New Year's Resolution

I have decided to start a new tag....
Here's what you need to do...

1. List down as many things as you want as your New Year's resolution.
2. Post it in your blog, change the date to the last day of the year.
3. Update your list whenever you can think of anything new.
4. Tag someone else to do the same.
5. You're responsible for helping that person achieve their resolution :-)

Since I've started this, I'd like to nominate Dina as the person to help me achieve this target.

So here's my list

1. To not stay in the office till very late. 7 pm latest only if necessary.
2. Really work from home on Friday.
3. Exercise regularly, like twice a week.
4. Plan my vacation...there are three types, family break, spouse break and personal break.
5. Cook more, start with twice a week.
6. Lose weight (uurghh...haven't we heard that one before)

I'd like to tag Yummy Mummy :-)

(update)

7. Play golf

Family break is now tentatively in March....am thinking of an island.

(update2)
8. To only buy one nice handbag...only one.

What a month

After a few weeks of silence...as in not actually writing, I've decided to finally put everything aside and update my blog, besides I need to take my one hour break from work (as if the one week I have already taken isn't enough)

The past month has been so tiring. Spent a lot of late nights at the office, latest was till 5 am....and I still turned up for a meeting at 9 am.

Aaahh...thinking about that is tiring already, I'll stop now and update later :-)

Mala's given birth

Mala's given birth to a baby boy, Amirul Hakimi on Tuesday the 11th of December. After more than 24 hours of labour, the doctor decided to operate, against Mala's wishes. But the operation turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as there were two placentas it seems. Don't know how that's possible.
Anyways, Yana, Mala tanya bila kita nak pergi sana. She's requested that any visits must be after her mum has left which will be on the 19th of January. See how lah ha...

First degree Taichi

All you beautiful people have heard of first degree murder yes? What about first degrea taichi? Read below...nama-nama yang digunakan adalah nama samaran dan berkaitan dengan orang yang masih hidup!!
Note to readers...please start at the end!!

From: Yuih
To: Boss Besar

Since I sent that email, Eiffel has confirmed that he wants us to use the filtered and shifted version instead. George had to go home but will be back.
We should be able to tell Eiffel that his final confirmation of the image to be used was given this pm. Confirmation on the workflow was only provided this am, and its actually the same workflow right from the beginning, and I'm not surprised at all SIGH :-(

Too many cooks...
Problem is we're all in hot soup.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Boss besar [mailto:]
To: Yuih



Yang,

I'm sorry to put you through this - unfortunately with the drilling pushing ahead ***** (company deleted for Confidentiality) are desperate to see some results from the inversion and subsequent PP work. Not sure what we can really do other than try to deliver something we all agree has some value .... If you really feel we can go no further when it gets to tomorrow morning I can request a VC/Conf call with Eiffelto try to explain.

Richard.

At 06:13 PM 12/10/2007, you wrote:

Hi all,
George is now loading the unfiltered, unshifted VSP and redoing his wavelet estimations.
We're a bit concerned with the differences in the sampling rate of the images that have been provided thus far.

I have also not seen any comparisons of the unfiltered, unshifted image with the surface seismic. George is going to follow up with an email to Eiffel2(CC all) to voice out these concerns.

Richard,
I understand the need to push this forward, but I strongly believe ***** (deleted again) should first look at the comparison of the surface seismic and the raw VSP before we commit to anything. Has Eiffel actually seen anything of that sort? We think he hasn't for the following reasons:

He was having problems connecting to InterAct.
He asked George to email him the segy of the VSP in Eiffel2's ppt. And that was the filtered shifted version.
In the meantime, we will redo the wavelet estimations.

Tired and depressed :-(



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Boss Besar
To: gloryseeker@copenhagen.oilfield.slb.com; 'Victim1'; 'Victim2'; 'Victim3
Cc: Yuih
Subject: Call with Eiffel
Importance: High


Glory seeker et al,

I have just spoken with Eiffel. He is making a request to have Eiffel2 update the processing based on CBukit's workflow. However he feels the data we are working is of sufficient quality for us to proceed full bore with the inversion work. He would very much like us to be able to provide the inversion results for the pore pressure prediction work to ***** Pau today that he could then pick up first thing in the morning to review.

Do we think it is possible to complete something today ?

Thanks and Regards,

Richard.



At 05:09 PM 12/10/2007, Boss Besar wrote:


Glory seeker,

Another potential curveball - I've just had an SMS from CBukit saying that Eiffel prefers to use CBukit's original processing flow and asks that Eiffel2 redoes his work. I am about to call CBukit and then Eiffel to confirm. Will keep you all posted in the next few minutes.

Best Regards,

Richard.

At 05:08 PM 12/10/2007, Glory seeker wrote:

Richard, please make any corrections as appropriate.

1. Unless we hear otherwise we should consider the raw migration supplied by Eiffel2 on Friday as the final input seismic for the inversion.

Although Richard and I didnt discuss this issue, for sake of completeness, I will restate here that I think that we should also assume that we do not need to shift the new seismic data, as per the e-mail from CBukit.

We should therefore crack on with wavelet estimation and inversion tests using the latest data from Eiffel2.

2. Victim2 and Victim3 will work on a PowerPoint to be sent by Victim1 to Eiffel this evening local time in Brunei showing the velocity log inserted into filtered versions of the delta-stack velocity section. Victim1 and Victim2 will keep everyone else in the loop particularly with respect to expected timing, which Richard will communicate to the client.

Best regards

Glory seeker

Tagged by Eintanz - again!!

Okay I've been tagged by Eintanz again...

