Mobike overcharged me for a faulty bike

I had a terrible time with a Mobike share-bike yesterday while cycling. The bike I was riding could not be unlocked. The Mobike app on my phone showed that the bike was unlocked but in actual fact, it was not. When I tried to end the trip, the app got wonky and it froze my account, for quite some time too. I was really pissed at that and today, when I checked the app on my phone, it showed that I owe Mobike $11, for a trip I did not make. You can see the other trips I have taken, with my Mobile pass. The cost is $0. So why in the hell am I being charged for what I can see is a faulty bike? Mobike had better erase this or there is going to be hell to pay

Holy Saturday 2018

Today marks Holy Saturday, when Our Lord was laid to rest. Have a meaningful and holy one.

Good Friday 2018

Today is Good Friday and is a day of fasting and abstinence, in honour of Our Lord who died for us on the cross. To all celebrating it, have a blessed and meaningful Good Friday

Symetrix Jupiter 8

I have heard some good things about this sound processor and its ease of use. It has been out for quite some time but this is the first time I have heard of it. Do not get me wrong…I know of the company Symetrix. It has been around for a very long time. It is just that I have just heard of their Jupiter series of audio processors

The most popular one is the Jupiter 8. Apparenty, it has been touted as a turn-key audio processing solution, utilizing downloadable ‘apps’ optimized for specific venues and systems. Some of the app categories include mixing and routing, public address and distribution, sound reinforcement, and special purpose signal processing. This adds a whole lot more than the Xilica (my processor of choice) can do. And this is the best bit. These pre-designed apps greatly reduce setup and installation time, something that I am greatly in agreement with as install time is short for some projects. You can even program the apps and control it via an Apple iPad

The Jupiter 8 features 8 mic/line inputs with phantom power and 8 line outputs. The connections are all Euroblock / Phoenix connections to keep the processor small in size…and it is at 1U. There is so much to learn about this fabulous processor that I have vowed to find out more. You can too by checking out their website here.

Drying concrete screed with lamps

I am working on a project and I came across some newly-completed rooms in the building where the project is being completed. It seems that the floor needs to be dried fast and the way the main contractor is doing it is to use the heat from floodlamps and fans to dry the floor. Apparently they are going to put a wooden floor in this area and they have to really ensure that the floor is not damp. I do not know if this is the best way to dry the floor though but I may be wrong.

Teachers need to pay for parking in schools

There was an uproar fairly recently about teachers having to pay for parking their car in schools. My mother was a teacher for 40 years and thus, you can see that this is an issue that remains close to my heart. I remember the late nights she had to work, marking papers and planning lessons. I remember helping her to carry stacks of exercise books for her to mark. I remember how during the school holidays, she had to work like crazy, marking papers and the like. She had a car and in that car, she ferried so many exercise books, stationery and all the stuff that teachers require for their work. And then this thing happens…MOE wanting to charge teachers to park in schools.

I have one thing to ask the MOE…have you thought of the sacrifices teachers make to educate their students? Think of that…let it sink in.

Royal Tiger energy drink

I have been attached to a construction site for a project. Many of the workers there are Bangladeshi and some are Indians from India. Sometimes, during rest time, I see one rather enterprising Bangladeshi worker selling this Royal Tiger drink from his backpack. Apparently, this is the Bangladeshi equivalent of Red Bull. This fella sells it in the plastic bottle form for a dollar a bottle and I think he makes quite a tidy profit. In any case, many of the Bangladeshi workers are his customers and they all queue up to buy it from him. I have never tasted it before and frankly I have no desire to. These energy drinks are sickeningly sweet and if taken to often, they are not good for health because they contain taurine. So of you are reading this and consume this drink, or any of the other energy drinks out there, go easy on them.

New OFO bike

This OFO bike has been around for a little while now. Looks like OFO has followed Mobike as far as plastic wheels go. These look a lot like the old-school OGK wheels that used to come with BMX bikes back in the day. I have yet to try this bike but from what I have been told about people who have ridden it, it is pretty smooth and easy to ride. Looking forward to the day when I can get to ride this beast.

Why I dislike BMX now

I miss the days when BMX was hardcore. You know, back in the day when BMX stood for Bicycle Moto-Cross. Bikes were built out of chromoly and some were made out of aluminium. The forks were almost always made out of chromoly. race tracks had berms and sometimes, to jostle for third place, it was not unusual to see riders “trading elbows” to get that slight advantage. That was BMX

Fast forward to present day. Nowadays, BMX riders ride with clipless pedals. There are almost no berns on BMX tracks nowadays. Tracks are smooth. Bikes and forks are made out of lightweight aluminium and carbon fibre. I would not trust a carbon fibre BMX fork and will not touch one with a ten-foot barge pole. And there is reason for my choice. Look at the picture above. See that fork? Case closed

In short, BMX has become a circus. It is no longer the hard-core sport it once was, especially BMX racing. And what is with the radial lacing on the front rim?

Beef-ball noodles at Syed Alwi Road

There is this beef-ball noodle shop along Syed Alwi Road in Singapore that I patronise pretty often when I am in the neighbourhood. I snapped a picture when I was having lunch there some time back. Yes. It is that good. The beef-balls are cooked in a very tasty soup, the chilli tastes great and the noodles with the minced pork is out of this world. My mouth is watering as I type this. The shop is named Gar Lok Eating House. If you wanna eat theiir beef noodles, make sure you come there early because they run out of this yellow noodles pretty fast.