Boss For A Week ...

My boss is going away on a holiday to Italy next week and she's just left me, the most laziest person this side of the moon in charge of the office and I am seriously not liking it one bit. And given such responsibility like that how in heaven's name am I going to bum off work without feeling guilty? And if I do bum off, then what? Reprimand myself? LOL!

It's the school holidays over here, well it started this Monday to be precise and it's going to last for two whole weeks. My boss always takes the opportunity to go for holidays at times like these. She takes the whole family with her (lucky bunch of people) and leaves me to handle the office for the duration.

I don't really mind, though I could use a holiday myself. Blur Thing, one of my regular visitors has already commented that my last two post titles sounded morbid (LOL) and a break would do me good and she's absolutely right! I do need a break. Next time boss, let me go for a holiday during the school break and you stay back and take care of your own office!

As I was saying I don't really mind taking care of the office, it's not like I haven't done it before. But presently we have a whole bunch of new staff at the moment and they're not all that familiar with the workings here and I hate being bugged about something or other every couple of minutes. I don't blame them, they're new, but I still hate it.

Prior to all the former staff leaving, whenever my boss traveled, taking care of the office was fun, cos the staff back then knew what to do and I was free to do my own stuff most of the time. Oh well, it's only for a week so I'll brace myself for loads of questions, questions and more questions from the new people. I don't really make a very good teacher.

But on a brighter note, it's Friday and I live for Fridays. I don't have anything planned for the weekend. I was thinking of just staying home and doing some spring cleaning. But then, it all depends on my mood when I wake up tomorrow. We need to do a little grocery shopping but not on weekends cos our regular favourite neighbourhood hypermarket would be packed with people doing their grocery shopping and seeing as how it's pay day, the queues at the checkout counter is going to be even longer ...

I usually take an hour or so during lunch on work days to go grocery shopping. So much easier to do it at that time, the place is less crowded, it's easier to steer the trolley along the isles and the queues are practically non existent. And on occasions, our favourite hypermarket normally sells things dirt cheap during non peak hours. Oh and speaking of my favourite hypermarket, today I had lunch with wifey and the boys at the food court there.

After lunch we made a quick dash inside the hypermarket to get some laundry detergent and some snacks for later tonight and we noticed that they were displaying some pretty cool and decent redeemable free gifts in their customer information room near the checkout counters. Ok, we're such regulars here that we decided to apply for their privilege card a year or so back. For every dollar we spend, we get a point added to our cards and if we have enough points, we can redeem whatever free items they have on display.

We have redeemed a nice cool ceramic coffee set before and today we saw that they had some nicer stuff on display. We thought we didn't have enough points for it cos you needed quite a bit of points to redeem these items but wifey said, let go check our points at the customer information counter. And upon checking we had the shock of our lives cos we actually have enough points to claim some pretty cool stuff. I didn't realized we had spent so much for shopping over here.

We were spoilt for choice. We could claim this nice cool stainless steel pot, this electric grass cutting machine for the yard, watches, tea sets, basement dehumidifiers (okay, maybe not basement dehumidifiers la ... hehehe) and lots more. But in the end we decided against redeeming anything just yet cos we have our eye set on this cool portable DVD player. We were short by a few points to get that but at the rate of shopping we do over here, I'd say we'd be able to redeem that pretty soon :)

I'm actually kinda happy today because of this. I mean, this hypermarket already sells the cheapest stuff compared to the rest and on top of that we can redeem some pretty cool free stuff even. None of their other competitors offer anything like this (not that I know of anyway) and it makes shopping here all the more worthwhile :) Well, when I do get to redeem my uber cool portable DVD player, I'll be sure to post a picture of it here ... LOL!

Until then, you all have a nice great weekend and to all my Sabahan blog buddies, here's wishing you all a Happy Harvest Festival!
.

Brain Dead ...

It's one of those days where I can't seem to think of what to post. The brain isn't working properly for me to churn out anything the least bit intelligent today. It's been a pretty decent day and I do have work that needs to be completed but with the old grey matter up there is not working, I don't have inclination to do any work. So blogging was the next best option, but even that doesn't seem to get the brain working.

I've done my blog hopping for the day and was actually going to post about my best buddy and his antics about the things he did to impress his girlfriend (now wife) but I decided not to do it just yet cos the way I'm feeling right now it won't do justice to the post. So for today, I'm going to spare you guys a long winded post. I can hear you breathing a sigh of relief already ... LOL!

When days like these happen, it's time for me to post some of the awards I have which has been collecting dust for ages now. I've got awards from so many of you out there that I've forgotten who actually gave me some of the awards. I hang my head down in shame. My apologies people. Blame it on my lazy genes. And so, while I can still remember at least two people who gave me some awards, I might as well do it now before I lose all recollection of who you are ... LOL!

Ok, the first award I got is still fresh. I received this award today from my good buddy from Brazil, Cidao. He's been a regular commenter for almost every single post I've done since he discovered my blog. I'm so honoured that he actually gave me the 'This Blog Makes Me Think Award'. I'm deeply thrilled to get it cos I never for one moment would have thought that my blog would make anyone think ... hehehe ... Thanks buddy.


The second set of awards I got is from none other than Ratu Syura (whom only today I discovered in her blog how the Ratu title came into existence). She awarded these six, yes SIX awards to me about 3 decades ago and it's starting to disintegrate already. At least it's lots more than what she awarded that annoying Spiff fellow ... LOL! Unfortunately I can only display five of them cos for some strange reason, one of them can't be displayed at her blog. See, it's been that long already ... hehehe ... Thanks a bunch Syura for all the awards.

Now with that done, I can go figure out some of the other awards that I've got but have forgotten already starting with the awards Nessa and Marzie gave me. That's probably going to take me all night. But before I do that I'd better start sending out all those Quinceanera invitations right away before the postman makes his last call for the day.
.

The Funeral Parlour ...

For as long as I can remember, I've been paying my bills and handling all my banking transactions online. I don't even remember actually walking into a bank to do a manual transaction in ages. The only time I'm at a bank is when I have an appointment or a presentation with my banking client or when I need to withdraw some money and even then it's at the ATM machine.

I prefer the online method and have been using it for years now cos the bank where I have my personal account is located at Taipan, USJ, one of the busiest commercial areas near my place and even finding parking on weekends is hell, let alone on workdays. Besides it's so much more convenient banking online these days. But unfortunately, yesterday I had to actually go personally to the bank to sort out some matters.

I was already dreading having to look for a parking space and after about a couple dozen circles around the place, I finally find a parking space and it's like a few million kilometres from the bank. Now comes the long walk under the sun to the bank. By the time I reached the bank I'm already drenched in sweat. Never mind I say, at least the air conditioning in there will cool me down.

So, I take my queue number and and get myself comfortably seated cos I'm like number 35 in the queue. God, this is probably going to take ages. And that's when I noticed a few things why I'd rather do my banking online. First of, all the tellers look like they just came from a funeral. All of them and I mean all of them have this sullen, unfriendly frown on their faces. What is this? A funeral parlour or a bank? For front desk staff, can't they at least smile?

