Entries from June 2008 ↓

Picture a kid’s playground with a bunch of kids playing in it. On the fringe of the 8 kids in the playground stands a small little boy, eager to be noticed and to be let in on the game. After a long while, someone notices his little face and decides to let him in to play with the big kids.

For weeks, they play together, a band of 9. All is well.
Suddenly, one day someone notices that this little boy is not a little boy at all, but a dwarf. Immediately, he is tossed out of the exalted group of 9 and banned from playing with the big boys for ever.

Worse still, they start calling him names.

Now, take this scenario to an inter-planetary level and you have the story of Pluto - The little planet that could.

First, there was the shock discovery that outside of the known solar system was a little cold dark planet called Pluto after the mythical god of the underworld. For years we hung onto the notion that the solar system has 9 planets of which the furthest and the darkest and coldest planet is called Pluto.

2 years ago, came the shock demotion of Pluto as a planet. This cold lump of rock is no longer to be classified as a Planet because it just isn’t big enough. For 2 years, we reeled at the shocking information. Do we un-teach what we taught our children? Do we un-learn what we learnt at school? How many planets does the solar system have now? Are there going to be any other shocking discoveries? Is Earth the only planet left in the solar system?

Why do I feel so strongly about this demotion? I’m a Scorpio and my ruling planet (or used to be) is Pluto. Astrologically, its still Pluto but for how much longer?

But that’s not the biggest insult (to me anyway). The biggest insult is that Pluto is now a Plutoid! PLUTOID?! Its been given its own class of planetary body which is, as the name suggests a Plutoid. Here’s the official speil:-

“Plutoids are celestial bodies in orbit around the sun at a distance greater than that of Neptune that have sufficient mass for their self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that they assume a hydrostatic equilibrium (near-spherical) shape, and that have not cleared the neighborhood around their orbit.”

In short: small round things beyond Neptune that orbit the sun and have lots of rocky neighbors.

The two known and named plutoids are Pluto and Eris, the IAU stated. The organization expects more plutoids will be found.

Its like, if the Earth was suddenly demoted from planet status, we’d be put in a special category called Earthoid - celestial bodies in orbit around the sun between Mars and Venus.

I like having a cold distant dark planet in the solar system. It adds mystery and romance. Bring Pluto back please. The solar system just isn’t the same without it. What am I going to do with the ping pong ball that used to depict Pluto in diagramatic representations of the solar system?

This is what a motorcycle did to my car side mirrors just this morning.  If this was a human body, it would be the equivalent of bending the elbows backwards till they crack. If this was a human body, it would be deemed to be torture the likes of which have not seen the light of day since WWII.

So, don’t tell me sob stories about people who ride motorbikes and why we, car drivers have to watch out for them; if they persist in acting like dare devils and refuse to watch out for themselves.

Don’t tell me that I, as a car driver, have to avoid motorcyclists who persist in getting right in my traffic lane.  Don’t tell me I should avoid knocking into motorcyclists who think that just because they ride on 2 wheels, they can squeeze into the smallest corners of the roads,  where no wheels should go; never mind that they knock your car side mirrors out of whack or that they scratch your car doors in the process.

No apology, no remorse. The motorcyclist actually glared at me, as if it was my fault that it was a traffic jam and that I had the audacity to take up space on the road. This was after he had bent my mirror out of shape. Lucky for him, the wonderful people at Toyota anticipated the horrid driving styles of Malaysian motorcyclists so the mirror bent right back with only a little scratch.

But still, it was a hell of a way to start the morning! I’m not feeling charitable towards any motorcyclists at the moment. So, don’t tell me I should be feeling sorry for any one of them right now.

I’m not.

I’ve been having lots of problems surfing around the internet lately including accessing my emails which are primarily through Gmail, and accessing my rss reader which is Google reader. When I log into my Gmail account, I keep getting that dreaded “loading” sign and in Firefox, a status bar that fills up halfway, then tells me its taking too long to load and I should switch to a html viewer.Granted, this takes care of the email element, but it also cuts me off from my gmail chat buddies.

I’ve also found that many sites out there are loading very slowly too. If they have lots of images it gets worse. I don’t think its Streamyx (although I’d love to blame anything on Streamyx!) so I’d like to know if anyone is having this problem too?

Are you having problems with the internet or is it just me?

Tell me I’m not living in a twilight zone please?

