everybody loves lists

while i went outstation for merely two days, i did a lot of things and a lot of other things also happened. makes me wonder why all these things had to happen when i am not around. the list goes as chronologically close as it could be.

[ this is added later. didn't know that the list is going to be this long so beware ]

1. sent the two kids in the morning: this is what i normally do anyway



2. broke the speed limit of wifey's car: don't tell her! managed to clock almost 170km/h and would've been faster if those road constructions didn't get in the way. must have been the adrenalin remnants of the bachelor days. normally don't drive fast when kids are around, so being alone was like fire away those engines. which reminds me, normally i would go to rilek[dot]com[dot]my to check the summonses but now it seems that service always not available. where else could i go and check?


3. have lunch at my parents: this is what a momma's boy would do anyway, right? the hotel is like 5 km away from my parents. despite them providing the hotel food for lunch, i preferred to have it in momma's house instead.


4. irritate the consultant: it was supposed to be a refresher course/ training so we knew each other quite well including the mat salleh trainer. i asked too many questions that he could not answer up to the point of irritation so i just stopped asking questions before it got ugly


5. my own car broke down: the almost-one-year-old car that i have been driving day-in-day-out decided to break down when wifey was on the way home. so, i had to frantically called everybody related (car customer service, aam, and wifey called my brother-in-law who live fortunately quite nearby and an ex-mechanic). in the end, it was a big party of people (about 6 7 of them) and four cars attending my stricken car because the highway assistance people also decided to join the party. turns out that battery had run flat and out of liquids (my bad) so had to jump-start the car and switched with bro-in-laws car so that she could safely get home risk-free


6. wifey called somebody to pick up alyssa and amelya: thanks to the stranded car, she couldn't get to them in time. thankfully, this one couple who is like family friend to us work around my office and lives around my area. so, they have always been the contingency people to pick up those kids in emergencies like this. wifey thought of this and credit goes to her despite her upsets and nagging in the phone.


7. my car gets its shower on the inside: due to the super-flat condition of the battery, wifey was advised not to turn on aircond and wound down the windows. while on route to bro-in-law's house to switch the car, asked her to stop by a petrol station to buy saline water to top up the almost nonexistent water in the battery. miraculously managed to buy and top up the water (without turning off the engine, of course). but while reversing to get out of parking lot, the car died, again. had to again wait for b-i-l to jump start car again (he went off to pick up his kids from school). another miracle happened. it rained cats and dogs during this super hot dry season and the battery was too weak that even the power windows didn't work so there were puddles of water inside the car.


8. alyssa cried in the phone: wifey finally picked up the kids at 9.30pm. alyssa's cough and fever was not getting better (thankfully not getting worse either). so, she was just sobbing and couldn't talk to me on the phone. maybe she said something like missing me and asking me when i would be back


9. alyssa cried again: just couldn't resist calling them before bedtime. alyssa started crying again (refer above).


10. slept alone: to rotidua especially, i did sleep alone that night. asked my parents whether they wanted to stay overnight since nobody would pay to stay in a hotel 5km away from home but they just dropped by and left by 12.30am.


11. amelya caught the fever: when i woke up in the morning, received one message from wifey. finally, amelya succumbed to the virus and she also had her share of fever. wifey had to take emergency leave to bring both of them to the doctor. while alyssa is a super strong girl, amelya had the tendency to have fit attacks if she has a fever which thankfully she haven't had any since she was one year old.


12. rushed back to check out the car: was planning to drop by my parents' house before going back to kl but cancelled that one. rushed to my sister's after lunch to check out the stranded car. tried to charge the battery in the nearby workshop and told to come back within 3 hours.


13. went home to meet the people: needless to say, alyssa was especially happy to see me. then, we all went to sister's house again to return their and hopefully can bring back my car.


14. bought new batteries: even after charging for 3 hours, the car just refused to start. i was going to claim for a new battery when planned to send the car for service the day after. but i just hate to see an unresponsive car and just swallowed the rm230 for a new maintenance-free battery. * add to the most hated things: driving a stranded car * huh, don't need to worry about the water level anymore with that maintenance-free battery.


15. went home peacefully: with a brand-new battery, the car was eager to get moving. finally we got home (again) at around 8pm. my stomach was still stocked up with hotel food so i didn't really have proper dinner that night.


16. check out the blogs: finally, at 9pm, life resumes to normalcy and i could check out the blogs again. hence the comments here and there and slept tight with alyssa's condtition getting better finally

there you go. it is a long list indeed. if you're still reading this, you either have nothing better to do or are almost bored to death. it is amazing that so many things could happen within the two days i was not around. makes me think twice before going again.