Ok, never mind, maybe they all got up on the wrong side of the bed today. Then I see how they handle some customers. There was this elderly lady and it was her turn so she walks over to one of these sulky tellers and does whatever it is she needs done. Next thing I know, I hear the teller screaming, well, not really screaming, I exaggerate too much, more like raising her voice at this elderly lady saying she did something wrong with the forms or something like that and would have to go fill it out again and wait in line again!

The elderly lady says she's not that good at understanding the details in the form and ask if she could help her fill it up but she flatly tell the elderly lady to go fill it up herself cos it's not her job and she's busy now. WTF? What kind of service is that? Not her job? It wouldn't take her more than a minute to help her fill out her form and get her transaction done. Good thing a kind hearted customer went up and helped the lady fill the form.

And that wasn't all. The whole time I was there, which was about an hour or so, I noticed that all these tellers were such a rude and lazy bunch of people who kept pushing customers from counter to counter when things went wrong. Not all the customers were as patient. Some wouldn't tolerate their nonsense and told them what they thought of them to their faces. I was secretly clapping for them ... hehehe ...

Well, when my turn came, I was ready to face at least some crap from them and would have given them a piece of my mind if that happened but fortunately for me (or for them?), my transaction went without a hitch. Phewwwww! But it just cements my reason why I hate going to the bank. I rather face my monitor than these rude emotionless people. They have this attitude that we should be grateful to them for keeping our money.

It's not like they're not already charging all kinds of unfathomable and ridiculous service charges to use our own money. Certain banks I know charge its customers for withdrawing their OWN money from the ATM for more than three transactions a month. Thank god my bank doesn't have such ridiculous charges. It's not like they're not already making tons of money as it is. I really have no issues with the bank I use except for the funeral parlour like atmosphere they exude.

That's why when it comes online savings accounts, I'd rather deal with banks like Wamu. That way I don't have to deal with moody and rude customer service people. Not forgetting the host of additional features and benefits they have such as free online banking, access to free electronic statements and if you maintain a balance of $300, your account is free. You can also link it to a checking account to avoid overdraft charges. And the best thing is you will always be able to access your money through ATM's anywhere.

Anyways, for me, after the experience I witnessed at the bank yesterday, online banking is the way to go, so check out WaMu cos regardless of the type of account you want, they'll have you covered. No more waiting in line for tellers, no more have to schedule your life around the bank's hours cos they're available 24/7 and they're just at the click of a button in the comforts of your own home. Now if that isn't the way to go, I don't know what is ...
.

Those Little Teasers!

The pictures you see up there is the standard uniform of our school going children. And according to a particular well learned (supposedly) vice-president of the National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia, Munirah Bahari, that it would be a distraction to me, being a man and I would go out there, grab one of those 'sexily' clad children and satisfy my lust with them! Oooo, I feel the urge coming already ...

I cannot believe the absurdity, stupidity and shallow-mindedness of some people here. While I'm not one to post about politics and stuff like these, I just couldn't help myself this time. Stupid and ignorant people do deserve some form of recognition.

Ok, let me start from the beginning. I don't really read the local papers here cos they're just so biased with their news but I do subscribe to it and get interesting headlines flashed in my mail software. And some of these news can be quite interesting.

Yesterday, I saw this headline that read 'School uniform sexy, says group'. I was intrigue cos from the headline alone I knew it was going to be about something stupid and stupid people draw me in like a moth to a flame ... LOL! And I wasn't disappointed at all.

The article was about the school uniform worn by the girls at government schools here, which is a choice of wearing a white blouse with knee length skirt or a pinafore. They can also wear a 'baju kurung' with the headscarf being optional for Malay students.

And this has been the standard uniform for as long as I can remember even before I was going to school. I think my mom used to wear them as well. I'm not going to get into details about the article proper. If you're interested, you can check it out here. I'll just list down the points I find interesting and absolutely stupid for you to decide on your own.

Point Number One
The school uniform worn by the girls here encourage rape and pre-marital sex. (ROTFL)

Point Number Two
The white blouse is too transparent and it becomes a source of attraction. (Ooooo, I feel the urge to go find a school girl!)

Point Number Three
It's a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it. (Ok, I can't send my son to school anymore cos I'm definitely going to be distracted by all those school girls in white blouses!)

Point Number Four
Some of these schoolgirls use the white blouse as a means to lure men! (You evil little things!)

Ok, you can stop laughing now people cos it is frightening. And I don't mean the school uniforms, but the stupidity of the person who wrote the article, a vice-president no doubt. It's no wonder this country is in a horrible state. Take a look at the uniform again, what is so seductive about the white blouse? Tell me, especially you men, does it make you want to go get a nice little school girl in a uniform for some fun?

While I do believe that no one religion or parent would encourage indecency, I find the fact that you blame the poor girl for your failure to control your own lust is absolutely ridiculous! It's like blaming the floor is crooked, that's why I can't dance. Please don't blame the poor girl or the uniform or the white blouse. It's the education and perception of people that need to be changed.

I believe no matter how one dresses, whether they're covered up from head to toe, it really isn't going to matter to a pervert out there. They look for easy preys and these children are easy preys for them, not because of the school uniform or the white blouse. Instead of doing some stupid research about school uniforms being too sexy and that these children in their white blouses lure men to them, more should be done to curtail this problem at the root of it.

You know, I'll bet the 'honourable' Munirah Bahari would have had a fit if she had done studies on the Japanese school uniforms ... LOL! Please Munirah, put on your brains and take a look around you. It's not the uniforms, it's not the girls, it's not the white blouses. It's the back water mentality of shallow-minded people like you who contribute to things like these. Be the solution to the problem, not the cause of it!

Oh and honey, you're not allowed to wear anymore white blouses cos you're only going to lure and tempt all those men your way. LOL!
.

The New Girl

We finally got someone new for the office. That's a big relief for me. At least my duties as a receptionist and clerk can end for now. It was beginning to get on my nerves having to answer all the calls every couple of minutes. It was eating way into my blogging time ... LOL!

We've only managed to get a replacement for one position, which is the admin clerk so far but at least the new girl can double as a receptionist for now until we can fill up all those vacant slots. I have no idea where my boss found this replacement cos all I know was, yesterday morning she just turned up and said it was her first day at work.

I was totally taken by surprise. My boss could have at least warned me before hand that we had new personnel starting work. Who knows, she could have been some crook and taken me hostage or something ... LOL! Not that I have much money to pay as ransom if she did take me hostage, that is. Once I confirmed it with my boss that it was indeed her first day at work, I breathe a sigh of relieve ...

Now comes the part of getting her used to our system of work, which is always the hardest thing for a new worker. The new faces you meet, the new system of work you'd have to adept to and the new environment to get used to. I remember the first day I started work, I was so scared to do anything wrong. I was among strangers who were already working with each other for quite a while and I had to learn everything from scratch.

That's one reason why I never like changing jobs. I've worked in quite a few places, if I'm not mistaken maybe a total of 5 different places including this and I've resigned from only one of them while the rest was due to the company retrenching me or closing down due to bad profits.

I like to stick in a job for as long as possible. I hate having to start all over again. I hate having to make new friends and colleagues in a new office. That's one reason why I'm still stuck in this office. The other reason being I'm too old for anyone to want to hire. Who wants to hire 40 year olds these days?

