leftover session of 1-sentence topic each

happy 51st year of independence day to the country with the usual chant of "merdeka!" times seven.

1-sentence topic each

my wife's college friend came with her family on the way back to the country's capital. my mom-in-law got admitted to the gh due to low blood pressure since tue, as a result of wrong choice of food(?), & while there, her blood pressure increased & decreased at will with no predictable patterns, & was only discharged this morning, without any proper diagnosis from the doctors there, which further proves that doctors are not all-knowing. the he-used-to-be-the-next-pm-of-the-country, a wordplay quoted from al gore's an inconvenient truth, won the byelection with a stunning majority, paving the way for whatever that has been planned, under the ever watchful eyes of the public, be it for or against. i heard about the case in the company that is about to be heard, despite only a little of it that has been disclosed. one of the "pelayan" has crashd since wed and who knows how long it is gonna take to fully recover from the disaster. tomorrow will be the 1st day of the fasting month of ramadhan for this hijrah year in the country. i'll leave you to ponder with this "pantun" "cari ganti" by the mufti of the northern state, whose website is just a click away if u click on the "pantun" image below.

cause&effect

in the country's capital, much to the disappointment of my wife, i bought a digital multi-effect guitar sound processor. i reasoned that rather than buying a single-effect foot switch, it's better if i buy the cheapest multi-effect sound processor. it's digital but worth it. most reviews on the net are in favor of that thing. great for practice & home use. fair for live gig. i'll explore it further as the time goes by.

a week in news

i've completed my root canal therapy sessions. the last & final one was
done last sunday. so that 1 particular tooth o' mine is now officially
dead, endorsed by the dentist. the swollen gum is still there. the
dentist told me that the swell will go away after 2-3 weeks, failing
which i would have to make another trip to the clinic. no mc this time
for the rct. i went to work as usual in the morning and took some time
off for about 2 hours for the treatment. got a timeslip & tried to pass
it to hr but they said it's not necessary. so the timeslip went down the
trashbin.

now, i'm in the country's capital. yesterday's morning, i attended the so-
called court convened meeting with the house developer in order to
achieve amicable settlement between them and the purchasers (me included)
via a newly proposed scheme under section 176 of an act which name i
forgot. the gist of the meeting was that the buyers have no choice but
to accept the proposed scheme, or else there's a risk that the project
might be totally abandoned. well, what to do? oh, the letter from the
developer was actually sent to my previous rented house. luckily, the
current tenant still kept my letter even after almost 1 month. there are
still good people left in this world.

my ex-secondary schoolmate came down to kerteh from kl. so, my other ex
-schoolmates & i took the opportunity to hold a mini gathering. 5 of us
having dinner. on him. thanks a lot friend. you're welcome to come
down to kerteh as often as u like. snapped a few photos to cherish the
occasion & the memory. i was planning to go back home 1st, take a bath &
change my dress but my office colleague's car would not start. being a
good friend and gentleman, i and several others stayed & became a
mechanic wannabe until her husband arrived with a new battery. well,
that wouldn't help neither. in the end, they went back with the
husband's friend's car with which the husband came together initially. i
don't know what happened and forgot to ask but the car was not there
early in the morning on the next day. maybe it had been arranged to be towed away for repair
to a workshop. due to that unexpected incident, i had to go for dinner
in my work uniform.

another ex-secondary schoolmate who's been in ireland all this while,
being a doctor/medical specialist there, flew down to malaysia. a few of
my friends & i planned to meet him during dinner (or lunch) at a hotel in
kl. he'd be treating all of us. it's all been agreed upon via email.
while i'm in kl, i tried to contact him on his roaming irish mobile.
there was a dialing tone but he didn't pick up the call. i left a
voicemail and sent a sms but got no response as well. well, maybe we were not
meant to meet yet this time.

i've ordered 2 new "replacement" radiohead t-shirts. this time bigger in
size. based on waste's (as well as postal companies & customs & excise
departments's) previous performance, i should receive those shirts by the
end of this month. patience is a virtue.

press has at last been released officially in e format. in portable
document format. i mentioned in that email that comments & feedback are
welcome & should be directed to the editor. however, 1 of the 2nd
highest order of the execs in the company wanted us to correct 1 of the
fact errors in it immediately. so, i replied his email and cc'd to
relevant people that it's not appropriate to do so, providing him with
concrete reasons. corrections will be mentioned in the next release. if
not, the designer would have to sacrifice another weekend for press and
press release date would have to be postponed again. a never ending
story.

