More updates – visa, uprooting, farewells, etc.
August 21st, 2008 by boon
Visa Re-application and farewell
We have resubmitted our application to the British high commission. We scrutinized (scrutinised) our application until we had no practical reason to reject us, but they still might. Fingers crossed, we put it in anyway.
The last time, it took the high commission 3 days to give us a result. “That’s really fast”, we thought, only to realize we got rejected. So maybe if they took the full 5 days to process, we might stand a better chance at getting an approval. After all, they need more time to process an approval instead of a rejection.
The visa really is the last mile in this transition process. We’ve sold both cars (yes including the Alfa), sold the apartment, sold some big ticket items (furniture), quit our jobs, told our friends, had our farewell gatherings, blew our cakes… but we don’t have a visa yet. God forbid that it should stay that way.
Thanks to everyone who attended our small farewell gathering. Maybe we should set up a virtual farewell gathering on Facebook or something. Especially since KP has just signed up for it. That’s somewhat an achievement in its own right.
Dell and Vista
After I quit my job, I had to remain laptopless for a few days. I just received my Dell m1330 a few days ago, and I’m very happy with it. After 2.5 years using a Toshiba, I don’t think I’ll ever go back. Dell’s affordable, convenient, and sound products and services make it a natural choice. I had to skip the Macbook this time. Maybe later when money is not an issue.
I didn’t have a choice for non-Vista, but I think that after using it for awhile, I can live with it. I turned off the sidebar, downgraded my visual effects, and stuck to “classic” mode, which trumps performance over visuals. I kinda like that the “search” bar acts as a mini command-line tool. I can launch ‘cmd’ and other global .exes with it. I like how when I type “f-i” into the search bar, Filezilla comes up under “Programs” on the menu.
Yes, usability has improved on Vista. Some of their million dollar investments has paid off. I’m happy that they gave me an option to switch to classic mode for the Control Panel view. I’m still not quite sure I like how Vista wants me to switch views for the Windows Explorer, but I like that it’s more feature-rich now.
Alfa-less now
I managed to sell my Alfa 146 after weeks of waiting, phone calls, and publishing ads. The ad on Motor Trader caught the eye of a vetenarian who lives in Dungun, Terengganu. When he called me, I wasn’t quite sure he was a genuine buyer. He spoke in a very northern, colloquial dialect that was not easy to make out.
Turned out that he once owned a 97 Fiat Tempra, which is the 146′s close cousin. It did not survive a head-on collission with an ox (wild deer in the US, dumb ox in Malaysia), but the vet swears on Italian engineering after walking out without a scratch. He made the effort to drive all way to see the car, and made a 2nd trip to process the name transfer. I’m happy with the price, and he’s happy with the car.
The 146 had a lot of soul, and even despite its minor shortcomings, was worth every ringgit I spent on it. It has a look only a Alfisti would love, and I’m proud to have been a part of the club. In the UK, they are selling the Alfa MiTo, the Fiat 500 Abarth and the Fiat Punto Abarth – all tempting propositions, but I won’t be driving cars for at least a year.