Run up to Christmas

I just realised that in the run up to Christmas I'm gonna be quite busy with frequent activities to go to.  Prior to my driving instructor check test (like an audit) which took place on the 29th of November, I could not really think about Christmas and the season we are about to embark on.  Thank God the check test went very well and I not only passed the check test but improved my overall driving instructor grading as well!!  :)  With that over, I can now focus on the next few weeks as we countdown to Christmas.  Lots of activities to take part in and I am very thankful for my friends and family whom I can share these special moments with.

To start things off I went to the Christmas Show at Destiny Church in Shawlands last night with Mum, Rebecca and my cousin Mankit.  The show was a really good production by the members of the church and the title was "Home for Christmas".  It was a good performance put on to show the different things that we as people put up with in the world, how we often put on a facade in hope of wanting to be accepted by those around us.  How we can make ourselves fake by pretending we're something we're not.  How we put on nice clothes to make ourselves look good.  But at the end of the night, after we go out and see friends and return home, we close the door and we remove the clothes, the make up, the smiles on our face, and we return to the "real you".  That is very often very different from the "you" that others might see.  Why is there need for that?  Are we always so hungry for acceptance that we have to be fake?  It is a struggle and sometimes it is very difficult to keep up.  Because at the end of the day, you will be found out.  The real you will surface, through our anger, our temper, our lies even, our attitude, our words.  We shock ourselves and those around us.  But God loves us for who we are.  No matter who we are, where we are from, no matter what you have done, God accepts us and wants to have a relationship with us.  It doesn't take much to be close to God or get to know Him.  We just need to have an open heart to receive this love He has for us.  His love is like no other love the world can give us.  We don't have to "work" to gain His favour, or dress nicely for Him, or speak "proper English".  Just be who you are with God and let His love fulfil you.  At the end of the play, the characters who were once in a argument and fight with each other learnt to accept one another, learnt to forgive one another because they learnt the true meaning of Christmas: and that was Jesus coming to the world to become our Saviour and He was sent by God, because God loved us (mankind) so much!!  I hope that more people will get to realise this truth this Christmas, and that Chistmas is not just about presents and parties as the characters in the play had assumed.

That was a nice start to kick off the Christmas feeling for me.  Tomorrow evening I will be going to watch a Cineworld Unlimited card advanced preview of "The Life of Pi 3D".  Tuesday evening there will be a Korean movie event happening at the Art School.  Wednesday I'll be meeting my oldest (longest) friend Bobby for "End of Watch" movie as it will be Orange Wednesday  ;)  Saturday after work I'll be joining in for a birthday dinner and some drinks.  Then Sunday will be church then weekly badminton.  Really happy playing badminton with the group in the past couple of months.  Have given me another activity to do besides going to the gym so it works my body in a different way.  Yep, still sweat lots when playing but it's all good!!  ;)

The following week, the last week before Christmas I will have even more exciting activities to look forward to!  Another visit to Viva Brazil, my first time at a Masquerade ceilidh/ ball, and possibly going to see "The Hobbit" on the Orange Wednesday.  Whoo-hoo!!  Bet there are more unplanned stuff happening as well in which I will be attending.  Just really thankful for friends and family whom I can spend this special time with and whom I can share God's love with also.  Awesome!

God bless y'all!

The summer of love

I will be attending FOUR weddings this summer.  Well, ok, not all are weddings, but wedding celebrations for sure!!  Last night was Lloyd and Miriam's wedding thanksgiving dinner.  Most of the folk from Cantonese congregation and some of English congregation were invited.  Mainly folk who knows the Lee family well and have seen Lloyd grow up.  I remember Lloyd was a year older than me and although were were in the same Bible class I always looked up to him.  He was intelligent, fit, played football, rugby with his school and could play the piano and guitar.  His younger brother, Wayne, also followed his great example.  Lloyd left Glasgow after high school to study in Manchester and since then I only saw him at special occasions like Christmas / New Year / Easter time when he came up to Glasgow to visit his family and the church.  Last week he got married to Miriam whom he met whilst down in Manchester.  He was engaged for sixteen months.  It was very nice to hear Lloyd share how he organised a treasure hunt to lure Miriam into a park to propose to her.  Such a nice story and indeed a story they will live to tell their children and grandchildren.

It was nice celebrating together with them and with over one hundred people in the Pollokshaws Burgh Hall.  There was a great atmosphere of celebration, happiness and joy.  Through the event many aunties came up to me to compliment me on how handsome I am.  Many mentioned that it was soon Cat's wedding coming up (middle of July!) and then followed it with asking when it was my turn.  Some asked if I had a girlfriend and didn't seem to believe when I told them or my mum told them I was still single.  Mum even asked them back, "Do you know of any Christian girls to recommend?"  Haha!!  Ah well, if only eh.  These occasions are very special and very joyful, for the majority.  However, we should probably be mindful of those who are not yet attached and who may be sad / worried / confused about it all.  If any of you are on this boat, take heart, stand up proud, don't waver, but stand strong and continue ploughing on.  If you feel you are lacking in any areas, learn to look for ways to improve yourself.  Sometimes, "being yourself" is not enough.  Always look to improve yourself and better yourself.  Not only will you do yourself good, but you will also benefit your future partner, whomever they may be.  For now, I thank the aunties for their compliments and I thank God for any compliments given to me.  And of course, thank my parents for their good genes ;)

So why is this the summer of love?  Well, there will be so many wedding celebrations to attend:

1) Lloyd and Miriam's wedding thanksgiving
2) Teng Cheng and Sin Hung wedding - 1st July
3) Ian and Leanne's wedding - 7th July
4) Cat and Nick's wedding - 16th July
5) Cat and Nick's Singapore banquet - 4th August

Wow!!  Will be suited and booted (and kilted!) so many times in the space of a month!  Haha!! Lights... camera... action!!

Lesson of the Day: Look out for the lonely hearts at weddings

Passions

Been having one of those reflective moments just now.

Was thinking about how short life is, how we shouldn't waste our short time on the Earth.

It got me thinking about using the time wisely and pursing our passion(s) in life.

I was thinking about the passions in my life.  And my one deepest passion.  The one thing I think about every day.  Upon waking up.  Just before sleeping.  The one thing that even keeps me awake at night sometimes, for thinking so much about it.  The one thing I search about on Google and YouTube.  The one thing I receive daily emails about.  The one thing that is constantly rolling out of my tongue/ mouth.

I think about it whilst working.  I think about it whilst sitting here.  I think about it whilst eating.

How do I pursue this passion?  Have I left it too late?  Am I too old for this?

Lesson of the Day: "If you have ever felt such tremendous enthusiasm and desire for something that you would gladly spend all your waking hours working on it, that you would happily do without pay, then you have found your passion." -- Sharon Cook & Graciela Sholander

Meet and Greet

I have no idea why it still feels so chilly when it reaches evening time.  We have reached the end of April already and the weather should be improving day by day.  The daylight has improved for sure, as we are seeing daylight much earlier in the mornings and for longer periods of the day.  However, the temperature still seems unstable.  Ah well!!

