Pic says it all

Stay safe tonight, all! Party smart, don't party hard. ;)

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve.

Wow, where did 2005 go? Time flies by real quickly when you're all stressed out and concentrated on finishing a final year project. I am so glad it's done and over with.

Let's see what happened to me (that I can remember off the top of my head) in 2005.
1. won a bunch of online and mail-in contests.
2. stopped winning those contests in July.
3. acquired three blogs (Friendster, Yahoo 360 and this one)
4. had mini-mental breakdowns when beset by numerous setbacks in final year project. But I pulled through in the end! :) It helped that I don't live in a high-rise apartment, and if I managed to squeeze through the louvred windows, I'd hit the ground real quick. No upstairs here! Well, there is the roof, but I'm afraid of climbing that unsteady ladder to get there. hahahaha...
5. went to the PC Fair in August, met some of the forummers who frequent The Chip forum. Got a goodie bag. :) Not that I expected anything, mind you!
6. was offered to be one of the moderators at the Lounge section of the forum. I'm glad it's in the Lounge, as I don't think I'm that technically informed. Erm, that's about it. Nothing much happens in my small town.

Okay, time for pet peeves. If there's one thing I do not like, it's people who suddenly stop in their tracks, oblivious to the fact that there are people behind them. This includes stopping in front of the escalators, shopping aisles, and busy paths (think PC Fair). My mother is one of these people who stop abruptly. Drives me nuts and it drives her nuts when I tell her there are people behind her.

Followed Mum to town yesterday. First we went to Kamdar because Mum needed to replace the upholstery on our older sofa. And here's another pet peeve of mine. The guy who attended to us had already stated that a certain material was not suitable because sharp objects would snag and warp it. What does Mum do? The guy is off to look for other suitable options, and Mum rubs her diamond ring across the material. Tsk! The guy already said it would happen! And then she starts snagging her ring on the other materials. For one thing, it's not fair to the shopkeeper, and it's not fair to the people who plan to buy that material. You can't say that she's checking the quality. She was already told that it was not suitable and that it would snag. If I had a shop, I'd ban my Mum.

Then we went across the road to a supermarket. Spent about 15 mins and didn't buy anything. Checked out this semi-new 'supermarket' just next to the TM building. Mostly imported from China. Then I suggested we go to the shop that sells biscuits (just across the road and behind the TNB office). So we walked across the road and Mum bought biscuits for Dad. I looked around while Mum met the girl (now a woman) who used to work at Glutton Square with her parents. She's a mother of five now. Had four girls and she was determined to have a son.

I settled on a RM2.00 packet of 'biskut kapal terbang' (airplane biscuits). They are reddish, a hint of spicy and shaped like little airplanes. Not quite a true biscuit. More like a crispy snack.

Then we walked back to the car and headed for Astaka, another supermarket across town. Looked around at the grocery section. Lingered over the fruit juices and jelly section. Noticed a 'special offer' on the almost expired jellies (best by 5th January 2006). According to the sign strung over the said jellies, RM0.89 (and at the bottom, [paper square covering something] x 120gm). The jellies were in packs of two. One packet was 120gm. There were two individual packets among the packs. Now, obviously the sign means RM0.89 for one packet, right? I tell Mum about this special offer and she asks the salesperson. Salesperson says the price is for a packet only, not for the pack.

Mum figures that this is not a cheap price. Tries to convince the salesperson that it's more logical if the pack was priced at RM0.89. Anyways, the salesperson starts opening the packs and pricing them. Had she not done that, I think she would have gone into a debate over why it should cost RM0.89 for a pack.

Tsk...

* Added 'Articles/Journals' section to sidebar. Noticed some accidental visitors looking for information related to 'Do Not Resuscitate' orders. How did I find them? First I Googled for "science journals" and "articles", then clicked on the links to the sites and then inserted "Do Not Resuscitate" into the Search boxes provided on these sites.

