Friday, November 28, 2008

TGIF

You know, I really miss being home. I used to write in the morning, take it easy in the afternoon, and work some more at night. Now I come in early, work all day, and go home to deal with more work. I curi2 time to sort out my bills, do laundry, kemas rumah and clean my cabinets. Knowing me, I might buy Panadol one year and never take any for the next one and a half. Yes, I detest medications. Anyway, bottomline is, I like to spend time at home.

Unfortunately, for the sake of cari makan, I sometimes balik lambat, sampai my cat oso grow desperate for TLC. Maybe I should get Leo some friends... I was counting on domesticating Belang, neighbour's leftover tom, but Leo tak mau kawan dengan dia. Sheez. Territorial felines!

I cheating a bit this morning, went to an assignment straight from home instead of masuk ofis dulu. Gave sis the car and gave myself an extra hour and half of sleep. That was bliss. But I haven't had enough. I have nice stuff in the fridge, which I haven't had the chance to eat. Did I tell you about the brand new 5-star fridge I just bought? Anyway, am so looking forward to balik awal today, make myself a nice chicken salad, maybe put on a pot of Starbucks to brew, and watch TV/ downloaded movie/ TV series/ read. I'll deal with chores tomorrow. TGIF!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Poison Alert!

I can't believe I spent more than half a day fiddling with words so that I can tell the public about the risk of BPA from polycarbonate bottles.

As many of you know, I was totally enamoured of my Felton drinking bottles. They look good, are easy to carry around, and store enough water for a whole day's supply. I believed them to be eco-friendly because they are reusable, and since there was a triangle of chasing arrows underneath, recyclable.

Little did I realise that there is an ongoing debate about its safety! Apparently, PC is made up of various resins, and are NOT recyclable. Worse, bisphenol-A (BPA) is used to make many of them, and it is a toxin that has been linked to various maladies including obesity and diabetes.

I learnt about all this while surfing for information and understandably freaked out. I was drinking gallons of water from those bottles every single day! Questions ran through my head.

Did it have anything to do with my medical condition? God knows...

Did I often fill the bottles with hot water? Sometimes. Not always.

Was I using a worn out bottle? Not sure.

Did I often drink water left in the bottle for a few days? Sometimes. When there's no other cooled water to drink.

Does the water taste funny after a few days? I guess, but not really plasticky...

Arrkk! What have I done? Thus, I switched to a glass bottle I had saved because it's so pretty. The trouble is, it only carries 330ml, so I have to refill it every so often. I didn't dare go back to the plastic bottles, but it seems to me that the water cooler bottles are made up of the same stuff too! I used to hate drinking cold water from the cooler because to me it tasted funny. after a while I kind of got used to it. Oh dear.. maybe I was drinking BPA soup from there! Now, what if I brought cooled boiled water from home? But in the redoubtable Felton bottles? Hrm.. maybe not. Otherwise, buy an aluminum water bottle. But those cost a bomb... Or maybe find one which is made of other plastics.. Hmm.. that might work.. Sigh. So susah la like this...

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Pening...

Do you sometimes feel that something's not quite right in your system? Like, you can't work fast enough, or think clearly enough. Sometimes I feel like my brain is as dry as cotton wool..

I like my work, but these days I feel like it takes so much time and effort to get things done. And I'm constantly struggling to keep up with deadlines and shoots and people and interviews... So tired sometimes. Even weekends are not spared. there's always something to deal with, either with work, Peregrine work, or personal stuff. Maybe it's my fault for taking up more than I can chew. On the other hand, I'm trying to deal with my past mistakes and make something of my future. There are so many things that I want for a better life, and one way to get them is to work through all that crud and get things done.

Hrmm... Pakcik is back, but he's boring me to death. Can I have a real other half, please?

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Bugged. Again!

