Goodbye 2011...

Tue 271211

Hi Everyone!
Yup, 2011 would be gone in another 4 days!

Goodbye 2011! I'd be BS-ing if I say I'd miss it alot. Simply because I would NOT!

Why? Simply because it's so full of unpleasant events that I'd rather forget! However, to set records straight, 2011 did have its good days, too. The best being my being offered a means...an opportunity of a Once-in-a-Lifetime Offer to enable me to buy a NEW car!!
And yup, I thank God & our wonderful caring niece in Pg who made that no longer a dream! In April, 2011!

And as is, we have been enjoying our new ride...a Proton Saga 1.3 Exec Auto!!

Guess what had happened when I asked my 2 kids (in passing) on CNY eve early this year if they could stand as guarantors for a car loan in case I need to change my ole junk? Sorry, feel I'd better leave that to your imagination...

Then 2 other "bad" events occurred.

First my other half had to be admitted to PMC. Twice. And for a 3rd time when nothing was done to really treat her condition...I had to rush her to LGL Specialist Hosp in Penang to get a "stone" lodged in her ureter literally laser-blasted!!
A total loss of RM20 something K... :(

Thank God she's ok since the ops. Once again, our fav niece stepped in to help... Praise & Thank God for bringing her into the lives of these 2 ole folks @ Lot 10 OFH!! We really don't know how to nor can ever repay her in our present lifetime!!

Then came the worst blow in my Life!! My "prodigal son" who had shocked me in 2008, once more shocked, rocked and practically shattered my world beyond anyone's imagination!!

In front of our fav niece (finally a witness!) & at her place, this UNgrateful, UNloving & UNfilial "son" said to my face... "I will KILL YOU!!'
That finally struck that proverbial "Nail into my coffin"... I am DEAD!! To this son, anyway! And I have truly lost my son!!!
May God have mercy upon him...

Me? I have to accept my Life As Is...

Unfortunately, that was NOT to be the end of my troubles in 2011...no doubt, of course, that it was the WORST!

Early this month, I, too, had to be rushed to Penang and was warded in LGL Hosp for 3D2N! Thank God for a surprisingly great & helpful neighbour! Thank you, CS!!
And as always, our fav niece was always there! Thanks a meg, Amy!!

Well, 2012, I'm hoping & praying that upon your arrival, you'll bring happiness & good health to these 2 ole folks in Lot 10 OFH...

Dear God, please do bless us, keep us safe & healthy...in 2012...and in our years ahead...

Amen.

Sorry...

Sat 221011

Yup, sorry...sincere apologies...

And yup, Life is UNpredictable. Life As Is is now so eventful...unfortunately of the wrong kind! Anyway, so sorry again cos it's kinda personal.

So me am in here just to re-assure all who visit my Blog that this ole man is still around...in spite of what's predicted to the right of this Blog!!

Yup, 19th October 2011 has passed and me am still around & kicking albeit a mite softer nowadays!

And yup, good advice there...don't believe all that you read on the Net!! Haha!

Will write more when my present life takes a turn for the better...hopefully soon!!

Wishing everyone all the very best, Happy Deepavali for all our Hindu friends and of course, Happy Holidays for everyone else!!

Be safe always...

It's been a long time...

Sun 021011

Yup, it's been a long time...a long long time, to be exact...since me posted anything here.
Sincere apologies...I have been finding it harder & harder to sit down in front of my PC to post entries.

And yup, it's my Spondylosis(?) problem that has been a nagging issue since years ago when I had found it difficult to turn my head right, left, up & down! And it's now getting worse. The worst part is that I am allergic to that family of NSAIDs which I should take.

So it's back to the ole Panadol tabs that only lessens the pain when I need to. Sitting down in one position for too long aggravates the condition and I truly portray a "robot" when I do try to get up after a long sit!!

Anyway, there's nothing that I can do but to accept what I am today. Doc says it's kinda hereditary...wonder from whom did I inherit these genes? Haha!

Not matter, really...Life as is, must go one. True?