Gecko carnage

Sorry, no photos of the said carnage. It happened a few days ago and I totally forgot about it. One night, I decided to go to the kitchen and apparently, when I shut the door to the kitchen, one gecko had been squished.

I didn't know anything until the next morning, when my mother said, "Who was the last person to go into the kitchen last night? There was a dead gecko and there was blood everywhere! The ants came too and I had to clean it all up!"

Ewww...

Well, I apologised and I was kinda relieved that I didn't see all that mess, actually.

I might update later. I just woke up. =)

Photo above for the people who clicked my profile from the comment I left about guinea pigs. L-R: Latte, Mocha. I miss my piggies! *sigh*

Flip-floppy weather

Strange weather we are having here. Today it didn't rain at all. It rained heavily yesterday. I guess it'll rain again tomorrow. We shall see. Hmm, this is the first time I am using Photobucket to update DNR. Finally I find an option to use the strikethrough font. =)

Before I forget, Geography Olympics is now The Geography Zone. You can represent your country and show the rest of the world that your country isn't that backward when it comes to knowing what is where. Now, you can also register (for free) and pit your geography knowledge against other members too. I've only played three times and my first two tries had me getting 40/100. It pays to study those countries (and small island nations in the Pacific/Micronesia. Islands like Tuvalu, Nauru, The Marshall Islands, etc).

Let's see...what else? Can't think straight right now. I'll end here then.

Take care, all!

The pix I promised

Connection was crappy early this morning (1am) after I came back from the Christmas dinner at my parents' godparents' place . It was plenty frustrating and I gave up after five to six attempts to get back online again.


THE PIX SHOULD BE HERE, BUT BLOGGER'S HAVING PROBS WITH THEM! I think I'll try Photobucket.

zzzz...I'll post this first and then add the photos (like what I said in the other entry. hahaha...)







Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner. We sang a few Christmas carols such as 'Joy To The World', 'Deck The Halls', 'The Little Drummer Boy', 'Ding Dong' (never heard of that one before), and a few more which I can't remember the titles of. I had lamb chops, a few sticks of satay (beef and chicken), Pepsi Twist, Mirinda Orange and a gulpful of home-made beer (the bottles were unlabelled and I had the impression they were Orangina!). If it wasn't for the fact that the 3/4 empty bottles were refrigerated, I don't think I would have touched them. Anyways, it tasted much better than the beer I have sipped in the past. When I say sip, I mean the moment the awful liquid hits my tongue. Yuck! This home-made beer was less potent and slightly bearable. Anyways, I just had that one gulpful. When I have a choice, I prefer not to imbibe. Especially not beer of all drinks.

I am happy to say that I have not had a hangover ever and I don't want to ever experience one. My brain cells need as much help as they can get without the use of substances. And I doubt if gingko biloba is going to help (which is why I don't take them). Come to think of it, I don't take anything. I usually just complain to Mum about my aches and pains and she'll massage those til I'm squirming and screaming. And then she'll tall me to take a Ponstan to relieve the pain. I never take it on my own initiative. Usually, I just bear with it.

However, I doubt if I could bear the pain of childbirth. I say this because I just chatted with someone who told me that she and her boyfriend were expecting a baby. Three months in. I'd hate to be in her shoes during the ninth month. Then again, I suppose I might change my mind if I met the right kind of guy. And I might have. We shall just have to wait and see.

Oh yes, it's my sister's birthday today. Wished her on the phone this morning. I even said, "Happy Tsunami Day!" I know, it wasn't very respectful. To the victims and their families. I remember the day very clearly. I awoke suddenly around 8:30am, perhaps. I just know that it wasn't the time I usually woke up and I was wondering for a few mins before I went back to sleep. Didn't know anything until around noon, when my friend Simon SMSed/texted me from Austria asking me how I was. I thought, "Eh?" I was at the uni library (at the magazines section). And he replied that there was a huge tidal wave that killed thousands in South-east Asia. I think we in the East Coast were blissfully unaware of the situation on the other side of the country. Those that didn't have close access to a tv or radio, that is.

