Arrrggh!

One of the most exasperating things about my job is dealing with people with poor phone manners.

It's incredibly annoying when people call to ask for help but fail to identify themselves and fail to mention what their problem is. When I ask what the problem is, they say something generic and cryptic like, "Oh my computer is down", which could mean anything. So I go and ask,"What do you mean actually, is the computer on? Can you log in?"

The answer? "The computer is down lah. Come and fix it right now!".

See? I ask for more details and they either say something completely unrelated or refuse to say and just ask me to go to see them. This is dumb. We can do most things remotely. We have the tools. There's no need for me to waste time and walk all the way (sometimes it can be very far away).

It's amazing how some people seem to not know how to speak and describe things properly. Maybe they expect as to use telepathy and read their minds. You know because IT department is trained at Hogwarts and we have magical powers like remote sensing and telekinesis and the ability to go back through time to find out what someone did to something like... two weeks ago. (Actually, in certain situations I can find out what happened two weeks ago...).

Sometimes I wish I did have magical powers. That way, I can enchant dumb people and give them a temporary boost in brain power so that they can give me the information I need to actually help them. Or turn them into stone. Whatever.

Sometimes we get calls about stuff that isn't even related to us. Apparently for some people, IT folks have such magicks as to be able to solve all manner of problems.

I realize that not everyone is computer literate and for some people, computer stuff really is like arcane magic but some of stuff I get asked is downright ridiculous. The frigging computer is an electrical appliance people. There's no magic there.

Some people say that computers and technology have a way of turning otherwise normal, intelligent people into gibbering zombies. I can tell you this is true. A person could be lucid and normal one minute but the very moment they are within 6 feet of computer equipment, their brains turn to jelly. Apparently this affects their speech. And hearing. And the ability to understand simple queries. Questions like,"What do you see on your screen?" and "Who is this?/What is your name?"

Maybe it's the radiation from their monitors...

Am I being unreasonable? How can I reasonable be when people insist on being stupid everytime they call IT.

We IT people aren't very popular around here for being asshats and trolls but it's hard not to be when we're surrounded by idiots who can't follow simple instructions and can't describe things properly. Even my otherwise jovial, bubbly female colleague gets pissed off at them.

Maybe it's the chemicals. Or is it just a coincidence that we get the dumbest calls from inside the production floor? The idiocy there can reach epic proportions. I seriously wonder how they manage to work with all those dangerous machines and chemicals without killing themselves.

How hard is it to speak coherently when you are talking on the phone? Very hard apparently.

*Sigh*

Home

1870-1973

1973-1988

1988-

Wait a minute. It's not August yet. And not September either. What's with the State Flags then?

It's because of July 22. Embarrassingly enough for myself and my Sarawakian nationalist tendencies, I didn't know what happen on July 22 1963.

It was Independence day. Not 16 September when Malaysia came into being. July 22 was the day the UK officially handed over administration to local authorities. For a while at least, we were actually an independent country.

The state government is going to celebrate our 45th anniversary all year round. I'm all for it. I'm not entirely convinced that our younger people know enough of our history (and by "our" I mean Sarawak, not Malaysia). Yes, we are part of Malaysia but our story is different.

We are different no matter how hard some people try to make us the same as states in Semenanjung. This is not a bad thing although I do understand why certain people would feel that it is so.

We will always be different. One country sure, but there will always be us and there will always be them. Different. We will always be Sarawakians first.

I'm not surprised that there are some people who insist that this is a waste of money. I guess some people don't understand the importance of remembrance. The past makes us who we are today. Who we are makes us unique within and without the context of Malaysia. We need to reflect and remember.

These next few months is a good time to reflect on how far we have gone since then and how far we will go.

If I were to start writing about what it means for me to be Sarawakian, I would never finish this post.

The short version?

I'm proud to be from here and I'm proud of my home. I'm proud of all my people and it honours me to be among them. Especially these days of political turmoil and uncertainty. These days of racial and religious tension within the country.

When it comes to peace, tranquility, unity and harmony Sarawakians lead the way. There is no need for some government big wig to come down and talk of "Perpaduan" here. Those are just words. Here, it's a way of life. It's always been like that. It will always be that way, God willing.

On a social level in modern times, Sarawak has never had any serious tensions amongst her own. We can all be justifiably proud of this fact.

It's not to say that there is no problems at all here. Only a blind fool would say that. There will always be problems, both social and political.

We have some minor racial issues every now and then. Our government isn't the most transparent and our politicians aren't the cleanest lot. We suffer from poor treatment by the Federal Government. We have issues with cronyism and corruption.

But so far, we have never allowed our problems and conflicts with each other to tear us apart. At the end of the day, despite our little frictions and disagreements we are all one people. Sarawakians.

Hopefully we can solve what problems we may encounter and be even better in the future.

Sarawak is a beautiful place and I will always be loyal to her, first and foremost.

May God bless our home and may we live long and prosper, no matter what happens.

Still Thinking

My notebook. Still going strong and nothing to complain so far

Something just occured to me when I was reading my post yesterday. There are some people from work who read my blog. If you are one of them, I need you to do me a big favor.

Don't tell anyone else. Don't tell my boss especially. I don't want people at work to find out. It might affect morale and how people treat me. So hush hush now...

And talking about yesterday's post, I'm still thinking about it. I discussed it with the parents and they don't mind. In fact, now they're thinking about talking to the other brother who is in KL to try for it as well.

All three of us at sea. That would be interesting.

After much thinking, everything looks good on paper so far. I'm still feeling a bit anxious though. I supposed that's normal. I got more information about it today from my friend. Information about the necessary certification courses. I haven't called to make inquiries yet. I'll probably need to find out if I can get those here in town. That would be more convenient.

Meanwhile, I've not been doing too much these few days. I'm playing Titan Quest again. I haven't actually managed to finish the game yet. I'll probably need to wait till the end of the year for new and exciting games to come out. Perhaps by that time, I'll be playing them at sea?

Yes, there is internet connection on barges as well as on oil rigs. I was very, very relieved to hear that. That alone should be enough to preserve my sanity. I can keep blogging too.

Anyway, we'll see what happens next. I might decide not to change jobs. Who knows?

In other not very good news, my Bali trip has been canceled by AirAsia due to "operational requirements". I guess this means that they are no direct flights available at the time. I don't feel too bad about it. I could use the money for something else. I feel more sorry for Esther who was really looking forward to going.

I can't help thinking, is this a sign?

Perhaps.

EDIT:

Just wanted to add a little something. I've recently noticed some cases of people ripping off posts from other blogs and passing it off as their own. Come on people! How hard is it to blog? I don't have any literary background and yet I can do it!

Seriously, people who need to plagiarize are losers and people who plagiarize blog posts are the worse losers of them all.

L2Write plz. TQ.

Black Gold

A few days ago, I hung out with a friend at MJC. He's just come back from spending 45 days on board a barge at sea working on oil rigs.

It was a very, very interesting evening. Among other things, I got to know about what goes on onboard these barges. Of course, the most interesting thing was his wages.

I can think of a few words to describe it. Astronomical would be one of it. Especially when compared to mine.

