This is where you love it that your under-powered, turbo-diesel guzzler is pure mechanical. No fancy ECUs, no electronic fuel-injection, no funky stuff. Just mechanical goodness. Everybody knows - electronics and water don't mix. An air intake sitting three feet off the ground also helps. Sorry about the blurry photos - it's hard to be fording a two-foot deep raging river with swift currents, err, I mean Jalanraya and take good photos at the same time. Safety first!

About to go left

Tuesday for me felt very much like a Monday since I worked from home on the Monday which was good thing too since there was a massive police cordon around the Parliment area that caused an unprecedented KL-wide gridlock. I drove off to work, leaving my iPod at home so of course I missed my morning worship songs. Never mind that, my iPhone came to the rescue... I hooked up the over-priced iPod cable from my Alpine and was greeted with the following screens. No one called me in the morning anyway so I don't know if the phone will still ring but I'll try it out some day. Kudos to Apple for making the compatibility degrade gracefully -- manufacturers cannot anticipate the future but software should degrade to the common denominator gracefully when future devices show up.

As I drove out this morning, my trusty iPod mini hooked up to my Alpine CDE-9873 played Somewhere in the Middle by Casting Crowns The Altar and the Door CD. As is my habit nowadays, due to the lack of time and workload, I begin my morning with Worship in traffic. It calms my heart, and helps me re-focus the start of each new day on our Lord, God and Creator. The days feel much more bearable and I find strength to carry-on when I do this compared to a few days where I did not.

Of course today was a bit different as I was heading to the KWSP or EPF to withdraw some much needed cash for my new house & studio! This particular song caught on to me and I replayed it a couple of times. It really made me think and somehow I think it accurately describes me and where I am right now. It's trying to decide if I should plan and calculate all probabilities or to trust in God's supreme providence and faithfulness. To rely on my steady income or jump into my passion for photography. To pursue my personal goals and ambitions or who God wants me to be. To having everything to giving everything. No easy answers and not something one can decide or even do overnight or over a year.

Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle
© Casting Crowns

Well, when the Market stinks, you find other kinds of stinky projects to do... like rearing edible fish for the market

Well, this weekend has been much more restful than the last but still packed with little chores and things to do. Was up early on a Saturday to send my wife's car in for servicing and then it's off to the market for groceries. The hardware shop came next to replace my leaky faucet. That took quite a large amount of effort and back-breaking labor -- I wonder who screwed the original faucet in, but heck, it was so tight I had to use a wrench and hammer at the same time!

Then while we had to cook dinner for a pot-luck birthday dinner we were to attend later, I figured I might as well do some gardening. On the 12th floor that is and it was really a strange feeling. I mean here I am potting plants and getting my hands dirty with soil but it's 12 floors up and I've tiles for the floor. I can't wait to get my feet back onto the ground!

It doesn't usually hurt this much. And I'm sick and tired of politicians, several "knowledge-able" people and one elderly British couple saying that you know, our fuel prices are still cheap. Those Singaporeans, do you know how much it costs per liter over there? Oh, by the way, the Brits are paying RM8 per liter. And those Americans in their huge SUVs pay more than RM3 per liter. Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't mind those prices if my salary was in Singapore Dollars, British Pound Sterling or US Dollars. Get real. I earn in Ringgit so compared to someone in Singapore, US or UK, those numbers don't wash. Plus, do you know how much import duties are imposed on cars here? How can a RM120,000 Prius incur a RM117,000 import duty? Drop the import duty and I'll gladly drop the fuel subsidies. Get rid of our road tax too, an annual fee for the basic license plate plus registration (no more than RM100) should suffice.

Stay tuned for more info... or go here for the details (not yet but give me a day or two!)

How time flies. It's middle of May already and I'm still sleep deprived. Work is piling up on all fronts and there seems to be no let-up. New old House renovation plans are still being drawn and finalized while I'm hoping I won't need to sell all my stuff to finance it. Then again, I also can't wait to move out of the 12th floor. Condo living may suit some people but I think I prefer my feet on solid ground and no elevators to ride home. Makes going on vacations and photo shoots difficult too - imagine all the stuff you need to carry out and down and all that! I also seriously miss my two dogs and while I won't be taking them from my parents, I can't wait to have my own! Hopefully I can have a larger work area than my current space, cozy though as it is, there's not enough desk space for my wacom tablet and other stuff.

The May photoshoot got postponed into June and I think I'll try some with my cousin and his new bride if we have time. He's flying in end of this month with my iPhone and I'm wondering whether I should go quad-core on my PC and all that. Ah, but I have to save money for the house. My to-buy list is getting longer and longer. Delayed gratification indeed!

Hope you like my messy desk... hope to have a new workspace for 2009!