I actually do have the intention to look for a different challenge in life. I've been with this company since the first day it opened it's doors and I'm currently the only pioneer staff left with the rest long gone. I honestly have no complains working here, except for one thing. Yeah, it's tough and all that, but which job really isn't? The thing is my salary has remained constant for so long with no signs of it going up that I'm disheartened with things here.

I know I work pretty hard, in fact sometimes a little too hard that I take on too many things at one go. Even wifey says I do too much and should be paid much more. And I agree with her totally! I have always given 100% or more for this company. I've worked on holidays, weekends, put the family second at times even. I've even taken a pay cut a few years back when things were a little bad with us and ever since then, no matter how good things are, my salary still remains the same ... sighhhh ...

It's really very disheartening at times, especially when the cost of everything is going up except your pay check. And to be honest, It's not that I haven't been out there looking for something better but most of these people are looking for applicants who are in the age bracket of 30 and below.

What? Like as if people in their forties like me can't work? What happened to the old days when experience counted for something? Then are are those that need applicants who can converse in a particular language. What happened to communicating in English? Isn't that good enough? Ok, enough with the venting already. I didn't intend for this to be a bitching post ... LOL!

Anyway, it's good to finally have someone in the office to help out. Hopefully she can adept to whatever system they had going for the admin section before or maybe even come up with a better system but I someone how doubt it judging by the things she wrote on her application form.

What really got me snickering inwardly when I had a look at her application form yesterday was what she put down under the hobbies section. Under hobbies she wrote: Shopping and Karaoke ... LOL! I've seen quite a bit of application forms in my career but this is the first I've seen anyone put Shopping and Karaoke! Well, at least she's honest. Most people would have listed down reading, running, dabbling in atomic reconstruction, writing novels and the like. And you know half of it is bull! ... hahaha ...


I guess now I could start planning that trip to New Zealand I've always been dreaming off. I've always loved New Zealand and it has been my ambition in life to one day go for a vacation there. There are a lot of things I want to see there like Auckland's Coastal Rainforest, Great Barrier Island or the Coromandel Peninsula. There are so many things and places I could immerse myself in while I'm there. And getting some Auckland accommodation, Wellington accommodation, Christchurch accommodation or even Queenstown accommodation shouldn't be all that hard to find.

Ok, I'd better stop dreaming already. It's time to get back to work and besides I still need to keep an eye on the girl and make sure she's got everything down pat before I'm comfortable with leaving her alone in the office.
.

The Future Doesn't Look Good ...

I woke up this morning with a slight headache that I know will increase in intensity as the day goes by. I've gone through headaches like these before so I know it's only going to get worse and I'm the kind who will refuse to take any medication for it. And when it gets worse, my mood is also going to go on a downward spiral.

On top of that, today of all days I take my card statement to work. Whatever compelled me to do that, I have no idea. Maybe the fact that I saw it lying inside my post box while I was about to leave for work must have had something to do with it. And right now, I'm regretting bringing it to work, cos the moment I opened it, my headache went up five notches!

I normally leave all the financial stuff to wifey to handle cos she does a much better job at it than I do. She's very meticulous with the accounts and will keep a list of exactly how much we spend and what exactly we spend it on. It's a good system she has going there and I never get involved in it. If I need to know how much money we have left in the bank, I'll just ask her. If I need to know how much we spent on our cards, I'll just ask her. In fact, when it comes to anything that concerns our finances, she's better equipped to handle it than I am.

So, today I open my card statement at work and am amazed, shocked even, at how much we spend a month on food alone. We shop about once a week for our groceries and it now costs us twice the amount it did just a few measly months ago! I never really took any notice of the increase cos normally when we shop I'll just pay and not really bother about it. I know wifey has been telling me that things have gone up quite a bit but I thought, how much more can it be. How utterly wrong I was.

Has the price of food really gone up by that much? A bag of rice alone now costs twice what it did just a month ago. Thank god I don't eat rice all that much anymore but I still do have to buy rice cos the boys are rice eaters and so is my mom. In fact, the price of everything has pretty much gone up. Man, this is going to take a toll on my finances. As it is, making ends meet is already tough and looking at our grocery spending pattern in my statement, it's going to get tougher.

The worse thing is we don't really buy another different or extra stuff. It's basically the same stuff and what would have cost us under RM100.00 a week a couple of months back has increased by two fold today. It's no wonder we have a world wide food problem. How can anyone afford food with soaring prices like these. I earn a pretty decent salary (well, if you consider not getting a raise in almost two years decent, that is!) and I know for a fact that the times are going to get tougher. Imagine those people who earn very little and have more that 2 or 3 children. Just buying rice alone is going to be a huge problem for them. The future doesn't look really good anymore.

I think I'm going to have to start paying for all my grocery shopping in cash from now on, cos the interest alone on the outstanding payments in my card is killing me. Imagine the amount of money I could save by not using my card and saving on outstanding interest. Every cent counts these days. It's either that or I get some credit card advice on how to get a card with lower interest rates. I'm sure there are loads out there.

I guess the first place to stop would be at Low-Interest-Credit-Cards-Offers.com cos they provide some of the best top credit card offers available out there from companies such as Visa, American Express, MasterCard and Discover. You're able to search and compare up-to-date information of the best credit card offers such as instant approval, low rates, balance transfers and so much more all just at the click of a mouse. In fact why I am I even telling you guys this? Go over and see for yourself. I did and I came away impressed.

Ok, I need to take a break for awhile. My headache is getting worse and it's not only cos of the glare from my monitor.
.

Ribbit, Ribbit ...

I'm in such a lazy mood today. I don't feel like doing anything at all. I'm kinda free in the office right now. No work on my desk for me to complete at the moment, no pesky client harassing me for something or other, nothing at all. And that is making me even more lazier.

And as much as this may sound like blasphemy, I'm even too lazy to blog. But since I have nothing else better to do, blogging was the only other option or else I'd be falling asleep right here on my table (yaawwwwwnnnnnn ...). And it's only 10.30 in the morning. Still a long way to go before I can go home.

But I suppose I should be thankful for the free time I'm having right now. No work that needs to be completed, no pesky clients asking me to do something that they always consider urgent. I should just sit back and bask in the full glory of getting bored out of my mind.

Wifey's also not online for me to chat with. She's probably busy with preparing the younger fellows lunch I guess. I could call my buddy and gossip over the phone but my boss is in and I don't want her thinking I'm so free in the office ... hahaha ... I've also got absolutely no idea or inspiration of what to post. Nothing comes to mind at the moment. It's just one of those days when the mind works on auto pilot and goes into its lazy mode.

At least there's the American Idol Finale to look forward to on Thursday or is that today? Darn, I have no idea at all. I'll need to go check that out in a while. I'd be absolutely pissed off if I actually miss the finals. And this time wifey isn't going to yahoo the results earlier like she always does. We don't want to know who the winner is until we watch the show. So, if any of you do know who the winner is, PLEASE don't tell me. If you do, I'll seriously send Spiff over to annoy you for the next 5 years or so ... hahaha ...

It is going to be a blast of a finals, that's for sure. I've got my favorite David Cook there against that oh so sweet little boy called David Archuleta. I think the two of them deserve to be in the finals. They were the most consistent of the lot and all the best to the both of them. Though I would so much rather see DC win, I've no issues with Archuleta winning either. It's going to be a finals to look forward to, ya?

