think big

OK, so here’s what I want. First of all, at some point when I’ve settled down there’ll be this house I’ll live in, right?

Right, a house. A pretty decent one, sure—but that’s not enough. I’d really like any house I live in to have a turret.

OK, this is better. You might say it’s getting there. But we’re not done yet; not by a long shot. The next step involves a dentist chair—one that’s comfortable and has many adjustable arms. (Be patient, I will explain things.)

The next step involves attaching my two LCD monitors to the adjustable arms of the chair. Of course, since the arms are adjustable, they need not stay in this unergonomic position. Imagine them swiveling freely to accomodate the one seated.

Then you take the base of the chair, hollow it out, and put a computer in there as so:

The last step is to install the chair in the top of the turret. Extra points if you can set up hydraulics so that you can sit in the chair at the bottom, throw a switch, and be raised to the top of the turret. I think it goes without saying that the chair needs to be able to turn freely on its X-axis if the tower has a proper panoramic view.

I think you will all agree that what I’ve laid out here is pretty nifty. The view especially is what I’m looking forward to.

as i live, there is no evil that will stand

The spam-bots got to my site today. I’ve never had any problems with them before, but I guess they’ve figured out my fancy ajaxed comment forms finally.

Anyway, to fight the <expletive_deleted /> I’ve instituted a strict three-link maximum with a vengeance. Sorry for the commenting inconvenience, but until we’ve figured out a way to rid the world of these scum, (I keep saying a 9mm round to the base of the skull is the only way to be sure, but everyone keeps looking at me funny…) we’ve got some annoyance to live with.

woof

Happy new year, everyone.

photos i like

These are from our Christmas trip, I just haven’t gotten around to putting them up. It’s a good thing I’m not paying for bandwidth, or this would be a foolhardy move.

Singapore

These two are from the Botanical Gardens.

This is outside the famous Raffles Hotel where E.M. Forrester used to drink Singapore Slings. (Or so I am told.)

We rode a double-decker bus to see all the lights on Orchard Road.

Malaysia

First from our hike:

It was steep.

The fog was intense.

We hiked up a hill with a microwave tower on top.

We are tired.

MMMMMmmmmmoss.

This is the OMF guest house.

This is the beautiful Boh Tea House from farther away.

A close-up of the tea house.

This is a camellia sinensis plant from which tea leaves come.

beware: unsafe driver

Women are bad drivers. Yes, you read that correctly. Women are bad drivers. I used to argue with this sentiment until the fateful day last Friday. It was then, on Friday the 13th, that Phil and I bought our first car together. Now, don’t misunderstand me. This car is awesome. It is a silver Saturn SL1 with three (count them, one-two-three) doors. One of them is a backwards door, and if you look at the picture closely, you will be able to see where it is.

It is also…. a manual. This is where the problem comes in. I had never driven a 5-speed before. There is so much coordination involved!! I make sure that my left foot is firmly planted on the clutch while using my right hand to shift into gear. My left hand is on the steering wheel to make sure that I don’t accidentally hit something (or somebody!). My right foot is on the brake. I look in my rear-view mirror to make sure everything is clear. Then I slowly release clutch while quickly moving my right foot from brake to gas in a gentle manner. (Trust me, I know that it doesn’t like it if it is not gentle!) If I don’t stall (which is hopefully the case), I have to start all over again just to switch from reverse into first gear!

Today, however, I had a break-through because today was the first day that I drove to and from work on my own without Phil. I only stalled once!! And I recovered quickly!! (Although I don’t think that I will ever love hills again).

Hopefully, this woman won’t always be a bad driver. But beware! I do plan to frequent Imperial Highway during rush hour.

just things

The reason the young care so much about prestige is that the people they want to impress are not very discerning.

Paul Graham has another essay: go read.

Singapore had some simulated terrorist attacks the day after we left. Pretty crazy stuff. Wikipedia has extensive coverage of the excellent Singapore Mass Rapid Transit System, including stations that don’t exist yet.

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a new voice

This is my first post.

alas, i am slain!

cannot fight jetlag

white people everywhere….

</bewildered>

camellia sinensis

We just got back from the Boh tea plantation up in Cameron Highlands. The place is really beautiful, and the photos speak for it better than I could.

The road to the plantation winds through seemingly endless fields of tea.

The Boh tea company was founded in 1929 by an Englishman named J.A. Russell. He saw that tea generally kept its value better than other commodities during market slumps. He brought over workers from the plantations of India to start his own in the British colony of Malaya, choosing a suitable highland area for his plantation. The company is still run by his granddaughter, and is now one of Malaysia’s more recognizable brands. There is a small village on the plantation that houses its workers. It has shops, a school, pay phones, and innumerable satellite dishes for television.

The tea shop had a bewildering variety of teas.

Somehow we were able to pick which ones we wanted.

The tea house was overlooking the fields, and it had a breathtaking panoramic view.

We bought some choice beverages and scones.

trip up

Here are some shots from our trip up to Cameron Highlands, Malaysia:

Gassing up in Johor Bahru.

Apparently in Malaysia they have a wider variety of Pepsis. The Fire one was all right, but the Ice one was pretty bad. Sprite Ice is actually fairly decent though.

When you see a sign like this in an immigration office, you’ve got to take it as a bold statement. (They actually lived up to their claim; we weren’t kept waiting in lines.)

My brother Peter dyed his hair black.

We finally arrived at the OMF Guest House.