Offline for three days

Four days ago, it was raining with a vengeance. Really cold, and the water in the drains rose. I took some pix of that, unfortunately, with my xD picture card non-functional, it'll take a little more hassle to upload the pix. Think cables.

A day later, well...more like after 2:30am, I suddenly had probs getting online. The next morning, the reason was clear. One or more individuals had cut off a length of telephone cable (yes, the one strung between the telephone poles). Stolen. Most probably by drug addicts.

That said, one can only imagine that drug addicts prowl the neighbourhood after 2am, looking for stuff to steal and sell. What happened to that pack of stray dogs? If they were around, nobody would be stealing stuff (like my dad's sandals!!) in the middle of the night.

Here's a shoutout to David, who says he'll try to be regular reader #2. ;) I'll try not to disappoint.

Take care and here's a little something from me.

Merry Christmas/God Jul/Buon Natale/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!

No Rain

Woke up to a sunny morning, and Mum 'delivering' mail to me. Got a lovely Christmas card from the Willanders. They are so nice to me, I am unworthy. Then again, I WAS fixated on that final year project of mine. Thoughts of everything else were discarded.

An e-card will have to do this year. I am so not worthy. Well, I'll go photoshop one for them. Takes more time and effort that way, and they deserve that.

They were guests at the hotel I was working at so many years ago. They learnt to scuba-dive in the hotel pool and then went to the islands to scuba-dive. One of their poor sons had an ear infection and couldn't dive after that. They are more than guests to me, but friends.

The fact is, I used to treat the guests as respected friends. Tried my best to remember their names and room numbers. And there was this one time my memory decided to play tricks on me. I remember the guest's room number but not his name. I said, "Good evening, Mr Tan! Here's your key." Handed him the key and watched him walk towards the lobby lift. As he was waiting for the lift, he looked at his key. He seemed to be contemplating. He walked back towards the reception counter and said, "My name is Lim."

I think I tried to retain my composure (barely) and apologized profusely. "I'm sorry, Mr Lim!" *cue nervous laughter* He seemed okay about it. Hehehe...

Best thing about Site Meter, you can tell how some people get here. Apparently, when you type "thesis about do not resuscitate in the philippines" in Yahoo Search, this site comes out tops. If it's any consolation, at least I added that definition under 'Dr. Ross'. So sorrylah. Plan B went to the Philippines, I talked about my thesis and this site is called 'Do Not Resuscitate'.

I so want to change the template of this blog. The templates at some of the sites out there just don't fit what I have in mind. And I am reluctant to start something that might take too long. First of all, I don't really know anything about building a template. It's got to be related to a heart monitor. A Flatline across the heart monitor to be precise.

Loving Pandora.com by the day. Hearing all those songs I used to hear and new ones that I wouldn't hear on local radio. And NO ads between songs. I hope it stays this way for a long, long time.

Most of the evacuees in the temporary flood relief centers have returned home. In the newspaper today was an item about a family's dilemma when their husband/father/grandfather who was 90 years old passed away. They couldn't bury him because the cemetery was flooded. They couldn't get help from neighbours to bury him because they had all left the village when the water rose. Nobody could go help them because the roads were closed and impassable. Poor family.

Well, that's it for now. Sorry for the not so regular updates. In fact, if it wasn't for the single regular visitor of mine, I wouldn't be updating very often. =)

Take care all!

Here comes the rain again

Rained this morning, it was so nice and cosy, and gloomy. Unfortunately for several hundred people in Terengganu, Kedah, Kelantah and Perlis, the rain was not welcomed. They had to evacuate when the water level rose and stay at schools which became temporary evacuation centres.

