Thursday, July 31, 2008

Damn that lovey dovey song.


I am not a romantic guy.


I don't do lovey dovey things. Really. But then my wife kind of introduced me to this song, "Semoga Abadi" by Misha Omar (Ok. That's it. You people giggling at the back, please leave!) And the words from the song are mirroring my love life.

The way I first met my wife 17 years ago (seriously) and how our lives intertwined without us ever meeting again until 2005. There were instances where we briefly passed each other at her home in Keramat and then again in the lobby of Wisma Sime Darby in KL. Somehow we are destined to be together.

I don't like reminiscing about the old days. Bad memories. But when I put the pieces together, I saw the way God shaped my path from that scrawny kid from the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur to this fat blob living on an island. And all the way, I see how God gave me little nudges and subtle hints to get here.

So I thank God for my wife. And for that lovey dovey song. Now I have to go hide my head in the sand.











Thursday, July 10, 2008

To A Forgotten Cousin

My cousin died today.



He was 34 years old. The scientific reason why he died was - he had pneumonia. But really, his body just gave up. He was just too tired to continue living.



My cousin was a very quiet person. If you're in a room with him, you'll hardly notice he's there at all. He had very little to say to anybody and people just left him alone.



And there lies the biggest mistake we ever made. We left him alone.



In retrospect, even if he didn't have anything to say, people should have treated him with respect. After all, he was a decent guy. He never bothered anybody. He never did anything to hurt anyone. I bet, if we asked him for help, he wouldn't have disappointed. The problem was, nobody asked him for anything.



He didn't do well at school. He didn't get a good job. He didn't make any good friends. But he tried. He took on jobs that was not for him. Carrying heavy stuff. Doing odd jobs. It was the best he could do. Yet nobody noticed.



I guess in the end, getting pneumonia was the only way to get people to notice him. At least when he was at the hospital, people knew who he was. And when everyone was gathered around him, he did the thing that would really remind people of who he was. He died.



I didn't think about him today before I received the call from my mum. In fact, I haven't thought about him since I invited him to my wedding. He didn't come because of work. But I didn't even noticed his absence. I admit, with all my heart, I am wrong to have treated him the way I did. And for this I am sorry. For all its worth. May he forgive me.

I Was Right

I told you I don't speed when I'm on my bike. And I was right.

The police officer who gave me the traffic ticket tried to call me on Tuesday but I was sick and couldn't go to the office. So he left me a couple of messages.

On the morning when I got back to the office, there were 13 missed calls. Two of them were from my wife who tried calling me at home but dialled my office instead. Two calls were work related. And the rest were from a number I didn't know.

And there were 4 messages. 2 were work related. When I retrieved the first of the non-work related, it sounded scratchy. Like mumbling. All I heard was the word, Mr Hamid (my surname) and ticket. My first thought went to the raffle ticket I got when I bought a fan at Master's. But then I remembered I never win anything. So I retrieved the last message. The voice on the message said, "Ahem! Mr Hamid, this is Officer "Toot", (name withheld on account of me not wanting any trouble with the police) calling in reference to your ticket. Please give me a call at xxx-xxxx."

Before I could call him back, the phone rang and it was the officer. He told me that there was another black coloured bike on that stretch of road that did the 71 kmh. The bike had made a turn before the junction where the officer was waiting and there I was, happily moving at a crawl, getting pulled over for a speeding charge.

I admit, if I were not sick that day, I would've said bad things to the officer. But, lucky for me, I wasn't in the mood to tell people off. So I said, "Ok. That's fine. So can you send me an email and write down what you just said?" He said he couldn't because he was not near a computer. But he told me to send an email to him. He gave me his email address.

This is not the end of the story but this is where I tell the moral of the crap I just told you. Don't let anyone treat you as guilty if you know you're innocent. It almost happened to me. I almost went to the police station to pay for the ticket. Good thing I got sick though. If you didn't do the crime, don't take the blame. Nuff said.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

When It Rains, It Pours

There has been no rain here in Bermuda for the past 3 weeks. And yet, I feel like there's a dark cloud hanging over me.



I guess it started when my mother-in-law came to Bermuda. It wasn't bad having her here. In fact, I liked it when she was here because my wife was so happy. But that was the same time the dark cloud appeared.



First, I joined a new group at work. I got this crazy schedule and a very demanding client. The fact that I have to come in an hour early to work and go home on hour late just made it worse.



Then our air conditioner broke. Hell on earth! 85 degrees every day and the sea air. We couldn't even breath when we're at home. Some days I wanted to buy a tent and camp outside. At least it's cooler than in the bedroom.



After that, my bike broke down. Another hell on earth. I feel like I broke both my legs. It took my mechanic 2 weeks to get the bike back to me.



Then last Saturday, the bike broke down again. At least it can still move, I thought. But I have to turn the throttle whenever the bike stops moving or the engine shuts down. I tried getting an appointment at my mechanic's Monday morning but they were fully booked.



To top it all off, I got a traffic summons yesterday. Me? Come on. I'm the most caustious driver in the world. I never drive above 60 kmh on a bike. Ever! And here this police officer said I broke 71. On my bike? That is just ridiculous. And when I wanted to see the radar reading, he won't let me. And now I have to go to court just so I can pay my fine. And that's in August. Bummer.



I don't know. Even in draught season, the rain drops keep falling on my head and the rest of my effing life. Well....

Monday, June 16, 2008

First of many

Why the senseless sensibilities?



That's my main question. That's the whole reason for this blog. This question is the rail on which my thought train is going to move on. I know the train is slow and the rails are rusty, but given time, it will get there.



I admit that this blog is for my own selfish needs. It's a place for me to cut loose (without purposely offending someone else) and to try to understand this world I'm living in.



On this blog space, I will talk about my life. I will talk about the current news. I will talk about my favourite topics - Football (that's soccer to you Americans) and comics (the printed kind, not the annoying people who stand up in front of people and making a fool of themselves).



Any views that I have, I will air them out. They are not meant to insult or offend anybody. They are just my opinions. If you can respect that, I will respect yours. Rebuttals are welcomed but please do not force your views on me or anyone else. That's like hitting your head on the wall many times to get rid of a brain tumor. It won't work so don't try. Trust me.



So, happy times ahead. Keep reading and we can all be better people because of it.



Cheers.