The long-awaited day is here...

Thurs 24th April 2008

Yup, the day is here! The day when, as I was told on Monday, my accident-damaged car would be ready for collection. However, as usually attributed to the so-called "Tan Family Luck" syndrome, what greeted my eyes... when me went to check on the progress this morning ( I didn't go yesterday...) ...was that the next step had been taken in the repair process ie there is now a primer base coat sprayed on both the bonnet & the side fender! One more step to go...

After some wishy-washy conversation, I was told that it should be ready in late afternoon today. And guess what? It rained during lunch time! Phew! What luck! The "TFL" syndrome in action? Anyway since there is still a few hours to go before me expected to collect the car, I am hoping that they did start work on it before the rain...wish me luck!

Note : As has been the norm these few days...me forgot to snap a few pics of car while undergoing repairs... so sorry... :-( Maybe a kinda hint to me to practise the ole Chinese belief that such incidents should not be recorded but quickly forgotten...being a not nice incident...heheh....

An update here. Construction of houses under Taman Berjaya 2 has been continuing opposite Lot 10. Some had roofs put on already! Here are a couple of pics that me took this morning :

Pic on left shows a more distant view ie to the left...and the other is what is directly opposite Lot 10...appears to be a couple of bungalows? Frankly, the buildings are kinda too near for comfort, so to say... the price of development?

Anyway, as a result of the torrential rain session we had earlier (that I mentioned in passing just now...), waters rose once more and entered our porch. Luckily the rain slowed down and stopped just as the flood waters reached our front door! And the waters receded quite fast soon after. Thank God for that...

My near neighbour commented abt the flash flood situation and me jokingly answered...how else can we have the chance to play with water again like when we were kids...haha!

Frankly though, the less of such opportunities, the better for all of us! No fun, really....

Well, me will go try my luck in abt an hour or so...sincerely hope me get our car back. No wheels really like no legs. Not wanna "prison term" to be extended cos tomorrow is Friday...the weekend here...like a Sunday! Me just wanna settle my "fine" and be FREE!!

Wish me luck! No more "TFL" syndrome to overcome, hopefully...and must keep in my mind to never again follow closely the vehicle in front of me...not ever!! Bye...

A BAD day... :(

April 21st 2008

Yup, me will remember this day for the rest of my life! Why? Coz it's being 3rd time UNlucky for me! And yup again...me made the same ole careless ( but somehow feel it's a normal instinctive response ) mistake of moving off from a "Stop" point at a junction behind another vehicle.

And yup, the vehicle in front of me started moving out from the junction and me followed...naturally, right? Now what happens when that vehicle driver suddenly jams on the brakes? You just bang into his back, right? No way any1 can brake in time to stop a front-to-backend collision under such circumstances!

Result? The car in front merely (or maybe just my imagination, too...) suffered a few scratches on its plastic/fibre bumper. Me? My ole junk? Its left (should it be correctly called its "right"... in car terminology?) headlamp broke, sidelamp chipped...besides the bumper moved inwards with the right fender buckled up, not forgetting the lower portion below the bumper suffering a similar fate! That's Proton "hardness" or should I say, more correctly...the "softness" of its bodywork for you! Yup, considering that vehicle in front of me was a mere "Kancil"...

Sorry but no pics were taken...only realised that after the shock wore off...

Sent this ole junk to the nearest vehicle body repair shop ie in neighbouring Taman Seri Manis. After surveying the damage, the boss quoted RM350 for the job incl repraying of the side fender and the bonnet. Yup, the bonnet...which I've been wanting to respray for years but have been putting it off...hehe...

Now the waiting begins. Expected date of vehicle release...Thurs Apr 24th. Hopefully earlier. No wheels like No legs...

So for this careless split second, me & my ole junk is serving a 4 day "jail" term and slammed with a RM350 "fine". A very costly split second! Me must remember to hold on till the car in front is clear way ahead of me before me make any move forward...a good resolution but only time will tell if....am making that my 2008 resolution.

Well, on to a more pleasant event...Kye Lee ( daughter of my daughter, rber? ) & fmly made their monthly visit to Lot 10 OFH ( OFH = "Old Folks Home" Haha! ) last wkend. And they were earlier than expected! Arrived on Fri 18th Apr. night itself when only expected on Sat morning! A nice, happy & welcomed surprise ... the usual guideline "Come happy..." being obvious in all who came.

