You know, I have been explaining to you guys about my job and the hazards of it. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so I guess a video is worth a million? This video shows me carrying a Geiger Meter (device that measures radiation) that you always see in movies. In my job, I have to use it every time a radiation source will be used. To check before and after status of a job site and make sure we don't leave the source behind. Or worse case scenario, a leak. And that can very very bad.
Radiation kills a person slowly over time if they are over exposed, but that takes ALOT of exposure from a source. Back in my Libya camp, the locals there runs helter-skelter every time we take a source out BUT when we are assembling Guns by loading High Explosives into them. They stand right by it SMOKING. Geez...they are scared shit of something that will not kill them even in the long run but they are carefree about something that will blow their head clear off their shoulder instantly? Go figure...
Took this video when on a job in Kazakhstan last trip. Gotta tilt your head a bit, forgot bout the angle when taping this :P
The big orange container holds the Neutron source, the smaller is the Density. Neutron is deadlier as it sort of disassemble H2O,which what 90% of what the human body consists of, by knocking the 'H' off.
Beep...Beep...Beep....Uh-oh!
Is this the cause of Malaysia's problems?
Was surfing the net and some forums, stumbled upon an interesting topic, education level comparison between Malaysian and Singaporean ministers. I'm not sure they are true or not, use Google to find out if you want.
The circulated email is making our Malaysian ministers a joke.....true? You decide.
Singapore and Malaysia's Minister
PM Lee Hsien Loong
Cambridge University - First Class Honours (1974)
Harvard University - Masters (1980)
PM Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi
University of Malaya - Bachelor of Arts Honours (1964)
SM Goh Chok Tong
University of Singapore - First Class Honours (1964)
Williams College , USA - Masters (1967)
Deputy PM Dato' Sri Najib Razak
University of Nottingham - Bachelor of Arts Honours (1974)
MM Lee Kuan Yew
Cambridge University - First Class Honours (1949)
Minister of Foregn Affairs Syed Hamid Albar
(can someone tell me his univeristy? )- Bachelor of Arts [ UITM ]
Minister for Law Prof. S Jayakumar
University of Singapore - Bachelor of Law Honours (1963)
Yale Univerity - Masters (1966)
Ministry of Works- Dato' Seri Samy Vellu
(Education Unknown) [ Form 6, Anderson School ]
Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng
University of Singapore - Bachelor of Arts & Business Admin (1977)
London Business School - Masters (1979)
Ministry of International Trade & Industry Rafidah binti Aziz
Universiti Malaya - Bachelor of Arts Honours
Minister for Foreign Affairs BG George Yeo
Cambridge University - Double First Class Honours (1976)
Harvard Business School - MBA w/ Distinction (1985)
Minister of Agriculture Muhyiddin Yassin
(Education Unknown) [ Polytechnic Ungku Omar ]
Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang
Cambridge University - First Class Honours w/ Distinction (1976)
Harvard University - Masters (1986)
Ministry of Domestic Trade Shafie Apdal
(Education Unknown) [ Form 5, Failed English ]
Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean
University of Manchester - First Class Honours (1976)
Imperial College, London - Masters w/ Distinction (1977)
Minister of Education Hishammuddin Hussein
(Education Unknown) [ Bachelor of Arts, Social Science ]
Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam
London School of Economics - Bachelor of Arts
Cambridge University - Masters
Harvard University - Masters
Minister of Home Affairs Radzi bin Sheikh Ahmad
(Education Unknown) [ Kolej Islam Malaysia , Diploma ]
My First White Christmas....alone....
Blessed Belated Christmas Everyone!
Well, on the morning of Christmas I got a big surprise. It was snowing! Don't wanna sound like a 'sua-ku', this IS my first white Christmas.....even my first snowing winter. Previous winters I spent was either back in Malaysia which is usually raining or in Libya which is cold but no snow.
