RACONTEUR-ESQUE SCRIBBLINGS

I made a wish to the universe the other day, hoping for something funny or odd to happen, if not to me, then perhaps to someone else. (And not in a bad way... like how I had my sneakers stolen at the gym - that was odd, not funny, or how I once dropped a box set of books on a girl (it was an accident!!)  who was sitting under the shelf, sneaking a read in the bookstore) Thirty three hours later, other than an incredibly hilarious story a friend of mine shared with me, nothing funny happened. In fact, nothing happened at all, unless you count the activities that led my work desk to look like a tornado passed right through it within four days of being back at work. It was very neat when I left it two weeks ago. An attempt at chalk outlines using crayons :p The other day, however had a slightly funny moment. See, while the plant shut down for Eid, we had some installation and repair work going on, and one of the things they did was to build a roof over the ASSembly area so that pe...

Note: This post was written in snatched moments over a week. Finally got to publishing it today.  The voice in my head is dictating this post out in whispers. I don't know why. If I could only use one word to describe the previous week and some more, I'd use eventful, because it was. For my standards, anyway, where minutes flit by into hours and then become days that you never knew existed. It may seem a bit odd to want to blog about a week that has passed, but that's the way it is. When I'm free, nothing happens, and when I'm supposed to be doing something else, things I think would be worth blogging about start mushrooming like mushrooms after a thunderstorm. To be totally honest, though... it's been years since I last saw a mushroom after a thunderstorm (probably somewhere in 1996, I think) 1. In momentary madness, I agreed to join the women's netball team at work. The last time I played netball was 18 years ago, and even then I was the keeper, wher...

It's a wee bit past midnight and sleep seems a little hard to come by as the mind races through thoughts like those 4 x 400 metres relay racers passing the baton as they finish their turn. So here I am, trying to dispel those thoughts through the safest medium I know, blogging... Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to, putting those thoughts to words and sentences that make sense seem to be getting tougher for no apparent reason, although when I was attempting to sleep awhile ago, they seemed so eloquently put that I was forced to get up and put them here. After three attempts at putting those thoughts and stuff to words (which involved typing, reading, re-reading and deleting), I sit here, slightly pissed off and with nothing to make into a post I would gladly post. Maybe I'm just losing my blogging mojo. Sigh... I have now given up and so please excuse me while I go and listen to some happy songs... Note: Title of the post is also the title of a song by Queen - no co...

So, it's been 5 days since I took an unofficial, unannounced break from blogging, which when you come to think of it, wasn't that much of a break seeing that I had actually written about 2 unpublished posts (because I never completed them) and that I kept visiting to stalk other blogs, as well as to reply to comments. The only way I would totally disappear from this world which I have become so dependent on for the sake of my sanity is if I were totally disconnected from the internet like I was somewhere around this time last year. I had some sort of minor withdrawal symptom back then. Anyway, just to get back into the groove (this is all for the added drama effect, but then since I had missed out on 5 days events - not that my life is eventful in any way, in fact it is so dead boring that I am sometimes amazed at the fact that I can spew out so many things here on the blog... some that I'm okay with, and some that I regret putting up a few days later...) I thought that I...

1. Some people really should never ever be allowed to drive on the roads. Especially the tai-tais who drive cars that are a bit too big for them (and possibly their brains), but don't really know how to drive or how to observe basic road rules. Stupid woman in the Honda this morning... Grrr! PS: I took down your plate number. Ha! Ha! 2. Taking pain killers and then exercising makes you feel as though you're floating on air... you need to rest your head on the handles of whatever machine you're using to bring yourself back to earth. 3. The weather's been way too hot to do anything... there's a perpetual headache, you can't sit still, eating is painful, and all you want is to sit in a refrigerator. Or buy an iceberg. 4. Lost things come back to you when it's least expected. No joke!! 5. Keeping your water bottle in the freezer and then remembering that you kept it in there 3 hours later gives you gorgeous formations of ice crystals. 6. The amazing th...

*Gorbachev asked me this morning as to what my immediate action plan regarding work looked like. I was quiet for a bit... somewhere in between being flummoxed and curious as to how and why this question could have arrived in the first place - it being an economically bad climate to move places when seniority is your safety belt of sorts. He theorised that our current situation in the department I'm in is like this (He's now in a different department, but still hangs out and works closely with some of us) There's one key person, and she's kind of holding us in place despite how bored/tired/annoyed/disheartened we are of the situation we are in, and mainly because she is quite the kind of boss that expects you to do your thing well and will support you 100% if help is ever needed. We don't see the results immediately (she's only been in that position for almost a year), but we can see ourselves moving - like glaciers if you may... slow but with impact. She...

Having a break in momentum on Monday was a bad idea to begin with, but laziness prevailed (due to a missing pair of shoes and protesting hamstrings) It's already Wednesday, and I still feel so incredibly lazy. It's like everything is in a standstill, or perhaps moving in slow motion like a particular scene from the movie "The Graduate" The air is heavy, hanging and I'm dreadfully sleepy, and all I want to do is to listen to one particular song loudly and sing along to it at the top of my lungs. which I can't because I don't know all the words. Bein' this lazy, Is drivin' me crazy There's nothin' fancy Who said it's a democracy? My mind's gone fuzzy The world looks hazy Fields are all grassy, Musical instruments, brassy. Tis a simple word, lazy But it kinda leaves you daze-y!

It is a known fact that a certain number of babies are born every minute somewhere in this world, and there are also a certain number of people who kick the bucket every other minute, so there is supposed to be a certain balance, right? However, it feels as though the world is suddenly very very crowded for no apparent reason. I have a question to ask... if someone (a friend for instance) asks you how you are after a long time of not meeting each other, and your meeting is a brief one, an encounter at the bank or something. What do you say? Do you assume the question to be a rhetorical one, give a smile and say you're fine and ask them how they are, although deep down inside you feel like wielding a sword on a high speed horse and take the heads off ever person that gets in your way? I can't say why, but when I get this question, I automatically say everything's allright although a part of me wants to say, "No, I'm not allright. Can I cry on your shoulder, pleas...

The place where we trained. The pink actually matches the blog. Ha! Ha! Not one of the best looking buildings around, though. I spent two days of the previous week right in the middle of the city, in KL, where the buildings reach dizzying heights, and the unseen boundary between land and where it supposedly ends is practically non-existent. It was for a two day training stint which we were sent for so that when we get back, we will be able to tackle more work related to that training and therefore lead more meaningless daily existence. Of course, it being the city and all, we went there together in one car. From our workplace, the journey took us about an hour plus. Although I do go to KL at times when meeting up with friends, I usually take the train and only end up seeing what can be seen from the railway tracks... nevertheless, when you actually drive into the city using the normal streets that are usually famous for their bumper to bumper traffic jams, you actually get to see s...

I'm at a point where I could fall asleep standing, and yet I'm reluctant to hit the sack seeing that it's only 10: 22 pm at the moment I'm typing this out because it means that I'm acknowledging that whatever is left off the weekend is finally over. There's something I noticed... November is not fond of me at all. From the very beginning, November has been an intense month. I was getting some documents stamped with something that makes it valid, and I got into conversation with the person who is in charge of ensuring that it is really valid, and she seconded my notion that this November has indeed been cruel! The weird thing is, it has been so the past few years since 2005 with the exception of 2007 (because there's no evidence of me proclaiming it to be a terrible month like I usually do) So, I shall sit here and ponder about what I'm gonna do in the next hour and a half before it's officially Monday. Hmmm...