Here is a pic of KL taken during that wkend...KL is now abt 2yrs & 3mths...

KL has grown a lot taller. Still as active and lovable as always. Me & my other half had a nice wkend focussing our attention on this little girl...seeing her genuine smile & hearing her honest laughter makes life so rich & worth living for. Love given is responded similarly. Like me read somewhere...if only all adults could see the world thru the eyes of a young & innocent child, the world would be a much better place for all. Amen.

Although some ppl may not realise it till it's too late...I have often asked myself this very simple question with a very elusive answer. What is Life all about? And I've come to realise that the answer is so simple. Simply...To be happy. To have happiness & to share that happiness with those you love AND who love you similarly is finally all that matters in one's life. ( Leave those who don't have that love in their hearts... alone...in their own selfish little world...one does NOT lose anything of worth in Life by so doing! ) Any supporters?

There me go all sentimental & philosophical again...sincere apologies if me bored you.

As with all good things ( & even bad ones...), time flies and KL & fmly are now back in their own home. Yup, the "Stay happy... " and "Leave happy... " atmosphere were all there to the end of their visit. Now Lot 10 OFH is back to its normal daily peaceful & quiet ambience. Of course, except for the above-mentioned "shock" to this ole heart....haha!

Back to another not-so-nice incident...one of my PC's HDD failed on me recently! Memory fails me...but was around 2nd week of Apr. It started like my PC was in its death throes...but luckily after all attempts, me finally (& by shooting in the dark...) discovered it was, as mentioned earlier, due to a failed HDD (Hard Disc Device, to the uninitiated...hehe...). An old Seagate 10GB model. And further complications were due to an improperly set jumper on the master but still functioning HDD. So in case you do happen to have similar problems, do check on those jumper settings...just don't assume otherwise.

As my remaining HDD was also kinda sounding rough, me decided it was safer to put in a new one. And keep it as a back-up device. Now my PC has a new Hitachi 160 GB HDD! Cost me RM180 tho...abt RM50 more than what is listed in PC Depot's webpages tho. But, what the heck...saved me the stress & strain of a long trip, petrol & toll charges, to get it from the nearest PC Depot's branch! Took me 3 whole days to format, install the WinXP Home OS besides all (almost all actually...haha!) the other programs that I had in the earlier one. A lot of headaches, with a few rounds of Panadol to ease the pain, resulted in a beautifully functioning ole PC again! Feel it's worth all the effort & investment. Wonder how my world would be without my faithful ole PC...Phew!

Well, like in every event in our lives, all's well that ends well. Agreed? After all, in my present situation now, Happiness & personal joy (not forgetting sharing all that with my other half who has gone thru life by my side, thru thick & thin!) is all that matters. Me not concerned anymore abt materialistic items...just $$ nia. I remember reading some quotes with "A house but not a home..." and so on. Like most would agree..."Bei Chak Kee" ( in Hokkien dialect ) should be a good philosophy to profess in our golden years...just do what needs to be done.

Have a good week ahead & may your own life's rollercoaster ride be good, pleasant & exhilarating!!

PS. My Ferrari collection now is THREE red cars! Yup, the Shell Ferrari collection. Have you got all the seven? Time is running out...

Our latest "visitor"...

April 8th, 2008 :

In an earlier entry, me mentioned re a baby iguana being killed "accidentally" by our autogate while it was closing. It appears now that that baby iguana had a little bro or sis...

How did I know?

Simple. This morning when me went out to throw our past day's rubbish, I notice another baby iguana moving around just outside our autogate! And this lil rascal just darted into our house compound...I had no choice by to chase it! Me tried to chase it out of our compound but this lil guy/gal just went further in. I had to arm myself with a broom to try & literally "sweep" it outwards but it evaded all my swipes at it!

The last straw was when it illegally trespassed into our house proper! I told myself...no way it's gonna stay in our house!! So it was with this "killer instinct" that brought an end to this episode! Me cornered it. Gave it a hit on the head. Walla! Bye bye, little iguana...sorry...you asked for it!

Here is our little trespasser...And yup, this time me had the "cool" to snap a pic...haha!

Two down...dunno how many more to go...I've seen the mother...unless that was the father? Huge thing! Like a small croc!

Anyway, they not make the same mistake like these two...me not gonna give any more chances should any one of them decide to trespass...