Screw threads

Today I learnt that the little hole at the base of all cameras meant for the tripod mounting plate to screw in uses a 1/4" x 20 TPI thread.

If that doesn't fit, then it's a 3/8" x 16 TPI thread.

Currently listening to: Grounds For Divorce by Elbow

I'm like 'wow'

HOMGWTF @ No. 3 I swear I'd run away as soon as I hear the jets...

I like this...

...very much =)

How to impress a boy with baking

Currently listening to: One More Time, One More Chance by Yamazaki Masayoshi

Seems like it's been dammed...

... I don't have any flow. Or I just can't find any.

When I do, they always end abruptly.

Somewhat like a quick flowing stream crashing into a dam made by an unexpected rockslide.

It's always been like this.

When will it finally run freely?

Bike Lust

This time round, it came after an unplanned and uneventful drop-in to the local bike shop to say hello to the boys in the mechanics area. Displayed against the pillar, attached through the rear dropout to the wall was one of the prettiest prettiest prettiest frame I've seen since Cervelo's S3 (formerly known as the Soloist SL).

I haven't had one this severe since I had the urge to build a road bike a year and a half ago.... which I did... culminating in the birth of this one. And I thought I'd never want a replacement for my old faithful Fisher.



Alas, after 8 years, there's a worthy replacement for her... may I present the Tranny!


In your choice of Nude, Granny Smith Apple Metallic Green and Copper Metallic. I'd personally go for either Nude or the green. As for the components, I'm pretty torn between full XTR with Formula brakes... or SRAM XX the damn thing.

Now then... 1200 quid for the frame shouldn't be too hard to come by now would it?

*head desk*

Now listening to: Viva La Vida by Coldplay

Drag myself from my bed around 20 past 6
Get my kids up make breakfast 1 egg 2 toast 3 weetabix

And as I sit down I look up
And your standing in the doorway sun at your back
in my old brown dressing gown
Well no one can love you more than I love you now
but I

Gotta go running for the bus
Coat flying and i try not to miss it this time
But the drivers waiting and that's strange
Kids on the top deck quiet for a change
And theres no rain and no roadworks in the
Bus lane and all my hurts run away
And im smiling as I'm punching in

Chorus
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life


Secretaries they got a smile for me
and the in tray on my desks almost empty
I get a memo from executive joe
saying Rob the gob is getting kicked out
for embezzling funds from the company account
and i'd be lying if i said i wasn't chuffed
cos i always hated rob
and now they'll probably offer me robs old job

And in the park at lunch
Theres no whinos on my favorite bench
none of that drunk chatter none of that greasy stench
and the scrawney little pigeons with the gammy leg
decide to dine from someone elses sandwich instead
and there's something about the city today
like all the colours conspire to overwhelm the grey
and this close to the fire I can feel no cold
but a rainbow halo around my soul


Chorus
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life

So I leave work get to the high street and i miss my bus
Should I wait for another no I can't be arsed
I begin to walk and rush hour crowd seem to part
Like the red sea, and im stopping at the offy
20 cigerettes and a 6 pack to relax me
And as I cross back over the street
I guess i never saw that taxi

Chorus
The day I died was the best day of my life
The day I died was the best day of my life
Tell my friends and my kids and my wife
everything will be alright
The day I died was the best day of my life

Sleep is good

I've been awake for the past 50 odd hours and last night was one of my best sleeps evar.

Feeling woozy and light-headed with the tendency to fall asleep just about anywhere is quite amusing. I foresee this happening a few more times before the end of this academic year.

Wonder how the SAS guys do it... 7 days with no sleep?

Superman.

Say hello the next time you see a scruffy hair Chinese dude in black lolling off in a chair while sitting with a book open in the library.

A post about nothing in particular

An old friend suggested I update this place more often. I felt compelled to oblige…

I think I’m still operating on autopilot this morning. Everything seems so vague and unfocused, something akin to a rainbow wash of water colour splattered on a white tile. I think.

Hmm… hot chocolate is nice though…

I’m now fairly immune to the failings of London’s finest in public transport. The Tube announced their decision to strike beginning 1900hrs yesterday evening and as a direct result of that, the streets and buses this morning were crowded with commuters who are usually found 100m or so underground.

Both my inbound and outbound trains were cancelled with little to no notice yesterday and the bus I was on today decided to abandon its route to Kings Cross, dumping all passengers at Euston, roughly 10 minutes walk away. Difficult to fathom their way of thinking, really. I still feel a little cheated that I lost a pound for that unfinished ride.

Looking on the bright side, Chee-kun has managed to land himself a part-time job with a Michelin-starred restaurant and we’re all happy for him. Good pay, so I hear. He’s perked up from his self-induced glum and has started discussing his wishlist again. ‘Yay’ for him. I haven’t heard from the Penguin in a while now. I wonder if she’s okay, as the last I heard from her was that she was coughing pretty badly. Shall pinch her cheeks if I see her this Saturday.

Tre-sama is coming in to Heathrow in a couple of day’s time. Another big ‘yay’. Temporary long distance relationships aren’t much fun. Can’t wait.

Many of my colleagues at work are of the opinion that I’m counting down the days until my placement is over. I suppose they’re right in some ways that I’m keeping track of the time left but I’m not obsessive enough to count them down to the days and hours. Or am I? I’m just thinking “Another ‘yay’ for finishing a year’s worth of proper work”… That’s all.

I think its time I start doing shopping for people back home. Mostly chocolates, a shirt here, a book there, some lingerie for her, a bikini for another her and a merino wool baselayer…

As an ending note, my boss just came up to me said “Ah, now I remember the word that you used in your interview 12 months ago which left a lasting impression on us which subsequently led to our decision to take you on”.