The working conditions are harsh. You could end up spending more than 60 days at sea, going from rig to rig hundreds and hundreds of miles from home and from friends and family. Or any piece of land for that matter. Obviously this kind of work isn't for everyone.

My friend urged me to try applying for this kind of work. Despite my doubts, he says he's sure I can do it.

I do have my doubts. It's a huge risk. I need to quit my job now and go attend some courses to get certified for off shore work. That costs but I have the money. If I pass and get certified, I need to go to Miri to look for work.

To be honest, I've been thinking about this for months. Even since this friend of mine left for Sibu. My brother went along with him.

My brother is coming home soon after 2 months off shore. I'm going to grill him for answers. I have a lot of questions. Especially about pay.

Obviously, I'm quite uncertain about changing jobs at the moment even though I do feel it's time to do so. I've been working at my current job for the last 6 years I think. I like my job. It would be very hard to leave it.

Making big changes are always very hard. Especially hard when it involves changing jobs, changing cities, changing industry, changing... well, everything.

But if all the things that my friend told me were true, I'd be a fool to let this opportunity slip by. I can end up earning up to 10 times more than what I do now. If I plan well, I can actually save enough to retire early!

I'm still worried but I think I owe it to myself to find out as much as I can before making a decision.

I hope it works out. I do want to leave and I do want to make a fortune if I can. If it does then at least I'll never need to worry about money anymore.

I have a few more days to think before making my final decision.

TDK

I watched The Dark Knight on Wednesday night. I was out with a friend and originally was planning to watch Hellboy 2. While queuing up for tickets I noticed that incredibly, the 10.00pm show was not yet full. In fact, some very nice seats were still available. Thus we ended up watching The Dark Knight instead.

What can I say about the new Batman movie? What can I say? I don't have enough superlatives for it. Honestly.

It was awesome, to cut a long story short.

I would like to say a few things about Heath Ledger's Joker. Now that's what I can a villain! He was kickass. Twisted, evil, chaotic and rather deranged. So out of control not even the great Batman could adequately deal with him at first. Hands down and without a doubt, this is the definitive Joker.

The Joker was fantastic. No doubt, the highlight of the film and one of the best (worst?) onscreen villains I've had the pleasure of watching.

It's so unfortunate that Heath isn't around to enjoy the accolades that he so richly deserves for such an effective job. There's this buzz going around the entertainment circles that Heath should get an Oscar for his work. I don't disagree one little bit.

The rest of the cast weren't so bad either. Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman were all top notch and I enjoyed watching them. Especially Gary Oldman.

I also have good opinions about Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent/Two Face. He was great and played the antihero extremely well. I felt sorry for Two Face. You rooted for him and wished that he would just stop and calm down but in the end...

Tragic. And very fun to watch.

I'm also quite impressed with Maggie Gyllenhaal. Before this I didn't know too much about her aside from the fact that she's Jake's sister. But she's much better and livelier as Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes was in Batman Begins.

So how about the story? It was long and very detailed. A tip before watching TDK, make sure you go to the bathroom and have something to eat. It's a very long movie. Which was necessary to flesh out the complex plot. Which was all about the Joker and his manipulations.

TDK is one of those blink-and-you'll-miss-it type of movie, although some parts did get a bit tiresome. Especially the monologues. They could've reduced that and it would help move things along.

You need to pay attention in order for everything to make sense. Lots of subtle plot points to be noticed in all the dialogue.

Yes, there is a lot of talking. But the action does not disappoint. Of course. It's a Batman movie after all. I won't write about Batman's new gadgets (and his new suit and why he needed a new one). Just go and watch the movie already.

In summary, The Dark Knight is the best movie I've watched this year. It's also the best superhero movie I've watched in a long time. And it's also the best crime drama I've watched in a long time.

TDK works as a superhero movie and works just as well as a crime movie too. I love the gritty, realistic feel of the new Batman universe. It's more believable and not so overblown like some other superhero movies and this is a great thing.

Looking forward to the next Batman movie. Too bad Heath Ledger's Joker won't be in it...

Have you watched TDK? If not, then what are you waiting for?

Why A Good Graphics Card is a Good Investment

A good graphics card is a vital piece of hardware for avid gamers, such as myself. In order to play the latest, coolest games properly, you need one. It costs but a good card will last 2 years plus (maybe more for the high end stuff).

Why am I talking about this all of a sudden?

Because of games like this.

Check out this awesome Fallout 3 trailer:-




EDIT:-

Another cool game trailer. Sims 3!

Halflife

I had a plan to post on my birthday which was a few days ago. It was supposed to be all angsty and troubled like how I used to write. It was supposed to be a litany of regrets, a dirge for dead ambitions, a lamentation of lost youth and time.

You know, the stuff that screamo lyrics are made of. You get the idea.

I thought I was going to be miserable on Monday. I thought I had good reason to be too. My 35th birthday is a big deal. It's that line in the sand between youth and middle age. Well, to me anyway.

All the stuff that I planned and attempted had be to done by the time I was 35. By 35, I was supposed to be stable and contented. In short, a lot of stuff had to happen by the time I'm 35.

In short, 35 was supposed to be some kind of milestone. It's the time when I was supposed to sit and reckon all my achievements and successes (if any). Thirty five was my Rubicon.

I'm not going to lie. The idea of turning 35 bothered me more than I would want to admit. Especially considering how my life had been turning out until that point.

So on the day itself, I waited for that inevitable pall of gloom to fall on me so that I could write my blog post of doom. I waited. And waited. And waited.

It never came. I was rather relaxed throughout the last few days. Talk about anticlimax...

I did sit down and look back as one is wont to do on one's birthday. Life most certainly not turned out the way I wanted it to be. Many things happened that I wished didn't. I did many things that I wish I could take back.

But I had good times too. I have friends. And experience which enriched me in more ways that I can think of at the moment.

On the whole, I didn't get the cake that I wanted. But what I got isn't so bad as I thought it would be.

Obviously, things are going to have to change in some parts of my life. Change is inevitable after all. I'm going to have to forget about certain things and lower the priorities of some others.

Surprisingly, making that decision was easier than I expected.

In the end, I had a nice quite birthday as usual. As usual, we went to that food place in Batu Lintang where we go every year. And as usual, Mom asked when am I going to get married and told me that they aren't picky about that, yadda yadda yadda...

Anyway talking about priorities, what should I be aiming for now? I can't think of any so-called greater aim in life at the moment.

And thus, the end of the post has come. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year and the years after that. Let's see what The Fates have in store for me.

I also need to find the motivation to blog more. My current output is too low for my liking...

Alive Still...

A random image

...just not blogging.

I've been away from work this last three days. Didn't really do that much at all. On Tuesday evening after week I went to Zack's house to fix their PC. Bluescreen of death again. The PC is ok now. The PC is getting old but with WinXP SP3 it should hold up quite well.

Marginally more interesting is what I did the next few days. Been hanging out at a friend's house playing his Playstation 2. Which used to be my Playstation 2. I suddenly miss having a console but consoles are much more fun when you have people over to play.

We've been doing that for the last few days playing things like Tekken 5 and the new ProEvo soccer which version number eludes me at the moment.

Call me crazy but I suddenly want to have a console again. Anyone got a used PS2 for sale?

That was my week.