Isn't it exceedingly annoying when you can't trust your AV anymore? I have an old problem. Some bug that causes my cursor to have a mind of its own. It will start running off while I type, causing my sentences to break up as it moves to the next line without me hitting any button. And it has come to the stage where I can't control the ENTER button anymore, the virus does! It even screws around with the AV so that it seems to be scanning, but doesn't really do so. Sheez! A normal scan lasts for at least an hour. In the "new"version, it only takes 15 minutes!! And of course, there are never any viruses to be found. The thing is, only Zone seems able to control this madness. But I know it's gone cuckoo too. Sigh.. Deleting files is too tedious, and chances are high to accidentally delete crucial files and screw the system altogether. I'm no geek, after all. Maybe I should delete all my old files to stop this problem. But some of them are quite precious... Donno what else to do la. Other than reformatting, which is not a good option, because I have translation software in there which is not easy to get the code once I reformat. AGAIN. Wish this bug would go away :( I hate it!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Cravings

Ever since Ja offered to sell her place at a low price, I have been thinking of the apartment incessantly. No matter the development is run down, with many empty units, and situated close to a kubur Cina. It is also smack in the middle of KL, and very close to PJ. The units are beautiful inside. I love the layout, the floor, the size of the rooms and the sweet little kitchen. The view is lovely - treetops all around, quiet, with a lovely breeze blowing in through the balcony...

Unfortunately, will need to wait for a more opportune time, as my employment is still not secure and savings is really not much at all. Maybe I should visit the place, get it out of my system. Either that or fall in love with it all over again... :-) How I would LOVE to have my own pad for a change...

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The Bitchy Whiny Post

No reason, just want to whine about general annoyances in our lives...

1) Traffic jams: Most of the time caused by idiots who most inconsiderately cut into an already long queue, causing people behind to wait forever if the person in front is not assertive enough to forge ahead.

One kid actually honked very loudly at me for blocking his attempts to cut in. Hello!! It was in UM during bulan puasa. Everyone was in a rush, including me, and I was wondering why the queue had not moved for over twenty minutes! It's one thing for people to come in from the Anjung Asuhan/ 5th College road, it's another for gazillions of cars to simply cut into the main queue just before the PJ/KL divide. The boy was lucky I didn't go pulas his telinga for being such an ass. It's still happening at the Sec 17 intersection leading out into Jalan Damansara and SS2 junction out to LDP and everywhere else in PJ/KL. It made a huge difference when traffic police waited there and no one dared to cut line. The jam actually disappeared! Bila la Malaysians nak belajar respect other road users voluntarily??

2) Over-opinionated people: I don't know what's the deal with this girl... She's nice and efficient and everything, but she really gets on my nerves sometimes.

One, with her whines and complaints over the most insignificant matters like SPAM flooding the general email. Come on la, banyak softwares that can put a stop to it. It's not THAT big a deal. Then the 'show-off' whine like, "I tak tau la budak2 tu suit2 kat I. They're young enough to be my kids, you know.." Right, I get it, you perasan lawa coz kena suit. Heh. NOT!

Second, her blanket announcements and unwanted advice on things that has nothing to do with her. Example: "Oh, you live ini DU? Very dangerous place. I kena snatch handbag kat sana twice!" Like, hello! I live there, and I feel it's among the safest and pleasant places to live in PJ. The roads are wide, well-lighted, and people actually make way for you to pass unlike in certain areas where they zoom at you in order to demonstrate their superiority! No one likes to hear people putting down their kampung, la. My response: "Ya ke? I duduk situ 30 tahun takde pun kena." Read: It's just you la. Duh!

Tadi, I just ajak her to turun Singapore, and she went on to say that the shopping not as good la, whatever. Her words were, "Babe, you go to Phuket better." Hello, Phuket I'll go jugak, eventually. Singapore I want to check out the chili crabs and bone steak. Bila masa aku kata nak pergi beli kain? Raya pun aku beli baju pasang siap... I'd have my own reasons la wherever I plan to visit. All I want to do is explore instead of going visiting all the time. Lagipun hari tu tak sempat turun jumpa my family. Heh. Cakap ajelah hang punya passport dah mati, tak mampu nak hidupkan balik. Heh, ok. That was bitchy. But seriously... Why must you lay judgement on my plans?

Other than that, life is good. Just need to finish this article before I go. Ciao!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Dream Worlds

Most of the time, watching TV shows and movies is just entertainment. Somewhere along the way, watching Grey's Anatomy and CSI Vegas has become an escape of sorts for me. They bring up topics we mostly ignore, and I actually feel something about the characters and storyline! I hated Erica & Callie. Glad they axed Erica Hahn. I hated that cold hearted b***ch. And the lezzie story? EWWW!! HATED that. I actually like the original cast, but seriously, something has to be done about the new interns. How do you expect them to become competent doctors with the residents hogging all the cases?

