MONDAY .. THE D-DAY

Omigosh - omigosh - omigosh .. am restraining excitement and panic.

The programme I've been planning with sweat, tears and sleepless nights (plus horrendous nightmares), will take place Monday to Thursday next week.

I hope it will spread and inculcate change amongst my fellow work citizen. Just one more tasks to complete, speech for the top brass.

Good luck to me. Good luck to all.

WHAT A ZOMBIFIED MORNING

It was almost 2.00 am, 19 May 2009 .. and darn it, I can't sleep :( [no it was not my insomnia .. i actually had a good deep sleep].

Shouting voices originated from unhappy couple living in next building, a good hundred yards away, basically jolted me awake ... darn! darn! darn!

So what's the spontaneous thing to do ... hands reach out to handphone, a quick flick of the fingers and !yikes! the sms were sent out. Sorry aaa!!! I forgot .. it is 2.00am not 2.00pm. But I was surprised to get a return reply .. though short and brisk. Sorry again bro .. didn't mean to disturb you .. ;)

So, now that I can't chat / sms .... decided to finish my presentation slides due by noon the same day. I have been working on this presentation since January. The challenge is to make the slides simple, argument believable and budget request that would not create a big hole in the company's account vault (or make bosses faint on their feet, whichever is sooner).

I basically ran out of ideas and almost dozed off. Suddenly, I thought I heard my boss voice,"75% accuracy point" ... whoaa, my eyes and otak reacted overtime ...

Aaaarrrggghhh!! It is 3 am and my slides is still in page 6 for the last 30 minutes ... omigosh .. help! help! help! ..I paced my room floor like an injured panther .. basically my tired brain went totally blurry .... Suddenly, an idea came and I finally add the pages ...

Somehow, somewhere between page 20 and 21 .. I fell asleep again .. but oh boy, I was jolted back into the living world when a skeleton in a bag moved softly and call out my name .. I actually woke up from my nightmare half screaming my ummi's name ... hehehe ...

Thats how bad the slides affected me .. sigh .. but finished my work I did .. at darn 4.20am .. and more darn darn darn .. it will be harder to sleep now, but 6am, awake I did.

Scenario in the office, at exactly 10 am, presentation was made by zombified me. Lo and behold, the presentation was accepted (my jaw actually dropped wide with surprise), with my boss saying, this is definitely more than 75% expected [huuu .. by this time, I'm in cloud 9]

I am just so happy with a thought of I am being helped by invisible hands ....

AND I SERVE ...

I am please to announce that I am now part of this humanitarian NGO under non-medical category. Linda-Ijam, I finally did it.


I've always wished for ways to help heal others whom needs it. I've received so much kindness from a lot of people, I believe its time to return the favour .. although maybe in a slightly different way ...

Right now I am waiting to undergo the Volunteer Induction Programme (VIP). When the time comes, I will definitely share them in this space.

And so my good samaritan frenz, any time you wish to help provide for our unfortunate brothers and sisters around the world .. you know who to call ....

A smile to whisk the pain away, for I am the master of smiles and laughter, I am your very own backyard clown .. serve to make you smile always ..



Cheerio!!

SIGH ....

It was a fantastic sunday especially the companies I was with. Surrounded by beautiful hearts and minds .. and if you are reading this .. yes, it means you .. definitively .. :P

Anyway, we watched Angels & Demons. Oh yes, the prequel of the famous Da Vinci Code .. yes Dan Brown .. and as always dark, vengeful, mysterious, almost mystic and > lo and behold, the revelation since the creation of man > nothing is more darker than the heart of an ambitious and selfish man ..

I am not going to give any summary of the movie, you can either watch the trailer, read the reviews or go watch it yaself (and only buy original DVD if you can afford it .. kuang kuang kuang).

On technicality, Tom Hanks (encore, clap, clap, clap) as always, superb performance, but getting slightly stereotyped - guess you can't be choosy when you reached a certain age (adoi, sendiri terasa, kah kah kah). The rest of them, I say only the assassin seems to stand out. I am very, very, very dissappointed with Ewan - helllooo, are you intimidated by uncle Tommy?? Even Sissy Spacek could act alot tougher than you, boohoo. Ah well, other ladies may disagree .. :P

The story line, once you see this, you read it all. Uncovering the secret code via statues of angels and demons, was not thaaat excitable .. too ezy peezy. Some funny stuff, nice light moments, non memorable though.

But I can't help smiling throughout the 3-houcher movie, for a totally different reason. I do believe the producers and cinematic creators are running out of creative juices to make believe, that science is above all ass .. all else i mean.

