Pretty Girl

As the whole world knows, it's Prince William and Princess Catherine wedding today.

Wifey was following the ceremony and commented that Catherine is pretty, has a sweet, warm and friendly smile.

Though like most brides, overzealous slimming down for wedding day has resulted in her being too skinny and hence looking older. When will women know being too thin is actually not pleasing on the eyes? You need some flesh to look healthy and nice, so you don't look gaunt and emaciated.

Anyway, the following conversation happened when Hsiang heard his mom said Catherine is pretty...

Hsiang: I like to see pretty girls.

Wifey: Oh? Any pretty girls at school?

Hsiang: No, but I have one at home.

Wifey: (I bet she was very happy inwardly) At home? Who is it?

Hsiang: You, mama!

Damn he is good, and not even 4 years old yet.

If only I have a quarter of my son's sweet talking skill.

Smart Accessory

SmartTAG user, ever got stuck at the SmartTAG gate due to low battery and hence weak signal?

Even if you have a spare battery for such occasion, it's still rather embarassing. You know those impatient drivers behind are swearing under their breath.

Resident D.I.Y. master among my colleagues added a switch to his SmartTAG, and by turning off the device when it's not in use, which is basically all the time except when going through the toll, he has lengthened the battery life.

Wonder why the designer of SmartTAG doesn't implement such a simply thing?

Anyway, I wanted a similar modification on my SmartTAG. The way I see it, I would have to cut the circuit at some point, add in a mechanical switch to the circuit, probably by soldering, and have a way to secure the switch on the device.

The thing is, slacker's D.I.Y. skill level is... nevermind. =P

So I opted to just remove the battery manually everyday instead.

When my father was around last few days, I enlisted his help since he is an excellent E&E engineer, skillful at D.I.Y. and has a workshop full of electrical and electronic components. Not a problem he told me.

Of course, my father is also very good at problem solving, and a lot of other things really.

So the next day when he handed me the modified SmartTAG, I found that there is... no modification!

Instead, he handed me a cable that plugs into the car charger, with the SmartTAG end in the form of the standard connector for the 9V battery, wires reverse of course.

Simply brilliant! ^_^

Okay, my E&E knowledge is rubbish so I am not very sure about the electronic components in the cable, there's a type of diode, a resistor and one other thing. But I know together they function as a voltage regulator, as voltage from the 12V car battery can fluctuate and SmartTAG uses 9V only.

Yes, this is a better solution than a switch. My SmartTAG is now powered by the car battery, and can use normal battery as well. =)

Well, you see it here first, all credits to my father and any copycat who uses this to do business should have the courtesy of paying my father royalty.

Knowing businessmen, it's never going to happen. =P

=)

While searching for a document I came upon an old document I wrote some time ago. I remember the reason I wrote that document and the intended recipient.

Thinking it might bring a smile to the recipient like it did me, I sent the document to the recipient again.

Didn't really expect a reply but I got one, and what's written in it made my day. ^_^

Basically the recipient has embraced the belief that happiness is a choice, something that I truely believe in and willingly share to whoever care to listen. The recipient's life has changed for the better and I got thanked for that.

That's really fantastic news, knowing you have contributed in one way or another to a friend's happiness is such a wonderful feeling. I am mightily glad.

Yes indeed, happiness is a choice.

I signed off the e-mail with this: The simple act of smiling can resonate far and wide.

=)

She said Yes

This happened a few days ago, I scribbled some notes but haven't got the time to polish it up to a proper entry until now.

His Royal Highness King Toddler Young woke up from an afternoon nap and started crying. I happened to be closer since I was working in the room next door, so I got to him before wifey. Despite holding and wooing him, he wanted only his mama, else he won't stop crying.

Wifey was in the room shortly after and as soon as she held him, he stopped crying.

Like magic.

Me: "Only wants mama huh? Papa doesn't give you sense of security?"

