Living Life Simple

How do we live a simple life? What is a simple life in this age and time? Do I have to forgo certain "luxuries" in life to be in the "simple" category?

I just cannot imagine living too simple a life without some of the "luxuries" of the modern world.

Can I live without my Mobile? 

I feel disconnected.... Nooooo

Can I live without the TV?

I feel isolated..... Nooooo

Can I live without the Broadband?

Same as No. One.... Noooooo

Can I live without airconditioning?

Maybe..... Nooooooooo

I am leaving Water and Electricity out on purpose.

Money is the root of all evil$.... but I cannot live without it. Your DONATION i$ mo$t welcomed! Read the small print! .............

 Remarks: If you cannot read the small print, you are lucky, and you do not have to part with your $$$$$$.

Have you been Productive?

Half a year is gone. How do you fare in the first half of 2013? If you are progressing in your career or business, good for you. If you are stagnating for the last 6 months, SIGH! and for those who fear the worst for what is to come in the second half of 2013, ARGHHHHHH.

I am in the third category. ARGHHHHHH!

Simple Car Maintenance for the Novice

I am sure most of you have owned or driven a car. Most family will have not just one or 2 cars but more. Main concerns are the maintenance costs over the lifetime of your pride and joy besides the fuel costs. Well, you cannot have the luxury of owning a car without costs. Costs can be from a miserly few Ringgit to thousands of Ringgit. Do you want to avoid those high costs? Of course you do, right?

Have you heard of this, "A Stitch in Time saves Nine"? I am not talking about sewing this time. It basically means, taking action now (low cost) so you do not have to face a bigger problem (high cost) later. This applies to car maintenance. Now, the question you may ask is, "What can I do?". Well, you can do your small part and in return, your wallet will not be lightened significantly in the future.

Car wear and tear happen over a period of time, sometimes a long period of time. You may not notice it as time passes as you may tend to get use of the feel or sound over a period as the deterioration is normally very very gradual and incremental in a way. If you have an ear for trouble, then you will notice even the slightest change in behavior or feel of the car. To minimise these from manifesting themselves earlier than usual or progressing into a serious enough stage, there are some things you can do.

The following are the basics, even for the ladies and mechanically inclined novices.

- The tyre pressures and tyre wear, and do not forget the spare wheel in the boot (you do not want to end up with a flat spare tyre)

- Looking at the Water Temperature gauge

- Looking at the Oil Pressure light

- Looking at the Brake Wear light

- Looking at the Engine system light (for Fuel Injection cars)

- car handling / behavior when driving 
- the Turn signal indicators

NOTE: I omitted the fuel gauge on purpose. You will know what will definitely happen if you ignore that... hahahaha

Getting a bit messier.... in the car engine compartment.....

- Engine oil level

- Coolant level

- Brake fluid level

- Auto Transmission fluid level

- Fan belts conditions

- Battery Electrolyte level for normal batteries. Some sealed batteries do have the caps hidden.

- Windscreen washer water level

If I have left out some of the basics out, do scream out. Afterall, we learn together.

Some of these basics are taught at the Driving Schools so you may be familiar. But then, do you do it so that it becomes a habit or you just leave it to the mechanics? Practice makes perfect as the saying goes.

If you do not pay enough attention to some of the above, you will notice that the car may handle in a erratic way as you start or drive the car. The worst case scenario is that the car will just stall, in the middle of the road or at the traffic lights or may wander into the drains or the adjacent opposite road. You take your pick.

I will go into more details in subsequent postings on what to do for the listed as well as what to do when things happen.

Keep your fingers crossed! Now where are my fingers?

HAZE 2013

Oh No! Time of the year to inhale these air borne particulates in our already overly polluted lungs.

The haze this year has hit an all time high, breaching the 300 PSI in Singapore recently. Since Singapore is just next door to Johor Bahru, I am pretty sure the level is similar in some areas.

Picture showing the haze in JB

This is of course not the right time to go jogging, hiking, cycling and exercising in the open. Do it at your own risks. I also pity those who will be exposed to this health hazard in their own homes, especially the young and elderly ones.

Electricity consumption is going to hit an all time high for most household, not just to avoid the high temperatures we are facing but also from the haze. How lucky you are if you are working in the air-conditioned offices, thus avoiding most of the hazard of inhaling these pollutants.

Now the big question that lingers on my mind, when this happens (and it happens like clockwork every year), what do our government do when it happens. Talk? Discussion with the neighbor? Inform the public on the PSI levels? What more can be done? 

How is that the government cannot solve this annual problems with our neighbour after all these years? Where is the ASEAN spirit? Low cost agriculture resulting in high medical costs for the rest in the neighboring region? Furthermore, some if not all of our own Malaysian or Singaporean companies may be the culprits. Is there any way the governments get involve and solve these problems once and for all. Our health is at risk here. Many of our industrial and service sectors are affected, e.g. tourism, agriculture, construction etc etc plus the health costs to the country and individuals, not just Ringgit and sens.

Do not just talk! NATO. Action speaks louder than words. Do something concrete! 

Now, do we have to face this in 2014?

Windows 8

Argggh!

Another Windows we have to get used to? Graduating from Windows 7 to Windows 8 is a pain in the neck. Spare us oldies the frustration! Why can't it be seamless switchover? They should have 2 distinct versions, one with familiar look and feel, similar to Windows 7 and one for those who always crave for something new and radical. Anyway, this group is already on the lookout for Windows 9. For those of us with ancient non-touchscreen computers, we prefer to go along at a slower pace. For crying out loud, not everyone has a touch screen tablet, PC or Notebook. There are still folks humming along with Windows 95 and they are pretty happy lot.

Recently, I heard that they are bringing back the Windows START button. See! I told you so! Microsoft, do not shove all these alien stuff down our throats. There is no need to radically change Windows to make it look and feel alien to us, humble folks, be it for personal or business use. Tweak a little here and there to bring us up to speed with newer and better features.

It will put a lot of people off Windows, the way it is going. If the users are happy with what they have, why need to change and force people to change.

Now I have to open my own WINDOWS to let in more fresh air....

General Election 2013

How was your voting experience? Are you a first timer? Share your experiences through the comments.

For me, I am not a first timer in voting but first timer voting in Johor.

I woke up pretty early for the warm-up before the new voting experience in Johor Bahru.

I went early to the school which was my polling station and started queuing around 7.40 am. The queue was not that long when I arrived at the polling station. It was good that the sun was starting to rise in the sky. I just could not imagine if you went to the polling station around mid morning when the sun was giving away its free Vitamin D and accompanying hot rays. When the gate opened at 8.00 am, the line started moving as we eased our way to the checking station. After confirming my voting station, I went to queue with the others. 

When my turn came, I walked in to get my ballot paper as well as to be finger inked. Interesting as this was the first time the indelible ink was used. I took the ballot carefully so as to stain the ballot paper, else it may be considered spoilt. I went to the voting booth and marked my ballot paper for my Hero.

Done. That was it. Nothing to it. It took me less than one hour to go through the whole process of voting. Going there early helped a lot.

Now, what about you? Your experience? Any interesting happened when you were at the polling station?