“For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, straightforward, and wrong.”
- H.L. MENCKEN

While out cycling on Sunday evening, I decided to drop by an old classmate’s house for no apparent reason other than to gossip catch up on things as we have not met in quite a while. We were very close in lower secondary school but we’ve sort of ‘drifted apart’ over the years on account that he is a super-religious super boring Christian and I am not! It’s a complicated story and I sort of like to do short posts. Fortunately we’ve not allowed religion to get in the way and we have remained friends and have kept in touch over the years; although the ‘keeping in touch’ bit is mostly one way; from my way. Then again this is complicated and lengthy to elaborate …

He was surprised and delighted to see me and we decided to take a walk at a nearby park and we chatted as we strolled. He told me that he would be retiring in 3 years time and has plans in mind to start a new business then although he really would love to resign now from the civil service but things are seldom simple and like most of us; is unsure about the future. As we walked I noticed the dramatic evening skies and took snaps as we talked. Looking at how complicated the clouds formations are, it dawned on me that it’s natural that things are ‘complicated’ and are not as simple as we wished or hoped them to be.

Like my on-going ‘battle’ with our IT people, problems at work or in other areas of our lives requires a shifting of our focus from the big picture to the details and back again without fixating at just one level of the problem. In other words our IT people are so going to get it from me from so many angles! We need to balance between gathering more information with the need to get something done urgently; as I urged my friend to get started as soon as possible on his future plans as 3 years somehow goes by rather quickly once you’re past 50. Such is the complications of life. However it is not that complicating to enjoy the simple things in life such as watching complicated clouds drift past you … Enjoy.

Kuching Sunday Skies, 11th May 2008

Labour Day is a public holiday; supposedly but is otherwise, as we all still have to show up for a company event the attendance of which is mandatory. And to make sure of that, attendance is taken by HR whereby we have to sign in and sign out! They wise up after last year’s event where most people showed up, signed in and spirit away immediately after that. Darn.

The serious business of eating and enjoying an ice cream.

And the only person I spotted genuinely enjoying himself at this event and indulging himself fully on the freebies is this cute little fellow.

“I’m here for the ice creams. I wonder what the rest of the idiots are doing here on a public holiday?”

An intensely blue sunrise and an insanely outrageous invasion of privacy and rights at work.

My last post on that outrageous ‘house’ on top of a cliff with massive rock fill to create the retaining sea walls and even more massive earth fills to create the access driveway to the top of the hill more than infuriate the more mindful and thoughtful amongst us on the waste and abuse of the earth’s resources by those just because they can.

And I was incensed too when the ‘emergency’ meeting called to thrash out the issue about internet access revealed more than concerns about office security and staff productivity - it revealed the outrageous invasion of privacy by our IT department who have ‘dossiers’ on the records of staff’s website visits! Needless to say since I complained, and as the head of my department; my staffs were targeted - for logging on to music websites! Subsequent conversations with staff in other department revealed that our emails were also spied on as staff had been called up for disciplinary action for having office affairs after being caught digitally! OMG.

As you can imagine with a defensive and invasive bastard person the meeting did not achieve much but to get me incensed. I was seething. It was a good thing that there was no paddle in the meeting room yesterday afternoon that I could get my hand on. But I could just as easily squeeze his nuts into a fraction of its already puny size with my bare hand. This is outrageous and a sickening state of affair. If I push this issue further I might probably get myself in trouble as this IT person is ‘entrenched’ in our organization and apparently with the support of the top guy in the company or so he brags (and indirectly threatens). I might just take him on the brag and see who blinks first. What shit. And things could get ugly for me but I am not moving ground.

The colours of nature is pure and beautiful. The true colours of some people are perverse and ugly.

Kim’s having her A-levels exams and being the dotting father that I am, I was willing to endure the over half an hour queue at ‘Big Apple Donuts & Coffee’ @ The Spring to surprise and pamper her with her favourite chocolate donuts to assuage her over this stressful exam period. *sigh*

Er, to be honest I have a fondness weakness for sugary and junky food as well…

Hallelujah! Finally I can upload my photos after mucking around without success with the chmod, htaccess file, swfuploads, turning off plug-ins, upgrading of PHP, Adobe flash upgrade, etc and all the various suggestions in WordPress forums … I was not alone in this with the common sentiment that this is “incredibly frustrating” …

In the end it turned out that if I put the full URL path name to the files for upload (in Settings >Miscellaneous) and leaving the “Organize my uploads into month- and year-based folders” option unchecked that did the trick … *sigh* And I finally get to go to bed at around 1.30 am.

