Really, this is the absolute final goodbye. And please rain!

More than three months after I officially retired, the Planning Cluster at the School of HBP finally gave me an official goodbye. It was more like "come eat, let's take some group photos, here's a momento" and "Oh, by-the-way, cut the cake".

It was nice to see old friends again. My little speech was to tell them to do whatever they like to do, but in the end they still have to know what the university wants them to do. But most of all, to enjoy what they do. They are mostly very young, and time seems to move slowly. I told them to watch out for the ending - it will be fast and furious.

Me and Hassim Mat were classmates in M.Sc. Planning in 1981 ...

... now both retired. At the farewell gathering yesterday at BumbleDee, USM

Fadzila (left) wasn't even born yet in 1981 while Zarifah was only 3 or 4 years old.

Rahmat decided to take early retirement (effective Feb 2018), so we shared a cake.

The Planning Cluster lecturers who turned up for the farewell. The last two photos courtesy of Nurwati via Yoke Mui.

The last cake. For sure.

Meanwhile in Teluk Air Tawar, we finally repaired the leaky roof today.

When I was a teenager, I used to climb up on the roof and walked on the tiles of our single storey house in Khalidi Muar. I would not venture up on this roof - too steep and too high. Leave it to the professionals.

The young man removes the ridge tiles and puts a new layer of waterproof sheet on the ridge. He said most of the older layer was broken and the house would have flooded if not the aluminium sheet under the roof channelling rainwater to the edge of the roof. The aluminium sheet is supposed to be an insulation.

It has been a festering problem for a few years. We feel the pain only when it rains heavily and for a sustained period (like an hour) and then water starts to collect on the upstairs ceiling and eventually dripping into the master bedroom. We have tried getting people to fix it but for one reason or another, it kept dragging and forget all about it during the dry spells.

We dread when it starts to rain in the middle of the night. The worst was in November last year when Penang had the worst floods ever. We had to use towels and pails to collect the dripping water. One worry is that it will eventually destroy our wooden bedroom furniture. And the soft board ceiling.

The young man (and his foreign assistant) had come to fix a leaking pipe in the ceiling and we asked for a quote to fix the roof. He didn't even bother to climb up to check - he was sure of the source of the problem.

Many of my neighbours also have suffered the same problem with their roofs. I asked my immediate neighbour about his experience with the intention of comparing prices. For some reason, he was reluctant to tell me how much he paid to fix the roof (several times) but volunteered to call the Bangladeshis who fixed his roof to come give me a quote.

Then the next day, I saw a group of men fixing another neighbour's roof and approached the towkay to come take a look and give us a quote. He analysed the problem, said we have to change the metal drain on roof and his men will inspect the waterproofing under the ridge of the roof and replace if broken. His quote was RM900 more than the first quote. To change all the waterproofing would cost another RM1,200.

The first guy said he will replace the waterproofing for the entire roof. He was sure that the metal drain is not the problem - he said it will not rust because it does not collect stagnant water adding that metal piece can last 60 years. So, I asked him to check it out anyway when he's on the roof. Yes, we decided to go with the first guy. He reported later that the metal piece is in good shape.

He said it would take one day to get the job done. He did it in about 2 hours this morning. His careless assistant let slip one of the tiles which came crashing down on our back roof. The guy replaced the broken tiles without fuss, after screwing up the worker for being careless. Good thing we weren't anywhere near when the tile hit the roof and splattered broken tiles all over.

Now, I pray for rain. Heavy and sustained rain. Then only will we know whether the problem is fixed. The young man guaranteed no more leaks. He gave a  one year guarantee.

In May 2017, I had climbed up above the ceiling (under the roof) to investigate. You can see the aluminium sheet and the pool of water; when the volume is big it back flows on to the ceiling of the bedroom.

I attempted a temporary fix using plasticine and silicone to prevent the water from flowing into the bedroom ceiling ... but I think the "wall" was too puny for the torrential rain. I should get marks for figuring out the problem, not solving the the problem.

Let it rain, let it rain!!!


Also, meanwhile, I finally got my second photobook printed.

I went for the very basic, refusing any paper upgrade. I am quite pleased with the quality. Feels good in my hands.

I prepaid for two identical copies (8" x 8", 40 pages, softcover) when it was on offer. RM45 for the two compared to normal price of RM198 but the fellas insisted I select priority shipping which cost another RM30 plus GST.

I chose my brother Pey Meng's shot from the Buda Castle in Budapest for the cover.

My brother is so thrilled they have bought train tickets to come to Butterworth this weekend to collect his masterpiece. And to discuss our next trip to Europe to see the tulips.

update 12 Jan 2018

The binding really is bad. The moment my sister-in-law held it in her hand, the pages came loose. Of course I have submitted a complaint to Photobook. Can't believe their quality control is so bad.

The pages just dropped out

update 1 Feb 2018
Of course they agreed to send me a free replacement. They even enquired to confirm whether one or both copies were defective. How considerate. They didn't do that for my first order.

Now they continue to entice me to order more. Even sent me an online survey with a promise for a 95% off coupon. Turned it's only for a tiny 6x6 inch photobook. Kinda anticlimax. I have no use for a 6x6.