So in the past week I've managed to get to bed by 10PM most nights.  Not every night I must confess.  Sunday night and Monday managed 10PM.  Monday morning I felt amazing with eight hours of sleep and noticed that I didn't yawn at all throughout the day until about 2PM!  And that was even after workout first thing in the morning as well.  Sleep is so under-rated!  Tuesday night I think I managed 10:30PM.  Wednesday I went Go-karting with a bunch of fellow driving instructors.  It was Scotkart at Clydebank and it was so much fun!  Got home not very late, about 9:50PM I think, but it was too close to bed time and it was impossible to 'switch off' just like that so I went to bed just after 11PM.  It went downhill from there basically cos Thursday night I came home pretty late and ended up missing the gym on Friday morning.  Not to fret, as I made it back up yesterday morning doing circuit style exercises for 45mins and then getting home for breakfast before starting work.  All in all, I do totally feel the benefits of my sleeping plan of 10PM-6AM.  I want to try it again this coming week although I have a pretty busy week of work ahead of me, with the latest finish of 8PM in the west end one evening.  I don't like finishing so late as it usually means I cannot get to bed on time especially after I eat a little something once I get home.  Ah well, we'll see what happens eh.

I think I'll sign up for the Men's Conference 2012 at Destiny Church on the 16th of June.  The conference runs from 9AM that Saturday morning and ends in the evening time.  I would imagine it would be a whole day event for Christian brothers studying the Word of God together, having fellowship and praying together.  Guess I'll make new friends there as well.  One thing I've realised about myself recently is that I need to expand in my circle of friends.  Due to the 'isolated' nature of my job as a driving instructor, where I have no colleagues per se, where I am 'on my own' most of the time, it does limit my time of socialising and communicating with others.  And by the time my working day is over I retire back at home where I just see my mum and sister.  There is not much chance to really hang out with friends.  Sundays are the times when I get a break from work, and I get to see brothers and sisters in church.  However, the time spent is short and sometimes I feel there is not enough time to build quality friendships.  So I'm seeking the Lord's direction as to what to do.  As I grow older it is important to maintain an open mind and an open heart to get to know other people, to branch out and accept others and be accepted.  I must not be a hermit nor so inward looking.

So the lesson which I've (re)learnt in the past week is that, it is ok to go up to talk to people.  I have got to be less shy.  Wednesday I had the opportunity to meet other driving instructors, some of whom I have never met.  At first it was a bit daunting, the idea of meeting and racing with other instructors whom I didn't know.  But it only takes the first line, "Hi, I'm Gordon!" followed by offering your hand for a handshake, and the rest seems to flow.  By the end of the night we all broke the ice and everyone seemed very friendly and we had a great laugh.  Saturday night, we had an evangelistic event in church.  There were many new faces there, especially from Mandarin service.  I managed to speak to one Mandarin dude whilst we were still setting up.  Due to English limitations the conversation was quite short.  Just before the event began I plucked up the courage to greet three younger people: Anson, Alison and her sister Elaine.  It was to my shame that it was the first time I ever spoken to Alison as she has been in EM for around six months I think, and I hadn't ever spoken to her or the friend she comes with.  But talking to them yesterday was totally fine and not as scary as it might seem.  Tonight, at Destiny Church I managed to talk to a lady called Linda after the service.  We had a good conversation about how nice Destiny Church is with how it is managed, the work it does locally and globally and how it has changed so many lives.  I felt very refreshed and encouraged tonight and well rested.  Although Destiny Church in the southside it not very local, but it is definitely worth the travel down to worship with so many others.  Looking forward to attending Destiny Church services more frequently.


Lesson of the Day: Take the leap and greet people.  It is not so scary!!

Sleep

Fifteen minutes until I head to bed.  For the coming week I will try to sleep for eight hours each night.  To get up at 6AM for the gym would mean I need to get to bed for 10PM.  I might not fall asleep right away but at least I will be resting7: my eyes and I will be away from the temptations of Facebook, Whatsapp, Youtube, Draw Something and WORDS with Friends.  Haha!

Sleep is very important for everybody, especially for those who work out.  Sleep allows the body to repairs it's muscle tissues which were damaged during exercise and lets the body restore it's energy, before the next bout!  For too long I've neglected my sleep and averaged about 6-7 hours of sleep per night.  There were some nights I was still up around 2AM which mean only four hours of sleep left before getting up for the gym.  Hence I missed a few training sessions due to this.  No good.

Instead, if I do a trial of sleeping 10PM-6AM each night, I hope to see/ feel better energy levels as well as improvement to my physique as the body is allowed to recharge properly.  That would mean a typical weekday would pan out as follows:

10PM-6AM Sleep
6AM-10AM Gym, breakfast, prep lunch
10AM-7:30PM Work
7:30PM-10PM Dinner and wind down
10PM-6AM Sleep.... and the cycle continues so on and so forth!

I think it won't be too difficult for the first few days, at least until Friday.  However, on Saturday there will be a church event going on which is posted as 7PM-9:30PM.  I doubt I'll get to bed for 10PM, but then again, if I don't need to get up at 6AM on Sunday morning I should be ok.  Will still aim for eight hours of quality sleep.  Ok, time is now 21:55hrs to be exact.  Gotta go now.  Goodnight y'all!

An encouraging email received...

"Everyone makes mistakes, everyone has a past. We have to forgive
ourselves, because Jesus is our redeemer and lifter of our head. Don’t
carry the pasts in ourselves and learn to love ourselves. Don’t define
ourselves by our pasts. As Paul said, we have to forget the things
behind and pursue the things in front. When we spend time with God, we
can soak in His unconditional love, accept His forgiveness, and
receive His grace. When we truly repent, the guilt will be gone from
us, as Jesus’s blood have cleanses us from sins. That’s why we thank
Jesus for dying on the cross for us because there is our forgiveness,
and we don’t have to punish ourselves. He has done that for you.

God accepts us unconditionally, all the judgement, all the anger, all the
wrath of God has been poured on Jesus Christ. We have to change our
mind about ourselves. When we love ourselves, we can say that “I’m
blessed because of God”. If we don’t love ourselves, we will say
things that slander ourselves and also slandering God ie “I’m not good
enough”. The devil always try to make us think negatively about ourselves
and put us down or hate ourselves. But God said, no! Learn to love
yourself as I (God) have loved you, soak My unconditional love. 

We need to love ourselves, and hence we can love others and give
compliments to others, as well as confidence in our everyday life. God
wants us to praise Him and feel blessed by His grace, and change into
the man He intended us to be." - copy and pasted with slight editing by myself.

A very timely email received this evening.  May you all be blessed by this also :)

Lesson of the Day: Don't give up, as God never gives up!

Spiritual match

Anne Healy (Pastor Healy's wife) was right when she spoke at last Sunday's service.  The sermon theme was on Mother's Day and somehow there was connection to finding love.  She mentioned how important it was to wait for the right person to come along to become your life partner.  She shared about her own story, how before meeting Pastor Healy she was previously engaged but the engagement broke down along with her relationship with her then fiance.  A friend said to her, "I'm very glad this relationship broke down and this ended."  She was very distraught and did not understand why her friend had said this.  Her friend explained that she felt the man was not right for Anne.  Her friend felt that the man was not Anne's "spiritual match".  Those two words struck me on Sunday.  It kind of summoned up my whole life.  It explained why things are the way they are.  It seems I have never found my "spiritual match".  And whilst this revelation dawned on me, it also made me realise that I myself may not have been a good "spiritual match" for anybody either!!

