oh.. where is the jam?

Apparently the jam on the North South highway yesterday was so bad. My friends who left Melaka after the wedding took about 4-5 hours for a 1 and a half hour journey. Apparently too, the jam only cleared at 5am.

I only set out from my house and hit the highway at 6am, after a good night's sleep. Was cruising and giggling maniacally to myself, all the way feeling like I'd won the effing lottery.

Seriously, does the whole of Malaysia never learn. You'd think after years of getting stuck in highways on public holidays, that the mass populace would at least TRY to get out of it. It's the same with what is happening in the East Coast now. The floods come every friggin year! And while the government may be at least consistent in its inefficiency, you would have expected the masses to take things in their own hands by now. Like, move? Or run? Or not swim in the river?
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He was rehashing the details of the groom's speech from the wedding he attended yesterday. He insisted that I would like it, despite me telling him that I've seen practically all the bad, the good and the corny.

"So the groom went 'everyone who knows me knows im not a romantic, coz i never give flowers, only gifts.. when ppl ask why, i say its coz flowers die. But now, i want to make it up to you, with 8 bouquets of flowers for 8 years together'.." he recounted.

"Larrrrr, that's been done before!!!" I snorted.

"Really?"

"Yes. Get on with the times, yo."
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We were chatting on the pros and cons of getting hitched early. A considerable number of people nowadays are taking the opportunity to marry young before concentrating on their careers. And by young, I mean now. Like, 25, now. Even the bunch of old school friends I met yesterday are all on their way there already. Someone even mentioned that she wants a beach wedding.

While I do see the rationale for not wasting time if you've met The One, plus the fact that having someone else can bring more focus in your endeavours and be a pillar of support in this neverending tidal wave of experiences and perils of life, I do note the old adage of not putting the cart before the horse. The horse in this case represents, obviously, the right choice of a spouse, or The One.

If the horse has genital warts or is sadly tempang, u sure you wanna saddle it up? And don't give me that 'for better or worse' crap. That only comes after, in the whole scheme of things.

"So, all in all, it sounds good, except you got to find that special beacon, ie The One, first."

"Well, you've found one, haven't you? Both of you seem to fall into place.."

"Yeah.. so far.."

"My dear, you gotta be contented with who you have, rather than keep searching.."

"No.. I meant, so far, as in our journey together.. Nothing to do with looking for someone better...I mean, you never know, he might start taking me for granted..."

"That's bound to happen my dear, its more of how you balance it and remind the other half.."

"Well, I'll remind him with a baseball bat.."
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The company has just given me another corporate card, bringing the total tally to two.

I don't need a corporate card. I just need more pay.

Sigh. Don't we all.

when life sucks, suck life

When life sucks, suck life.

That's what somebody told me. I think its a snarkier way of saying go with the flow. Anyway, a 530pm conference call has delayed my bid to pick up the pieces of my discontinued social life so I'm trying to pass the time as best as I can.

And that definitely doesn't mean anally poring over the latest tracked draft of meeting minutes, AFTER you've looked at it three times. Meeting minutes are the most low level type documents I have to do. Like how in Farmville that translates to a Level 1 where you can plant nothing but bloody low-yielding raspberries, while all the higher level farmers with poncy names like Sultan of Soil look at you with that mofo smirk on their faces.

Anyway, back to the more interesting things that are going on.

Out of the blue I decided to check MetroDad out because last I heard his daughter had just turned three or four. I rarely read him because what in the world can a middle age (wait I think he's middle aged, is 40 considered middle age? It's really relative actually) guy with a young daughter whom he calls Peanut have in common with a slightly demented, possibly mildly bipolar (either that or plagues with really bad PMS bouts) 25 year old who works rabidly at her career, has no patience for idiots and whose main aims in life include buying Eames dining chairs for the apartment she has just bought?

In fact, the only thing we probably have in common is that we have very few friends. And I share his disdain for the masses of people who have such voluminous quantities of friends that they have to start taking those stupid family Christmas photos and writing their Christmas cards even before Thanksgiving. I have nothing against those Christmas photos. But please for god's sake don't all of you wear the same woollen sweaters with a green and red tree emblazoned across your chest. I have so few friends but I would not think twice of asking any one of them to emcee my wedding. Yes, that to me is personal. Because I'm a control freak and a perfectionist, and to actually cede the stage to someone who has probably never emceed before is quite a milestone for me.