Oh yes, I had lunch with Diana on Wednesday I think it was? I haven't seen her since she got married a few year's back. She's doing well. Busy but doing well.

It is three in the afternoon and I feel like cruising around randomly but that's not the best idea considering how much that costs now. Talking about fuel saving, I think the best and most effective thing I've done to reduce cost is to use internet banking. I pay everything online now.

No more driving to different banks, no more looking for parking and no more cueing up at ATMs and deposit machines. It saves a ton of fuel and many hours of my time. I've been encouraging my friends here to do the same.

I encourage everyone to do the same. Ask your bank for more information.

Obviously, security is a concern but so far I'm quite confident and comfortable with the system. You just need to be careful with your login name and password.

I have a meeting to go to later. I'm not very enthusiastic about it...

Unexpected

Hancock's trailer is very, very misleading. You'd think it'd be a funny movie. Well, it was funny in places. But it isn't a comedy. It's a bit more serious than that.

And there's that surprising twist in the middle. Very surprising indeed.

I watched this on Friday evening and came away pleasantly surprised. It wasn't what I expected but what I got was good. Maybe even better than I expected.

Fans of Will Smith will like this. The guy is a fine actor.

Lots of movies to catch this following month or so.

There's The Dark Knight like I mentioned before. Then there's Hell Boy 2. Then there's The Mummy sequel. And then there's Red Cliff.

I also caught the new Bond movie trailer. Looks quite promising.

It's fun to be a kaki wayang.

668

Ok, it's time to write about food. Specifically it's time to plug my favourite kolo mee vendor, 668 Cafe at Tabuan Jaya here. It's right next door to Kaya and Toast.

My usual bowl of kolo mee...

...and the accompanying bowl of kiaw. Lovely.

Kolo mee, a signature meal for Kuchingites (for those who can eat non-halal food anyway). Lots of places sell kolo mee, each slightly different from the next. Some of these places are somewhat mediocre. Some others are terrible.

Some are excellent. Like the one on the corner of Bishopgate street, reputably the best of all of them. Lots of people say that and I can't disagree. 668 kolo mee is very, very close to that. Just like the Bishopgate one, 668 kolo mee is so good and so addictive it should be illegal.

It just occurred to me that I don't know how to write food reviews... Anyway...

The unfortunate thing about 668 Cafe is it opens a little too late for me to have breakfast at when I'm working day shifts. I usually have something in Tabuan before I head off to work. It's usually either kam pua mee or kolo mee or porridge. Some days I just have coffee.

668 opens at 7.00am usually which is the time I have to start work. I'm not sure when it closes. I usually go there for breakfast only.

Tonight is my last night at work this week and this morning I will drop by at 668 as usual. Looking forward to some good noodles in the mornin'...

For those who love good kolo mee, please go to 668 and try it. You'll love it.

A Very, Very Important Announcement

Finally.

One Week No Blogee...

A hookah pipe.
We had some strawberry flavoured smoke while waiting for The Incredible Hulk to start.

Well, almost one week. Been very busy going out, watching movies sleeping late, playing submarine game and watching football.

Spain is victorious! I watched that match and it was pretty good. It wasn't the best football match ever. I spent the time flipping between the Euro 08 and a pretty good pirate documentary on the History Channel. At least I watched the goal. They could have been more goals. Marcos Senna came within inches of scoring later on to make it 2-0. Inches I tell you.

Anyone, I'm pleased. It was a dream final with all the stars on parade and in the end the more adventurous team won.

I watched some movies last week. On Friday night I watched The Incredible Hulk with Esther. It was great. Edward Norton was excellent. As well as Liv Tyler. The story was pretty good. The Abomination was an excellent villain. I enjoyed it very much. I was also pleasantly surprised by Lou Ferigno's cameo. Nice touch.

I'd watch it again. This was better than the first movie by quite some distance. Also the thing that happened in the end will please a lot of people. I sure of that.

Then on Saturday evening I went to watch Get Smart with a different group of friends. To be honest my expectations for this was very low. I've watched a lot of crap "comedies" in the last few months.

Get Smart was a lot better than I expected. It was also a lot longer that I expected too but this isn't a bad thing at all. It didn't drag at all. Plus it was very funny. I was very surprised that not many people were watching this with us. There were a lot of empty seats in the cinema. At least the small crowd we were with appreciated and understood all the humour.

Steve Carrell was perfect for this. The supporting cast was good also and The Rock added a little bit extra. Anne Hathaway was hot and wasn't just there to be eye candy.

One of the things that stood out for me was although Get Smart is a comedy it's also a full blown action movie as well. Usually for stuff like this, the balance tends to shift to one or the other. The got the mix right in this one. I thought it was great and I really enjoyed it.

It's been said that a sequel would be made if this one was successful. I really hope it is because I'd definitely be on for Get Smart 2. I loved this and I want to see more.

There's a bunch of other stuff I want to watch. Next, I want to watch Wanted and Hancock. And The Dark Knight of course.

Let's see what else I did.

I've been playing my sub game a lot. Doing good so far but it's getting a bit harder now later in the war. I got a new, bigger and faster boat but the enemy is more aggressive now.

I've been killed a bunch times. A lot of times I get depth charged to death and sometimes I get caught by planes on the surface. One time I lost a gun duel with a tanker. I decided to save my torpedoes and shell it instead. Usually, shelling a lone merchant ship on the high seas is pretty risk free. Not so that particular evening. I got hit real good.

Another time, I accidentally rammed a freighter. It was at night and foggy and I didn't see the ship until it was too late. Another time, I crash dived after a torpedo attack and promptly bottomed out and ground my boat. I forgot to check the water. Apparently, it was shallow.

Actually, a lot of crazy things happened in that game. I could write a bunch of entries about submarine stories. I haven't even mention things like duds, running out of gas in the middle of nowhere , torpedoes that circle and suicidal Japanese pilots.

Anyway, good game that Silent Hunter 4. Maritime folks would love it.

On Saturday night, I had dinner at Tomoe with Rin, Ivan and Shah. Japanese food is great. I haven't been to Tomoe in a while and it was nice to be back. It's too bad we can't indulge as often as we used to due to the prices of everything going up.

Overall, I had a pretty good week.

Iron Fist

Tonight's post was supposed to be about something completely trivial and unimportant. Then I read this and this.

For those people who don't want to read the links basically the story is about Hannah Yeoh, DAP assemblywoman, not being invited to the SMK Subang Utama prefects' reunion. This is because teachers from the school have issued threats to the organisers. This is apparent because she isn't a BN rep.

You know what is the saddest thing about this? The saddest thing is this kind of thing isn't a huge surprise. Are you surprised?

In an ideal world, this shouldn't happen. But this is Malaysia, so this happens all the time.

Even sadder is that right at this very moment I could think of many excuses BN supporters will come up with to justify excluding non-BN politicians from coming anywhere near a so-called government institution. I guess for some people, politicising education and schools is perfectly acceptable.

I guess I shouldn't even bother writing this stuff. This is typical of the UMNO driven federal government isn't it? The same government which defines patriotism as love of BN. The same government which is addicted to gratitude and blind sheep mentality of it's supporters. The same government who considers dissent as "disloyalty".