1 Name one person who made you laugh last night

Danial

2 What were you doing at 0800?

Sleeping

3 What were you doing 30 minutes ago?

Blogging

4 What happened to you in 2006?

A lot...I got bought

5 What was the last thing you said out loud?

I'm a very soft spoken person...the last thing I said was "Okay Bruce, I'll send you the slides, just tell me if you need anything more alright, take care"

6 How many beverages did you have today?

2 glasses of water and 1 mug of Milo

7 What colour is your hairbrush?

Brown

8 What was the last thing you paid for?

Cotton candy, Super Ring and a bottle of mineral water

9 Where were you last night?

Galaxy with the kids..tengok Enchanted

10 What colour is your front door?

Brown

11 Where do you keep your change?

In my wallet

12 What's the weather like today?

Rainy

13 What's the best ice-cream flavour?

Also Jamoca Almond Fudge from Baskin...especially topped with Caramel and nuts with bananas..YUMMY...try that next time, the Banana Royale, and chose a combination of Jamoca Almond and World Class Chocolate...heavenly.

14 What excites you?

Can not say

15 Do you want to cut your hair?

Yes, it needs a trim

16 Are you over the age of 25?

Oh yesss

17 Do you talk a lot?

Yes

18 Do you watch the O.C.?

Sometimes

19 Do you know anyone named Steven?

Yes

20 Do you make up your own words?

No

21 Are you a jealous person?

No

22 Name a friend whose name starts with the letter 'A'

Afiza Adlin Adnan

23 Name a friend whose name starts with the letter 'K'

Kayleen Robinson

24 Who's the first person on your received call list?

Kam

25 What does the last text message you received say?

2day training wth ms mayo 1230 tll 4 gym 1

26 Do you chew on your straw?

No

27 Do you have curly hair?

Where? Yes

28 Where's the next place you're going to?

Level 17, Twin Tower 2

29 Who's the rudest person in your life?

Many, can't think of one that is the rudest. I stay away from them, and they are no longer in my life.

30 What was the last thing you ate?

Hacks sweet Honey Lemon flavour

31 Will you get married in the future?

No...and hope it will stay that way

32 What's the best movie you've seen in the past 2 weeks?

By default it'll be Enchanted, the only movie I've seen in the past 2 weeks.

33 Is there anyone you like right now?

Yes

34 When was the last time you did the dishes?

Petang semalam

35 Are you currently depressed?

Surprisingly no

36 Did you cry today?

No

37 Why did you answer and post this?

Because Eintanz asked me to...nicely some more.

38 Tag 5 people who would do this survey

Lady L
Roving soul
Kak Adek
Kak Idah
Kak Ana


Yang takdak blog tu post aje in the comments

Hello all you beautiful people!!!

The title says it all...I have been quiet because I was too busy. But thanks to Ebi and Kakak for keeping everyone informed about me....the 10th anniversary and the competitions.

Alhamdulillah for the 10 years that we've been married. Alhamdulillah for the 14 years that we've been together. Alhamdulillah that Kam hasn't walked out the door (and still think I'm sexayy) for everything that I've put him through. Sometimes when I get bitchy, I wonder dari mana datangnya perangai ni, Mama was certainly not confrontational with Papa when I was young. Jenis ikut aje, adalah kadang-kadang dia lawan, more now than before, but I'm terrible. Kakak in her quest of charting the family tree, also found out that a lot of the women (Mama's side) kahwin dua kali. Divorce is still sometimes deem as scandalous nowadays, but imagine what it was like hundreds of years ago...I guess Rao women are like that..feisty. Not just any men can take them on.


Now that all the competitions are out of the way, we can concentrate on moving to the new house. I plan to take leave next week, tak bagi tahu my boss yet...pindah and also try to take the kids somewhere..any suggestions? ALso want to tanam rumput this weekend. Any volunteers?

The following week I may have to go to Vietnam for a client's Christmas party. Client mana pun I tak tahu, but my new boss told me and another girl to go and enjoy ourselves. Nice or not? But my current boss may not allow it...I think lah!!

I will start moving to my new office, and slowly hand everything over to Nina Marie Hernandez who will be promoted. Good for her, as she now has to support her youner sister with her studies. I managed to get approval to work from home on every Friday (provided that there are no urgent meetings) next year onwards. Will be getting a pay rise somemore, backdated to October :-)

New Year Resolution....put the past behind, f@$k work and spend more time with the family...ohh and kumpul enough money to renovate the house.

Rest in peace Myrna Hernandez

I awoke on Sunday morning in Selayang to the sounds of my phone's alarm at about 6.45 am. When I switched off the alarm, I saw a message from one of my colleagues, Nina, who was in Copenhagen attending a training. The message said "Mama is gone. Please pray for us. Am arriving midnight"

Nina's mother has been battling breast cancer for about a year. She was diagnosed of having it last year, and went through an operation. She was suppposed to follow up with chemo, but the mother gave up after one cycle. It was too painful for her to bear.

Nina is a genius, obtained her Masters when she turned 23. Was already with Odegaard in Copenhagen (part time) when she was doing her Masters. Upon completion, she came to our KL office. Being the ony one amongst her siblings who has made the cut, she is also the bread winner. Sometimes I see the toll that it takes on her, juggling work and bearing the responsibilities of financing her whole family.

Last Friday, I found out from her boyfriend Massimo (he's Italian) that her mum was having difficulties breathing, so he needed to rush home (Nina was in Copenhagen the whole of last week). Myrna died in her sleep at around 3 am. Nina's sister, Annabella (nicknamed Babe) woke up at 3 am as that's usually the time her mum needed to drink. Babe found her dead, still warm, but not breathing.

Kam and I had to help them make the police report, without which no caretaker, or funeral house could do anything. You can't even buy a refrigerated coffin without it. After making a few calls to Uncle Bazari about what I need to do, and what documents I'd need to bring, and to Uncle Shahari as well to find out the location of the closest police station, Kam and I made our way to Seri Maya Condo, where they lived. The journey that should take 10 minutes, took close to 2 hours, thanks to the HINDRAF riotings (sorry Ebi, I'm going to refer to it as riotings...through my eyes lah). I told Babes to take the pedestrian bridge in front of Kampung Warisan to the LRT station, where I will be waiting at the end of the stair case. Babes cried all the way down the stairs when she saw me. Poor girl, she's about 21. Put her studies on hold as someone had to care for their mum.

