Holy irritation, Batman!!

I'm feeling irritated.

Ongoing political issues in the workplace is making me feel less than comfortable coming to work and having to pretend that I don't notice what's going on. I mean, I've seen some nasty piece of sh*t in my time, but this one has got to be worst. It p****es me off just to think about it, even if I am not the ones directly involved. Heck, what am I saying? With a management that thinks that they are running a military camp, it involves everyone! And I quote, "This is not a democracy. We are running a military camp." Oh, and be careful not to "... play with office politics. You can get burned." *SIGH* What else can I say but to "... use your brain, dogs**t".

And personal issues are... well, personal. I rarely spout private and emotional cr*p online, and I doubt that is going to change now. For the record, I believe I am doing a commendable job of being tolerant about this whole mess. I haven't lost my head once, at least not yet. G-oooo me!

None of this is without a price though. I am more stressed these days and becoming mentally exhausted. Sometimes I can just stare ahead and not see what I'm looking at. My brain is working overtime (unpaid!) trying to find a solution. At this rate, I'll probably find the answer to world peace before I can solve my own problems.

There are two types of people in this world. For the first group, everything just comes easy to them. They're just born lucky and everything is handed to them on a silver platter - almost. And then there's people like me. I have to work hard for whatever I want. Everything is an uphill battle and sometimes all I want to do is raise a little white flag and give up. Ahhh, but if only I have the luxury to surrender...

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Pregnancy and the H1N1 Influenza

Pregnant women especially in their third trimester are at very high risk of the complications that are seen with H1N1 influenza.

One out of three pregnant women that develop H1N1 flu have been hospitalized with severe respiratory problems. Deaths have also been reported in otherwise normal healthy pregnant women. To make matters worse both the normal seasonal flu and H1N1 influenza can occur at the same time with serious results.

As our children go back to school the transmission of H1N1 flu is expected to increase. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and pediatric health care organizations have urged pregnant women to take important steps in preventing influenza and if flu symptoms develop to seek early treatment.

What you need to know to try and protect yourself and your baby:

• Stay informed about H1N1 flu
• If you have symptoms similar to influenza contact your physician immediately.
• If you have had close exposure to a person with influenza notify your physician
• Use frequent hand washing techniques and sterile wipes
• Avoid contact with any individuals that have flu-like symptoms
• If one of your family members has flu-like symptoms, try to arrange for someone else to care for them.
• Consider all flu like symptoms as if they are from H1N1 influenza and get treatment. The CDC has advised that you should be treated even before lab tests have confirmed you have H1N1 Flu.

What if I think I have been exposed to H1N1 flu?
Call your doctor immediately, so they can start you on the antiviral medicine called Oseltamivir. Oseltamivir is a pregnancy category C drug, reflecting that clinical studies have not been done to assess the safety of their use during pregnancy. No adverse events have been shown to be caused by oseltamivir among women who received these agents during pregnancy or among infants who were exposed while in utero.

If you have been exposed, but no flu symptoms have developed your physician will give you one Oseltamivir pill each day for ten days. If you have symptoms you will receive two pills each day for five days. This treatment plan is currently effective for both prevention of H1N1 influenza and the reduction of flu severity if started within 48 hours of the initial symptoms.

Seasonal flu vaccine is now available and the vaccine for H1N1 will be available late October. All pregnant women should receive both the H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines. ACOG recommends the inactivated flu vaccines for all pregnant women at anytime during your pregnancy. The H1N1 vaccine is free.

Follow the CDC's H1N1 influenza during pregnancy web site for up-to-date information.

Source here

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Rafeah Buang - Bila Takbir Bergema

This is my favorite Hari Raya song of ALL time. It just wouldn't be the same without this song... Sing it with me now. You know you want to!

Dengar-dengar itu bedok telah berbunyi
Sebulan puasa tamatlah hari ini
Lekaslah adikku hiaskan rumahmu
Biar serba baru untuk para tamu

Jangan kau lupa ketupat di dapur
Rendang di kuali jangan biar hangus
Cuba lihat itu kanak-kanak berlari
Di halaman rumah bermain bunga api

Bangunlah anakku pakai baju baru
Kawanmu semua telahpun menunggu
Dapatkan ayahanda sujud di kakinya
Serta jangan lupa nindamu kedua

Kita bermaaf dengan keikhlasan
Moga bertambah rahmat dari Tuhan
Dengar-dengar itu takbir sedang bergema
Hening dan mulia di pagi hari raya

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Pengumuman Puasa 2009

Selamat menunaikan ibadah puasa kepada semua warga Muslim.

Happy Ramadhan to all Muslims.

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Fuck road-bully-big-ass-truck-drivers that make me cry so early in the morning!!!

Had car trouble this morning. Was already late for work. Then while driving to work, this big truck, y'know like a trailer thing, kept following really damn close behind me. So close that there was condensation on the back window!!