I normally hate it when shows get too weird, like that "father made pact with the devil" story. But the developments in GA is OK with me. Yes, it's rather strange, but I guess there'll be a valid reason behind it to be revealed soon. In case you're wondering, I'm referring to Denny Duquette appearing back from the dead. Like, huh? Didn't he already die?? But since he's so comel, and Izzie loves him so, I'll bear with it. Much better than trying not to muntah when Callie & Erica talk about having sex. Uwek!

The new cast don't seem very promising. After a few seasons, the writers really need to break open new doors, but do they really need to bring in new people? A lot of undeveloped characters already there, I think. It would be nice to have Burke back, but even if he doesn't, something about Mark Sloane actually developing a real relationship would be interesting. I think he'd team up with Callie a lot better than George and Hahn.

As for CSI, I guess I'm fine with whatever personal things go on among them, as long as they keep showing all those interesting cases. I like it when they are shown to have a little heart, just enough to remind us that they're also human.

I don't watch a lot of TV, so guess I'll forgive myself for loving these 2 series so much :-) In the meantime, work is work, and I'm so glad I'm here, even when the sailing is not so smooth. Having it easy is quite a miracle, so when there are obstacles, I just remind myself that it's par for the course.

So glad pakcik is back. Can finally indulge in restaurant testing again now that my dinner buddy is here. Cheers, peeps :D See you guys around soon!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Monday Morning Blues

I don't usually hate Mondays, but today has not been going overly well. My attempts to install K Ayu's hijacked speakers to the office computer has failed. When I brought earphones, the wire tak sampai because there's no port in front. When jacked into the port behind the PC under the table, the earphones reached to my shoulders. So I'm stuck with the huge Skype headphone which thankfully, has ultra long cables.

I'm not really awake yet and I can't remember what I was supposed to do first thing in the morning. What I DO feel like doing is berlingkar on the bed with le Leo until I feel more human. Ugh. I feel a little sick. Maybe I should get an MC.
Alt voice: Yeah, right. You're just bummed because you promised the boss an article by tomorrow, but you haven't got enough stuff, isn't it? Get off your ass, girl. That article ain't gonna write itself..

And with that, ladies and gentlemen, I'd better go pester some people... Ciao!

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Trading Places

I came up with a vague idea of swapping houses with Abang until we get our own apartment. After all, he's got family while we're just 2 lazybutts who don't really have time to layan the big house. But that's not working out too well right now.

Knowing my sis, she's all NATO. Komen macam2, tapi tak buat homework/ research. I asked her to arrange viewing some apartments, but of course nothing happened. Made a few phone calls today and went to see a few places tadi after work. It was borderline tolerable.

I wanted a place that was dirt cheap while we sorted out the financing and stuff. The problem is, the real cheap spots are too far away, and the area is quite intolerable. We're used to safe, clean streets, I found most of the places too crowded for comfort. I don't really mind downgrading, as long as I have sufficient breathing space. We did manage to find some borderline nice places we could live in, but so far haven't found out the rental costs yet. I suppose the other option is to stay put until we get things set up.

Brings to mind the song Üptown Girl. We're not posh, but we're quite used to having a lot of space. My bedroom could fit most of the apt I saw today, my bathroom could fit their 2nd bedroom and I was wondering where I was going to put the fridge, washer, dryer and stove. It would be a massive downgrading, which I don't really mind in terms of house space, but I would mind cramming in the sense of access roads, parking facilities and general personal space in public areas. A lot of cars is fine, but not parked here there and everywhere, síl vous plait. I'd live in a hut kat tengah hutan as long as I can have fresh air and personal space! I'm not much for crowds, that's for sure.

The good thing is, I've spotted some places that is within our budget. But the rental thing still needs to be sorted out. Hmm.. buruk2 rumah ni, sayang la jugak. I spent a lot of time cleaning it up, and i know it's really cool inside compared to a lot of other places. Hmm.. donno la. Maybe we'll stay put until we find another place kot. With work and everything, tak larat la nak juggle banyak sangat. Nak blog pun tak larat. I'd get ideas while driving, but then takde mood nak write it up. Hmm.. oh well, insya-Allah, will get it done jugak in the end.