Do read Samm's account of her loving son and his special raisin for her...
That soooooo reminded me of one time (no, not back in band camp...), I was still in school, either late primary or early secondary, and I was snacking on a bar of chocolate while sitting on the floor of the living room... looked down and saw what looked like a crumb of chocolate... not wanting to waste even a small piece of chocolate, I promptly grabbed it and popped it into my mouth.
Guess what? It wasn't chocolate.
It was a cicak (gecko) dropping!
I grimaced, spat it out... and I think promptly changed the taste in my mouth with another bite of the REAL chocolate, LOL!
And swore never again to pop something into my mouth without first ensuring it actually *was* what I thought it was...
....
and on a related note: what's worse than finding a worm in an apple you're eating (or a roach in a bowl of mee, or whatever)
finding HALF a worm / roach / whatever.
so far I don't think that's happened to me, thankfully
OR
it happened and I blanked it out, LOL!
have a good weekend, y'all!
(Update on Underworld 2 later once I'm awake and gymmed and breakfasted, etc etc etc)
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Saturday, March 04, 2006
... another case of ends & means.. or just plain myopia?
First, take a look at this article (taken from HERE, including pix).
So, she's gutsy because she chased the thieves.
While her son was in the car.
Which she crashed.
Because she lost control of her vehicle.
When she rammed into the thieves' car.
So, she recovered her "money and valuables worth RM1K"
But badly damaged her car (a Proton Perdana, worth maybe RM90K new, RM55K used?)
Caused the roof to cave in on a gym equipment store (RM50K in damage?)
And her ramming into the thieves' car caused them to get wrapped around a lamp post, but not before they an innocent motorist who then rammed HIS car into a hawker stall (thankfully it was empty!).
... I'm sorry, but while I can understand the horror and anger at being the victim of a snatch theft, I don't think what the victim did was wise...
... in the big picture, instead of having a loss of "money and valuables worth RM1,000", there has been a loss of over RM100K ...
... on top of that, she's lucky she's not grieving for a dead son, or her husband for a dead wife... it's a miracle no-one got killed in this entire incident.
Now, I'm VERY curious to see if anything else gets reported about this... after all, SOMEONE's going to have to pay for the damage incurred on the innocents (the Proton Iswara owner; the hawker stall owner; the gymnasium equipment store owner; the lamppost...)...
I'd like to think that the thief who got caught has squealed and identified the pertner who got away, and that he is also now in custody.
I think the thieves are ultimately responsible, and should be charged accordingly. Of course, the fact that they were "making their living" snatching handbags implies no such luck for the Proton Iswara driver, hawker stall owner, gymnasium equipment store owner and even the Kota Baru Municipal Council (for the lamppost) to get a single sen in compensation.
BUT...
I would also like to see "gutsy mom" get a serious reprimand, & get fined for various driving offenses, reckless endangerment, whatever... because no matter what, what she did was extremely reckless and endangered the lives of so many people, I don't care how pressing and urgent the situation was, she can't think that's "it's okay" to do what she did...
I'm still amazed no one got killed.
And I still can't decide whether this falls under the category of the end justifying the means, or just plain myopia.
Whaddaya think?
Saturday February 25, 2006
Three cars, a stall and a shop wrecked during pursuit of thieves
By IAN MCINTYREIN CUSTODY:
The bloodied suspect being led away by the police in Kota Baru yesterday. He had suffered injuries in the accident.
KOTA BARU: A gutsy businesswoman went after two snatch thieves in a dramatic chase that resulted in three car crashes, a crushed hawker stall and a roof caving in over a shop here yesterday.
It took the police three hours to clear the mess.
But after the havoc-causing 2km pursuit, the woman, who did not want to be named, got back her handbag which contained money and valuables worth RM1,000.
The owner of the destroyed shop that sold gymnasium equipment, Razali Mohd Yusuf, praised her for her bravery but complained that he suffered losses of up to RM50,000 in damage.
The three cars – the woman's Proton Perdana, the thieves' Perodua Kancil and a Proton Iswara of an unidentified motorist – were all badly damaged.
