I’m such an opposite
I’m so weird. I went to bed before midnight last night, and yet woke up exhausted. But the night before, I went to bed at about 2am and woke up really early, and yet I was still fine and active throughout the day.
Here are some more examples of how “opposite” I am… when I drink coffee, I get sleepy instead of staying awake!
And… I can’t take vegetables. Not only because I dislike them, but they upset my bowel movement. If I stay off ‘em, I’m good… but if I eat a lot, I get constipation instead. It’s another great reason for me to not eat my greens, actually, so that’s fine with me…
October 15, 2008
Win A Free Handbag!
This is especially for you ladies – and maybe teenaged girls – out there. Handbag Planet is giving away one free handbag every hour for 24 hours! I’m not much of a handbag person but I must admit that the handbag selections they have there are really lovely. Check it out for yourself at http://www.handbagplanet.com/.
October 7, 2008
Kudos to the government agency! (And no, I’m not being sarcastic)
I?m sitting here in McDonald?s at the Mall at 9.15 in the morning. I?ve just had a good breakfast, and I?m sipping my cup of tea while looking at my white laptop. I?ve got my Mac hooked up to their power supply, but it is unlikely that I will stay here longer than 9.30am. I?m merely whiling away time on my one-hour parking, hoping that the traffic would considerably clear up by the time I make my way out, although that possibility is very low. My Mac shows that I?m connected to McD?s WiFi, but Firefox has yielded nothing, indicating that the network isn?t connected to the Internet.
I was here this morning to renew my business licence which I would admit, I foolishly forgot to renew. It was due in August, but this year I forgot simply because I didn?t have any time markers. By time markers, I mean the period of time which is signified by something going on at that time of the year. The last two years, I was working in a school, and August had a one-week break which was the only time I could go to renew the licence in this quarter of the year. This year, being on my own, I completely forgot because I was on my own with no holidays to remind me of my limited time to get official work done. I only remembered because I heard an ad on the radio which announced the ease of getting official things done online now.
I did check out that website, but couldn?t find any information about renewing business licences, so I think that website was only good for certain official work. So today, being the first free morning since I remembered about my licence renewal (last week was Hari Raya holidays), I fought traffic for about half an hour just to get to the Commission of Business Registration. I came prepared. I had a book to read, and my laptop to get work done. I expected to wait, because last year, I had to wait 2 hours for my business licence to be released. I already thought that was very good, because the year before, I had to wait more than a week.
Last year?s process was like this:
- Go to the open counter outside, get a form.
- Fill up the form, then go back to the counter to get a number.
- Go into the waiting hall, and wait until number is called.
- Hand in form, pay licence renewal fee, get receipt.
Because I came early last year (just after 8am), 1-4 was done in about 5 minutes. I was told to come back in 2 hours, and I was very surprised because the year before, it would take a week or more. I didn?t register my business licence on my own though, I paid a tout to get it done for me.
I was glad I didn?t use the tout this year, but I had to while my wait for 2 hours so I went to the McDonald?s downstairs (which was thankfully open – 24 hour McDonald?s are very recent, only started last year) and got some my own paperwork done before I went back upstairs to collect my licence.
So this year, fully expecting the same process, I got to the commission. However the process this time is:
- Go to the open counter outside, get a form AND number.
- I saw my number was the next one, so I went into the waiting hall and found my number due already! I went up to the counter and explained that I had only just arrived and hadn?t filled up the form. The lady didn?t even complain as I quickly filled up the form, which thankfully, was very short.
- Paid my renewal fees (I renewed for 2 years this time!) and the fine (I expected it to be RM60, but it was only RM30).
- Got my business licence AND the receipt.
And all the above in less than 5 minutes!!!
Kudos to the government for really improving their agencies? customer service. I was impressed by last year?s quick service, but they obviously took pains to improve it even more. They have really taken advantage of Information Technology.
Last time renewing a passport would take 3 days, then 24 hours, then 2 hours. I wonder if they can do an on-the-spot renewal now, just like the business renewal?
(I went home to post this, as McD did not have Internet access)
October 5, 2008
Non-sequitur thoughts
It’s 12.51am. There goes my promise to myself to sleep before midnight from 1st October onwards. I can’t remember when was the last time I was in bed before midnight. I think it was when I wasn’t well a few months ago.
First of all, thanks to everyone who expressed concern about my being trapped in the office building. And for your zany ideas about walking through walls and calling the fire dept for the tarp. I think my dad coming over to cut the lock is still the best though, because it actually works.
First non-sequitur thought of the night. Ee Ping, the camwhore queen, bragged about her new camera to me. Apparently she dropped her camera and broke the lens of her old camera during her climb up Mt Kinabalu. I suppose she was trying to take a photo of herself climbing, hehehehe. Lesson to be learnt here – never try to handle a camera when you’re trying to balance yourself on a tiny ledge no larger than your big toe. So now she’s got a pink camera that’s waterproof and shockproof which she’s christened Pinky.
So this is technically Ee Ping’s Pinky. Hahaha!