And I'd also like to take this time to thank Rozella for the 'You Are Toadally Awesome' award she gave me recently. I've been given loads of awards from so many of you nice bloggers out there and I feel ashamed that I haven't even displayed half of them yet. There's awards from Nessa, Syura, Marzie and countless more that I've actually forgotten what some of them are (*hangs head down in utter shame*). So sorry ya, people. I'll definitely go dig back all the awards I got from you guys and dedicate an entire post just for them soon :D


Anyway, thanks again Rozella for the Toadally Awesome award. Ok now to sneak in that little assignment I have on office space Connecticut into this post as well ... LOL! You guys know me, any opportunity to make a little money ...
.

Me And My Pants ...

This morning, my boss came in, looked at me and asked me whether I had any appointments or not? What a peculiar question. I replied in the negative and was kinda curious with the very fact that she asked me such a question that I just had to ask her what she meant by it?

She said seeing as how I was in really casual clothes and all that, she presumed that I didn't have any appointments.

'Huh?' was my answer.

But boss, I'm always in casual clothes and only on days when I have a presentation would I even consider dressing up. It's not like you don't know me by now.' I continued ...

She didn't say anything to that, she smiled and just said:

'that's true, you're always under dressed ...'

Hmmmm, I think the fact that we're still having staffing problems must be weighing heavily on her mind cos she's never asked me a question like that before, well, not in a long time that is ... I'm the jeans and tee shirt kinda person. I know my job description requires me to meet people and do presentations and stuff but most of the time, I come in to work in jeans with either a short sleeved shirt or a tee shirt.

I just can't stand being in a necktie, log sleeve shirts and slacks all day long and normally, I only wear them when I first meet a new client or only for presentations, I've been known to actually wear jeans and short sleeve shirts for some presentations even. Not very professional I know but hey, being comfortable is what matters, right?

I'm only really comfortable when I'm in something casual, in fact if they allowed me to come in to work with Bermudas I definitely would. LOL! I'm pretty much the casual and simple kinda person. Nothing makes me happier than coming in to work in my favourite Dockers and my well used and comfortable blue tee shirt that I love so much that wifey says one day people are going to think I don't own any other tee shirts ... hehehe ...

Come on, honestly, what can be better than a nice pair of well worn khaki Dockers attached to your lower body all day long? When I'm in the midst of work, I tend to sit just about anywhere and my trusty Dockers is perfectly cut out for the rough stuff. I've always loved my Dockers, especially the straight fits and I've been using them for as long as I can remember that I cannot picture myself being comfortable in anything else. My pants and me have seen so many ups and downs together that if my pants could talk, what a tale it would tell you guys :D

The things we've both been through, the stuff we've seen together, I could probably make a nice little movie and submit it as a TV commercial for the Dockers contest at www.nbc.com/Dockers and maybe even win a prize or something. Now, that would be awesome wouldn't it? Actually, the more I think about this, the more excited I am about participating in this Dockers contest ... hehehe ... I mean, I do work in an advertising agency and it shouldn't be all that hard to make a nice creative story about my pants.

And I'd better win or else there'll be hell to pay ... hahaha ... ok, ok, just kidding, maybe second prize or something, I don't want to appear to be too greedy now. Wait a minute, there is a second prize isn't there?




.

Starvation Is Spreading To All The Nations ...

I'm not the sort of person who will do a tag or meme immediately. I'd normally keep them piling up until the the tag alarm on my desktop goes off or the tag police come knocking at my door will I even consider doing the tag. That's the lazy sort of person I am.

Now, this tag that I got from Rozella over the week just couldn't be put on the back burner. I decided that I would do this tag first cos it's actually for a really good cause. While we're all complaining about the price of food going up but still stuffing ourselves silly with good food, myself included, have we ever given a thought for the many people suffering out there due to the lack of food?


I doubt many of us do. We have the tendency to even waste our food and throw them away. I've been guilty of this sin many times myself. And I must say after seeing some of the images of suffering and hungry children out there that I feel absolutely guilty for the times I've stuffed myself silly at Tony Roma's, McDonalds, KFC or even at the local Chinese restaurant. Some of these poor suffering people have never and would never in their live time taste some of these food yet there I am happily munching away on a nice Big Mac! Shame on you, Nick.

Well, I can't really do much to help solve the current food crisis that's happening worldwide, but I can do my part, no matter how small it is. Below are some links for a few of many organizations out there doing their best for the hungry people of the world. What you can do to help out is click on a link, play a game, click to feed, make a donation, sign a petition, purchase an item even. Any small gesture is a big help to a starving child.





I'm going to do my part today, what about you? I'm imploring upon you guys to join me in spreading the word of the good work of these sites by linking them and getting some of your blogging buddies to help in any way they can. It won't cost you anything except your time.

So, I'm tagging everyone in my blogroll and I EXPECT you to do this or I'll sit here and bawl my eyes out all day! I'm serious! So, I'd better see this tag in your blogs the next time I come a calling or I'll get Spiff to harass the day and night lights out of you guys. You wouldn't want a fate like that to befall upon you now, would you? LOL!
.

The Rain God

There are some things in life that are constant and will never change. And one of them is rain after you've just washed your car! It never fails to happen, well to me anyway. Not once have I ever been proven wrong about this. Every time I wash my car, I know for a fact it will rain. The more effort I put into washing it, the harder and longer the rain will be.

We've been having quite a hot couple of weeks. It's that time over here when the dry season starts and it's relentlessly hot all day long with not a drop of rain in sight. It's so hot at times that it saps the very energy from your body. And wifey is prone to the heat more than I am.

It's a nice long 3 day weekend over here seeing as how Monday is a public holiday for us. It's the celebration of Wesak for the Buddhist and we get the day off. We knew it was going to be a hot day, so the moment we woke up from sleep on Saturday, we decided to head out to one of the nearby malls and hang out there. It would be much cooler than staying home.

But of course we couldn't stay out all day and after hours of walking and doing a little shopping, we eventually ran out of things to see and buy. So we headed home, dreading the heat that was going to be waiting to greet us. Worse still, my house faces the evening side of the sun and it tends to make the walls and everything even hotter.

Once we' were back, I decide to do a little spring cleaning in the kitchen seeing as how the weather wasn't going to permit me to take a nice little nap. And while wifey does the laundry, I start with the kitchen cleaning. Pretty soon, we're both sweating away profusely and wifey says to me:

Wifey: 'It's so hot, I feel like I'm melting. I wish it would rain elephants and hippos!'

Me: 'Well, I could make it rain if you want?'

Wifey: 'Don't you go starting your naked rain dance in the yard nonsense now, honey'

Me: 'No, no naked rain dance routine this time, I can make it rain for you'

Wifey: Urmm, sayang, the heat must have really fried your brains la'

Me: No, seriously, let me go wash my car and I guarantee you it'll rain!'

She looks at me skeptically without saying anything for a few seconds and then says she'll even help me wash the car to see if my theory is true or not. So after finishing up with the kitchen and the laundry, we head out to go wash my car. True to her word she even helps me wash it and we have fun splashing water all over the car and also on us. Thank god the boys were in the park nearby or the whole front porch would have been flooded. Besides it was fun playing with water on a blistering day.

