the importance of not feeling ripped off

wife was in a sombre mood yesterday .As we hurried out of the house to get to work, she realized during lunch that she forgot her wallet. i gave her 10 bucks as she did not want the fifty.  she had breakfast with 2 pieces of cake and a drink which nearly cost her the whole 10 bucks.  she felt ripped off. she didn’t even eat the cake. she was not happy and felt bitter about it the whole day. i know how that feels.

when i stopped buying second hand handphones in 2004, i decided to get a SE-K500. went up to low yat and asked the guy on the other side of the telephone counter how much. ” only 700 ma…” the shite said. ” ok. tunggu ahh, saya mahu withdraw dulu” i told him. i went down 3 floors and got 800 cash and went straight back to him. as i was paying , the shite retracted his statement and said “750″. i was suprised. was my memory playing tricks? i asked again. and the sounds dribbling out of his pig eating lips were ..”750″. i was too tired to go haggle as nearly all the other phone stalls were closed and it was nearly 10pm in loyat. i paid. i felt ripped off. i cursed him and his family thru out the generations which started to happen about 50 plus years ago when they first came of a boat here.the stall is the phone stall near the escalator of the second floor. if you look to your left you can see the streamyx stall trying to sell you streamyx. so this shit phone stall is on your right.i vowed it would never happen again.

i dont give second chances when it comes to consumer stuff. i avoid all bad deals or deals which have no benefit or lessened benefit to me. if its too expensive , tell them to stick the product between their buttcheeks or something.we as the consumer can choose, and most certainly, can boycott.

the prices of things has risen since the  the recent fuel hike. but now  the oil prices are steadily going down. but the prices of the items are unchanged/risen more. my humble opinion is boycott the the traders who are making a killing and purchase wisely, don’t blame the government for everything. esp when the purchasing power is in everybodys hands.

Raya came and left

i had very high hopes for this years’ raya. managed to squeeze out the existing projects to finish out by 26 sept. the server was successfully put up and i just practically wished and pushed all other pending things for the week after raya. but it seems the raya spirit or easily put, the anticipation of raya was very weak. i could not find anyone singing or humming the evergreen classics of olde. quite depressing really. the only relief was some malay comedy on astro prima at 6 in the evening. at least filled up the laugh quota with that.  the exodus back to batu pahat was ok despite cutting in and out of coming traffic. i did not succeed in burning a lagu raya MP3 and playing it endlessly to Batu Pahat. i realised i have left the cd-rw in the office. at least the radios were playing raya songs new and old. nearly brought tears to my eyes. my wife was in the back with my son , calming him down for the car ride. i am a dad now. my son’s  first raya. i want to make sure he enjoys hari raya just as i do.

raya is really for the kids, i guess. nenek’s grand children have grown up and each cucu has his/her life before coming back to batu pahat and (horrors!) can’t wait to go back to their lives as soon as possible when raya’s done. we’re not kids anymore (groan). i have a kid of my own and dressing him up in baju melayu is one of the only things i can do to share the raya spirit ( eventho he doensn’t like wearing songkok, hehehe). there are rumours that certain cucu(s) wants to get married.it seems they arent kids anymore either. the cute girl cousins of yesteryears have grown up and instead of talking about cartoons, junk food and comics , now focus on handsets, dressing up like nymphs and boys. internet and globalization have reared their ugly heads. i only got 1 hari raya card. the rest were SMS’s.its the thought that counts. there are very few little ones this year. the hysterical laughter and gigling of little ones were few but loud just the same.if the rumours are true, nenek will have many more cicit to play with in the coming rayas.

