The Heartlander
Congratulations! you have performed well in your driving test. However, we still urge you to improve on the mistakes listed below and we require you to observe all traffic rules and be a safe and courteous driver on the road. A qualified class 4 driving license will be issued to you at our Traffic Police Counter and we would like to extend a warm welcome to you to the motoring society.

ok...

do they actually think any delivery man gives a crap to all that?

anyway...

Turn steering wheel whilst vehicle is stationary: Reversing
Turn steering wheel whilst vehicle is stationary: 3-point turn
Turn steering wheel whilst vehicle is stationary: Parallel parking

2 points each. so 6 there. well, I did consciously wait for the lorry to move before turning the wheel. but if he says so... As you can see from this example, standards differ widely from tester to tester. I did not "commit" a single turn-wheel-while-stationary mistake in my last test but this time, I did it during all 3 circuits.

Fail to overtake when necessary 2pts
Change lane abruptly 6pts

hm... I was being too "courteous". There was a trailer parked by the side of the road. I had to overtake it. there was an oncoming truck and so I stopped behind the trailer and waited for the truck to pass by first before overtaking the trailer. ended up, every vehicle behind me overtook me and the oncoming truck had to give way to them.

I should have just sped up and overtook.

71% to 90% theory test. 2pts

yep, this time I stumped during theory test. I didn't know what's the width limit. now i know, 2.3m for permit, 2.6m for escort.

and that's all! 16 points! wooohoooooo...

I officially have bragging rights!

Seriously speaking, class 4 is not easy. Like I've said before, every single mistake counts. There's no chance given. and heck, even mistakes during the theory test adds to your total tally of points for the practical test. It's not like class 2 and 3 where the theory test is a separate thing and doesn't affect your practical test at all.

I'll enrol for class 2A when I have time. Had enough travelling to jurong and back. time to play around angmokio and wait for everything to move to woodlands. pcdc (the driving centre doing class 4/5) is merging with ssdc at the new centre in woodlands. so I'll probably sign up for class 5 when it's at woodlands. jurong is just too tiring. I spend almost thrice the practical time travelling. enough.

so I have 3 lines on my driving license now. left class 2A, class 2 and class 5. halfway there, gogogo!

perfect living on 2009-07-07, 2:03 a.m.


yesssss, Class 4 is me!

next target: PPCDL.

or as usual, I might stray off and do something else haha like Class 2A. i think i might just do that!

next target: Class 2A

i'll put up the rant soon. but I need to watch HnG and go for some training workshop at 2pm. later.

perfect living on 2009-07-06, 12:20 p.m.


my desktop harddrive died yesterday. there were 3 harddisks and the system one died. not much were lost, but still, a part of me became only a memory.

I'm so attached to my computer(s). they are a model of my thinking and my organisation. currently, i'm using my laptop cos my brother's playing street fighter 4 on the just-recovered desktop. installed os on another harddisk and started anew.

i can't imagine what would happen to me if another harddisk failed instead of the one that did. i would have lost my entire collection of projects and presentation and any work that i've done since secondary school. yes, I still keep them. it's part of my memory.

so deep down, it's apparent i'm a very sentimental person.

still struggling along with insurance. almost closed 3 cases today only to find that other than the proposer, any life insured has to be present to sign the proposal as well. sianz.

oh well, maybe I should turn this blog into a life planning education site. like advertisement for myself.

perfect living on 2009-07-02, 12:18 a.m.


so I've narrowed down on the problem for my "laggy" tf2 experience these few weeks. most likely it's singnet.

I've done a bit of troubleshooting. Verified game caches, still lag. Reinstalled tf2, still lag. I wanted to swap back the old router but I think i've found the issue before I did that. there's a thread on steampowered and everyone there is a singnet user. it's too much to be pure coincidence that somehow we all had faulty routers or NICs.

sent an email to them. let's see what I'll get.

perfect living on 2009-06-21, 9:19 p.m.


reward for diligent readers of this dying blog. laugh, now.

perfect living on 2009-06-19, 11:12 p.m.


computers are getting cheaper and cheaper.

