An unfinished expression

He entered the room and walked towards the white desk which stood against the south wall. The desk was covered with a thin layer of dust. Small puffs of it rose as he pulled out the chair and sat down. It had been a while since he last sat at his desk.

He opened the drawer on his right and took out a thin pile of papers. He rested his back and fingered through the papers one after another. His eyebrows rose and fell a few times as he browsed through the old pieces of his unfinished personal expressions and ramblings. Once or twice, little smiles appeared on his face and a couple of times, he shook his head and crumpled the pieces he was reading before throwing them into the wastebasket beside the desk.

He finished glancing at the last piece and placed them all back inside the drawer. He looked at the digital clock on his table and paused for a moment. Time had always been a hurdle for him to overcome.

Feeling an impulse to write, he took out a fresh piece of paper and started to pen down some lines of words, pausing from time to time in thought. Occasionally, thin wrinkles creased his forehead as he tried to find the suitable words for his sentences.

Being an outsider to the language he used to express his thoughts, he faces difficulty in finding the exact or at least the correct words to reflect his meanings and intentions accurately. He often struggled to find the suitable words to articulate what he felt. Whenever he wrote, the dictionary became his best companion that supplemented his poor vocabulary and grammar.

Upon writing a number of sentences, he gained a little momentum and his thoughts spilled out faster onto the paper. His sentiments flowed freely and his emotions vented out.

He was drowning in the pleasure of expressing himself when suddenly a voice at the door distracted his concentration. He put down his pen and looked at the clock. Once again, time had the upper hand. He rested his back, took a deep breath and pulled out the drawer on his right. Another piece of his unfinished expression was left there to rot.

A conversation so unpleasant

I failed to avoid him. A few excuses I gave didn't work so I had to join him for lunch. It would have reflected bad on me if I were to turn down an invitation from a very good friend during the good old school days.

Although we met after many years, the twice short coversations I had with him earlier this week were displeasing that I wished I could stay away from him.

It was lunch time and our conversation started off nice and calm. We shared a little bit of each other's life and about the lives of our other batchmates. However, as I had expected, the conversation eventually worked its way into topics which were quite unpleasant.

My friend started to speak about all of his achievements and great experiences during the past few years. The way he talked made it so obvious that he desperately needed to portray his betterness. I thought that to say out my attainments likewise in this situation would be an insult to my intelligence thus I let him spoke out his exaggerated sense of self-conceit without hurdles.

Failing to raise my jealousy, the conversation moved deeper into vanity where he started to attack my character. He used his irritating words to make fun of my previous achievements with the company and potrayed me as a loser.

Hoping that the conversation would end soon and his hunger for pride would be satisfied, I continued to pretend that I was listening attentively to what he was saying and showed respect for the little things that he was so proud of.

Lunch hour was almost over and with great relieve, I politely ended the conversation. As I stood up from the table and looked at his face, from his eyes, I noticed that his enormous ego was not satisfied. Something deep inside him was longing for some more.

Some people have excessive pride in them. They are so full of themselves and they shut out everyone else with their excessive sense of narcissism. Although I ignored his words, I can't help but to feel a little hurt with the things I reasonably wished had been left unsaid that afternoon.

Giants of the sky

I've been working in the aviation maintenance industry for more than 15 years now.
When I started, I was taught about the theory of flights, the study of how an aircraft flies. I know the parts and components that put the machines on air and I've been working on them for the past many years.

Yet quite often, when large airplanes are taking off to the sky, I can't help but to watch in amazement.


Some pictures I got from the internet;



Antonov AN-225 Mriya
Largest airplane in the world with 84.0 m. of length, 18.1 m. of height and 88.4 m. of wingspan.



Airbus A380
Largest passenger airliner in the world with 73 m./239 ft. 3 in. of length, 24.1 m./79 ft. 7 in. of height and 7.14 m./23 ft. 5 in. of wingspan.



Airbus Beluga (A300-600ST Super Transporter)
Developed to transport complete sections of Airbus aircraft from different production sites in Europe to Airbus final assembly lines in Toulouse or Hamburg.



Boeing B747 Dreamlifter
Intensively modified Boeing 747-400 used exclusively for transporting aircraft parts, primarily the major assemblies of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from suppliers around the world to Boeing.



B747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
Extensively modified Boeing 747 used to transport NASA Space Shuttle orbiters.



Airbus A340-600
World's longest passenger aircraft with 75.3 m./247 ft. 1 in. of length.



Photography;
Antonov An-225 photography by Dmottl, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0.
A380 photography by Dmottl, Paris Air Show 2007.
Airbus Beluga photo from NASA, USRA (Universities Space Research Association), and L-3 Communications Integrated Systems.
B747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft photography by Carla Thomas taken on September 1, 1998 for NASA.
B747-400 LCF photography by Cory Barnes, licenced under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0.
A340-600 photography by Arpingstone.

What's up with me??

Once again, I left the blogging world for a while and missed my friends who had always been in my thoughts when I was away.

Life had been so hectic for the past 2 months that I could hardly find time to sit in front of my computer.

Early last year, I wrote a post about my apartment suffering from fungus attack. I spent so much time cleaning and painting the walls and the furniture at that time.

End of last year, I noticed that the fungi had launched another silent attack. It wasn't as bad as before but I had to act fast to prevent them from spreading. This time, I chose to discard all of my wooden furniture that were infected rather than cleaning and painting them as I noticed that the stubborn fungi could still grow on the painted surfaces which were infected prior to painting.

Almost seventy percent of my wooden furniture were discarded and I've replaced them with furniture made of steel, glass and plastic. I had to avoid wooden stuff at this time until I really get rid of the fungi problem. My kitchen had been renovated with tiled concrete counter top and metal shelves. All the doors and some of the interior walls of my apartment had also been painted.

While the renovation was going on in stages, my wife safely delivered a baby boy. I had to go on a long leave after that to stay at home and take care of my wife and children. And while doing so, school started and I had to prepare my eldest child for Primary 1.

Although life was quite hectic and exhausting during the past weeks, it was also accompanied by joy and happiness. I enjoyed spending much time with my children during the long leave. It was also fun to watch the new look and concept of our home, and of course, the fun watching the new member of the family grew.

Thanks to all of my dear friends who have left their messages when I was away, reminding me that I was not forgotten even when I may deserve to be. I really appreciate it very much.

The war against the "evil" fungus has not ended yet. There are still a few more things need to be done. I pray that everything will be fine soon.

With my son who has started his Primary 1, and with the new baby at home, time has become tighter for me and my wife.