Archive for the ‘Personal’ category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Renovation problem continued

August 27th, 2008
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


While my grilles have been giving me a headache for last one week, the “borders” of windows, door and exterior wall is bugging me for weeks. They can’t make a straight, clean-cut border. Instead I get lop-sided, uneven and mismatched shapes that makes things look worse.

Then, I have a space for washing machine which may not fit my washing machine. They never allocated space for the piping (outlet) and now I’ll have the outlet jutting out (if ever it can fit there in the first place). May have to sacrifice the wooden door to extend the washing machine space.

Of course it won’t be fair if I say all their work was bad. There are some plus points which will be posted after this. Need to take the pictures, not that there’s many of them.

The contractors says will try to fix some of the problems on Friday, but I doubt they’ll do a proper job.

2 comments »

Posted in Personal

Grilles by expert?

August 27th, 2008
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Last few days have been very taxing. And the condition of my house grilles didn’t help in any way.

 

 

I have grilles with gaps, bolts and plastic jutting out, incomplete soldering that leaves the inside of the bars exposed (they only solder on one said, the contractor claims).

Due to wrong measurements, now I have 3 places without grilles, so who is going to guarantee the safety of people and things in the house?

Aren’t renovation contractors supposed to advise us on the pros and cons of doing things? Or do they just make a quick buck and move on the next project?

Granted that houses nowadays are not perfectly built. The windows can be misaligned. But if contractors explain things properly and give us few options, it will have avoided the headache above.

And I think some of the exterior work on the house actually devalues it instead of enhancing the value. Probably have to demolish and reconstruct certain areas.

Advice to houseowners

– please ensure your supervisor is not a foreigner, but the contractor himself stays there and supervises the work everyday. Don’t take people who have three or more projects at hand.

– be prepared to take leave and time off so that the workers don’t do things wrongly.

And Then says – don’t trust people who wear the vibuthi and look/talk piously. Wonder where she heard that from!

Consumer Tribunal beckons if things doesn’t work out.

And guess what, I can buy tiles cheaper than the contractor 🙂 I got it at RM3.25 while he said it costs RM3.50! Is that a crime?

Well, I guess my house won’t be in his portfolio.

OK, life goes on. I’m still smiling. Sometimes I laugh to myself seeing how people behave.

1 comment »

Posted in Personal

Tags:

MAHA 2008

August 15th, 2008
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Its been a busy week, and will get busier next week as more things get in motion. Nope, nothing about national scenario, but on personal front. Really can’t find time to blog for last 2 days.

Anyway, just a short note – makkals should make an effort to visit MAHA expo being held at Serdang near UPM). Its from 11th till 23rd August 2008. Opens daily from 10am till 7pm, except on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays where it is extended till 9pm (just announced yesterday).

With school holiday around the corner, it will be good to expose kids and youths to world of agriculture business. Try to go early because one day won’t be enough to explore the place. Wear good shoes for a lot of walking. A LOT.

Minnal FM have been airing advertisement on MAHA, so I hope more people will visit it. Drop by all the goverment department booths to get as much info as possible on grants, loans, subsidies, tax incentives, technologies, R&D etc.

Interested in goat-rearing, leech farm, mushroom farm, vermi-compost (learnt that word recently!), aquaculture etc? Get moving to MAHA.

Sad to say that not many makkals are visible there. And no Indian/Chinese-run food stall at the food court in block D (over 50 stalls!). I just had roti bakar (quite OK) for breakfast and skipped lunch due to the huge crowd.

Oh ya, saw Deputy PM Najib yesterday enjoying a cuppa at MADA (or was it KADA?) booth.

My short note looks longer now.

1 comment »

Posted in I Was Here, Personal

Tags:

film censorship

July 14th, 2008
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


I had an interesting day today. When a movie involves other religions than Islam, FINAS invites the respective religious bodies (like Hindu Sangam) to give their views on it. This is a good move to ensure that the views of the religious organisations are taken into consideration before releasing the movie for public viewing. Can’t say much more than that. Oh ya…i saw a movie today 🙂

Comments Off on film censorship »

Posted in BornInMalaysia, I Was Here, Personal, Religion

Tags:

Poobalan on THR Raaga

July 10th, 2008
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Yeah, it was me on THR this morning, though I had problem recognizing my own voice! Do I sound that bad? 😆 Even though I had talked on Minnal FM and also appeared  on a song request program in Astro Vaanavil previously, the butterflies are still there!

The short phone interview was aired at about 7.45am, so I doubt many would have been tuned to THR. It was a pleasant surprise when friends SMSed me after hearing it. Hmmm..didn’t know you guys were THR listeners 🙂

Actually, the interview was recorded yesterday noon. DJ Uthaya called at about lunch time, and together with DJ Ananda, he posed some questions on blogging. They were going to talk about alternative media and wanted to highlight blogging to the Indian community (or something like that). I was busy with some work, so just shot off whatever came into my head. I mentioned about the reasons people blog, meaning of blog, gave my URL, example of bloggers who make money blogging, and before I knew it, the interview was over. Just about 3 minutes.

Before I had chance to ask how they got my number or when the interview will (if at all) be aired, the call ended. So, I had no clues at all.

My questions on how they managed to contact me was answered later at night. First I thought it was those Putera MIC fellas who are organising Manya Awards, but it was another blogger, Selian.

Well, I hope my tiny weeny contribution will motivate more people, especially from the Indian community to start blogging. You can blog about anything. If you need help, just drop me an email. [Updated: email address]

15 comments »

Posted in I Was Here, Personal, TechStuff

Tags: