I was just leaving my house to go for a run yesterday morning when some old lady a few doors away was also leaving her house.

I reached the lift lobby first so I started stretching. Moments later, she also reached the lobby.

When the lift arrived, she was like, "Son, the lift is here." I smiled and said thank you.

Then she asked if I've been here long. Not really, I said. Maybe two years or so. She said she's been here a looong time, well actually it's her adopted son's place. She lives in Khatib actually.

"Khatib?" I enquired. I used to live there said I. Then she asked which block? I replied, "840."

"No kidding!" She said she IS living there now. I said, "Really? Wow I was on the second floor."

And she's like, "I live on the second floor!" I thought, "Whaaat...?"

What a small world. Apparently we were even next door neighbours like 14 years ago or something. So weird.

We talked for a bit more downstairs before I split for my run and she went over to another block to drop by a friend's.

That was the longest I ever spoke to anyone in this neighbourhood. It's good.

Was gonna go for a run earlier but it rained.

Then it stopped and I was getting out, then it rained again. %^$^&!!!

I need that step machine to put at home.

I was just gonna go for a light run, slowly does it, maybe over a few days before I decide whether it's doing me more harm than good or whatever.

Can't stand all this inaction. I can REALLY feel the fat cells mutating inside of me.

Went over to MLB's after work today to check up on how she's doing coz she wasn't feeling well and called in sick in the morning as well as to return her mom's laptop which I have finally finished souping up.

And then it was time for me to shower some attention on my own mom. She's just come back from a holiday in Perth. Besides, I am not really in the running for the 'son of the year award'. Should at least try, eh?

I've already visited her last week but this week's visit just now was a little different. Usually it's only about my mom piling food after food after food on my plate and the tabletop in front of me..... *pause for thought*.

Uh.

Actually today was also the same. Ah ha ha. Just that I also made the effort to lug over my sister Banana's 20 inch TV to my mom's. Hers died all of a sudden last weekend and since Banana's was just lying around in our house, she offered it to mom.

Mom was of course a happy camper. She couldn't go through another day without her Indonesian TV. Hence I declare the act of lugging a 20 inch TV on my wobbly knees my Mothers' Day gift to her!

Ha ha, cheapskate!!!

Anyway I was also a happy camper. It's not the best of analogies but my mom is like my private food genie. Haven't eaten her cooking for a while so the moment I saw her last week I wished for a dish called 'daging masak kicap' or mutton in soy sauce (Yikes! I'm a cannibal!) and *voila*, today I got it.

Them. Not 'it'.

Besides the soy sauced mutton, there was also fried chicken, cockles in some kinda soupy thing, beef rendang and some liquidy chilli sauce thing. All in unlimited supply.

I had four scoops of rice and one or two helpings of each of the dishes listed on top with five spoonfuls of chilli sauce, but THAT was only the first round.

Had another round immediately after, the same, no half time break whatsoever, but even THAT was just the second round.

This time I had a short break followed by a third round of five large scoops of Rocky Road Reloaded ice cream AND a fourth round of five more large scoops of Peppermint ice cream. Both in a big bowl. Obviously.

In other news, I bought another pouch. Ok bye.

Yes yes, as MLB had put it, the meeting-with-her-parents-on-the-pretext-of-fixing-their-computer went better than expected. I was like, "doom doom doom" in my head prior to that.

However, in my usual bumbling manner, I almost managed to snuff it. The Internet connection refused to cooperate.

What was to be my moment to shine presenting my work in the form of ye olde laptop with its new bells and whistles in ALL its glory turned out to be a horror show for a while.

I had to deal with an unfamiliar adversary that is Singnet broadband and it took quite a lot from me to maintain a cool front when I was actually going all over the place on the inside.

It's like having the ball at my feet with only the goalkeeper to beat but nooo he had to block the shot.

But no fret.

The ball managed to bounce off the goalie's nose as he quinced in pain, hit my butt as I lost balance on my wobbly knees and landed on my face, bounced back just centimetres over the guy who tried to flail his arms like a drunken starfish and trickled past the goal line.

It was a lousy goal but a goal nonetheless. At least I hope so.

Been staying up really late the last few nights. Well, besides being in the middle of some project, I also have MLB's father's laptop to work on which is the top priority since it's due to be returned back to him later today.

In my mind I was under a lotta pressure coz obviously a lotta faith have been put in me by some key people and I don't intend to disappoint. Otherwise there'd be one BIG pot of mutton rendang this afternoon and the *gulp* prospect doesn't excite me at all.

