Saying "Goodbye"...

Wed 171208

On the afternoon of Mon 15th Dec., as a few workers were putting the finishing touches to setting up of a couple of tents outside a house in Taman Wira, a quick shower of "holy water" came down from the sky...to those who believed, it was the heavens crying. Crying for someone good & kind who had departed from this world...

Yup, that fateful morning, we lost a very good cousin...a caring friend to many who knew him. He was so suddenly taken away from all who loved him so. A fatal accident involving him & his daughter took place as he was sending her to work that morning. He was killed instantly but his daughter survived...albeit with serious injuries...or else it would have been a double trajedy for the family!

I met many of his friends during the time I spent at the 3-day wake held for him. One comment I got from a group that paid their last respects to him, was

..."why do good people die so early & taken away so suddenly...when the evil & bad guys continue to live on & enjoy the fruits of their evil/wrongdoings?"

I could not answer them except saying that it's probably God's will or simply maybe it's just time for him to go. Can you?

Tears flowed so freely from not only family members & relatives but also from friends who came by the numbers every day...everyone shocked by the event and all lamenting the fact that a good & kind person had been taken away from their midst...on such a cruel & fateful day! A lovely morning turned ugly & so full of sorrow.

The funeral was this morning & our dearly beloved cousin & close friend to many was given a great but solemnly sad final send-off from his home just after 10:30am.

A few pics me snapped (using my trustly ole N73 hp cam) to share of the final rites & start of his "journey"...
Above pics show the ceremony before the send-off, followed by members of AS Sai Baba Centre, giving the close friend a good farewell gesture, namely personally sending him on his journey to a better place...

Pic on left shows relatives & friends during the final send-off from the house.

Well, a close & loving friend & relative is now gone but still dwells in our hearts...in the hearts of all those who knew him & will continue to remember him & cherish memories of him. Goodbye, Ah T as he is known to his relatives or Mr K, or just plain K to his friends.

May God keep you & bless your soul always. May you rest in peace...in God's loving arms.

Long long day...

Mon 151208

Yup, it was one of those days...Sun 141208, yesterday, that was! A long long day... for me & my ole junk.

Well, it started simply enough. My plan for that day was to have the rubber boots/bellows of the LHS drive shaft of my ole junk. You see, a couple of days ago, I noticed that there was grease splattered around the inner boot of that drive shaft. So the rubber boot/cover there was suspect...probably damaged.

Alas, because that was not to be. Not that simple, anyway. Upon examining the area & checking the drive shaft proper, the mechanic told me that it would be a waste of time & $$ to just replace the rubber covers. Simply because the drive shaft is worn & loose now! The RHS shaft was subsequently checked & found to be in a similar state. Phew!

Now what would you do in my position? Insist that you wanna just change the rubber covers? No? Yup, that's what me also concluded. Better to be safe than sorry! Not save now & be sorry later, right?

Now that was a hefty price to pay though. RM320 in all, including labour charges! In the course of the work being done, a torn rubber cover/bellows of the steering arm was also detected & changed @ minimal cost. Only RM16.

That was only "phase 1 " of the day.

Since the steering linkage had to be disconnected to replace the rubber bellows, a front wheels alignment had to be carried out as that configuration was affected. So it was that me took me ole junk to a nearby tyre shop with wheel alignment facilities.

Returning from a test drive, the alignment staff found he could not get a good result from his efforts. And on further investigations with help from his other colleagues, it was found that the steering collar bushes were worn & the looseness affected the alignment even after adjustments were made.

That was the start of "phase 2". The ole junk was back again to the mech's workshop & the collar bushes were replaced albeit with minor hiccups. RM30 was added to the day's expenses.

Now back again to the tyre shop to redo the alignment. Hooray! Finally the results were good! Another RM34 dug out from me pocket lo...for toe-in & camber adjustments. Good point is the second round of adjustments were on the house! TQ, Mr N...great service there!

Phase 3? Yup, me forgot to mention that at the mech's, one other mech noticed that the fuses for my upgrades headlamp system were BURNT! Melted! Kaputt! Me didn't even noticed that...our last trip back from Penang had no problems with the lights that night.

So, when me mentioned that in conversation with the Mr N of the tyre shop, he recommended a nearby auto-wiring shop just a block down from his. Me was gonna take the ole junk to a car accessories shop to have it done if not for his suggestion.

A few mins later, the burnt fuses were replaced with better ones...covered ones! Only RM8 was added in this final leg. A pic of the burnt fuses below to share...after dismemberment from my ole junk!Total expenses? A whopping RM392! Practically almost my pocket money for the month from "Kay Pa" gone. Thank God, too, that "Kay Pa"' was early this month or else me would have to dig into my reserves! Not good then, right?