So what does this mean?  How does one 'gauge' this spiritual level?  What do we use to measure or compare?  Being a Christian man seeking a Christian woman as a life partner, I should be able to provide spiritual support for my partner.  But what "spiritual level" should she be?  Should I be seeking a life partner with "spiritual level" equal to or less than myself?  Or how would things work if the woman has a spiritual level "higher" than myself?  Would I still be able to lead spiritually?  Does it work the same way as for example: income or education?  Will discrepancies in spiritual levels cause conflict or awkwardness as it may for the two examples?  Hmm...

Do any single guys reading this, ever think about this matter?  You might want a life partner and hope to find her soon.  But have you thought whether you can provide for her spiritually as well as physically and emotionally etc?  I do not feel I am spiritual enough to be honest.  Nor do I feel I am rich or intelligent.  What does that mean...?

Chilling out

Taking things really slow tonight.  Aiming for a really chilled night tonight.  This time last week I was sipping on whiskey with Ian bro.  Ok, I won't lie, I was throwing it back real quick at times.  But that was because I had it diluted with lemonade being the lightweight I am.  Haha!  Today, well I was just working.  Started 10AM and finished 4PM then had an appointment with Stephanie at 4:45PM for a back scrub and back, neck and shoulder massage.  Had this booked a few weeks back as it would be a nice way to relax after a week of work and had not had a relieving massage for a long while.  So after finishing work I headed down to town, near Central Station and had my treatments done.  The back I had a Mineral Salt Scrub Treatment where she used a salt scrub on the skin of my upper and lower back and it took off the dead skin.   I've never had this done before so at first it hurt a little as the minerals were quite rough on the skin.  However, the "pain" was bearable and I knew it was good for me.  After the scrub she put on some lotion which was a bit "tingly".  Obviously, because my skin felt like it had just been scrubbed with a brillo pad!  LOL!  Again, initial contact was stingy but then it settled.  Stephanie then hovered a steamer machine thing over my back and this killed any bacteria on the skin whilst refreshing it.  This lasted about 6-8 minutes.  Finally came the Dermalogica moisturiser on the back.  Ahh bliss!  =)

After that settled it was time for the back, neck and shoulder massage.  Whilst getting the back scrub done I was thinking if I made the right choice of getting these two treatments done together.  What if the skin on the back was too raw for massaging?  I was getting ripped to shreds!  But, no.  Stephanie asked if I wanted the massage to help me feel revitalised or feel relaxed.  I chose relaxed and she used the particular oil to achieve this.  The massage was very nice.  She managed to pushed almost all of the knots and tension on my back muscles due to my workouts etc and it felt so gooood!!  Something that foam rollers cannot achieve.  Haha!!

At the end of it all Stephanie gave me a glass of water and told me to take my time in getting up to leave.  My back felt so refreshed, so hydrated.  Even until now it's so smooth!!  The back is always a very hard part to clean and see properly.  And because the lungs are at the back, the refreshed skin is very good for it.  The amount of sweating at workouts will no doubt block up the pores and skin again and I'll go back for the treatment again in the future.

Going to stay relaxed for the rest of the night.  Not going to go on Facebook.  Going to go to bed early.  Long day tomorrow.  Working 8:30AM-5:30PM on a Saturday!!  =O  Ok, time to go now.  It is 8:30PM and I'm going to watch New Girl on Ch4.  Continue where we left off in Grantham ;)

Feeling relaxed

I am very glad that I had such a nice relaxing long weekend down in Grantham with Ian and Leanne.  Because during the whole weekend we had such good laughs and it was like almost every moment we had laughs, jokes and teasing etc.  It really helped create a nice relaxing atmosphere for us and a relaxing atmosphere inside me also.  So much so that I find myself much calmer and much less uptight whilst working this week.  For the past few weeks I was often feeling frustrated inside and I allowed the stresses of work get to me.  On the outside I might have smiled or remained calm, but the inside held a storm.  I guess I needed a good break away from work.  And the long weekend was just that! 

The last time I had break off work was back in November when I took the Friday off till Sunday and used the weekend for the church retreat.  However, I was still very active, I was still driving, and I had my car key in my pocket.  This weekend I intentionally left my car key in the house so I was well and truly relaxed.  It was so nice to have Leanne drive us around places.  I sat at the back taking photographs, videos and even dozed off at one point.  Haha!

Lesson of the Day: All work and no play really does make me a dull boy!

Don't give up

It was quite funny.  This morning I was watching a random video on YouTube by Jayesslee.  The video was "I won't give up" by Jason Mraz.  I think it was link on my Facebook News Feeds.  At the end of the video it showed a verse from the Bible, taken from Galatians 6:9 -

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." 

Do you ever get the feeling that sometimes it is very difficult to be "good" all the time?  That it is difficult to be "nice" all the time? Sometimes I feel that going out my way to please others is such a tough thing to do.  When I do these things, I always remind myself that I am making a difference to somebody's life, to somebody's day, and it is worth it.  However, some of the time, if not all of the time, I am the one losing out.  And then I get frustrated, I get upset, and I feel that the person got "what they want" but "what about me?".  Does anybody else feel that?

God teaches us to selfless, to "consider others better than yourself" - Philippians 2:3

I find it very tough sometimes and really need some encouragement.  I was quite surprised I got it after watching the video.  Yes it was random but sometimes that is how God works.  When you least expect it.  What I am encouraged by is that the Bible tells me that if I continue doing good - and I presume this encompasses my Christian duties as well as life in general - that eventually something good will happen out of it.  Here's hoping.  Cos I sometimes do feel very tired of it all.  Smiling when I don't feel like it.  Being helpful when I am busy.  Going out of my way for others.  But in the end I look foward to the hope I have in God.  =)



Lesson of the Day: Keep doing what you feel is right.  It might be tough, but will be worth it in the end.

Missing the times

Looking at the pictures and videos, choosing the ones to upload onto Facebook, I recall the happy times I had over the weekend with Ian and Leanne.  Here's what I particular remember:

"Hybrid"

"MST" - (not be mistaken with STD!)

"Thai bride"

"Flip flops during wedding"

"Oriental style wedding"

"Two person platter at Harvester"

"Locked and Rocked"

"21 compartment laptop bag"

"Bubbles, Squeak and Mr Elvis"

"Size 10 and 11 shoes"

"James Bond / Snooker player"

"Stealth mode inside hotel"

"Ian and Leanne entering station platform to send me off"

These are the things off the top of my head which bring a smile to my face.  And of course one of the biggest highlights of the weekend was getting a bedroom THREE times the size of my current room, with a DOUBLE bed and a window!!  Both Saturday and Sunday mornings I awoke naturally at 7:40AM although alarm was set for 9AM.  Did not know why it happened on Saturday, but on Sunday I realised it was because the morning sun light was shining through the window into the room and it was so nice!  I've never woken up to sunlight before!  =)  In my future home I would really like a bedroom with a window.  =)  So here I put a picture of the lovely bedroom.



Lesson of the Day: Turn off all power sockets when leaving the house.  This reduces energy bills and reduces risks of any electric shortages or fires. - (Thanks Ian bro!)

