shuffling on by…

I have heard a lot of shoddy workmanship horror stories but this one takes the cake. A wall electrical socket had broken (literally) down, and I bought a new one to replace it. This socket was in the kitchen, the extended part of the kitchen. There I was with my Bosch cordless drill (hey, I hurt my wrist in our May 1st takraw tourney so I can’t be expected to unscrew the screws manually, right? Yeah, the hurt wrist is my left wrist but with all the extra work the right wrist is doing to cover up for the left, I can’t afford to hurt it too, right?), a test pen, the replacement socket. Out came the 2 screws and… WTF?? I can’t believe my eyes… The renovation contractor’s wireman (see that I refrained from calling him an electrician because a valid electrician would not have done what he had done) had so farked up the most basic electrical wiring connection that they even teach primary school kids in Kemahiran Hidup these days.

The dumbass wireman had somehow turned the wire meant for Earth (green) to Live and the wire meant for Live (blue) to Earth, which was not even connected to the socket. It was curled up nicely in the wall socket. Now, if the wall socket was meant specifically for some electrical appliances like radio, tv, hifi, etc. it’s alright to do so (not connecting the Earth wire). They come with 2-pin plugs anyway.

But this socket was in the kitchen. Where we daily use a lot of heavy stuff appliances like kettles, washing machines, microwave and convection ovens, toasters, etc. These appliances need to be grounded for obvious reasons. And it seems we have been using our washing machine without being properly grounded for the past 5+ years. I shudder to think if any other sockets were similarly connected. Heck… I wonder if the Earth wire, now the blue wire, was even properly grounded in the first place. That’s why, immediately after discovering this farkup, I called up a real electrician and set up an appointment to have him check all the sockets.

I have half the mind to give the renovation contractor a call and give him hell, but last I heard he has gone missing, running away from Ahlongs. Can’t say I’m sorry for him.

Addendum:
So my electrician (Mano) came, and confirmed that the blue wire, that’s now the Earth wire, was not connected to the Earth loop. Hence, if I had connected it to the Earth connection of the new socket, it would have been pointless. Mano traced it back to the other end, connected that to the Earth loop and solved the problem.

Rakyat this… rakyat that… hey, I’m a rakyat too. And I never said you could go ahead and form a pakatan on my behalf. And if I don’t agree with what you’re saying the rakyat is saying, does that make me any less a rakyat?

And Hakim Rakyat? I am a rakyat and I say he is guilty as hell. So there!

Finally, one fine Sunday…

A vase, some savanna or floral foams. Jam the foams in tight.

Cover the top with dried moss. Spray some spraymount to keep the moss in place.

In go the synthetic orchids. We don’t call them plastic flowers. Either fake or synthetic. Never plastic. Plastic is so… err… cheap.

Then the synthetic orchid leaves.

Next the fake mossy pebbles…

… stuff them in between the orchids and leaves.

Finished. After almost a month in storage.

Na: “Finally!”

Was having a late lunch at Burger King in 1Utama. Sitting there on my own, munching a BK Whopper, I observed a pair of deaf/mutes communicating with each other. One was a BK staff while the other was a staff at a bakery across the mall about 30 meters away. Both were very animated. The beauty about sign language, they don’t have to shout to one another to make themselves heard. I’ve seen non-mutes shouting even when talking on their sophisticated phones.

SMS chat with a friend:

Me: “AirAsia starts charging for checked in luggage. What next? Charge for onboard toilet use?”

dSaint: “I can imagine the stewardess sitting outside the can collecting money as passengers go in. Lol.”

Me: “And sells tissue.”

dSaint: “Worse, toilet roll.”

Me: “And the tap inside is coin-operated.”

dSaint: “And required to clean up after or face a fine.”

Me: “No. Coin operated flush. The doer won’t pay but the next person surely would. Lol.”

Jokes aside… really! At the moment, you pay for onboard food and drinks (acceptable), excess baggage (very acceptable) and to get special privillege of lining up in the express queue, previously reserved for free for the elderly, kids and pregnant ladies (Unacceptable.)

You start to wonder what AirA$ia would be charging next.

My take on this: the film was by one Dutchman. In no way was it endorsed by, commissioned, approved nor sponsored by any other Dutch companies,let alone the Dutch government. If we punish the whole of the Dutch people for the action one Dutchman, aren’t we the same as that Dutchman who labels Islam as terrorists for the actions of some misguided Muslims?

Naah… I’ll boycott the film but I won’t boycott the Dutch.

The previous post is meant only for those who know me. The password is my middle name, all lower caps.

For sale to the highest bidder. Collector’s item. Not in production anymore. Soon to be very rare. Also available; an even rarer pre-Botox version.

Quick! Place your bid. Your bid is guaranteed confidential. Indelible  ink WILL NOT be used.

I hate being tagged. No, let’s put it this way… I don’t really hate being tagged, just hate doing the tag thingy and then having to tag other people. Masa kecik-kecik dulu pon tak terer main tag nih, bila kena kejar mesti dapat. And then bila dah ‘jadik’, kejar orang tak dapat-dapat. Hey, it’s not my fault being born in a kampung where the neighbourhood kids are all master climbers and champion runners.

So, I’ve been tagged. Again. Twice in a space of 2 weeks. By the same feller. Blardy hell, he doesn’t give up, does he? Okaylah, not to disappoint a friend twice, plus I haven’t updated my blog for over a week and Wombat is already complaining, I’ll do this.

The Tag:

Here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

1. My right leg is longer than the left…. wait, no… the left is shorter than the right by about half an inch. I discovered this during my bachelor days when the right legs of my jeans kept getting worn off at the hem from getting stepped on, while the left would be just fine. Till this day, nobody else know about this except my late mom and my wife. Now the everyone who bothers to visit my blog knows. Thanks to Saddiq. Darn you, boy!
2. I can’t leave perforated forms alone. See.
3. I prefer sitting action than squatting action. In the toilet.
4. I’m very particular about how my half boil eggs are done. Have to be runny, otherwise they get sent back. And they better wash the eggs before boiling. I see a spot of chicken shit on either of the eggs and they get sent back.
5. I am an action movie fan, but somehow, one of my top 5 movies is Notting Hill. Go figure.
6. I can’t complete a Rubik cube. One colour, that’s all I’m capable of.
7. I hate can’t stand Azwan Ali. I see his face on the tv, the channel gets switched. I see his face on a magazine, the magazine ends up not being bought nor read. I see his face personally, I might just end up puking there and then.

The seven people I’m tagging are:

Naahh… let’s break the chain here.