The Drill Story

Last Friday I went to Great Eastern Mall to buy an industrial grade drill, a Bosch to be precise.

I walked up to a sales boy and asked the models they carry. I am aware that these drills are not cheap, RM400 and above. And Black & Decker just doesn’t cut it to hang mom’s heavy vintage framed mirror.

NoktahHitam: I want one of these. What’s included?
Sales Boy: Oh this one? This one cost RM 459.

Err, I asked what’s in the box. Not the price. So I revisited the question.

Sales Boy: This one is 550 watt.

He’s not answering the question!

NoktahHitam: Look, I just want to know what’s inside the box.
Sales Boy: You get the machine, the handle and the plug.

Duh! If I’m paying for a drill, I should get a drill. What kind of sorry ass answer is that. I gave him a grumpy look and tilted my head to the side.

Sales Boy: Oh sir, one more thing included.
NoktahHitam: Which is?
Sales Boy: The instruction manual.

For a second, I thought of landing a punch on his wide forehead. On second thought, I’ll use nails instead and avoid breaking my index finger.

ps: DIY’ed my own charger and used the Black & Decker instead.

pss: The next time you want to buy a power tool, make sure it’s wired, not chargables one.

A Lick and A Promise

A long drive home awaits me from Cyberjaya. Friday night traffic is always worst no matter where you are. But I needed to get back home earliest possible, I have another meeting lined up tonight.

My tummy growled, begging for a slice of carbo.

I pulled over to nearest petrol station, loaded Jenny with octane and grabbed a few meals over the counter. Hot dogs, Frankfurters and the fake RM1 Pizza (it’s RM2 now). Sprayed extra chili sauce and left before they could charge for the excessive sauce.

One hand on the steering, the other holding the leaky hot dog. Nothing beats quality multitasking.

Achoo! I’m still a sick boy with a reddish nose. I had to put the hot dog on my lap to wipe that snot of mine. (more…)

Good Company Makes Time Fly

Like the usual, Friday night is about taking your time off the real world. It was a last minute thing, I managed to get a hold of Bongkersz and Aeropama for a teh tarik session.

I know you might think this is another geek hangouts, oh my, how so wrong of you. Our conversation was deep, cynical and anything for the betterment of the nation. The highly debatable topic was English as medium for Science and Math. Ok, you can say it’s rather geeky. (more…)

The Contigency Plan

I was out on a date with ehem (let’s keep it discreet ok). She starts talking about her assignment and how her 1Gb was insufficient to store her work.

She’s actually throwing signal for a quick stop at Lowyat. It was peak hours, we all know how stupid it’d be to crash that place now. So I asked her to dig in my bag and trade with me (4Gb).

Student Girl: What is this cotton thingy? a hanky?
NoktahHitam: That’s my under garment.
Student Girl: Eeeeeuuuwww.
NoktahHitam: It’s my contingency plan.
Student Girl: In case I turn into Hulk and made you crap your pants?
NoktahHitam: Nope.
Student Girl: Then what is your contingency plan?
NoktahHitam: In case you forgot your tampons or pads.
Imaginable steam released from her head. Right back at ya

It’s becoming a worriying habit. Everytime when I’m done with my oval office, I question the cleanliness of my garment. It’s always a good thing to bring spare. Like I said, it’s my contigency plan. Do you have one?

ps: I have heavy flow pads in the trunk. You know, in case.

pss: Business call it contigency, IT call it back up, Engineer calls it redundant. What ever you call it, it’s the same shit.

The Umrah, Madinah, Part 1

I’ve always wondered what’s it like living in a 3rd World country, alas, Saudi Arabia gave me a piece of that (other than Malaysia).

Our journey to Saudi Arabia took 8 hours, plus minus airport etc, a day at least. And since we’re heading east, we’re chasing time and had to fast for almost 18 hours. It was the longest fasting period I’ve ever recalled.

We reached Jeddah airport at night and took a bus to Madinah. We had the whole bus to ourselves (9 of us). Jeddah to Madinah is 400 km plus.

Madinah is a blessed and wonderful city.

Our hotel is roughly 1km to the Nabawi Mosque. 5 prayers, 5 return trips, easily 10km walk a day. At 45°-50°, it sure was one hell of a walk.

Nabawi Mosque is one the most beautiful mosque I’ve visited. (Better than Putrajaya Mosque) (more…)

I’m Leaving on a Jet Plane

Had a great time at Negaraku! Buka Puasa gathering.

The attendees:

• Life4Hire - An old friend of mine, goes way back 12 years ago 
• Callister - Teh tarik buddies. Very casual and flexible
• Aeropama - Laid back and funny guy
• Odin - Subtle and got depth. Aspire to be a web developer
• SembangKomputer - Small guy, touted underage all the time
• Lochoe - It’s-all-about-making-online-money

Although it wasn’t as many as we expected, we did share some quality conversation. We have a lot of things in common (of course, we’re geeks! & bloggers ). I’m sure the guys sat next to our had a hard time eavesdropping. All in all, the food was fantastic. I won’t mind driving 45 minutes for a piece of that chicken again! (more…)

Last Call For Negaraku! Buka Puasa

I’ve emailed Negaraku! users to inform of the get together. In my opinion, this is a great way to meet friendly strangers. Life4Hire planned the whole thing, I’m just helping him with mass communication and forms.

There was a complaint about the location of the gathering, about me choosing a place close to my house, for my own personal convenient. Well, let me set your head straight.

• The place is far from my house. It about 45 minutes (car)
• The place is managed by friends. We get to book table as many as we want and stay for as long as we want without feeling guilty.
• The food is fantastic (or so I was told)
• If you don’t want to come, don’t come. We’re not even begging for attendees.

Ok, enough rambling. Again, the details as follows: (more…)