Back in Glasgow

I reached home back to Glasgow on the scheduled time of 1651hrs this afternoon.  It felt strange to be back on home soil.  The Glaswegian feeling came flooding back.  Fortunately, until now I still carry the positive feelings from the lovely weekend I spent with Ian and Leanne.  Still replaying the jokes and funny moments we shared together.  Looking at the pictures and watching the videos made me smile again.  Even as I shared some with mum I was very excited, especially the wedding stuff and showing her the pets too.  Everything was so nice and I was so relaxed this weekend.  I really do thank God for Ian and Leanne.  I believe God has blessed us to be friends and allow our friendship to develop through time and through distance.  I feel so happy to hear that the bedroom at their place is always welcome for me.  I do look forward to staying at their place again in the future.  =)

Here we have the last picture of the three of us for March.  I will be back in July and look forward to having another blast of a time.  MORE bromance, MORE jokes, MORE FIFA, MORE food and of course THE WEDDING!!!  =D

I'll share more another time.  For now it is time for bed before I get up again, hopefully back to the earlier time of 6AM for the gym and we kick off again.  We all return to work tomorrow and I hope we all carry on smiling and laughing.  God bless y'all.

Lesson of the Day: Beware of first impressions.  They are not always right.

Meeting the parents

An earlier blogpost tonight.  It's 9:30PM and we've not long gotten home after a day out visiting the wedding reception, the church, the little town called Boston and also dinner with Leanne's parents Norman and Marilyn.

Although I had a good day yesterday I felt today was even better.  Yesterday was chilled and productive as we got lots of stuff for the wedding etc and chilled out to watch TV, ate dinner together and played LOTS of FIFA 12.  Ok, Ian and I played LOTS of FIFA.  I think Leanne got a bit bored.  =P  Leanne likes computer games too, but not football games.  So I think she won't be much interested when FIFA 13 comes out either.  Haha!  Today was a busier day, we done lots more and I also got to meet Leanne's family.  Initially I was a little nervous when Ian told me whilst I still in Glasgow that we'd have dinner with Leanne's mum and dad on Saturday night.  I was wondering what they'd be like, if we'd get on, if they would understand me.  Basically if we'd click.  Being Chinese also, I do have a slight fear of inferiority at times.  It has taken me a while to understand from Ian and Leanne that they do not let my black hair and yellow skin get in the way of my character, my personality and our friendship.  So as Leanne drove to Boston, along the fields and along an unexpected diversion route, I was a little apprehensive about meeting them, yet also excited.  I also felt a little nervous in the sense that it was like a 'meet the parents' situation.  For a few years now Ian and I have been calling each other Brothers, and so I felt like I was 'meeting the parents' too as I am so close to Ian.  The car pulled up at the driveway and Leanne tooted the horn.  I cringed a bit thinking we'd attract too much attention for this Chinaman getting out of her Fiesta and walking up to the house.  Haha!  Mrs Sibley opened the door and greeted us with smiles and good banter.  Everything was friendly and the ice was broken when Leanne told her mum that I was feeling nervous.  Haha!  Guess honesty is the best policy.  And then after meeting and shaking hands with Mr Sibley, everything else flowed.  The conversations were aplenty, laughs aplenty, especially with Ian being there.  I got to meet the two dogs Chloe and Molly.  =)

We went for a quick trip to Boston town centre and I got to visit Greggs for lunch and Wilkinsons.  For lunch I had a Cornish pasty and a mexican baguette sandwich from Greggs.  We went to Tesco also and I bought a few things from there for the train home tomorrow like drinks, pasta and sandwich filler.  Ian offered to make me sandwiches to take on board tomorrow instead of me spending money buying sandwiches from Tesco.  How very kind of Ian.  One of the many things I have discovered about Ian this weekend is how he likes to save money and knows how to. We had dinner together at The Barge Pub and Restaurant and the five of us shared good food in great company.  The conversations flowed along with the laughter.  Tonight I went all out again and had ANOTHER platter sized meal - a 24oz Mixed Grill!!  The grill had pork, lamb, gammon, rump, chicken, sausage, and egg served with chips, peas, mushroom and onion rings.  The whole thing took me around 35-40mins to complete.  I didn't specifically time it, but the timestamp on my before and after pictures give me a rough indication.  Once again I was the last one to finish my meal and I also could not order a dessert from the sweet board.  LOL!  It was a lovely dinner though and once again, thanks to Ian and Leanne for paying this meal.

So this is it then.  I am getting ready to go back downstairs to play FIFA 12 with Ian and before that to look through all the pictures and videos of the last few days.  So far I have 462 items to check out, consisting of pictures and videos.  Total size of my Grantham folder is 15.7GB!  Haha!! Such fun long weekend I could not stop myself from taking lots of pictures.  Finally I can be myself I think.  Doing what I love doing, what I enjoy doing, joking the way I want to joke, having fun the way I enjoy.  =D

Lesson of the Day: Life is too short to be all serious all the time.  Have fun.  Have a laugh.  It makes life more enjoyable!  :)

Follow Up...

Drams and Domino's Pizzas

It had just gone midnight and I have just gotten back into my room.  Feeling quiet tired so I will K.O. quite soon after this.  Today has been a very long day, but a very nice day.  I slept quite well last night on a strange bed.  Usually the first night on a different bed I would not get much rest.  Examples like at church camps and staying over at other friends' places etc.  But I thank God for giving me good sleep and also thank Ian and Leanne for going to so much effort in building the double bed for me and making sure I had enough pillows.  Also, I actually forgot to bring my moisturiser this trip and Ian even gave me his moisturiser.  I mean, how cool is that?!  It's like anything I can think of, they have for me!  Haha!

After breakfast and a shower, we all got ready for going out to the nearest city of Nottingham for some shopping.  We visited places like Hotel Chocolat (super cool!), Paperchase and Debenhams before settling down for some lunch.  We had quite a productive shopping trip this time and the long walks and stuff gave us a very big appetite.  So we went to Harvester at Trinity Square and had a very nice lunch.  The picture above was taken at Harvester just we delved into our lunch.  As you and see from above, the dishes in front of me were quite big.  In my hunger I decided to go for:

Plantation Platter
Flame-grilled chicken wings, boneless BBQ ribs, half a spitroast chicken and crackerjack prawns with
grilled corn on the cob, grilled pineapple rings and sour cream & chive dip.

For two to share, with two
sauces and two sides of your choice
(980kcal. per person.)

It took me almost 35mins to finish the whole platter, with Leanne helping me eat two of the chicken wings.  Yes I will have consumed almost 2000 calories but my goodness it tasted soooo good.  I totally felt my body required the refueling after all the travelling, walking and shopping, and the rest of the day too.  =D  After lunch we went to a few other places and got a few more things.  By the end of the day nobody left Nottingham empty handed let's say!  Haha!  Oh there were some funny conversations had during our shopping also.  Not just wedding related stuff but relationship stuff.  Haha!  Ian knows all about me and my successes and failures in this department of my life and he is very encouraging of me to find the right person in my life.  He again mentioned the important of finding the person we have the right "spark" with.  Because without that "spark", without thinking/ feeling like they are your best friend in life, it would be meaningless, it would not work out, regardless of nationality of the person.  This is very true.  Looks in a person will fade with time.  Money will (usually) run out with.  But the character of a person usually gets stronger as they mature physically and spiritually.  This is much more important.


