Hello...

Knock-knock.

Inserts key in lock.

Turns key, damn it's heavy, the lock's rusted.

Pushes door.

Door opens with a squeak and a groan.

Cough cough sputter sputter spit.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkk!!!!! Spiders and cobwebs!!!! They're everywhere!!!!!

Call 911!

"Hello, 911."

"Hello, I have an emergency here. My crib has fallen victim to a massive but non-hostile take-over by the spider community! I need a clean-up crew!".

"Ma'am, you're wasting our time. Count yourself lucky I'm letting you go on this one. Don't ever do this crank call thingy again. Clean your crib yourself or check into a mental hospital. Thank you and have a good day."

... I'm back. I had to come back. Even though I am nowhere near to getting a connection at the new home yet. Life sucks.

Hold up

The Blueberry Musings will be on a temporary hiatus due to the lack of broadband connection at my new home. I've just moved in on September 29 and the whole place is still pretty much a mess and not ready.

I was told I can't take my Streamyx from the old home to the new home due to the non-availability of ports, but I've yet to confirm this with TM Point. Even if I can continue with Streamyx, it'll take a couple of weeks before I get reconnected.

I am desperate for a broadband connection and has even contemplated mobile broadband as an alternative. Maxis had this really cheap offer, like RM100+ for the modem which you can take home right away to get connected. But I heard Maxis broadband is slow, even slower than Streamyx. The sales assistant told me Maxis broadband is fastest when there's 3G coverage. Unfortunately I'm not using Maxis phone so I don't know if there's 3G coverage at home.

On the other hand, I am a Celcom user and I know there's a stable 3G coverage at home, but the price of the modems are just wayyyyyyyy too over my budget right now. They cost somewhere between RM500 to RM1,000 for God's sakes!!! That, for one tiny little thing that can get smashed or lost in just under a minute (if you come from my household). I sooooo can't afford that right now with the renovation installments to be paid, and furniture and home basics to be bought. Helppppppppp!!! I'm having a withdrawal symptom! I need my internet connection!!!!!!!!!

Any advice/opinions/help, o wise ones?...

Drive-Thru Review

Hie folks! I'll bet you're surprised that I'm still alive. Yes, unfortunately I am, and I've been quiet lately because there was so much happening in my life, simultaneously, that kind of drove me to the brink of sanity. But more on that later.

This evening I feel like taking you on a literary (eh?) tour of drive-thru counters located on my side of town and I would like to give a review (read: an earful) and rate these counters' services.

But first thing's first... Why do you think drive-thru counters exist in the first place? I think they are mainly for lazy, fast food-consuming fat-asses who want the convenience of take-aways without having to stand in a queue (their knees might buckle under their mighty weight). But hey, so what! We, the non-lazy, thin-assed people can benefit from these earthly conveniences too, so I'm not complaining.

There are three drive-thru counters in this part of town where I frequent. They are McDonald's Section 3, KFC by the Federal Highway and the latest attraction in town, Burger King at the Extreme Sports Park.

Verdict is as follows:


Winner
McDonald's Section 3!

The queues are normally quite long during peak hours, but hey, their service is fast. Well, unless there's a really stubborn idiot up in front who can't make sense of the menu and didn't realise that he's holding up the queue.

What happens is that you drive up to this electronic box thingy, you talk to it and whatever you order will pop up on the screen of the electronic box. You can double check your order on the screen and check the price, and when you've confirmed your order, you may drive up to the payment counter. The people at the payment counter don't normally double check your order, they'll just tell you the price, and you'll know it's yours because the amount is similar to what popped up on the screen earlier. Efficient, huh?

Once you have obtained your balance and receipt, you can drive up to the collection counter, and nine times out of 10 they will have your bag of fattening goodies ready for pickup! Actually, if you're like me, you can even tell the electronic box how many packets of chili sauce or ketchup you want to go with your food and you can betcha those chili/ketchup packets will be in your bag at pickup (it's even stated in the receipt, LOL).

It seems like over here everything is connected. You just have to say it once and your order pops up at various screens for payment and packing purposes and the whole process is just so well-oiled (no pun intended)!

I give them 4.5 stars from a total of five. I have to minus half a star because McDonald's doesn't taste as good as Burger King.


First runner-up
Burger King, Extreme Sports Park

If you drive up to this joint's counter, you will observe that there are three stops, just like McDonald's. But the similarity stops there. Their drive-thru system has a lot of weaknesses and I'm saying they could've done better if only the system designers went to pick up some food from McDonald's before constructing such a wasteful drive-thru. But I guess Burger King loyalists don't frequent McDonald's (unlike moi)...

Anyway, so you drive up to an electronic box, but this one does not have any screen. After shouting hello three times and feeling like a complete idiot then only will someone say "Hello welcome to Burger King may I take your order please!". So you shout your order (amidst the kitchen chaos which you can actually hear on the electronic box's speakers!) and when you're eventually done The Voice will repeat your order for you to confirm. No price given.