No heavy casualty was reported.
The drama began at about 9am when the woman and her four-year-old son were about to enter her car after leaving a 7-Eleven outlet in Taman Uda Murni.
The Kancil, which was parked in front of her car, suddenly reversed into it, jolting both the mother and child.DAMAGED VEHICLE:
The suspected thieves’ Kancil crashed into a lamppost.
Two men rushed out from the Kancil, threatened to harm the boy and they snatched the woman's handbag from her hand.
As they sped away, the woman grabbed her son and put him into her car, buckled up and zoomed after the thieves.
On nearing a Shell petrol kiosk at Kampung Buang, she rammed the Kancil, causing the getaway car to veer into a passing Iswara before crashing into a lamppost.
The woman's car shot straight into the gymnasium equipment store, scattering glass and causing the roof to cave in over the shop.
The Iswara's driver also lost control of his car and hit an empty hawker stall on the left shoulder of the road.
It was a scene the town had not seen before except in police movies, drawing a huge crowd of onlookers and causing a massive traffic jam.
The woman came out of her car in a daze but managed to yell out to onlookers to catch the thieves in the Kancil.
Razali and several others went after the suspects, who had scrambled out of their car and were trying to flee the scene.SAFE AND SOUND:
The woman with her husband and son after the dramatic incident ended in Kota Baru yesterday.
One of them, still clutching the woman's handbag, was caught about 200m away. The other escaped.
Villager Amran Mustafa, 40, said the impact of the crash and collapsing roof sounded like a bomb blast; it shocked the townsfolk who were enjoying their weekend break, which begins on Friday in Kelantan.
Kota Baru OCPD ACP Ahmad Lutfi Khalid said police were hunting down the second suspect.
He said the man who was caught had been injured by the accident.
So, she's gutsy because she chased the thieves.
While her son was in the car.
Which she crashed.
Because she lost control of her vehicle.
When she rammed into the thieves' car.
So, she recovered her "money and valuables worth RM1K"
But badly damaged her car (a Proton Perdana, worth maybe RM90K new, RM55K used?)
Caused the roof to cave in on a gym equipment store (RM50K in damage?)
And her ramming into the thieves' car caused them to get wrapped around a lamp post, but not before they an innocent motorist who then rammed HIS car into a hawker stall (thankfully it was empty!).
... I'm sorry, but while I can understand the horror and anger at being the victim of a snatch theft, I don't think what the victim did was wise...
... in the big picture, instead of having a loss of "money and valuables worth RM1,000", there has been a loss of over RM100K ...
... on top of that, she's lucky she's not grieving for a dead son, or her husband for a dead wife... it's a miracle no-one got killed in this entire incident.
Now, I'm VERY curious to see if anything else gets reported about this... after all, SOMEONE's going to have to pay for the damage incurred on the innocents (the Proton Iswara owner; the hawker stall owner; the gymnasium equipment store owner; the lamppost...)...
I'd like to think that the thief who got caught has squealed and identified the pertner who got away, and that he is also now in custody.
I think the thieves are ultimately responsible, and should be charged accordingly. Of course, the fact that they were "making their living" snatching handbags implies no such luck for the Proton Iswara driver, hawker stall owner, gymnasium equipment store owner and even the Kota Baru Municipal Council (for the lamppost) to get a single sen in compensation.
BUT...
I would also like to see "gutsy mom" get a serious reprimand, & get fined for various driving offenses, reckless endangerment, whatever... because no matter what, what she did was extremely reckless and endangered the lives of so many people, I don't care how pressing and urgent the situation was, she can't think that's "it's okay" to do what she did...
I'm still amazed no one got killed.
And I still can't decide whether this falls under the category of the end justifying the means, or just plain myopia.
Whaddaya think?
Yesterday & Today
Yesterday, I had this feeling that I was going to bump into someone I knew, probably an ex-colleague or something.
The plan was to meet up with Kindred Spirit at Sentral, take the train to Mid Valley, then spend most of the day there just walking around, chatting, etc. Figured if I were to bump into someone, it would be there.
