was looking forward to. Maybe, just maybe Monday might be a little easy on me. Hah! Not in a million years. First I woke up feeling sleepy from lack of sleep, then I drove off to work wearing my slippers and only realized it when I reached office. Now I'm going to look like an idiot dressed in office wear walking around with slippers.

And then, as if I didn't have enough already on my plate, I get dumped with some stupid work that is supposed to be done by someone else who claims that she doesn't know how to do it. It's not like it's all that difficult to do. Even my ten year old boy could probably do it.

Next I get people calling me and asking if we can do software development for them and when I say no, they start rambling about what kind of company this is! Hey morons, this is a design agency and not some stupid IT related company!

What's next Monday? Come on, give it to me already and be done with it. I can't take so much of this crap so early on a Monday morning! Damn you to hell Monday, damn you!
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