The time? Almost 4.30pm!! That was certainly a long long day....

As the Chinese believed...Bad things come in threes. So me looking forward to good things now...a good 2009!

A blue blue day...

Fri 121208

Nice number, huh? 1212. Yup, nice number. However, me woke up this morning feeling kinda restless...

Now, how to pass the day in a better, faster way than just laze around whilst staring at the "Idiot Box" from time to time? Walk-walk sessions at Tesco Mergong, AS Mall & Star Parade were like only yesterday. So, methought...yea, a trip to nearby Jitra might just do the trick!

And that idea got immediate support...from uknohu!

So, first stop was to fill up the ole junk's tank. With the reduction in petrol price till RM1.90/litre now, me could not fill up enough to redeem a bottle of drinking water at the nearby Petronas station. About RM8 short. So, me just got a cup of mineral water. Better cheaper petrol than free drinking water, right?

From past experience, we had found it faster & probably cheaper, too, to go to Jitra via the PLUS highway rather than the trunk road...being faster & shorter travelling distance.

First stop was at Jitra Mall. There was hardly anyone there. My other half found 2 blouses & couldn't decide which was better. So what better solution than to buy both! Ha ha!

Had a minor scare when we went to our car to leave the Mall. A rather big puddle of liquid was flowing out from under our car's engine bay! So the bonnet was popped up but me could not find anything linking the puddle to our ole junk. Further checks revealed it was a colourless liquid & most probably only water...probably from the air-con unit! Ha ha again!

Lunch time came all too soon. Went for our fav Bah Kut Teh meal at the coffee shop next to C-Mart. Well, the tummy didn't complain about what went in...hehe...

After lunch, we adjourned to C-Mart. Compared to Jitra Mall, C-Mart was kinda like going to the "kampung" from the city! Hardly 30 mins were spent there before it was decided it's time to go home.

Taking the highway route, it was home sweet home in under 30 mins!

Then it was a short rest before it was time for "Love" on HHD...Channel 333 on Astro! Ha ha! Yup, back to the ole "Idiot Box" routine...

Well, 3 more days to go before our "Kay Pa" sends his love via his $$ train...actually 2 more days according to my other half's interpretation. Nice feeling lo...hehe...

Another "bonus" week is ending. So far so good. Have a great weekend, everyone!

An Update : It's been some time since I published a view of what the housing development (directly opposite Lot 10 OFH) looks like. According to 1 of the buyers of the units being built, completion is like not long after CNY or maybe April 2009. Not October, 2009 as in their advert boards. Here is snapshot of the bungalow lots from our "roof terrace"...


See the diff now?

So, it's really "bye-bye" to fresh breezes & gone is our great Gunung Jerai view on clear days! It's a "concrete" world out there now...

Bits & More Bits...

Mon 8th Dec 2008

Believe or not, 1 more week has passed us by...and life has been ok lo...nothing worth complaining nor should we cos every day of life is a bonus! For inmates of Lot 10, that is...

To recapture the past week...

Weds 031208 - Made a trip to BM. Bukit Minyak area to be exact. Visited other half's bro to collect a couple of bottles of med for her, bought & brought back all the way from down under...courtesy of his son. That med, by Blackmores, unfortunately, is still not available here in Malaysia. Thanks a meg, CB!!
Lunch was courtesy of the bro & fmly. Thanks, KY!

Soon after lunch, we popped over to Penang Island to visit my other half's cousin in her home. Spent more than the usual time there and being late already then, we opted to call it a day. Dinner was at Tesco's food court before we made the trip home. As previously, we were once again caught in a crawl across the bridge!!

Sat 061208 - COD. Yup, one of those uknowhat days...haha! After breakfast, it was a walk-walk session @our local Tesco. Made a small contri to our not-so-new but still lots to see "sundry shop". Lunch was my fav ie fried KT, followed by another walk-walk session @Billion. Dinner was accomplished via our newly-adopted style, namely ordered dishes @Cola Coffee Shop near our OFH. RM24.60 incl a pot of "koke poh" (kinda mixed type) tea.
Cine Nite was not boring with the movie "Iron Man" based on Marvel Comics. Wonder if there will ever be a sequel...?

Sunday, 071208, was quiet. Routine this time around. The usual "idiot box" slots were there.

Well, today was like a mini "merdeka"!! A new billing month. Time once again to kinda "sign my life away"...not really actually! Like me told my other half...no worries...me am definitely not the suicidal type...hehe...like the proverbial "barking dogs don't bite" kind of person.