First white Christmas and I am spending it alone....sad eh? Well, what to do....work is work. I flew out of Almaty early in the morning and arrived in Kzylorda around noon. Once landed, the captain announced that the temperature outside was -19°C....I thought I heard -9°C but once I stepped out of the plane...it immediately hit me.....my face had a biting feeling....ears and fingers were in pain. You think that is bad huh? Wait till I tell you about the temperature at my base camp in Kumkol.
A list of my Christmas presents:
1) Nokia N81 8GB from Randi
2) White Christmas
3) Skywards Silver status from Emirates (sorta...)
Yes, apparently I'm short of 135miles but they gave it to me anyways. I guess it must be too close and they decided to give me the status or because I have the returning flight with them. Either way, I have additional perks now. Access to the Business Class Lounge, E-Gate check-in, add luggage allowance and many more. Woot!
Shalom!
My Skywards miles
Feeling heavy waking up this morning....knowing that I'll be flying...again. Another 2 more flights before I'm at my camp. I take a total of 6 flights a month just to get to work and back. And you guys complaining of driving to work. LOL.
My uncle dropped me off at the airport, first time in almost 2 years the airport is not so packed. Weird...maybe because it's a work day. Check in my luggage, 23.5 KG. Not bad...considering the amount of winter clothes I brought...including 2 huge thermal coveralls my uncle gotten me. Having my breakfast at Starbucks...now...typing this while waiting to enter the departure gate. 5hrs of flight and I'll be in Almaty....checked the weather online....it's -3 now. Rainy Snow Mist....hmmm...is that good?
As we drove near the airport, can see the newly built departure terminal from afar. It's huugggee...like a huge caterpillar. It's not open yet but once it does....it'll be hell for someone who gotta walk from one end of the terminal to other. One of either new or the old terminal would be dedicated to Emirates flights. Good news for me.
Oh talking about Emirates, I am so pissed since I knew that my frequent flyer Skywards Tier miles are going to expire by 31st Dec. The tier miles determines which level I'm at....there are 3 levels....Blue, Silver and Gold. To reach Silver level, I have to collect 25,000 tier miles in a year, Gold is 50,000. Apparently I only have 24,865 tier miles!! Short 135 miles to become Silver. Crap! and it's gonna expire end of this year. My next flight is only in January. By then I'll have to start from 0 again. Actually I could get the Gold status if I didn't spend 5 months at home. Being Gold, I get to check in at the First and Business class counter, use the Business Class Emirates lounge at airports and get 30KG of luggage allowance. And maybe...just maybe....get bumped to Business class seats. LOL.
Okay, gotta go now. Shall write more when I'm freezing my arse off in Kazakhstan.
Shalom and Out!
Dubai again....kinda cool
Well dudes and dudettes, halfway again to somewhere. Dubai is always my stopover hub before heading off to a month of work somewhere around the world. Will be heading out to Kazakhstan tomorrow morning, Air Astana....not bad. Better than alot. Weather here is kinda cool, although it's colder same time last year though....Global Warming?
But once I touchdown in Alamaty, the temperature there is currently -15 to -20. Ugghhh...thinking about it makes me shiver. With all the money spent on my winter wear, it better keep me warm and cosy. Although working will be much harder with me dressed looking like the Michelin Tire mascot. You know the white bald marshmallow man?
Good news is that I'll be back in Dubai for the Dubai Festival Sale! woot! Shop! Shop! Shop! I just bought an LV handbag...not for myself of course....for Randi. Luckily I did not buy it back in Malaysia, it's cheaper by RM500 here! cripes! Although LV is NEVER on sale. But I'll be back for their festival sale....almost EVERYTHING is on sale. Up to 75% on all brands. Got my eyes on an Oakley or Victorninox Backpack, some shoes and clothes. Hopefully it'll be a steal.
Gonna go out window shop again....need to get gift ideas for everyone at home. Out!
Ever seen a Rig Floor? a dirty one?
Was clearing up clutter in my computer, thousands of picture files here and there. And stumbled on the videos taken from my last trip to Kazakhstan, videos of the rig floor. It's where all the action is....drilling, pumping....and where I work. Now you all can see how it is on the rig floor. The floor is usually 30-40 feet above ground level. Why is it that high up? Between the floor and the ground level is a huge BOP (Blow-Out-Preventer)....a massive object that retains the pressure in the hole from exploding out is one of it's many uses.