“Imbued”

Currently listening to: The whirr of the electric fan set on the lowest speed

Reset this

Every morning on the train, it’s always either murder or radical religious militants blowing themselves up (or more recently, the economic crash that sent everyone a tumbling) splashed on newspaper covers. Little wonder why everyone looks as glum-faced as the homeless chap sitting outside the British Library.

If ever there is a hung up computer or the dreaded blue/black screen of death (Heaven forbid =.= ), there is always always always always the reset button. Well, not quite for the BSOD but hey it works occasionally.

A single effortless click is all that’s needed for a fresh start. A clean slate. A white canvas. One that we’d hope to paint right this time round.

Too bad we don’t get a reset button for life and the world.

Why drive on left side?

It's of some interest to note the reason why Japanese drive on the left side of the road has roots in the feudal age, where bushi (warrior ranks, samurai) wore swords by law as an indication of their position and status. This brought to light a situation termed as saya-atte, the unintentional (or intentional) contact or hitting of one's sword scabbard, the saya, an offence akin to insulting or punching said person in the face.

The consequences of this is bloody for most occasions, due in part to the above reason and the haughty disposition of the warrior class who viewed almost everyone else as an inferior being and woe befall any poor soul who had the bad luck of accidentally touching the saya of their katana.

Being the land of superb social conduct, it was devised that samurai or any swordbearing person to walk on the left side of the path, allowing oncoming travellers to pass on their right side, thus reducing the risk of saya-atte.

One of the few other countries that drives their automobiles on their left is UK, with a similar history. Falconers of the old have their birds perched on their gloved left hand which also holds on to the reins of their horse. This leaves their right hand free to draw their sword should the need arises.

What about Malaysia then?

*Inspired and adapted from the writings of Clive Sinclaire of To-Ken Society of Great Britain*

I'm amazing mlm nyaha

Sitting here in office, I'm thinking that I'm having it so good in life. I've got an amazing girlfriend who's more or less ruined all girls in the world for me, I also have a BFF and/or boifren (as the girlfriend calls him =.=), an adorable pet penguin who sounds like a duck, depressingly dwindling harem of intelligent, pretty and lovely girl friends back home, some awesome guy friends and the innate ability of surviving in my current lavish-like lifestyle with little to no money by honest, down to earth financial borrowing and cunning manipulation of stupid people that I'm surrounded with (not anyone mentioned above).

I've been rereading far too much Tucker Max.

Recovery. And some pointless details.

The cough has died down.

In the midst of this one week off work, I have the girlfriend strumming guitar next to me with the boifriend singing along...

There are also jars of CNY confectionery sitting on the table next to the lappie. Pineapple tarts among them, half finished. Neil Gaiman's "Smoke and Mirrors" sit next to me, unopened because I don't feel like reading these past few days.

At this point I'm feeling that this is a pointless post with nothing of major importance or urgency. I'm disappointed with courier companies today for the first time in awhile. I suppose they have their reasons for not leaving a card *shoots them all dead*...

Oh well, at least I have the turbo trainer in my possesion now. Time for weekly interval training rides to start regardless of weather. Is wants my calves, glutes and quads back to their former glory. Nyam.


We made lamb burgers with special mint yogurt sauce for dinner today. Ama-bloody-zing. Too much work though.

Currently listening to: Dui Mien De Ni Hai Kan Guo Lai by Ah Nyu

Question of the day

Does the head of the body (in a coffin, obviously) face the front or the back of the hearse when it's being transported?

Hot tip of the day

Remember to google yourself every once in a while, lest you find that you offer sexual favours for a price on the Internet unknowingly.

Today's hot tip has been brought to you by Chrissehs-kun.

Monday morning

I dreamt that I was waking up when I was meant to be waking up for real this morning.

Happenings of the months

To start off with, I managed to wobble my way to a UK motorcycle driving license. A full 'A' license at that, which means that I'm not limited by engine capacity. Which means I'm road legal on a 1.3 litre Suzuki Hayabusa with immediate effect. Which also means that the UK roads are not safe anymore. Bless them.

Lucky for the UK'ians then that the DVLA hasn't sent me the license yet...

The girlfriend's birthday was two weeks ago. That was awesome. A dinner date at ASK, where the risotto and al fondo was rather nice and where it was a shit place to have a romantic conversation. What was nice though (and still is), is just spending time together. Lying in bed with her head on my shoulder, her wet hair making my t-shirt damp. Happy 21st babe =)

A few days later, the Design Office manager, my colleague and yours truly were invited to PTC World 2008, held at the Heritage Motor Centre, in Gaydon. It was a gathering of sorts for PTC's customers, showcasing the latest and greatest that PTC had to offer. Great opportunities to network. I met the editor of Racecar Engineering, Graham Jones and Philip Darlington, who was involved with a reverse-engineering job with Carlin Motorsports. A former engineer at Ferrari F1, he designed their cylinder heads as well, if I'm not mistaken. That was pretty cool...

There were also lots and lots and lots of Jaguars about... typical of a place close to Coventry.

Oh and before I forget, we got a couple of friends round and had a steamboat dinner / party of sorts at Tre-sama's place. Nom. Almost 500 odd meatballs and fishballs were consumed, in addition to three packets of enoki mushrooms, almost 2 kilos of prime beef meat, a couple of eggs, one whole chinese leaf, fried beancurd, beancurd, fishcakes and a few blocks of noodles. Oh wait, lets not forget approximately 6 litres of pork soup that was boiled the previous night and left to steep. Muahaha...~

The chocolate cake from Costco. 'Tis the only time I gave up halfway through a slice of cake. It is that big a deal.

Currently listening to: Sleep Now In The Fire - Rage Against The Machine