We made the report at the Keramat Police Station in AU2. The riotings were kind of a blessing in disguise because it meant that only women were left to man the police station (there was one old Sikh policeman though, but he was just sitting around). Not only was the station run by policewomen, the one who did the documentation was inexperienced. Uncle Bazari told me that I need a letter from a doctor confirming the death, that letter we did not have. All that we had was a letter from Pusrawi confiming that Myrna has cancer. I explained everything to the policewoman, that I am the boss of a Filipino whose not in the country. Told her that Myrna has cancer, Anabella foud her dead at 3 am at home. This policewoman calls her boss, conversation went like this "Tuan, ada orang nak report kematian. (Silence). Mati kat rumah. (Silence). Orang Filipina. (Silence). Passport ada. (Silence). Surat doctor ada. (Silence). Ok, terima kasih"

After about half an hour, we had all the needed documents...I have to say that the policewoman, kept on writing "Cancel" as the cause of death, until I couldn't take it anymore and told her that its with an r, she laughed and made all the corrections.
After that we went to Seri Maya.

It was weird, seeing her mum lying there in the living room. Massimo was busy on the phone, calling several funeral parlours, to get the best rates. He was also surfing the web to find out more parlours, in addition to the list that our Administrator had provided him.

Massimo cried when he told Kam and I what happened since I last saw him on Friday. Being the man of the house was difficult at times like this, especially when you are only 25. Danial was walking around the house unaffected. Babes also layan him as usual. (Actually later on in the day, Dina asked me about the whole incident, I told her to ask Danial, he sked him, he said, he went to the police station, after that he went to aunty nina's house and played at the playground. Then I interjected and said, ada nenek tengah tidur kat situ kan? and he said, takda lah nenek tu dah mati)
Kam and I didn't know how else to help them.I suggested that they call someone from the St John's Church where they usually go, but Massimo didn't have the number of any of the Pinoys, or someone from the embassy. Nina called, and after the go ahead from her (as she is the financier), Massimo decided on the funeral parlour and made the calls. It was Myrna's wish to be cremated. Cremation has now been set to Friday, wake started today. Myrna will be cremated at the place near Kak Idah's house. Massimo's dad arrived yesterday from Italy. He's now taken charge as the "orang tua".

Nina has been a pillar of strength through all this. She didn't cry when I spoke to her when she was in transit in Dubai. I guess she couldn't allow emotions to take control as she needed to make very crucial decisions remotely. She cried when I spoke to her on Monday though. When everything has been sorted out. She cried because she feels blessed that eventhough this happened to her family in a foreign land, the nurse at the funeral parlour, the embalmer, the florist were all Filipinos.

I hope to go to the parlour tomorrow evening (actually today) after work (I'm still at work), so if anyone of you who knows Nina would like to join me, just give me a call.

Of bad month and ladybird

This morning, as I was driving to work, I stopped at a traffic light. Not just any traffic light, it was the same junction where I saw the two gagaks sharing the drumstick, and guess what, the birds weren't there. So Kak Idah and Kak Adek will not get their fair share of the drumstick prize of knowing the Bird song.

I then looked down at my jeans and saw a ladybird. Don't ask me how it got there, but my guess it it must have flown/found its way on me when I got in the car. Ladybird...still got the word bird there since its bird week, what a coincidence!! It started to crawl everywhere, and I didn't panic. Don't know where it ended, probably in my baju, but I had to focus on my driving. Okay enough of birds!!

It has been such a bad week for me. I missed my revenue target by USD98K, all because of imcompetent fools and tools.

USD32K, because of clients yang tak tahu what data they've got, we wasted too much time sorting out their database sampai project got delayed.

USD25K because a tool got stuck in the hole while drilling. Which meant that they had to stop drilling, recover the tool and then continue. As a result, we could not complete our work sebab data pun belum acquire/measure lagi, hence tak leh start the project.

USD41K sebab another segment that I was relying on just &@cked up their QC. Today, I had to spend an excruciating hour explaining to the client why we will be very delayed on that project. Client pun kecut jugak sebab he too has now got to go back to his management and explain the situation. So unfortunate that this has to happen to a project with a very high visibility.

Looks like I may not be able to achieve my target of 1.6M for the year, which will affect my bonus. I sometimes wonder why I even bother. Next week I have to attend a workshop and miss Dina's competition...my life is starting to look like a typical American movie. Mother (usually its the dad) too caught up with work, trying to secure money for a stupid organization and still fail in the end....and to top it all off, her kids feel neglected.

I'm thankful for

I've been tagged by Sheila, its quite a difficult one for me because its made me realize that I need to slow down a bit and appreciate the finer things in life...

So here goes, these are the things (not sure if I have to list 10, but I will anyways) that I'm thankful for everyday of my life...

1. My comfy tilam and creaking bed.
2. Clean water and toilet.
3. Dermalogica.
4. Hand phones.
5. Computers.
6. ATM cards.
7. Handbags and clothes.
8. Blogs..what a great way to keep in touch.
9. Music when I'm caught in jams.
10. Cable TV

Still on birds

I'm a bird,
I'm a bird,
I'm a very special bird,

I'm a bird,
I'm a bird,
I can give you the word,

I've got home,
In your home,
I've got home,
In the sky,

I can talk, walk,
Can you fly?

