O&G: Not For The Faint Hearted

I'm sorry I can only update my blog now; I'm having some major (i mean major!) situation at the refinery I'm working at. Basically it involves a lifted 46" feed pipe into the distillation column. Basically we are not quite sure what caused the lifting, and we are now looking at the possibility of the incorrect settings on the support spring systems. Long story short; the maintenance team are put on standby 24/7. To make things more interesting, I am covering both the maintenance planner and the mechanical supervisor job.

I'm not here to talk or ramble about what is going on; I rather talk about the experiences gained from these major challenges. Despite the good pay, being in the O&G industry is indeed tough. It's a dynamic work environment; anything can happen in anytime, and it takes sheer determination, hardwork and being plain nuts and crazy to survive in this world. Imagine, being called early in the morning if something came up then requires urgent attention; imagine working 18-20 hours straight without proper rest. We are also juggling our acts up in pressing situations; we have scaffoldings to erect, insulations team on standby, bolting crew, even heavy lifting machinery. Operations, Engineering, and Technology will sync up their mind body and soul to complete the tasks at hand. Every second counts, because in the end, time is money (literally speaking!). We are indeed playing with our lives in our everyday worklife. At sometime, even our body could not cope with the workload and stress; not to mention our biological clock gone nuts due to working shifts; lack of sleep and so on. So in the end if you guys complaining that we got paid so much, trust me..we deserved every single cent.

Till the next post...

On A Stroll...

Yaya (my sister) and I went to OU this afternoon. The plan in our minds are to watch The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button; turns out the reception of the movie want's something to be curious of! Only a handful of seats left (mind you, it's in the front row!) In the end, we thought 'Nah, we'll just watch Valkyrie then'. Got our tickets, and we went for a stroll along the shops. I was thinking of looking for some stuffs for my upcoming car; all those mengarut things you can think off: funny signs, air fresheners, decos for the dashboard...

As we walk along, we bumped into this mini exhibition. It's a Photos For The Future exhibition, joint hosted by The History Channel and Astro. There lies some collection of photos taken way back then. We're talking the 60's and 70's era y'all! You can see old pictures of siblings, weddings, even that old shop your dad and mum used to go to. Owh, there's even a shot of an old-skool barbershop. Nowadays, you can only see those modern, hip and trendy salons. It's a fascinating thing to see, in my opinion because in the end, every picture tells a story, a fascinating chapter of our life. For more info, visit the website.

Now, back to the movie. Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise is a depiction of the assasination attempt towards the one and only - Adolf Hitler (in case you're wondering, yes..it is based on a true story of an actual event). God knows who much we hate (or love) him, and there's has been numerous attempts to assasinate him (I think there has been like what, 15 times?). The issue discussed in the movie is very sensitive and it is in my opinion a serious movie. The name Valkyrie, as what I'd understood, refers to a secret operation approved by Hitler, to be executed in the event of disruption or breakdown of law and order. I'm no good when it comes to history, but I think the depiction is accurate, the realism the film tries to bring is great, it's authenticity is established..not to mention, the cast has been splendid. I would give it a 4/5 due to Cruise's excellent potrayal as one of the key-plotters and the issue brought into hand (Germans? Nazis? Hitler? what's not to like?)

Till the next post...

Coming Soon...A New Ride Joining The Family

Hey peeps, how's it going? Hope that you guys are having a good weekend. Anyway, just a brief update; my new ride is coming soon! (well technically, the car is already at the showroom). My mum and I went to the Honda showroom yesterday to check out the car and to settle a few things before we finalized anything. Unfortunately we waited for about 45 minutes, as my SA is entertaining another customer. We then get to business. First thing first: interest rates! Earlier, my loan has been approved with rates of 2.87% (I think!), but I've reading through the forums on the web, and found out that the rates have dropped up to 2.6%. So I was like 'I should get those rates too.' Before I address my concern, my SA asked me if the bank by any chance had called me. Wow, is he like psychic? Then he spilled the good news, the current interest rate is 2.54%. I was like, 'Alright! Cool!'. That translates into savings of about RM50-ish (I know it's not much, but it is something, right?)