So we walked, and ate, and walked, and drank, and chatted chatted chatted … all in all I think we spent almost 7 hours in each other’s company, I think that must be some sort of record for me, LOL!
Still hadn’t bumped into anyone I knew.
Headed back to the Sentral where we parted ways, and I took the LRT with the usual plan of getting off (hahaha) at the station closest to the apartment; my mother would then come pick me up.
But: by the time I got there, it was raining hard. And it was after 630pm, so the traffic in the area wasn’t all that good. Suggested that the parents head out for an early dinner around 7pm and either pick me up from the nearby shopping complex, or head to that place to eat so I’d just meet them there (dinner is always an eat-out affair w/ my parents…).
Since I requested “no rice” for dinner [seeing as I had had my first nasi lemak of the year for lunch (Madam Kuan’s) – excellent, but extremely rich, and I was still burping it up so many hours later….], we ended up having either assam laksa or curry laksa for dinner at that shopping complex. A lackluster affair, but hey, I treat that as a soup dish and don’t eat the noodles, so I was happy that I wasn’t stuffed like I tend to be when having to follow my parents’ rather unwise evening eating habits :-)
... *still* hadn’t bumped into anyone I knew.
Then parents decided to head over to Bangsar Village to visit the DIY shop, and do some miscellaneous shopping. And once we finally get the car parked, get into the building, head towards the escalator….
... I see an ex-colleague of mine!
Couldn’t chat too too long, she was there with hubby and kids, they were heading one way, I was heading another, but it was just excellent that SHE was the one I ended up bumping into yesterday.
~ ~
Today, felt the effects of having mall-walked most of the day… felt soooooo tired…. ached all over…. but it was a *good* ache :-)
Despite the lethargy, I still headed to the gym,,,,, but when my usual 5 mins warm-up on the cycle didn’t raise much of a sweat, I knew it was going to be a light & slow day for me.
Which is fine.
I didn’t push myself, but I still ended up taking about an hour: 3x10 reps for various shoulder, lats, sides, chest, triceps, quads (oops I forgot biceps today!) exercises, plus some ab work. And a bit more cycling at the end.
Gonna take it easy for the afternoon, then at 4pm I need to be in the KLCC area to meet an old friend. We’ll also be watching the 5:15pm showing of Underworld 2. I did say that I hadn’t seen Underworld 1 yet, but then, turns out, neither had she, LOL! I do know it involves vampires & werewolfs, and that it looks like a bad ripoff of The Matrix. I wonder what we are in for…. I suppose I’ll say more, if needed, once I’ve sat through it :D
Okay, time to de-stink-ise myself.
Laters!
The plan was to meet up with Kindred Spirit at Sentral, take the train to Mid Valley, then spend most of the day there just walking around, chatting, etc. Figured if I were to bump into someone, it would be there.
So we walked, and ate, and walked, and drank, and chatted chatted chatted … all in all I think we spent almost 7 hours in each other’s company, I think that must be some sort of record for me, LOL!
Headed back to the Sentral where we parted ways, and I took the LRT with the usual plan of getting off (hahaha) at the station closest to the apartment; my mother would then come pick me up.
But: by the time I got there, it was raining hard. And it was after 630pm, so the traffic in the area wasn’t all that good. Suggested that the parents head out for an early dinner around 7pm and either pick me up from the nearby shopping complex, or head to that place to eat so I’d just meet them there (dinner is always an eat-out affair w/ my parents…).
Since I requested “no rice” for dinner [seeing as I had had my first nasi lemak of the year for lunch (Madam Kuan’s) – excellent, but extremely rich, and I was still burping it up so many hours later….], we ended up having either assam laksa or curry laksa for dinner at that shopping complex. A lackluster affair, but hey, I treat that as a soup dish and don’t eat the noodles, so I was happy that I wasn’t stuffed like I tend to be when having to follow my parents’ rather unwise evening eating habits :-)
Then parents decided to head over to Bangsar Village to visit the DIY shop, and do some miscellaneous shopping. And once we finally get the car parked, get into the building, head towards the escalator….