It is not about the truth or twisting the truth. Its just a matter of cut and paste facts, scribed with bloody murder and scribbled with drama here and there. One movie delivered to fanatic followers. But the most almost-green-barf-coming-out moment is when reading the angels and demons translation - oh come on!! - 'malaikat dan jin' .. please, genie = jin .. marah kaum kerabat nanti .. kah kah kah

Messages that they try to push is a bit crap-py too .. but hey .. I'm a believer of world-domination-corruption-humanity degradation-conspiracy-via-creative work (which includes movies and yada yada yada). And yet, somehow it aspires me to make a decision to partake on a risky journey (and thats a different story altogether in another space .. :P)

Cheerio .. and people of beautiful hearts and minds .. thanks again for accompanying this little ole lady

QUOTING ANITA,"MALAYSIA WORLD CLASS TOO"

Congratulations All!!

The country just joined the world with its first case on H1N1.

What was the old saying," Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri .." what "golden treasure" we've managed to brought back into our society.

Think guys .. think ...

AND THEN 'BABE' SNEEZES ...

Call it by its name .. one of the golden rules in managing change. The 'Flu' originates from the swine and its no fluke. CDC did not even mentioned that it is merry-mix from bird-flu yada .. yada .. yada. Seems commerce is still more important than human lives.

Extracted from Center for Disease Control and Prevention site (http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/)

A New Influenza Virus

Novel influenza A (H1N1) is a new flu virus of swine origin that was first detected in April, 2009. The virus is infecting people and is spreading from person-to-person, sparking a growing outbreak of illness in the United States. An increasing number of cases are being reported internationally as well.

It’s thought that novel influenza A (H1N1) flu spreads in the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread; mainly through the coughs and sneezes of people who are sick with the virus.

It’s uncertain at this time how severe this novel H1N1 outbreak will be in terms of illness and death compared with other influenza viruses. Because this is a new virus, most people will not have immunity to it, and illness may be more severe and widespread as a result. In addition, currently there is no vaccine to protect against this novel H1N1 virus. CDC anticipates that there will be more cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths associated with this new virus in the coming days and weeks.

Novel influenza A (H1N1) activity is now being detected through CDC’s routine influenza surveillance systems and reported weekly in FluView. CDC tracks U.S. influenza activity through multiple systems across five categories. The fact that novel H1N1 activity is now detected through seasonal surveillance systems is an indication that there are higher levels of influenza-like illness in the United States than is normal for this time of year. About half of all influenza viruses being detected are novel H1N1 viruses.

HURRAH FOR COFFEE ...

August 15, 2006
Coffee as a Health Drink? Studies Find Some Benefits
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Coffee is not usually thought of as health food, but a number of recent studies suggest that it can be a highly beneficial drink. Researchers have found strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of several serious ailments, including diabetes, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver.

Among them is a systematic review of studies published last year in The Journal of the American Medical Association, which concluded that habitual coffee consumption was consistently associated with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. Exactly why is not known, but the authors offered several explanations.

Coffee contains antioxidants that help control the cell damage that can contribute to the development of the disease. It is also a source of chlorogenic acid, which has been shown in animal experiments to reduce glucose concentrations.

Caffeine, perhaps coffee’s most famous component, seems to have little to do with it; studies that looked at decaffeinated coffee alone found the same degree of risk reduction.

Larger quantities of coffee seem to be especially helpful in diabetes prevention. In a report that combined statistical data from many studies, researchers found that people who drank four to six cups of coffee a day had a 28 percent reduced risk compared with people who drank two or fewer. Those who drank more than six had a 35 percent risk reduction.

Some studies show that cardiovascular risk also decreases with coffee consumption. Using data on more than 27,000 women ages 55 to 69 in the Iowa Women’s Health Study who were followed for 15 years, Norwegian researchers found that women who drank one to three cups a day reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 24 percent compared with those drinking no coffee at all.

But as the quantity increased, the benefit decreased. At more than six cups a day, the risk was not significantly reduced. Still, after controlling for age, smoking and alcohol consumption, women who drank one to five cups a day — caffeinated or decaffeinated — reduced their risk of death from all causes during the study by 15 to 19 percent compared with those who drank none.

The findings, which appeared in May in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that antioxidants in coffee may dampen inflammation, reducing the risk of disorders related to it, like cardiovascular disease. Several compounds in coffee may contribute to its antioxidant capacity, including phenols, volatile aroma compounds and oxazoles that are efficiently absorbed.