Anyway to update...I've managed to carry out a few mods to our still-considered new ride. Most were DIYed by "Yours Truly"! Haha!

Without going into details, these include an LED Stripe Boot Lamp, a front grille 9 LED Stripe, an OEM Auto Brake Lock, a Koso Digital Voltmeter and a set of Denso Iridium Power Spark Plugs ie not in any particular order. A pic to share of 1 of the DIY items :
Above : The Koso Digital Voltmeter.

Tomorrow, both inmates will be travelling to Penang for our usual "Value Time" with our fav. niece there. We will most probably be back in Lot 10 on 6th Oct.

After that comes what is expected to be a very hectic weekend!

NEVER grow old...haha! If only that were possible...

A great "Kay Pa"!!

Fri 190811

Yup, Pensioners do hv great (though different...from time to time(?)) "Kay Pa"s...

And yup, "Kay Pa" here refers to our country's PM...haha!

Recently the present KP (short for "Kay Pa", ok?) announced a half month Bonus for all Govt civil servants and a RM500 Special Allowance (so he called it...) for Pensioners. One cannot give bonuses to Pensioners for doing no work, right? Special Allowances? Of course! Why not?

Well, on the evening of 17th Aug, that RM500 was credited into our respective bank accounts! And yesterday, our August pension was also in! Nice Merdeka (Independence) Day gifts!

What more can any Pensioner ask for? Maybe another such Special Allowance for the New Year? Soon...? Haha!

Anyway, come 23rd Aug, both Lot 10 inmates would be going to Penang again to spend time with our fav niece for a few days. CU soon, Amy!! As always...Godwilling...

And on that day, too, it's our son's Bday. Happy Birthday, EJ!! Sincerely hope this past year had contributed to making you a wiser & more loving person...and my special wish to have our "ole" EJ back! Yup, the EJ we had given birth to. Kinda not like the EJ we've seen these past few years...

After that, on 27th Aug, is, of course, my other half's own Bday! Thank God for still keeping her next to me for this past one year! And me sincerely hope & pray that God will bless this ole man enough to have her around till the last day of my life!

Happy Happy Bday, MDB!! Love you so...

That's it!

Until me back online after all the above, here's wishing one & all a Happy Happy August & a better September 2011!!

Me still around...

Sun 140811

Yup, me still around...hehe...

Just a short post to prove so...

Frankly, nothing much has happened to both inmates of Lot 10 since my last post. Life As Is has been routine...day to day...namely, wake up, eat, watch Astro, eat, afternoon nap, watch Astro, eat, watch Astro, sleep...a cycle...

Re our still "new" Astro Byond, I feel there is a need for a myth(?) to be dispelled! Yup, there was this strange belief that the new larger Byond would overcome the perpetual "Rain Fade" issue that had been haunting all Astro subscribers. And yup, that simply is NOT true!! Believe me...

Why? The other day it rained quite heavily for about 10 mins. Transmission was interrupted and stayed with a blank screen c/w Byond's onscreen message that "it might be a temporary problem due to rain". Fair enough, I said to myself.

However, even when the rain lessened to just a drizzle, the screen was still the same! And that was half an hour later!! Then the SD channels came back to life and only about another 10 mins later, the HD channels were back again. See?

So wonder what's all that hype about the Byond unit being better...? Nothing significant...IMHO!

Further, I've found that the information/guides that came with the Byond PVR was minimalistic, to say the least! Thank God for the Internet & forummers in forums directly or indirectly related to Astro Byond!

Other that those (maybe minor?) issues, Astro Byond HD broadcasts are a great gift to ole ppl like these 2 inmates. Why? Less of a strain on our eyes because images are so much clearer and a source of enjoyment to the fullest! We could see details that we had never seen before in TV/Astro broadcasts...akin to Blu-ray discs!

Oh yes! I almost forgot! Our "Kay Pa" (if you know what or who I'm referring to) did NOT fail all Pensioners (including these 2 inmates!!) one more time! And yup, it's a Bonus Payment of RM500 each...presumably for the coming Raya celebrations! In about 5 days time? Hurray! Now...maybe then(?)..., we can breathe a bit easier...