Couldn’t chat too too long, she was there with hubby and kids, they were heading one way, I was heading another, but it was just excellent that SHE was the one I ended up bumping into yesterday.
~ ~
Today, felt the effects of having mall-walked most of the day… felt soooooo tired…. ached all over…. but it was a *good* ache :-)
Despite the lethargy, I still headed to the gym,,,,, but when my usual 5 mins warm-up on the cycle didn’t raise much of a sweat, I knew it was going to be a light & slow day for me.
Which is fine.
I didn’t push myself, but I still ended up taking about an hour: 3x10 reps for various shoulder, lats, sides, chest, triceps, quads (oops I forgot biceps today!) exercises, plus some ab work. And a bit more cycling at the end.
Gonna take it easy for the afternoon, then at 4pm I need to be in the KLCC area to meet an old friend. We’ll also be watching the 5:15pm showing of Underworld 2. I did say that I hadn’t seen Underworld 1 yet, but then, turns out, neither had she, LOL! I do know it involves vampires & werewolfs, and that it looks like a bad ripoff of The Matrix. I wonder what we are in for…. I suppose I’ll say more, if needed, once I’ve sat through it :D
Okay, time to de-stink-ise myself.
Laters!
Thursday, March 02, 2006
yahooo, tennis tonite!
... of course, that is assuming:
... but based on the assumption that i *am* having tennis tonight, I skipped my morning gym session today.
Which is fine, seeing as my arms (& "wings") are still sore from the upper-body focussed session two days ago :p
fyi, I just started working out on Monday, and spent that first day more on checking out the dinky gym and its sparse equipment. Still had a major sweat-fest tho ... one of the "advantages" of not having air-cond in there :p
Then Tuesday concentrated on upper-body (seated lat pulldowns & standing tricep pushdowns on the machine, followed by an assortment of bicep, wrist & chest exercises) with a few mins on the treadmill/cycle for warm-up/cool-down.
Yesterday was more lower body... unfortunately I could only do leg extensions on the machine, since the leg press part of the machine (and its related seated chest press station) is not working... So did more flex/tone than strength for the rest... it was a good workout seeing as I was totally dripping in sweat by the time I was done! I feel some twinges in the upper thigh & butt areas from it, so I certainly did some good... but nothing like what I (still) feel in my "wings" from Tuesday, LOL!
So today, to give the body a break, I got my morning exercise by walking to a nearby governtment agency building to inform them about my change in address. Then walked to a nearby 7-11 to get 2 cartons of milk (need lots, cos my b/fast nowadays is just a glass of this milk). Then walked back. Didn't sweat *anywhere* near as much as I'd anticipated, bummer :(
Looking forward to my first tennis session since forever!
How to make sure no rain, ah?
- 1. it's not going to rain this evening; and
2. i manage to borrow a parent's car to get there!
... but based on the assumption that i *am* having tennis tonight, I skipped my morning gym session today.
Which is fine, seeing as my arms (& "wings") are still sore from the upper-body focussed session two days ago :p
fyi, I just started working out on Monday, and spent that first day more on checking out the dinky gym and its sparse equipment. Still had a major sweat-fest tho ... one of the "advantages" of not having air-cond in there :p
Then Tuesday concentrated on upper-body (seated lat pulldowns & standing tricep pushdowns on the machine, followed by an assortment of bicep, wrist & chest exercises) with a few mins on the treadmill/cycle for warm-up/cool-down.
Yesterday was more lower body... unfortunately I could only do leg extensions on the machine, since the leg press part of the machine (and its related seated chest press station) is not working... So did more flex/tone than strength for the rest... it was a good workout seeing as I was totally dripping in sweat by the time I was done! I feel some twinges in the upper thigh & butt areas from it, so I certainly did some good... but nothing like what I (still) feel in my "wings" from Tuesday, LOL!
So today, to give the body a break, I got my morning exercise by walking to a nearby governtment agency building to inform them about my change in address. Then walked to a nearby 7-11 to get 2 cartons of milk (need lots, cos my b/fast nowadays is just a glass of this milk). Then walked back. Didn't sweat *anywhere* near as much as I'd anticipated, bummer :(
Looking forward to my first tennis session since forever!