It wasn't easy working on it. It's a Pentium 2 machine to begin with and it's only got like 6GB of hard drive capacity, 192MB of memory space as well as a turtle of a processor with 0.3somethingGHz speed. To add to that, the keyboard was a Japan-version and not the standard US one. It was, there's no better way to say it, a 'cekik darah macam nak mampos' machine.

Choke on blood as though about to die. It's like trying to get to China in 36 hours on a skate scooter. Thank goat it is running on the Windows XP OS though. That saved me some time coz I'm not so proficient on any other OS.

Here's what I have done with the laptop.

System checklist:

1. Set up hisname@email.com personal email address.

2. Set up hisbusiness@email.com business email address.

3. Installed Mozilla Thunderbird email client and set both his emails up so he could check his inbox with just one click.

4. Set up his business website. Well he didn't ask but I thought it's a great idea to set it up as his homepage for the WOW factor (and more brownie points for me, why not).

5. Installed Mozilla Firefox. I figured that any form of online protection would help. If Firefox could eliminate some of that threat away, why stick with Internet Explorer?

6. Set up hisbusinesswebsite.com as Firefox's homepage.

7. Installed antivirus program.

8. Installed MS Office so that he could do some work from his laptop should he want to.

9. Installed MSN messenger so he could keep tabs on MLB (hahaha!) who's the first and only person to be added in there thus far. Thank goat I don't have one myself, whew.

10. Freed up the laptop's disk space to get rid of the useless gunk.

11. Currently defragmentizing the hard drive to make the laptop run faster (for crying out loud).

12. Currently running the antivirus program coz I was surfing some porn sites on it last night and now desperately trying to get rid of all the evidence, hohoho.

Accessories checklist:

1. Got an AM/BM cable (the package MLB passed me didn't include this item) so he could run his external floppy drive whenever he wants to save his work.

2. Got a box of 10 floppy disks otherwise where else is he gonna save his work?

3. Got a wireless PCMCIA adapter and set the laptop up to be able to connect to the Net. But this also means he cannot simultaneously utilize his external CD-ROM drive while he's on the Net coz the dang thing connects via the single PCMCIA slot. It's one or the other at one time.

4. Got him a 4-port USB hub because the machine's only got one pathetic USB port. These days, everything runs on USB so this thing I feel is important.

5. Got him an optical mouse coz using the touchpad is annoying business.

6. Got them a microfilter so that they can use the home telephone and Internet at the same time without getting disconnected. They're on Singnet broadband.

At this stage it's not crucial yet, but at some point in the future I intend to get him a:

7. USB notebook coolpad coz this machine is old and could die anytime so anything that helps to extend its life like keeping the hard drive cool would help.

8. USB thumbdrive coz frankly, who uses floppy disks anymore?

9. External USB CD-ROM drive so he could do away with the PCMCIA one and not trouble himself to switch between the two all the time (damn I'm such a considerate goat).

10. Earphone or headphone with mic so her parents can make overseas calls on Skype cheaply.

Anyway, I didn't accomplish these things alone. Although much of the stuff was left to me, MLB contributed too in ways that she could. And then there was the help I got from my friends at work who let me use their workstation, electricity, offer advice and gave outrageous discounts on the stuff that I purchased with regards to this mission.

No one wanted to see me screw up with my ahem, future father-in-law's laptop.

I must also highlight the fact that I'm no IT expert. Except for the Windows 98 course I took way back, I have no paper qualifications whatsoever in this line.

Much of the stuff I learned along the way was by doing and I have:

- my sister Banana to thank for convincing me back in the late 90s that the Internet rocks (you see how it snowballs here, sis? Wouldn't have met MLB for one).

- not to mention my numero uno brother in law Wanker for giving me a headstart on the serious aspects of IT.

- Sam my boss for putting me in a situation where I have no choice but to learn stuff about IT (although I detest the other situations he put me in).

- as well as my colleague (albeit in another outlet) Jack of whom I learned from by watching him work.

Last checked, beef rendang is the most popular variation of rendang around. I hope MLB'S father doesn't have any other ideas this afternoon, ah ha ha *gulp*.

GuesswhoIsawguesswhoIsawguesswhoIsaw!?

CHICAGO!!!

The lazy fat butt was just lying around on the pavement under my block totally oblivious to the fact that people are getting worried about him and all, the stupid cat.

Gave him a good knuckling last night ;) Squeezed his bum too. And pulled his ears. And tail. Patpatpatpatpat him on the head a few million times.

Heh. In other news, I have here, with me, on my desk, next to my laptop, somebody else's laptop.

Not just any somebody, but a very important somebody.

That very important somebody is the father of my baby bird. And his newly-obtained used laptop is in my temporary possession because I, Goat Almighty, have been given the usually simple task to check it out.

