Holiday Consumerism

So, I changed to the beta version of Blogger and I can't see any difference at all in the service. Can anyone out there enlighten me of the new tricks one can do with Blogger Beta?

Anyways, before I start the post proper, I would like to say a "banyat (typo?) terma kasih" to Abang for the postcard I just received today. Hope everything's going well for you in Egypt! And use more English/Chinese in your blog!! Banyat tak faham!!

Okie, so the last post was before the Thanksgiving holidays and I know some of my readers have been getting on my ass about not updating (You know who you are...). Hence, I will talk about my Thanksgiving break.

So there was a pleasant surprise on Wednesday, the company's office hours were till 15:30 only. However, if the boss doesn't leave, a rookie can't have thick enough skin to leave either right? So I stayed till around 16:15 before leaving, hoping to beat the Chicago traffic, for my bro's place. Maybe it's cos I'm still new to the area, but every time I think I have the timing for Chicago traffic down, it screws me all over again. This time, I entered Chicago very very smoothly. Normally, it takes about 40-50 minutes for me to hit downtown Chicago from my workplace, but I made that journey in like 25 last Wednesday. Unfortunately, that means I was trying to leave Chicago, on Thanksgiving Eve, during the "5 o'clock everyone clusterf*cking on the expressway" jam. Normally,i.e. on a normal Friday evening, it takes me about 1.5 hours to reach my bro's place from work. Last Wednesday, I reached his place at like 18:30, even after I shaved 15-25 minutes off the going into Chicago route. Traffic was horrible.

Anyways, so we had dinner and then celebrated Thanksgiving by sleeping and playing WC3/Dota. On Friday, I woke up early (2:30) to get ready to go to the post-Thanksgiving sales at Aurora. I went there with a friend and I think we certainly did our part to stimulate the American economy. I got a pair of deerskin gloves from Timberland and a leather jacket from CK. My friend... well, let's say I still don't get female fascinations with shoes... and bags...

Oh well, I guess she wasn't the only one to go home feeling broke. Ah Seng has to starve till he goes back home and I think Bob has to start pimping on the streets again.

So that was my Thanksgiving story. Anyone has their story to share?

P.S. I just realised that it's only been 8 days since my last post. Talk about impatient readers... Haha.

P.P.S. Also, new pics are up. These are some of the pics from the Singapore Associations Winter Formal. There are more, but I don't have them...

Princess Leia!! In a Bikini!! Dancing!! ZOMG!!

And I just can't stop laughing at this video. Lolxorz!!

And as a side note, I believe this comic very succinctly sums up the Wii (Last Sunday) & the PS3 (Last Friday) launches.



Hmm... Seems like there are technical difficulties with embedding the video. But here's the direct link.

Birthday Alert!

Happy (Slightly) Belated B'dae to Zee!!
Score 1 for Otaku-ism, may your japanese improve by leaps and bounds. And I DID maintain that DS was FTW. Haha.

The Way Things Should Be

I know I should be doing my laundry and catching up on my bills on this lazy Sunday afternoon, but before I proceed to do the mundane stuff in life, I want to post this video about how the way things should be. Girls + Gaming = Best Buy!!

And even if you're not interested in the gaming/girl (your choice) part, you still have the other one to fall back on!! So without further ado, the Dota Song, by BassHunters.


To end it all, a Zu31G Public Service Announcement: Next week is Thanksgiving, have you made your post-Thanksgiving sales plans yet? As they say in Battletech, "Information is Ammunition". And now you know.

Traffic Regulations

As a driver, I find that once you're behind the wheel, you adopt a totally different idiocy tolerance threshold. Things like people taking 5 minutes to overtake cars on a 2 lane highway really really grate on you. And there's a tendency to travel faster than the regulated speed limit and scorn the slowpokes as you zoom by, but perhaps that's not the best thing to do in the world, as evidenced by this song. Kudos to Ah Seng for showing me this.



For a more real-life example, check out what happens when you hit a traffic speed hump at really really high speeds.

The JetSetters

Might have been a better name instead of Champions of Excellence... Considering that the graduates from my batch can be found in Belgium and Egypt. Hopefully, I won't be adding to my frequent flyer miles anytime soon.

