ex-lady users

Exams are barely 3 weeks away and as usual, instead of hitting the books, I'll be in front of my PC with Facebook open while looking at sales threads of phones and audio gear.

One thing I noticed is that whenever someone wants to sell a phone, they always state "ex-lady user" as though it is something which will guarantee that the phone hasn't been abused, misused and what not. It also implies that male users tend to drag their gear through the gauntlet of death or something.

Well, lemme shed some light here.

Honestly, women are (save for a few exceptions) the ABSOLUTE WORST gadget users in my books. They stick all sorts of nonsense on their phones, they drop them, throw them, hang metal pieces off them, put them into their handbags which are littered with a brazillion other stuff and the list goes on and on.

To me, "EX LADY USER" is definitely NOT a plus point when buying second hand gear. Instead, try "CRAZY OCD GEEK" or "GADGET FETISH FREAK" or something along THOSE lines. At least we know they LOVE their gear.

Geez...

Ok... back to staring at sales threads. :(

All ears

In the months leading up to my graduation, I realise that my carefree days are numbered. After this, it will be 9 to 5 at the office and classes in the evening. Weekends are reserved for sanity-recharging activities. I can't wear just anything I want anymore and I definitely can't bring my audio stuff to work.

So, after much inducement from a certain somebody, I have decided to pierce my ear; something I had wanted to do since college but never had the guts to (I was more concerned about the impact on my family rather than the piercing itself =.=)

On with the pics:

The initial stud that they used to pierce my ear with


The ring that almost destroyed my ear


A design that I've been looking for a long time


Similar but black

Oh, in case you're gasping in horror, I pierced my left ear and not the right as the pics suggest. But my webcam takes inverted pics and I'm lazy to correct it. Hahaha...

And it's really now or never. Don't want to be the newbie in office with a stud in his ear for 2 weeks or more.

For me, piercing my ear is more of personal satisfaction than anything else. Not trying to prove anything, nor am I trying to change who I am. Those who knew me since college would know. And I don't see how it's such a big issue that I did.

But as expected, my mum flipped, my cousins stared in awe and my friends; well, some welcomed it enthusiastically while others were indifferent.

IT'S NO BIG DEAL SERIOUSLY! =.=

Just a hole in my ear.

Morning Train Chronicles

Having taken the train to work almost everyday for more than a month now, it has given a totally new meaning to the phrase life is like a box of chocolates. Except in this case, it is all about smells.

Getting on the train at Taman Bahagia at about 7.30 - 7.45 means that you'll be squeezing in that sardine-can of a train carriage with most of the working community of PJ who commutes. And THAT is a LOT of people.

Having so many people in close proximity, the first thing that you'll notice is the various smells that come from each and every direction; some pleasant, some downright nasty. So here is where life is like a box of chocolates.

Firstly, count yourself lucky if you don't end up directly in some dude's armpit, in front of some lady who hasn't washed her tudung in years (this is some real bad shit), in front some guy who doesn't believe in brushing his teeth, or within 3 feet of the worst of them all; the sweat-soaked guy who smells like a wet dog. These REAAALLLYYYYYYY break my day. It's absolutely impossible to turn up at work feeling all motivated with that flame in your eyes when you have just been through the harrowing experience of a 40 minute train ride with a smelly wet dog.

If you're really really lucky, you'll end up next to someone who has some light flowery perfume, refreshing breezy cologne or even some nice fruity shampoo. But there are also times when someone turns up with so strong a perfume that you'd think that he is trying to impersonate a flower. Now these are a real pain in ass; especially if your nose is abnormally sensitive and things like this can send your nose into mucus-producing overdrive. Bleh... Try taking out a tissue to blow your nose in a sardine-can packed train and you'll know what I'm talking about.

There are also the hidden surprises where all of a sudden, a thick diarrhoea-class fart envelopes the carriage like a lethal fog; engulfing all of the passengers in a cloud of death. It's no use trying to see WHO the farter is. Instead, you've gotta make a decision REAL QUICK - to exit at the next station to catch the next train at the risk of being late, or to just endure the olfactory torture for the remainder of your journey at the risk of death. I just blame it on bad karma and continue on. After all, after a few minutes, my nose becomes numb from what I presume is the death of tens of thousands of my smell receptors.

Now mix this with the wet dog dude, septic-mouth dude and the flower-wannabe dude and you've got yourself in a real mess.

That was last Wednesday. :(

I survived... barely...

Wonderer

While heading towards my car from mamak just now, I noticed this man sitting on a park bench in the middle of the dark, staring into space with a forlorn look on his face. I wondered if he had a home to go back to. I wondered what is he thinking of. I wonder what are his hopes and dreams. I wonder if he even HAS hopes and dreams. I wonder...

Being born and bred in a society where I never had to worry about food being on the table, strangers knocking in the night, wars, disease, famine...

All I had ever needed to care or worry about is ME.

All I ever worried about is whether I'm gonna ace that exam, whether I'll finish that assignment on time, when will I be able to buy this and that...

Now seeing that old man, so worn and so hardened, it really makes me wanna go there, buy him a drink and ask him about his life story.

Maybe I'll do that next time.

Fear

Fear of lack of innovation, fear of getting sucked into a status quo, fear of being just another face in the crowd, fear of being a part of a system, fear of being ordinary...

But somehow, I know that I'll be sucked into the system eventually... like everyone else where I am now - a part of a meaningless equilibrium. And that it's up to me to keep afloat, by reinventing myself over and over and over again.

Mehh... thoughts at work....