10 years ago, laptops were never priced below 2000. now people are complaining 600 is too expensive.

after being shown austrian econs wisdom, many more things start to make sense. what it means when real wages are actually increased due to higher productivity and new inventions. and that dropping prices doesn't mean deflation and similarly, inflation may not necessarily mean increasing prices.

and individual action will regulate the market better than any single government body can. i spent the entire of today researching on processors and have finally made my decision when kaichen introduced me to this.

http://www.bootstrike.com/itfairsg/pcshow2009/hp+pavilion+dvr-1413tx+entertainment+notebook+pc-flyer-brochure-leaflet/

immediately i saw a good offer. this self-driven desire to save cost and increase profit eliminates the economy of inefficiency and wastefulness. no external body can replace this "invisible" market force. simply brilliant. it's so simple yet i've been blind for so long. I had used to think price controls were good, slight inflation is good, and that government bailouts really improve the economy. I have never been more wrong in my entire life.

going to make my way down on sunday and book myself a set.

perfect living on 2009-06-13, 1:22 a.m.


Apple vs Windows vs Penguin

went to the PC show today. Penguin was totally no where to be found. none of the PCs were loaded with linux anymore as "there was no demand".

I don't want another windows machine right now cos windows 7 will be appearing sometime end of this year. moreover, I have a few windows product keys lying around.

so my hunt for a OS-less pc ended in vain.

reached home and people noticed my msn personal message. I'm quite shocked that quite a few people wanted to buy a macbook.

please be informed that I'm in no way affiliated with microsoft or in any way received any remuneration.

when I've asked if they've used a mac before, ALL and I mean every single one, said no. and yet, they've showed utmost enthusiasm and total submission to the marketing of apple.

I will admit I've never used an apple before. hence, I won't say anything about it's stability or funtions. but I'm surprised that people say that some people are just lazy to "make the switch", like getting a macbook is the proper thing to do.

where has the rationality and healthy cynicism disappeared to in front of dear steve jobs? (or is he still sick?) as you may have read from my tone, I'm not a big fan of apple. There are reasons why apple has not clinched market share as big as windows. here are some personal opinions, may be right, may be wrong.

1. apple sucks.
2. windows rocks.
3. ????
4. PROFIT!!!

ok here's the real list.

1. compatibility of software and hardware: Windows >>> Mac

everything out there is for windows. you want anything Mac, prepare to pay a premium. try asking for a stick of macbook RAM. heck, try OPENING your macbook.

2. image

windows gives me a more "engineer", "science" image. mac gives me a "designer" image. this is a personal preference, but I don't like artsy-fartsy stuff. just give me something that works, and CHEAP. windows is your friendly farmer doing an honest living, while apple is your rockstar with the crowd jumping to the beat.

apple marketing has totally hypnotized their fanbase. you get people who have NOT used a mac before complaining that windows sucks and SUPPORT mac! what gives? they've been using windows their entire lives! I mean, if windows sucks that much, where's linux? I want to learn linux so much so that one day, I can turn my back on windows and hug the penguin. but these people are hugging the apple before they even touch one.

but i failed. linux is still too technical.

3. support

windows support is much much much much much better than mac. I'm not talking about official support from their respective companies but more from the community. simply because the windows community is soo much bigger! I'm training to become a windows support staff so maybe it's not so far for me to say so but I would say there is at least some truth to that statement.

people might say this is because windows screw up more often than mac hence there is a more dire need for windows support. I would say this is due to market share. when your market share is so huge, you have even the computer illiterates occasionally clicking the wrong ads, opening that email attachment and basically screwing up the registry. and malware writers will target windows more than anything else. why infect 20 when you can infect 20 million?

4. cost

you have to admit that macs are more expensive than PCs, no matter how you look at it. PCs are still way cheaper. and due to the proliferation of windows support, technical support for windows is much cheaper as well. for many businesses, this is an important consideration. bosses just can't be bothered by staff looking cooler just because thay have a mac. if thay can scavenge a mobo and same ram and windows 2000, work starts.