Wifey and boy: *indifferent*

Me: "Maybe if you were a girl you would feel secured with papa."

Boy: *indifferent*

Wifey: *raised eyebrow*

Me: "To prove that we would have to have a daughter, what say you Ju?" (this is something I try whenever I get a chance)

Wifey: "Okay."

Me: *!!!!!!!!!!* (ohmygodohmygodohmygod, she said YES!!! She never ever said yes to a third child)

Wifey: "If you can guarantee the new child will be a girl."

Me: *deflated* "You think I am a god meh?" =(

Oh well.

Still, first time she said yes, so there is still a teeny-weeny chance of me having a daughter. When financially viable, of course.

Need to have a sure way of getting that XX chromosome...

New Song?

Been a long, long while since we last went to karaoke. Many months.

Between my lunch buddies and I, we used to be able to sing the whole three hours session non-stop, sometimes more, without problem.

This last session though, we were pretty much done after 30 minutes, out of breath, out of voice. We are so out of practice! >_<

However, we did introduced a fair number of new songs.

It's really existing song that was sang out of tune, out of rhythm, and in some cases with changed lyrics that sounded so unlike the original that it's like a new song.

D'oh!

Nelson was the champion, he had like 6 "new songs" under his belt. Soda Peng said Nelson has a lot of "identity", like in those talent shows leh, singing other people's song but with some of your own characteristic, some minor tweak reflecting your personality, that sort of thing.

It's just that our version was a bit extreme until the song no longer resembled the original at all... =P

Good News

The boys have been discharged. Still have to monitor the little one but I am just glad they are all home now.

It's as if some intangible burden has been lifted off me, I felt calmed and peaceful enough to fall asleep in the afternoon for a few hours. I am not one who usually take daytime nap.

It's great to have the family back under one roof, and healthily.

On an unrelated note, was happy to see in the TV2 news that they are issuing fines to those who cross the road without using the pedestrian crossover bridge.

Safety first people. Safety first.

Untitled

It's depressing that while my colleague can understand that I am down and have no mood to work, my wife can't.

It's frustrating to find the boys behaving their naughty selves and causing us headache and anger again.

Yet rather that than the irresponsive, dull, miserable lethargy state they were in. Seeing Young walking about and interacting with me again today was such a relief.

Hope they will be discharged tomorrow.

I am restless, despondent, and short-tempered. And I don't like it.

Curse of the Bonus, part deux

Late yesterday evening, when I left the hospital, the label on the ward's door had the name "Goh Tze Hsiang" on it.

Today, when I was doing the usual food, clothes and stuff chauffeuring, the label has changed to "Goh Tze Young".

Not unexpected since both the kids never heed the advice of not putting hands and non-food stuff in their mouth, and hugging and kissing are common practice in our house. Yet, the feeling when I saw that change of name was... profound.

Helpless and rather depressing. All I could do was sighed.

The hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) that is torturing my children is not from the usual Coxsackie virus. In fact, I think it's not HFMD but a similar disease of the same family. Something like that as I wasn't there when the doctor explained it and only learned of it from wifey.

Anyway, the disease differs to HFMD in that it doesn't have spots on the hand and foot, only inside the mouth. So those who have children in kindergarten do be aware.

No, slacker extraordinaire did not break the principle of not blogging while working, I am on leave, and most probably going to take leave again tomorrow. Which means I am going to miss both the badminton sessions this week, *sigh*. I just restrung my racquet no less. =(

Curse of the Bonus

Every year since he was born, without fail, His Royal Highness Boy King Hsiang is hospitalised at least once.

Fever, food poisoning, hand, foot and mouth, et cetera.

Every year. At least once.

Why oh why? =(

And curiously enough, it's always within a month of me getting a bonus, contractual or otherwise.

*sigh~*

Will this cycle ever be broken?

Yes, I am willing to give up the bonus if it means my family will never be hospitalised again, ever.

 

Prank?