But after the wash, the skies were as bright as a fluorescent on steroids. Not a single sign of clouds at all. Wifey gives me this 'told you it wasn't going to work' look but I told her, don't worry cos I'll bet my bottom dollar it will rain the moment we go out. And since we didn't go out right after washing my car, it didn't rain. But I was unperturbed. I knew the rain gods well, and I knew that the moment I drive my glistening and shiny clean car out, it WILL rain.

And true enough, the very next morning on Sunday, just as we were about to go out, we hear thunder in the distance and the skies start turning black and as I start reversing out of the drive way, it starts to pour those elephants and hippos that wifey wanted. I look an her and give her this smug look with 'I told you so' written all over my face! Told you I knew the rain gods well ... hehehe ...

It's always been like this ever since I've had my car. It will always rain after I wash it. It never fails. There are times when I would spend hours washing and waxing and shining my car in the blazing heat. It will be bright and sunny while I'm doing the clean up job, but the moment I finish, keep all my stuff, take my bath and want to head out for a spin to show off my shining and clean car, the darn skies would open up. It ALWAYS happens. Sometimes I even wonder why I bother washing my car.

Well, wifey is a true believer now and she's even prompting and encouraging me to wash my car again ... hahaha ... but honey, there is only so many time I can wash my car in a day, it's already as clean as it can be and my car is so old, it might just rust away from too much washing ... LOL! But since I love you so very much, I'll wash it again for you tomorrow :D

Hmmm, maybe I should offer my services as a rain maker or something. Who knows I just might make more money than doing this assignment on acne treatments ... hehehe! So, anyone in need of some rain?
.

A Quiet Day At The Office ...

Anyone knows of a good patch of grass? I'm probably going to have to live off it for the rest of the month cos I just saw the bill for my car! Darn, just what in heavens name did he change? At that price I at least expect the car looking like a Ferrari F30 or something.

Well, the car is fixed, for now anyway. I expect it to be behaving itself for a long while at least cos this time if it gives me any more grief I'm going to sell it to the scrap yard! I've had enough of spending my hard earned money on it and denying myself the simple pleasures in life like that nice cool sleek Xbox 360 I've had my eye on for ages ... hehehe ...

Well, my mood is so much better today even though it's been a hectic and busy day for me. We still haven't sorted out our staffing issues yet and I hope it gets sorted out real soon. I've got loads of work to complete.

'So, what are you doing blogging then?'

Hey, didn't you hear me say my mood is sooooo much better today? So, could you kindly butt out and go lie on a train track or something! Like I was saying before being so rudely interrupted, we still haven't sorted out the staffing issues just yet. And right now, my boss and me are alternating as receptionist, clerk and customer service all rolled into one, with her taking the morning session and me in the afternoon.


And boy, I am not liking it one bit. I hope we can get some new staff pretty soon or my work is going to be piled up so high, I'll need a ladder just to get to it. I never realized the amount of phone calls and inquiries, not forgetting suppliers who chase for their payments that we get in a day. I always took it for granted that someone else would answer the incoming calls. It's tough work answering all those calls and handling customer service and stuff like that over the phone. I must remember not to take anyone here for granted anymore ... LOL!

On top of that, I have no idea how the admin, or should I say previous admin people did their work here cos I have no idea where all their files and stuff are. But one thing I've realized is that the previous people were darn messy in what they did. Their tables and surrounding areas are such a mess and I hate messy places! It took me almost half the day just cleaning up their tables.

I am by nature a cleanliness freak. I can't stand a place being dirty and even in my own room in the office I tend to keep it neat and tidy. No matter how busy I am, the moment I finish whatever it is I was doing, I'd always put everything back in its original place. My table is always totally neat that sometimes people think I don't actually do any work ... LOL!

Even at home, I'm perpetually cleaning and sweeping the room, dusting the bed and the kids know better than to jump on it after I just made the bed. Even wifey is the same, she can't stand an untidy place especially when it comes to our room. We always keep it neat and tidy. There are times that I've been known to wash the bathroom at 11.00 or 12.00 midnight just cos it looks dirty to me. I just can't wait till morning.

I've always been a cleanliness freak since I was young. Out of all my cousins, I had the cleanest and tidiest part if the room (we used to share rooms when we were little). And sometimes they'd dirty their side so awfully that I'd go and clean up their side too cos it just hurts my eyes looking at their mess. After awhile I think those pesky rascals just purposely kept their side dirty cos they'd know eventually I'd clean it up for them. I knew I was being suckered but I couldn't live in a pigsty and that's just what the room would be if I left it dirty for too long.

And that trait has stuck with me till this very day. Even with my car, I used to wash it every other day and cleaned out the carpets inside every morning. I couldn't stand to see fingerprints on the windows and if I had just washed and waxed my car, I would make everyone dust their feet before even thinking of stepping foot inside. And wifey and the kids would be warned not to touch the windows ... LOL!

Well, that was quite a while ago. I must shamefully admit that of late, I've been neglecting the cleanliness of my car, I guess that's why it breaks down on me so much. Maybe it's craving for attention ... LOL! OK, baby, I'll start taking good care of you again. I'll wash and wax you every weekend and I'll scold anyone who touches your windows, okay baby? Wait a minute, didn't I just say my car was a guy car? Ewwww, what am I saying? LOL!

Anyway, it's my turn at being receptionist, clerk and customer service at the office now and I'm all alone here but I must say it is kind nice and quiet. I just might start getting used to this ... LOL! And since I'm all alone here, no one is going to disturb me while I work on this colon cleanse assignment that I have, well unless of course the darn phones start ringing again!
.

The Jack Of All Trades

The week is turning into one crazy and weird one and it's only Wednesday. What did I do to deserve such a fate? Why me? Haven't I been a good little boy so far? I haven't done anything evil or mischievous for months, well, lets not count dumping that booger into my clients drink last week ... hehehe ...

Actually I'm not the only one whose week is turning out bad. My boss is also having a pretty lousy week so far. Practically everyone (which wasn't much to begin with) has decided to quit working here! Yes, quit for no apparent reasons and some with some pretty strange reasons even. We're not a huge company, just enough people to make the operations run smoothly and when even one takes off, it cogs the system some.

Right now, including my boss, her driver and me, there is only one other staff left and that is going to be a huge problem for us right now. I have absolutely no idea why the heck they all decided to up and leave and neither does my boss. I've just got a new project from my banking client and with no staff, that is going to be a great big problem for me. Darn, I must have done something really bad in my previous life.

Ok, before you all go saying that maybe the staff are not happy working here, the pay is lousy (well, in a way it is), the boss is fierce (only when you screw up, but then so is every boss), the planet mars is not in conjunction with Venus or something, the working environment here is pretty flexible and not really that stressful so it's come as a total shock to me for this to happen. As long as you do and complete your work, you can do pretty much anything at all and the boss is okay with it, even blog ... hehehe ...

There was no sign of any of this happening at all. When work started on Monday, one of the girls didn't turn up for work, but that was not something unusual cos she tends to do that quite a bit. As usual, she doesn't answer her cell, which is also nothing new. We're used to her ways. So we let that be. But until today she has not returned to work!

Then, a little later in the afternoon, another 2 guys who just came back from some appointments, decided to leave all their office stuff on the reception table and walk out. No reasons given, no explanations, nothing. They leave just like that. Things are beginning to start looking weird.