5. flexibility

you can always buy another empty PC, and load it up with your old XP or Vista and microsoft has no issue. I've yet to know anyone who bought OEM OSX over the counter. is there even such a thing?

i'm not sure how Mac does this, but windows registry is actually a very very very interesting part of the OS. it allows you to change and modify every single aspect of the OS. can you do this in Mac? I'll have to research. people might say this leads to instability and exloits by malware authors, you might as well say internet browsers expose your computer to the dangers of the internet.

ok, so that's that.

perfect living on 2009-06-11, 10:48 p.m.


and so I failed.

28 points.

and so begins my rant.

I felt I drove relatively well. Honestly, I'm not sure whether it's right to be feeling this way, but I actually thought I would pass. People who know me knows that I'm not someone who would normally say this, but this time, I failed because of the tester.

I'm unlucky.

Here's a list of mistakes. and please take note that for Class 4, there is no such thing as "free count". That means, you are not given choice for forgetting to signal, forgetting to check blind spot or wide turning. Every mistake counts.

Vehicle not parallel to road side : Reversing
OK, maybe I lack experience. I can't judge properly whether the lorry is straight. ok 2 points accepted.

Fail to signal / give wrong signal : Third Chin Bee Road
This is one of his "slow reaction" orders. He will wait until you are super close to the test area and *wham* stop here, do 3 point turn. Knn... if you tell me your intention so late, how am I supposed to signal my intention early? These 4 points not my fault.

Fail to signal / give wrong signal : Junction of PCDC and Fourth Chin Bee Road
I suppose this referred to the left turn out of the circuit area, where I do my reversing. Tester's fault again. I had thought he wanted me to go straight cos he remained silent as I turn out of the bend. That area is a possible stretch for reversing. I was about to even shift a gear up and then he tell me stop and do reversing. Knn, I'm so far from the actual spot already. So I stopped quickly and did my reversing, maybe I forgot to signal here. But he could have told me right even before I turn out from the bend!!! another 4 points.

Vehicle not parallel to parking lot / not close to kerb : Parallel parking.
I like how they misspell simple words like parrallel. I corrected it above. Anyway, 2 points accepted cos like the case for reversing, maybe I can't really judge properly yet.

Fail to stop close to the edge of road
This is for reversing. 2 Points, fair enough. I'm super hum when it comes to kerbs.

Fail to use engine brake at the bend
OK, I'm not happy with this one. I'm supposed to make a right turn back into the circuit. I'm on 3rd gear, and an oncoming car appeared. so I braked, and the lorry started shaking. I've already started turning into the bend but haven't cross the road yet. As the lorry shook, I clutched in and shifted to 2nd gear. I think this is where he penalised me. Given a chance, I would ask him, "Would you rather me stall this lorry in the middle of a right turn, or would you rather me shift down gear and continue with even STRONGER engine brake?" bah, unreasonable 4 points.

Fail to keep left (road hogging)
I'm very confused about this. Sometimes, I can take that particular bend in the right lane, because there is a bus/lorry parked before the bend and it serves to purpose to switch back to the left after the overtake. So I thought today's case was similar. There was a bus parked before the bend, but quite a distance, maybe 50 meteres. I'll take these 6 POINTS anyway...

Fail to check traffic : 3-point turn
Huh? When? I was wayanging and spinning my head all over the cabin and he say I never check traffic? Yes, a car came out from one of the factories along that stretch of road and had to stop to let me do my 3-point turn. But I'm already horizontally across the road! In other words, the car only appeared out from one of the factory compounds AFTER I started turning. I don't like these 4 points.

That's all. so 12 points versus 16 unhappy points. He just wanted to fail me right from the start. I learnt from the other test candidates that if they really want to fail you, they'll ask you about the Tunnel road sign later in the theory oral test. There was a Class 5 candidate so he shared us his experience while we were waiting.

And that was what I kenna. But I totally whooped his ass.

T "What is this sign"
Me "Tunnel ahead"
T "What vehicles cannot enter"
Me "Cement mixer, trailers, vehicles carrying explosive, flammable, radioactive, chemical substances, bicycles, mobile crane..."

Tester must be thinking, "I can't let him get away so easily."