So next, when you drive up to the payment counter, they will confirm your order again, and tell you how much. You make your payment, collect your balance and the receipt.

When you eventually arrive at the collection counter, be ready to hand them your receipt because that is their reference point for packing your food!!! If your baby had chewed and swallowed the receipt by the time you arrive (it's a rather long wait from payment to pickup) then be ready for some drama. I'm quite surprised that inside the seemingly efficient facade of the drive-thru counters lies an inefficient delivery system. I can't believe the packers do not have a computer screen of their own to refer to. It is only logical, isn't it? The checking of receipt and running off to prepare an order after looking at the receipt slows things down tremendously.

Two stars, for cleanliness and a cool window that only open when a staff approaches (there is probably a mechanism that they step on to open the window. Great for security purposes).


Second runner-up (and sore loser!)
KFC next to the Federal Highway

OK, I've been here once, and let's just say that no amount of the Lazy Virus will get me to drive to this counter ever again! This counter was probably set up during the jurassic age (Fred Flintstone could've been their first customer!) because everything was sooooooooo excruciatingly slow! If there's a long queue, I'm betting Carlos's car that it will take you shorter time to park your car, walk inside, place your Dinner Plate order, finish it, call your mom if she wants some chicken, buy chicken for your mom, get in your car, fart and suffocate for two minutes before driving off than to queue up at the ancient drive-thru counter!

Their system is painfully simple (a lesson I painfully learned - I had to refuel shortly afterwards), you drive up to the back of the queue, and after a looooooooooooooonnggggggggggg wait you'll come to a menu display. After memorising your order, you'll have to wait for a loooooooooooonnngggggggggg while more before you eventually reach the one and only counter. The one and only staff there will then take your order (which will be a lengthy process of you're a git and couldn't make up your mind even though you've been staring at the menu for the past 30 minutes), process the payment and prepare the food for you!!!

Yes, all yer clever people! This particular drive-thru basically employs your normal walk-in counter system! It's a normal counter with a twist, where instead of standing, you sit in your car (and waste your gas)!

Horrible, slow, stone-age system.

Half a star, for the darn big "drive-thru" sign which you can spot from a mile away. What a big cheat.


So there you go, my take on the drive-thru counters here. I hope the drive-thru's in your town are much much better. Do share with me. Have a great day and be happy!

:-)

Credit goes to where credit's due

We have a new boss now.

Everyone's happy to start on a clean slate.

New boss is PR-and-business-savvy.

Unfortunately some people desperately want to impress the savvy new boss now.

So they stepped on yours truly's head and claimed that what yours truly did was their own doing.

Do it again and I'll start playing dirty too, you media-crazed, attention-starved S-O-B!!! My office politics skill is improving so don't you think I'm gonna just keep quiet like a cute kitten!

AAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGHHHHHH!!!

Monster-in-the-Making

I sense a Monster-in-the-Making in our midst and I'm making a very polite request for them to stop being patronising.

First, it was the "Greatest Parent in the World" monster. That has been recently replaced by the "Greatest Chef in the World" monster.

They used to be mean when they held the first title. Now that they have a newfound cause to champion, they've started to become a tad bit patronising, which I find quite annoying.

It hasn't gotten on my nerves yet so far though, unlike when they used to be "Greatest Parent in the World". That got on my nerves so bad I used to be a little depressed.

Ya Allah grant me the patience... I am in pursuit of happyness and has got no time nor space in my heart for these sorts of nonsense.

Itsy bitsy Monster wants to climb the water spout;
Down come the rain, please, to wash the Monster out;
Out come the sun, please, to dry up all the rain;
And please rot the Monster's 'tude too so they'll never terrorise again.

I regret...

... not stopping to help the poor little family in the beat up old Kancil with a dangerously wobbly tyre at the Taiping stretch of the North-South Highway last Sunday.

We were following behind the J-plate car when we noticed that their rear left tyre was wobbling terribly and looked like it was about to come off. At first we thought the occupants were a couple of Mat Rempits who had probably done unthinkable things to the car.

When we overtook them, instead of Mat Rempits looking about ready to crash, in the car was a man, his wife and their infant child. Both parents had a worried look in their eyes. I think they sensed an irregularity to the vehicle they were travelling in.

Carlos went "Oh no they have a baby!" and I quickly rolled down my window and yelled to the man "it's your tyre!". He mouthed "our tyre?" to confirm and I gave him a nod.

They immediately stopped, we didn't.

We drove and drove and it started to rain after a while.

I hope they managed to get the highway-assist to help them and help them quickly, and that their baby was fine throughout the ordeal.

I could've actually yelled "your rear left tyre is about to come off" and save the man a lot of anguish instead of just leaving a cryptic "it's your tyre" clue.

Or we could've stopped to help...