Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Happy New Year mates!

First of all, a very Happy New Year 2006 to all near and far away.

I had a very mundane new year, really nothing to shout about! Went to the Tg. Lipat beach near Yayasan Sabah and the family (spouse, kids) dipped our legs into the sea at the stroke of midnight. There wasn't much fireworks to be seen and to be honest the air horns of the ships berthed at the port could hardly be heard! Or did the ships blare their air horns but I could not hear them?

Prior to that, we went to Pizza Hut for dinner and tried their Mediteranean pizza set. Hmmm... no big deal to be honest...... It was a wee too spicy for the kids and we had to take away the balance. Normally, any pizza we order is finished off clean! ha...ha....

In the afternoon, I was at Karamunsing Complex with a client for a drink. After the drink I decided to go home. Went to the car and as I drove off, I felt the steering pull to one side. Aha.....should be a puncture........Stopped the car and went down to have a look. After confirming that I indeed had a puncture, I decided to drive another 10 metres away so as not to block traffic and allow the other parked cars to move. By doing that I tore the bloody sidewall of the stupid tyre and there goes RM300 bucks! In hindsight I shouldn't have tried to be so polite. Grrr......

That's not the end of it. I start looking for the tools to remove the spare tyre and start looking at them with question marks in my mind. Now, how the heck do I use these tools. I am more used to the real 4 wheel drive jack used by real off roaders, the HI-LIFT JACK from Canada. In my previous 4x4 I could change a tyre in 1o minutes without any real problems. In the end I had to call for a buddy, 9W6YY to come and help me out. ha...ha.... The standard bottle jack and tyre wrench provided by most manufacturers suck! Give me a cross tyre wrench and a real hi-lift jack! Of course, to use a hi-lift jack you need to reinforce your side steps so that the side steps can take the weight of the vehicle. Furthermore, hi-lift jacks are really heavy and bulky. I fabricated a special holder in my previous Isuzu Bighorn to keep the hi-lift jack ever ready for action.

It's been one month since I went full time in my business and I'm pleased that December 2005 was a good month. Bringing to bear my experience and management, I intend to improve further for 2006.

Till then, cheers mates.

4 Comments:

At January 05, 2006 1:36 AM, Blogger shannon said...

Hmm. My comment didn't show up.

Well, first of all, I started by calling you "V." That's odd. For some reason, I only remembered the "V" from your name and thought that was the first letter.

Anyway, I came to say hello and thank you for the nice comment you left on my blog this morning.

I also wrote something about enjoying your post, thinking you had an exotic life, and admitting that the info about your tire ... and I do remember this part ... "became a homogonized blur of syllables, just the way it does whenever my husband tries to explain whatever he just did to fix the car."

So now, no doubt, both comments will show up and this will all look foolish.

But I did want to say hello. :)

God bless you, 9!

 
At January 05, 2006 11:11 AM, Blogger Shan said...

Gosh I don't even know how to change a tyre - well in theory only :D
I feel like a real damsel now. *all embarassed*

 
At January 06, 2006 1:27 AM, Blogger 9W6VX said...

Shannon,

Thanks for dropping by. Your blog is indeed lovely and inspiring.

Bless you too & I'm going to order your book from the local bookstore failing which I'll get it from Amazon.com

With my warmest regards.


Shan,

You can always call me if you develop a tyre puncture but I'm sure there are many other friends you can call on! But if the need ever arises, you can call me to be your good samaritan. You still have my mobile number don't you?

 
At January 07, 2006 12:35 AM, Blogger 9W6VX said...

Hi Dav,

The tyre size was 235/75R15 and tyre was half worn only.

Then you should try out the hi-lift jack instead of the crocodile jack. Much better and faster too.

When are you planning your next trip back to KK? Me want my rear LED light for Stumpy! he..he....

Cheers Dav

 

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