the by-election of the decade will be held this tuesday. it's a very
interesting development. for the better or worse? i believe everybody's hoping that it's for the better... well, maybe some are hoping for the worse but for them it's the better. i'd better stop now.

house of whatever

this kl house of ours is still not completed yet until today. supposed to be 2 & a half years ago. but it's been showing quite a good progress today. was told by the developer via the purchasers committee via the yahoo! group that it will hopefully be ready by end of this year or early 2009. was told also by the group that most have received a rather important letter informing us about the status/progress & containing a voting form asking us whether to agree to the new terms & conditions or not. [where's my letter? gotta call the developer asap]. was told that if we want the house to be completed asap, no legal action should be taken against the developer. was told that the max lad amount claimable is only 40%. i think that's better than nothing. on top of that, the house will be completed (hopefully) by the said date. it's better than if the house is not completed at all, and then with 0 lad. who could ask for more?

"uncivilized" laws are for uncivilized acts

i couldn't agree less...

the saying was quoted from a kuliah held in the name of the company a few weeks ago. in reference to islamic hudud laws.

still pressed about press. changes came from all directions. some articles got edited or completely overhauled + the inclusion of july's newborns & new recruits. i'm thinking of putting my future baby which is currently still a fetus (due in late sept) in the announcement section as well...

radiohead t-shirts, which i bought & had arrived a few days ago, m in size, are unexpectedly smaller than I had imagined. i thought caucasian size should be bigger than asian one. curse the worldwide trend nowadays of wearing smaller shirts; they must be clamping & squeezing your body, exposing its beautiful shape, if it is. luckily, a friend of mine is willing to buy those from me, albeit with a slight discount. but still thanks a lot to him. i'm thinking of buying replacement t-shirts, this time bigger in size...

anjing bajingan

to sum up how i felt last night: "it's been a hard day's night, and i've been working like a dog".

press & rct

i've spent almost the whole yesterday until past midnight to finish up press, having some breaks here & there. what a relief it has been indeed! hopefully, no more comments requiring major changes to the whole structure of press. i can still bear with minor changes. at pasar malam (night market), met a futsal team member & was told that my team got the last, 4th place. well, if i were to join in, i don't think the team would win anyway.

today, i went for the first session of the reputably fearsome root canal therapy (that's what rct stands for officially) with the private dentist in my vicinity. not that bad an experience. no pain at all. though i could occasionally feel the tingling sensation during and quite a while after the procedure was finished. the dentist applied some "tampal" (filling?) to the drilled part/hole (at the back) of the affected tooth. i have to visit the clinic again 1 week from today for the 2nd session. back at home, did some readings on the net to know more about rct. i think today the dentist just did the cleaning part of it. for the 2nd session, i think she's gonna fill up the root canal (void) with a special material. i hope the 2nd one will be the last. do u wanna know more about rct? do the research yourself. at the end of the day, the most important thing is i've got my 2nd mc during my working lifetime with the company so far. no more scanned image this time.

akad nikah (marriage bind)

2 of my colleagues from the company got married to each other today - 08/08/08. (the dowry is 8,888.88, not rounded to the nearest 5 sen). of course 1 of them is male & the other is female. in this country, we're not yet ready for the unexpected. but we can expect what we don't believe in. or not expect what we believe in. anyway, i've caught the "akad nikah" ceremony, the main part, on video & uploaded it on my youtube. just look for the mytube link somewhere on the left.

at last, i've finished reformatting my wife's damn-slow notebook. she can use it already for her daily routine tasks. just got some minor things to be set up. some minor apps. mostly complementing software.

so, tomorrow i'll be devoting my body, mind, soul & life for press. for the whole day. no futsal for me. i'm pressed...