I'm not a huge fan of the government. The federal government makes me sick. But I'm not a huge fan of the opposition either. A lot of them make me sick too.

So the question is, will this ever change? Will we ever see a different type of federal government who won't resort to threats and won't keep reminding people to be grateful to them for something their predecessors did decades and decades ago?

Anwar wants us to think so. Lim Kit Siang wants us to think so.

Honestly, I don't think so.

One must remember that for all their promises of change, these fellows are all the same thing as their BN opponents. Politicians. Their main agenda is to put forward their party's agenda. People's welfare is a side effect.

They'll tell you otherwise but I've seen enough behind the scenes. It's.... hard to explain.

This party line thing this is why we have shit like party whips in parliament. I remember someone commented on a post I wrote months trying to justify the system. I guess it might make a lot of sense to those who believe in it. But it all sounds like a lot of shit to me.

But what do I know, I'm an anti-authoritarian anarchist after all. I hate authority as a rule. *shrug*.

Bottom line is, once you join a political organisation you can kiss your own conscience and your own opinions goodbye. It's all about the party from day one. So if your friends and supporters bring up an issue that is contrary to the party line you're supposed to tell them to shut the hell up. Even if you agree with it yourself.

I don't really enjoy the political scene. I'm too bull headed and rebellious for it.

So, what can we do?

Well, for me I'll just carry on and stay the hell away from politics and limit my interaction with government bodies to the absolute minimum.

Finally, what is the point of this post?

It's just a rant. It has no point. It offers no solution. It offers no alternatives. I don't have to back it up with stats and facts and figures and shit like that. I'm not a journalist. This is a blog. Not a goddamn newspaper.

It's just there to be a pain in the ass on the internet. Which what government people insist they can control and censor, but in reality, they can't...

Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

On Time

I'm no poetry aficionado but I really like this one. Used very appropriately in the above video. Please, click on the video and enjoy the poem.

Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race,
Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,
Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;
And glut thy self with what thy womb devours,
Which is no more then what is false and vain,
And meerly mortal dross;
So little is our loss,
So little is thy gain.

For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb'd,
And last of all, thy greedy self consum'd,
Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss
With an individual kiss;

And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,
When every thing that is sincerely good
And perfectly divine,
With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine
About the supreme Throne
Of him, t' whose happy-making sight alone,
When once our heav'nly-guided soul shall clime,

Then all this Earthy grosnes quit,
Attir'd with Stars, we shall for ever sit,
Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.

- On Time, John Milton

This poem also reminds me.

My birthday is coming in less than a month.

Down Below...

Attention: This post is about a submarine game. If you find that boring, please skip to the paragraph that says "In other news". Thank you and have a nice day.

I'm a big fan of WW2 games. I've played tons. Everything from flight simulators to first person shooters to grand strategy. So this week was quite cool because I managed to get my hands on Silent Hunter III and Silent Hunter 4.



I like sub sims. One might think a game simulating sitting in a metal tube and sailing trackless oceans for weeks on end to be quite boring. Actually, sub sims are quite gripping, tension ridden and exciting. Plus a well done sub sim also introduces the player to the basics of navigation and the maths involved in launching torpedoes. It's quite complex actually.

But the bottom line (hehe, bottom, hehe) is it's fun. Especially for history buffs like myself.

A long time ago in the days of my old 486 PC in college, I played a classic called Aces of The Deep. It was awesome. I'm happy to report that Silent Hunter 4 has the same amount of awesomeness plus some more. Including new age graphics.

It also has some new elements like crew management. Each member of your boat has stats and they can gain skills and experience as they go on patrol. As captain, I can assign crews to various positions on the boat and I'm also responsible for things like promotions and decorations for them as I see fit.

I think that's a really cool feature of the game. Also pretty nice is the ability for me to request upgrades for my boat when new technology becomes available. I can also choose what ordance to carry as in what kind of torpedoes I want to have. Early in WW2 I get only one type of torpedo. Later on, I can choose from several types including electric driven ones and the exotic homing torpedo for those must-hit moments.

Talking about torpedoes, the centrepiece of all sub sims is the torpedo engagement. Let me say one thing, torpedo combat isn't for jittery people. It's slow, methodical and requires lots of patience (and in Silent Hunter 4 on expert level, an unbelievable amount of maths!). Anyway, launching torps is fun! Especially when you get it just right and even more when you bag a really big, fat target.

Before I left for work just now, I saved my game in the middle of a convoy attack. The biggest ship in that convoy was a ginormous oil tanker... I've already sneaked past the destroyer screen and when I saved my game just now, I was 800 yards away from the target with torpedoes ready to launch...

Exciting stuff!

There's a whole story to that convoy thing but I'll write about that next time.

In other news, I have quite a few things to write about actually. One thing, I wanted to write about my favourite kolo mee shop. They serve such excellent kolo mee they deserve to be written about on the internet.

Another thing is a potential new hobby. Many months ago, some of my friends in my neighbourhood in Matang talked about buying mountain bikes so that we could go cycling. Well, three of those friends bought bikes over the last two weeks and another one is getting a bike at the end of the month. I already have a bike so I'll be joining them.

I'm not sure what sort of stuff we'll end up doing with our bikes but I'll definitely write about it.

Hopefully, we'll do cool stuff and get some much needed exercise to boot.

Speaking of excercise, I'm feeling kinda hungry suddenly...

TufOil

I've been looking at some engine treatment options to help save on fuel. One of my colleagues recommended Tufoil. No, I've never heard of it either.

Apparently, it's "The World's Most Efficient Lubricant". Hmm... I'm always very leery about product blurbs making outlandish claims like this. But I went to the website and everything looks pretty good.

But the thing that swayed me was my colleague's recommendation. So I went and bought a bottle yesterday and put it in when I got home. I'm supposed to add this when I do my oil change but since I did that last week and the oil is still new I added it in straight away.

The oil is a concentrate so it pours like chocolate mousse. Slowly.

So how's it working out so far?

This morning I drove to work as usual and the difference was obvious and immediate. One thing, there is suddenly no more lurching or jerking. You know, when the engine is cold it lurches when shifting gears or when you apply a lot of power suddenly. My car lurches like a bitch when it's cold. Or it used to anyway.

This makes sense. I know the lurching\jerking is caused by the mechanical lag that is in turned caused by metal to metal friction when the engine is cold. The oil in cold engines settles at the bottom of the engine and it takes a bit of time for it to circulate again. The lack of lurching means that the oil in my engine didn't settle. Or the Tufoil is sticking on all the moving parts. This is a good thing. Cold starts put a lot of stress on the engine and any reduction is good. And hopefully will extend its life.

Another nice thing was the overall smoothness. The "feel" is a lot nicer and there was no obvious dipping or surging like I used to get. There used to be this very obviously surging when I hit 2000rpm. I didn't get it this morning. It was smooth. Very smooth.

And the engine noise. Which was not as much as before. A lot less rattling.

All this after 12 hours.

As for the other claims, I'll find out more as I use the car. If it does half the things it claims, I'll be happy enough. The thing that I'm most concerned about and what made me try this out is my mileage. The box says it will improve mileage by 5% but on the website there are people who claim improvements of 10%-20%! I guess they're using old cars. 5% is fine for me.