The previous entry was posted on the 1st of April, with outrageous claim about slacker having some sort of talent in writing, so obviously it has to be an April Fools' prank.

Since you know, how could the slacker has such talent? =P

That should have been the biggest giveaway.

After all, it's not like this is the first time the slacker tries to pull some cleverly constructed, super convincing lame prank. See the previous attempts: 2010's, and 2009's.

Right?

I will probably not waste my time and energy next year, at least avoid posting on the 1st of April since people are too smart.

It's all a prank, Scribble Pad is not slowing down or closing.

Or is it? =P

I have been writing these few days, just have not been posting. In case you are wondering, yes I am writing a short story.

Scribble Pad is slowing down

And likely closing.

Not that I have many readers or followers, but I think it's good manner to give this heads up instead of lesser and shorter entries drag out over a long period of time and eventually total silence like some bloggers do.

The short version is that I no longer have the time to keep this blog updated freqeuntly and regularly, if at all.

For about 6 days now, I have two other blogs to maintain. One of them focuses on reviews, starting with books and computer games, and hopefully will attract other companies that have products to market, really it's based on marketing and advertisement and the blog is loaded with advertisements.

The other is a pay per view blog for my short stories, only four stories so far. Surprising enough this one is generating more income than the other, for now at least. Hopefully this will continue and not just a novel excitement.

I know I said I will not sell out to advertisement, honestly I didn't, not with my personal blog (this one ler) which I write simply to share. See, no advertisement here. =)

Money is tight, and there is only so much time to write everyday, so I like to apologise to the loyal readers (if any), I just can't keep three blogs updated regularly. I love to write and share, really I do, but it comes a point when hobby has to give way to upkeeping my family's quality of life.

I hope you will understand.

I like to thank all those who have been following this blog, more comments would have been great I suppose but it's all moot now.

I will update this blog whenever I can, but no promise.

The long version...

The long version will probably sound like a rant, oh well.

Ever since the company no longer utilises my strength but assigned me to odd jobs that serves nothing but demotivates me, I have been thinking about getting a new job.

Hello, digging through a user-unfriendly database to compile data for analysis of a manufacturing issue is not a thermal related project. No sir, even if it's the manufacturing of a thermal controller card still doesn't make it a thermal project.

Can't simply characterise a project as thermal related and assign your thermal engineer to it simply because some part of it has the word "thermal" or "temperature" in it, you know?

Typical "manager speech" instead of resolving the concern is to me an indication that the manager no longer values me as a thermal engineer, and perhaps the department no longer has a need for a thermal engineer. So either I change my job scope and put away the skills that got me hired in the first place, or if I still want to do thermal related work, I find a job that wants a thermal engineer.

Or, I can just bear with the shit, as long as it still pays the bill, right?

See, that's the second thing that led me to ditch my hobby of writing for sharing, but instead I write for money now, cause the primary job no longer pays the bill. =(

If I no longer enjoy my primary job, then you better believe I am going to do something I like as a part-time job.

you see, it's the time of the year the company does the annual performance review, and thus the time we find out about our pay rise, if any.

Since the company sees fit to give an employee who is rated successful a peanut-size increment on a minuscule salary base, I am getting progressively poorer thanks to the "a-lot-more-significant-than-peanut-size" inflation.

If my salary base was five figures then the peanut-size increment percentage is acceptable. But since my salary base is oh so very far away from five figures, I am feeling rather shafted. =\

Successful performance, but rubbish increment that makes me poorer. >_<

Bollocks.

Trust me, if I ever get very successful with writing and it is giving me a steady income that supports my family modest lifestyle, I am going to go full-time writing and be my own boss.

Do what I like while providing for the family, hell yea!

But let's not get to the dream land for now. My family is already on a frugal lifestyle that I can't see us going any lower, so blogging for money instead of blogging because I like to share is the necessary evil.

Again, I hope you will understand and thanks for following my blog all these years.