The Love Verses

i have to stop reading GUiT. gotta read ayat-ayat cinta. it was a phenomenal novel. a love story. but in a very Islamic setting & environment. from an Islamic point of view. how it should be Islamically. that's my opinion from the reviews that i've read.

am i suited for the corporate world? i don't know anymore. i'm not really an overtly ambitious kind of guy. i can do my work. work which i'm supposed or assigned to do. but that's just about it. sometimes, i think i should've been in art/literature stream during my school days instead of science stream. based on my current interests, that's what i should be. but that change of direction might trigger a change of heart. who knows...

the f letter word for today is

futsal. i had to cancel playing it this saturday. not even tonight's practice. why? all because of press. the new due date is this sunday. but why does the highest order of the execs bother so much about the design as well? have we an advisor already at the helm? have we a designer already? doesn't he trust them? doesn't he have enough tasks to do already at hand? in the end, i have to redesign press this weekend. what a f-word idea.

i had to cancel being the, to quote from someone, "guitar strumming (& singing) virtuoso" for the company & its customers' golfers as well. mainly due to my wife's current conditions. partly due to the lack of time for practice. i could also add that it's also due to press. well, maybe & until next time...

(now, i'm reformatting my wife's notebook bcoz it is so damn slow!!!)

terengganuvian

i don't have the patience to wait until tonight to write about this.

as a terengganuvian who's proud of his heritage, i'm lucky to have found these 2 terengganu-related pages. see GUiT (growing up in trengganu) & kecek-kecek on the link (out of this) section on the left. though i'm proud to be part of a developing (kuala) terengganu, deep inside my heart, i wish it does not (develop too much). in the name of modernization at the expense of the commoners who don't benefit much economically. i do miss kt of yore...

i've bought GUiT blook & haven't finished reading it yet. but i surely can imagine (though not relate to) how my parents & grandparents lived during that "lesser" time. lesser by today's standard. i can't wait to boast about my newly acquired old knowledge to them. being the kind of folks who don't talk that much, maybe they will reveal more of their past once the fire has been ignited...and "break on through to the other side"...

is terengganuvian a valid word? i'm surprised that a google search on that word did produce a few, limited results. at least, they are sharing the same view as me. here's my take on it a few years ago (kindly edited by the editor):



if u've too much free time, look for "jejak awang goneng" on youtube.

pirus IS a color indeed

yes it is. previously i googled it as "pirus color" but couldn't find any reference to pirus as a color. just now, i googled for "warna pirus" & eureka! i've found it! a few websites (indon i believe) mention pirus as the color of greenish blue (biru kehijau-hijauan). i guess it's the common & well-known color of turquoise (or pirus in indon, or fairus/fairuz in persian/malay), which can exist in different variety of colors. i told my wife about this & she said she HAS known all along & all this while that pirus IS indeed a color! some of her baju kurungs are even pirus in color!!! the closest reference which i've never asked before. knowledge at your fingertip(s). (that reminds me of the tagline by a software house company i used to work with: solution at your fingertips). from the internet &/or your closest whoever. that tagline definitely requires some kind of revisions...at least for me...

the highest order of the execs in the company asked me if i'd like to rekindle my performance at the upcoming golf tournament. the extended version of it. time-wise. so many factors to consider. my pregnant wife whose due date is around the corner. her limitation & strain in traveling. esp on a long journey. the limited time (to practice). selection of (appropriate) songs. all those big guns. i play guitar & sing to please myself & not others. i listen to songs which would please me & me alone. i don't care if people don't like those songs. would i succumb to such a pressure to become so-called mainstream? popular? poppy? but, performing wild world reflected the attempt to become one. no surprises not to become one. wah! i talk like i a lock star oledi!

to practice or to practise. which one is a noun? which one is a verb? which is american? which is british? all that i've learned have been unlearned by all these confusions. maybe i should just write it as praktis. (actually, my real intention is to ask whether i should praktis or not for the futsal tournament this sat. i despise the organizer bcoz i've to buy my own futsal shoes. i've told them that i'm wearing my old tennis shoes. in the worst case scenario, i'll be disqualified & that's fine with me. it will be better & well-spent if i donate the rm to masjid pas ustaz awang in batu 6. i'm not even sure if i'm fit to play with me having a swollen gum even though it's getting a little bit better/smaller now. if someone accidentally or intentionally hits me at that weakest spot, it will surely grow bigger & that would dash my hope of getting an rct asap). to q or not to q. at school or at a bus stop or while waiting for a taxi, you must q. i'll just let nature take its course. nature of course being all revolving things around me, past, present & future, which have been decided upon by the divine power.