Then yesterday, another girl decides not to come in saying she needed to settle some accident matters that she had a few weeks back with the police. She was supposed to come back to work in the afternoon but she never turned up (which wasn't all that surprising with the way the police department works over here). But calling her cell to find out turned out to be useless cos she never answered.

Ok, guess she's not going to come back for the day. Never mind. Then today, she texts my boss saying that her husband has restricted her from working and has confiscated her car keys, house keys and everything. WTF? That has to be the weirdest story I've ever heard in my lifetime and I've pulled some gems before.

I'm already suffering as it is. There is practically no one in the office except for my other colleague and he has stuff to do outside. So I'm stuck in the office today playing the parts of a clerk and receptionist on top of my own load of work which has now just quadrupled. This is crazy, really crazy. I'm still in utter shock that everyone just decides to leave at the same time.

And on top of that, my car repair bills is just sky rocketing. The car still isn't fixed yet and the mechanic says he needs to change this and that and also that, oh and not forgetting this too, and it looks like the cost is going to sky rocket from its initial quote. I'm probably going to be eating grass next month. Wait a minute, I am already eating grass!

Maybe I should seriously look into getting a new credit card or something. I'm sure there are a lot of balance transfer cards that I could look for out there, something that will give me a better deal with an even better credit limit with reasonable interest rates to help out in times like these. And I know just where to look to compare credit cards online. None other than Better-Credit.com! They have loads of data on credit cards that you can run a comparison on just which one would suit your needs perfectly. I'm definitely going to check them out.

What a week it's turning out to be. I'm hoping nothing more serious happens anytime soon cos I don't think I could take anymore crap like this. I'm on the verge of exploding and screaming my lungs out but I suppose that wouldn't really do much good would it? I'm going to post this now, go outside and take some long deep breaths and then come back in and continue whatever work I have that's piling up already. I hope you guys are having a much better week than I am.
.

The Road Trip ...

What can I say? Mondays are evil and should be banished to eternal damnation for all eternity. I swear Monday's just come snickering around waiting to pounce on me every single darn week! Please, bear with me while I scream my lungs out here in the blogsphere:

'ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

There, that felt much better. Not that it's going to improve my mood for today one bit, but it felt better! And part of the culprit for ruining my Monday, in fact my whole week even is my wonderful car! Yes, that bum again. My car is a guy so I can call him a bum!

It's started giving me it's usual mechanical headaches again. You know, sometimes I don't know whether that car hates me or likes me? I can't really tell the difference anymore. For one thing, he tends to run just fine when I'm short of cash, but the moment I get my hands on some extra cash, the bum can instantly smell it and would start acting up.

That's why I really can't tell if he likes me or not. I mean, he will almost never break down when I'm short of funds and would only act up the moment I have extra cash with me. It never fails, not ever! Now, you could read that as my car being nice and considerate to me. It doesn't want me to suffer by breaking down when I'm broke and so it waits till I have money and then it breaks down. Or you could look at it as having a dementedly mean streak and just love seeing me spend whatever extra money I have on him.

What do you think? You think my car likes me or hates me? Which is it? Come on, speak up already ... LOL! I'm confused. I'm leaning more towards the part that he hates me, he has this sick demented perversion of seeing me part with my hard earned money on him. It just can't let me spend my money on more important and practical things like a Sony PS3, an Xbox or something. What? Those are practical stuff, ok :D

Anyways, the darn demented evil thing is at the mechanics at the moment being fixed for something really expensive and I'm carless for the whole day or maybe even two. I hate not having my own transport. As silly as this may sound, I seriously have no idea how to take a taxi or even a bus over here! Yes, it's true.

Ever since the day I bought my first ever car, I've almost never taken a taxi or a bus. If I had to send my car for repairs back then, I'd always borrow a car from a friend or even the mechanic for the duration of the repairs unfortunately this time there was no spare car available. If the car isn't fixed by today, I'm going to have some major difficulties getting home. I should have brought my running shoes and just run home after work ... LOL!

I'll probably try and borrow the office van just to get home and back to work the next day seeing as how the van isn't used by anyone after office hours and is just parked here outside my office anyway. It would sure beat having to figure out how to get a taxi or even a bus ... hahaha ... I told you I was really serious when I said I didn't know how to use public transport.


Maybe after it's fixed I may take a nice sabbatical from work, grab the family and go on a road trip driving around in Germany or something, you know, maybe visit a few of the more famous cities like Berlin, Frankfurt, Köln or even Munich. It sure would be a great thrill to take my junk of a car and cruise along that famous Autobahn they have. Though I doubt if they'll let a car as slow as a turtle on that high speed motorway ... hehehe ...

Well, if they don't allow me on their Autobahn's, then there's always the other federal roads like the Bundesstraßen that I could mosey along and tour the country. I'm sure they'll let me on those roads. Accommodations shouldn't be too much of a problem cos there are loads of Berlin Hotels, Köln Hotels, Frankfurt Hotels and even Munich Hotels that are conveniently located for last minute travelers by road. And I would really be tempted to actually go on a road trip if I wasn't afraid my car would fall apart on me the moment I drive out of my driveway! LOL!
.

You're Simply The Best!

Before I start with my long winded postings, I'd like to wish all Mommies out there a beautiful Mother's Day. And to you, my beautiful wife and mother of two hyper active boys, I'd especially like to wish you an even more beautiful and memorable Mother's Day. Me and the boys would like you to sit back, kick up your feet and just rest on this wonderful Sunday while we do all the work for you. Tomorrow you can clean up our mess ... LOL!

Wifey and me didn't really celebrate the occasion today. We just went to church, headed to Carrefour and then came home. No fancy lunch was planned and no romantic dinner in the pipeline for later. Don't worry, I'm not being a cheapskate like always am ... hehehe ... We're both on a diet remember and it's exactly 14 days since we've been on it and we don't want to ruin it just yet. Besides, it's not easy finding places to eat when you're on a diet.

But that doesn't mean she didn't get anything. Well, she thought she wasn't going to get anything cos the whole week leading to Mother's day, I gave this totally unconcerned and uninterested attitude towards the occasion. When all the while, I had my scheming mind working on what to get her. No way was I going to get her flowers cos as much as it may seem romantic and all, the darn things die and besides, I wanted the gift to be a surprise from the boys as well.

Actually the boys didn't even know I was planning to get a gift for her from them. I had to keep it that way cos my younger boy cannot and I mean absolutely cannot keep secrets. Which is a good thing cos if he does anything bad or mischievous, no matter how hard he tries to hide it, he'll always blurt it out eventually. So I just had to keep this a secret from them as well. Now, the hard part was figuring out something practical that wifey would like.

Wifey, thank the good Lord, is not the jewelry loving or the expensive gift kind of person (well, maybe she knows what a cheapskate she has for a husband ... LOL!). She's the kind who would appreciate a more practical gift. I finally thought of the perfect present for her. You see, wifey loves reading too, just like me. And one of her favourite authors is Sophie Kinsella. So I thought why not go and buy her one. Not the worlds most expensive or romantic gift, I know, but I'm sure she'll enjoy it.

