In another two weeks time I will be retiring for the second time from a well-paying regular day job.
After that as a retiree what am I going to do with my spare time?
Definitely not going out to look for another regular job. And definitely not staying in the house the whole day doing nothing but watching TV shows.
For the relatively comfortable and good life that I have been enjoying all this while, now in my golden years I feel the time has come to give something back to society.
I am seriously looking at volunteering as a helper to feed homeless street people in a soup kitchen outfit.
Aikido national Kyu Grading at MAA HQ Dojo June 15 2014
The painful condition of my right knee was making it difficult to sit balanced and upright in seiza. As a result I had to sit with my backside raised and my torso tilted forward to cope with the pain. It was more like half kneeing instead of sitting down.
After some time the pain became so unbearable that I had to change to sitting cross-legged.
I am not sure if anyone noticed my awkward sitting posture. If they did no one was telling.
Getting up on my feet from the sitting position was also difficult. I had to brace my right knee with my right hand in order to stand up straight.
Tomorrow I have to go to INTi to start the new training session and I wonder how I would cope with the painful knee condition. Pray that after a night and a day's rest the knee will get get better.
Just completed mounting the new "Orient" wall clock on the wall. At a time like this I wish that I was a 6-footer so that I didn't need to climb a ladder to mount the clock
To most people a clock is just a time piece to tell the time. To me a clock is like a window to my past.
In my growing up years as a boy I lived with my grand mother in a shop-house in Ipoh surrounded by watches and clocks. At that time all my grand mother's sons,who were my uncles, were tradesmen dealing with the sale and repair of watches and clocks. After school although I had no interest in the watch and clock business I would dutifully obliged my two uncles to help out in attending to customers at the counter.
Now the watch and clock business is no more. After my grandmother and uncles passed away none of their descendents wanted to take over the business.
I am surprised that the Japan-made brand "Orient" which existed in the 1960s when I was still a school boy is still in the market today.
Raining.
Each time when heavy rain with thunder and lashing winds strikes I worry about the water-tightness of the roof. Predictably the roof leaks again. With a LED head light strapped to my head I climbed up into the ceiling space via the ceiling inspection manhole to inspect the roof.
Where previously rain water would penetrate the porous plastering to run down the surface of the parapet wall to the ceiling and exit to the bedroom below this time the wall is dry as a bone, an indication that the last water-proof treatment applied to the parapet wall is working well.
Two wet patches in the ceiling board and also a wet patch at the bottom chord of the timber truss indicate that the rain water is leaking through the roof covering, either through gaps in the inter-locking tile arrangement or some tiles due to old age, wear and tear have become porous to water.
What if you can't find some suitable images from the internet that you want to download for use to tell a compelling story?
No problem. I draw my own illustration using MS Excel's drawing tools and convert the xls image into a jpg image like this picture.
Standing and balancing only on his right leg and using it as a pivot this person will rotate his body anti-clockwise leftward and to his rear for a left heel kick strike to his imaginary attacker who is approaching him from the back.
Although I know this technique like the back of my hand and have successfully done it uncountable times, this morning due to a momentary lapse of mind-body coordination, the power from the torque generated by the body-turn twisted my weak right knee.
The pain in the inflamed knee was so excruciating that I used the shopping cart as an improvised walker when I accompanied the wife to the supermarket. By my hands bracing against the shopping cart handle, I was able to take some pressure off my injured right knee as I walked slowly, painfully, stiffly and with a awkward limp helping my wife to shop for the week's groceries.
Although it is just a sprain it looks like I will have to take things easy for the next two weeks to allow time for the soft tissue knee injury to heal.
Replaced a broken lock set for a top-hung aluminum glass window panel with a new unit that I bought from the local aluminum window and door vendor. Bought two pieces for RM4.00 a piece.
Never one to pass an opportunity to explore I took the opportunity to examine in detail how the fitting works by taking apart all the separate components and putting them back again before screwing the set down at its original location.
Using a standard size cross-head screw driver I was puzzled why despite using a lot of pressure and strength the screw driver kept on dislodging itself from the screw head when I turned the tool. When I examined the cross-head screws in detail I realised that I was using a wrong size screw driver for the work. After switching to a smaller cross-head screw driver was I able to secure the screw properly in position. It goes to show that you need the right tools in order to accomplish a given task with efficiency.