Here are some videos to entertain you guys while I try to gather up some of the most recent pics...

1. Cool animation. Reminiscent of Pixar's opening animations.

2. As some might know, it was the midterm elections in the United States last week. If you missed the results, here they are, in a nutshell (or rather, a youtube video clip).

Sexual Innuendo Ahoy!

I can't believe how this got past the censors. Must have been some really magic the producers of this particular episode conjured up. I know it's been around for awhile, but for those who don't go ebaumsworld, this might be new.

Name that Word!

This is a lunch post so I gotta be quick. I was reading a article about FCC's ruling about a "vulgarity" but they never mentioned it so I'm opening it up to my readers.

It's apparently OK to say the S-word on TV — as long as it's on a program that the Federal Communications Commission says even faintly resembles a news show.

The FCC reversed itself Tuesday and deemed acceptable a Survivor contestant's use of the obscenity during an interview on a December 2004 episode of The Early Show on CBS. The contestant used a vulgar term for "smooth talker" to describe a fellow contestant on Survivor: Vanuatu.

So NAME THAT WORD!!

Edit- Turns out that article was misleading. The word in question was "bullshitter". Kudos to E.B.O.F. for that tip off.

Transitional Pains

So I finally weaned myself off that old hunk of junk Toshiba and am using my new IBM fulltime now. The most obvious thing I notice is that there is no incessant whirring noises anymore. That's a real relief. And now, I load my Dota like 2304809825 times faster as well. W00TZ!

But in the meantime, I'm having issues with the longer screen. I've been fiddling with the DPI and resolutions trying to make my stuff look normal on this extended screen but it's not quite working yet. Maybe I need to look something up.

ワァ。。。ここまできたはちょうメンドウ！！なんかぼくのIMEはくるってったから。。。でももう大丈夫。ぼくは”本当にありがとう”と言いたい。送りものをもらったので。いろいろおいしそう食べ物があるんだ！もう一回アリガトウ。

Lolxorz !1On3One1Ne

Why am I so jubliant? Well because I get to go home 1 day earlier than expected!! AWESOME. The plant was up and running today and everything went smoothly so the operators decided that we weren't needed anymore. That means I have 1 morning to enjoy the sights and sounds of town.

A few more things I've learnt (and I'm sure 99.9999999% of my readers will not understand this):

1. Explosion proof glass is a good training window, but that means your temperatures cannot rise above 250 degrees C.

2. I kinda know how 70& DS feels like already. Like damp sand. And 90% DS is dry sand.

3. Even if your VFD is of the right size, often times the ramp rate has to be damped to ensure the motor doesn't short itself out trying to draw too much power.

4. The hallmark of a good system is the ability to regulate the temperature and pressure without wild fluctuation.

5. Always factor in the obvious (i.e. accidental pressing of switches) during the planning of alarms and interlocks.

6. Ensure that equipment is assembled such that there is an easy cleaning method that preferably doesn't involve dismantling the whole damn thing.

7. There are air filters (when fully opened) the size of my comforter...

And so I shall leave you guys off with this singing commentator. Perhaps Kakak (if you come anymore) can leave a translation of what the guy is singing. But it's still hilarious as hell regardless of your understanding of spanish.

回家的感觉真爽！！！

Sooo many things...

Well, so I didn't update the whole of last week cos for the most of the week, I was trying to setup a pilot plant dryer. That meant standing outdoors in 10 degree (celsius) weather and rain for 3 of 4 days. On the fourth day (Thursday), I was originally slated to return to the Windy City but unfortunately, the dryer had more problems than expected and my return was rescheduled to Saturday. It's a real challenge to extend your wardrobe which was packed for a 3 day trip and make it last for 6... I won't go into gross details but I thank whatever gave me the inspiration to pack extra underwear...

