Unscrupulous!

Since moving to the new house, I have been doing many things to the house like minor repairs, upgrades, adding here and there plus many others. In the process, I met many small time contractors who profess to be able to do all kind of things. Some are good. They go about doing their job diligently without much fuss. One or two have become friends. At the same time there are others who are only after your money They will cheat you whenever they can with no guilty feeling at all. These are the unscrupulous one. They came for one job but then create extra job for example like making a pipe to leak. Then they will tell you there is a leak when in the first place there is no leak. The ultimate is when they charge you an exorbitant price for the just created job. I had one who is like that. Alhamdulillah I saw what he was up to so I sent him home.

Out of job

Met two friends from my Sarawak Hidro days yesterday while walking near Setapak Sentral. They were having coffee at a restaurant. Don't know what they were doing but they had their notebook on the table. I stopped for a chat. It seems that since Sarawak Hidro was bought over by Sarawak Electricity Board and they were retrenched about seven months ago, they have been out of job ever since. Really not good news at all. I hope they will find something to do soon. A job or some small business. They have a long way to go as they are still young. Unlike me, I am over sixty so it is not surprising if I am out of job although given a choice, I would like to work as well.

KL every weekday

For the next two to three months, we will be going to KL everyday except for the weekends. Have to get the kids to school. It may be only preschool but we feel it is good for them. Otherwise, they will be staying at home doing nothing much. At school, at least they will have some activities, learn a few things and have many friends. At home, their energy will be too much too handle the whole day. There's no preschool in Bkt Cerakah that is willing to accept them at this late of the year so we had no choice but to drive them to Gombak, KL every weekday. Using the highway will only take about forty minutes but the toll is killing. Taking the old road although shorter will take longer with all the traffic lights, lorries in front plus not to forget the traffic jam.

Just the way I like it

I searched high and low for a jigsaw that's reasonably priced while at the same time suits my purpose. I don't use it very often but when I need to use it, its there. The one that comes with established names like Bosch are of course quality products but the prices are a bit steep. They come with many features which a professional might find useful but for me, I don't need them. After a few months of searching, I finally found one at a DIY store. It was less than a hundred ringgit. Its light and small, just the type I like. Its also does its job which is the main thing. 

Two days

We received quite a number of wedding invitations from people we do not know since living here. Last week for example, there were eight invitations. A man on a motorcycle just rode by the house and drop a bundle of invitation cards. We don not know any of them. That is a surprise. What is even more surprising is that the wedding receptions are done over two days. Saturday and Sunday. Saturdays can be from 4pm to 11pm and while Sunday can be from 11pm to 5pm. When we received the first wedding invitation a month ago and noticed the dates, we thought, wow! This must be a grand wedding reception. Two days! But since then we received many more and there were two days as well. It seems that it is the norm in the kampong.

Different prices

Since moving to Danau Merbau, I have become a bit of a handy man myself. Been doing minor works here and there. In the process, I have been buying quite a few things from the hardware shops. One thing I discovered is that the prices for the same items are markedly different. The picture shows a tee joint for a half inch pipe. All shops sells them at different prices. So is the elbow joint. A shop in Ijok sells them at 0.80cts per piece. A shop at Sungai Buloh (Sasaran) sells them at 0.60cts. A shop in Puncak Alam sells them at 0.50cts. The cheapest I found is at a shop in K. Selangor. It was 0.40cts. You really have to scout around in order to get the best price.

Learning time