Location? Tesco Mergong had me signing away Rm100+. Adjourning to Star Parade resulted in a further RM500+ worth of my signature, besides "losing" some cash in the process.

The final total came to over RM600++!! Phew...a whopping sum, right? But whatever it was, at times we do need to pamper ourselves. Not really pamper with luxuries but with necessities. Items we needed but had to postpone till a better time. Like today. Ha ha...

Anyway, for our purchases at Guardian, we got quite a lot of unexpected goodies, with some extra discounts in the process, too! Like me kinda commented on the side...like striking a mini lottery!

This so-called "fling" was kinda motivated by our "Kay Pa" announcing our Xmas allowance soon...early...on 15th Dec. And also, the great possibility that we would be getting our CNY $$ in early January, 2009 since CNY this time around falls on 26th Jan. What's more... with a promised 20% increase from "Kay Pa" come Jan 2009! If that promise is fulfilled, that is...

However, all that can only mean one thing. Feb would be a long, long, long month! Well, you can't win them all, right? Like most would say...win some lose some!

Or like a common philosophy these days...Enjoy the moment! Not to worry, we are! Ha ha...

Enjoy yours...

Doing something kinda "crazy"?

Mon 1st Dec 2008

Good morning, everyone!! It's the 1st day of the last month of the year 2008! 1 more month to enjoy this year...

Well, me enjoyed it the day before...haha! And it all began like this...

Yesterday, for no reason, me woke up very early! 6am. On a non-working day? (Actually me not working every day liao...hehe...) Phew! And then this thought just came in. How about making an unplanned trip to Taiping? The furthest we've been for the past 2 months was only Penang.

So, me woke up me other half & popped the question..."what do you think about doing something crazy today?" In a blurr, she asked back..."what crazy thing?" And me said...Go to Taiping lo...

Her response? "So early ah. Ppl still sleeping la." I had to clarify that by the time we do get ready (wash up, morning call, breakfast, fill up car petrol tank, etc), it would be late enough then.

And so it was. We left A/Star just before 8am. Traffic was minimal all the way although weather was kinda threatening but nothing happened except for a minor teeny drizzle at the start.

Well, it was a "crazy" idea that went well. Haven't done such "crazy" things for quite a while. The best part of this "crazy" do was it was well worth the effort. Both had a nice time with KL & family...even had time to visit the local Tesco Store!

A short video clip to share...KL enjoying a bubbles session! Of course, grandpa was the "bubble-producer" using a newly acquired "bubble gun"!
It truly warms the heart to see a happy kid enjoying herself...
(Video was captured by KL's mom, using a Motorola 3.XX. Yup, me busy producing bubbles! Haha!)
Btw, me also adding a couple of new pics of KL in "The Many Faces of KL in 2008". The shots were taken during this surprise visit. Enjoy...

As always, time to leave came before we knew it. The sky was practically pouring lots of "tears" when we left the Kamunting Toll Plaza!!

Dinner call was at SP South. 3 simple dishes. RM17.40. Drinks = another RM2.

Safely back in good ole Lot 10 OFH just after 7pm.

How was your weekend? Did anything "crazy"? Sincerely hope it ended as well as mine lo...

Sweet Ole Me...

Fri 281108

Chocs & more chocs...nuts & more nuts...that's what me enjoyed so much while sitting in front of the "idiot box" immediately after my retirement! Life was good...no worries...no more stress @work! Doing what me wanted & felt like doing at any time. Sleep when me wanna sleep. Wake up when me wanna wake up. No schedules to follow. Pure bliss...the culmination of years & years of yu-know-what. Finally, me am my own boss...hehe...

Well, like a quotation that me had heard somewhere before...

"...in everything we do, there is always a price to pay..."

And how true it is!

Yup, not long after my retirement & esp after all the indulgence in chocs & nuts, me felt kinda tired & drowsy more & more often. Attributed it to my not having something definite to do daily. Then one day, a voice in me told me that I should not just explain away what I'm feeling...cos it might be something more than what I think or feel...

Took a blood test...and that really stopped me in my tracks! 14+ was my blood sugar level! That most feared bell then started sounding...if me not do anything about myself, me was gonna go downhill all the way! That was kinda scary... me was classified as a "pre-type 2 diabetic"!

Well, that was history today...cos me took positive steps following my Doc's advice eg exercising regularly & controlling my food intake & diet. That was years ago...about 7 years, to be exact...haha! Me was like anyone else...except for the exercise routine & diet control.

