Thong Kuah's blog

Today, wises decided to give a ticket to hell. They gave a map and directions to nowhere! If you notice the picture, Broomhill Road is a dead end. (complete with fallen log, jungle track, non-tarred road, and being one-lane-so-turning-around-is-oh-so-hard). It doesn't lead to Highbury Road or Highbury Crescent or whatever. Note to self: Mt Pleasant Rd is not so pleasant after all. How do those ppl live and drive there? It's a horror to drive there..... So I sent an email to Wises. My letter to wises.co.nzHi, If you kindly click at the link at the bottom of this email, you will find a most horrendous mistake! I had to make it to Highbury in Wellington having never been there, but the directions are wrong! In particular: there is no connection between Broomhill Road to Highbury Crescent! I drove to three dead ends without ever coming near my destination. Please kindly correct the map and directions ASAP. Dissatisfied, Thong ======================================================= Click on or cut-n-paste the entire link below in your browser address window to view a map Click here for map Powered By Wises Maps =======================================================So beware of map directions or you shall plunge down jungles and cliffs!

Okay, Drupal works wonders…There u have it, the search is done :) Sorry, forgot to put rambling warning on… ;) Anyway, the cable car ride today was excellent. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that. When I graduate, I’ll be sure to take a picture with Mr Sulky Graduate of 1990……..And take my family along in the cable car ride… I should really do this blogging thing properly…Now, couple of post to do, but always slips my mind…. Oh, the McDonald’s at Lambton Quay is one to go to. Nice service, big and spacious tables. Best fast-food restaurant I’ve been to so far :) I’m off, zzzzzzzzz

Warning: This is going to be a rambling post. So, today we had another Drupal session where we tied up loose ends that we have started with profile search thing. Turns out that creating a search form is not that hard. All we need is just two additional functions, one to create the search form; and the other to display the results. Did I tell u that Drupal is great! The search form is not the only way we can do this though. People also can browse through user profiles and-> if they see some type they like, say, “Never Married”, they can always click on “Never Married” and poof, every member who is “Never Married” comes up. Its a fantastic system which handles members and structured communities quite well indeed. Well, communities remind me of Friendster. Friendster, is pretty nifty, however, there are several stupid bugs that really bug me. One, 10% of the time I get a white screen instead of the content I expect. The groups interface is also really alphaish, and it doesn’t allow you invite members properly! The list of friends to invite from doesn’t display the complete list of friends to invite! It really leaves me the overall impression that it is still Betaish. Bad for a website that existed for a couple of years already…. ….rambles on… but Friendster has allowed me to get into contact with my ye old friends again….sigh, if now the only thing is to connect them to this blog :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!! I guess it’s time to start planning for a new 2006 year. (Aside: Anyone besides me still wondering how the hell humanity managed to get back the year 2000? I mean, we are in 2006! 6 years after and I still can’t get my head around the weirdness of a ‘2’ in front of years….There must be a word for this) But first, some updates on what happended this Christmas. First off, the Grinch did NOT steal Christmas….Sorry couldn’t resist it. Instead, the everlasting turkey made its debut in flat 39, of Everton Hall. (Merry thanks to David, our assistant-in-chef).

My problem was I never let loose. Wonder what will happen if I wasn’t so considered? Hmmm…Well, for one thing, I’ll probably blog more often. I’ll be back with more.

Second update: My dearest has received it! I must say, this episode has resolved itself at last, after some really unnessecary nonsensical customer service from the folks at teddybearland.com. Update: I have just received an email from the sales staff apologising for missing my order! I replied back and now it’s back to ‘ghost mode’ again (meaning, no reply!) Sir Ellwood Russ Vintage Edition Teddy Bear Extraordinaire Boy, oh, boy, have you ever heard of the ghost website? Not about ghosts, no, it’s about the website. A website that is:"…Operating fine and seems to be valid and current, but in actual fact has been abandoned by its operators and owners"And hell, yeah! I was suckered into one such website. An e-commerce website, specifically. I thought that special teddy bears might be a nice change for a birthday gift. So I did the following (it’s amazing that everything still works!):Went to www.teddybearland.com (beware!) Browsed through the shopping list, which was all intact.Show an individual teddy that was just gorgeous (Sir Ellwood).Registered as a member.Logged in as a member.Put the teddy in my shopping cart.Logged out. Decided to shop in other places for maybe better gifts.Logged back in. Put the teddy in my cart again.Checked out my shopping cart. Entered my delivery and credit card detailsSubmitted my order.Received a confirmation email from the “sales” email a day later.…………………………………..Then the fun began……………………………..So far, so good. I just casually sent an email back to ask for a delivery date as the automated email did not say and I HAD to make sure it will arrive before my dearest’s Birthday :) Next day, no reply. Sent another email, this time sending it not just to sales, but the person in charge of sales, the person in charge of Customer relations and even the person in charge of the website! Just had to make sure, you see. Next day, still no reply…That’s weird. Tomorrow is D-Day, but still no reply? My card is still not charged. Plus the website promised next day delivery. Panic?! Hell, no. They have a phone number listed, so let’s call them. (30 minutes later….) Help! I’m confusing myself with this international call. Is this the correct number? 603-9058 8503. Yup. Or have they mixed fax and phone. Nope. I’m still getting the “This number does not exist” nonsense. Have I flipped 8 and 5. Doesn’t work either. Aargh! I must be tired from work. Give it a break…. (15 minutes break….) Now, let’s try again. {Super clarity phone dialing} Aargh! Still doesn’t work. Sleuthing mode. Malaysia yellow pages, maybe they have changed their phone number? Nope, no sign in the yellow pages. How about a WHOIS search? Yup, found the owner of the website, Cornerstone Consulting Sdn Bhd and a Zach Ho. Googled Cornerstone and found a non-working website with a telephone number. hurray! Nope, same “do not exist” number. Google owner’s name “Annie Lim”, found news from 2000. Aaargh! It was then, it hit me:The website is a shell, with no human behind it! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!So yeah, no news still either from my email or from the website’s order tracking thing.

“Rationals, are the problem solving temperament, particularly if the problem has to do with the many complex systems that make up the world around us. Rationals might tackle problems in organic systems such as plants and animals, or in mechanical systems such as railroads and computers, or in social systems such as families and companies and governments. But whatever systems fire their curiosity, Rationals will analyze them to understand how they work, so they can figure out how to make them work better. In working with problems, Rationals try to find solutions that have application in the real world, but they are even more interested in the abstract concepts involved, the fundamental principles or natural laws that underlie the particular case. And they are completely pragmatic about their ways and means of achieving their ends. Rationals don’t care about being politically correct. They are interested in the most efficient solutions possible, and will listen to anyone who has something useful to teach them, while disregarding any authority or customary procedure that wastes time and resources.

Sometimes, writing things down will make things happen. (As long as you refer back and remember ;) So here goes: Get a weighing machine Play some upper body sport, like basketball :) Weigh every week? Find out how to raise upper body strength Not to forget, push-ups. Drink milk. Sleep well. Finish 2 projects for e-doodle. I wonder how to make this post sticky?

The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster Can you believe this? Althought his nick is cheesy, his writing is just superb. I quote: "…And yet, there is my son with Shmi in his eyes – a product of love, before the storm. He is no Jedi, for his passion blows too hot, but perhaps he is not Sith, either. He is an instrument of change. He is the catalyst at the centre, the fulcrum on which pivot fates. To see him is to be blinded by the glory of the Force that orbits him like living netting." No Jedi, but not Sith either….Absolutely stunning.

:) After 6 months, I’m back, for a while