To check what out exactly? Frankly I have no clue. This is like one of those 'Just do it no questions' thing and non-compliance and failure to succeed could result in a lifetime of *gasp* I don't even wanna go there.

But on the flipside, this is also a damn good opportunity to score points with da man. All I gotta do is to come up with a list of things to recommend him to do and undo with regards to the laptop in order to make it Internet-ready and suitable for work.

The trick is... *looks right, looks left* if you can't convince 'em, then confuse 'em. Shhh. Tee hee hee.

I haven't seen Chicago for around 10 days now.

No, not Chicago the band but Chicago the friendly black cat with white forepaws which make him look as though he's wearing socks from downstairs my block.

(Geddit? Chicago White Sox? The baseball team? Whatever.)

I miss him. He's always goes crazy whenever he sees me. He'd jump out of wherever he happens to be and run to me like he's not seen me for 836859 years or something and then twirl, hop, skip and lightly head butt me to encourage me to stroke or pat him.

He's like a dog actually. Very responsive cat. Not the lazy sleep for 23 hours a day type. If I could have any cat, I'd like to have him. But I know he wouldn't like being cooped up in the pigeon hole I live in. Hell I can't stand being in my own pigeon hole myself!

His speciality is to annoy other cats. I don't know what he'd done, but I've seen him being chased around by other cats (one or a few) all over the country more than a few times. He must have done something to irritate them. He reminds me of me, ah ha ha.

Anyway, this is the reason why I'm feeling afraid to the point of being paranoid. Could he have finally been caught by the other cat or cats and beaten to death? Is he lying injured somewhere? Has he been eaten by a dog?

Or kidnapped?

Chicago hates lifts. A few times he's followed me into the lift while I was on the way up to go home but as soon as the door was closing, he'd swiftly slip out. Then he'd turn around, and look at me with his sad eyes through the windows. He still wants to play with me.

I feel sad too whenever that happens because as much as I wanna to stick around and play with my favourite cat, I have things to do at home.

Now I miss him sooo much. If I see him again, I'd stick around longer. I promise myself that. I promise God that. I just wanna see him again to know that he's still safe and sound and that he'd really just been chilling out someplace for a while.

Yesterday was the second time I went to the muscle therapist regarding my knee problem... and I've decided not to go again as far as I can see, which isn't actually that far.

Reason is the therapist himself has conceded that not much can be done to help me recover and I've resigned myself to that knowledge. At most, all he could do is to improve the situation, but at $50 a pop once a week, it's not an amount I'd want to consider.

Might as well go for an operation and get it done and over with but nah, not even that. It's gonna cost and the chance of anything positive coming out of it is only 50-50.

Last week, he'd adviced me to completely stay away from any high impact activity till the treatment is over but yesterday, he said it'd be in my best interest to stay away for all time. Five years down the road, he could see me having more problems even with just walking.

Crap. I was actually aiming for a Spartan six pack by end of the year.

If I was afraid of getting fat, he added that I should just stick to a step machine or the like. Maybe I should get myself an Osim uZap or an OTO Trimax or even an iGallop!

Yeeeeee-Haw!!! Ha ha!

So anyway, on top of all that he also mentioned that the liquid that lubricates my knee joints are diminishing. My left knee cap is wobbly and there's a creaky sound going on. To be honest, it's not news to me. I've always known.

Guess I should mentally prepare myself to move around in a wheelchair in time to come, eh?

I might wanna consider forming a wheelchair rugby team in Singapore. As it is now, Japan is the only Asian representative on the world stage. That way, I could still get involved in contact sports and satisfy this insatiable appetite for competition.

Kill! Kill! Kill!!!

... Or I could just get involved in sports in some other way (nudge nudge wink wink, sorry insider joke).

Anyway my point is, I'm not looking forward to recover from this knee problem. Can't afford it. Instead, I will focus my efforts now to get an official excuse to not have to perform my reservist duties anymore.

It's a real problem. I'm in an elite unit and I don't think I can keep up with the rigours associated with our activities in this condition. Besides, I've already invested many years of my life to the cause at the top level and that's better than what some people have done.

PS: Watched Phantom of The Opera with my baby bird last night. Our first times watching a proper musical. Wonderful experience. Thanks, love.

PS2: Manchester United trashed Roma's butt 7-1 in the Champions' League 2nd Leg to win on aggregate and stroll leisurely to the semifinals! Woo!

In yet another moment of weakness yesterday, I got myself another... bag.

Yeah I know... "Another one!?"

B-b-but-but it's fully justified you know, really! Really, really.

Ok, before this I had:

Two pouches, one big and one small.

Two laptop bags, one big and one small.

Two haversacks, one big and one small.

And just one big sports duffel bag. No small one anywhere.