Pakatan douchebags did not have their s*pt 16 take over. it failed. the taiwan trip was a funny to follow, seeing that pakatan mp stating and lying that they have met the BN mp’s and saying the defections are imminent is like the iraqi defence/information minister saying that iraq is victorious against the americans but knowing that the american marines are just at the door.

what i think

The dabate came and went. i read other blogs and got the usual response from A*war fanboys. “he’s full with facts, he’s showed S*abery alright!” was the mood set in the most blogs aligned towards A*war. But i was hoping to hear the alleged “real solution” to the rising fuel prices. What i got was 2.2. Yup 2.2. All this time dok menyalak about reducing less than 1.92, getting emotions up and people all riled up, then he gives you 2.2. One may wonder whether he actually read P*tronas financial reports before the debate and finally realizing that there is logic and motive behind the fuel hike. I wonder if P*tronas didn’t release the fact on the special dividen during the day before, A*war might not have ammo to whack S*abery.  I would like to say that  S*abery did a good job, minus the personal jabs on A*war (we could do without), he laid the facts and gave very good points one would not have realized. He told the low down on things and didn’t have to inlcude the word “rakyat” in every sentence( ok, nearly every sentence..) like A*war did. He told ( in my understanding) that it was a necessary evil to lessen the burden of the ruling government to allocate funds to other projects for the benefit of the rakyat. He did not use debatable theatrics to sway emotions. Using “rakyat this” and “rakyat that”, A*war kept on repeating the suffering of the rakyat. Yes , we the rakyat are suffering, now tell us the magic formula. And the magic formula was 2.2. I felt my time was wasted listening to the recycled garbage spewing out of his mouth.  Hey, i’m pro-government. At least S*abery didn’t use the same thing over and over. He said different relevant points to prove why the hike happened. P*R and A*war fanboys must have felt a victory, but i think the Thinking People won. The people who are not quick to get on the A*war-bandwagon-for-PM won. Kalau setakat oratorical (spelling?) skills with passion and emotion but points basi dok ulang-ulang pun tak guna. In the end, its the bottom line, why it happened, how to ease/combat the situation, how to live and accept. Everybody knows great orators (or alleged great orators who want to be PM) get fucked in the end, sooner or later the hearts-and-minds theory of bullshitting thru the masses just doesnt’ work, people see thru the smoke, get angry and shit hits the fan. Soekarno, Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin,… A*war? ( this one’s for Mr H and the discussion we had in that rainy day, sure we can judge what we see, but we must also judge the unseen. C’mon twice?!, even U*NO is not smart to try stick that one again.)… Good Job Datuk Shabery!

current bands i just dont get

a lot has happened since 2001, it seems there has been many genres sprouting out and to me its sounds really ridiculous. first on the list is the emo, i dont know much about it except it seems like a fugly off shoot of the period Marilyn Manson had his antchrist superstar album. that period was when black was cool and being some kind of pseudo-goth/Manson disciple was the in thing. but this emo trend (in my humble opinion) adds the feelings of about being sad, gloomy, moody and depressed. emo’s should jump off a clif  if it really meant to be an emo. screw emo.

next is the cookie monster bands which arereally heavy except its cookie monster on the vocals. thats why i still listen to Slayer. Slayer has meaning, not mindless growls and you can sing with the lyrics included in the inlay card of the cd.  contohnya, cannibal corpse, opeth, and anything remotely scandinavian metal. the forests of darkness theme is getting old. kids are not scared of the dark, in fact in this age of internet, kids are de-sensitized (spelling?) with the copious amounts of violence they see everyday. i think if metallers’ of old were to hang around with the weakling brats of today, they’d probably raise a couple of eyebrows. i’m still holding on to slayer. i have a kid now. let him have sesame street for as long as he possibly can , i’ll  try to hide the slayer cd’s for as long as i can.

lamb of god, trivium, MCR, … i just dont get it.

Something else..

I have a Mac Air in front of me. its my father in laws and its a elegant little, slim thing. i dont have the knack for all things Mac (even uploading songs on an Ipod is troublesome…) but this slim-lined laptop is amazing.makes this black compaq im using look fat. cost my father in law rm 10 grand.  the power outlet to the Mac air is somewhat magnetized and sticks automatically when you place the charger near it. the interface is just the same as any conventional mac but i cant find the cd/dvd drive anywhere. cant have em all , i guess.

not waxing in nor out

I stumbled upon Mr H’s blog today and read the latest entry. His non moving position stance since the knee operation has held him at bay from the usual martial arts activities he indulges in.  I used to go but now i do not want to go. that from is just to structured and formal. i have tried to learn several arts but failing to continue due to a disengaging sense of interest which usually starts high up then bleeds to a very low , then to nothing.plus the real reason is, i have no time for it. i know people would probably say. .” make time” but that form is not actually what i had in mind.  i tried it, can’t blame me for it but i couldnt click with it. nobody’s fault really .

