My latest addiction to TV has been the reality show Big Brother (Season 9). I hated it at the beginning because it was built around people who lie, flirt, backstab one another, and doing whatever for the sake of money, which in this case, the grand prize of $500,000 US. However, as the game show goes on, I seem to be able to get past the malicious behaviours and really look at the contestants as everyday people, with emotions, anger, lives in the real world,  and when contestants break down mentally and emotionally, they seem to be more real than at any other moment.

All along I have been supporting Crazy James, who amazingly won the Power of Veto for three weeks straight and saved himself thrice from eviction. But eventually the "evil" power of Team Christ wears down the poor individual, and James was eliminated this week. It was somewhat expected, but I still feel sorry for this guy, who had been trying so hard, playing such a great game,  but was eliminated only because he was outcasted all along.

There are times in life when each of us feel outcasted, and that emotion is unbearable. I am happy to have friends who stuck through with me thick and thin, especially those whom I have known now for 10, 15 years. But there are still times when things are better off kept to myself.

P.S. If you have been reading my blog all along, you will probably realised this is less structured than the other ones. I just needed a emotional dump on my thoughts, and this blog is probably the best place.

I swear, these parking enforcers are like hyenas, crouching and hiding in the veld, patiently waiting for the eagles (drivers) to finish with their preys (cars), and quickly approach the "leftovers" as soon as the eagle leaves.

I got a parking fine again. This time, less than a minute after a park down the car, just outside of my apartment building…

I parked my car, and then I realized that I left my wallet at home. Learning from past lesson, when they gave me a parking fine for staying 15 minutes after expiry, I decided to immediately run up (figuratively - I actually took the elevator) to my apartment to get my wallet. And by the time I ran back down, which was about 5 minutes later, the yellow death note is already clipped neatly under the windshield wipers. "Cha-Ching", another $30 flushed down the toilet. When I saw that ticket, the first thing that came to my mind was to rip that yellow thing apart into 40 million pieces. But I didn’t.  Instead, I dropped it "accidentally". The wind took it underneath the car chassis, and pressed it against one of the rear tires. I picked it up unwillingly, clipping it back to the windshield. Another thing I did, not sure why, but I did it anyways, was to actually pay at the parking meter for the rest of the half hour that I parked there.

May be what I should have done before is to leave a note to inform the cops that I will be coming down to pay, before I left my car. 

What really pisses me off is that I have every fucking intention to pay.

Scavengers! 

Afterthought: These cops are more like parasites. Savengers only take the leftovers, and they do no harm. But parasites survive on giving HELL to their hosts.

Last Sunday, I overslept and didn’t make it to church. I spent the afternoon at work (yes, on a Sunday afternoon)! I fired off an email in response to a question about refrigerator’s energy consumption. As soon as I send that out, the notifying me of a new message in my inbox (which is quite rare on considering it was weekend). It reads:

From:[name hidden]
Sent: September 30, 2007 2:51 PM
To: [me]
Subject: RE: Refrigerator Energy consumption

You’re just as bad as me.. working on a Sunday!!!

I immediately replied her email:

From: [me]
Sent: September 30, 2007 2:57 PM
To: [name hidden]
Subject: RE: Refrigerator Energy consumption

Good to know that I am not the only one. You make my day.

People always feel better when they see others in the same boat. Especially when you have to work OT on a Sunday without getting paid.

It was around noon last Wednesday, and I was driving a rental car on the way going back to the office. It happened on a regional road where the speed limit is 80km/h. Clocked at 108km/h down the hill, a cop car which had been hiding on the side of the road came after me, flashed it red and blue lights, and I pulled over to the side of the road as a sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

Car in parking gear. Emergency light flashing. Engine off. Windows down. From my rear mirror, I saw the cop casually strolled towards my car.

"How are you doing sir?" he said.

"Good." I lied. How would you expect me to feel good? But any other answer would deem inappropriate. I handed over my license and the little package of documents from car rental to the cop.

"Do you have a clean record?"

"Yes." This time I told the truth.

"You are the first [car] I pulled over today."

After a short pause, I said, "Will I be the lucky one?"

"I will see what I can do." His response was no relief to me. With the license and the paper in his hands, he went back to his car.

The slaughtering process was far from quick and painless. It was at least 10 minutes before the cop got out of his car and approached me again, during which lots of thoughts crossed my mind. The last thing I wanted is to let my boss know I got a ticket again, only several days after he paid for my previous parking fine.

I kept my fingers crossed. 

"Your were speeding by 28km. But since it is your first time, I have reduced it to a plus 10…..instead of paying a $200+ fine and get 3 demerit, you will have to pay $35 and with no demerit points. You may take it to the court. But if you decide to take it to the court, you may be fined at the original fine… here is your license, and the ticket…. Drive safe."

That was relief. For some reason, I felt happy about it, as it was better than what I have anticipated.

I am glad at least I am not getting any demerit point. Tis just fine.

Afterword: As I got back onto the single-lane road again, the cop had no other route but to follow behind me. For those 15 or so kilometers which I was tagged, I switched on the "manual cruise-control mode", i.e. watching the speedometer every three seconds to ensure I was travelling at exactly 80km/h. Exactly 80km/h. And throughout my trip back to the office, my car crawled at the speed as restricted by the speed limit signs. Every driver passed me with a get-off-the-road-if-you-are-so-damn-slow look.