Monday, October 08, 2007

Things that are good-to-have but I wish you never have-to-use

Pepper sprays
I am on to my third pepper spray now. The first two had exceeded their expiry date, I never used any one of them. I carry my third pepper spray in my knapsack all the time, If ever the need to use it arises, I will have to tell the attacker to wait-a-sec-please while I rummage through my black-hole of a bag to retrieve the lethal weapon. In the meantime? He (assuming the baddies are always men) could just sit there finishing a cigarette. Once the spray is found – if it is possible at all – how to use it is another story altogether. Theoretically I know how but in practice I have never tried it. One thing for sure is he must bend a bit so the spray would be at the same level as his face. If he could squat for me, better, so I can spray into his eyes. The instruction label says I need to check for the direction of the wind too because we don’t want to spray at him only to have the wind redirect all the pepper energy back to me. Oh, that reminds me, I should perhaps tie a ribbon to the spray so when I hold it up, I can see where the wind is blowing. So if the ribbon moves to the right, wind is in THAT direction, so I should move the assailant to the… left, right? Aiyohh…. So susah this left-right business! I long for a just word where there is neither leftist nor rightist, where even left is right and right is right where it should be, on the left.
One kid I know (son of a colleague) used a pepper spray on his arm pit as deodorant. The effect? Persistent crying and the sudden inability to put the arms down. Smells god-awful too. The effect lasted for days! That boy, will never grow up to be a crook, that I am pretty sure of. He would never want to be at the receiving end of a pepper spray.
May you and me never need to use pepper sprays. Keep safe, ya?

Air bags
I have never and probably would never test drive a car. Many times though I have test-ride a car. (Yes, you out there, the one making faces. I still don’t have a driver’s license. I did say that I’ll get it this year and hey, it is only October. Patience, my friends, patience.) Anyways, every time I test ride friends’ new cars I would ask them to ‘let’s try your air bags’. They always said no. Chicken. My friends all come from the happy poultry farm, what can I say. Birds of the same feather are all chicken.
But unless intended, no, I wish you’ll never have to activate your air bags. Drive safely, ya?

Fire extinguishers
Remove pin, direct at base of fire and press nozzle or something like that. The instruction sounds wonderfully simple. I have tried the powder type during one fire drill. It wasn’t as wonderfully simple as the instruction. I have sat through many fire drill exercises; saw many friends and foe alike tried their hands on the fire extinguishers. Some could never make it work. Some could manage to spray but the fire didn’t get put out. Success rate I estimate to be maybe 50% only. How leh, Mr Fireman Sam?
May non-fireman like you and me never have to use the fire extinguisher, ever.
Jangan main api dan jangan main mercun tanpa pengawasan orang dewasa yang boleh diharap. 15 tahun belum dikira dewasa ya. Adakala, 40 tahun pun belum dewasa. Atau tak boleh diharap. Terutama, hal bermain dengan bahan letupan ni. Kemain suka dia!

50% discount voucher for sex change surgery
Hehehe.. Must you? I hope never. 50% discount does sound like a good deal but, you were made the way you were for a season. Oops, for a reason..
I had a chat with this one guy once. He is a big man, towering over me like KLCC over Maxis Tower. Huge. And he was lamenting how girls always get it easier than guys. Show a bit of skin, wear an extra inch of make-up, lace the smile with extra sugar and honey-butter each words uttered, you might just get that job. But he said, if he were to come home one day in a sari, the wife would probably smother him dead with a chapatti. I thought he was funny. I told him point-blank that I really truly don’t think he would look nice in saris. In fact I think it would be horrifying. He had to agree.

Talak
You know the compulsory kursus kahwin we were all made to attend? Two lonnng days, on a weekend too, aiyoyoh…. Anyways, an ustaz told us in one of the sessions that, honeymoon IS a necessity.
He said, a few years down the road when the going starts getting tougher and tougher and you somehow have stopped communicating with your spouse (for whatever reason), go open up your honeymoon album and look back at that smiling couple. You were in love with him/her once, weren’t you? You were crazy for him/her! Everything about him/her was once adorable if not super. What happened? That fire couldn’t just simply sizzle out, could it? For those happy moments frozen in Timex, captured by Konica, printed on Kodak, wouldn’t you want to put in more effort? By listening, empathising, trying to understand and finally agree on a ‘pelan damai’ with a set goal in mind? Small achievable and measurable milestones, and the commitment to see the plan through. Don’t try to save the marriage for the kids, do it for you. It is not fair to put the burden of your marriage on them kids. You don’t want to one day turn to them and say, ‘I suffered many years of your father just for you and this is what I get?’ when the kid comes home with all Ds for her PMR. Not fair, kan? Try. Even Berlin wall came down!
Unless you have really tried and all you could see was mountain-high walls worse than China wall and Berlin wall and more formidable than Pudujel wall put together, so impossible to scale, break or go around, I hope you will never have to use the talak on your spouse.

Amin.

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

U should have posted this entry 2 weeks ago. i could maybe use your tips to spray the guy who mugged me last monday.
the thing is he grabbed my handbag from my passanger car seat. so if the spray is in the bag...how???

wanted to call u.but my hp's gone with the hand bag, camera, pda, credit card, ic, atm, car license.....aaargh!!!

kJ

p.s. please e-mail me your hp no AGAIN.