How to make sure no rain, ah?
will greedy porn kill Google Images?
(Saw AFP article in Wednesday’s InTech, HERE’s the online version)
It seems that Google infringed copyright rules by posting thumbnail-size photos from other websites on its search results pages, according to a ruling by US District Judge Howard Matz.
This ruling came about when a porn firm took issue with the Search Image function because it sells similar-sized images to cellphone users, and stands to lose lots of money if people source their images from Google instead of paying for it from the porn website.
Hey, Google Images is a GREAT service!
I don’t want to lose it just because smut peddlers are losing money!
It seems that Google infringed copyright rules by posting thumbnail-size photos from other websites on its search results pages, according to a ruling by US District Judge Howard Matz.
This ruling came about when a porn firm took issue with the Search Image function because it sells similar-sized images to cellphone users, and stands to lose lots of money if people source their images from Google instead of paying for it from the porn website.
Hey, Google Images is a GREAT service!
I don’t want to lose it just because smut peddlers are losing money!
The bottom line is that this whole issue comes down to one that's been dogging us ever since the Web began: the issue of who controls the distribution of content in a worldwide network that relies on linking to and often extracting content from other sites.
Read the full text in this excellent article that explores the implications of this ruling: "When naked women attack".
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
... the yellow and blue... shall ever be seen ...
In my mind,
<====== T H I S
will always be
"my room"
will always be
"my room"
Then one summer I came back and all the posters had been taken down, all things that made the room "mine" were gone, because the entire house had been repainted. I never bothered to "personalise" it back.
Then the parents moved to an apartment, while I worked over on the other side of the peninsular. All my stuff got stuffed into "my room" which felt more like "the room assigned to me". When I moved back to KL a few years later, I roomed with a colleague and her sister, on the other side of town. A few years after that, I finally moved outta there and into this room, but like I said, I only used it to sleep. So there was some personalisation, but nothing much...
Then .... then my parents moved again ...
See these bright colors?
put that kind of shine to THIS view
... aaaaand you get a feel for the NEW room assigned to me ...
H E L P
... looking on the "bright" (haha) side: am just glad it's not the "yellow and blue" of my school colors (where the blue was more like turquoise!)
Then the parents moved to an apartment, while I worked over on the other side of the peninsular. All my stuff got stuffed into "my room" which felt more like "the room assigned to me". When I moved back to KL a few years later, I roomed with a colleague and her sister, on the other side of town. A few years after that, I finally moved outta there and into this room, but like I said, I only used it to sleep. So there was some personalisation, but nothing much...
Then .... then my parents moved again ...
See these bright colors?
put that kind of shine to THIS view... aaaaand you get a feel for the NEW room assigned to me ...
... looking on the "bright" (haha) side: am just glad it's not the "yellow and blue" of my school colors (where the blue was more like turquoise!)
if it were up to me...
... I'd have taken in this little kitty!
... aaah, how I wish I were living on my own, so I can go back to rescuing kitties like this one!! ... it was mewing SO loudly at the bus stop where I was waiting for Allie two evenings ago... ... it sounded so desperate and lonely ... ... I had to steel myself... cos I knew that if I interacted with it, it would have wanted to follow me... ...or be encouraged to come out from the shrubs near the bus stop... ... and what would be the chances of it then wandering off onto the road and getting itself run over? No way! ...
... didn't see/hear it when I got back later that night ...
... hope it's okay ...
... aaah, how I wish I were living on my own, so I can go back to rescuing kitties like this one!! ... it was mewing SO loudly at the bus stop where I was waiting for Allie two evenings ago... ... it sounded so desperate and lonely ... ... I had to steel myself... cos I knew that if I interacted with it, it would have wanted to follow me... ...or be encouraged to come out from the shrubs near the bus stop... ... and what would be the chances of it then wandering off onto the road and getting itself run over? No way! ... ... didn't see/hear it when I got back later that night ...
... hope it's okay ...
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about two months later...
... hi again. This return to blogging is really not working out, is it? Actually, I am writing, three pages of mind vomit and affirmations ...