In turned, I recommended this to another colleague this morning.

Well, I'm off tomorrow and I'll put the car through some more tests to see what else is different.

By the way, I haven't seen this stuff in shops around town so I guess people will need to order this online. Or contact the Malaysian distributor. The contact info can be found in the Tufoil website.

Still Here...

... just not posting. Nothing to post about this week. No idea what to post about.

I watched the Spain vs Sweden game on early Sunday morning. Good game. Huge drama at the end. David Villa is on fire right now. Four goals in 2 games.

Before the game, we hung out at this place called Family cafe next to the AmBank near the Satok flyover. The place itself was fine. The food was so-so only. The fried rice was a little too salty for my taste.

We talked about a lot of stuff as usual. What we did for the week, what movies to watch next, stuff happening on the internet and etc. We also talked about work and I told them someone we know is applying for work at my place. The topic of promotion at work came up and I said that to be honest, I wouldn't want to get promoted at the moment.

I'm not particularly ambitious career wise even though I do enjoy my work. I think I've written about this before. I have no great aim at becoming the boss at my work place. If I ever get promoted one day I might consider it. But that's never been my major aim.

I'm not really sure when it happened but I gave up trying to be professionally successful a long time ago.

Sounds rather simplistic, but all I want is to be happy and satisfied I guess. By that I mean in my personal life. Suddenly I'm thinking, happiness and satisfaction is rather simple sounding but it's also very elusive no? It's also rather odd when I look at many "successful" people around me and see that they are not even close to being happy and satisfied.

I'm not judging. Perhaps that is what they want and where they are is where they want to be all along.

How about me? I'm pretty good I guess. I could do with a bit of extra money but I'm ok otherwise.

I had this odd dream last night. I can't really remember what it was about but I remember it having to dowith an old flame, two guys (one of whom I vaguely remember from college) and lots of seafood. In a foreign city.

In the dream, me and old flame are friends again and are on talking terms. In real life, we are not. It would be nice if we were back on talking terms.

As for the seafood and the two guys, I have no idea what that's all about....

Woohoo!

See the picture? What is that thing?

That thing is the drum kit peripheral for...



... this! Coming out October this year! Woohoo!

No doubt this game will cost a fortune to get here, so I hereby declare that I will be willing to chip in for it when it does come out. I just hope that the other controllers aren't sold separately because that would suck quite a bit. I also hope the game will accept the Guitar Hero 3 controller since Ivan already has that one.

I hope the game will have an expanded set list and more moddability. Some of the announced features are quite nice.

While I'm still talking about Guitar Hero games, I was at some guitar forums yesterday and I noticed that many people are still arguing about the merits of the game vs playing an actual guitar.

*Sigh* I know that many internet arguments are in fact retarded but still.... *sigh*

Here's my take on some of the points raised.

Guitar Hero is NOT harder than playing actual guitar. Learning guitar hero and learning guitar are two totally different things. Some people insist that guitar hero players will be able to play real guitar at pro levels if only they devoted the same kind of dedication to the real instrument.

Not true. Whoever said this obviously don't play. Becoming expert in guitar playing takes much more effort than becoming expert in guitar hero.

Having said that I feel playing guitar hero games can help with things like finger dexterity and strength. It also helps with timing and rhythm particularly for those who aren't good at it naturally.

I honestly am surprised at some musicians hostile reactions to this game. What's the problem? Here we have a fun, wholesome game which encourages people to listen to music and to appreciate it more. I've read many threads and posts and articles about how many people who are picking up guitar because of this game. I would love it if this happened to people I know.

I've also read about how guitar sales have skyrocketed and so has demands for guitar teachers. With games like Rock Band and the upcoming GH4, I think the same will go for drums and percussions as well. It's safe for me to say that interest in playing music has spiked because of games like Guitar Hero.

How is this a bad thing? The more musicians, the merrier I say.

I guess that's the problem with any real life hobby or passion. There are always those damn elitists ruining everyone's day. Maybe they want to revel in their own "leetness" and not spend time teaching "noobs"? Maybe.

As funny as it is to read, these arguments make me sad.

I do hope that guitar purists don't scare off aspiring guitar students who started because of guitar hero. It shouldn't matter how or why anyone starts out playing music. There are many others who are happy to share and teach.

This brings me to another thing. I've decided to start playing again. Guitar I mean. There are FOUR guitars in my house and nobody is playing any of them. Especially now that my musician brother has gone to work out of town.

So on Friday I'm going out to get some supplies, wipe my Epiphone acoustic clean and change the strings. I have a whole bunch of new songs to learn.

I should get pretty good by the time Guitar Hero 4 rolls into town...

Sigh...

Tomorrow I'm going back to work after one week off. The thought makes me rather weak. Still, it's time to go back to real life. It's been quite a pleasant break. Not that I did much. But it's still good.

I didn't go out yesterday evening. For some reason, I was very tired. I did go for breakfast in the morning with Gette, Rin and Ivan. It was pretty cool. I haven't been to town that early on a Saturday morning since a long time ago. The city is very pleasant to be in during that time of the day. Not much traffic and not many people. The weather was quite nice too.

In the news, the fuel thing is still very hot news indeed. Rather than rant about it some more, I'm going to find ways to deal with it and prevent it from causing me to go bankrupt.

I've been modifying the way I drive and after some rather obsessive rpm watching I managed to squeeze an extra 10 clicks this week before I had to refuel again. Not bad. So that's one thing you could do, watch your gearing and don't over rev unless really necessary. For me, that means not going above 2000 plus rpm before shifting. Except for 1st gear where the limit would be 3000rpm.

My car hits 80km\h at slightly above 2200rpm if I remember correctly. That's just nice for me. I also coast a bit more going downhill and before braking for traffic lights. Obviously, all this driving techniques only work for manual transmission.

Talking about fuel consumption, my car's got a rep for not being very economical. It's probably due to the exhaust tip. The exhaust tip on the Saga LMST is quite big actually. For me, it's hasn't been a guzzler. But then again, when I change my engine oil I refuse to use cheap ass mineral oil. I use synthetics instead.

They cost more but in the long run it's good for the car. My car is almost 6 years old and it's still ticking away like clockwork. The engine runs perfectly and I still have no problems cold starting early in the morning. I don't do anything to the engine so I'm quite sure the smoothness can be maintained by using a high grade oil. Plus, high grade oils reduce noise and engine drag and therefore good for fuel consumption.

So the next time your car is due for service think about using semi or full synthetic oil if you can afford it. Your overall fuel cost will go down and your car will appreciate it too.

It won't be cheap though. I did mine on Friday and it cost 128 bucks for oil, fuel filter, labour charge and those two little bulbs that illuminate the rear plates. I did it at a Shell station and they have some kind of promotion where they give you a voucher for 13 bucks of gas. That was pretty cool.

Right now, I'm reading up on things like engine treatment and those gadgets that claim to reduce fuel consumption. I wonder if they really work...

Another thing is weight. Extra weight is bad. I changed my rims from 14" steel to one of those lightweight alloy 15" ones and they do make a bit of difference. I also don't keep junk in the car. I suppose this helps too.

Why am I not using the bus to go out?

