Winner takes all

The Olympics is upon us. In competition the winner takes all. Someone wins but many more people have to lose. That is the one thing i don't like about sports competition.

Half empty or half full?

People see only what they are prepared to see. However if we are prepared to see bad things in life it might open our eyes to good things we weren't paying attention to before.

Windows Defender alert: this might take hours!

This might take a few hours: Windows Defender alert.

This is not a joke. After running Windows Defender to detect malicious spyware on my pc for more than an hour, the spyware scanner has not even completed 50% of the full scan. Looks like I have to wait patiently for another hour if I want to view the scan results.

Fear factor

One writer wrote "The best way of dealing with fear is to admit it, and then to go ahead regardless."

During a trip to the Berkelah waterfalls near Kuantan a few years ago I literally jumped off a cliff. With climbing rope, safety harness, gloves, red helmet, rubber shoes and foolhardy bravado I rappelled down the side of a rock cliff. From the top the steep drop to the pool in the gushing water of the mountain stream below was about 12m. The scariest moment was when I was suspended and spinning in the air, hanging on precariously to dear life, with only the rope as my lifeline.

Eyes No See

SSome people have eyes that don't see or see only what they choose to see. And worse still even though they may be looking at objects their brains don't register and connect with their vision at all.

On checking the drawings I found the cause of the cracks appearing in the beam. The cracks are due to insufficient shear reinforcement in the beam. In my design calculation sheet I specified clearly with the aid of a sketch R10 links spaced at 250 mm c/c. However in the beam construction drawing the draftsman detailed R6 links spaced at 250 mm c/c. For the same spacing the difference in steel areas between R6 and R10 links is a whopping 64% deficit! I suspect the mistake is due to the common practice of draftsmen mindlessly cutting and pasting CAD drawing objects from one part of a drawing to another.

Since the building work has been completed I am now scratching my head on how to rectify the defect without demolishing and then rebuilding the beam.

Sin foods

Satay, grilled chicken wings, fried hokkien mee, iced sugar cane juice. My bloated stomach is already groaning and straining from eating so much of these hot, greasy, spicy and sweet foods. Am expecting to bear with the effects of detoxification for a few days as my stomach starts to expel the toxic payload from the digestive system.

Unsatisfactory footing construction.

The six excavations in the ground are for the construction for the footings. However though the number of footings and their depths below the surface are correct the dimension of each is different from what I had designed. I could not remember the dimension of each individual footing but looking at the size of the excavations I was sure that some of them were undersized.

Either the workers didn't read the construction drawings properly or they didn't understand the details. Maybe they didn't care at all other than just dug a hole in the ground.

I asked Chan to bring out the sketches so that I could explain to him in detail what I wanted. He said he didn't have the sketches with him as they were with his sub-contractor who was on leave.

I was thoroughly disappointed with Chan's lack of professionalism. What can you expect from a China-man type of contractor other than to keep on monitoring his performance.

"Meet me at the site tomorrow morning at 11.00am so that i can explain in detail with the sketches what is required to be done ", I told Chan matter-of-factly.

I hope that I have a spare copy of the sketches with me in my bag, otherwise I will have to ask him to meet me on Mon.

13 th Malaysia Aikido Seminar

Seeing the student struggling to remember and shape the forms of the no #2 aiki ken set as he was trying to recollect the entire set of movements in one go I asked him to copy my movements counting slowly and audibly after me and to pause briefly after each count before continuing with the next movement. 

One, two, three, four, five, six and seven! After some time when he succeeded in remembering each small incremental step from the first to the seventh count he was able to string the separate movements to complete the whole set of the seven step movements of the no #2 aiki ken. 

It also help to boost his confidence further when I asked him to copy my movements firstly as the Uketachi and secondly as the Uchitachi, also counting verbally and audibly with a brief pause in between counts before proceeding with the succeeding movement.

Broken glass pitcher

Crash!!! Disturbed by the jarring sound of glass shattering coming from the kitchen. The glass pitcher accidentally fell off the ledge and dropped down to the floor as the missus opened the cabinet door. Among the broken glass the only part that can be salvaged is the plastic cover.

Happiness

Regardless of our status and station in life everybody is entitled to happiness.

"Whether we are rich or poor, educated or uneducated, whatever our nationality, color, social status, or ideology may be, the purpose of our lives is to be happy." - Dalai Lama

Water break

Fri 13/7/2012 13th Malaysia Aikido Seminar

A short water break after the first session ended before stepping on to the mats with our bokkens for the second session.

The cluttered mind

When the mind is cluttered and clinging to objects, clarity flies out of the window. Despite focusing intensely on the work in hand I kept making mistakes in my calculations that I had to undo repeatedly. Perhaps it is when we stop desperately wanting something that the solution arrives, often times in the briefest moment of a pause.

Cha time

My wife and I chanced upon this particular Chatime outlet located just outside the Mid Valley Convention Centre where we went to redeem Maybank treatpoints for a PLUS SMART TAG unit and other articles.

Wondering what the hype about Chatime's bubble teas that are so addictive to so many is all about I bought one large cup of tea for the two of us, just for the experience. I ordered Chatime Roasted Milk Tea with no sugar and minimum ice. 

The Chatime beverage doesn't taste a lot different from the bubble teas that you can get from other similar product establishments. One feature of this product that I like is that you can customise the sugar, ice, and pearl content of your drink to suit your personal preference when you place your order. Not sure if other bubble tea franchise give their customers such flexibility.