Since I was late, of course the highway was already congested. The *dogshit of a truck kept honking me every time the car in front of me literally moves 2 inches and flashing his headlights. Like, hel-llo??? Kept tailgating me half the way to work. I was so pissed that I rolled down my window and showed him the finger. I don't care how high up he was in the cab of his truck, if he didn't see it, then he's a blind fucker as well as a nose picker. Yeah, I saw what you were doing, asshole!!!

Now, it's quite hard to actually piss me off. I'm quite mellow these days. But by the time my anger boiled over, tears were already streaming down my face. Damn my tear-duct for being wired directly to my anger-valve whatever thingy. I was crying so hard that I had to stop by the side of the road. Good thing I did too. I could barely see where I was going.

Darn hormones. *SIGH*

Updated!

I spent my anger making this at work. At least, it amuses my officemates LOL

* excerpt from "Use your brain, dogshit" quote that has been in popular circulation in my office since yesterday.

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Married life...

I got this in my email this morning. It made me shed a tear or six, so I thought I'd share it here...

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce.. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?
I avoided her question. This made her angry.. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Dew. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.

She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew.

When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce.
She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.

She requested that everyday for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Dew about my wife's divorce conditions... She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully..

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time.. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mum out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy.

I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind... I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Dew, I said, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other any more. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart.

Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead.


The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank, blah..blah..blah. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

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Oooh... see the pretty colors

Just goes to show that beauty can come in all shapes and sizes... and location as well. I took this photo in the female toilet on my floor! LOL

The cleaning lady a.k.a amah is really artistic, no??

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Kaizen method

The Kaizen method of continuous incremental improvements is an originally Japanese management concept for incremental (gradual, continuous) change (improvement). K. is actually a way of life philosophy, assuming that every aspect of our life deserves to be constantly improved. The Kaizen philosophy lies behind many Japanese management concepts such as Total Quality Control, Quality Control circles, small group activities, labor relations. Key elements of Kaizen are quality, effort, involvement of all employees, willingness to change, and communication.


Japanese companies distinguish between innovation (radical) and Kaizen (continuous). K. means literally: change (kai) to become good (zen).

The foundation of the Kaizen method consists of 5 founding elements:

1. Teamwork
2. Personal discipline
3. Improved morale
4. Quality circles
   
5. Suggestions for improvement

Out of this foundation, three key factors in K. arise:

• Elimination of waste (muda) and inefficiency
• The Kaizen five-S framework for good housekeeping:

i - Seiri (tidiness)
ii - Seiton (orderliness)
iii - Seiso (cleanliness)
iv - Seiketsu (standardized clean-up)
v - Shitsuke (discipline)

• Standardization

When to apply the Kaizen philosophy?
Although it is difficult to give generic advice it is clear that it fits well in incremental change situations that require long-term change and in collective cultures. More individual cultures that are more focused on short-term success are often more conducive to concepts such as Business Process Reengineering.

*SIGH* Yes, boss. Baik, boss. Paham boss...

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Jimmy Choo is all Malaysian

World famous shoe designer Datuk Jimmy Choo has been named the personal advisor and ambassador to Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen.

Source here

Go Datuk Jimmy Choo!


“I love my country. At the end of the day, I’m a Malaysian, and I want to tell people about Malaysia.”



Now isn't that a breath of fresh air as opposed to hearing about opposition political rallies that ruined a lot of people's shopping last weekend? Not that I completely forgo my shopping itinerary, rather, not that my mother completely for her shopping itinerary while I tagged along... we just moved our choice of destination to Nilai 3 instead.

But seriously folks, and I realize that when I created this blog I didn't want to make it a venue for me to post my political views since there are already so many "political-savvy" people out there *sarcastic tone*, just this once, I want to make an exception.

I realize that people will have different views about running this country. That it, until they start running it themselves and start making their own mistakes. Thus, when the sh*t has hit the fan, they will simply shrug and say, "Oh, but Kampung Buah Pala should fall under the federal government's responsibility and not the state government's responsibility..." [insert more whining and finger pointing here]

No matter who we went out and voted for in the last election, we all did it in the hopes of a better future for ourselves, our loved ones, and our fellow countrymen. How is this a better future when we can barely leave the house without being in constant fear of being harmed by those who think that what they are doing is "protecting" us? My personal experience of these kind of rallies a couple of years back did anything but made me feel safe in such a large and hostile crowd. I don't deny that part of those mob, are only there to address their own personal grieves against the current government, who have so wronged them that they and their loved on are being dragged out in the street in the middle of the night! Oh, that doesn't happen in our country? How about inequality and oppression in such a way that most Malaysians end up living in poverty on the streets? No? That barely happens??

Then... what on earth are we still fighting for if not for the personal gains of others who cheerfully pull the strings from the comfort of their air conditioned lairs?

It's so easy to get worked up over a few carefully written speeches, but never forget that your mistakes are your own... and so are the repercussions.

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