Just for my own future references and for any engineers out there, the sequence I did on the pilot dryer was as follows (Warning technical stuff ahead):
-START TECHNICAL STUFF-
1. Check the electrical connections for the control panel
2. Check the alarms and interlocks of system
3. Fix all mechanical/electrical problems

Issues I faced were:

1. VFDs mis-wired. The VFD for the mixer was wired to the feeder screw.
2. Faulty explosion panel on cyclone.
3. Wrong burner DPS.
4. Missing potentiometer on burner motor.
5. Lots of miswiring in the Control Panel.
6. Stupid control panel display.
-END TECHNICAL STUFF-

So because we didn't managed to resolve all the issues by Saturday afternoon last week, here I am, back in the plant to iron out all the kinks. Luckily, most of the problems have been solved in the last two days and basically when I arrived today, I just got to play around with the dryer and saw what corrections were made.

But even on my return to the plant, there were problems. I had a 735am flight so I left my home at 530am, figuring that since O'hare was only about 50 miles away, I had plenty of time in the morning. Unfortunately, it seems that a journey of 264000 feet takes 2 hours in the pre-dawn Chicago trafficc. That works out to be slightly below 30 miles per hour. No chance of me getting a ticket at those speeds. Needless to say, I had to take the next flight which was at 11am. The good news is that I completed about 25% of Mario & Luigi:Partners in Time while waiting.

So that was my week in a nutshell. I'll try to post pics sometime soon. And here's some insight into the game of Dota for the uninitiated. Cheers.

P.S. Go BULLS!!Beat Miami!! (Halftime score:59-30 Bulls)

Light Hearted Stuff

I'm goin to Loudon, TN tomorrow and so before I leave, I'm here to leave you guys a couple of cool/funny vidz. The first up is this Pen Spinning Vid. I always knew Asian kids could do this kinda of things, but these guys are really really pros. I can't even imagine how'd they do it, but I guess that's something else for me to do at the workplace during lunch!
Incidentally, Americans have never ever seen this sort of things in their lives before. I was doing the normal pen spin in school once and people were just staring and going like "Woah". And again at work, someone asked me, "Were/Are you a batonist?". Talk about different ways to spend time in exams...

Okie the next vid is in Chinese. It's a parody of Zhang Yi Mou's latest film, 满城尽带黄金甲 (Autumn Remebrance) that's slated for a 2007 release (I believe). It's NSFW and contains boobies. And it's long, but it's funny as hell. What better way to improve your chinese by watching South Park characters talk about boobies? Enjoy.

Okie that's it from me for now. Maybe I'll post in TN, who knows.

Nothing Much to write about

People have asked me if I intend to stay in the States. I have always answered, yes, but only to gain job experience. After all, America is the land of opportunities and from what I hear, home still has a "look oustide for talent" kind of mentality entrenched in the work force. Perhaps this will change as the old guard steps down and people like me step up to become future important people, but I cannot help but feel as if the whole world is fucked up every I look. In the States, you have this (8 minute video about how Bush has authorised near tortue and is basically a lying douchebag):
At home, you have the person who keep creating political posts for himself (because we are not ready to take over). And all around us, we see war in the Middle East, religious tensions in Europe, genocide and massacres in Sudan.

It's all very WTF. I guess I really can't say that living here is worse than living anywhere else. I'd just settle for living with friends and family. They are the most important parts of your life, not any state nor country that you reside in.

Quick Updates

Warning, the following link will only interest you if you are 1. A JiGoPek (Dirty Old Man) or 2. Have a potential to become 1 and/or 3. Like School Uniforms (on Girls, Jap girls). If you do NOT fall under any of the above mentioned categories, this Short Treatise might not be to your tastes. Having said that, I wonder how many of my readers will bookmark that website I just linked to... I can think of at least 3.

I've been dissing Lenovo for the last couple of posts but I'll give credit when it's due. The tech support was blazing fast(!) in returning my laptop to me. I sent them my laptop, along with the network card via DHL last Tuesday. It got returned to me, all fixed up, on Friday. Wow. 3 day support. That's a rare rare sight indeed. Albeit it was only a 5 minute installation at the most (if you could unpry the goddamn rest pad), judging from the pictures in the Lenovo manual.

Lastly, I'm going to TN next week to observe the installation of a pilot dryer. The boss told me very explicitly to NOT blow anything up. Hopefully, achieving that goal will take 0 effort on my part. I'm kinda busy this week as we have a deadline to meet on Friday so this might be the last post till the weekend.