How many of you remember the song from the Big Blue Marble? Anyone? Anyone?
Call me, sing it, and you get to claim a prize :-)

Sehati Berdansa, Empat Kaki Sejiwa

Okay I have not watched this Sehati Berdansa programme but read about it twice already in the papers. Once over the week-end when they showed a picture of As Feminin who is one of the peserta, and again today because the first couple to leave, i.e. Radhi OAG and wife complained that there is a bit of "pilih kasih" involved.
I actually saw some footage of their dancing last night on Astro Awani. OMG, what's wrong with these people, their dancing was bad!! I mean really bad! But of course I have not seen how bad the rest are, but they were pathetic. Wifey was invited into Awani's studio (Gala TV) and she actually said the same thing, something along the lines of, "rasa terkilan sebab ada unsur-unsur pilih kasih". So sad when people don't realize that its not easy to be sejiwa when you have four legs...four left legs.
Moving on to empat kaki sejiwa, and since Kakak has secara tidak langsung proclaimed Minggu Burung (Tua?) through yesterday's entry. This morning on my way to work, I had to stop at a red light. And saw two burung gagaks perching on the traffic lights' post. The kind that hangs over the junction (not the tiang one, if you know what I mean). One of the birds was clutching onto some food, it looked like it was once a drumstick, but still has a bit of meat left. That bird gigit some meat and passed the drumstick to the other bird. These birds were actually sharing the food. It was a beautiful sight. I don't know about you all, but I've always thought that gagaks fight for food. Seeing the two of them pass the food back and forth to each other left me with a great feeling. I am going to share this story with the girls, three things that one can learn...
1. Its good to share
2. If you are willing to share, please give it up (whatever it is that you're sharing) willingly.
3. If you want people to share anything with you, wait until they give it to you.

My Commentary Drive Evaluation

I have to sit for my yearly Commentary Drive evaluation in an hour. Basically I get into one of our company's Camry with our Journey Management Plan Manager and he sits back and I drive. Throughout this hour or so, all he does is tell me where to go, while I talk to myself. I talk to myself. I talk to myself. Basically anything that comes to my mind while driving, what I see, what I anticipate. So I think about what I'm going to do, say what I'm going to do, then do it.

I'm telling you, this company is mental!!

Just wanted to share the following with you all, because it's like I'm revising for the test.

So, the Schlumberger's DriveSMARRT policy is...

Search the horizon..look ahead as far as possible, be aware of your red, yellow and green zone...all around your vehicle

Maintain space and visibility...Stay back and see it all, keep your distance, 4 seconds rule...

Always move your eyes...scan don't stare, alternate between rearview and side mirrors.

Recognize and Respond...be prepared, expect the unexpected...

Take control - be seen....use your horn, lights and signal...make sure people see you


Okay then, wish me luck.

Happy Birthday Alwi

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to Mister Alwi,
Happy Birthday to you...

If there was one person that I would give my heart to...it will be you because I know that you will take a very good care of it...literally :-)

Love,
Yuz

Tagged by Eintanz - The Love Chain

I've been tagged by Eintanz.

This is like one of those chain emails that you get, where you add your name to a long list of people who agree to a certain petition that would make a change to the life of a Somalian girl whose been raped but is facing a death penalty for adultery...yeah something like that but its to spread love y'all...love...

So here is how it works.
Add your name to the list and let it grow...(background music..Can You Feel the Love Tonight...)

Limadang.com
RamblingMoo.com
blogginginmypyjamas
StylewithPassion
Chinneeq
Dora-zooropazoo
Babyshern
Frankensteina
eintanz chili chatz
Yuih

I'd like to tag

My Soul's Palette
noorsoraya

He! He!

Message for Intan

Hi Intan,
I have updated the Raya post with the mandi hujan XXX photos...as you've requested.

Love,
Yuz

Happy Birthday Kakak

Happy Birthady Kakak!! Kakak also celebrates her birthday today. Our parents started and ended on the same day...exactly 10 years apart. Kakak 9/11/62 and Yuz 9/11/72 (Yeah! That's what 10 years apart mean). Kakak once told me, "Yuz, every turn of a decade for you would be just like it was for me...10 years ago".

I once asked Mama when I was very little...like 7 years old or something, "Mama kenapa Yuz kena share birthday dengan kakak? Tiap-tiap tahun kena share cake. Kenapa kena share? Kak Adek dengan Kak Idah tak share pun" Don't know why I complained, its not that I liked eating cake.

When I turned 5 and Kakak turned 15, she baked a cake for us. Cake tu siap ada cream lagi. Come to think of it, Kak Adek and Kak Idah also baked me a birthday cake when I turned 13. That cake ada dark chocolate topping. They sprinkled chopped almonds over it. It was delicious. That year I invited a few friends over for my birthday and Kak Adek/Kak Idah organised the games, my friends and I had a great time. Its really great to know that you have sisters who will always be there for you.

Coming back to my question to Mama...she said "Yuz kena share dengan Kakak sebab you were born on the same day, you can not change that. Ramai orang nak share birthday macam ni tau, Kak Adek dengan Kak Idah pun nak share kalau boleh" She then told me how a lot of people were amazed about our birth dates that when I was born, a few of the non-Muslim nurses in the hospital wanted to buy numbers sebab "manyak ong". That made me feel special, and now sharing the birthday is no longer an issue for me, everyone in the family tend to not forget...well actually yang selalu lupa birth dates are only Kak Idah and I. And Kak Idah can't forget our birthdays because tomorrow is her anniversary :-)

Anyways Happy Birthday Kakak. May you have another great year. Thanks a lot for all the "baby"ing all these years. You know that you have not stopped right? Love you lots.

Happy Birthday Yuz - Part 2

The first person to wish me a Happy Birthday this morning was Papa. On my way out of my toilet this morning, he called me to help him with his problematic Streamyx connection and in the midst of it all, he suddenly remembered that it was my birthday and he gave me a kiss...that's one of the "extras" that one gets when they live with their parents :-)

Then I got ready to go to work. I went down and was ambushed by the girls and Kam in the kitchen. Kam woke up early today and cooked breakfast for the girls and to wish me a Happy Birthday. I received a red rose from each of the girls, and a beautiful bouquet of purple roses from Kam...very nice. Soon after that the girls spoke to Kakak and wished her a Happy Birthday.

There were a few messages on my handphone, but I only managed to check them on my way to work. Don't worry I checked them at traffic lights. It was then that I realized that technically Yana was the first to wish me, her text message came in at 4 minutes past 12. Thanks dear, unfortunately I was in bed by 8 last night. Ebi also sent me a message at a quarter to 12, so technically although he was earlier than Yana, he actually wished me a day earlier, so Yana gets the trophy :-)

Both Kak Adek and Kak Idah tried to get hold of me in the morning, but I was rushing to get the girls to school, so very sorry sistas!! Thank you all for the panjang usia and such wishes...I feel so loved!! MO I love your birthday wish. Is Brad Pitt the surprise element in the "surprise" birthday party?

