PhoneOut

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Halloween came early for me, 1 day early to be precise. Last night some cabling was done around my area and it knocked out all the Phone lines. So guess I had to settle for a night with no telephone or internet and no updates to this blog. yeah ... free day .... lucky still had electricity to watch TV. Found out the run I went to on Sunday, the timings and results have been posted. I came in 851 with a time of 1 hr 19 min 23 sec. yeeehaaaa... pretty please with myself, considering I just started running 1 month ago and before that I think the last time I actually ran was like what 3/4 years ago !! (IPPT) My friend David's time is somewhere in there as well. If you have friends/relatives running in that event, you can check them out at -http://www.realrun.sg/results.html - However take note that these are only for those who actually completed and also they had to have the timing chip tied to the shoe laces. Suneetha did not have her chip as it seems her dog ate the chip. She's probably waiting for it to poo poo to get the chip back :)

Crack Winscreen

A couple of days ago, while I was driving, the car infront of me kicked up a stone and it hit my winscreen. Right at the edge and it chipped the glass (see red circle in picture below) did not think much about it since it was only a small chip. Left the car in the carpark for a couple of days and the next thing I knew, cracks had appeared (see blue lines in picture below) and I think they are growing longer each day as well. There are 2 lines now on my winscreen, the smaller one is moving upwards while the bigger one is moving across the face and down. So frustrating as I now need to find a repair shop that does winscreen replacement and get the car fixed up and replace the front winscreen.

NB Real Run

Went for the New Balance Real Run today, woke up at 4.15am (feels like in-camp timing), had a light breakfast and walked over to the pickup point at Toa Payoh (pickup was 5.15am). Took the transport to Changi. On the way the bus passed the SAF Ferry Terminal, I think that's where you would take the ferry to Tekong. Pretty nice setup. Ended at the proposed new site for next year's airshow. Great sea view, so close to Malaysia that I was getting all the welcome messages from the Malaysian mobile networks on my handphone. Bump into an old colleague Suneetha, had a nice quick chat to catch up before we had to prepare for our runs she was running the 15km, and I was with the 10km. Lo and behold bump into David Hendricks, one of the Tankee's from my active unit. We used to run in the Armour Track Team. He was running the 10km as well. Flag off was by President, poor chap had to get up pretty early to be there at 7.30am for the flag off. With the air horn going off it was the start of the run. The start was really tedious and monotonous as we had to run 2+ km on a straight road with no trees for shade. Along the way I was running behind this old man with a white beard and a scarf on his head, he was wearing a t-shirt and the back of it was written in pen 'Happy 16th Birthday', I figured he probably wore his t-shirt upside down as it should have read 'Happy 61st Birthday'. Road run was ok, the trail was cooling as it was shaded. The beach run was horrible, it took a lot out of your knees, I figured I'll just walk this through as much as I could. The return leg running that 2+ km straight road again to the start/finish point was really energy sapping as it was getting hot and there was absolutely no shade whatsoever. As I was running down this straight, there was this indian female runner who came running by BAREFOOT !! Can you imagine running barefoot on a hot road tarmac !! The runway run was disappointing, I think it was only like 300 or 400m of runway. Was disappointed with that. Based on my watch I should have may it under 1 and a half hours, not too bad a time, pretty happy with it. But will wait for my certificate to be posted to me to confirm the final timing. Collected the goodie bag and rested a bit and went home, legs were aching from all that pounding, knees feel like falling apart. Hopefully tomorrow there would not be too much pain or else may have to take leave to recover ha ha ....

Transformers

Finally the Transformer DVD is out. There was the standard version and the special eidtion version and they also had this which is what is claimed to be the world's first transforming DVD.

I think it's pretty cool as shown in the sequence of shots below where you can actually transform the DVD into Optimus Prime, fully standing version.

(1) Original Packaging :- what the DVD comes in, you have to open the back to get to the disk.

(2) Flip up the head.

(3) Pull out the arms from the side.

(4) Pull down the legs till they lock into place.

(5) Flip over the toes and push them back so that it allows the figure to stand. It's not so easy to see here, compare with (4) around the toe region.

(6) Optimus Prime, stands on it's own.

I saw this at HMV and wanted to get it after dinner, so after I had dinner, back to the store I went and lo and behold, NO copies on the shelf, a quick search around confirmed my fears that all the copies were taken. I was resigned to getting the Special Edition version when the counter lady asked if I was looking for the toy version as she saw me hunting for it and told me they have just 1 last one behind the counter. Of course I took that last copy. Anyways I have yet to see the movie, probably one of the very few who has yet to see it, so the DVD would add nicely to my collection.

