There are no shortcuts to polishing a chrome exhaust pipe with sandpaper.

 

Time on my side, from No.600 then to No.1000 later to no. 1500 sandpaper, there is no shortcuts to polishing a chrome exhaust pipe. It does not take hours but days to produce the desired result. Just when I thought a brush chrome finish will look fine having used the no.600 sandpaper, upgrading polishing to no.1000 sandpaper brought out the shine. Still, there were still fine scratches to be seen if one wants to be hypocritical. When I upgraded polishing to no.1500 a mirror-like glaze will eventually come out. Finally, wetting the sandpaper even brought polishing to a finer degree. It was tiring but satisfying to ogle at the end result in the late evening.

The Secret of Life

In my younger days, it was more about proper recitation of the Quran. Eventually I grew bored because it was like watching a movie in a different language so I eventually and by the grace of Allah, decided to flip through the pages of the English translation of the Quran. This again was a bit confusing as one is generally trained to approach it as how an academic book is structured but that was not how Allah meant it to be. Still, the more I delve and deeper into Islam, things became more interesting and clear. Here, I must thank the existance of the internet which is literally a data overload IF one takes the effort to search for knowledge. I  began to understand more about myself and the why the Quran recommends this and that. And using Islam as a base, fundamentally I see the secret of life are three:

1. Patience
2. Pray
3. Doa (Supplicate)

Patience but why?

The story of how Prophet Adam "tried to run before he could learn how to walk" when he was just created is very amusing to say the least but it clarifies Man is fundamentally rash. Thus, the best strategy to overcome this inherent emotion is "patience". One must keep cool and here, things can take a long time to resolve because one is constantly being tested on this matter. The question of patience is also relative to an individual but the more test of patience, the more Allah loves us.

Pray but why?

In making decisions between "right" and "wrong", the privilege given to Man, if Man is left unguided, there has a strong inherent tendency of the nafs or ego to sway to on the wild side of life. That is why Man needs guidance but because no one can read hearts, what better and wise way to seek guidance and protection from one's maker. The bright lights of life may divert one's attention because in Islam, life is a place for amusement and diversion. Thus, there is a need to constantly remind Man to take the straight path hence Islam makes it compulsory to pray 5 times/day. Experience shows this is true especially when one finds many forms of distractions that may divert his attention consciously or unconsciously to go off the track.

Doa but why?

Yes, Allah acknowledges patience and prayer fundamentally are difficult to practise (but not for those humble to Him). So to offset that, Allah gave to us, the most powerful thing in the world, powerful enough even to change the course of destiny if Allah wills it to be. That is a fantastic and tremendous thing because it can amend that which was already written in Loh Mahfuz from time immemorial. So in Islam, what is fated is not necessarily cast in stone though it obviously would require a sincere heart to fully submit to Allah.

CONLCUSION:

If one has an extremely strong faith in Allah, the above three are easy as tiddlywinks.

Life is a test of patience

Reciting the Quran never did not open my eyes to the knowledge contained in it, that is why I took to reading the English translation as I felt it was like watching an interesting movie with the volume closed. Surah Al Baqarah is the second chapter is very meaningful to me and clarifies life is really but a perpetual test where Ayat 155-156 strikes a gong to my heart. My brother asked me whilst we were doing Umrah whether I had or was facing any serious problem and I replied 'No'. Then he quoted me that line and said to be prepared because everyone, Muslim or non-Muslim, will one day face a most serious test which could include one or a combination of things mentioned, personal-to-holder, designed to bring us closer to Him. For me, that test came some time after my Umrah. Every now and then, human as I am, when I am down-and-out, I recite and find comfort in a later Ayat as follows:

MAS MH370: a detail assessement to the last core

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Migrate from hot to cold shower

Who loves to have a cold shower on a cold morning? Definitely not me. It is sharp, stingy and jolts the mind and body. The coldest shower I had was actually for 3 days in Mecca because I thought the tap was faulty only to find out later that I did not tilt it enough. Now that was icy cold as it was in December. However, after the bath, I  immediately began to sweat, yes, sweat profusely for a few minutes, thankfully in the comfort of the air-con room. I found out later that this is normal because cold water makes the blood move faster through the veins. Recently, I think over 3 months, my left shoulder and left neck gave me a bad sore. I believe it has been through an accumulation of bad sleeping posture. I massaged the sore for over a month but while it seems to be lessen at the core spot, it appears merely to have decentralized outwards. Then when I saw this a secret agent movie and how the hero was made to dip in icy cold water after being whacked around a couple of times in training bouts, I checked the internet and found that it is a proven scientific technique to sooth aches and sores. Thus, I decided to give it a try and knew it would not be as bad as my Mecca experience. Today, it has already been 3 mornings since I've switched over from hot to cold shower and I already feel the positive effects. But it is OK, I have already got used to it and for one, no matter how sleepy I woke up, it makes me start the day alert and fresh as the morning breeze. It looks like this is the way to go man as one grows older.

Flat tire life saver

The other day as I happened to walk pass by my neighbour's house, I saw her standing staring at her daughter's car. She pointed to a flat tire and asked if I could help. I saw my son was already trying to get the flat tire accessories from our car and told her what she really needs is a hollow pipe to effectively assist the job so I left to look behind our backlane for any hollow pipe as I knew there was a house nearby under construction. To my (or specifically "her") luck,  I found a broken disused pole for broom. By the time I returned, I saw the neighbour's daugther solid-looking boyfriend trying hard to unscrew the tyre nut but to no avail. I came over, inserted the hollow pole over the tyre lever, strategically placed my hands so as not to accidentally bend the pole instead, tried my best and that pole did the job. After all the nuts were removed, I sprayed some slippery diesel over the bolts as I could not find my WD-40 spray. Before I left, I told my neighbour we must never forget what our science teacher taught us in school i.e. the longer the lever multiply by the same arm effort increases the pressure to release the jammed nut and how they will be useful to us when the time comes.

CONCLUSION: Experience pays to acquire some added tip to do the job. In my own case, nuts were removed and tyre was lifted high enough but the rim was "glued" to the axle. No amount of kicking could get it off the axle. I thought it would be good if I had a sledge hammer or at least a rubber hammer then EUREKA! an idea popped out. I ended up using the spare tyre as my rubber hammer and after a few knocks at the glued tyre it came off. Yes, it pays to be creative.

Back up plan

Wifey has been so busy with school chores lately that on the spur of the last moment, she asked my daughter to dish up anything for the family so that will be sambal cuttlefish and curry sardine which everyone in the family loves. My job has always been to ensure there were chopped onion and garlic ready as well as cooked rice readily available in the rice cooker.

School Chores 2020

Yesterday, Mikhail and me went to assist wifey putting up these custom plastic banners to spice up wifey's classroom at the same time, hide the class wall of the previous year. The concept design was wifey's while I played the part to guide her in designing them. All paid for by the school and is planned to last a year after which will be replaced  by next year's class. This incidentally has been an annual chore for me and my children who happened to be free.