Orasyl mouth gargle

The Temasek Foundation has been giving all households bottles of this Orasyl mouth gargle. Apparently, this mouth gargle can be used to clear sore throats. I saw that there is iodine in it so that means that it should not be swallowed. In days of old, people used to swab their throats with iodine to combat sore throats. I am grateful to the Temasek Foundation for giving us this. Everything and anything we can do to combat the threat of Covid-19, I am grateful for

Ralf Rangnick confirmed as interim manager of Manchester United

Manchester United announced the appointment of Ralf Rangnick as interim manager until the end of the season, subject to work visa requirements. Following this period, Ralf and the club have agreed that he will continue in a consultancy role for a further two years. From what I read, he is a highly respected coach and he could could revitalise things at Old Trafford. Let us see how this pans out

Took the Moderna booster jab yesterday and now, the previous symptoms have returned

I took the Moderna booster jab yesterday. I was told that it was half the dose of the previous two jabs I took. Remember in a previous post I said that I developed a fever and felt really groggy after the next day after that jab? Well, I can say that the same old symptoms have returned. I woke up this morning with my body aching all over. That is my body telling me that something is not good. And I was right. I had a fever this morning and I took two Panadol tablets to bring it down. In spite of all this, I know that this jab is necessary to help to deter Covid-19. I guess I will just have to put up with it the best way I know how – lots of rest and Panadol every 4 hours.

Numark M2 DJ mixer

My wife and I are moving to a new flat soon and we decided to have a music station with a vinyl turntable so as to listen to our collection of vinyl records. Now, none of my mixers have a phono preamp so I decided to get a small mixer that will not break the bank. I chose this Numark M2 DJ mixer and bought it for an excellent price. I have used the bigger brother of this mixer before, the Numark M6 and I was very pleased with the sound of the mixer. So when this Numark M2 was being sold for a very cheap price, I just snapped it up right there and then. These are the specs of this mixer below:

• Inputs: two phono/line switchable (RCA), two line (RCA), mic (1/4″)
• Outputs: Master (RCA), Record (RCA), Headphone (1/4″ stereo)
• Three-band EQ and gain on each channel
• EQ and gain on mic channel
• Replaceable crossfader with reverse and slope-controls
• Crossfader-style cueing

At the present moment, the music corner in my new house will have one turntable. I have not ruled out getting a second turntable…well at least not yet. So one channel of this mixer will be dedicated to this turntable. And the second channel? I am looking at a Bluetooth receiver to hook up to this so that we can play music from our phones. The only issue I see is the connection to the power amplifier I have. My power amplifier has balanced inputs. So that means I need to hook up a DI box to this mixer. The Alctron DI box that I bought some time back should be a good candidate for this.

Let’s see how this goes. I am looking forward to using this mixer actually.

Michael Carrick in charge of Manchester United

Michael Carrick has been put in charge of Manchester United on the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. It is a bit too early to tell if he will be a success or not but after winning the CL match against Villareal, there is hope. Carrick has a very big task to do. It is not easy to be the manager of Manchester United. Let us see how it pans out. I am sad to see Ole go but we need to keep going. Up and onwards Manchester United. GGMU!

Wheelchair-bound old man collecting aluminium cans for a living

While walking one day, I happened to come across this old man, on a wheelchair. What caught my eye was the big bag of aluminium cans that he was collecting for a living. This really made me sad to see but these folk are proud of what they do. They are proud that they are looking after themselves and thus pose no burden to society.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United part ways

The terrible news came to me on Sunday evening. I was too numb to make a post on it because I was sad. It is true that Manchester United have been playing terrible soccer of late. The whole blame fell on Solskjaer as he was the manager. That loss to Watford on Saturday evening was the straw that broke the camel’s back unfortunately. After the match, there was an emergency meeting called and Solskjaer was relieved of his duties.

I said earlier that there was terrible football played but the blame must not only fall on Solskjaer’s shoulders. The players need to share the blame for that. Many a time I see players not daring to chase after balls that they lose and give away. They just look lethargic playing on the field. And then here you have Solskjaer…a man who took over the reigns in 2018 because he was needed to take over Jose Mourinho who was sacked. Solskjaer gave his all for the club and from what I read online, he was a stand-out gentleman both on and off the field…taking time to get to know the non-playing staff like the tea lady and always having a nice word with a smile. This is the legend who helped us win the treble in 1999…the same person who after he was relieved of duty, choked back tears at his exit interview.

Thank you Ole. You did your best. I for one will never forget what you gave to this club. You stabilised it after Jose left. You will forever be a legend in my eyes.

Outsiders cannot eat in NTWU canteens

I had a shock yesterday when I went to the NTWU canteen at Yio Chu Kang bus interchange. I normally go there to eat my breakfast but when I ordered, I asked why the stall helper was putting my food in a takeaway styrofoam container. Now first of all, I hate those styrofoam containers and I never take away if I  have to use such containers. In any case, I was told that the canteen was for the use of bus drivers only. But I told him that I last ate here a couple of months back. He just shrugged and gave me my food…in that styrofoam container. So I had no choice but to eat outside the canteen. And guess what. After I finished my food, there was no place to dispose of the empty container after that as the SMRT has this paranoid mentality of people putting bombs in rubbish bins in its vicinity. So I had to hunt high and low for a trash bin to dispose of the container and finally found one at the bus stop some distance from the station.

So for those contemplating having your breakfast at the canteen, don’t even think about it. It is not worth the hassle. I do not think I will eat there again.

Small foldable bike with disc brakes

While waiting for my wife to pick up at a carpark after I had done some grocery shopping, I happened to glance in front of me and saw this foldable bike with disc brakes. The wheels looked about the same size as the ones on my Brompton folding bike. I started asking myself why did Brompton not put disc brakes on their bikes? After using brakes on my old 29ér that I have since sold away, I love them. They stop so much better and there is no fear of rim wear from normal brakes. In any case, this bike looks pretty interesting with the big shopping bag in front. I wonder if Brompton will start to offer models with disc brakes like these.

BYD Care facemasks

As you know, the whole world is still facing the threat of Covid-19. here in Singapore, it is compulsory to wear a facemask. There are many brands of facemasks out there in the market, including some that are not made properly. Just the other day, my mother gave me a box of facemasks to use. I found those masks to be very good but it was very tight and uncomfortable. Imagine my embarrassment when I was talking with someone and all of a sudden, the damn mask elastic bad gave way! I had to delve into my stash of spare masks that I had on-hand and all was fine. I surmised that the facemasks given to me by my mother were small ones. So what I did was to go to the closes Guardian pharmacy and purchased this box of BYD Care facemasks. They only cost about $10 for this box of 50 3-layer masks. I think that is what I am going to get from now on. Strongly recommended