On Friday, after lunch, I told wifey I was going out to the mechanic to have my car looked at (it's giving me some major grief right now, but that's a post for another time) when in true fact I went to search for her gift. I had to tell her this little white lie cos normally if I say I'm heading back to the office, I'll always log on to my yahoo messenger the moment I reach the office and chat with her (I just can't get enough of her ... ok, you guys can stop rolling your eyes now ... LOL!) and she'd be suspicious if I didn't log on, seeing as how it would only take me 5 minutes to reach the office.

So, there I was at the bookstore comparing Sophie Kinsella books, there were a few titles and I didn't know which to choose, when suddenly I see some of the other customers giving me this weird look. They look at me, then look at the books I have in my hand and look at me again. Oh my god, I suddenly realized. There I was, dressed in jeans and tee shirt trying to look as manly and macho as possible checking out a host of girly Sophie Kinsella novels! Geez, I could imagine what was running through their minds! I quickly make up my mind, decide on a title, pay for it and head the hell out of there in a flash. There goes my manly macho image ... LOL!

Anyway, after that pretty embarrassing incident, I head to the office and make a card for her. I never buy cards if I can help it. What's the use of working in an advertising agency and having to buy cards when I have the resources to make my own right? Ok, ok, I'm a cheapskate, I know! So, the next morning, yes, I actually thought Mother's day was on Saturday (I told you I'm not a very bright person) I called my younger boy upstairs and gave him the gift and told him to go give it to mommy and wish her a happy Mother's day. He looks at me a little puzzled (probably wondering why I'm giving wifey a mother's day gift a day early), shrugs and heads to the kitchen and gives the gift to wifey. I love the look of surprise on her face and she liked the gift so much that she finished reading the book in one day! LOL! Oh and she never realized that I thought Mother's day was on Saturday ... hahaha ...

And she admitted later that she wasn't expecting anything for Mother's day. And that she was really surprised and happy when she did get something. Guess my being uninterested about the whole occasion worked like a charm :D Maybe I should take up acting or something ... hehehe ... I just love doing something she totally doesn't expect. It makes the surprise all the more nicer, don't ya think?

And honey, before I end this post, let me tell you that the boys and I appreciate everything you do for us all year round. For taking care of us 3 kids ... hehehe ... for the love you shower upon us and for the times you shout at us for messing up the place and behaving like little children ... hehehe ... we just want to say that we LOVE you very much. You're simply the best! And maybe next year I'll surprise you with some religious jewelry instead! Now, that would be a real surprise ... LOL!
.

Oh Happy Day ...

Saturday. I've always loved Saturday's and today is no exception. I slept in a little, well as late as it was possible before my younger boy pounces in the room and starts demanding for his breakfast, that is. It's become such a weekly Saturday occurrence that I'm used to it.

As usual, the first things that wifey and me would do is head to the PC and check on our blogs, emails, and see if we have any assignments in our inbox. Well, I do have quite a few, so that's good news, more money to be made for me. So, while wifey was having her turn at the PC, I looked out the room window from upstairs and saw this moving lorry downstairs at my old hag neighbours house.

Ok, most of you who read my silly postings here would know of my ongoing predicament with both my neighbours, the Neanderthal on the left and the old hag on the right. While the Neanderthal has become a much nicer neighbour in the months that he's been here, the old hag has gotten from bad to worse. And there are many a times I prayed for the earth to open up and swallow her whole.

Anyways, back to the lorry downstairs. The van reverses and parks itself in the neighbours driveway and I see them start uploading furniture into it. I let out a squeal of delight.

'They're moving, honey, they're moving!'

I excitedly tell wifey. You could see the delight in her face too. What a glorious Saturday this is turning out to be and it's only 11.00am :D This may not be nearly as good as the earth opening up and swallowing them but it almost as good. They've been, well the old hag really, giving us loads of grief for the past year or so with her selfish and irrational actions that I've felt like strangling her many times over.

I'm going to enjoy the day standing at my porch and patiently watch the mover upload everything in the lorry. I think I'm going to make myself a nice tall glass of orange juice, grab a book and sit outside my porch and watch the moving process and when that moving lorry finally leaves, I'm going to stand up and give it a big round of applause. Good riddance I would say. There really is a god that looks out for silly old grouches like me ... hehehe ...

The only thing that frightens me is that maybe the new people who move in here are worse off than them. Ok, you god that looks out for silly old grouches like me, please, oh please make my new neighbours someone decent. Not someone who was just released from drug rehab or something. And if it wouldn't be too much trouble god, please make my new neighbour Jennifer Garner ... hahaha ...

Wifey: 'Honey, you're hallucinating again, it's time for your medicine already!'
.

Me & My Headaches ...

I know I shouldn't be blogging right now. In fact I shouldn't even be staring at the PC at all. I've got this horrendous throbbing headache since early this afternoon. But I couldn't help myself. I'm kinda free right now and I just couldn't sit here in my office not doing anything at all, especially not touch my PC and check my blog, right?

That would be blasphemous wouldn't it? Having free time and not blogging! And using something like a headache as an excuse! Shame on me if I did ... LOL! So, here I am, with this pounding at the back of my head that feels like I have Gloria the Hippo from Madagascar and those pesky Lemurs (is that what they were?) doing a jig on my head and going :

'She likes to move it, move it,
We like to move it, move it,
You like to move it, move it ...'

I actually knew I was going to have a headache later in the day the moment I woke up from sleep this morning. I can sense stuff like this. The instant I woke up, I felt a little heavy in the head and that to me is normally a sign of a headache later in the day. And I was not proven wrong (as much as I wish I had been) cos somewhere around 10am or so, I started to feel the first tiny throbbing of the beginnings of a major headache.

Since young I've always been able to tell when I would get a headache, it's like a little talent that I have (albeit a really stupid one) and normally I'd pop a few painkillers to keep them in check before they hit. But I've taken so many of them in the past that I've grown immune to them. Bad, I know, but it's too late already.

Back then, whenever I had a headache I would only need one or maybe 2 tablets to suppress the pain, now even 4 at one go is not effective and I've just given up taking them, unless the pain is totally unbearable. These days I just get wifey to give me a nice massage and most of the time it works so much better than any painkiller I know. Unfortunately this time it didn't work.

She did give me a nice massage this afternoon when I was home for lunch and the pain subsided a little but it's back with a vengeance. I guess I'm going to pester her again for another massage when I get back in the evening ... hehehe ... I'm glad I don't get this headaches too often. Most of the time it happens when I sleep too long or I don't get enough sleep at nights, which is really seldom for a sleepy head like me.

But back when I was a kid, I used to suffer from head splitting migraines. It it used to occur quite often that I'd even miss school, which wasn't a good things cos I'd be laid up in bed in total darkness (well, as much darkness as could be achieved in the afternoon, that is) with all the curtains drawn and suffering in pain. And I was only about 9-10 years old at that time.

My mom took me to the hospital to actually get me checked out cos she was afraid it was something more serious, which thank the good Lord, it wasn't. And in time the migraine totally vanished and I was glad that it did. It really gave me such a horrendous time. I could remember all my cousins would be playing happily or watching TV and I could not join them cos every move I made sent loads of hammer like pain shooting through my brains (what little I had anyway). I wonder if my mom had taken out any medical insurance for me back then?