However, last month it was noticed that my fasting blood sugar level just refused to go down. It remained way past the normal range. Moreover, the level for 2 hours after meals climbed to within the acceptable range of diabetics! Upon doing some investigation, it was found that most pre-type 2 diabetics move into true type 2 diabetes after 5 years...at the most! Me already way past that time limit!!

Upon consultation, my Doc told me that we couldn't just let the situation continue as it was. It would have harmful & irreversible effects on my vision (eyes), kidneys & even the heart in the long term. Factually, it was gonna be like immersing all my body organs & parts into a sugar solution!! We had to keep the level within the normal range with medication now.

And so it was. I started taking 1 tablet of Glucophage 500mg after breakfast. This medication was recommended cos it was time-tested to be effective & known to be "harmless", besides being of low cost. That brought down the sugar level for meals...after an hour & even after 2 hours. That certainly was a good sign.

In spite of that, my fasting level still remained past the normal range...showing that the effects of the medication had worn off by evening. A week later, a second dose was advised to be taken after dinner. Did so for 2 weeks. Tests later showed a remarkable improvement! Now my blood sugar level after fasting averages only 5.7. That is within the normal range. Phew...

Now what does all that mean? Yup, without a doubt me am now a confirmed Type 2 diabetic person. No denial is gonna help here. Accept my body for what it has become. Ageing process lo...remember the same 10/90 Philosophy? Being what I am now is beyong my control but how me react would make a lot of difference to my life from here onwards. Agreed?

Yup, I cannot change what has happened to my body but I can control the course it will take from now. That way I can have a better quality of life! Uncontrolled diabetes can result in many serious complications. Lots of suffering. Not need to go into details here. One just needs to Google for them, right?

Now me just need to pop in a tab after breakfast & one more after dinner...then me can enjoy my life as any other guy next to me! Yup, life is short...let's not make it any shorter...

And yup, TGIF, too! Another weekend is here again...and you know the rest ie if you are a regular visitor to Middle Lip...

A Visit to the Dentist and more...

Wed 26 Nov 2008

Well, it all started last night when my other half checked & found it's time to do some "spring-cleaning" of her teeth. Yup, the plaque thing. Time to de-scale. And so it was decided to make that trip to our fav dentist...

We left for the dental clinic right after breakfast...a simple one of bread & milk. At the reception desk, we were informed that we had to wait for only 2 more patients before our turn. That was just a bit after 10am. Time passed by. A long wait...even for 2 patients ahead of us. Almost 3 hrs passed. A nurse told me that our turn would be next. But when the next patient was called, imagine our surprise when it was NOT for my other half but for a family of PR Singaporeans back on holiday!

Actually there was a lady earlier who exhibited sheer impatience & the arrogance that she was to be treated special! She had kept on going to the reception counter to remind the staff in attendance that she had made an appointment for 11am and what the time was already at that time! Some ppl do feel that their material wealth, or whatever, makes them so deserving of special treatment! Her face was certainly not one to enjoy viewing. Angry, unhappy lines were deeply etched in her face. Not a happy lady! Probably someone bearing a lot of bad "garbage" around, finding every opportunity to dispose of it on others! She does not realise that she's the one suffering...

So, thank God for what me have been learning & trying hard to practise...keeping my cool in such high stress situations. The 10/90 philosophy was right on target! We played it well...the 90% part. And as it turned out, others were the ones who felt bad...who were apologetic. We smiled. And the events ended in goodwill & we left with a nice feeling for what we had accomplished.

Yup, how our day is & will be is within our control. Me feel now if me can keep it up, such control would hopefully become second nature in me.

Me just read an entry in 1 of my fav Blogs, namely http://kh7883.blogspot.com/ and that entry ended with this paragraph which I feel is another piece of good advice :

...love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Believe that every thing happens for a reason. If you get a chance, TAKE IT! If it changes your life, LET IT! Nobody said it would be easy... They just promised it would be WORTH IT Cheers!"Life is short. Enjoy the journey."

Yup, Life is certainly short. Feel this is the umpteenth time me had quoted that phrase. Sorry. And for all in my position, we certainly can't afford to waste whatever time we have left catering to the whims & fancies or whatever "kiasu" attitudes they might have. We should be enjoying the remainder of the journey...to the best of our abilities, right?

And, yup, we would be happier persons by letting such ppl with lots of bad "garbage" pass us by...
I would like to end this entry with another extract from that same Blog entry...

...successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by? Here's my bet. You'll be happier.

So how many "garbage trucks" have you let pass by you? That many? Good for you!

Have a good day!