Got into the office and went for a long breakfast, rasa macam gomen pulak :-) Then while doing work, one of my office mates wished me a Happy Birthday and immediately fell into tears. I cried along and dragged her to a "pick-me-up" lunch with Kakak and I. I mean what more could a young girl need right? A good lunch always help especially in great company like Kakak (the wise one yang pandai makan crab with chopsticks and a long tool of steel that looks like its rightful place is in an OT or even in the hands of Yana the dino dame)...and I.

So now after a long lunch, I truly am a Gomen servant.

Did you know?

Did you know that you can't get to the carpark through KL Plaza from outside the building at 1.45 am in the morning?

Did you know that Kak Idah's expensive Marilyn LV bag will never ever know what its like to feel some rain drops falling on it?

Did you know that if you run really fast from Planet's entrance to KL Plaza in really heavy rain, you will still get wet?

Did you know that Sarimah can't quite sing live? Well I guess that's nothing new...

Did you know that Adi does not know Sarimah?

Happy Birthday Yuz

I celebrated my 21st birthday today. Started the day with an interesting call from Kak Adek who promised me Brad Pitt look alikes. Not sure yet between Ke Pitt, Sam Pritt or Kam Pitt...probably Kam Pitt.

Then I had a strenuous meeting with Petronas...the usual bagi betis mintak peha scene. After that we all adjourned to the Little Penang Cafe where I treated everyone to lunch...its like a tradition in our segment for the Birthday Girl/Boy to treat everyone.

They bought me a cake but I was too embarassed to cut it in Little Penang, so we went back to the office and "quietly" sang the birthday song.

Mathematical Equations

Okay, I received a very interesting email from a dear exBB friend Ellis.

Beauty of Math!


1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321


1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111


9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?


And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321



Now, take a look at this...


101%



>From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:



What Equals 100%?

What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?

We have all been in situations where someone wants you to

GIVE OVER 100%.

How about ACHIEVING 101%?


What equals 100% in life?


Here's a little mathematical formula that might help

answer these questions:


If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.


If:


H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K

8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%


And:

K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-E

11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%


But:

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E

1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%



THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:



L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D

12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%


Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:

While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will
get you there, It's the Love of God that will put you over the top!

It's up to you if you share this with your friends & loved ones just
the way I did.

Have a nice day & God bless !!

That's the content of the email, what I'd like to ask all of you is....who decides if you've given your all?
Our hubbies/wives/kids/parents/boss? Whose opinion matters most?

Sometimes when I'm faced with a difficult colleague, I always ask myself...hey, dia ni tak sedar ke the kind of problems that he/she is putting me through? You know what, maybe they really tak sedar because as far as they are concerned, they have given their all, they believe that they have given 101%. So siapa yang bodoh, mereka dan keluarga mereka (famous line from Ringgit Kasorga) or me?

My name is not Norhayati

"Okay Norhayati, the baby is still high now, so you don't push yet okay"...."My name is NOT Norhayati, my name is Noratikah!!"

Begitulah antara scene-scene yang menarik that went on in the labour room while Atikah was in labour, but if you hear Arman's version, or more like its the way Arman tells it, it sounded so funny and painless. Anyone whose been through labour would understand the 'Eh-sut-up-you-if-I-feel-like-pushing-I'll-push-okay'. Arman had been in the room since morning, and had not been to the toilet, and badly needed to go. Toilet pulak kat bawah, on a different floor. So he told the doctor that he needed to go, doctor kata takpa can go lambat lagi baby nak keluaq. He came back, Alia was out already...and he missed the whole "bloody" birth.

Alia looks like Arman (pictures to follow after I download it from Kam's phome), and can not be anywhere near Aunty Yuz. Aunty Yuz's suuden bursts of laughter would wake her up. Arman can't even sleep in the same room with her as his one-man-band sounds keep her awake.

Nur Alia (T-car, I hope the spelling is correct) is truly a rojak baby. Arman is Indian Muslim, T-car is half Chinese and the other half is a mix of Jawa, Mat Salleh and Melayu. But when Arman went to register Alia, her race was put as Melayu. Person at the counter, upon checking the documents then said "Cik, bangsa tak boleh letak Melayu lah, kena letak India Muslim". Which means Alia is not a Bumi. Funny lah our registration department because our darling Taufiq being half Chinese and half Malay is Melayu. Arman said, "Takpalah Cik, kalau macam tu saya nak tukaq spelling nama dia...Noor Allleeeyyaa" Of course he didn't do that lah, just wanted to describe how funny Arman is.

Coming back to Arman, I got to know Arman when I was in Matric 2. We spent a lot of our nights together....Ha! Ha! Ha! Together with 2 other amazing friends, Afiza and Kumaran. We were in our hostel's (or Desasiswa in USM) debating team. As Matric students we were all placed in Desa Gemilang, we were Gemilang's debating team. We had to fight all the other desa's debating team, and turned out champions. Imagine, satu USM, budak Matric menang. We then had to represent USM in the Nationals. Of course lah tak leh menang when faced with the likes of Malik Imtiaz Sarwar (who represented UIA). Nasib baik Alwi tak represent UM that year. We were happy that we got that far. Arman was the first speaker, and kept it all together pretty much most of the time...very witty and unpredictable. For example, I will say "Arman, I don't know how to keep a straight face when talking to you" and he'll say "Ok, I will bring a ruler".

Anyways, as we won at the Uni. level, MAS awarded us with tickets to anywhere in Malaysia, we get to pilih, of course we went for Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. It was an experience I shall never forget. We climbed Mount Kinabalu together.

Last night I got a call from Afiza, it was a very pleasant surprise. She told me that one day out of boredom, she decided to google Asuki's name and found...Bicara Lelaki, and from there found all of us, including you Yana. It took her a while to figure out siapa Dino Dame was, but Afeez is smart. She also found out that T-car was pregnant, then decided to give T-car a call. Out of boredom she also does subtitles for Astro. So Afeez, next time you venture to our blogs, jangan malu dan segan, you have now been properly introduced. In fact, I am not surprised if you have your own blog.