10W97WY

I am case #:10W97WY. My frustration has been numbered and duly noted in the Lenovo system. A mere alpha-numeric designation cannot even begin to describe the agonizing process of getting my laptop to be wireless enabled. Such a freaking pain. I just hope they can get the laptop back to me by next week before I fly to Knoxsville.

With this, I (feverently) hope that my Lenovo will come back to me all fixed and ready to go and I can put this whole saga behind me.

In other news, step 1 of my plan has been completed. Unfortunate but predicted obstacles have been revealed. I wonder how this is going to pan out.

Tech News

So Google bought Youtube and as the article says, reactions to the deal are very varied. It'll be interesting to see how Google actually makes money off of Youtube, although I doubt that even if Youtube/Google is sued into closure, the legacy of viewing media online will end.

Well, my Lenovo (IBM) saga is still continuing. I bought a wireless adaptor card of the laptop but no matter what I tried, I couldn't get the laptop dismantled to instal the card. Calling tech support was of no benefit. All they could do was read the instructions off the online manual and tell me,"If you can take off the keyboard sir, the wireless card panel is right underneath." And Lenovo pays people to say this? A simple automated voice message that says "ALL YOUR BASES ARE BELONG TO US" would do the job equally well. So now, instead of being able to setup my laptop like 2 weeks ago, I have to send it to Lenovo to install the damn adaptor for me and then wait for them to send it back. WTF is that all about?!

Oh well, at least if I do it soon, the laptop should be back by the end of the month. Then I can retire this Toshiba for good.

Phonetically Speaking...

I'm sure some of it is right. But if I were to play the game, I think I would have to physically force my face to remain straight. Unfortunately, those people who don't enough foul language of hokkien origins will not be able to get the following clip, but for those who do, it's hilarious. Enjoy. Kudos to Ah Seng for pointing this gem out to me.

メイタンテイコ-ナン！！柯南名侦探

Wow, I love Detective Conan and now there's a Detective Conan Drama coming out? That's too good to be true. Especially with it's bevy of babes. Here's the trailer. Enjoy.

Many Musings

The first and perhaps most important, BE VERY VERY CAREFUL when you order a Lenovo (IBM's former laptop/desktop business to you out of date cretins). The website is very deceptive. Apparently, the laptop I just (as in 1 month ago) bought doesn't come with an integrated wireless network card as a standard package. Why is Lenovo so stone-aged I don't know, but if you go to their website, and try to order a Z61M, you'll have to read very closely to even understand if they are bundling the network card with your laptop. In fact, even after reading it like 4 times, I still don't understand if it was a miss on their part or misleading advertising. But still, I think it's irresponsible for Lenovo to use such confusing options on their website.

But let's move on from a company that, despite their huge business, has a lousy setup to an up and coming start-up. It might still only be restricted to sales in Singapore at the moment, but you have to dream big and aim far andFleamarket!has all the makings of a sleeper hit site. So go and check it out!!

Well, speaking of Singapore, when I first came to the States, I was intent on getting a job here after graduating and then work a bit for experience before returning home. Nothing beats friends and family and local food. However, after taking a look at the recent turn of events, home has just turned a shade more worrisome. Since this blog is not political, I'll leave it as that, but I'm sure that what's been reported is just the start of something much bigger. Paradigm shifts can occur instanteously, let's see how this whole thing plays out.

最後は僕のりょうしんだ。最近はかれらから”仕事を勤めてるから、かのじょを探しなさい”の感じだ。僕のりょうしんはとてもとてもいい人だけど、これでやりすぎるよ。僕のみらい、僕のあいぼうはじぶんでさがす。ほかのひとはじゃましないでよ！ハイ。。。

When I work a little bit more, I will post a comparisons type of post. Till then, I leave you with a piece of advice, Sukeban Deka is absolutely discontinous and illogical. Watch it only if you like Japanese babes (who also happen to be part of the Hello Project).

Line Rider

Well, I'm begining to learn that lunch is all about 2 things. The first is food (naturally) and the second is FLASH GAMES!!! And this little gem of a game is really deceptively addictive and unnaturally hard. But if you're able to master it's intricacies, you can come up with masterpieces like this:



Enjoy.

And for the interested, MORE KATAMARI!!