I’ve got my own waterproof and shockproof camera I bought last year, but because technology has improved so much, this year’s cameras are better than last year’s cameras. Of course I’m sore, especially since they cost the same. Argh!
Ee Ping pointed out I’ve got my own DSLR camera though. Yeah in case you didn’t know, I got myself a Nikon D60 which I absolutely love. No, unlike Ee Ping, I didn’t take a photo of my new baby.
My response to her is the following (via SMS), copied verbatim here:
Aiyah it’s not like I can lug the DSLR everywhere with me. The waterproof can follow you to the mountain tops and the depths of the oceans, stick with you through rough and fine weather, for frollicking at the beach or while you’re exploring the darkest of caves, and emerge with beautiful memories – and a camera that still functions – that last a lifetime. Golly I sound like an advertisement. I should go into the advertising line!!
I missed my calling in life, I tell you. Considering I wrote that in one shot without thinking about what to write. By the way, if any of you camera companies copy the above statement in any form, whether condensed or in full without my permission, I will sue you. However compensation in the form of a top-notch DSLR camera complete with all the many different types of lenses would be more than adequate.
By the way, yes, I do know that climbing Mt Kinabalu isn’t real climbing in the true sense, and there isn’t any cliffhanger moment where you dangle by your fingers from a ledge no larger than your big toe. I think it’s a shame because there should be moments like those incorporated as part of the climb. Then the climbing cert would really mean something!
Next non-sequitur train of thought. I was at Tesco’s the other day, and I wanted to buy a plastic 5-tier drawer but I couldn’t reach it as it was on the top shelf. I didn’t see any of the Tesco personnel and I saw a scrawny nerdy guy coming over. I mistook him for the personnel (he was dressed in similar garb and wearing a tag around his neck) and asked him for help, only to have him mumble that he’s not a worker, and hurry off. Geez. I mean, you don’t have to work there to help me get something, right? Especially when a beautiful girl is asking you for help. I wanted to ask him if he knows why he doesn’t have a girlfriend, but he hurried off a little too quickly.
One more non-sequitur train of thought. I miss being in love. I don’t yearn for a relationship or a marriage, but it’s fun to be in love. Right now I’m stretched for time between tuition classes, dancing, and my website work, I don’t even get to meet new people, much less go out. I can’t remember the last time I hung out, or went out. My sister reminded me that I went out last Saturday when I watched Broadway Parodies Lagi Lah (which was brilliant! But I couldn’t help constantly comparing it to the first production, Broadway Parodies Lah) with Bronya and Mei Ling at KL Pac, but that doesn’t count. And I did watch Mamma Mia! with Sue Ching (Pierce Brosnan sooooooo can’t sing!!!!)? on Monday. But I mean the last time I was with friends/on a date and I just chilled and hung out. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to chill and hang out.
One of my friends (I won’t say who) is interested in a girl and sometimes hashes things out with me as to what he should do and what’s going on. I think it’s so sweet, and the going looks really good for him. But gosh, I miss someone going after me and trying to read the signals and trying to send out signals and all that.
But no, I stress, I’m not dying for a relationship or marriage.
Oh, one last non-sequitur thought. I’m not a pervert, but I’m beginning to realise that I know and understand a lot of sexual innuendos better than some people. Not saying that I understand all of them, but I’ve had friends who ask me what certain things mean when it’s obvious to me. Like, tell me a dirty joke and I usually understand it immediately. And there are certain terms that may sound innocent to the untrained ear, but can have a totally different meaning. No, I’m not giving any examples here. And trust me, this is not knowledge I relish and take pride in. So sometimes if you see me suddenly freeze and give you a look when you’ve said something, stop and ask yourself what you just said. Erm, and it’s also probably partly because I have a very vivid imagination. Describe something to me and I can visualize it immediately. It’s terrible especially when people describe disgusting stuff to me. Or certain positions.
By the way, I went to JB a couple of weeks ago for a line dance workshop. I took loads of photos with my new baby. Trying to upload them all onto PhotoBucket, but there are so many photos that it’s taking forever. Anyway I’ve got some on Facebook, which you can view here.
Right now in my typical multitasking fashion, I’m trying to work on my many websites, and clear up my many hard disks at the same time. I’ve just reformatted my laptop and one of my PCs, and they’re so nice and clean and sterile now. I backed up all my files into two of my external hard drives, but the drives are kinda small (only 80GB each) and they’re already spilling over. I saw a 1TB external hard drive for RM500 in the computer store the other day (Quick Physics/Math lesson: 1TB=1 Terabyte=1000000000000 bytes i.e. 12 zeros. Well not really, because 1 KB=1024 bytes and so on, but let’s not go into such detail. I already drive my friends up the wall with talk of angles, square roots and parallel lines). And I just stood there drooling. Not literally, but I really just stood there looking at it with such longing. In the end I had to drag myself away and remind myself I just bought a Nikon D60 and my purse is rather empty. Figuratively of course, because I paid for the camera via plastic.
It’s now 1.46am. Non-sequitur thoughts can be so time-consuming. The last one wasn’t even really the last one. I’ve got a couple more, but I think I should stop here for now 