With this latest fuel price increase have you considered what lifestyle changes you have to make other than counting the pennies and tightening your belt?

I’m working on the belt tightening. But before I do, there was one budget busting item I had to get, and then I’m done with the spending money like water for a while. There are a couple of things I’m working on that need the money more than mere frivolities.

Behold!

Eeks! Yes, I know I was asking about a Lumix previously. I went and made many enquiries about the various Lumix models until I was so sure I was about to buy one.

Then I saw this one and suddenly all thoughts of a Lumix flew out of my head. I’m so fickle! I knew it was a Canon for me. Never mind that my first and only digicam thus far was a Canon that died on me. I knew after testing it that it was “the one”.

So, I’m all gadgeted out now. But at least I know I’ll now have better looking photos instead of having to rely solely on the phone camera!

Speaking of lifestyle changes, I’d like to steal a question off the evening news. With this present price incease in fuel to RM2.70 per litre of petrol, are you prepared to take the public transport instead of drive?

My answer is simple.

Even with the price incease, and even if it means pinching a penny till it squeaks, I will not take the public transportation because:-

1. Public transportation is non existent. The buses are never on time and bus stops are never properly designated. The buses stop anywhere that someone sticks their hand out. Trains (in KL city) are a nightmare. Not all lines service every part of the city and all the lines do not intersect at any point. If I were to take the trains, I’d have to change 3 times for what would be an 8km drive to work.  Taxis aren’t an option for me because (see reason 2)
2. Security. I’m paranoid about personal safety on the public transport and while going to the requisite stop. Some bus stops are isolated and walking to the bus or train stop may prove to be dangerous. While on the bus or train, you have to watch out for pickpockets or people with octopus arms. In a taxi its even worse - strange car + stranger = disaster.  I’m not saying all taxis are bad. I just can’t feel comfortable enough to ride in one alone.
3. Wasted Time. With the uncertain timetables of our public transport system I’d probably need 2 hours to get to work when I can drive there in 10 minutes. I guess at the end of the day, it is how much that time saved is worth vs the money  spent on petrol.

And so, public transport is just not an option for me. I know I’m polluting the environment with my single occupier vehicle, and that driving is eating into my monthly income. But I’d rather have the security, peace of mind, mobility, convenience and time saved by driving myself places.

Would you consider switching your car for the public transport to save money?

With this point to ponder, here’s wishing everyone a happy weekend!

Late yesterday evening, the announcement was made after much speculation, that petrol prices in Malaysia were being increased by a hefty 78 sen. That takes us up from RM1.92 to RM2.70 per litre. RM2.70! I remember when a plate of wantan mee was RM2.70.
That’s a very substantial increase and the biggest ever price hike in the country’s history. You know you are (a) old and (b) bitter when you can recall petrol prices of RM1.10 as a kid. This price increase comes hot on the heels of the denial and statement by the Minister of Domestic Trade just 2 days ago that fuel prices will only be increased in August 2008.

This is also a typical case of “Esok Tak Ada” which were the immortal words of the Prime Minister just a day before Parliament was dissolved to pave way for the General Elections.  If there was a compilation of the most oxymoronic phrases uttered by our leaders, this “Esok Tak Ada” would go down in history right on top at No. 1. (Note to all government agents reading this: Please look up the word oxymoron in the dictionary before arresting me for sedition yes? )

So, with only this amount of petrol left in my car fuel tank

I grudgingly hauled my butt over to the nearest petrol station to fill ‘er up at the never to be seen again price of RM1.92 per litre of petrol.

All in all, it took me an hour to get to the pump, fill up to full tank and drive back home. Was it worth it? I think so. At an increase of 41%  I saved RM23 last night as opposed to pumping my car today.

The man in the car before me was drastic enough to tilt up and lift up the hose of the pump to make sure that every single drop of petrol flowed from the pump into his car tank. Some people looked like they had been sitting in a jam for hours as the first thing they did when they reached the pump was to run for the toilets. Others stood around griping and sharing their misery with other like minded consumers. Interesting how it is in times of adversity such as this that the people will bond.

With the price of fuel going up, so too are the electricity tarrifs effective July 1. Expect your chicken rice to similar rise in price as well as every other consumer good out there. Inflation will soon hit an all time high, I predict, looking into my foggy crystal ball.

It looks like hard times ahead.