15 days to go

The day started off with being greeted in the KTM by a bunch of cowardly men. I don't know what else you call men who just stands at the entrance of the train & refuses to move at all. Are they afraid that they might get stuck in the middle & miss the opportunity to get out at their stop? Or the boy in them drives them to desire to be the first person to reach the gate? I can't comprehend these people. I almost couldn't get into the train, even though there was LOADS OF SPACE in the train.

Another thing I cannot understand is how the management have failed to rectify the problem with the centralized air conditioning... Plus, some genius thought that it would be nice to make one row of people freeze, and the other row sweat... No one in my company can explain that. It's a phenomenon I tell you. How idiotic or drunk or poisoned a person has to be to install the air-cons in such a fashion??

It left me with an easy choice really... I left this place on the 23rd floor...

To this place on the 26th...

Me, Myself, & David Tao singing through the speakers and no one's complaining.

There's a new air-con installed right above place I was sitting, but the air that came out of it smelt like my football jerseys, soaked in water for a week... It was bad lah... Good thing I didn't need it though, because the centralized air-conditioning was working perfectly here.

And I passed the remainder of this day with peace & comfort.

Count Down - 17 days to go

The day started off with me realising that I've been commissioned to perform something that could have been completely avoided right from the beginning. I call this "DOUBLE WORK", something that has definitely been a big part of my working experience with this company. With proper planning, my work would be a lot easier, and I would smile more.

It has taken me 6 hours to completely edit a 46-page document because Microsoft Word keep popping up with this error::

After once or twice I decided that it might be a good idea to reinstall MS Office. That idea was given to me by my colleagues when I had that problem previously. So I went up to our main floor (I'm on the 23rd and they are on 26th) to request for the installation CD. I told the office administrator what I wanted and she said that I need to fill in a form. I was directed to the office receptionist who found for me that form. I took the form, filled in, went back to the 23rd floor to get signature from my manager. I rushed back up to the 26 floor, handed the form to the receptionist.

She looked at the form, saw the installation CD that I wanted & then said...

"Oh, someone has already taken it"

They say that filling the form is for recording purposes. But I remember the previous way of doing it is by simply filling out a log book. Isn't that sufficient?

I tell you, these administrators are out to make my last days here miserable. God help.

The Finger-Giving Laptops.

As I type right now, 3 of my colleagues have got their laptops. 2 of them are given 2 brand new laptops. The other got a second-hand laptop, but I believe it's still much better than this shit I'm typing on right now.

My colleagues have misunderstood me and my intentions. They think I'm bickering and complaining over a small matter. They think I want a new laptop. I don't need a new laptop. All I need is something that is functioning fine. Something that doesn't give me the finger & cause Word to crash. It doesn't matter how old it is. I just want a machine that works perfectly.

When I first started off in this company, I was given a desktop to work with. Even then, it was the lousiest machine in the office. But I had no complains. I could perform my duties with it. Then I started to attend more and more meetings & I had to travel around too, so they felt that I should carry a laptop around. Perhaps they wanted to minimize my errors in the minutes. The first laptop they let me used was a 4th-hand laptop. Occasionally the screen would go crazy & of course there's the blue screens. But I still had the desktop, so all was still good.

Eventually my laptop's screen went totally nuts. But believe it or not, I could still it. If I manage to adjust it perfectly, the screen would be normal again. Other times, I would just hook up a monitor. Of course, by then I stopped talking the laptop into meetings. Otherwise I would have to carry a separate monitor around.

I don't know how long it took, but they finally decided to give me a new laptop. Not as in NEW new - just a different laptop, one that hasn't gone completely crazy. This one has a completely different set of problems, just that no one wanted to be honest about it. On average, the laptop gives me the finger once a day. It comes without warning. So I've learned to press Ctrl + S every other minute. And on every other day, the mouse cursor flies around on its own accord - I would have no control over it. I forced myself to learn to work without the mouse, but dang, this just ain't right.

I've been having this laptop for about a year now. I've complained about it ever since I got it. Lately my manager finally promised me a brand new laptop. The laptop took ages to finally arrive at our office, and it was immediately snapped up by the boss, or so they told me. They also told me that the boss' laptop was less than a year old, so it should be working fine. But still I'm working on this shitty thing. WHY? Because my boss didn't come into the office for the next few days, so the transfer / exchange could not be performed. Then this colleague of mine fell ill & has to be on medical leave for 2 weeks. Talk about a series of unfortunate events. During this entire period my laptop's performance has become shittier and shittier by the day.

Now it's 6pm in the evening, the end of another working day. I'm hoping that my colleague would be back & I would be getting another old laptop that has no detects & doesn't give me the finger. Or else...

Camera Trouble

Lately I've been having difficulty uploading my video recordings onto my PC. I don't really know what's wrong. It could be the firewire, the capture card, or even the video camera itself...

Saturday night I decided that it was probably right to reformat the PC, considering that I still have that Trojan virus in there (I don't know how to get rid of it!!). A family were our guests that night & stayed in my house, so my PC has been in the living room ever since. It's quite a nice arrangement actually. Now while working late, I can also enjoy watching footbal on Astro...