T "What is this sign"
Me "Vehicle breakdown sign"
T just stayed silent and looked at me.
Me "Placed 20 metres behind on normal roads and 60 metres on expressways."

Tester at his wits' end now. Trying to find something to scold me for.

T "what is this sign"
Me "Height limit of 4.5m"
T "What is the height limit for Class 4"
Me "4.5m"
T "What should you do if your vehicle exceed"
Me "Apply for permit."
T "Who escort?"
Me "Cisco"
T looks disappointed.
T "You highway code is good. But still you need to try again."

sian...

and he proceeds to hand me my test results and a canned speech "Work hard, try again blablabla..." Honestly, I didn't hear anything he said after he gave me my results. I just want to kill him.

Me "Yes sir. Thank you sir."

Searched for "chua kim ching" on google. I found something interesting.

[quote]
MR CHUA KIM CHING, you are a fucker, a scrap metal buncit smemek max2toad AND a punk. Although you are illiterate, unable to count, have the reaction time of a three-toed sloth AND a Amazonian Mountain Slug on vacation, you had the honor of crossing my path and THEN you fucked it up by being the conman that you are. You better pray you don't meet me again or I will personally engine brake your motherfucking face. Road Hogging your head ah. You think I'm a fucking care bear driving that damned cloud car issit? Yes, I'm young and I Smell Like Teen Spirit, but please don't think We Have All The Time In The World. So Mr Chua Kim Cockfull of shit or watever your punk name is, You Make Me Sick and the next time I'm coming back, I'll be sure to Puff MY Magic Dragon and do a Freestyler on your old geezer ass, you blardy hermaphrodite.

I hope you sleep peacefully tonight, punk.
[/quote]

lol

I discover a bit of myself everytime I fail something. I've failed in interviews (every single one so far), presentations and practical tests. Anything that requires wayang and spontaneous reaction, I fail. I fare better in things that requires hard work behind the scenes and mugging.

perfect living on 2009-06-08, 12:39 p.m.


"You just get a little pregnant, doesn't work."

anyway, had my 2nd class 4 lesson today. fun fun. left one more lesson before the big day.

I seriously have no confidence. But I shall face it with the same attitude I did for class 2b. just try and try and try until pass. there's nothing to lose other than money.

ok wait... maybe I don't really want to lose money.

I've figured out how to download subs and resync them with the video yay. currently rewatching first 6 episodes of school rumble cos finally I've got it to work. jap subs ftw!

perfect living on 2009-06-03, 10:49 p.m.


Holy crap. Peter Schiff + Marc Faber!

Double whammy!

I'm still waiting for one with the two of them PLUS Jim Rogers.

perfect living on 2009-06-02, 8:28 p.m.


ok... i've removed the music. there's something wrong with the volume. i get startled when i visit my own page.

one hectic day today and my programme hasn't ended yet. forced myself to wake up at 8am to mug HI. then chionged down to jurong at 1.30pm... reached there at 3pm and...

drive lorry!

learn everything liao. now just need to practise. in the 2 sessions I've booked today, i've done everything that I need to do in the test. judging height, tying knots (which I kind of forgotten already), reversing, parallel parking, 3 point turn, and just driving around the place.

when I'm driving straight, it feels just like any ordinary sedan car. but when it comes to turning and parking, I have to be conscious of my length. knocked down one pole today when I came out from parallel park cos I straighten my lorry too fast. the rear end hit one of the poles.

was very nervous initially cos I haven't touched a gearbox for almost 3 years. but after a while it all comes back. and I'm big. I weigh 3 tons, give way to me you puny vans.

seriously, my top speed today was 40km/h. i think it's ok cos the instructor didn't say anything. it's safer too cos I need a long distance to brake (even at 40km/h!!). and the engine pretty powerful. you start off at gear 2 and you can pretty much crawl around at gear 3 without hitting any gas. so far the engine didn't stall on me. but I did jerk the lorry pretty badly once when moving off from one of the traffic lights.

engine braking is good. i love it.