While surfing sites, I came across www.Pandora.com. It's something like Launchcast (you have your own station and you can opt to like or loathe a track being played). The best thing about this is that you can
fill in the name of the artist or track and they will select songs that are similar in structure, melodies, genre. I chose Dido and got selections from Amy Grant, Annie, Morcheeba, etc. They give you a four - five song sample and then ask you to register. It's free, and the ads are on the site. You don't hear the ads like you do on Launchcast (between songs). So many new bands I never would have listened to before. And for each song or artiste that you look up, they become stations. I have a Dido station, a James Blunt Station. Going to look up Duran Duran now. Starting with Duran Duran's "I Don't Want Your Love". Hmmm, now it's "Weird Science" by Oingo Boingo. Next is "Desire" by Gene Loves Jezebel. Maybe I'll try Nik Kershaw. No such luck. Strange, it said it couldn't find Nik Kershaw and now there's a Nik Kershaw Station. Not that I'm complaining. Hmmm, who's Matthew Sweet?

I also like Free Video Codes. You can search for your fav. videos and add the code to your website, blog, friendster page, etc. I had fun watching Weird Al Yankovic's mad videos. I love "You Don't Love Me Anymore". I have a video on Friendster. Not putting one up here because I don't want to bore any one who visits more than once. *grin*

Take care, all!

Lovely cloudy days

It was drizzling and I thought, why not take a few pix? I know, the powerlines spoil the shot. What can I do?

Here's one of my Dad's orchids. They have been blooming for days, so there are spots in the flowers. Hence the reason I didn't take a close-up pic of them. Didn't want the imperfections to show up.


I took two pix of the whole pot. I'll save you the boredom of looking at those. Then there's the raindrop shot. =)

I think I'll go take some more pix. =) I hope the mosquitoes aren't biting.

Update!
Got bitten by a mosquito. Found some bees hovering over some flowers (don't know what kind of flowers).

Took a pic of orchid roots. Those roots really crawl all over the place. I wanted to sound witty, but I don't think I could say, "These roots were made for walking."


I've been looking at those stats and so far (ha, a pun!), the farthest visitor lives 14,930km away. Wonder how far Fargo is (incidentally, the airport code for Fargo is FAR!)? I am SO hungry. It'll be a few hours yet til Simon IMs me about what he had for dinner. Wait, he already told me yesterday. He planned ahead. Simon has got to be the only person I talk food with. It's funny we haven't swapped recipes yet. Oh yeah, I know why. I don't cook. Tee hee hee...

Must find food....

BTW, shoulder/back feels better now. Ponstan kicked in about 30mins later. The ointment mum used is that deep heating rub thingy that makes the area warm, then cool. Or is it the other way around? I don't remember. Pain is gone and so is the cool/warm sensation.

Ouch!

Just tried to get out of my jacket in an awkward position and I think I overstretched my shoulder. It hurts like heck now. I bet it'll be worse tomorrow.

Been raining all day and night and according to the weather report, it'll be like this until Friday. Wooo...I am glad we have a water heater. I remember the earlier years when I insisted it was too cold for the usual cold showers, so we'd boil half a pail of scalding hot water, carry it gingerly to the bathroom and then add the cold water til it got to be the right temperature. Most times, I'd be too lazy to boil the water and just have the quickest shower ever. Besides, it was too cold to sweat any way. And I hadn't fallen into any pools of mud/dirt.

Dad said my hair was too long today. Hmmph.

Still looking at the stats. I find that thanks to the "Next Blog" link at the upper right hand corner, people just get here by accident. Phew. Am wondering if the regular visitor from Sweden is a family friend. Birgitta? Bjorn? Is that you? If it is, thank you for visiting. If it isn't, thank you for visiting all the same. =)

I'd also like to take this opportunity to wish Azura a happy engagement! I'm sorry I couldn't make it.

I used to enjoy reading books, but now with my laptop on my bed, I'm always online. I am so addicted to playing those games on pogo.com. If it's not Pool, it's Bingo, if it's not that, then Spider Solitaire or Sweet Tooth. It's so fun! And I don't even care about winning any money either.

Chip Malaysia/chip-asean.com is still down. I kinda miss the people there. We really spam the lounge, we do...what fun.