Drams and Domino's Pizzas

To end this lovely day, we spent the evening chillaxing in the house.  I was hungry again so had some toast and a fruit and nut bar as snack.  Ian and I played Fifa 12 on the PS3.  I haven't had any time to play PS3 for a such a long time.  I think the last time I played was in Raymond's house back in the summer time or just before it.  Therefore tonight I played very horribly and the results were always in Ian's favour, apart from the very last game we played which I somehow managed to win 4-2 after an extra time length match.  Then again, I was using a 5-Star team playing against 1-Star team.  Lol!!

We ordered Domino's Pizza for dinner and munched that whilst watching Eastenders and New Girl.  Was my first time watching New Girl after hearing it was quite good.  In the end I quite liked the humour in it, however, I do not think I will have time to watch any more TV at home once I get back.  Currently I don't watch very much tv at all being so busy each day.  But I am very glad I got to spend this Friday evening so relaxed indoors with Ian and Leanne, watching British and American telly.  On top of that, Ian also let me try some whisky.  We had Jack Daniels with lemonade.  Jim Beam with lemonade and Glenmorangie whisky with lemonde.  Each time the whisky was very diluated, but even then my face's reaction to alcohol in the system is to turn my cheeks red.  But this time it was only every so lightly as it was so diluted.  LOL!

Right now I am not drunk.  Don't worry.  Haha!  Going to fall asleep after this.  Tomorrow we will have a later wake up time but will still have a long day of different visits like visiting the church, the wedding reception and will also get to meet Leanne's mum and dad.  =)

Follow Up...

At Grantham!

Hey guys, what's up!  I'm currently sitting on a brand new double bed with memory foam mattress in a bedroom that was decorated and put together especially for me.  This was done by no other than my uber cool hosts Ian and Leanne!!  They are the reason I am visiting Grantham!  =)

So didn't want to work today.  Just wanted to chill out at home, take my time packing and then head down to see Ian and Leanne sooner.  But eventually had to settle for getting my train at original time of 5:15PM.  Had about twenty minutes of "transit" time at Edinburgh Waverley Train Station in which I had difficulty getting around in.  The place looks so messy with all the construction work etc.  Fortunately my Edinburgh to Grantham train had reserved seating.  And what was even better was I had two front-facing seats to myself AND a power socket all to myself so I could feed my phone and my laptop!  =D  I shall not mention anymore about my cool laptop bag, but that it is such a good travelling companion!  =P

I reached Grantham about fifteen minutes later than scheduled.  This was due to congestion at some point of the journey and later disruption caused by 'trespassers'.  LOL!  In the end I was glad to meet Ian and Leanne as I walked towards the exit.  They had to wait for me to for long!!

Man I am sooo impressed by this place.  As soon as I walked into their house it was very warm and cosy.  Not like what Ian said to me earlier that they keep the costs down so don't use heating.  Haha!  Bit like our house.  =P  There are like three levels here: ground, level one, level two.  Everything has been provided for me: my own bedroom, with DOUBLE bed, drawers, lamps, a bathroom to myself, shower gel, towels, LOTS of food also!  I asked for muesli and banana for breakfast.  I got not only that but they bought lots of food in the fridge and cupboards full of snacks AND alcohol too!  Haha!  I said to Ian their kitchen is like a mini ASDA or something.  Haha!  My goodness, it feels like royalty here!  I am very much looking forward to spending this long weekend with Ian and Leanne as it will be good fun hanging with them and getting to meet Leanne's family too.

So far on the agenda for the weekend it's something like: visit Nottingham tomorrow, have a nice lunch together, suit fitting, whiskey drinking, PS3 games time, dinner with Leanne's family and lots lots more.

I've brushed my teeth and washed my face.  It's time to close off once I'm done here.  Alarm is set for 8AM tomorrow.  Yee-haa!  Catch y'all later!

Follow Up... 

Finally sorted!

Been getting up extra early the past few mornings, mainly due to starting work earlier than usual and having to get lunch and snacks prepared before heading out to the gym.  Usually lunch prep happens after I get back from the gym, but that was not possible on Monday and Tuesday of this week.  However, it was worth it in the end as Nelson passed his driving test, as mentioned in yesterday's post.  This morning I went to the gym as well but did not need to get up quite as early, just 5:55AM.  Got up, had my protein shake, quickly packed my stuff and then went to get fuel along the way to the gym.  Did my workout and managed to get home for 8:10AM.  Plenty of time for the plumber to arrive.  Around 8:45AM somebody chapped my main door.  I looked through the peephole and saw a man with his head down.  He had a beanie hat on.  Didn't quite look like a plumber.  I opened with curiosity, already thinking in my head of how to decline the man if he asked for "a few minutes of my time" to tell me about some charity etc.  With the door open I could see him holding a box with Amazon on it.  He said he had a parcel for me.  Ah yes, my Swiss Gear laptop bag!!  =D  I was happy to sign for it then opened the box to find what you see on the above link.  A nice blue and black backpack with lots of great padding, openings, compartments and a good quality feel to it.  I look forward to using it to carry my laptop down to Grantham in Lincolnshire to see Ian and Leanne.  =)

The plumber guy came at around 8:50AM and sorted the toilet out for us.  Without going into too much detail, he was a nice guy, Neil, who could not replicate the faults I was telling him about, but seeing the video on my phone (HD 1080p quality!) he understood the problem set about rodding the soil pipe then later fit a new U-bend for us.  Neil left about 11:20AM, I cleaned up a bit, hoovered, then had lunch.  I was soooo hungry!!  The cost was not cheap, but I was glad to pay for peace of mind and an actual professional who has been on the job for six years.  Everytime he left the house to go to the van or to get the parts he would explain to me where he was going etc.

The day didn't end there.  Plumbing job done, lunch was rushed, then off to work.  Finished work at 4PM and went to watch "This Means War" at 6:30PM.  After that went to Tesco to buy a few things to bring down for Ian and Leanne.  I'm soo looking forward to the wee break down to see them.  Get to relax, not have to drive also!  Not taken a wee break away since going to Dublin back in Dec 2010!  Life has been all about work work work!!

Lesson of the Day: All work and no play makes G a dull boy!

One in, one out

I found the above delivery card on the kitchen table when I got home after work this evening.  At first I was not too sure who would have sent me something through Hermes.  I had not heard of Hermes before, nor could I immediately recall if I were expecting any deliveries.  Then after a few moments, I remembered I had ordered a new laptop bag for my Samsung laptop.  I will be going down to Grantham in Lincoln to see my good friend Ian and his fiancee Leanne this Thursday.  Will be away until Sunday.  I am planning to bring my laptop with me for this trip as I will be going down to discuss their wedding plans with them and meet Leanne's family.  I think I will need the laptop because I will be taking photos and videos and most importantly will be making notes and plans for my role as the Best Man!!  Oh my goooodness!!  Can you believe it?  Ian asked me to me his Best Man for his wedding in July the 7th!!  I was and still am very honoured, however, the thing that scares me the most is the Best Man Speech!!!  =O  7th July.... today is 6th March... Wow! Just four months to go!  Then on 16th July it'll be Cat's wedding!  ANOTHER speech!!  =O 

Anyway, back to the laptop bag.  If you click the picture above you'll see the Swissgear laptop bag I got for my 17" Samsung computer.  I still have the 15" bag which I put my old Toshiba in, but putting the Samsung in does not give it any protection and it is very umcomfortable as it is the single strap shoulder bag type.  Far too obvious that it is a laptop bag and is not easy or convenient to carry around.  This laptop bag looks waaay more comfortable and has so many different compartments for me to store stuff like my other gadgets, important documents etc.  One great thing about it is, it has a stabilising design which keeps the bag upright so it does not fall when put down.  Good stuff!  I find sagging bags quite annoying, like something that does not have any backbone, forever crumpling.  Lol!  This looks like a bag to last a long time and I'm glad to pay the price.

