Been spending the last few days resting at home
(in bed to be precise) -
I hate the days when I really want to whine about my life
but I
realize that all my problems are either my own fault or
just plain in
my head, so I decide it just wouldn't be worth it.
Well, what happened actually?
Thursday morning, I was ready to go to the office when
I felt something was not quite right.
I mean, my body started to tremble and it took me a
few minutes to decide whether or not to go to the office.
My body became weak so suddenly, I could not even bend, it
was so painful. My back. Not knowing what went wrong,
I slowly walked to the car, took me about 5 minutes to get in,
it was so painfull, my whole body was like screaming in pain.
But I had to be at the site office by 9-30 am for a meeting with
KDN (Kementerian Dalam Negeri)
and PDRM (Polis DiRaja Malaysia), the Clients for the project.
Driving through massive traffic jam was hell, I was sweating all over.
But somehow I managed to be at the office well before the meeting started.
Apa pasal?
Sakit
pinggang.
And they laughed at me.
Sakit pinggang, seriously, no, not that I
had lots of sex, you dirty-minded (beep), tapi betul-betul sakit
pinggang.
Maybe because you've been working too hard,
just imagine, how many times a day you climb that buildings? Even
your C-o-Ws don't work that hard. I hardly see them at the top
of the buildings.
I think you are right, Simon.
The meeting was such a quick affair, I was asked to brief on the
progress generally. They did not ask me much, I tried not to go into
details, because I was in such a terrible pain and secondly because I am new, obviously there are things I still have to know about the project.
Went to one clinic at Pantai Dalam but was only given some
prescriptons, for RM30-00. The Doctor (we share the same name)
advised me not to be too hyperactive blah blah blah. Told him about
my intention - to go for traditional massage.
Don't, it will only make it more painful.
Well, not now. Maybe in a week or two when you have fully
recovered.
Went back to the office and after talking to Simon, Edward and David
I decided to go home for a bit of rest.
Driving home was
not that tortorous, traffic wasn't that heavy at 1-00 pm.
Instead of going for lunch, I drove to Shah Alam Medical Center
(Section 9). After consulting the Doctor, I decided to have
a jab/injection, he asked me whether I wanted to have a rest at
the clinic.
No, that's ok, I live not
far from here, I think I can drive home safely.
Now, this is the embarassing part...heh...
After examining me,
he instructed his assistant to do the dirty job.
"Now, take off your jeans"
he said to me after locking the door behind him.
I can't move, she (the assistant) has to do
it for me.
He just smiled and pretended to be
looking at something on his table. I watched in horror as
the assistant perlahan-lahan tanggalkan
aku punya belt, lepas tu bukak zip
seluar aku. Naive betul aku ni,
aku buat pura-pura sakit biar tak nampak sangat yang
muka aku penuh kemaluan. Yang assistant tu pulak satu hal,
nak inject bontot jer, apa nak
bukak lebih-lebih pulak? Nak cari kesempatan nak
tengok benda lain ker? Aku nak tergelak bila aku perasan aku pakai
underwear terbalik, dia punya cap tu terkeluar, terbaliklah
tu kan maknanya? Lain kali aku kena make
sure aku tak buat silap lagi dah, pakaiunderwear terbalik.
Hisshhh....susahnya hidup ni....
Anyway, thank you Dr Zazali. No, not for giving me 3 days medical certificate but for making my visit to the center such a memorable one.
Spent the rest of the day in bed, aku tidur
meniarap jer, taklah sakit sangat. Rasa macam berenang kuak kupu-kupu
pulak.
I didn't know how I managed to be at the Brokerage House that night, the rest of the gang was full of sympathy with me but that was not my intention, to fish sympathy. I was in pain but at the same time I was happy to be there with them.
By the way,
coffee tanked again....
Friday was such a boring day, spent the rest of the day lying on my belly again. Heck.
Banyak aku termenung hari ni, ini tanda Tuhan nak buang dosa kecik aku atau satu pengajaran supaya aku pandai jaga diri aku? Aku tak tahu, kalau dari segi ugama memanglah setiap sakit yang kita terima tu tandanya Tuhan nak buang dosa kecik kita atau satu ujian daripada Tuhan. Tapi kalau dari segi common sense kita kenalah jaga diri kita dari masalah-masalah sakit macam tu, aku sakit tu pasal aku tak reti jaga my own health.
Anyway, aku rasa dua-dua tu betul, I have to take care of my body and at the very same time tawakkal pada Allah.
Lembablah aku ni, bila ada masalah baru nak berfikir....Tak apalah, at least aku tak menyusahkan orang lain, aku menyusahkan diri aku sendiri jer. Bukannya susah nak menyusahkan diri aku ni rupanya....heh...