I found out that the screw at the back of the mounting unit controls the tension of the locking lever. If you want a tight fit of the lever turn the screw clockwise until it stops turning. If you prefer the lever to turn easily loosen the screw a bit by turning it anti-clockwise.
This was what happened to me at few times when my training partners came to know about my Aikido background.
With all inhibitions off I soon became the recipient of some no holds barred throws and pulls that sent me crashing to the hard pavement a few times.
Unbeknown to my training partners to Aikido people the floor is their most natural and friendly environment because they spend a good deal of their training time interacting with it, rolling and breaking fall, much like water is to the fish. I took all the throws good-naturedly and bounced back by rolling myself up to standup position from the pavement.
I don't think that they deliberately wanted to injure me. On the other hand confident that I would know how to take care of myself on the ground without getting hurt my presence gave my push hand partners the opportunity to try out how far they can go to unleash power.
A good training session indeed.
Instead of waiting for us to come home the contractor said that he had already taken it upon himself to repair the leaking roof while we were out. When I stood outside the gate to check it out I saw a shinny new piece of galvanised iron flashing being installed over some roofing tiles. He said he did the same to the rear portion of the roof.
Actually I intended to climb up to the roof with him. I wanted to understand the cause and the full extent of the leak. That was why we told him to wait until we got home from our hospital visit.
Now the only thing to do is to wait for the next rain to come. Hopefully no more leaking after three reparis have failed to stop the rain from leaking through the roof covering to the bedrooms below
It looked easy when the auto mechanic demonstrated to me step by step how to pry open the car floorboard carpeting to insert old newspapers underneath the fabric. In order to soak up the water collected in the wet carpet I have to do this everyday changing newspapers until all the residual water in the carpet dries out completely.
This morning when it was my turn to do the work it took me about an hour to remove plastic moldings, rubber door seal, pry open the carpet, remove the wet newspaper, insert new papers and reassemble all the components back to their previous state. I believe with more practice and experience I should be able to do the work faster and more efficiently.
As I knew water supply in my residential area has already been restored and anticipating water already circulating in the cold water plumbing system I turned on the kitchen taps immediately after I returned home from the day's outing only to be bitterly disappointed to see not a single drop of water flowing out of the taps.
My first thought was perhaps the air trapped in the plumbing system was obstructing the passage of water.
Then on inspecting the external water meter I found out that the problem was not due to air locks in the system but due to somebody turning off partially the stopcock valve, hence shutting down the water supply to the house.
My happiness was indescribable at the glorious sight of clean water gushing out from the faucet as soon as I unlocked the stopcock valve.
For many folks who take uninterrupted clean running water for granted, it takes a crisis such as water rationing to appreciate the fact that water that is fit for human consumption and survival is not only a very precious commodity, but more importantly it is also a non-replenishable resource in the planet.
Bought one each of a coffee and pandan flavored mantou from a pau vendor in the wet market.
Mantou is plain Chinese steamed buns/breads and not many people like them because of their rather bland taste as compared to the more savory vegetable and meat buns.
Maybe it is just me, but my preference for a simple and unpretentious lifestyle spills over to the kinds of food I eat as well. And usually simple foods are plain, insipid and lacking in zestful flavor, just like these ordinary looking steamed mantou buns.
With water rationing in full swing eating simple foods like steamed buns that does not require the use of lots of water for cooking and washing is the way to go.
Dry taps are here.
No running water for the next two days due to water rationing.
Now Resorting to the old but more ecological ways of washing dirty dishes and cutlery.
It is a two stage process.
First fill a basin with water and and detergent and then use the soapy solution to wash and rinse the utensils. After the first rinse is completed empty the basin of the dirty water and refill with clean water. Wash and rinse the utensils with the clean water for the second time and wipe them dry immediately.
Finally water rationing has come to Taman Puncak Jalil and it is scheduled to start this Fri.
To help the family manage the water supply disruptions I have marked down the two days without water supply on the "horse racing" calendar with the "X" character, in addition to storing drinking water in containers.
According to SYABAS's water rationing schedule under it's Stage 4 program Taman Puncak jalil is classified under Zone 4. Water supply will alternate between two days with no supply and two days with supply. On the dry days water disruption will occur from 9am to 4 pm the second day.
According to the schedule the water rationing exercise in Taman Puncak Jalil which starts on Fri 4 will cease on Wed 30.