This rig in the video is dirty, not all are this bad...some worse though. There are some rig floors that are organised and clean. Easier to work on.
Crammed Like Sardines!
Saturday morning is usually our lazy sleeping day....but Mike Goh made plans with us earlier for Dim-Sum at his uncle's place in Puchong and to PC Fair afterwards. There was a miscommunication during our drive to breakfast, but we all made it only to find out that his uncle's shop has already closed down. Luckily there was another Dim-Sum shop right next to it, since everyone's famished...we just ate there. Food's not bad....cheap though. Adrian, Eric, Mike Goh, Randi and I....it only cost RM 64. After makan we headed out, Randi drove back to church for puppet practice.
Surprisingly there wasn't much jam heading to KLCC, and plenty of parking. Last year everywhere was bumper to bumper. Anyhoo, we made our way to the convention center and start our sardine packing routine. There were throngs of people there, at least the air-conditioning in the halls were working fine. Thank goodness for that...if not there's gonna be massive "BO" (Body odour lar) problem.
The first few halls were not very interesting 'cept Dell for displaying their new XPS laptops and desktops. And also some promoter girls from other major brands. Got my friends oogling at them. The main event is located at the last hall, which hosts the retailers like MTEC, BESS and Computer War. Lots of other small retailers, they usually offer more unique and cheaper items. I got myself ink refills for my Dell printer for only RM9 and 50pcs Memorex DVDs. I was sooo tempted to get some really cool hardware for my computer but need to be patient till my next big upgrade. Very soon. The guys were looking for cases for their IPods and memory stick drives.
After a long stroll, we headed back to KLCC's Starbucks....where else? LOL. Sat down, relaxing while sipping iced lattes. There is this huge-mungous Christmas tree at the center court of the shopping mall. Biggest I've seen so far in Malaysia. Not bad eh?
Updates! Updates!
It's been soooo long since my last post...yeah I know...I'm lazy. Alot has happened since then. Don't even know where to start. Let me give you the short story. Hmmm...I have been chasing for my salary and rig bonus for the past week or so...the smart alec people in the payroll department seems to have made an error on the swift code, the code tells the banks where the location of the account is. Maybank Malaysia is MBBEMYKL, the douche bag that made the mistake wrote MBBEMYKA which is the code for Labuan's Mayban Berhad. Sheesh. Apparently my money got bounced off Labuan and headed back to New York. And now they are trying to sort it out....and I'm broke! Of all the time to make a mistake.
That's a recent news. Oh....my good friend Anderson and his wife, Zoe went back to China after a short 2 week holiday here. Kinda fun when he's around, we went to a bar called Just Divine, which is co-owned by Randi's brother. A bunch of us got together there and chilled out. It has been 6 years since the last similar event. Long overdue. Although I missed out on the Japanese buffet outing at KLCC. Busy lar.
Just today, the 5 day Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Klang Wesley Methodist Church ended. Randi was one of the coordinator for the event. This event is for sunday school kids, they have bible lessons, games, craft and lots of activities. I sort of helped out for the first 2 days, after that I disappeared into the wind. LOL. I just found out the noise level that 150 children makes. Totally deafening! Even the disco feng-thau speakers loses out! Haha. Glad that's over liao, Randi was poofed after the 5 day event. At least the kids gone back home happy and with bible knowledge.
Oh, just heard that a family friend was denied his Datukship title today, he was invited to accept the Datuk title sometime ago but now being denied it. The reason for his predicament? He was charged in the court of law for stealing a bicycle more than 20 years ago! Back then he was poor, but now he has multiple legitimate businesses and is a respected businessman. A little black mark that happened years ago that you think will not harm you in the future, apparently came back to bite you in the ass. A lesson here people.....Don't get caught! I mean...do good.
Gonna try to update more lah. Wanna play some CS now.