Milk ! Run !

Ah oh oh ... ahhhh ahhhh .... ooohhh ... no that's not the sound you make when you go poo poo, but that's the sound of me getting up this morning, damn !! every single part of me is sore after yesterday's run, my legs / arms / body / stomach / face / hair / fingers / toes / teeth / nails, everything seems to hurt today. Well at least I was not the only one in the office with this problem ... So it was a good thing that it was Health Day today. We got a pear and milk.

And here's why you should drink milk.

"A glass of milk is packed with vitamins and minerals that can help maintain overall health and well-being. The goodness of milk can help build bones, assist in weight management and lower blood pressure. Milk can help to reduce insulin resistance and the risk of some cancers. It can also give you something to smile about because milk helps people to grow and maintain healthy teeth."

" hhhmmmm Chocolate .... Doh! "

Being a sucker for punishment, I recently signed up for the 10K "New Balance Real Run 2007 - The Ultimate X-Terrain Challenge". Ooooooooo .... sounds like some cool sounding ironman thingy, but in effect it's just a 10KM run broken down into 7km road + 1km sand + 1km trail + 1km runway. Now that last bit "RUNWAY" really caught my eye. Hmmmm wonder if I will be able to catch a glimpse of the A380 ? (maybe the runners will run up the plane along the ailse up onto the 2nd deck and back down again, probably 1km there) It's held this Sunday 28th. Got number tag and all below (in case you can't see, the number is 7931 -- Sunday 4D first prize number :) must also wear those radio tag chip like take IPPT, so they can take your timing and put on certificate, ya and so I can show the missus that I completed the run. At least they provide buses from around the island (Toa Payoh is one of them, so no need to drive) to take you there not too bad but must pay bus fair of $3. Problem is must find your own way home after that.

B-Man's note : As you notice still experimenting with images. Trying to get the format and size right.

Sports Day

Today we had the company sports day. Got up same old routine, as I was early, both the wife and me went out together to the bus-stop. On the way she keeps telling me, 'you know you better put my number on speed dial number 1, in case you collapse they know who to call'. 'TTSH is nearer, try to get warded there' -- wah see me no up one. Last words from her before she boarded the bus was 'Run, Forest, Run'. Afternoon was the event, weather was cooling, they held it at Yio Chu Kang stadium, hey that's near my old office ha ha ... pretty professional setup they have fitness people around to do warms ups and organise the events. They even had a medical team on standby. (and they were needed) CIO came to the event in track pants and tank top to give her support, pretty sporting of her althought she did not participate. They provided snacks even. (ok here is where I try added an image) They had a can isotonic drink, plain water, a power bar and a banana (not in picture, hungry ate it already :) Noisey bunch of people, one department even had their own cheer leading group, you know those type of "Everywhere you go ohh, people want to know ohh ....." or the "North, South, East, West, Who is the best ...." type of cheers. First event of the day 50m Men's open. Horn goes off and one guy crosses the finishing line and falls down (slip) picks himself up and has to be attended by the medics who tape up his bruisers. Ladies open 100m, after the first 30m one lady falls down, then at the finishing line my department's runner was leading and she FELL, the finger tips were inches, INCHES from the end line, you know how close that was, everyone pass her, so sad. Mens 200m open, another casualty and again from my department, falls at the 150m mark. All had to be attended to by the medics. The other fall was in the management race, one of the HOD's fell over. Finally the 400m, my race. there would be 7 runners. Horn goes off, race starts, I felt ok 100, 200, 300, at the 325 mark that was when the mind says go but the body says no. So in the end I finished 3rd .... from the back, ya ended up 5th, well not too bad, at least not last. BUT totally exhausted. Later it was the 4x400m, I started, this race I felt much better, maybe first round enough warm up already, anyways there were 5 teams and we missed out came in 4th. At least not last ha ha... Final thing I played in was Telematch was suppose to play Human Table Soccer, the other being Captains Ball. Now the mix match bunch of us made up of 3 guys and 7 girls. Going up against a team with 6 guys and 4 girls. Of course totally out class in those 5 mins of play, and I was playing defence with 2 other ladies, a guy was in goal and our attack made up of 3 ladies with a midfield of 1 guy, 2 girls, the hardest job was in defence man as the other team practically camp in our half, firing shot after shot, and we had to block shot after shot, one almost took my head off. In the end they managed to get in 1 goal. Well overall I survived the ordeal, it was fun, enjoyed myself. Will see how when I wake up tomorrow and how sore the body will be :)