12:49 AM  
Blogger Nazrah Leopolis said...

babe,

my dad had a fire extinguisher in his room once. i was such a curious git at the time(sekarang pun), i thought it was ok to test it out, just a teensy weensy spritz, ayah wouldn't notice..

i pulled out the safety ring and squeezed the whatchamacallit...it wouldn't stop spraying white powder all over the place...sampai abis benda tu terkeluar.

so out came the vacuum cleaner and mop, the fire extinguisher tank, now empty,was put back where it came from. alhamdulillah, we never did have the need to use it at the old house. when we were packing to move, years later, i discreetly threw the tank away. not sure i was found out or not. hee hee.

and amin to your prayers.

3:37 AM  
Blogger Ely said...

i was given a pepper spray for xmas some 3 yrs ago. nvr taken out of package...must be expired.

landlord bought us 3 fire extiguishers...i just saw one tergolek buried in dirt on the side of the house.

talak? been there done that...thank God it happened the first time...no more lah...happy with marriage Alhamdulillah.

5:36 PM  
Blogger Jeritan Rakyat Marhaen said...

Ood...

I told you to get your driving licence but instead you get King's licence.. (lesen raja) mana-mana dalam LRT pun bleh duduk.. (untuk ibu mengandung) wakakakka... now you have reasons to extend pengambilan lesen tu ke tahun-tahun yang mendatang.

I tau you will never get the licence!!! confortable being chaufered around ek????

Ok la Selamat Maju Jaya.. silap Selamat HAri Raya
Maap DZAHIER n batin

7:07 PM  
Blogger Jeritan Rakyat Marhaen said...

and driving licence can be included in your list of things that are good to have but wish you never have to use.

Kannnn??? Maaf DZAHIER n batin

AYF..

7:10 PM  
Blogger Elysha Nur said...

Fire extinguisher...Hmm... Brings back old memories... Remember how I almost burnt down the lab???

Elysha

9:08 PM  
Blogger Theta said...

Hehe! How about the ubiquitious nip and tuck procedure? I don't think I want to endure long, arduous, painful process for the sake of conforming to someone else's idea of aesthetics.

Ood dear,
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Maaf Zahir & Batin to you and your family!

4:51 PM  
Blogger Jo Kontan said...

Oody,

I got one oso, which I'm always dread to use it (in case laa).

The inflatable float (?) under the seat while taking flite. Gerunnn.

Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf DZahir Batin.

Plead, whisper, Moan, Beg, Instruct or whatever to Yamtuan, BerHati-hati Di JalanRaya.

5:33 PM  
Blogger OOD said...

wicktlexPATUTLAH i sms-ed you never answer!

You know, last two weeks - the weekend i froze my handphone - i was mugged too. My wallet was in my backpack and someone must have pickpocketed me. Nasib baik cash ada less than RM10 je, but STILL!
Yep, how the spray to be effective when it is in the bag at my back?

Sama-sama lah kita tak ada credit card, atm card, and segala macam cards!

nazrah,
tsk tsk tsk... i am gonna TELL on yew! Unless you mail over some ketam masak kaw-kaw to me!
Oih... messy nak kemas the podar tu. You cleaned it SO well no tell tale sign? Mannn.... you are good.

*amin*

ely baby,
i guess it is a comfort to have the spray in the bag and the fire extinguyishers at home, i only fear that the two provides false comfort onni, you know what i mean?
Ely baby, you, David and the kids are so very happy i want to be like you when i grow up - hehe. No Ely, never again. Kan? Amin.

Brader Ed,
i surprise you one day i get not one not two but TEN driver's license, semua kelas A sampai Z ada punya. Kerat jari brader...
Selamat Hari Raya Bro, to you, mak, family all.

Lys,
if i remember correctly, he said you almost jadi baja, teehehehe.. it wasnt very funny then but i am sure we can all think back to that day with a smile. Dont you ever try to put out fire using alcohol, ever again, you hear? Not a good idea.

theta,
nip and tuck maybe not for me. But i tell you a bit of a secret. SSsshh... dont tell anyone else, after ruin my image onni.

I tried the lipolysis injection once. Iya! I accompanied my boss to this dermatologist. I saw the ad, lipolysis Rm250, 10 jabs to reduce inches almost immediately. Gungho me, errr... the scientist me, not the vain me - thank you very much - try le! 10 jabs, OMG, the pain? Absolutely OMG-kind! And right after that, i had ten huge bintat at the ten places where i was jabbed. Inches lost? Err... maybe kalau pakai angkup luar yang precision to three decimal points, ada lah kot. The clinic said, i have stubborn fat! Shame on my stubborn fat! Degil! Bogek!

Jo Bro,
thank you for the reminder. We are back in KL now. Alhamdulillah. Hope you are too.
Yeah, those are things that should be added to the list, life jackets, the oxygen mask, and the amenda pelampung ntah tu in the flight.
Dont you be ashamed of your fear of flying bro jo, Die hard hero bruce willis pon takut terbang. Dia yang indestructible tu pon takuttt... KAN?

1:49 AM  
Blogger Uncle ZT said...

Ood,

OUCH!

Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf Zahir Batin

7:17 PM  
Blogger OOD said...

Ouch, uncle? No?

1:18 AM  

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