Ok...ok...time to be a "couch potato" again!

Have a nice week ahead, ok?

From SD to Byond...simply HD...

Sun 310711

Yup, Lot 10 has changed its Astro Satellite reception to that of Byond! Definitely a new dimension in watchng TV programmes!

And yup, on 21st July, the Astro Installers (2 guys) came with all the required parts and did their work...surprisingly very efficiently! They finished the changeover of Satellite Dishes (from the old light grey 60cm one to the new larger & darker grey(?)Byond 65cm one), new 2 lengths of co-axial cables from the new 2-output LNB of the Dish to the new Byond PVR module in our living room/hall and finally the setting up the whole system with everything running.

Pics show the new Satellite Dish and the Byond PVR module.

Lot 10 inmates were given a summary & quick run-through of how the PVR works, namely viewing as well as recording. Necessary documents were signed...RM150 flew into the Installer's hands...marking the start of a new Adventure! For these 2 Lot 10 inmates...haha!
Well, this upgrade has done lots to improve our viewing pleasure as well as no more worries about missing any programs or any part of any show which we might be watching at a certain time.

Yup, the PVR is really full of useful features! And, of course, the HD (High Definition) broadcasts really lessened our eye-strain a lot...and more importantly, they increased our "idiot box" enjoyment by a few notches!!

Well, all that did ACTUALLY come FREE! In Astro's current promotion. If not for our choice of a Byond PVR instead of the simple Byond box (w/o a built-in 500GB HDD), the changeover was truly completely FREE!

However, there was a RM150 installation fee for the PVR (previously costing RM300)...so a savings actually of RM150!

In addition, we had chosen to subscribe to a package now called "Super Pack 3"...@RM155/month excluding the 6% Govt Tax.

In view of the impending (confirmed actually) new charges for Astro subscriptions, it meant paying about RM50/month more but with all that was thrown into the package deal, it's really, really worth it! Believe me!!

Well, it's time to get back to our Byond and enjoy the HD broadcasts...simply beautiful!!

Join the Byond "Club" ?

Knock, Knock, Who's there?

Mon 180711

Yup, It's none other than lil ole me! Just to let one & all know that me am still around...hehe...

However, these days me not feel up to it to sit & post. Various reasons. Sincere apologies...TQ!

A few short updates...

1. Made a one-day trip to Taiping recently (Sun 100711). First long distance maiden trip for our still "new" car as the farthest we've gone has only been to Penang. It was also a kinda "Go while me still can" trip! Haha! And, of course, the car was still "new"...3 months? And still is...!!

2. Our fav grandaughter, KL, has been enrolled in a Kindy recently...mainly to allow her to socialise & mix with other kids. A positive step forward.

3. Me finally managed to fit in a third party paper aircon filter, c/w the original mesh filter, for our still "new" ride. Air flow appears none the worse in spite of an additional finer filter layer.
Now ride occupants have really clean filtered air to breathe!!

4. An extra Engine Oil change was performed on our car @ about 3500Km ie midway between 2 Oil Changes in its service schedule. This has been my philosophy all the while for each of our new cars in the past. For better protection & improving longevity of the engine. It appeared to have positive results in the past. Moreover, I had a new 4L bottle of Castrol Magnatec 10W40 at hand. So...Tradition continues.

5. Accepted Astro's offer to upgrade to its new "Super Pack 3", namely Family+Dynasty+Emperor+Sports+Movies+3 Mini Packs(News, Learning & Variety) c/w PVR module with HDD & FOC recording services (normally RM10/mth), for only RM155/mth (excl 6% Govt Service Tax). For the PVR Module, a one-time installation charge of RM150 is payable. The main part is the package includes an upgrade to Beyond HD services & channels which normally would have cost an extra RM20/mth!

All that considered, there is a huge saving if one were to subscribe to those packages previously.

Well, installation was promised within 5 working days and activation of new services within 24 hrs. Now we wait...

Well, that's about it for now...

Until the next "Sit-in"....