A Life So Late

Have you ever wonder, in your age now how much have you accomplished? When you look back and contemplate, write down your milestones and compare. Even better, do a chart and form a two dimensional path of your life so far. Is it mostly ups or downs? Is it on the way up or down lately? And then look to the future, what goals you wish to achieve, compare to the time you have left. Is your life looks "normal" to you, or by the established standard of living? In the end, is it goes the way you want? Why do I even ask these questions?

Information Leaks!

Well, what would you do if you accidentally send confidential e-mail to everyone. Not as fatal as in the movie American Pie, where the the lead role send a link to his webcam, showing some embarrasing encounter. Maybe the document content is not that confidential, but still the mistake of sending an e-mail should be avoidable. And now you have to live with the embarrasment, the damage is done. No excuse, I'm not Assange nor Snowden, after all.

Going Home (?)

Exactly, there's no place like home. Every year, at least once a year we usually do the ritual of "going home", at eid day. Just now, my wife asked me a question, "Where is home?" Is it the one we go everyday after work, our parents' home, or the place where we were born? Because for me, they are all refer to different places. Now that both my parents have passed away, the ritual becomes more and more irrelevant. For two years in a row, my sister and her family skips the ritual altogether. My younger brother also, but that's because he's gone abroad. This year, when the extended holidays are shorter than ever, the eid rituals are gone before I realized. Of course, we know another saying: "Home is where the heart is". So, you can call any place your home, actually. Finally, for us geek, home can be found anywhere in the computer's keyboard, usally under number 7.

Come Undone

At least I have known that nothing lasts forever. What was said yesterday can be changed today, instantly, just as the night turns into day. I always wonder if things really can only get worse, but it does. Just when you think your life was gonna turn into something, they became undone, just in the blink of an eye. I hate to admit that my bad feeling is always right, or maybe just my sanity speaking. And I always stuck in a middle, because I am not by myself now, and must be responsible for someone else. How can I make such important decisions in my life and see the plans go wrong? But again, just my sanity speaking, in an insane world.

Love Me for No Reason

When The Osmonds (or the more familiar version from Boyzone) sings: "Love me for a reason, let the reason be love", didn't they simply mention to love someone (me) for no reason? The science of love has been so sophisticated, we can analyze anything about love. The chemistry, behaviour, rules, as far as finding the perfect mate. But, of course love has got nothing to do with marriage. Some of us get married because of convenience, rationally compared to the emotional side of love. And again, some says we must differentiate love from lust, or loving from being in love. Well, does everything have to be that complicated? So, today enjoy your love for anyone, love them for no reason, let the reason be love, after all.

One Day Service: Driver's License Renewal

Nothing new I guess. But this was my first ever driver's license renewal since I got one back in 1992. Back when my first driver license expired, I already move to another town and didn't care enough to transfer (mutation) the license, so I made a new one. When the second driver's license expired, I got carried away by the loss of my PC and didn't renew it for six years! So, five years ago I made a new driver's license (again), for the third time. This time, no reason for me not to renew it, as the procedure  is simpler and the service point is broader with the mobile unit. But the most important part is, the renewal service is open on Saturday! Not like the public service like citizen ID or passport which  is only available during workdays.
Last Saturday, I went to the theater...err the mobile unit for driver's license renewal. The service is open at 08.00 - 12.00. When I got there at 09.00, the queue is fairly long. First, we handed the current driver's license and showed our citizen ID and fill up the form, which takes about 5 minutes and  IDR 2,000 and deliver it to the officer in the car. After that, of course, we must wait in line. The queue number I got was 31. It took about an hour until my name was called, and the next process is pretty straightforward. We took a picture and in a snap, the new driver's license is ready, only take a minute and IDR 115,000. Pretty impressive, I must say, given the condition that your current driver's license is not expired yet and your citizen ID is match the region (you cannot renew your driver's license outside the region/nationally).