Then comes the second issue: registration number. I have yet to get the number that I want! We are still waiting for the tendering process in Kelantan. So, I've asked my SA to get his contacts to check out the number that I want here in KL, the price and all that. If not, the car might just be registered under some crappy number and we'll change it later.

Then comes the fun part: final negotiation. I've kept my head and my gut ready, and I started asking it bluntly, 'So, is there anything on the table that you can offer me before I signed anything? Again, I hope that this relationship will not stop here. If you managed to give me something good, I might recommend you to anybody interested in getting a Honda.' He then asked me, 'What exactly are you looking for?' He caught the bait, huhu..Without any hesitation, I was like 'Well, perhaps some cash rebates, tinting discounts, free accessories, etc2'. To make this even more 'interesting', suddenly there's this one uncle joning us and started babbling again and again about how tinting works, what to choose from, and he goes on and on about car security systems which I have never heard before. Obviously I showed him a little interest of what he talked about (Come on! we lived in a digital age, Internet is our source. I dare not say this, but to some extent, we users are more knowledgable than you are! So don't you dare try to outsmart us!).

After all that verbal torture of what that uncle has to offer, the uncle then left (hahhh, a sign of relief!) We continued with our negotiations. We finally get something! (at least better than nothing right) We got some discounts on the bodykit, and the DP. I'm not revealing values, but let's just say it makes me a happy customer. He also promised me some goodies from Honda (I'm looking at shirts, keychains, caps, umbrella)

And so, my mum and I returned home smiling. We got what we want. We'll then wait patiently to collect our car (SA still needs to settle the registration, fixing the bodykits). If everything goes right, the new ride will be brought home by next week! Woohoo..Till the next post, jaane!

I Want I Want I Want! (you'll be seeing a lot of this post in the future)

I have no idea of what to post for today (I'm posting this from my home PC, as you know my laptop screen kaput!) So I've decided to post my wishlist for drooling (with hope that I can afford it someday, or someone is willing to give me, haha) So what do we have for today?

1) Tag Heuer Aquaracer Man Calibre S Regatta


2) HTC Touch HD or HTC Touch Diamond White (I'm having trouble deciding...)


3) Audi A4

Stoopid Laptop Screen Flickering!

Dammit dammit dammit! My laptop has a screen problem. I don't know if it's the driver problem or what, but now my screen is sakit, and now even my eyes felt tired of watching it. Tried to boot it via safe mode, but the problem persists (so I don't think it's the driver issue, it's the f@%king screen!)..Arghhhh! I've lost my appetite to blog (just in case you're wondering where the heck am I). So, signing off!

Today's The Day To Work Your Magic

It's a start of another working week. I just want to share with you an advert by JC Penney. For me, it's a simple and refreshing advert presented in a creative manner. The theme is simple: Today's The Day To Work Your Magic. So, start working your magic people! Happy working:)

p/s: Sometimes I wonder why don't we have adverts of such creative calibre in our country? Are our minds not that imaginative?

HSE Tips: Post No.1

For the place I'm working at, safety is the pinnacle in our day to day operations. There is a saying in our practice, 'No work is so urgent that we cannot take time to do it safely'. For that, I think it's good to have some safety and health tips to be shared to all of you; courtesy of the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) department. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure of the relevancy of these tips, so I'm open to comments!

Health - Important Tips

Answer the phone by LEFT ear

Do not drink coffee TWICE a day

Do not take pills with COOL water

Do not have HUGE meals after 5pm

Reduce the amount of TEA you consume

Reduce the amount of OILY food you consume

Drink more WATER in the morning, less at night

Keep your distance from hand phone CHARGERS

Do not use headphones/earphone for LONG period of time

Best sleeping time is from 10pm at night to 6am in the morning

Do not lie down immediately after taking medicine before sleeping

When battery is down to the LAST grid/bar, do not answer the phone as the radiation is 1000 times