I live in Matang. That should be a good enough explanation. I don't fancy buying fuel but I fancy sitting on my ass for two hours waiting for the damn bus even less. Wasting up to two hours of my life waiting for a bus isn't going to cut it with me. Especially when I need to go to work.

The bus service in Matang sucks. Until they fix the public transportation issue here I won't rely on it. Plus the last bus is way too early for my taste. A rail transit system is much better than the bus but it costs a lot to develop and no way is it going to appear here in Kuching.

Not for another 50 years probably.

Crush Depth

Well, it finally happened.

I haven't checked what the other bloggers are writing about. Haven't got the time. I'm sure lots of people have lots of opinions and feelings about this.

What am I feeling? To be honest, I'm a bit numb right now. Also a bit anxious. Especially about crime rates going up and profiteering. These two things will definitely happened. The powers that be won't be able to stop it. It's up to us to look after ourselves.

I was also a bit upset last night because I was caught in the panic-buying induced traffic jam when I wanted to go meet some colleagues. As a result we started late and I had to cancel another engagement. I understand why it happened (the panic buying) but I don't know, it all seems so pointless to waste the entire evening and lots of fuel just to go and buy even more fuel.

I'm also worried and feel sympathy. These new fuel price increases will cause some people to fall through the cracks and become hardcore poor. The government will say this won't happen but come on think about it. Some people I know are already making zero profit from their tiny wages. Add 40% extra fuel cost and we get a deficit.

Cue desperate people trying all kinds of things to make ends meet. Including crime.

So lock up your houses and valuables, keep your eyes open and maybe buy a dog or two. Or a geese. Geese are good guards too. I fully expect crime to shoot up. Some may say the cops will deal with this but seriously, you think they can do anything? It's up to us again to look after ourselves.

In the meantime, I'm going to have to think of some way to increase my own income. I'm not making enough as it is and I'm far from living a luxurious life.

I just hope my RM625 rebate won't get lost in the mail.

One last thing, I heard rumours that the 625 thing is a one shot payment. I guess whoever said this was really pissed off. It's ok to be pissed off. It's not ok to spread rumours. The rebates and
discounts are annual.

Well, there you go. I hope everyone will be ok and find a way to survive. Our lives are about to change again.

PS: The title of this post is based on a phenomenon detailed here. In my analogy, we are the submarines.

On Call

It's Gawai week. Lots of people are having fun. I am...



...at work. Well, sort of.

I'm on call this week. The entire factory is shut down and there is noone here. Still, somebody needs to come by every now and then to run backups and stuff and to make sure everything is ticking. And it is this morning. I'll get off at 8-ish after everything is done and come back later in the evening at 6.

Everyone else is celebrating. I'm not too bummed on not being able to do that though. Somehow I'm not as eager about it. However, Gawai is the harvest festival and it's the time for thanksgiving for what blessings we may have had over the last year.

I do have one or two things to be grateful for. The peace and quiet this week would be one of it. Not being miserable and depressed anymore is the other. It's been a year since I first when to see a psychiatrist if I'm not mistaken. Since then, life has been very, very different.

My memories of life before that are beginning to fade. I can barely remember what it was like to be in that much pain. That is how different it is. I do want to keep some of those memories though as a reminder of how awful it was.

Anyway, I must go now. My backups are done and I need to check on a few more things before I go.

Have a blessed Gawai and may the coming year bring peace and prosperity to all of us.

Converted!

One more reason to like Drew Carey! Excellent interview with David Letterman.



Drew talking about football.

In a related bit of news, two more teams join the MLS. Seattle Sounders FC next season and a team from Philly the year after that. They haven't named it yet but Philadelphia Athletic has a nice ring to it.

And closer to home, our own football team is in a shambles at the moment what with the match rigging scandal and lack of money. I just hope our new partnership with Hartlepool will bring good things.

Ahh Indy...

I watched the new Indy movie on Sunday night. It was great.

Indy. He's getting old. He's not as fast as he used to be. But damn he stills kicks ass. Fans of Indy with like this. I know I did. It's like a trip down memory lane.

It's great to see a new Indy movie after all these years.

Unlike some other people who saw this movie, I actually liked Shia Lebeouf in this one. Will he be the next Indy? I'm not sure how that would work. There is actually talk of another Indy movie sometime soon with Shia in the lead and Harrison Ford supporting him. I'll watch that but I'm not sure if that's going to be a good idea if it does happen.

So how is this movie compared to the previous ones? I really can't say. The memory is a bit faded these days and I haven't watched the other three in a long time. But one thing for sure, it isn't "bad" in any sense of the word. The important thing is the movie stayed true to the spirit of the series and no attempt was made to "update" it. It's new but it felt like watching an old school action movie. I highly recommend you watch this. It's fun.

I watched this at the Riverside Cineplex and not at Star. There was a power outage when I got there to buy tickets. The entire building was blacked out but at lifts were working and the cineplex had power. Unfortunately, the backup generators didn't power the airconditioning so we decided to skip it. Good thing the friend I was with remembered there was another show at the Riverside so we went. There weren't too many people with was nice.

I pity those people who bought their Star Cineplex tickets early. They either had to forfeit or watch the show in a sweltering hall. The smell wasn't that nice... I'm thinking maybe the management should've given options to refund the tickets instead of going ahead with the show.

Afterwards, me and Esther (my company for the evening) went to look for some place to sit. We wanted to go to Khatulistiwa but apparently it's being renovated. So we went to the Waterfront instead.

I haven't gone to the Waterfront in years. It was quite nice. There were many people about and the place looked cleaner than I remember it.

We hung out for a while. It was very refreshing.

That got me thinking. I know a few women friends who are considerably younger than me and they are great but that night I thought how great it would be if I had another single woman around my own age for company (or more...).

It's not just the age. Someone who I could talk to and who enjoys conversations as much as I do. Someone who has gone through similar growing up and life experiences as me and who isn't afraid to share and compare notes.

Like me and Esther were saying that, a person fitting the above description is kind of rare these days. A lot of people behave more... stereotypically. I sound like an elitist like that but I don't know how else to say it. I can hang out with anyone really. As long as they speak up. I can't stand people who are too quiet. They're hard to fathom and that makes me nervous. I can carry a conversation well enough but that needs two or more people to work.

I don't like people who are too conservative either. Nor do I like people who are too secretive. Or too intense. Or incapable of empathy.

You'd think it's very easy to talk. But no, not many people can "talk" the way I mean it. It's hard to explain but I get bored really fast if I'm with someone who won't/can't have a conversation with me.

Hmm, this post is deviating.

In conclusion, I had a great evening and Esther and I will definitely be going to watch movies again this summer season.

Yum..

That is a pint of Kilkenny Irish Beer. It's very good. It's 20 bucks a glass so it's not cheap but it's so good. It's an entire pint so I say the price is worth it. We had a really good time at The Cottage on Thursday night drinking this stuff.

Also, they had a promo that night. Buy three pints get another pint free. So we had quite a lot of this stuff. It was great. The perfect compliment to go with a very heated conversation about politics. It was fun.

I've had a decent enough few days. I got a haircut and what a relief it was. It's not really comfortable to keep hair long during these very hot times.

Speaking of relief, it's been raining. It's... well, a relief.