Reformatting was completed, but still I couldn't upload my videos. I was ready to depart with my video camera for about a month, should it require repairs. It's quite sad, but already I have a lot of raw clips that are left undone. So perhaps it was reminder to stop recording anything until I've managed to clear everything that I've committed to do (currently I have 2 documentaries to complete).

So the next step was to find that darn warranty card... Took me 2 days. May was so convinced that I was keeping it, while I find it highly unlikely that she would let me keep something so important. I mean, she even keeps my KFC voucher... but she was right this time. I found it in a drawer of a table that was once mine, now used by my dad. I was overjoyed.

In the midst of trying to upload the videos, I discovered 2 things (i'm such an idiot!!). 1, is that I can directly recording video into my PC. Ok I knew such technology exist, but I never tried doing it myself. Anyway, this opens up a lot of opportunities for me!! Now I don't have to waste tape while recording stuff in my room. And I believe I'll also be able to record PICTIONARY sessions!! YES!!

Another discovery was that I didn't have to use firewire to upload my videos - a mindset which was passed down to me by the dude who taught it all to me. I was just trying out the USB and it actually works!! I suspect the video quality might be lesser, but it'll do for now lah.

Now the other thing is to get that new laptop, so that I can upload my videos online... That's a whole different situation.

Laptop Woes

There were actually people who send me their 'condolences' upon reading my blog entry, It Pays To Be Smart, in which I talk about how I fixed my 7-year-old company laptop & therefore ruining my chance to get a new laptop. A few days later, I told my manager that the laptop is still useable, and that it's still entirely up to him if he wants to give me a new laptop. I was surprised to hear him say that the original arrangement will stay and I'll be getting a brand new DELL laptop.

The specifications were meant for a programmer, so I assume it'll be quite a powerful machine. I got really excited. I can't upload my videos to Youtube or Google Videos (and now, blip.tv too) with this 7-year-old company laptop. I believe it's associated with the Trojan Horse virus that my company's anti virus software is unable to completely remove. And since the OS will be Windows XP, I'll be able to actually do video-editting with Windows Movie Maker. Not as awesome as using Nokia N series for instant video blogging, but that will do for the next 3 months or so. I was so happy, I was even willing to endure the occasionaly pink screens I get...




Last week the new laptops finally arrived. The new colleague got a hand-me-down from the manager while the manager gets the new one. I remained calm & did not show any excitement, even though I knew that one of my colleagues was configuring my new laptop at the other side of the office. But I couldn't hold my enthusiasm for long, and once I saw my colleague during lunch hour I asked him where's my new laptop. Then he gave me bad news:

"You won't get the new laptop, cause boss wants it."

I don't know how you would feel, but I was really ticked off. My manager promised me a brand new laptop, had he say otherwise earlier I would still be able to accept it. I also found out that the boss has previously lost his laptop only last year and got a new one. And now he dares to rob me of what's promised to me? I know he's the country general manager and all, but the payment for the laptop came out from the project budget, in which he does nothing!!

The new laptop is right now under my colleague's desk. It's been there for a week now. I can't have it, because my boss wants it. But I'm not getting my bosses' laptop either, cause he has not been in office long enough for the exchange to happen. I really need those super powers now, God...

GIVE ME MY NEW LAPTOP!! ARGHH!!

Public Transport - Trains (9)

My colleague from Singapore was discussing about the public transport system in our country. He made a point when he said that actually the train routes have covered many places. I don't know what the people living in Subang would think, as the LRT routes has yet to be implemented over there. But I'll still say that I can't comprehend the reason why Sentul can't be part of the route to Rawang. Sentul trains serve so few people, yet there are so many trains servicing the Sentul route & they always come on time. Unlike the Rawang trains, where you would have to wait an hour to go on a train like this...

This picture was taken only yesterday (26/3/2007), and I dare say that such sights can be seen on a weekly basis (at least). And it's in such situations that the idiots in us surface and make things worse. Sometimes I can't blame them for forcing their way into the crowded trains and thus causing more discomfort to everyone. If you ever had a bad way at work, surely you know how desperate we all can be to go home, even if it's just 5 minutes earlier.

Yet there are certain things that certain people do that make you wish you had super powers...

I have no problem with people resting during working hours. In fact, I believe it's necessary. I mean, you would at least have to consider toilet breaks, right? Why did this guy have to create his own "REHAT" sign? Is KTM abusing their workers? And why isn't there another person standing by the ticket counter?

Sometimes I like to lean against the pole too. BUT NOT WHEN THE PLACE IS PACKED & EVERYONE'S STRUGGLING TO BALANCE THEMSELVES!! You think they're just ignorant and stupid, so you say "Excuse Me" and hope they would get the message. But don't be shocked when the only thing that they move is their head to look at your direction and their eye balls to stare at you...

BlogLinks of Mine

warning: this post is labelled "Lame".

Finally made a decision today to participate in NuffNang. And since I would have to be perform some HTML editting, I decided to finally upgrade my Blogger template.