Extreme Web Makeover

Well not exactly extreme but base on some feedback I got, it seems the orignal colour scheme was not exactly great. Anyways they were chosen by me so I guess that's why it was so bad, this is a guy who needs help matching his ties. So with the help of the missus, decided to pick another scheme, may tweak this later when I get the time. I also finally managed to put up a pic, it was a wee bit of a hasssle as it needed to be 50KB or smaller and I finally got that down to size with my camera phone after changing the resolution and all. It's there now, hopefully it stays there tomorrow :)

Car Washing

I got this from a friend who spends his weekends (yep 5 to 8 hrs of it) washing and polishing his car. The PW Method to total Car Care which leaves your car in Showroom Condition, and he does this EVERY week for the last 6 months. PW Total Car Care Method

• First shampoo your car for one round.
• When car still wet, use Clay Bar to rub the entire car to remove stubborn dirt particles.
• Then Shampoo thoroughly. Usually I will shampoo 4 rounds here.
• Dry the car with cleaning towels ( Cost me $30 per piece !!!! ).
• Use Polisher to buffer the entire car and clean off immediately. This will remove the protection layer of the car.
• Next use Sealant to "wax" the whole car. Leave it to dry.
• Use Quick Detailer to wipe off the haze form by Sealant.
• Use the cleaning cloth to mop through one more round. Your car will be in Showroom condition.

B-Man's note : and when you take it out for a spin, 1 km later it will rain :) maybe that's why it's called "showroom" condition, cannot take it out for a spin, leave at home.

If you ask me, a total waste of :

(a) money ($30 towels, come on, I don't think I spent that much to wipe my backside even)

(b) water (now we know why Tampines hot spot for mosquitoes)

(c) time (4 rounds of shampoo ... I'm sure there are better things to do on a Sunday)

Better just go for my usual fortnightly $6 Super Deluxe Snow Wash at the petrol station which last a total of ... 5 mins and the car is done, and you don't feel the pain when it rains.

But let's give the man (Mr Pang Wee) credit where credit is due, an "A" for effort, would have given A* but he never mention the interior :) and for all you car fanatics out there, he really swears by that $30 towel, it seems it really works.

Track Training

The company is having a sports day this coming wednesday and as the newest guy in the department, I'm bound to get thrown a few events, well I've been signed up for 3 events. The Telematch, 400m and 4x400m. The last time I ever ran competitively was something like what 20 yrs ago !! Luckily I've been hitting the gym for the past month, in my attempt for a healthy living. It has been a long time since I went to the track, so today I decided to head on down to the Toa Payoh Stadium track to give it a go. After doing my warm ups, feeling good, I was ready to give it a go and time my 400m run. Well it started great .... for like 50m and then the pain sets in, the legs go heavy, the lungs are burning, the head goes woozy, it feels like the straights were straighter and the curves were curviyer, everything seems to be ten times longer than what I actually remembered. It took an eternity but I did it and completed the lap in ... drum roll ..... 1min 37 secs. Holy Stopwatch Batman !! I think any track teammates who are reading this would probably be laughing their heads off. Ah guess that spare type and those love handles are taking their toll, but I don't have that much hair as before, that should have trim off some weight. 2nd Lap - time 1min 41secs 3rd Lap - time 1min 36 secs Well the only consolation for running 1.40 average is that it leads to a 10min 2.4km timing :) I was told that there are some good runners from the other departments, they have their own weekly running sessions and all that. So my realistic target for the events will be that I will try not to end up last, hopefully I can crawl back in the second last position at least. All I can say is I will be definately starting the race, finishing is another matter. The other alternative is pray for rain and get the event cancelled :)

Welcome

Welcome to Blizzard-World, finally my attempt to start a Blog. It has got to be said the idea wasn't mine, a friend (who we'll call "The Riddler" - not to use real name, could be a shy person) suggested it and I guess it seems like a pretty good challenge to 'attempt' to keep a blog going. How long will this last .... hhhmmmm .... I'm not too sure hopefully I would be able to at least update it on a frequent basis with interesting things that are happening. You'll probably have to bear with me, while I get the hang of using the text features like bold and italics, maybe play around with the font or even colour and size. Once that has been 'mastered' hopefully links, pictures and sound will follow suit. Then other more complex features will be added, like 3-D movie viewing, smell-o-rama's, hologram projections ... ah I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself now. Feel free to post comments/suggestions. Once I figure out how that is achieved. So far it seems pretty easy to setup and post my first post. Well the real deal will happen once I log out and see if I can actually get back in tomorrow to do a second post ha ha .... wouldn't that be the shortest blog ever if I can't get back in. B-Man (20/10/2007)