Banyak lagi benda aku pikir hari ni, semuanya yang berkaitan dengan hidup aku, macamana kalau aku mati? Aku tak ready for that. Seriously. I'm not ready for that. No.
Sunday 23/7
Stayed home the whole day feeling a bit better than yesterday,
was online for hours on end surfing aimlessly.
Checking and updating satellite images of South America,
Brazil particularly. Some forecasters
called for snow to fall in some parts of Brazil,
but I never heard of their names. Coffee traders usually listen
to establish names like Somar, INMET and GWS.
Anyway, that doesn't bother me much now,
coffee has become virtually untradeable,
it gaps up at the opening only to plumette the very next day.
I just want this winter season to end so that it will resume
its downtrend.
Made a few changes to my index page but lots more to be done so I did not upload anything yet,
soon that page will
have a brand new look. More professional, I hope.
I just noticed some of the infomations need to be updated
but I'm too lazy to have it done.
This journal too, I don't even have Rozita's name mentioned
in my cast
page. We will be getting married in , what, 6 months' time?
Speaking about Rozita, I haven't called her since a few weeks ago,
I did, actually, but the line was never answered.
With me, I just try once, no answer, then I'll call again the
very next day. Maybe she's busy, hope she is because I'm busy too.
Monday 24/7
Didn't go the site this morning because En Manaf
(one of the Directors) and Zuraimi were at my office.
En Jamal (Project manager for Phase 1) dropped in afterwards
bringing with him tile samples for kitchen walls/floor, lift lobby,
corridor, bathroom walls/floor etc. That I have to sort out with the Contractor.
Had lunch at one stall that serves masakan
Johor, heh, it was like having meals in the bygone era,
the music background was asli songs
(RIMA 93.9 Radio Station - never heard of this station before).
It was nice to listen to
something different, I hate don't usually listen to Malay songs
(or stations that play Malay songs for that matter).
It rained in the evening and I was like, God, I need some sleep!, did some reports and left the site at 5-30 pm.
Connecting to jaring and
TMNuts became almost impossible,
managed to get connected after about
an hour of trying but it was already time to leave for Subang Jaya office.
New York CSCE gapped lower by 10 points (as expected) and first wave of origin selling happened after about 10 minutes. Then it retraced and played sideways until closing time when another wave of panic selling took the market down to 84.40 points. London LIFFE closed at 100 points ($/MT) lower. Brazil coffee areas escaped frost damage, said one report.
We had a discussion at one of the restaurants until 12 midnight, Kak Siti, Haji Hashim, Kak Zainab, Abang Miza and Abang Wan briefed us on the new developments - they were in Singapore last weekend, meeting our principals to discuss a few issues regarding our new brokerage house. The principals are coming down to malaysia sometimes next week to see our progress and to iron out a few teething problems.
Tuesday 25/7
Was at the office before nine, preparing some documents and
progress reports. KDN officials were at the site for a visit,
it wasn't a surprise visit but giving such a short notice
had us unprepared. Took them to the site after a brief discussion
at the conference room, man, it was tough to try explaining all
those technical jargons. Thank God the top officer
( a lady) seemed to agree with me when I said,
well, it doesn't effect the integrity
of the structure in general. True, from aesthetic point
of view it doesn't look good but the structures will be
plastered later, and the purpose of plastering works is to
make uneven surfaces even.
Went to Selayang with
Zuraimi, "chasing" payments for the project.
After waiting for about 2 hours, we drove to Taman Tun Dr Ismail
to get the Architect to sign the documents.
It was already 6-30 pm by the time I reached the
site office.
Didn't have time to log on to the
internet when I got home, after a long hot shower and a
cup of tea I left for Subang Jaya. Coffee traded higher
for most of the session, dead cat bounce after yesterday's
massive sell-off, only to close marginally lower minutes before
closing time. I did not go for drinks with the rest of the traders
tonight, too tired/sleepy. Besides, Halim, my dinner companion..heh..
was not there, he had to do some packing for his outstation trip to
(Petronas) Kerteh tomorrow.
Wednesday 26/7
What's wrong with me? I don't want this to turn into a habit,
banyak setan kat rumah aku kot? A'udzhubillah
hi minaassyaitaannirrajiim. My third day in a row
saying Subuh gajah, at 7-00 am.
Tomorrow onwards I have to wake up when my alarm goes off
at 6-30 am. That's a promise. No more ahhh, I'll sleep for another 10 minutes or so...
I was supposed to have a meeting with the Safety Officer but he did
not turn up. Kuat auta keling sekor ni, berapa kali
dah...