im getting obese due to lack of exercise. in fact the fitness shop attendant snickerd when i got the BMI results back. i wont blog about the fight against fat. it’ll be a waste of space really, the real matter of the subject is to “do it” ( healthy lifestyle). i’ve been quite good with that. i’ll just keep on walking then. if it worked for the mysterious-keramat-fat-guy ( some guy i noticed walking straining distances, and lot 20+ kilos, by just power walking, i am true witness to this!) then it’ll work for me. I’ll make use of the camel-bak and trainers then.

About that form , hhmmmm, i’ll just stick to jap-slapping. if it worked for the Guys-in-black, then it’ll work for me. I read somewhere that the key element in a melee is to size up and plan mentally in the head. then get crazy. nothing breaks/distrupts the opponents thought process then controlled mania.

“..make sure you know what you’re up against, then give ‘em the good news..” or something like that.

big downturn

i’ve been playing the money markets for a while. it had been very profitable. this is the epitome of the “high risk, high return”. got a position on last Wednes, bein holding out on it until now. Dunno whether the funds can hold out. should have woke up early this morning and checked. kinda forgot the japs and the aussies are on the same time line as i am and not to be confused with brits and yanks. a lot of movement in the euro-dollar. nearly killed my account. have to start scalping fast.

some kids troubleshooting tips i’ve learned

being a dad for 9 months now, i have had the hands on experience of taking care of a little kid, Learning what the doctor told me and the wife, mom’s experiences and tips have also helped significantly in making a win-win situation that saves some precious hours of sleep for the parents and also less trauma for the kid. basically, when my son was born, the first few months and the months later were all boiled down to one thing:

“Knowing threshold limits for the kid.”

Once you have that sorted out, the Big 3 come into context. These big 3 are 3 elements that are most important to a child. maybe you have your own big 3, but this is mine…

BIg 1: The child cries because he/she is hungry. Feed the necessary amounts at the pre-determined time and he/she will settle down, give burp releasing back rub to put him/her to sleep for another 2-4 hours until next feeding time. –> Feed baby on time

Big 2: The child has colic. Colic is (in my opinion), the biggest reason for sleepless nites and bloodshot eyes work days. Waht the wifey and mother in law usually do is to rub some kind of warm comfortable ointment on the baby’s tummy. this will take a couple of minutes to kick in. when it does, my kid just gets lazy eyed and falls asleep.–> rub ointment on tummy when darkness falls, change in temperature will prob cause colic

Big 3:The child’s diaper is soiled. When the first 2 dont seem to work. you have to inspect down under. the child is new to the world and unlike the protective amniotic fluid he/she had when in the womb, the world is a place that tests the baby’s threshold 24/7. this is why babies are wrapped up all the time. when the baby soils the diaper many more times then what the diaper can hold, baby will feel uncomfortable and cry. changing the diaper toa fresh one before going to bed will save a lot of getting outta bed many hours later. believe me, i know.–> check diaper regularly

For those of the Islamic Faith, reading the Kursi a few tiimes will dispel the unseen from the baby’s view. the toddlers “veil” is not operational yet unlike us.

hopes this helps.

acceptable advice and stuff off my chest

a fren of mine, mr H asked me why i didnt listen to him when it came to movies, films, tv series etc. i just smiled and kept quiet.he stated this when i told him i actually enjoyed 24 season 5. i wanted to tell him straight in the face the reasons why, but held back as the-legandary-three was enjoying a candid moment of chatting and i did not want to ruin the nice sombre mood by telling him in detail that he wasn’t always right.  i’ve always readily accepted his advice before (circa late 1993-2001) but that ended after/during the LOCO years of mid 2001 to early 2006.  i do not like the theme of women sleeping around (DH, G’s A, that shitty clive owen-julia roberts-jude law- natalie portman movie) and the thought that its OK to do so. Mr H apparently likes it a lot. his choices were appalling to me and i promised myself i’d never get suckered by his taste of films again unless by some “snowflake in hell chance” someone i know tells me to watch it. 24 got lucky.