I became indecisive when it came to categorizing the bloglinks at the sidebar. Initially I was thinking about putting the title "Blogroll" and then list down every blog I read. But it seemed unsuitable & rather untruthful, because there are blogs that I don't visit on a daily basis - like my friends' blogs. They don't update frequently, so I only drop by once in a while, just to be up to speed with their lives. So that can't be seen as "blogrolling", right? It's more like... "blogdroppingby"s or something...

Maybe I'm taking this too seriously, but I think the blogs that one blogrolls really reflects one's personality. What they like, what they are passionate about, what makes them.... tick. Ok I am taking this too seriously. But just recently I was blamed by someone who watched a lousy movie. I previously linked Yasmin Ahmad. I use to link her writings, and furthermore she's a movie maker. So my friend assumes that I recommend every Yasmin Ahmad movie, and was terribly disappointed by Mukhsin. Gosh, I've never even watched a Yasmin Ahmad film before!! Anyway, since I've not been reading her blog for such a long time now, her link is removed.

So I figured that perhaps it was best to categorized the blogs I read into "Friends' Blog" and "Blogroll". But then the other problem surfaced - how does one define "Friends"? Where do Cely, Earl, and Daniel fit in? They have my number, we chat online, they've invited me for outings (not that I've attended any. YET)... So are they friends? Will they get offended if I don't call them as friends? Would they despise the notion of being friends with someone like me? I dare not assume anything.

Finally I've decided that under the "Friends' Blog" section will be the people that I've actually met before. I've seen Cely a few times, so she'll be there. And I believe I'm the only one who accurately translate the name of her blog (from mandarin to english) too. So yea...

And just so that there would no longer be any misunderstandings and people blaming me for bad material/products/movies on other sites, the other category would be "Blogs I Frequent". I don't always agree with them, but I like reading their blogs as they are thought-provoking and sometimes entertaining. If Daniel says he likes a song, it doesn't mean I like that same song. It also doesn't mean that I read/see everything Earl posts on his blog...

So what did I just say?

Shocking!!

This is wrong for so many reasons.

"Bloggers are liars. They use all sort of ways to cheat others. From what I know, out of 10,000 unemployed bloggers, 8,000 are women..."

“Bloggers like to spread rumours, they don’t like national unity. Today our country has achievements because we are tolerant and compromising. Otherwise we will have civil war. Malays will kill Chinese, Chinese will kill Malays, Indians will kill everybody else.”

I suppose after all that "oh Malaysians are warm & friendly", "Check out our tourist spots we prepared for you", & "Look at our Eye!!", there's nothing left for Our Minister of Tourism to say... So he decides to officially (and publically) piss off bloggers & our Indians brothers... My friend pointed out an irony - his statement alone would do the damage he accused bloggers of causing. Probably it's been too quiet in that office of his...

And now I'm going to guess the content of his next public statement... You saw it first on MalaysianLah, friends... Here goes:

"I WAS MISQUOTED. "

(use your mouse to higlighted the space above)

It Pays To Be Smart

March 1st (Thursday) - I was extremely excited when my laptop's charger could no longer work. Finally there's no way to use the laptop anymore - my company has to get me a new laptop. YES!! After complaining about the daily blue screen (PC's way of showing you the finger) and the occationally uncontrollable mouse cursor, I'll finally be getting a new laptop!! Informed my manager about it & he confirmed that I'll be getting a TOTALLY NEW LAPTOP - NO MORE HAND-ME-DOWNS...

March 2nd (Friday) - Colleagues were asking about when I'll be getting the new laptop. I asked my manager of the laptop's status & he mentioned that the matter has been escalated to the boss. The PO has not been issued, but at least it's getting there. Hopefully my colleagues would be able to put pressure upon the matter & speed up the delivery of my new laptop... haha... this is awesome.

March 5th (Monday):

10.00am - Arrived in the office. Calmly I walk into the room where my new place is. I settled down and casually asked one of my colleagues to provide some documents, since I don't have a PC to work with, I thought I could some reading.

10.10am - I passed by my manager's office with the printed document, so I asked him about the new laptop. Then he said that he hasn't received the quotes - the colleague who's suppose to provide him with the quotes is on MC - and that means that the laptop would only arrive at least 2 weeks later. I told my manager not to worry & that I would just temporarily use a desktop (from the storeroom). I don't know why I said that.

10.12am - I felt the sudden urge to take matters into my own hands. I remember that my colleague's old laptop is the same version as mine (5 year old laptop), and there was also a problem with the charger.

10.20am - I spoke to the colleague to ask him exactly what was wrong with the charger. He told me the plug point - so I figured that the good part of the 2 chargers could combine forces & a miracle would take place.

10.22am - I found the old laptop in the admin's room & proceeded to try combining the 2 charges together. Nothing. I tried something totally unthinkable. I took his charger in its entirety & plugged it into my laptop. And it worked. I was filled with joy, but only for a moment. It suddenly dawned upon me - NO MORE NEW LAPTOP.

It pays to be smart...