I'm supposed to go and fix another PC. I'm feeling rather lazy at the moment. Maybe later.

Last night I had another good evening teaching a friend of mine how to get the most out of his new notebook. He managed to snag an Acer Aspire 4940 for literally half price! I'm no Acer fan but I can recognize a good deal when I see one. That thing isn't even 2 months old yet and he managed to get it for RM1400. Brand new it would be worth 3k at least.

Really good spec too except for the RAM being just 1Gb. Apart from that it was a good spec.

Anyway, I do enjoy showing people how to use their new PC/notebook. My friend is a total noob so there's lots for me to show him.

Apart from all this, things are the same as they've always been.

Later I'm going off again to teach my noob friend more things about his PC. I might even remember to take a picture of it.

Five Minutes

is what I have to post this.

I have to rush of for a seminar afterwards. Looking forward to that. I wish people would send me to more of the same. At least I can get out of the office. It can get claustrophobic here at times.

It's a cold morning. What a relief. Tomorrow I'm off work. A bigger relief.

I was checking my blog counter just now and yet again the name of an old friend came up in the keywords section. Can't say I'm surprised. She made quite an impression on a good number of people while we were in college.

I read many blogs and the sheer volume of photographs in some of those blogs amaze me. I must commend their authors for their patience and their diligence in putting them up.

I take many pictures myself but somehow I feel too lazy to post them. It's something about the posting of photos and arranging them in my posts that seem to bother me. Hence I don't do it much. I find it rather tedious. I don't like tedium.

Need to work on that. Some of the photos I've taken are worth an entire post all by themselves.

While driving to work this morning, again my mind wanders a bit. And again, I wonder why is it so hard for us to walk away from something that clearly isn't good for us. I guess that's a very human flaw indeed.

In the end, it's a choice. A hard choice but a choice nevertheless.

I could write a very long post about choices and the difficulty in making them. But not this morning.

How to Get Instant Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

With this. On Saturday night I played this at Rin's house on Ivan's 360. It was..... interesting. And quite addictive. One thing for sure, you need the guitar controller for this to work. I've tried this on a regular controller and it just doesn't feel the same.

Now if only the guitar controller was bigger and had a longer neck closer to that of a real guitar. Then maybe it wouldn't physically hurt to play it. Still, the game is so good you'll be in pain and continue to play anyway.

I wished they were more songs.

By the way, I finished the game on easy. Despite my sore wrist and fingers.

I'm quite sure this game will continue to feature in our gatherings. Hopefully they'll be more people around so we can face-off on medium or higher difficulties. That is going to be a lot more interesting...

I'm looking forward to playing this again.

Apart from this, there's not much else to write about. Life is still the same and things are still the same.

Oh yes, we had this weird brownout situation in my area last night. All our lights were on.... kinda. It was freaky. And inconvenient because I couldn't turn on my PC.

Look at that, the middle of May already. Almost half a year gone.

What's in my Head Right Now

I went to this nice place called Hijau the other night. It's quite nice. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. The only thing I didn't like about it was the lack of parking spaces.

It's been very hot these last two days. I wish it would rain more during the day. It's a good thing I'm not at work these few days. It's hard to sleep when it's this hot.

Me talking about weather. A sure sign of me not knowing what to write about.

Actually, I do have some things to write about. But it's really hot right now. Can't think straight.

I've been invited to a birthday thingy later tonight. I'm not sure if I'm going. Maybe I'll drop by for a while. Not really up for socialising at the moment to be honest.

Maybe I'll go out and look for DVDs or something.

Oh look, my credit card statement has arrived...

Underdogs

I don't write much about football and I'm no fanatic but I do follow it with interest.

The 07/08 English premier league is done and Man Utd won it. Again. I can't say I'm too thrilled about that. No, I'm not a Chelsea fan. I just like a close fight in any sporting event and if the same team/person won it over and over again it gets boring.

We still have The Champions League Final coming and I hope Chelsea wins that. If they do, it will be their first time.

Most people won't care about this year's FA Cup but I'm hoping Cardiff can pull an upset and be the first lower division team in a very, very long time to win a major English trophy. It's also fine by me if Pompey won it too. As long as it isn't any one the usual big teams. What is the FA Cup with it's giant killing magic (think Barnsley FC)?

I'm so glad that Sunderland survived. I'm looking forward to seeing more Roy Keane next year. I'm also hoping Stoke City will do well and that Bristol City go up via the playoffs. It would be awesome. In season 06/07 they were in League 1 and now they are on the verge qualifying for the big show. That's almost unthinkable.

If not Bristol City then Hull making it through would be good as well.

What can I say, I like my underdogs. I like it when the big and powerful suffer and struggle and the small timers win things or survive against the odds ala Fulham and Wigan. I like the fact that a tiny Spanish Primera Liga team like Almeria can finish mid table and a huge team like Valencia can struggle.

Not only football. Other sports as well.

I love my underdogs. By the same token if someone or something becomes too dominant in anything I will gradually resent them. I don't know why I feel this way. That is why I could never see myself as Man Utd supporter. Or a Ferari fan.

I hate glory hunters.

And not only sports. In everything.

Perhaps I see myself in these underdogs. I can relate to them. I know what it's like to try your best fully knowing that your "best" isn't really good enough. I understand how it is to realize that you will never be able to compete with those bigger than you but you try anyway. I know the plight of the also-ran and the has-been and the guy who had so much potential but somehow never made it. Most of the time you lose and no one cares what happens to you. I know how that feels like too.

But every once and a while something special happens and you win despite all the odds. It doesn't happen a lot but when it does it's unforgettable. I also know how that feels like.

I raise a virtual glass to the underdogs of the world. Perhaps one fine day, we will have a shot at our own personal Cup Finals.

Engrish!

Hur hur hur...

Cooked asses? You betcha! Available at Ta Kiong supermarket! Get yours today!

What a Girl Wants: Guide for Clueless Men

I found an excellent thread in the lowyat Kopitiam forums...

What Girls really want in a man.

Guys should read this stuff. Girls should read this stuff too. Might be a useful insight to how things work between men and women.

Dell Vostro 1310

I've been waiting for this since it was announced last month. Two new Dell Vostro models are finally available in Malaysia, the 1310 and 1510.

Looks really sweet, especially the 1310. At last, a cheap and cheerful 13.3 inch notebook. Really good for those people who need something small but not too small.

Very cool and hopefully somebody I know will buy it so I can do a hands on test.

Idiots

I read the papers just like any other person and sometimes I come across stuff that I really can't understand.

Like the Malay Regiment having a detachment doing ceremonial duties at the Windsor Palace. I thought this was a good thing. An honour given to one of our most veteran units. I myself was thrilled about this. Unfortunately there are people in this country who miss the point entirely.

How is this prestigious assignment considered demeaning? Thankfully, there are people who do get it.

Yet another sign of people not understanding culture. That's what happens when you don't read any books at all. Ok I'm just speculating but seriously, it's hard not to notice the lack of cultural thought and intellect in many locals.

Another thing that many people don't get is why we need to beef up our military. Left wingers especially love complaining about this especially about the cost. Well, these people don't get how a strong military helps with international relations and strategic posturing. Especially important for Malaysia since we are involved in some very important territorial disputes.