So, I missed the courier twice apparently, but this was the first card I saw.  So I got in touch with "Alan" and asked him to deliver between 8AM-12PM tomorrow.  He said he will come by then.  Great!  That is the time I will be home tomorrow... because... the plumbers are coming!!  =D  Sooo looking forward to meeting these professionals!!  So looking forward to having a "normal" bathroom/ toilet.  Will update y'all in due course.

And finally, as my title suggests, I want to share some good news.  This morning I had a pupil Nelson sitting his driving test.  As we approached the test centre I got a text message from a new number.  She is called Ellen and said she was referred by my friend Esther for driving lessons.  I was joking to Nelson in the waiting room.  I told him "See, a message asking for lessons with me.  If you pass, I'll have room for her.  If not, she'll have to wait."  This was a friendly yet positive push for Nelson.  I was feeling positive about him and his test and was also quite glad with the examiner he got.  So off he went to sit his test whilst I waited in the waiting room, said a prayer for Nelson and later calling Ellen to discuss her requirements etc.  Again I told her the same thing, when my pupil passes I'll have space for her and will make arrangements.  Nelson came back about 40 minutes later.  I approached the car and I saw through the window the driving examiner was writing on the blue driving test pass certificate!  Whoo-hoo!!  Amazing!  Thank the Lord!  So happy for Nelson and he was so glad to pass too!  =)  What does "one in, one out" mean?  Well, I believe the Lord definitely provides for every single thing.  He knows what we need and knows just when to give it to us.  "One in" would be Ellen coming in.  "One out" would be Nelson leaving after he has passed.  I was originally going to title this post "One out, one in" as that is what usually happens.  However, this time God blessed me with before I was without.  Hallelujah!

Lesson of the Day: The Lord gives and takes away.  In any order He pleases.

Making an effort

Check this out. I've been sat here outside Chinatown since just before 9am for a lesson 9-10:30AM. Called pupil at 9:10am... Voicemail. Called her husband at 9:20AM... both still in bed. Pupil said will "be there ten mins". Getting from Ibrox to Cowcaddens via subway will take much more than ten mins!

How frustrating. Driving test next Monday and that's how she gears up for it. I made effort to start early for her and shortened other lessons to an hour to accommodate her. Back to back lessons today till 6pm so she can't get any over time with me.

===

Ok, that was this morning.  Pupil eventually showed up, dropped off by husband.  Lesson went ahead and finished in the scheduled time as I had to get ready for the next lesson.  I really do my best to avoid knock-on effects on subsquent lessons.  Bit like the cinema.  If you buy a ticket for 9AM showing and you don't get to your seat till half hour or more later, then the film still finishes at the prescribed time.  This world is not TiVo.  It's only fair.  I have a business to run.  Isn't it ironic that I just talked about people being late for lessons in yesterday's blogpost, then this happened this morning.  A great example of "be careful of what you say".  Haha!

So I called the real plumbers this morning and arranged for them to come on Wednesday morning.  Woman on the phone cos I'm in Dennistoun they'll get here between 8:30AM-9AM.  I'm fine with that.  By the sound of things they can get the jobs done on the same day and I'd be happy to pay for the peace of mind and have everything settled once and for all.  Fortunately mum and Cat will both be at work, so it'll be just me who will see the workmen make the mess and do the stuff etc.  Hopefully I can clean up before I leave for work so when mum and Cat come home everything is in working order.  =)

I got up at 5:30AM this morning.  So early because I had to make my lunch and sandwiches for today's breaks between lessons.  Left the house after washing up and managed to reach the gym for 6:40AM.  Got my free towel from reception.  No idea why, but it feels so good asking for a towel now.  Maybe the novelty will wear off soon lol!  Is it because it is free that makes it more special?  Or is it because I know I have paid more towards my membership so I feel more special?  Haha!  Oh, I don't know.  But what I do know is I should continue working out hard at the gym.  Sweat buckets this morning especially as my new training regime has me doing 40 seconds of 'cardio' in between every set of exercise.  So I chose skipping in between sets and later burpees in between sets.  These are to keep the heart rate going and increasing fat burning action whilst resting between sets.  Effective stuff I tell ya!

Same again tomorrow.  5:30AM alarm is set.  Time for bed... after watching an episode of "Live of Omission" TVB drama.  I know it is from last year, but I have a few episodes before it ends so I will just finish it off.  Goodnight y'all!

Lesson of the Day: Keep working hard at whatever you do.  It will be noticed by someone somewhere.  Or the very least, by God.  =)

Ploughing on

Alarm is set for 5:30AM tomorrow which means I better get off here real soon if I wanna make it up on time.  Reason for such early wake up is because I have to start work 9AM tomorrow, an hour earlier than usual.  On top of that, I will have total of five lessons back to back until 6PM so I will have to bring some good food with me.  I intend to get up 5:30AM and cook pasta with chicken and pesto.  Should get a chance to have this lunch during one of my four half-hour breaks.  Here's hoping!!  There are times that lesson unexpectedly run over (traffic jam on way back, something really important needed explaining etc) and I find I lose out on personal time and just plough on towards the next lesson to make sure that one does not get affected.  What that means though, is that in those occasions I may miss my chance of a toilet break, of getting anything to eat/ drink or making/ returning phone calls/ texts.  But the pupil is always first in my mind; do what you can to make sure their lessons are not affected, even if you lose out.  It does, however, frustrate me when I make efforts for the pupils and the same is not reflected off them and this sometimes causes further delays.  Ah well, just gotta do my best at all times.  =)

So this week is going to be fairly busy until I get my long weekend break down in Lincoln, visiting my good friend Ian and his fiancee Leanne (also a good friend of mine).  More on that later!  Bedtime for me now!  Ciao!

A new routine

Just a wee log before going to bed.  In fact I should be in bed a lot sooner, but I just spent the past hour reading the training manual for a new training system which I want to start from next week.  As I said in my previous post, it is time to turn up the heat, and I didn't mean just the weather, but going to step things up a gear.  Three phases to this new training program.  Maintenance, Phase 1 and Phase 2.  I will do the Maintenance for the month of March then begin Phase 1 in April for up to three months and hope to see improved results in muscle building along with fat burning.  I will talk more about this in a future blog.  =)

Got a long day ahead for tomorrow: hoping to go to the gym at opening time 9AM for an hour and come home for a big breakfast before going to church for 11AM worship practice.  Will be in church till around 4PM the latest and will then go watch "The Artist".  I think I will be mega hungry during church time, so will have to bring some lunch for before service starts.  After service possibly head over to M&S for reduced price foooood.  Things like sandwiches and wraps priced between 10-50p, croissants and breads around 10p each, salads 30p etc.  Examples of things I've managed to get in the past.  Will be good snacks for the movie at least ;)

After hanging out for a while I think I will be heading home to rest early and get to bed between 10-11PM.  I will need enough sleep before I begin my new workout as of Monday morning, 6:30AM.  Ooh yeah!  And guess what?  I'm so looking forward to getting those free towels every visit at Greens now!  ;)

Goodnight!!