Hopefully by the end of April the rains will have filled up the catchment areas so that uninterrupted water supply will be restored.
Annual Qing Ming tomb sweeping festival at a Ipoh cemetery.
In the old days I and my two brothers used to take turns to help touch up the tombstone inscriptions with new paint. Nowadays we oldies let the youngsters handle this part of the work.
Compared to last year this time I saw fewer devotees and vehicles in the cemetery. Perhaps many had already paid their respects to their ancestors last week.
Helen who married David in 2013, and now a member of the Ng family came to pay her respect at the family ancestral tombs for the first time.
This is also the first time that I and Anna drove our car from KL to Ipoh instead of going with Tuck Hong in his car. Tuck Hong suggested that we use our car as his was under repairs in a workshop following an auto accident.
After sweeping and cleaning the floor in the car porch I will normally arrange and organise the shoes in an orderly manner based on type; sandals on one side and shoes on the opposite side of the door way. Then later if the wife happens to clean the floor a second time after me she will typically rearrange the shoes according to gender type; ladies wear on one side and men wear on the opposite side.
One time while browsing some paperbacks in a bookshop, one particular book with the catchy title "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" caught my attention although I didn't buy or read it.
Come to think of it there must be some truth in what John Gray, the American author of this bestseller wrote about the psychological differences between the genders.
Today is CNY eve.
It was great to wake up in the morning without having to leave the house for work.
In conjunction with the CNY last week my boss had directed the staff to take 3 days of compulsory leave starting today and ending on the following Tuesday. This means that the company will resume normal business operation on Wednesday next week.
Taking advantage of the off day I embarked on a few chores immediately after my morning tai chi exercise and breakfast.
I swept the upstairs and downstairs floor, emptied the rubbish from all the waste bins in the house and dumped them into the outside storage bin, filled an empty container with new laundry refill and washed the family car.
Done mindfully and unhurriedly I actually enjoyed doing these mundane household chores. More than just chores, I imagine doing such tasks as exercises for my mental and physical well-being.
While I was doing these chores my wife was busy cleaning, cutting, sorting and getting ready all the meat and vegetable ingredients for tonight's reunion dinner. She had scheduled the afternoon to cook up a feast for the family reunion dinner.
It was my wife's decision that starting from this year we should cook our own food and eat at home rather than spend lots of money eating outside in a fancy restaurant. Since we already have a new daughter-in-law it was all the more meaningful to eat at home as a family unit.
Wishing everybody
Happy Chinese New Year,
Gong Xi Fa Cai.
May the year of the Horse bring good health, happiness and prosperity to all.
All I wanted to do was to google for an online tutorial on how to create column load and moment interaction charts with MS Excel for my office engineering design work, but instead I stumbled upon a tutorial about creating vector artwork using Excel.
I am sure many Excel users are aware of drawing tools in Excel for drawing common geometrical objects and shapes eg rectangles, ellipses, circles, arrows, straight and curve lines, etc.
However how to use Excel's freeform drawing tool to create all kinds of artwork is not fully explained in the program's help documentation.
The picture above is my first attempt in drawing and painting a picture of a potted plant using Excel. And I'm completely awed by this hitherto little known artistic capability of this widely used spreadsheet program.
Since the day I clocked out of my last employer's office for the last time I didn't imagine that I would ever need the use one of these any more.
Now that I am co-opted out of retirement back to work in the industry again I certainly need a writing medium for keeping track of my appointments and jotting down technical notes.
So in the morning off I went to Popular Bookstore to buy myself a 2014 diary book.
My wife asked me how come I seemed to know all the walkers and joggers who passed by us on our morning walks.
I told her that in the beginning I didn't know them but after waving and greeting each of them with a warm friendly "hello!" and a cheerful "good morning" a few times we sort of warm up to each others presence and even exchange small talks.
"I believe strangers are friends that we have yet to meet," to quote someone who wrote the above line in his blog.
Tue 31/12/2013 New Year Eve
The stunning night time view of a suburb of Kuala Lumpur seen from the balcony of Chin's apartment.
The two fingers of white light rising from the hills in the distance are the twin towers of KLCC. The glob of light on the right hand side of the twin towers is exploding fireworks display illuminating the skyline.
According to Chin this year's fireworks show is less spectacular and more subdued than previous years, a reflection of the bad time that this nation and its citizens are enduring.
