Long battle with the frisky vampire

After feeding

Before feeding

Bed bugs are a true menace in life and malice is what they are packed with. They feed on human blood and love to do so when humans are deep asleep at night. This habit of theirs make them a tough bug to take notice of in the initial stages. They might be tiny but the most annoying of all pests  for they can be anywhere in your home .

Today's happenings ( Saturday 17.11.2012)

1) Visit to family doctor

     To get my monthly supply of Cozaar medicine . Paid RM 120

     My reading was 126/69 (L) and was quite close to Doc's reading 132/80. He was happy

     with it , so was  I .  Doc explained that 100 mg is not high dosage  and I will have to go on

     with that .

2)  A drive to BP for dinner

     Dinner was good for a change . We had Otak otak , oyster , fried yam cake , cuttlefish  +

     some  normal fare . I enjoyed BP coffee most of all , had 1 and a half serving !

3)  Amazing Pepi

   

     Pepi has a voracious appetite , she eats anything and at any time of the day and  NITE

     too !

     Our family was having lunch and all of a sudden and from nowhere , Pepi was under the

     dining table . We all thought it was a cute act but discipline her we  must  , so  I picked her

     up  and “ threw “ her out .

     Soon after , she appeared again at the side door  next to the dining area and  I thought  no

     way  the little puppy could get through the small gap left at the sliding glass panels.  Who

     would have guessed  the little thing  had the strength (or the skill ) to push open the

     glass door? That she did  and  she proudly parked herself near the table  , the triumphant

     look she gave exasperated all of us !

Malaysia - 4.5% growth this year ?

According to IMF managing director Christine Lagarde on her maiden trip to Malaysia  , my beloved country can achieve the target of 4.5% growth this year . I read with interest 3 risks that  she highlighted and that Malaysia need to address

Nakada Eco-Wave Oven

The cook Book that comes with the Oven

Sorcery ?

Roasted lamb

Juicy Roasted Chicken

Very keen in cooking nourishing dishes for his children ,  my better half procured a  futuristic looking oven one morning from his daily visitation to the morning market . This evening , he  finally  tried 2 dishes with the unit . The outcomes were satisfactory bordering on good , obviously he was delighted  with the purchase .

Inspiron Laptop Replacement

It would be remiss of me not to mention something about the young gentleman ( Mr A) who handled my complaint  that finally lead to its replacement . It wasn't an easy task for him to handle my call on that fateful morning  for I was boiling mad with  the  unit .  The laptop that boasts of some new Intel Processor (i7)  and 1 TB harddisk plus .........   It had a ultra slow start that the  lady proprietor dismissed as normal  of Dell computers ( who also claimed that Asus is even worse off ) .Mind you , the hard disk was replaced  and then the mother board . The much awaited -for  laptop  couldnt be used by my son few weeks after purchase  because it spent most of the time in the shop . It was sent back to the shop 2 times , about a week  for each of the times ! Mr A  spent more than an hour on the phone with me   for I refused to put down . There were tag numbers that I have to provide before Dell could track my unit  but  I didn't have the information  . I made it very clear to Mr A  that I didn't want to spend another 1 hour repeating the same story  to a new person on a toll-free number , that is if I dialled again . enough is enough !  I already repeated the " story " to the technicians in the shop that I purchased the unit  umpteen times before I chose to launch a complaint direct with Dell .

 Let me get back to Mr A  -  I regard him to be a very professional  and loyal staff of the  Dell  tech support team . With me rattling off my grievances , he  responded to all of them with much patience and tact  , and at the same time guarding the SOP  of Dell . My parting words to him were - I wanted him to make sure that our long conversation is heard by Dell  and I also wanted Dell Customer Service to give me a Yes or No answer about whether  i am deserving of a replacement unit . . I  assured Mr A  that whatever the outcome was , I  thought he had done a great Job being  patient with me . And I gave him 1 week !

And Mr A called me before the 1 week was up , he said that my case was brought to the attention of the concerned department  and one thing led to another and finally the replacement unit arrived last evening .

In between all those times ,Mr A made special effort to contact me . He asked if the  I have received emails from the customer service department  , if I have replied  and ..........    If i have received information about delivery ... and up to yesterday  --- he asked if the unit has been received .  Thank you , Mr A  - you are one  invaluable asset to Dell . Through you , Dell Tech Support has been bridged closely with  the client and you gave a very personal touch to it . Honestly , the concern you have shown is sufficient . I would have thanked you just as well even if I have not received a replacement - jokes aside !

Replacement Dell laptop - Inspiron 15R special Edition .

The replacement for the  faulty Dell was finally delivered to my doorstep , courtesy of Dell . Thanks a million , Dell Asia Pacific ,  for settling the matter amicably and expediently .

Honestly , I am still disappointed with the "starting time" performance, it takes longer than my 3 year old Compaq . This edition boasts of 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processor ! But then again ,  I have not explored sufficiently  to comment on performance in other  areas , which I genuinely hope will be more superior . Our family holds 6 active Dell laptops ( almost same no of  inactive ones)  and  that speaks  a lot  of  our trust in the  Global Brand .  

Learning in progress

These are some of the  Latin words  that I revise today , after lunch .

per diem	per day, is used in English to mean by the day, per day, reckoned on a daily basis, or paid by the day.
	·         Members receive a per diem for attending board meetings. ( daily payment , stipend ) ·         Maybe the Board  needs to cut back, do an honest day’s work and cut back on their per diem pay too. ( daily )

per se	in itself, by itself, of itself, or intrinsically.
	·         Studies conclude that bed-sharing per se does not put infants at risk. ·         Wwhile poverty, per se, does not make you more at risk of becoming infected, it is certainly not helpful …

tete-a-tete	head to head;  a private conversation between two people,   involving two people conversing in private , done in private between two people.
	·         They had a long tete-a-tete ·         Both of us are in Twitter tete-a-tete ·         A fascinating tete-a-tete lies ahead for the  contenders Sarah  and Rebecca .

persona non grata	Literally, person not welcome, ; fully unacceptable or unwelcome
	·         He was twice banned from India and on occasion declared persona non grata by both China and Nepal. ·         Despite the furore that lead to him being persona non grata at Cannes earlier this year, she  is still a hit with Europe’s film judges.

Bona fide	(made or carried out in good faith  ; real or genuine. Bona fides, with the s at the end, is a noun meaning (1) good faith, (2) credentials, or (3) information that establishes a person’s reputation or credentials.
	·         They are bona fide celebrities ·         Kim is a bona fide mogul worth billions . ·         The German Board game has become a bona fide social phenomenon ·         The Liberal party must earn its modern economic bona fides and not rest on past laurels.