I can't believe it's going to be 2006 in a matter of weeks. In my stress and haste to get my project done, 2005 just zipped by! I'll be 32 next year! Ack... Oh well, at least I survived uni at my advanced age. hehehe...

Take care, all!

Lovely rainy day and I'm feeling blah

Hair still looks Jennifer Aniston-y. I guess I'm fine as long as I don't pass any mirrors. Just kidding! It's not that bad. I just don't like being tricked like that. She practically did it behind my back! The hairstylist asked her for the preferred length of the hair that was behind my back. How could I see? Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky!!

Did this nerdy quiz thingy. Glad to see that I'm just a Mid-rank Nerd. I always knew I wasn't a full-fledged one. Just because I look like one doesn't mean that I am, so there!

21% scored higher (more nerdy), and
79% scored lower (less nerdy).

What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:

Mid-Level Nerd. Wow, it takes a lot of hard nerdy practice to reach this level.

The neighbours' chickens are crowing and it's almost 3pm. Stupid roosters, just because it's their year, they think they can crow whenever they like. Just they wait. It's less than two months before the start of the Year of the Dog. Hmmm, a whole year of dogs barking. Don't mind me right now, I'm just rambling.

I'm wondering when my friends, Dora and Bob a.k.a Plan_B are going to make their first post. It'll be great when they do. I just want them to know that they're always welcome to post if/when the inclination hits them. Work has a way of killing the mood.

That's it from me. Take care, all!

Thought I'd take another quiz:

===============================================================

Overall, you scored as follows:

31% scored higher (more computer geeky),
0% scored the same, and
69% scored lower (less geeky).

Compared to those in the same age group as you:

44% scored higher (more computer geeky),
1% scored the same, and
55% scored lower (less geeky).

What does this mean? Your computer geekiness is:

Low Ranking Computer Geek. Definitely a Computer Geek, but low in the computer geek social structure.

The average score for the gals is 38, while the guy average is 56.

==============================================================
I KNEW I wasn't much of one. =) But look, the average score for females is 38! And I scored higher that the male average as well...hmm.

I was tricked!

For the past year, I had been growing my hair. It had never been as long as it was (until this evening). I had a thrill seeing it grow past my shoulders, reaching my armpits.

Mum was never happy with the length of my hair. Today, she planned to have her hair cut and asked if I wanted to go along with her. I thought I'd just have it trimmed or layered a little. I even chose a nice little hairstyle and printed it out.

I was SO not prepared for what was about to transpire. The hairstylist is Chinese. She doesn't speak English. I told Mum to tell her what I wanted and well...

Mum was talking too much Chinese and I realized my mistake. I was at the mercy of Mum! I caught enough to know that she wanted something done. I asked my mum what she told to the hairstylist. She didn't reply. When I saw that the length was twice what I had initially wanted to cut off... oh man, I was so MAD! What do I do during times when I get mad? No, I don't turn green and grimace like I was trying to pass a kidney stone the size of a boulder. I cried! It helped that I had my hair covering my face, and I had a good cry behind that curtain of hair. Mum noticed after I blew my nose. I told her that I didn't want it this short. I told her that I had asked her what she told the hairstylist and she didn't tell me. She swore that she didn't hear my question. Tsk. I bet she knew all along that she was going to get my hair cut off the way she wanted it. Serves me right for not learning Chinese and not learning to drive on my own. ;o(

She tried to justify her deception by saying that I needed to look neater if I had to go for a job interview. Ugh!

And yesterday, I endured 5 hours of her throwing away my stuff (she says it's 'cleaning up'). I decided to cut all ties to my old college/uni notes, bits of stuff I wrote/jotted down, magazines... JUST so I could cut down on the torture session. I turned a blind eye to everything. Can I help it if I am a pack rat? I wish I had a place of my own. I wish I had money! I wish I had a rich relative who has suddenly passed away and decided to leave me a huge inheritance. I wish I didn't have to wish. ;o)

I am ending my post here. It's time for dinner. Take care, all!