One Day Service: Passport Renewal

My passport, which I obtained five years ago, is soon to be expired. Well, actually my company reminds me to renew it. My first reaction was panic mode!, first because the expiration date is very close and second, I got my passport in my hometown, Semarang. I was concerned about having to go back to Semarang just to renew it, when the procedure is three to four days. Using some "help" costs a fortune, double the normal rate is minimum. Also, I don't have all the documents needed here, i.e. my birth certificate. Luckily, my family card is brought by my brother here, I just had to collect it. From my research, we can substitute birth certificate with diploma or marriage book/license. Also, we can renew (also register or replace) our passport anywhere. Plus, there is online passport application. All we need is black and white/grayscale of all our documents to upload with our application (Citizen ID, Family Card, Birth Certificate/Diploma/Marriage License, Recommendation/Sponsor Letter, Old Passport).
Once I tried the online procedure and choose the day and the office to register/renew my passport, but when I got there, there is a bulletin about quotas for passport applications per day, and the quotas are always run out early, before the immigration office is officially open (applicants must queue to send the application), and online application is also limited, less than the regular ones. So  Then, I heard about "one day service", where we can renew our passport in one day, launched in February 2013. Right now, only two offices can serve one day passport renewal service, the western and the central of Jakarta. So, I tried to use the service, then I found out that the queueing process is more extreme. You must come much earlier than the time when the office gate is officially open, which is at 6.00 am, or even when the quota numbers are shared, which is at 07.30 am. By the third time I come to make the queue, which is at 04.30 am, one day after my passport expired, I finally got the queue number (150 from 200). Surprisingly, after the torturing process just to get into the queue, next processes are very smooth, as long as you complete the documents required. First, you must validate your old passport, if your passport passed, you can proceed to validate the other documents. After all the documents checked and validated, you proceed to get your "real" queue number from the machine in the office. Then you proceed to pay the cost, which is now set at 255 thousand IDR, and wait for the interview (along with fingerprints, signature recording, and photograph taking). I finished the procedure at 11.30 am, and be told to collect the new passport the next morning (if you get the earlier queue number, you might collect the passport in the afternoon at the same day). Not bad for waking up so early.

Yesterday

Yesterday, all my trouble seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh I believe in yesterday

Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be
There's a shadow hanging over me
Oh yesterday came suddenly

Why she had to go
I don't know she wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday

Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh I believe in yesterday

(written by Paul McCartney)

Welcome to the Real World

Well. say goodbye to the innocence and restless of youth, and welcome to the real world. I must not regret about this farewell, instead of being grateful for the moments I left behind. One year since my life turns upside down, for real. I have tried to move on. I never thought it would be so hard. Gone are the days of flowing water, living for today, and never caring for myself. There are too many risks to take, too much bet at stake. Maybe it's not time to complain, but again when is it? Just do your best and be thankful, at leat you can do.

One Year of Job

It's been one year since I back to work. After my second dropping out of college, it took 20 days until I get a new job, unexpectedly. Just like my old jobs, I got this one completely on behalf of friendship. Well, a lot of things have happened since last year. I have lost and found something in my life. No regrets, I suppose. I made many new friends, got new experiences, but also lost an important part of my life, kinda like a lost-and-found session. C'est la vie, ma chérie.

Here Comes the Flood, There Goes the Flood

The flood strikes back! After 2007, this probably the biggest flood in Jakarta ever. Now it's more widespread and quite intimidating. Well, if the flooding area is the heart of Jakarta, a.k.a. the Indonesia Hotel square, wouldn't it mean something? Last time, it's only the usual suspects, the area that flooded year by year. Well, that if the dam is intact, we won't have this discussion. The rain is not as often as last years, but the impact is more devastating. Everytime there's flood coming, my thoughts always come to the year 1993. That year, a big flood swept my hometown, right in the place where I was born. For a week the town is isolated from the world, the electricity is out, the rivers were ready to spill, the streets turn to canals, and the rain kept falling. Thank God we could get through it.

'Deserve's Got Nothing to Do with It' or Does It?

Just a little quote from a movie forum:

Deserves got nothing to do with anything in this life. I used this phrase often.
The winner in any sport competition does not have to be the best team. Academy Award Best Picture winner does not have to be
the best picture of that year.
Some of the students that failed in exams were not the stupidest in their class.
The elected president does not have to be the best candidate.
The husband of the prettiest women does not have to be the coolest dude around.
Life is not always fair. Life is just like that. Nobody wants you when you loose, Nobody loves you when you're down and out. And there is no justice for the loosing side. 

 Some calls it "Law of Nature", some calls it "God's Justice", some calls it "Shit Happens". Just pick your poison.

Yet Another New Year

It's new year's eve, time to blog again, everybody? After the rush hour and moving deadlines by the end of the year, closed by consecutive road trip to Malang for my little brother's wedding, finally some peace and quiet days are coming. Well, last year is an unexpectedly hectic chain of events for me, especially. My mother's health got worse culminated to her death, my extremely fast track engagement and wedding and aftermath, and of course, workload along woth the pressure. Also, my health issue, my mother-in-law's health issue, and my brother's wedding to round it all.
And yes, I lost much last year, but also gain some. I've lost both my parents, and struggled to keep the family from segregating. I also have a new family, and still wonder how to manage it, with this kind of long distance relationship. Now, a new year and a new home to live in, I kinda wonder if this year will be more exciting than last year. Well, we can only wait and see...