Afeez, perhaps we should track down Kumaran as well. Last I heard, he was doing his Masters in UH/UM. He approached my sister Kak Idah, who is also working in UH and told her that he knows me and have actually met Kak Idah when we were all in UM for the debate. We can all have a get together, so Arman when are you coming to KL? Now that you are in between jobs (Arman's version of in between jobs, not the same as all you jhoras ok).

Okay, I need to go off tangent now, and I'm sorry if my thoughts for this particular blog is not quite coherent. I'm just writing so that I will not forget things when I'm much older (hopefully I don't forget how to read by that time). Arman's brother, Kak Idah and Alwi all stayed in the same Kolej kat UM dulu, and Kak Idah actually accidentally broke Arman's brother's finger once. Apparently Alwi was the President and Kak Idah being his girlfriend was the first lady. It was a tradition there to throw the first lady into the fish pond or something obscured like that. And Arman's brother and his friends were doing just that, carrying Kak Idah to be thrown in the pond. She struggled so much that she broke his finger.

Bergumbira tepuk tangan sama-sama

I've just heard from my boss that the new position for me also means that I go up a notch in my grade...yeah!!!

He also told me that at the Global Reservoir Seismic Services (RSS...that's my dept) Business Meeting that he attended last week, he presented that one of the threats for next year is losing me to WesternGeco, the other subsidiary of Schlumberger.

Then the President of Data & Consulting Services (that arm of Schlumberger where I'm attached to now) said, "Wait hang on a second, what is Yang going to be doing there?" And my boss explained, and all the time the WesternGeco's President (a big fat and ugly guy...Kam can confirm that) was sitting with his arms folded in front of him and grinning from ear to ear.

Kembang semangkuk sekejap when I heard this...unless my boss was lying lah. Actually what this company doesn't realize yet is that jhoras are essential in any business.

Looking back at why I pilih Odegaard over Jason (I was keen on the Regional Manager position), I never imagined that one day I would be a Global Account Manager for a National Oil Company. Big shoes to wear, and all you jhoras are going to be there to support me and keep me sane....love y'all

Where do you see yourself in 10 years

I've just finished my interview with my Personnel Manager for Brunei, Malaysia and Philippines geomarket. What I expected to be an "Oh-gawd-what-else-do-you-need-to-do-to-tick-off-your-objectives" session turned out to be quite pleasant. It totally changed my perception of this guy. Initial perception sumer I got from my boss and the Egyptian mafia (Personnel Manager's nickname) surprised me. He wants to chart my career path and actually sounded like he cared. Also wanted to know if I'd appreciate having at least one day in a week to work from home....to which I'd actually said no. I mean my work space is my work space, to bring work home...just doesn't sound right.
He asked me the cliche question "Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"...and since I've been a Manager for quite a while, I'm getting good at eluding questions, I said, "Well, I can tell you where I don't want to be"
"I don't want to be an Ops Manager" and he said "Ooops!" BINGO, that's what they have planned for me obviously. I then told him, that I'm not ambitious, but if they provide me with the proper training, then I will consider, at the moment, I don't like managing things in my little segment, I certainly don't want to take on something that is 100 times greater..nope definitely not palatable to me.
We ended our discussion with an interesting question from him, "Would you have problems with relocating to South America, North America or Europe?" No one in this company asks a specific question like that. Definitely a loaded question...something is definitely brewing, and to top it all off, this guy didn't even know that he'd be losing me to another Schlumberger entity by end of the year.

Post with Pix - Raya

Unfortunately, we didn't take that many photos over Raya, but here are a few of our ride to the masjid for sembahyang Raya, of Kam and the kids mandi hujan, of the triple Birthday bash (Kam's grandfather, Kam's cousin and Kam's son celebrated their birthday on eve of the 16th of October) and of our visit to Taman Ular...last picture I've added for peace and serenity.





It poured...





Mandi hujan



Kam cutting kambing and daging bakar



Triple birthday



One of the many feisty ulars at the Taman Ular. The Taman Ular is actually a research facility for antivenom or something like that. Hence you see ponies there as well, ponies are probably used to test the antivenom. This particular ular reacted to the noise that we were making and instantly rose and ready to attack. Upon seeing this, I started to hum and sing to the tunes of "my-version-of-a-snake-charmer" song. This snake reacted as well, and Dina just started to shout in panic.



Kam's grandfather



Peace, serenity....

Sumer kena tipu, I only managed to upload what was intended to be the last photo...sorry Intan. Gambar XXX Kam mandi hujan later kay...

Updated 30th of October
Okay, I managed to upload a few more...wait ah Intan

100 Ways to Motivate Others

At the beginning of every Bullet Proof Manager course I attend (once a month, half a day for a year), they give away a book to one deserving person, all based on a Personal Action Plan that one has put together.

I won the book for last month's PAP, the book is entitled 100 Ways to Motivate Others...How Great Leaders Can Produce Insane Results Without Drivig People Crazy.

1st Chapter...Know where Motivation Comes From.
Tip...you can't manage people, neither can you motivate them, motivation has to come from within them. First step...you need to feel motivated.

Easier said than done yes? Now I need to go and find some source of motivation.

Update...8.19 am 25th October, 2007
Okay, I've slept on it, and realize one of the things that motivates me is providing the best service and products to my clients. From now on, I am going to focus on that, and that alone, everyone else can take a hike or take a number to be on my list of priorities....I mean everyone else in this company lah.
I want satisfaction. I want to be proud of putting my name to something. As in the words of George Michael..."If you want to do it, do it right"...

Post with Pix - Balik Kampung

Perjalanan jauh tak ku rasa
Look at how they slept through the journey...
Time nak bukak posa baru Danial bangun









Bukak posa

Post with Pix - Phuket Meeting

Di atas permintaan Intan, here is a post with pictures. Starting with my Phuket Business meeting.