By the way, I recently decided to get Site Meter to see who actually is visiting this blog. Just as I suspected. They're mostly accidental visits. If it's not a direct link I've given to a friend, it's somebody who got here looking for 'Do Not Resuscitate' (sorry, visitor from the US), or 'Which Lost Character Are You?' (sorry, Aussie visitor).

Anyways, I am glad I finally got to the bottom of the mystery. I don't really have a 'readership'. Phew! I thought I'd have to actually write something informative and important for once. ;o)

A burden has lifted

I'm not quite sure if I am completely done, but I submitted the stuff pertaining to my final year project yesterday. I'm standing by just in case I get an e-mail or a call asking me to redo anything. This means I'm going nowhere for a week (and then after that, to heck with it!). This nixes any plans I had of attending my friend's engagement ceremony in Bangi on Sunday. Sorry Azura!

I was so fixated on the presentation date (Nov 24th) that I completely forgot about the proposal, thesis, technical report and the CD copies. You might be wondering, 'Proposal? Isn't that supposed to have been submitted way before I did the system?' Well, for other people, that's the routine. I have always been a special case. Things don't always run smoothly with me. I should be immune by now. *grin*

Had that title change 6 weeks before the final presentation. Was struggling with Visual Basic 6 (yes, I did try .NET -- and having three books on VB6 helped not one bit), and looking for people who might give me some help with bits of the coding that I had trouble with. I gave e-mail updates to my supervisor and 6 weeks before the initial presentation date, the programming language was changed to PHP.

Cue mini-breakdown. Enter saviour from the UK. To cut a long story short, I managed to squeeze through the final presentation with just elevated levels of stress caused by a certain 'lecturer'. *cough*En Zailani*cough* He was unrelentless in his critiques (what you optimists might call 'constructive criticism') and I was on the verge of crying out of frustration. I so wanted to strangle him, and I think it showed. Anyway, I did state that I only had six weeks to write the proposal, thesis and develop the system. That shut him up for a bit.

Yeah, I know that pic is totally out of 'nature' with this blog. I haven't really taken any raindrop laden leaf pix in awhile. It's been rainy off and on. I still can't hear the pounding waves from the beach (my house is a 5-min drive to the beach).

Oh, I found an interesting site yesterday (got it from Chris Wheatley's site) and it's The Warning Label Generator. It's real fun! Here's a sample of what I made.

I know, it's not very imaginative. You're limited to just six lines. Go check it out.

There's been a lot of talk about a certain blogger and his site that had posts of his past drug use. He had video clips of him shooting up, photos, detailed descriptions of the effects he felt, tips on enhancing the experience, experimenting with other drugs he could get from the pharmacy and OD-ing on them to see if they could be used as recreational drugs. Many bloggers out there were outraged that a 'concerned citizen' had written in to complain about his site, citing 'freedom of speech', etc, etc. Sure, the educated, well-traveled lot of them WOULDN'T experiment on drugs based on his posts. They expect that everyone with the means to get online has sense to not want to do it. I tell you, there are kids out there who are just willing to try anything. These are the impressionable kids, the ones without parental guidance (heck, they might even try it out just so they'll get the attention they want).

It just irks me that the few blogs I've visited (or comments left on these blogs) all say, "I've read all his posts and never once did I ever have the urge to try them out or be a drug addict. In fact, it's just deterred me from trying it out." I'm willing to bet that these people are well educated, English-speaking and more aware of the dangers. Try to think like a kid for once. Even a kampung kid with internet access in the school lab.

Sure, sure, they can always surf to the international sites out there. But he is Malaysian, he even related how he managed to get some drugs on the street. I doubt if there's info like on American, British or wherever sites. I very much welcome the action taken by the authorities on his site. I do recall a post where he plainly boasts that he is Malaysia's first drug blogger.

Well, I'm off my soapbox. It's been eating at me for sometime now. Take care, all!