Up to the neck

My line of work is kind of crazy. Crazy because we need to work with short lead time and demands by transport managers and the fluctuating market demands.
The weeks before I hurt my feet while playing badminton, things were kind of slow and overtime in the shop floor were cut down. But the last 2 weeks it was dog eat dog. Every transport managers were throwing orders at us and demanding to speed up the delivery of their truck bodies.
Our order book are so full to till the end of the year. My boss is striking while the iron is hot and promising quick deliveries. He is hoping to deliver the orders by end of October and the pressure is on. My table is flooded with paperwork and it is up to my neck.


I eat my lunch while I work, 2 rye biscuits and an orange for the past few days.
I am exhausted, physically and mentally. I need a break, a short holiday, to get away from all this.

For this I must apologize for not updating my blog. I promise I will be back as soon I get this monkey off my back. Please do come and check in now & then.

To my Malaysian readers, whether you are in M'sia or somewhere in this world "Happy Merdeka Day."

Monkey Business

Malaysia to export monkeys for research

Seriously they picked the wrong species of monkeys to export. These monkeys are self reliance, working hard to scratch a living like everybody else. True they are nuisance sometimes but do you blame them especially their home, their food source are being slowly taken away from them? What would you do if you are in their circumstances? You will try every means to survive, right! So was it the monkeys fault? I guess not!
Who will they export next? Will it be the people who complains bout the high cost of living, the never ending toll hikes, the high cost of fuel, the cronyism, the corruption and the inefficiency of the government? Oh what about the irritating, nuisance "ever lying" bloggers?
In the end it will be better for everyone if they just get rid and export the other corrupted, low and shallow mentality species for science experiments. Maybe we can learn something from it.

I am in the wrong trade

This morning I read this piece of news and my eyes nearly popped out, almost fell off the chair and spilled the hot cup of coffee on my lap. My uncles, aunties, parents, grandma and grandpa, school teachers, friends and kaypohs always remind us to study hard, to go to university, graduate and you will be rewarded with high paying jobs otherwise you will always be a labourer or "Chor Gu" (be like a buffalo) slogging under the hot sun to earn a miserly income.
But this morning news seems to tell a different story. I tell you I am in the wrong trade. Would you believe me if I tell you a plumber can earn A$450,000 per annum assuming he works for 300 days? Don't believe me, eh?

Plumbers Demanding $1500 a day

THEY have been lambasted for charging like wounded bulls.

But a snapshot of the availability of tradesmen explains why plumbers demand - and get - up to $1500 a day, making them the highest paid of the building industry's 400,000 tradespeople.

According to a joint Housing Industry Association and Austral Bricks report released yesterday, plumbers were the trade group in shortest supply in most capital cities and regional centres in the June quarter.

Despite a slowdown in the housing sector, the report found that all tradespeople remained in short supply, with nine of the 13 trades surveyed declining in availability during the quarter.

Plumbers, building workers involved in site preparation and roofers led the shortages, which were greatest in Western Australia and Queensland.

The Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association of Australia could not be contacted yesterday, but according to industry sources in most capital cities it is difficult to find a plumber willing to work for less than $1500 a day, with some demanding up to $2000.

HIA chief economist Harley Dale said trade shortages would put upwards pressure on building costs at a time when affordability was a challenge for the housing sector.

Reasons for shortages were many, but were partly because of an ageing workforce and apprenticeship training that reflected a different era of building, he said.

The findings highlighted challenges for the industry which, without an injection of more apprentices and skilled migrants, faced cost pressures.

The national president of the Builders Collective of Australia, Phil Dwyer, said the trades shortage had resulted in a 71 per cent increase in building costs over the past five years.

Now you believe me or not?