My room..a bit scary at night, banyak bunyi burung dan serangga pelik-pelik.



View from my room...one of the angles



The thorns, the guy in the stripy red shirt is my boss, Mr. Richard Salter whom a friend, Aunty K (I have to blog about her at some point) refers to as Timmy Boy..because he looks like that boy who turns into a rat in one of the Harry Potter movies. He is also a nice boss, sometimes too nice I think, shelters most of us from all the crap that comes our way. A few of us agree that we need to confiscate his laptop at some point and force him to go on a vacation. We can do that in this company. He's only gone off for a one week vacation in the past 10 months.

The guy next to him is Richard as well, I used to report to him, until he couldn't take it anymore, but he is one of the greatest boss/friend/bouncer that one could ever wish for. Keeps other Mat Sallehs at bay when we attend conferences and parties..."Hoy, that's my Project Manager that you're talking to".

Next to him is Frazer Barclay (everyone thinks that he looks like Mr. Bean, but I think he is better looking), I reported to Frazer when I first joined Odegaard, then he left to expand the business in Perth and I took over his position. He can also pass off as a Bollywood actor, well at least that's what the Indians think. When we were wondering around the streets of Mumbai, a few people stopped him and asked him if he was a Bollywood actor.

Next is Phil Beale, I reported to him after Frazer left. He decided to go back to the UK after about 11 years of being in this region. Also one of the nicest boss one could ever wish for...whenever he wants to be that is. We argued a lot as well, come to think of it, I guess its just me, I am so degil and set on doing things my way.

Next is Ben Flack...the latest addition to our little family in the region. He's just started his job as our Segment's Business Development Manager for China, Korea and Japan. Very nice guy in a geeky way.



The rose amongst the thorns...as in the words of my great friend, Richard Bottomley..."That's a very good picture of you there, its a pity that you had to be surrounded by ugly blokes" to which I said, "Eh, why are you being so sarkas? Do you see the size of my arms?" Dahlah tu, bergambar dengan diorang ni nampak sangat lah betapa cerahnya kulit ku.

Building A Personal Success Foundation

One of the modules covered in my Bullet Proof Manager course for this month is Building A Personal Success Foundation. Zig Ziglar in his video highlighted a few key points, and this man has quite a nice way of putting things into perspective (you have to ignore his very southern drawl).

He listed about 6 foundation stones for success in a very apt way, if I may say so, but what I'd like to share with all of you is the fourth foundation (the first three most of you have already), that is to have faith and trust in yourself, in your country, in your company, and in what you're doing...I'd like to add one more to that, first and foremost you must have faith in Allah.

Then I realized that actually all these and more are already covered in our Rukun Iman, actually what's covered in Rukun Iman is more...

Beriman kepada Allah
Beriman kepada Malaikat
Beriman kepada Kitab
Beriman kepada Rasul
Beriman kepada Hari Kiamat
Beriman kepada Qada' dan Qadar

I am no ustazah, don't get me wrong, the only reason why I can still remember them is because I had to tutor Dania for her PKSR on Sunday. Anyways, if we stick to our Rukun Iman, everything else will naturally fall into place wouldn't it?

Anyways, the fifth foundation stone is love. That may mean that you do what is best for the person, not necessarily what that person wants you to do.

But the loveliest thing that I heard today is "Say no to the tears of the moment but yes to the laughter of a lifetime".

At the end of the session, I was asked to list down 2 people that I deem to be successful. I chose my father Abdul Aziz Mohd. Sultan as No. 1, because he possessed all 6 of the foundation stones, and no I am not jaded or biased, he truly does have all 6 of it. I have not met anyone like him at all, don't think that I can ever reach his level, but I can try. Zig Ziglar said that "Success is not measured by what you do compared to somebody else. Success is measured by comparing what you do to what you are capable of doing with your ability"...and that is how Papa has nurtured me, I realize that now when I think of how I used to drive myself insane in school cause I constantly pressured myself to be at par with my sisters, Kakak had already set such high standards you see. Jahat dia!! To be honest, Mama played a role at driving me insane as well, but Papa straighten me out when I failed Physics in Form 4. Kita mesti ukur baju padan dengan badan or something like that...

Tapi sejahat-jahat Kakak, I put her as my No. 2 choice.

You've been tagged

I'm gonna start a tag.

I'm gonna put the first few lines of an ABBA song that should be known to all, and the person I tag next would have to write the next line...in the comments, and that person can tag someone else. Please text the person you tag and ask them to log on to yuih.

You have 48 hours to put in the next line, kalau tak orang tu kena host an open house BBQ sempena Raya and give us all duit Raya.

Here goes....

(Got Aaaa at the beginning),
Hoooo,
You can dance, you can jive,
Having the time of your life,
Oooo, se that girl, watch that scene,
Digging the dancing queen,

Over to you Kak Adek

Blast Off

Okay now, confession time...how many of you felt emotional watching the live telecast of the launch last night?

Kakak?

Announcement

Yesterday Mak Azi came over with Harry to give gulai masam tempoyak daging...mmmm best sangat!! Jangan jeles.

But I found out that Mak Ni got a stroke about two weeks ago, so sesiapa yang tak tahu tu (like me) can give her a call at 013-9174738. I spoke to her last night, and she can speak properly now, mulut dah tak herot, but she is still weak, no blood clots in the brain, and the doctor told her not to worry too much because she is young. He says it'll take a month until she recovers fully.

Call her if you want to find out more, I'm sure that she will appreciate it...yang tak kenal dia tu tak payah call lah.

Just wanted to explain why we didn't know, its because Mak Ni called home about a week after she got it, she spoke to Papa, but Papa didn't tell anyone...he must have forgotten, which is very unlike Papa.

Minutes to bukak posa

Okay quick one. Petang tadi Papa had difficulties driving/parking his car at the porch sebab there was a van partially blocking. Van belonging to the Indian contractors renovating the house next door. He finally managed to drive in, although his car slightly scratched by a pasu bunga. Luckily Harry was around and he helped to move the pot elsewhere. Papa then got out of the car, and in true don't-mess-with-me attitude marched over and told them to not block our house ever again...I thinklah. By that time, Harry and I had already walked in.