Without a strong military presence how do we strengthen our position. Some people will say this type of tour de force is unnecessary and all we need is to negotiate. Sorry but people who believe that alone is enough are incredibly naive. Just like people who say that love is all you need in a marriage.

Anyways, I like our armed forces and it fills me with pride when I see RMAF fighter aircraft in the sky over Kuching. Whenever they are here anyway.

That's the problem with ideals. I was once quick an idealistic chap as well what with my ideas of justice, fairness and all that white knight in shining armour stuff. Sounds good on paper but later on I find that the world isn't an ideal place and being too idealistic is only going to disappoint you when you see that it doesn't work half the time.

I've learnt the hard way that one needs to be pragmatic as well as idealistic to live properly. The world is what it is with all the shit that goes on but we can live in it quite nicely. Provided we see it for what it is not for what we think it should be.

Hmm, I have noticed that this post and the last one is quite random, quite long and quite rambly. This is what happens when I get in the mood.

Anyway in other news, I'm so glad it rained this evening. The last few days it was so hot it was ridiculous. Not a good thing if you need to work at night and sleep during the day.

I'm off work tomorrow and I will definitely be writing again. I haven't finished rambling yet...

Hmm

"Your good intentions slowly turned to bitterness
Reoccurring episodes with each and every kiss

And I can tell you're going through the motions
I figured you were acting out your part
Once again we're playing off emotion
Which one of us will burn until the end?

Catalyst,
You insist to pull me down
You contradict the fact that you still want me around

And it's all downhill from here"

"All Downhill From Here" - New Found Glory, Catalyst

That song has been stuck in my head for the last half a day. I have no idea why. Maybe I was thinking about the "stories" I could tell as a continuation of my last post. The bolded part of the lyric is very appropriate to what I was thinking. Or more appropriate relative to the rest of the song. The song itself is quite appropriate to the things I'm currently thinking about.

I know some people who have quite a bit of relationship trouble this week.

Anyway one day earlier last month, my mom was asking about a friend of mine. There were quite surprised to learn that he was married. I in turn was quite surprised that they didn't know. I mean everyone knows. Everyone was supposed to know anyway.

And then suddenly out of the blue, she asked me whether I wanted to marry. No, I said. Well the real answer isn't exactly no, I just wanted to avoid a potentially awkward conversation. No luck there. She continued on about how I should seriously think about it and how it will help during old age and other why-being-married-is-a-good-thing points.

To be honest I can't really disagree with what she was saying. I didn't really say much else apart from saying that I don't have anybody in mind at the moment and even if I did I wouldn't do it anytime soon. These things cost money you know. Money which I don't have...

Recently, that friend we were talking about dropped by the house to check his PC when my mom mentioned the married story. She also made some jokes about me still being single and asked him to "help" me...

I want to say that I chuckled and felt unbothered, but the fact is I was bothered. It did make me think. And all the stuff mom and other people have said about it, not all of it is wrong. I should be doing something about it. Especially at my age. I can't really say it doesn't matter because it kinda does actually. Not exactly a life and death thing but it's not entirely frivolous either.

Should be no problems right? Pretty straightforward, I should just go and meet as many people as possible. The law of averages means that eventually I'll find somebody. Worse come to worse, I could just ask the parents to arrange it and settle down with whoever they pick, my own feelings be damned. I mean it works for other people right? It might even be a good idea, considering that I can't seem to do it right by myself.

The question here is "Do I want to do this or not?"

Things can change, but today's answer is no. If my mother didn't bring it up I wouldn't even be thinking about it. I may have become a little too jaded and defensive when it comes to how I feel.

I once wrote that young people shouldn't really be getting involved in serious relationships. I mean they lack experience and often, the blood is hot and makes one very impulsive. But all that may not be a bad thing.

I remember how easy it was to feel and give in to attraction. No need to think so much, you just follow it. When you are young, you haven't been burned yet and you aren't so defensive and not so cynical. You still believe in romantic ideals and the people you are with also still believe it. Unless you're totally clueless, falling in love is the easiest and the most natural thing in the world.

Some people are very lucky and it works out and it continues to work as they get older. For others, they might need one or two more tries. But it works out in the end.

When you are young, it's a good time to fall in love. It's a good time because you can do it so easily.

But for those who didn't get any joy, it gets harder over time until eventually they harden. Eventually, it becomes harder to open up and remain hopeful.

I think I may be at that level now. It's just not so simple anymore.

So what am I trying to say? What I'm saying is that I want to be in a relationship again but at the same time, I don't want to suffer all the pain that it could bring. Again. I've had enough of that and it upsets me enough just to watch other people in bad situations. I can only imagine how I would feel if it were me.

Maybe that's why I can't do it anymore. Maybe I'm too afraid. Or too cynical to even bother anymore.

Poor mom, I guess her grandchildren will have to come from her other kids...

Edit: This post contains a slight error. Apparently, I never said that younger people shouldn't be in relationships, I said younger people shouldn't get married so soon. Very sorry, memory isn't so sharp these days.

Stories

Only 9 posts in April. That's not enough posts for my liking. I actually have plenty to write about. I'm not sure why I didn't write more. The mood just wasn't there.

Anyway, the theme for today's post is "stories".

If I could just dictate my posts for these last 2 weeks instead of typing them out I would have many stories to tell. Good stories.

Talking about good stories, I watched one on Saturday night.


No need for any long winded description or review or comment or whatever. Ironman is so good words aren't necessary to describe it. Just go and watch it. It's excellent. You WILL like it.

And still talking about good stories, over the weekend I played a game I just got recently. It's not often that I feel driven to keep playing a computer all the way to the end more for the story than for lush graphics or gameplay. I think the last game that did this for me was Baldur's Gate 2 Shadows of Amn.

Nothing came close since then story wise. These days many games rely more on flashy graphics and presentation instead of a compelling story.
Assassin's Creed isn't one of those games. I mean yeah, it's got all the bells and whistles of a contemporary computer game. It's got amazing graphics. It's got good movie style sound effects. It's well animated and many times while I was playing it, it didn't feel like a computer game.

In addition to that, it had a good and well scripted story.

I won't be talking much about the story. It involves things like cellular memory and old legends and religion and climbing tall buildings and lots of very, very awesome sword/knife fighting. The story itself is quite long and there's nice twist at the end.

Oh yes, it's also screaming out for a sequel which I eagerly await.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone. It's enough for me to say that the game's plot is the main thing that drives the game forward. Not the flashy parts.

I wish more game developers would devote more effort to tell a good story with the technology they have at their disposal. I'm not alone when I say that. I've read articles that say the same thing.

If more games told stories the way Assassin's Creed did maybe then people will finally recognize the medium as a legitimate art form.

I look forward to the day.

Another game that is sure to have an engaging plot would be GTA 4. Too bad I don't have a PS\3 yet. However, I know someone with an Xbox 360... I'm contemplating splitting the cost of the original game among ourselves.

In other news, I have other stories to tell. I've had many interesting conversations this week. About life and people and the kind of trouble one could get into without realising it. I've also had quite a good deal of reminiscing, only this time it's from a different, older perspective.

But those stories are for other days...