thinking back, it seems i have been a very agreeable person. back in the rented-bangi-house-years, i had known this arse from hell nicknamed saz who was a tiny, weakling ,spoilt brat who had the ego and selfishness the size of Jupiter with all the rings combined. this arse made it a point to exhibit a sense of superiority when ever the guys gathered around.  and since i was the quiet one laughing at peoples jokes and goofing off at the favorite gerai called “siam”. he made it a point to show how great a guy he is by belittling me and making me the end of the joke.what an arse. well, i didn’t really care what he said, but in a way it seems by tolerating his utterly stupid remarks, he (as Hanibal would say..) “betul-betul naik lemak”. during the end of the bangi-rented-years, i finally said to myself  ”the little shit is not going home happy., fuck what he thinks.” this is relevant to the fact that in future ,if there was a conversation , i’d make myself win, i’d debate and fight till the end. he would pull his classic shit-sour face ( that only his mother could love…) and drive home annoyed, irritated and hopefully angry. i remember a funny episode when me , hanibal and him were at “siam”.  he was boasting/actually comparing himself and me for the attention of the Desolate-Finance-Girl ( some girl i chased after in the final years at uni) and stating how he deserves her and he’s the man for her and all that bollocks.yup, total bollocks. i did not take this lying down. i told him of his apparent weakness, his fear of vegetables and his lack of balls to actually talk to the girl (it seems he was trying to leech every girl i knew) or any girl for that matter. he could not fight back due to lack of balls and rebelled by walking all the way the rented house ( “siam” was very near the rented Bangi house). my only regret that night was i did not have dinner at bangsar or uptown that night… i would have loved to see that idiot try to leg the 60+ journey back to bangi.

those days were fun.

the dinner club at 10 pm

Had dinner with guys just now. long time didnt have nite cap with dem boys heheh. kman is living in puchong wit wife and hanibal is doing ok. its been quite a while since the 3-man movie club did a review of motion pictures, past, present and future.

as a fan of jasan statham, hanibal warned of the hazards of ’in the name of the king’ and rightfully advised against the viewing. i guess all stars have hits and misses. we all agreed its a miss if you have burt reynolds as a king. iron man is cool. the science behind the armour and cgi makes it quite achievable in real life. hanibal and me rarely see eye-to-eye but we both agreed ‘24′ is cool. it is gritty enough to keep you glued to your seat. he has probably seen all the seasons and im waiting to se if my little brother has any other seasons. the last time i checked he had grey’s anatomy and that show im not too keen to watch. too chick-ish for me. the only relationship i’d like to see in tv is more of a fire fight/ gun fight between people. well you know…always good time for a benjo and a brew.

Mariah carey’s ” touch my body” single mmg layan!( rempit speak that is, hehehe)

Clearance Sale at PJ

There was a clearance sale in PJ a week back. Books were going cheap and it was a total spree. there was people everywhere. When my sis-in-law told me about it, i was kinda sceptical about it, thinking that its only for books which didnt sell that year. i was wrong. very wrong. Every title you could imagine was there. i couldnt find any comics, but managed to get 3 Andy McNab novels for 40% off. it was frenzied. i’m totally into Andy McNab writing. no frills just high octane thrills. being a ex-SAS guy does help. the narration of the books is concise and acurate. i googled some of the characters in the novels. there were hits on Google. the guy knows his stuff.probably McNab was there when it happened. Sis-in-law tells me this is a yearly thing. so, im gonna put off the book purchasing habit until the next clearance sale and get more deals.  Malaysians love to read books. the sheer numbers and the blocked roads of double-parked cars proves this. its just that the books are quite expensive and clearance sales like these are real gems to look out for. i got 3 novels and wife got some books for the kid.

there was a humorus snippet of conversation between the wife and i…

me: hehehhe, i got these books , mine, all mine..

wife: keep the receipts, you can claim in your income tax form.

me: huh, you mean i can claim for these books?

wife: i think so. i thinks theres a column in the form.

me: err. the government is going to pay for my written SAS adventures?

wife: hihih, yes, but only if you daftar with Lembaga hasil and send the form first, hihihi.. which i think you tak buat lagi..