Tahu-tahu aje ada dengar orang mencarut...Papa of course, and more swearing were excanged between that guy and him. Mak Azi asked Harry to go out and protect Papa should anything happen. I too went outside, but one of them was being very courteous...and apologized. Then I saw the culprit, when he stepped forward and started to say something to me as well...to be honest I didn't hear him, I just saw through him, apa lagi, makcik naik angin lah!! I just looked him in the eye and said "Excuse me, I don't want to talk to you, I was talking to him" He then went on and on about not wanting to respect Papa and I said, "Hello, respect from people like you is not what my father needs, thank you very much" Mother also joined in the drama, she very gila already by then. I calmed her down by saying, "Don't bother with them Mama, if they were smart and sensible, they wouldn't be doing this job". Papa asked the civilised guy to move the van so that he can then park properly. Then I saw something on the floor, a Carslberg bottle cap..BINGO.

I picked it up, turned to the guy yang baik and said, "Is this why your friend is crazy?" And he just nodded. That guy yang tadi bising bukan main terus kecut when I turned to him and said, "Hey...this is evidence okay, you have been drinking on the job, I don't care even if its not you, someone is going to take this fall".

After the nice guy moved the van, he came back and apologized again. I told him..my dad is old, you all want to drink all, go ahead, not my problem, but if anyone of you become aggressive like that ever again, I will make a police report.

Sekian sahaja episode "Drama Minggu Ini". Minggu depan kami akan kembali lagi dengan kisah yang lagi menarik....dari Bicara Lelaki..that is if I update it.

My version

As promised, before I write about our bukak posa session, I'd like to tell you my version of the kuih making session at Yana's place on Saturday....up close and personal.

My objectives for the day were:-

Ensure that Dina makes it to her early morning training at CBN.
Ensure that Dania goes for her afternoon training at Bukit Jalil after her mengaji.
Send the car to the workshop in Puchong.
Send Dina's competition leotard to the tailor for altering.
Make sure Dina attends her training in the afternoon at Bukit Jalil.
Make sure Dina brings lunch from home.
Bake cookies with Yana and Kak Ana.
Check angin and air kereta.
Bukak posa at Yana's place

And I managed to do all of it, but had to ask for help from Kakak (who sent Dina to CBN in the morning), Jessie (who took Dania with her to Bukit Jalil, but I had to send Dania to CBN after mengaji), Kak Ana and Ebi (who went with me to the workshop and took me with them to Yana's place) and Yani (who looked after Danial in the car while I brought Dania to CBN, and went up to the tailor's)

When we got to Yana's kitchen, Yana started to delegate the work..I have to say that she is really a pro when it comes to baking and we chose the right place to do it (except for the fact that she didn't have a rolling pin, or she does, but doesn't know where it is). First kuih...jam tart.

Pineapple jam made by Yani. We started to measure the ingredients, hand written in a fragile and old buku resipi, Mama has had it since the 60's. Unfortunately not many instructions, which was why Yana's intuition was great.

First badge...adunan a bit lembik. Yana gave us a tip, we must put the dough in a plastic bag (we used the tepung punya plastic) and give it a good ramas or two. So I did it...and didn't realize that I got some ink (from the label of the flour) on my hands and when I started to play around with the dough, it got dirty, like berdaki like that...very menggelikan. Anyways, we managed, although the cookies came out sebesar muka kitorang (as in the words of Kak Ana) but we will perfect it in time, before we start our business. Jokes aside, they were delicious.

Kak Ana and Yana, just thought that you should know that Mama has never used that acuan that we used. That was a gift from S'pore from her favourite female biras. So, lessons learnt...need a new acuan and a rolling pin.

While the tarts were baking, we lepak-lepak on Yana's newly reupholstered sofa (white colour, make sure kaki bersih kalau nak duduk bersila tau). It was then that Ebi arrived from Kak Idah's and Alwi's place. He was so excited, like can die kalau tak tengok Heroes dan-dan tu jugak. But before that he kept pestering Yana for the wi-fi key. He kept on saying that hexadecimal code, and Yana kept on saying tak tahu. Ebi was so tak puas hati and said "Yana, what if Rahimi goes off somewhere and something happens and you need to know this pin in order to connect?" Kak Ana jawab, "Ebi kalau Rahimi has to go somewhere, of course lah Yana tanya". Then I said, "Alah Ebi, kalau Rahimi tak ada and Yana needs to reestablish connection she can ask Efi to help" which is true, Efi's helped me before.

Ebi tak puas hati, after a few minutes decided to watch his Heroes new season, macam can die if don't watch you know. He took out the headphones and said, "I love these headphones, they're noise cancelling headphones you know, which means that I can't hear any noise" Both Yana and I looked at him with envy and mouth wide open, "Ye ke Ebi?" Really we were turning green. Immediately after he put it on, all three of us (macam tau-tau) started to talk to each other (very animated) tapi no sound, mulut aje bergerak. Ebi said "Yeah, very funny".

Then I put in a comment on Ebi's blog using Yana's laptop...after which I turned to him and said, "Ebi, I dah letak comment". He buat tak tahu (noise cancelling mah). I actually had to put this noise cancelling hphones through the ultimate test. I gave the most beautiful rendition of Sudriman's "Balik Kampung" right beside Ebi's ear. Memang sedap sangat suara I...Norman would agree. And I guess it was quite noise cancelling after all....

Penat lah nak cerita lagi, sambung besoklah.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA

Firstly....Applause! Applause!

What a good way to start a blog, by wishing all you jhoras Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Mohon maaf, yang driving to kampung, please drive safely, don't forget to wear seat belts, di mana sahaja anda berada (as in front or back).

I will be back tomorrow or the day after with my version of the cookies baking session, Ebi's version a bit dry :-)

This blog was created in 5 minutes. A more pleasing look will be coming your way after I consult experts (eintanz the freelance Consultant)

By the way, picture courtesy of Ewnict!!