Unprofessional

Cat comes back from Singapore tomorrow.  I would have loved to have the bathroom fixed up before she came back, but that will not happen anymore.  As I mentioned on the just two weeks ago we were waiting for Plumber Three to come up to check the wee leak in our bathroom.  He did actually show up the next morning, came up to check out the U-bend, told me we need a new one and that he will also rod the pipes to remove any blockage.  This was a Tuesday afternoon he came up and he told me quite clearly that he would come back "next Wednesday or Thursday" as he was quite busy right now.  He said, "give me a call or text on Tuesday night to remind me and we will arrange a time for me to come up to get the work done.  I know you're a driving instructor, so you won't have to re-arrange lessons to accommodate me.  I live nearby (said the place) and can come in the later hours of the day."  And with that he left, without quoting any costs or whatever.  I was pretty pleased that he came up finally and we even had a chat about the Christian brother who referred him to me.  I told him that he was recommended as "reliable and competitive in price".  He was happy to hear that.

Tuesday finally arrived, this was three days ago now, 29th Feb, Leap Day.  I texted him in the evening around 7PM nicely saying I was asked to remind him to come up Wednesday or Thursday to fit a new U-bend and to rod our pipes and I asked if he was still available to come up.  No response.  So I copied and pasted the message and sent at 11PM.  Nothing again.  Wednesday morning (yesterday) I called him.  First attempt: mobile said the number was temporarily unavailable.  Second attempt ten minutes later: it rang and he picked.  He sounded distracted.  He said he got my text messages from last night but didn't get to reply.  Then he said he did not tell me he was coming up Wednesday or Thursday.  It was Thursday or Friday.  I said he did tell me to text him Tuesday for Wednesday/ Thursday.  He denied it, then said, "Well I'll call you tonight or Thursday morning and tell you when I can come up.  Ok.  Bye."  What the heck!!  I was actually very angry when the call ended like that.  He didn't hang up on me but I was angry because of his denial.  I was also angry that he did not seem to care that we waited over a week for him, only for him to shrug me off like that.  And you know what?!  Up until this very moment he has not called me back at all.  In fact, being the douchebag that I am, I actually gave him a call yesterday around 2PM.  I called his number, it rang a few times then he diverted me to his voicemail.  I didn't leave him a message but texted him once more asking what time he was coming up.  Nothing.  Na-da.  Silence.  =(

So I have resorted to going for a professional plumbing company.  I have spoken to them already on the phone.  They told me how they can send workmen out by 08:30AM the next weekday morning.  That is amazing service.  I have no doubt about this reputable company and I look forward to dealing with them this once and trust they will get everything done once and for all.  Money, is not an issue.  Peace of mind and TRUST is of the utmost importance.  I will update y'all with good news once the job is done.

Lesson of the Day: If you want a job done quickly and properly, use PROFESSIONALS.  Don't just jump to referrals, cos although they might be "good/ reliable" to one person, they might not treat you the same!!

Gone Platinum!!

First day of March and it went off with a good start, weather-wise at least.  For the first time in a long while we had an afternoon of sunshine and I actually felt like I was teaching in a nice summer's day.  It was very indeed.  I cannot remember how many degrees it was outside but my jacket was off and the windows were down.  My pupil was amazed at how nice the weather was.

This day also marks the day I upgraded to the 'Platinum Membership' in Greens Gym.  What this means is, I pay an extra £10 every month on top of my membership fee.  For that extra money I get a whole range of benefits including:

* A complimtary towel each visit of the gym
* One free guest pass each month
* Complimentary personal training session every three months
* One free coffee each month
* 10% off Costa Coffee within Greens

I reckon with the £10 extra, if I visit the gym ten times a month I will at least break even as the towels are £1 each.  I usually bring my own, but now once I finish with their towel I just put it into the towel bin and won't have to carry it around with me if I were not going on.  It also means I can take random visits to the gym purely for a quick shower and head back out.  This will be especially useful in the hot hot summer days that Glasgow will soon be getting, so therefore, I get more much more value out of this.

The free guest pass per month is also very good offer.  I have signed friends in before using their promotional guest passes which they issue each Christmas for use in December and January months.  However, without vouchers, guests are signed in for £10 each time.  Again, just bringing a friend once a month makes the extra money worthwhile.

Free training session every three months will be useful when I want a break from my usual training program and can have someone check my form or give me more advice etc for an hour.  Guess I won't have my first session until June perhaps.

Previously they gave out sunbed vouchers to Platinum members.  But the girl at reception told me today that since Nuffield Health and Fitness bought over Greens they took away the sunbed vouchers and replaced it with a free coffee instead.  Not a bad idea as I would have NO use for any sunbeds.  Haha!!

10% off Costa Coffee is something I will probably use more often.  Though I don't do many coffee shop visits, but the occasional catch up with friends is nice and makes a change from Starbucks anyway.  Plus this place has free parking which not many other places can offer ;)

So there we have it.  I am officially a Platinum Greens member, after being a member since December 2009.

Lesson of the Day:  More like a quote here - "If you keep doing what you're doing, you will keep getting what [results] you're getting.".  It's time to turn up the heat!

Re. Phone Hospital

Last week I posted about my new phone, Samsung Galaxy SII, having gone in to the phone hospital for repair.  People were hearing loud echo-ing each time I called them and used the microphone, but things were ok on speakerphone.  This only affected my outbound calls.  Incoming calls were fine.  It was very strange indeed.  So the phone went into S3 Interactive last Monday and I got it back Friday afternoon, around 4pm just as I was on my way to take mum for a carvery dinner.  I was so happy to get the call from Chris who worked there informing me it was back from Dundee.  I plugged in my sim card as soon as I got the phone and called my mum.  Mum was waiting in the car and said everything sounded fine.  Excellent!  Off I went back out and went to carvery and grocery shopping full with joy cos my phone is back with me AND is working!  I spent rest of the evening setting my phone back up logging into my Google accounts and other customised settings etc.  It was so cool to get back my Whatsapp, my Words with Friends and of course my Facebook.  Most importantly, I could view/ plan my lessons with my Google Calendar and my Gmail accounts.  =D

Saturday morning I called Kwik-Fit to check availability of a new tyre.  As soon as the guy picked up I spoke and the guy at the other end said he could not hear me.  Uh-oh!  No, please no!!!  Yup... the problem came back!  I had to complete the rest of the call using speaker.  I felt like a bombshell dropped.  No way!!  I did further testing calling mum on her mobile and our landline.  Same... Wth, do I really have to go back to S3 Interactive on Monday?!  =((

The bittersweet feeling of having my phone back stayed with me throughout yesterday and today.  And I was complaining to everyone about my phone having to go back for repair.  People suggested I get a new handset, which I wish I could but cos I passed the 'seven days after purchase timeframe' all faults are dealt with by manufacturers guarantee which means it gets repaired. I called a few people in church and they also heard themselves echo back and they could not hear me either.  How terrible.