McTooth

My first MC after 4 years in the company & the X-rays of my problematic tooth. Guess which one (is the problematic one)? The ones with the punctured hole is the one taken last year. The one with 08 or 80 is the one taken yesterday. Enjoy the "films".

record-breaking post

why? because it's about my record-breaking mc. to be exact, the story behind it. the pain of my swollen gum just will not go away. the dentist that i saw today couldn't perform the root canal treatment (rtc) yet because she had to make sure that no cyst development is taking place at the root of my tooth. so, after making sure that i got the mc, i had to go to a dental clinic in kerteh to have my gum/tooth x-rayed. looks like there's no cyst yet. so, i went back to the 1st clinic in paka and after checking the x-ray result, she told me to finish the medication which her locum doctor had prescribed yesterday & especially to finish the antibiotics & to wait & see after a week if the swell would go away. if it does, i have to call the clinic on saturday to set for an rtc appointment on sunday. if not, i have to see the dr again after a few days from today for a different treatment. i must scan into a soft copy that record-breaking mc...

at last, i managed to finish up press at about 2.30 am ++ today/this very early morning...what a daunting task...at least, my mc is helping me to get a well-deserved rest at home...an Allah-given miracle...

time-consuming & swollen gum

designing is a very time-consuming task. why do i always get assigned that kind of task? the last time, it was video editing. i had to do it at home as well. every night. no weekend with family until the event was over. that one even consumed my PERSONAL COMPUTER's CPU & RAM power extensively. not to forget the electricity bill associated with it.

my gum has been swollen since the last few days. my chin got knocked by my acoustic guitar. that led to my gum to get swollen until today. the story goes a long way before that. about 10 years ago in 1998. i had an accident. i was riding my bike & my then pregnant wife was the pillion rider. i was sending her to her school: she was a teacher there. it's near hukm and sekolah alam shah (old location) in cheras. from the distance, i could see the pedestrian traffic light was red & the cars were queuing & waiting for the traffic light to turn green again. so, i took the chance to speed up a little bit. normally, i always glanced at the left junction for any vehicle coming into the main road but somehow, i did not do so at that time. a van came out from the junction & i hit it right at the driver's door side. i fell down & my face hit the road surface. luckily, the impact had been cushioned by the visor. the visor got detached anyway & my chin hit the road anyway. my wife fell down on her buttock. thank you Allah. her buttock had been cushioned by her own bag. mind you, she was 4-5 mth pregnant at that time, carrying our current daughter inside her uterus. the van driver sent us to hukm. the mother & baby were ok. i had to have my injury/wound treated with, if i'm not mistaken, 14 stitches on my chin at hukm. feeling & thinking that we were guilty, we paid the van driver for the damage to his van. we had to repair our bike as well. although lately my wife argued that actually the van driver was at fault for not looking properly at the traffic before venturing out from the junction, what is past is past & we should just consider the payment as charity.

and my front upper right incisor tooth had been traumatized as well. the dentist that i visited advised me to perform root canal but i did not do so until today. once in a while, especially after heavy iced drinking, the gum holding that tooth would ache. however, last year, after so many years, it swelled so bad that it started to accumulate pus in it & i had to have the pus removed. i was even advised to do x-ray & based on the result, i was told that that tooth of mine had already died and it's better for me to do root canal. i still refused to do so. my argument was that 10 years ago, i was told that a dead tooth's color will fade to blackish in color after about 5 years. similar to the bones of a dead animal left to rot on the surface of the earth. however, that tooth of mine still looks ok even after the 5-year "deadline" has passed. and it's still as solid as a rock, so to speak. (forget about the occasional gum ache).

back to the present. my gum has been swollen since the last few days. my chin got knocked by my acoustic guitar. that led to my gum to get swollen until today. this morning, i went to see a local dentist in my vicinity. at last, i requested for a root canal but he said he couldn't do it. the owner doctor can but not today but tomorrow morning. i think he's just a locum. that's why he couldn't do it. since i couldn't bear the pain anymore, i couldn't even smile properly but sheepishly only, i agreed to have a root canal treatment (rct) tomorrow morning. i guess i have to break my record of not having any mc for the last 4 years in the company.











damn!!! i had spent too much time writing this. gotta continue designing press for the company...