The worse thing about a headache is actually getting one and you're not able to do anything about it cos you're in the midst of work and have no access to painkillers or in my case, wifey's magic massages. I remember about 2 or so years ago. We were in the midst of preparing a parade float for the the national day celebrations for one of my government clients.

On the eve of the event, we had to transport the almost completed float all the way from Petaling Jaya to Putrajaya. As the float was a darn big and slow moving vehicle, we left like 12.00am in the morning when traffic was light. It took us almost 6 hours to travel from point to point which would normally take no more that an hour tops with a car.

I didn't get enough rest, enough sleep, enough food for the entire time I was there (3 whole days) and we were like in the middle of Putrajaya, our administrative capital where the parade was going to be held and that godforsaken place is famous for not having anything at all and that was when this huge and I mean really HUGE headache decided to keep me company for the duration of the three sleepless days I was there.

I didn't know where to find a pharmacy to buy any painkillers. None of my colleagues and production crew had any and on top of that the client was there to oversea the final preparations and she was a BITCH with a capital B! I was in pain throughout. I could feel my head throbbing. It really felt like it was going to explode and I thought I was going blow a blood vessel in my head and collapse right there .

That was the worst headache that I had to endure for 3 whole days and nights that I can hardly remember how I drove home safely after the whole thing was over. All I know is I reached home and slept for an entire day and a half without waking up at all. From that day onwards, it thought me a lesson that I needed to always have some painkillers in my car at all times.

In fact I think I'd better go check if I still have some cos my headache just picked up a few notches already. And I seriously better step away from this PC as well or the glare is just going to make things even worse for me. Honey, you'd better have those magic fingers of yours all ready for me when I get home cos I'm sure going to badly need that massage of yours!
.

Monsters Are Made Of These!

I was not intending to post anything at all today. But then I was blog hopping a little earlier and came across this very sick post that made me seethe in anger that I wrote about it in my other blog, Spiff. And I just couldn't not write about it here too. I'm still in rage and I need to let it out and also send a warning to every parent out there with little girls.

What I'm talking about is something I read on The Obnoxious 5xmom's blog about this pedophile named Albert and here is what she had to say:

Moms with young daughters, watch that you do not have this stalker name

Albert

who may use some other extensions like the year 1951

and carries some hotmail account like

alvertxu2007may

and suspiciously comes from |219.95.3.179

lurking in your blog.

Take this as a serious warning because this pedo is keeping a very repulsive, sick, perverted blog which contains pedo matters and adult contents.

The blog is here : albertxuling2007.blogspot.com/

I went to this so called blog and what I saw and read in there was so repulsive that I was glad I didn't have breakfast or I would have puked it out all over my keyboard! I don't recommend that you go visit his site but if you do, please be forewarned that what you see in there is very sick!

It's no wonder that the world is what it is today with people like this living among us. He claims that it's only a fantasy of his to be with young girls. WTF! He claims he wasn't serious and it's only a joke. Yeah, right! I think if given an ounce of a chance, he'd fulfill every one of his sick fantasies in a flash!

I sincerely hope the authorities arrest this monster (apparently he's local cos his IP address is a fixed streamyx address) and lock him up for good. Throw away the key even! I have no tolerance for people like this. Children are sacred and no one has the right to violate them, fantasy or no fantasy.

Please people, take heed of this message and keep an eye on your kids. The world is no longer a safe place with monsters like this living among us!
.

The Diet. Part II.

It's been close to ten days since I've been on my diet and I'm happy to say that I'm still alive ... LOL! I never thought I'd actually go through with it for this long cos in the past I've tried to go on diets before and they never last for more than 3 days tops! So nine whole days is a big achievement for me.

(*pats self on the back*)

And the amazing thing is, for a rice bucket (or a 'fan thong', as Cindy puts it) like me, I never thought I'd be able to give up my rice meals. But I have and for the past nine days, I've not touched a single grain of rice! Woohoo, I am so happy. In fact I think I've lost a few centimeters off my waist line already cos my jeans fit all that much more comfortably now and I had to buckle up my belt an extra notch!

(*doing the happy jig on my desk*)

When I first started this silly (back then it was) notion to join wifey with her diet programme, I didn't think I'd be able to give up a lot of my vices like my rice, my junk food, my greasy burgers, my fizzy drinks, etc, etc. It was REALLY hard initially. I kept craving for rice. I've never gone without rice for more than a day in my entire life so you can imagine the withdrawal symptoms I was going through.

It was hell coping the first few days. I already put my foot in my mouth and told wifey that I'll stick with her on the diet through thick and thin and with a promise like that I'd look like a loser if I gave up. So suffer I did the initial few days. We ate nothing but salads the first 3 days and I was practically hungry most of the time. The fact that I had images of steaming hot chicken rice and deliciously mouth watering nasi lemak (rice steamed in coconut milk) didn't help all that much.

I was screaming for my chicken curry, my beef rendang, my fried eggs, my greasy burgers, my junk food. I thought I'd lose my mind. I was craving for all these rich and fattening food that I would have even eaten ostrich feathers if it was offered to me. Slowly but steadily my system started getting used to my change in eating habits. I started to lose my cravings for rice. I stopped thinking about all that glorious food I was missing and actually started enjoying my new found healthy meals.

Soon, wifey and me started preparing different menus, we alternated between the salads and started making chicken sandwiches with wholemeal bread (I used to actually hate wholemeal bread!). We'd boil the chicken and then shred the meat, well wifey anyway cos I'd put the whole chunk of chicken meat in there, add our lettuce and stuff and we'd have that for dinner. Oh and I'd also have chicken soup from the chicken we boiled. And that alone filled us up considerably. And without having a single grain of rice at all :D

And you know what? I actually feel so much more perkier these days. I don't feel bloated after meals anymore and I don't feel as lethargic as I was before. So I guess the dieting and change in the way I'm eating has helped a lot. And the best part is I don't crave for rice or junk food anymore. That was by far the hardest thing for me to achieve in this diet programme I'm on. But I'm glad I stuck it out.

The only drawback with this whole diet thingy is finding places out there that caters to what wifey and me eat these days. Almost everywhere you look, there isn't really any restaurants selling healthy meals out there. And I don't blame them, people wanna eat good food, not some salad or things that don't taste good, right? Take for instance last Saturday, we went to Sunway Pyramid (I kinda love the place after the built the new wing, makes it feel like Mid Valley) and when it came for lunch, we couldn't find anything that would cater for us as a family.

We had the boys with us and we couldn't like force them to go some place and eat salads, they'd cause a riot. Those two are the chicken, burgers and fries kinda kids and fast food was definitely a no-no for wifey and me, well, not at this stage anyway when we're just getting into a nice pattern with our meals. So, there I was, walking around the entire food wings of Sunway Pyramid looking for something that would please all of us.

And with the boys complaining of hunger and threatening to start a picket, we finally settled for Kenny Rogers Roaster cos that was the only place I knew where the kids would get what they want and we could get our salads. And to be honest, I wasn't really happy about it cos the salads were way too sour and the soup we ordered were way too lumpy though the boys happily gobbled up their meals. And the price was pretty steep as well. It cost us close to RM100 for the 4 of us. And to think Kenny Rogers Roasters started out as a fast food joint!

But what I really like about this whole diet thing is the fact that wifey and me will prepare our