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End of week 2 (mostly about plumbing)

Weekend's here... woohoo!

This week's just been sublimal. I feel light. Who needs cannabis when they have prayer? (in case my folks are reading this, I've never touched the stuff, but I inhaled a lot of its sweet scent between '90 and '00 cos the guy down the corridor in my first dorm was a small time dealer.) Just waking up with a cup of coffee, my Bible, and a conversation with him every morning puts a smile in my heart that lasts through the day, like a blanket of love that covers and protects. I told him: all my dreams, my whole life, I give to you - do whatever you want with it. Only do not leave me, because you are the most important thing in my life.

So, the thesis seems to be going somewhere, the thing with the boy has been put in a mental drawer, I'm going out and having fun now and then etc. Basically I'm doing what I should have done 4 months ago, namely, live my own life. But hey, even a big man of faith like Abraham made a few mistakes a long the way, hey? I don't know whether you've ever felt this way, but I've always lived with the awful feeling that I'm a fake, not a lot of real substance behind whatever cardboard cutout people have put on me. I'm not a very nice person behind that smile, not a very good Christian, and certainly not very smart. Maybe it comes with 30 years of living to others' expectations. Quote mongchacha quoting Murakami: "Being empty is like an unlived-in house. An unlocked, unlived-in house. Anybody can come in, any time they want. That's what scares me the most." That's what not knowing who you are feels like - empty, like an unlived-in house - like Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride, going along with whatever type of eggs her then-boyfriend liked, but never discovering what she likes. That's how I feel about myself most times. So I told God: I want to be real.

This week. Well, lessee. Club was fantastic tonight. Prayer with Ash was a conscious act of thanksgiving tonight. Had a rocking conversation with Ank and Matt over a coupla cokes after club tonight. Last night, watched Brokeback Mountain (the story about enduring love... and ok, gay cowboys) with P, and we also discovered a great Korean hideout next to Centre Point. Mm... galbi (better than bulgogi), kimchi, chapche, ddeok-guk, bimimbab... Also had a smashing brainstorming lunch session with C, this new girl who's thinking about working on CSR too. Wed night, oh, work. Tues night, oh work. Mon night, oh work. But hey, at least we got the plumbing sorted.

Turns out shower was not working because someone had unplugged the water pump's plug that led to his room. Hence one week of trickly shower, all because... Oh well, bygones. Expensive lesson for whoever that was. Could have happened to anyone. Was very impressed with blackberry-carrying plumbers though, even though they have a tough job with these stupid clients, but are gracious even after four hours of turn off cold water, turn off hot water, change mixer, turn on cold water, turn on hot water, shower does not work, turn off cold water again, turn off hot water again, blow pipes, turn on cold water again, turn on hot water again, shower still does not work, mumble mumble, take off bathtub cover screw by screw, discover shower pump, oh! why didn't you tell me you had a pump?, test pump, shower does not work, rummage through mess in boy's room to find plug to pump, gah!, plug it in... OK, at this point, the shower still DOES NOT WORK. S**t, an airlock has formed in the pipe system. Right. Turn off cold water for the umpteenth time (I must do plumber justice by saying that this involves an intricate affair of opening up the hole in the road outside, inserting a long rod in and turning it with huge effort with a spanner), turn off hot water for the umpteenth time (this, it must again be mentioned, involves climbing up a shaky ladder into the loft, where the hot water tank is located), lug vacuum up two flights of stairs, find adapter point to plug it in, plug into pipe, and suck, then lug vacuum up said shaky ladder, plug into different pipe, and suck. Then turn on cold water for the grrr-th time (which involves abovesaid hole and rod and huffpuff, but in reverse), turn on hot water for the grrr-th time, put bathtub cover back screw by screw, s**t it refuses to fit, bang bang bang with hammer, s**t it still won't go in, bang bang bang, at last it goes in! Big mess on toilet floor.

Am feeling grrr even writing this. Hope the huge plumbing fee HURTLIKE HELL. No no, must not think like that.

Wedding tomorrow. Then having some colleagues over for roast lunch on Sunday. One more week to holiday in Dorset and Singapore!

21.1.06 01:43