Two of the Consultant Architect staff were at the site this morning,
can't remember their names. We chatted a bit at my office,
took them to the site for site inspection.
I purposedly took them to 5th, 6th and 7th floor,
seeing them struggling to climb the staircases etc was fun. Jahat aku nih.... No, just trying to teach them a lesson or two.
Took them for lunch afterwards, no fancy restaurant, just at
a one of the not many air-conditioned restaurants near Lembah
Pantai.
It rained again in the late afternoon, concreting to Level 12, Block B had to be postponed by a few hours. Spent the time teaching my C-o-Ws (and Simon too)
some basic computer stuff- transferring of files, uploading of photos,
stuff like that. I don't know computer that much but to them I'm very
much of a high-tech guy, with my laptop, portable printer
and a digital camera. Heh, some things are just so deceiving...
Oh, I need a telephone line very badly (I need to be online to check on cotton and coffee fundamental news) but the Contractors
are not providing any....
Trading was so very dull we left early than usual, at 12 midnight.
Thursday 27/7
Again, Subuh bapak gajah at 7-15 am.
Heck...
The stall where I usually frequent for breakfast and lunch has been closed for more than 2 weeks now, so this morning I went to one stall near Sri Jaya Bus terminal (Pantai Dalam). Wow, the nasi impit punya kuah (gravy) was so damn good.
Edward showed me some technical problems at Level 5, Block A, the beam
alignment was not straight and fixing of door frames could not be carried out. I proposed to have a slight adjustment to the locations of the frames
instead of hacking the entire beam.
The Architect was at the office again this late morning, took him and David (M&E C-o-W) to the car park levels for some inspection but had to cut it short, he had to go get some batteries. So we decided to do another round of inspection after 2-00 pm.
Lunch was at Angkasapuri canteen, just for a change.
We were stopped by the security guards at the main entrance
but told them about my
"meeting" with a few IBC
(International Broadcasting Center/Corporation) staff. Banyak jugak muka yang a bit familiar yang kita orang boleh spot. Semua muka yang tak berseri langsung, aku rasa macam kat drama RTM jer.
Kitaorang tak jumpa pulak Ramlah Ram...*LOL*...
We resumed our inspection later on, everybody was tired by then so we didn't go up to 12th floor.
Friday 28/7
Pantai Hillpark/Pantai Dalam Site Office
11-00 am
I'm sitting here doing absolutely nothing, except watching this
boring computer screen (it's not connected to the internet so
it must be boring, it bores me to death), thinking what am I
doing here?. I'm such a
lazy (beep), I know I have tons and tons of progress reports, minutes of meetings etc
to be done before our site meeting next Tuesday but I just don't
bother to even lift a finger to have them typed.
Monday will definitely see me busy like there will be no tomorrow, like this company belongs to my dad,
preparing all the documents. Am I working smart here? Maybe.
It's all about time management I guess, if I can do it in
just one day why should I waste my time
doing it now? Banyak cekadaklah
aku nih...heh..kalau dah malas tu banyaklah dalihnya...
And I'm feeling a bit sleepy too, even then, I'm too lazy to
go to the site for my usual morning inspection.
The Architect will be coming for another round of inspection today
so I guess I better save my energy and stamina. Besides,
visitors (officers from KDN etc) usually come in the morning and
I don't want them to have the impression that I don't spend much time at the office.
Yet if they see me at the office I hate
that freaking you-are-supposed-to-be-there-at-the-site-so-what-the-hell-are-you-doing-in-here? look.
Some people just don't seem to understand the roles of a
Resident Engineer.
And this is the momma of them all, I'm too lazy to even fax my
bank account number, Socso, EPF, Income tax details to the office.
They have been asking me since Monday,
"We can't pay your salary otherwise,
we lost our records so you have to send a new profile as
soon as possible". My reply was that the Contractor's
fax machine was out of order. Actually I don't want my
details to be known, stuff like how much I make and things like
that. (Remember, never ask a woman her age and never ask a
man his salary) That means I won't be getting my salary any time soon. My C-o-Ws got
theirs yesterday. That's ok, I'm not so hard up for money.
Having said that, now, it seems like I have no connection to this project, which is
making it a bit difficult to
be here. There's nothing much that ties me to this place.
I'm just wandering around; a meaningless particle floating
harmlessly through the system. Sometimes it seems like all the
life has been sucked out of this world. It's like a play, with actors,
and props, and sets, but no story. Like me, everyone else's just sitting
around sipping coffee, waiting for someone to hand them a script.
But I don't want to give the impression that I'm hating it here.
I'm glad I came.