See, that's only ONE reason why it was a justified purchase.

The second reason is that it was on sale at only $20. Hardly burns a whole in anyone's pocket.

A-a-and, it was THE LAST PIECE. It was the only piece left in red. God was telling me something. I had a higher calling telling me then that it was 'now or never' so, so, so I had no choice in the matter, no choice at all but to get it.

Right? *quivering lips*

Right?

Heh heh.

Eh heh heh heh.

It's really tempting. I really wanna go for a run. Feel like The Blob. Can feel the fat cells mutating inside of me. Ack. I'm sooo gonna be fat again by the month end at the rate I'm eating. Ask MLB. She knows. Can't... can't go for a... run... till... treatment is... over... . Gasp.

For the second time in about two months I've called the police again. The first time as you know, was to report my stupid neighbour Mr Skunk who in all his drunken glory called me out for a fight at 3am in the morning.

And today, it was to report the traffic situation.

I usually take the overground route to work from City Hall MRT station. When I was trying to cross the traffic light at the Swissotel-Raffles Hotel junction, I realized that all the traffic lights in all the four points of the junction were dead!

It was chaos. All the cars were trying to kill me from all directions - left, right, centre, above, below, they're everywhere! I was like a goat in headlights. I knew then how a roadkill must feel seconds before they die as I hopped, skipped and somersaulted my way to safety.

I was sweating buckets by the time I got to work.

So anyway, I just got back from my appointment with the muscular therapist. I'm not sure if it was worth 50 bucks but it's too soon to say.

The guy told me to lay off any physical activity, ALL physical activity and to come for treatment for at least two more sessions after today to give my muscular fibres time to fully recover so as to judge better if the treatment is actually working or not.

Damn it, I'm not even supposed to go for my runs anymore till then. I was also told to apply deep heating rub on the affected areas every night to really enhance my recovery rate.

It's worse than I initially thought. Basically my whole left leg is funked, except for the front of my thigh and my shin, as you can see from the areas spraypainted purple below.

What happened was that my knee got operated 24 years ago, on the inner knee area down to the upper shin, as a result of being knocked down by a taxi and the muscle fibres in these areas have deteriorated since then.

Over these years, other muscle fibres from other areas of my left leg have been compensating for the weakness of the muscles initially affected and now, 24 years on, they have also almost gone kaput.

Keyword there is 'almost'. There's still time for everything to get better though not to its full potential. I've just about seeked treatment in time and I have my little bird to thank for this. She knows best what she has done for me, that's why she's my number 1 and only one, no contest.

I hope I can get back to at least running again (being able to play contact sports again would be a bonus) coz just when I've just about regained my shape and fitness levels, I now have to abruptly stop everything until the month end.

That's a lot of work I see going down the drain. Should I recover, I'd have to pick everything up again from scratch and I don't like the sound of that though it's by no choice of mine.

Guess we'll see how it goes then. Meantime I'll just follow what the doc says.

We were walking towards the coffeeshop near my place to have breakfast when MLB pointed something out to me.

I've been living here for 832936 years and I've never bothered to look at the billboards the shops put up to promote their stuff, but I'm glad that she did.

It was for this muscle care and treatment thingy by a company that operates from one of the clinics called Muscle Therapy Works.

Says there on the billboard that they care and treat for stiff necks, chronic backache, sports injuries and the one that caught our eyes: hip/knee/ankle pain too.

Cool beans.

I grabbed a flyer (the irony is that one contributing factor of the deterioration of my knee is from dodging flyer distributors who happen to be all over the place, they're everywhere!) and called them up to fix an appointment for tomorrow afternoon.

At $50 an hour per session, it better freaking work or I'm gonna pluck their eyeballs out and stuff them up their nostrils!

Unbelievable.

MLB and I went to watch two movies this week and they both sucked.

TMNT's plot was patchy and the turtles look like crap in CGI. Unrealistic. Disappointing. Total letdown.

Pathfinder was another unrealistic movie. The hero doesn't have a well-toned body as expected from heroes to make up for his lack of good looks normally associated with heroes and the Norseman vikings were made out to be inhuman with fangs and grunting sounds and everything when they are just in fact humans (I mean, Scandinavians these days, do you see them with fangs and do they even make grunting sounds?).

In general, it's yet another American sentionalisation of a mundane subject. They just couldn't let the legend of the Pathfinder who repelled the Norseman invasion 600 years before Columbus 'found' America to be boring and straightforward. They just had to add things to spice it up like 'gunfights' with arrows, car chases with the hero on a shield sliding down a snowhill with bad guys on his tail on sleds, blah blah blah.

I just hope Transformers and Spiderman 3 are more worth it.