Would I still install the latest updates/upgrades the next time round? You bet I would as the fear or inclination not to try new and challenging stuff(s) and a refusal to accept changes is certainly a sure way to become dull and OLD (and there are heaps aplenty of ‘old’ young people around!). Bring ‘em on! Yeah. But not so soon please OK!

Last week I posted about this ridiculous situation where we have this small hongkie group who does not want to go kayaking on a rainforest kayaking trip!

And it gets even more ridiculous today with this group of 10 from Royal Brunei Airlines Hong Kong & Southern China Agents (and again arranged arranged by STB) who on arrival at the put-in at Bengoh decided to sit it out in their air-conditioned coach leaving Azmi, Max and Bev who were ready to guide them with the kayaks and gears ready, dumbfounded and more than a little perplexed at these superficial tour agents. Next time STB should just send these sort people shopping, karaoke and for hanky-panky massages instead or not bloody entertain them at all. What a waste of time and money. *sigh*

This post is still ridiculously bare naked without any photos as despite my best efforts at changing the folder’s permission(s), creating new folders with 777 permissions and re-installation of WordPress; I am still unable to upload any photos. I still get this darn confounded error message - “Unable to create directory /public_html/fh2o/wp-content/uploads/2008/04. Is its parent directory writable by the server?”

Any ideas anyone out there? Before I tear out whatever remaining ridiculous tuffs I still have remaining on top of my head. I would be eternally grateful. Really. For the remaining tuffs of hair I mean.

WoesPress Version 2.5 indeed. *sigh*

Approaching storm on Lake Toba. 23rd March 2008

It’s Friday already and I need to snap out of this gloomy mood that I’ve been rather uncharacteristically stuck in this past week. What’s with me?

A fine morning somewhere on Lake Toba. 23 March 2008

I wished I am floating on a lake somewhere now …

A meeting on the water is better than any on land. 23 March 2008

… I really do.

Chemically toxic people tends to cloud our perception of the goodness of life.

Everyday is a fine day.
Really.
We just need to be reminded or be conscious of it that’s all.
Especially me. *sigh*
And especially in the midst of such nonsense, bullshit, pretense, dishonesty, backstabbing, incompetence and cowardice.

The sharpest colours appear before the darkest moments.
Kuching Sunset, 14th March 2008

Back view of expedition newbie Elke with no turning back for her - not that she’s got much choice on this matter in this situation …

“Huey was delusional (still is) - and the rest of us were just plain stupid!”
FH2o laments in his blog … not!

I suspect that Huey is worried that instead of me doing him some bodily harm that I may instead choose to ‘demonize’ him in my blog; and that’s why he beats me to the punch quickly with his version of our ‘night paddling experience’! I am kidding. Taking on the thankless task of being our expedition leader we were in a sense putting on lives in his hand - leaving him to work out and plan the expedition routes and making the decisions with regards to our daily paddling distance, etc. I had paddled with Huey before together with JB on our Chiangmai Ping River Expedition and we trusted him implicitly although at times we doubt the state of our mental health.

“Do you know where the frankfurt are we heading?”, Chan asks Halim a nonsensical question in the middle of the lake in the midst of an approaching storm.

Even in the middle of the lake feeling wobbling from being bounced about by the waves in my lovely but delicate Cooper (and wondering which of the aluminum tubings would have been detached itself from the crossframes or ribs if I had forgotten to cable tie them down - Folbot are you listening?), blinded by the driving rain (we couldn’t really see in the pitch darkness anyway but the light sticks) and sitting on 2 or more inches of water swooshing about inside your folding kayak; and physically exhausted from not only trying to keep my balance but my kayak on course from the quartering waves after an entire day of paddling - I was at no time in any doubt that we would all make it across the lake and onto dry land that night. I just knew. And we did.

After 15hours of paddling - exhausted but elated at reaching Muara at last. Mindy, Lee Ali & Melvyn start searching for their dry gear and sanity. 21st March 2008

Here are Huey’s lucid accounts of our first night out on the lake in the middle of a storm which looking back now was the ‘highlight’ of our trip. I know - we are insane!

1. Storm Over Muara

2. Lights of Muara

3. Muara

Note: All photos in this post are stolen from Huey’s blog - he deserves a greater punishment than this.