Anyway, back to the main story. Which is the visit back to MetroDad.

He got divorced.

A hastily typed email ensued, sent to another friend whom I know reads him.

"MetroDad got divorced???"

Her reply was simple.

"Unfortunately. He's like my ideal guy. "

And no it wasn't schadenfreude that compelled me to read more of his posts. It was because of what a friend is now currently going through. And being a close friend of his, I am naturally caught up in the receding and advancing tides of his emotions and experiences and mood swings, which lately have been heading south more often than not.

I sent the blog link to that friend.

Him: "I think we should skinny dip."
Me: "With a drink in one hand. But I need arm band floats. I got a problem staying afloat when I'm drunk."
Him: "Ok shallow pool then."
Me: "Cannot! Can see all the bits and pieces!"
Him : "Fark. Dun care la."
Me: "Hmm I think we should wear a party hat. With streamers."

And then I imagined us group of close friends in a hot spa infinity pool with our toes hiked up the ledge overlooking a lush green untouched forest. Something like the one that can be found at Casabrina.

The beautiful picture is rudely interrupted when my ears pick up the ridiculous conversation thats going on in the cubicle next to mine.

One guy is talking to the girl about this insurance investment policy. It works like those lottery things and on the basis of time value of money. If you win a lottery, these people show up and offer to give you a lump sum amount at a discounted value than the amount you actually won, on the basis that you are getting the money now. So if you're an insurance policy holder, you sell your policy to an investor for a discounted sum, and the investor will be the beneficiary when you finally kick the bucket.

My eyes continue rolling, and I feel an increasing urge to turn around and tell him -

"Have you ever watched Leverage, bozo? Thats how they scam unsuspecting people like you. Jeezuz."

i've signed my life away

Update on the house front -

Signed my sales and purchase agreement on 11/11/2009.

Signed the loan agreement on 6/11/2009.

So if Jan 11 comes and I'm screaming, you'll know what happened.

How Long It Takes To Get A Home Loan Disbursed in Malaysia

Despite Hong Leong Bank assuring and the developer reassuring me that the disbursement of monies can be made within two months (after which I get slapped with late payment interest) if I chose to take the loan with the former, I have recently succumbed agreed to HSBC at Sultan Ismail, despite their verbal assurances not being as convincing as Hong Leong Bank.

The developer also told me there are cases of late disbursement from HSBC, and yet I chose to sign the offer letter. You might think now that "Hey I brought it on myself." But I've decided, partly because of it being an international bank and partly because of their checking facility, and so now I want to monitor how it turns out.

It starts with the letter of offer. So, Monday 2nd November 2009, I signed the letter of offer after a few days of asking them when it would be ready. But that's fine, that's just the first step. Subsequently, right after I signed, I was informed by the loan officer in his reassurances that yes, I can get the loan documents signed as early as Tuesday or Wednesday and he would call me to let me know.

Tuesday evening comes, and no news. So I send an email, and he replies saying he will follow up with the lawyers and call me tomorrow morning, that is Wednesday morning, today.

It is 3:30pm now and I haven't heard anything. A nice polite human being would try to understand, right? And I am a nice polite human being. But I can't help being miffed at being promised one thing with no follow up, JUST because I signed the letter of offer. Apparently, according to countless other friends who have got burnt by banks before, that is just the beginning of a long episode of hounding the bank to follow up with lawyers and etc.

So I am prepared for delays. The only difference is, I'm going to minute every date, every email sent, every follow up I make and every promise made to me so it will be much easier in case anything blows up happens. And I've started to consult a few lawyer friends on possible avenues of seeking to uphold consumer rights from every freaking tribunal there is, just so I'm prepared.

Because there is no way in hell I will be paying the late disbursement interest if it is NOT my fault.

I shall wait til tomorrow before sending the HSBC officer another reminder email. And then print it out for records.