Then tonight, just before going to bed, I was on the phone for a little while.  I was using the speakerphone and had the handset on my table.  Randomly I clicked on my Options and it brought up a few things including one saying "Noise Reduction - On".  I clicked that and it said, "Unable to turn on Noise Reduction when speaker is on".  So I then turned the speaker off and noticed a zig-zag looking icon with a line through it appear on the screen.  I brought up the Options and turned the "Noise Reduction - Off".  Voila!  Instantly the caller said they could hear me clearly and properly.  I asked whether they could hear any echo-ing.  No more!  That's fantastic!!  It seemed that the "problem" was so simple to "fix" in the first place, but I didn't think to push so many buttons, test so many options etc (guess in fear of making it worse).  But the worrying thing is, why did S3 Interactive not advise that such noise reduction could cause this interference?  On Friday they advised they "fixed the microphone support and performed software update" but had no mention anything was wrong or right with it.

I was sooo happy after that call that I called TWO more people and told them the same thing, about the Noise Reduction.  One person is actually an owner of the same phone.  They tried the Noise Reduction and it didn't cause any problems.  But then again it was I who called and not the other way round.  Nevertheless, I am right now delighted I will NOT have to take another trip to S3 Interactive in Clydebank.  It is not the most convenient of places to go to and definitely not a good use of time!  Whoo-hoo!!  I am so happy and I thank God for sudden urge to play around with the options, the itchy fingers and curiosity to try things out.  =D

Lesson of the Day:  There is no need to go straight for repair if you have a fault.  Try to find ways to fix it yourself first.  The problem may be easily rectified without wasting more precious time =)

Phone hospital

My phone is away for repair.  I put it into S3 Interactive in Clydebank Business park this afternoon.  What's wrong with it?  It took me long enough to find out, cos it wasn't that obvious.  Basically everytime I make an ordinary outbound call and talk into the microphone, the person on the other line can hardly hear me.  I've had a few people comment that I sound "far away/ distant and very quiet".  I had no idea why, and thought it was reception issue so moved around the house in hope of 'improving signal' but to no avail.  Once I made a call in the car and had full reception, yet the person said they could not hear me at all.  Another thing was, when I did some testing at home and I called mum, she said each time she spoke she would hear her voice bounce back.  I checked it and it was true.  Weird.  However, whenever I received an incoming call, we could hear each other no problem.  Whenever I made or received calls using speakerphone, again, no problems.  I don't make that many outbound calls, or at least not often enough, so could not catch this problem until over 7 days after I initially bought the phone, so cannot return to seller and have to deal with Samsung.  Therefore I located this Samsung approved repair specialist.  In fact, I have been here before once, with my Samsung laptop.  the left speaker gave off a crackily sound in higher volumes and this annoyed me.  It went in twice, but came out none the better.  So... I guess Samsung and I don't really mix well eh!  =(

Now I'm feeling a little incomplete without my phone because I am so used to having the important features like Google Calendar, GMail along with Whatsapp and Words with Friends.  Not to forget my 8MP camera and Facebook.  But the last two items are just extras.  Not essential.  My schedule is much more important.  Even important emails have to be read after work when I get home now.  So hopefully nobody will try to contact me in these few days.  Estimated time of getting phone back: Friday.  What the heck!!  "Really busy, with long queue of repairs" I was told.

Pending...

So that's a new thing on my Pending list.  The first thing that was pending from before was the plumbing.  Our toilet has had intermittent leaks/ flooding for the past few months.  By intermittent it was like once every 3-4 weeks where we flush and some water would leak out of the out pipe, seeming like a blockage was there or something.  Some "advice" we recieved said it could be the main street pipe was clogged up and that backed up the water.  Plumber One came up and helped up seal the "gap" where the water was flowing back out and said hope it helped.  It worked for a few days then the flooding got a bit worse and pushed out of the silicone gel thing he used.  Clearly that was not good enough.  He came up to inspect again and there was a leak as well now.  Mum thinks was due to the out pipe being moved when the silicone was applied the first time.  Plumber One denied it and then gave the number to Plumber Two who was the original guy who installed our bathroom for us.  Plumber Two came, witnesses the backflow of water and regurgitation through the bathtub plughole.  But it only happened once.  Then after further inspection and flushing lots of loo roll down the toilet the blockage seemed to have cleared.  There was no more back flow and no more sound.  Phew!  That was relief.  However, the small leak was still there, though very small now, but still there.  He said it will stop once the blockage is gone.  Mum was adament it was still there and wanted further attention to it.  However, Plumber Two said the pipe is not wet anymore and what mum saw/ felt on the pipe must have been the condensation from the water tank.  And not to worry.  We did not argue with him anymore as we were both mixed with relief that it would not leak anymore but also disbelief.

After Plumber Two left, we found the leaking continued.  Mum was fuming.  She really questioned Plumber Two's professionalism and vowed never to use him again.  We had numbers for two other plumbers we used from long time ago.  I called one: took my number said he'd get back to me in twenty mins, but never did.  The other plumber's numbers were both disconnected.  Guess he must have retired.  So... what now?  Leave the water to drip slowly and hope it ceases itself?  Mum was already very anxious and had lost hours of sleep over this.  I had lost sleep and had to reshuffle lessons to meet the mentioned Plumbers, but all to no success.  Mum spoke on the phone to church aunties and one suggested getting the number to another friend's plumber.  (You can see how things were getting a bit complicated here.)  In the end I decided not to call so many people.  I thought of asking a church brother's advice, see if he knew of any reliable plumbers who can do the job properly for us.  He gave me a number to call but advised against calling him out weekends due to weekend premium.  I advised I would arrange for Monday visit (today).  Called about six times over three days, left three voicemails and a text message.  Nothing.

When I was about to give up I got a call after leaving S3Interative (thankfully I plugged my sim into the K810i - very old phone but very RELIABLE!).  Plumber Three called back and said he was away for the weekend and left his phone at home.  He said he saw my messages and called me back straight away.  Sounded quite friendly and said he'd call me after 6PM this evening to arrange to have a look at the toilet.  I was really happy.  Was all ready for him then got a text message about 5:50PM saying it'll have to be tomorrow as something has just come up.  I asked him what time, asked if it were ok to be after 4PM, or else I can make sure I am home between 12-1:30PM (meaning I reschedule another lesson at last minute!!).  He said it's hard to say, but he'll contact me through the day tomorrow.  WHAT THE HECK!!  Plumbers are usually self-employed people.  At least these ones are.  I am a self-employed person, I would never do that to my pupil or potential pupils - arrange something, promise something then postpone like that.  Even if so, at least give a call to explain through the phone, not hide behind a text.  Arghhhh!!!!!!

So, the toilet case is dragging on for at least another night.  I really really really hope that Plumber Three can make it up to check the toilet between 12-1:30PM cos I'll be home for him and if he is not I'll be very very disappointed.  If this goes on like this I might just go crazy and call up a very expensive plumber coming like JH Horn Plumbers and I'm pretty sure they'll get the job done very professionally with invoices, possibly guarantees etc and at a time/ day that it suitable for both parties.  Sake man!!  Money I have, but time I don't have any to waste.  I have a life to live here guys.  I don't want to think about toilets all day.

I always remember Rene Descartes' philosophical quote: "I think therefore I am."  Oh dear...