Friday was a pretty fun day for me, coz' I taught another Mad Science camp at Taman Pertanian Malaysia (Malaysian Agricultrue Park), and there were only had 7 kids. After having to deal with 50-odd 4 to 6 year olds at the IBM camp just a few days before, trust me, a camp with only 7 kids was like a walk in the park for me. The most tiring thing about it was just shifting the equipment here and there, and the rest of the day was pretty fun for me and the kids coz' they were all well-behaved. The only problem was that one of the kid's tooth decided to pop out that day while we were having an activity where they got to eat some jelly worms and his little tooth got stuck on one. And one of the other kids had a bad tummy ache and had to poop several times, once on the way back in my colleague's car too (she had to go detox her car seat after that. Poor her!). And during one of the games where the we all had to chase each other, my two other colleagues who were there helping me out were almost ready to collapse coz' they never exercise, and chasing the kids around for a few minutes was too much for them! But other than that, it was a fun day... everything went well and the kids enjoyed it. We went to visit this Four Seasons house at TPM too, which is a building that simulates the same season that it is during ther time in the US. So right now, it simulates winter time, and when we went in there, we got to play with snow and freeze our tooshies off for a few minutes. It was seriously superbly cold in there, and I didn't have any extra clothes, so I wore my Mad Science lab coat in there. The other people in there must thought I was really mad! The really good thing was that it didn't rain the whole day until right after we all packed up and left, coz' our camp venue was this open air sheltered place, and I was a bit worried about what whether or not it would rain. Fortunately, it didn't. Whew!
After that camp was done though, it was back to the grind coz' the next day (which was yesterday), I and another colleague had to do a birthday party event for some 7 year old Japanese kid who had about 30 kids at her party and we didn't have the time to prepare for it before the camp. So we had to stay at office until 8pm to prepare for it, and even then we still didn't finish preparing everything, so yesterday I had to prepare some more stuff before we left for the party. And then, on the way there, I realised that I forgot something important and had to go back to office to get it. And coz' of that, we were late. Then, as there were only two of us doing the party event (all my other 4 colleagues were on leave yesterday for various reasons, so there was no one else to help us) and there were 30 kids, we were there longer than we expected. Two people trying to make slime, super science ball and cotton candy for 30 kids is no fun, I tell you that. And we also had to do some party games, where the 1st game was a major disaster coz' we had to get the kids to blow up some balloons, but the balloons kept popping. And then later, when we doing the cotton candy, smoke started coming out of the machine, which got me worried coz' I didn't know if that meant the machine's wires were frying. But fortunately, it still worked, so I just kept going. I really pray and hope that the cotton candy machine still works!
And if all that wasn't bad enough, after getting back from the party, I had another problem to deal with... my car had a flat tyre! I think it was flat since the day before coz' as I was driving home, my car kept going left when I let go of the steering wheel. At the time, I thought it was because my steering wheel was out of alignment, but on Saturday morning, on the way to work, I suspected something really wrong, so I got out of my car to check and sure enough, my front left tyre was flat. And since I had to rush to work for the party, the only thing I could do was drive to the nearest petrol station, pump it up with air and get to work first. So after the party was over, I had to figure out what to do with my flat tyre. My other colleague also had to rush off to pick up her relatives from the airport, so I had no colleagues to help me. It was a Saturday afternoon, so there was practically no one else around. So there I was, alone in my not-so-well-lit office parking basement, half dead after the party, and wondering if I could actually change a tyre on my own coz' I'd never done it myself before. If ever there was time I wished I could crawl up in a hole somewhere and disappear, that would've been it. :Þ
So anyway, I thought it can't be that hard. I learned this in driving school. So I rummage through my car boot (which has quite a bit of junk, which I must clean out one of these days...) and haul out the spare tyre, jack and other tools which I have no idea what their names are. Then I sat on the spare tyre while I looked at my jack and read the instructions to make sure I didn't screw anything up. And then I had the tiring task of turning the jack to lift up my car. I used one of those tools which I have no idea what the name is (I'll just call it the Jack Turning Thingy) to turn the jack, but I didn't know how to use it properly. So everytime I turned it, the long end would hit the floor, so I had to pull in through and push the other end round again. So it took a while just to get my car jacked up.
Then, I tried to unscrew the bolts using that other tool which I have no idea what it's name is (I'll just call it the Bolt Unscrewing Thingy). I tried to turn the first bolt one way. It didn't budge. I tried to turn it the other way. Still didn't budge. Then I remembered that the way to unscrew the bolts was to step hard onto the Bolt Unscrewing Thingy til the bolt came loose. But I also realised that if I tried to take the bolts off while the tyre was off the ground, I would probably break the tyre off my car! So I had to use the Jack Turning Thingy again lower the jack down so the tyre would be on the ground!! Argh!
Anyway, once I was done expending what little energy I had left on lowering the tyre again with the Jack Turning Thingy, I tried to unscrew the bolts again by stepping on the Bolt Unscrewing Thingy. And I didn't even know which direction to unscrew them. I certainly didn't want to make them any tighter! So it took me a few tries til I finally got the direction right, and got all the bolts off. Even carrying the tyre out was a pain. Do you know how dang heavy this chunk of rubber is? Well, the rim probably adds a lot to the weight. Anyway, I did manage to change the tyres, screw the bolts back on, lower the jack and throw everything back into my boot.
Then I drove back to Subang and got my car checked at the mechanic my dad usually sends the car too. That was also my first time sending my car to the workshop on my own, but at least the boss there recognises me coz' I'd been there with my dad before. The problem was that he can't speak English, so I had to explain in my half-past-six Cantonese that my tyre needed to be checked and fixed, if necessary. Turns out that there was a gigantic-O hole in my tyre, so it was beyond fixing. So the boss suggested that they change my spare tyre over to the rim, and I buy a second-hand spare tyre coz' new ones cost quite a bit. The new spare tyre would only cost RM50, so I thought that was ok to me. He says he didn't charge me worksmanship fee, which I dunno whether is true or not, but I hope it is. The really good thing is that nothing was wrong with my tyre rim, which I think it a miracle considering I was driving at normal speed on a flat tyre the day before. Buying a new rim costs a bomb, so I REALLY thank God that it was ok! So while, the guys are helping to change the tyre for me, the boss told me that my tyres have another 5000 km left in them, after which I have to replace all of them (which means more money...bleh...). He also told me that the Kelisa tyres can run for between 65000 to 70000 km.
He also told me a lot of other stuff, but I couldn't really understand what he was saying in Cantonese, so I just stood there and nodded my head every now and then. *grin*
Anyway, now my tyre problem is solved, and today, I finally had a good rest coz' after church, I came home and had a nice long nap in the afternoon. Tomorrow I have to wake up early AGAIN coz' of more school holiday camps. Dunno how much longer I can take of this, but the good news is that I complained to my boss about working such long hours, and my boss said he'll give us a few days break from work at the end of this month, and we won't have to claim for leave for it. Woo hoo! Thank God I have a nice boss! Anyway, it's time for more shut eye. Cheerio!
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