In another analysis, published in July in the same journal, researchers found that a typical serving of coffee contains more antioxidants than typical servings of grape juice, blueberries, raspberries and oranges.

“We were surprised to learn that coffee quantitatively is the major contributor of antioxidants in the diet both in Norway and in the U.S.A.,” said Rune Blomhoff, the senior author of both studies and a professor of nutrition at the University of Oslo.

These same anti-inflammatory properties may explain why coffee appears to decrease the risk of alcohol-related cirrhosis and liver cancer. This effect was first observed in 1992. Recent studies,published in June in The Archives of Internal Medicine, confirmed the finding.

Still, some experts believe that coffee drinking, and particularly caffeine consumption, can have negative health consequences. A study published in January in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, for example, suggests that the amount of caffeine in two cups of coffee significantly decreases blood flow to the heart, particularly during exercise at high altitude.
Rob van Dam, a Harvard scientist and the lead author of The Journal of the American Medical Association review, acknowledged that caffeine could increase blood pressure and slightly increase levels of the amino acid homocysteine, possibly raising the risk for heart disease.

“I wouldn’t advise people to increase their consumption of coffee in order to lower their risk of disease,” Dr. van Dam said, “but the evidence is that for most people without specific conditions, coffee is not detrimental to health. If people enjoy drinking it, it’s comforting to know that they don’t have to be afraid of negative health effects.”

MIND BLOCK

Seriously, I am having creative writing mental block for the past 2 months .. huuuuu .. not good for someone whose bread & butter depends very much on it.

No .. don't get me wrong. I am not a copywriter, journalist or author (blogging is not a testimony that one could be one). It just that I can't seem to draw out any creative juices to produce a simple survey report and presentation slides. Something that I've done zillion times with both eyes wide shut and one hand tied to the back.

Too many things to think of .. or pointblank just not focus in it. Especially when you sits 34th level above ground .. facing glass wall/windows .. and able to view traffic jam, beautiful sunsets, gloomy grey clouds and sometimes glimpse of eagles dancing in the sky. Yep .. one can truly focus on work here .. if the right effort is being made .. :P

NEW GADGET

Hooray ... finally little ole me own a square digital MP3 play + FM radio + picture clips + video player + voice recording .. all-in-one .. at a steal .. thank you monsieur Philips and salute Fotokem for making it accessible into my greedy little hands [am a tech-geek-wanna-be]



It is a Philips GoGear digitial MP3 video Player model SA3025 and read some reviews found on the net .. mainly for the price its does perform exceptionally well .. it has its pros and cons .. but hey ... im not complaining. As for me .. the FM radio is a must, voice recording would help me alot in remembering my own daily agenda (memory is failing) .. and mp3 to listen to soothing sounds anytime anywhere. And its black sleek square look is a winner to me ... coz da ca$hing for it is lower than its market price .. lucky ole me ..

Time to groove with music .. hehehe (and no .. that picture is not me .. dream on ... )

CAFE POLITICS 1

Greetings,

Never thought I will actually be writing about this. But Perak is really in 1 big mess. It is truly hilarious, that the reigning Sultan with a glorious legal background is force to take a backseat on this important matter.

What would I think if I am the citizan of Perak???

1) Do I approve the removal of the MB in the first place?
2) Am I dissatisfied with the MB's performance since he took office?
3) Do I really know my right as a legal voter, when all this chaos took place?

I am not much of a politician, but what I read from available newspaper and tabloids that supports both parties, seems like none of the 2 above happens.

What happen was that 3 wakil rakyat decided to switch parties from PKR to BN. Now the question to the citizen of Perak and the 3 wakil rakyat - were they voted because of their personal charisma + the political party they represents or because the party they represent?

Wonder who is really thinking for the sake of the rakyat ... the reigning Sultan? BN? PKR?
In one of the local news site, theres comments from the business society ... no business no money, what will the state be running on, Perak have no oil to sell. It is an industrial-dependant state.

Guess the people really have to fend for themselves. But, they must really know their rights as voters, rightful heir of Perak.

A big question for my little puny brain :P .. a good excuse for a coffee break.

RETURN OF THE COFFEE - ADDICT

its great to be back ...
with tonnes of things to write and share .. as if someone would read ..

its been a silent 3 years .. nope nothing to do with sabbatical rest .. just plain lazy .. apart from I've forgotten I actually have this blog .. kah kah kah ...

i've read other blogs .. everyone is sooooo serious .. i guess some of us are to carry the burden of bearing the worries and solving the issues ..

guess i'm not one of them .. give me coffee, biscuits and ice-cream .. my world is complete ..

:)