3 point turn is still the hardest. I'm too used to the rear sensors in my father's car. I feel blind without them. I have no idea how I'm supposed to judge whether I've reversed enough for 3 point turn. no matter how I look at it, I'm almost hitting the kerb. end up I reverse too little.

no issue with the front cos you have another mirror that shows you your bumper and whatever's in front.

so, wish me luck for class 4 traffic police test next week. don't be surprised when I catch you for not tapping your ezlink cards one day.

perfect living on 2009-06-01, 10:30 p.m.


Health insurance exam looms but I have yet to start.

went for class 4 theory yesterday. i hope I can recall them during the test. seems like the theory test is carried out verbally by the tester during/before/after the practical test.

thinking of which I get nervous already.

I am someone who does not take failure easy.

HI is on tuesday. Fallout 3 crashed on me, so I suppose it's a sign to stop playing and start working.

and geekstogo has been ignoring me recently.

I want to chiong my stuff but alas, the situation is not my call.

perfect living on 2009-05-30, 9:54 p.m.


yay, took circle line back from angmokio today.

I really hope that the circle line can go fully operational as soon as possible. going to nus will be so much more convenient.

anyway... another austrian tip for the day. of course, they're all ripped from mises.org. so head over there and have fun.

What is the reason for the interest rate, and should the rate be regulated?

Interest payments reflect the higher value of present goods over future goods. Other things equal, everyone wants to consume sooner rather than later. The current price of a computer might be $1,000, but the price of a claim to a computer delivered in one year would currently sell for less than that, say $900. An entrepreneur might invest $900 in labor and raw materials in order to sell a product next year for $1,000; his implicit interest return is due to the fact that the factors of production represent technological "claims" on future consumption goods, and thus their current price (the $900) is less than their ultimate sale price ($1,000). Obviously the government need not interfere with the market interest rate, since it merely reflects the subjective premium individuals place on a marginal present good over a marginal future good.

Does this make so much more sense? I had the same feeling when I read more in depth about natural selection and evolution. It makes so much more logic and how things can happen naturally without any regulation. Interest rate hence is an equilibrium. I can't explain this equilibrium well yet, it's something about people wanting to delay consumption and enjoy later and investors paying these savers the premium for lending them the money as capital for future returns or something. The boom, bust business cycle is due to the difference between the ideal rate that would be reached by this equilibrium and the rate that is superficially forced by central banking. In the current situation of 0%, you have the consumers and investors fighting over the same pool of resources whereas the ideal state (i think) should be one in which the consumers delay consumption of resources and release that much resources for the investors, and the consumers are paid interest for doing that.

Cool ain't it? I probably went un-austrian somewhere but at least this is the conclusion I've arrived.

I'm reading also Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson. it has become another book that I'll study like a bible. I've only read the first few chapters and one of the first few talks about the Broken Window fallacy.

For your benefit, I'll summarise it here. I believe in sharing sound knowledge as it makes a person that much more logical and rational.

You have a baker and his bakery along some street. some guy came along and smashed his glass window with a giant rock. The baker rushed outside but the criminal is long gone.

Some economist would say that hey, now the window glazier has business to do. this actually increases employment! Let's say the baker spent $250 for his window replacement. The window glazier has $250 more to spend! and whoever or whatever he spends on has that much more money to spend on others! So ultimately, isn't the guy who smashed the glass the greatest benefactor?

Obviously the good author states otherwise. What the baker had to do was to divert resources from otherwise more productive activities to replace his window. Maybe he was going to buy a coat. And now the tailor has lost one potential customer. If you zoom out, the entire economy is one less coat richer (or one coat poorer), assuming that that is the intention for the $250 that the baker had saved.

I don't know about you but I find this so much more logical than what we've been taught... "economics" like the ripple effect etc. I felt like suddenly I'm using a dormant part of my brain. suddenly there's electric going through there now.

real world application? Think about how many potential jobs that the US is destroying with its 850billionUSD bailouts to prop up dying corporations. and also the movement to weatherise homes. doesn't all these sound so similar?

the best part if where is that money coming from? inflation. If they can't take it from the citizens legally by taxation, they'll do it secretly by inflation.

maybe inflation will be the next I talk about.

perfect living on 2009-05-28, 9:05 p.m.



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