Internet, back on track

having neglected tis place for a while, i'm back. yay home internet connection is back! and i've learnt a lesson too. i went home on Sat, n e comp started to throw its usual tantrums. hence, i opened it up (for e sake of it) n attempted to seemingly tighten e RAM module into e 2 unfitting slots (yea, i brought my comp down to e repair shop last time, n he say tis is a common prob among all e Packard Bell series of comp tt i'm using.. sigh.. remem i said b4? dun buy Packard Bell k..). so yeah, e comp works again for a while till next time. n tis time, sth new crops up - modem can't connect to internet. i'm using singnet broadband la. so i made e phone call to singnet, hoping they can advise on sth which i wouldn't tink of doing...

1. reinstal software
2. interchange e connecting heads of e LAN cable b/w modem n comp
3. use another comp to test e modem
4. use another LAN cable to test if it's e LAN cable prob
5. test if it's phone line prob
6. throw e modem on e floor n try again
7. blame e govt

e lady was evil rite? how can she even tink of method no. 5??? huh? oh, i mean method no. 7. ok i admit i added tt myself. huh? okok.. i admit, i added no. 6 myself too. I'M JOKING CAN.

aniwae, tt was Sunday, as in when i made e phone call. so e kind lady offered to fix me an appt date to verify tt it's not e phone line tt's faulty. "The earliest is 9th May, sir." WAH. honestly, i was dead sure it's not e phone line prob, so i told her, make it 13th. at least Sat i'll b home; i even asked for e earliest time slot, 9-11am. and e kind lady gave me their modem vendor's hotline no., n well, "no i'm sorry sir, we don't have their operating hours." bless them. i shall call them to tell them, "Mon-Fri, 9-6. Don't disappoint ur other customers anymore."

so today morn, i went home, armed with my laptop n my hall's LAN cable, n i decided finally tt e prob lies with e modem. n i couldn't get thru on Aztech's hotline, so i called singnet again. the guy offered to email e vendor for me, n i tink he attached my prob too. thankew v much, sincerely. so at abt 4pm, one of e technical support ppl from Aztech called me, while i was dying with econs at BPP macs (bt panjang plaza). i told him all e stuff i've done with pride. n he gave me a reply which shocked me into e realm of awakeness - "Did u do a reset on e modem?"

WAH. for some1 who always faces terms of "soft reset" n "hard reset" at work, i'm a complete failure. no question abt it. sigh. Buddy!! how? i'm a failure. i really felt v v sad when he posed tt qn to me. if u dun understand, it's alrite. for an analogy, it's like u r a financial manager, n when e utility company sends u a letter to tell u u forgot to pay ur bills, u make a big hoo-ha n finally realise u really din pay ur bills. ok. i admit it's a poor analogy. period. i got my sis to do e reset n it worked. she's happy, i'm happy, case closed.

lesson learnt? dun b cocksure abt urself. somebody will show u tt one of ur feathers dropped. with all due respect, i intended to b lame.

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i went, on Sat with Shisi, to watch SDA rally at CCK. our conclusion is: connects with e crowd, but no constructive n in-ur-face suggestions. then juz now, we went again. tis time round, more issues were properly addressed. BUT, i feel they r too populist in nature. u noe, honestly, i tink e Education ministry is right in introducing Economics as a subject for sec sch students. if future politicians can only tink up populist policies, we r oh-so-dead. but i like Steve Chia. he's funny. LOL. his hokkien is half-bucket-water, but he's honest abt it. i like. =) he raised an interesting point tt i tot i'd like to share, reg e Main Upgrading Prog. Teck Whye vs Teck Ghee. u ppl noe where's where? Teck Whye is an area in CCK SMC, formerly under Mr. Low S C, now being contested by PAP Gan Kim Yong and SDA Steve Chia. Teck Ghee is a ward in Ang Mo Kio GRC, headed by PM Lee. some figures were shown, some comparison was made...

Teck Whye - additional one room - residents co-pay abt $8-10k.
Teck Ghee - additional one room + renovation of toilets - residents co-pay abt $4800.

honestly, y tis discrepancy? y does it cost more for contractors to work in CCK than in AMK? i'm puzzled. hopefully tis is raised in e state media, n rebutted (reasonably, w/o any personal attacks) by e parties involved. yes, e stress for reason n no personal attacks. i dun wanna read abt minority candidate papers anymore. y is 1 set of papers more impt than healthcare costs, such tt e state media keeps harping on it? wad gd does it give e readers? wad does it say abt e state of journalism in S'pore? i dun dare to tink further..

another point along e same line, tis one reg Pinnacle at Duxton, or sth lidat lah. Steve Chia has a penchant for numbers, apparently. haha he's a businessman for tt matter. aniwae, he has previously said tt NKF uses 11cents per dollar of donation on patients. KPMG report says 10c. He said, cheekily, "paiseh, cha ji jiam." It was funny. aniwae, tis 2nd point is reg profit making of HDB.

tender - $279m
no. of units - 1,848
ave cost per unit - $150,000
estimated land cost - $100,000 per unit
"cost price" - $250,000
selling price per unit - $380,000

u count e profit made by HDB, ok? can check out e NSP website for a brief Q&A b/w Steve Chia n Mah Bow Tan. click here

some other candidates tokked abt some other stuff too. i was telling shisi tt, we keep seeing negative news abt e opposition, n how e PAP keeps picking on e words n mistakes of e opposition to disrupt their credibility. i even saw a fren change his msn nick to "WP CMI. we have no choice after all". i feel quite sad. i explained some flaws in wad certain PAP ppl has said n made. juz to vent some pity n frustration haha. poor shisi. thanx for listening. =) and i was smiling deep into my heart when at e CCK rally, a speaker addressed one of e things i mentioned. fully expressed in terms of how i viewed. i was honestly amazed n happy. i hope tis means i'm growing up. no link? haha. yeah probably no link. i'm juz happy. =) i can't vote. but i like Steve Chia. i'm neutral k. no parties, no wadsoever. im juz saying i like Steve Chia. ur vote is impt dun anyhow vote; my vote is not impt cos my area is uncontested.

i wan to listen to Sylvia Lim tok. =/

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b4 last Fri nite, i had not eaten macs for duno how many months. since then til today, i've eaten macs thrice. -_- i'm so sick of fast food. i'm prob gonna fast from fast food. n my stomach is starting to revolt. i tink my poor eating habits during e exams is taking its toll. i told my fren, during e peak of our papers, tt i'm prob gonna fall sick aft e exams end. i look rite on course. of cos, it doesn't help tt my slping hrs haf been inverted n disturbed like nobody's business. i'm upset tt my body clock is upset. yet i can't slp early enuf at nite cos i hate rolling abt on e bed for 2-3hrs, n den i can't wake up early in e morn cos i'm too tired to drag myself out of bed. hai. oh yes. n she said, "dun complain to me when u fall sick." i wonder y i tend to remem such stuff. i tink i'm petty.

FINE. i AM petty. satisfied?

there's no 'R' there ok..

i dun wanna remem such stuff. i wanna remem e stock mkt crash in 1987 in e US. i wanna remem tt e present value of lifetime consumption is equals to e present value of lifetime income. i wanna remem tt Ricardian Equivalence says tt an incr. in a lump sum tax now will lead ppl to save all e tax subsidy in anticipation of a future tax hike, hence such a fiscal measure will b unable to stimulate consumption in an attempt to stimulate e economy.

i'm happy cos i typed tt last para w/o referring to notes. i'm unhappy bcoz tt's juz e tip of e iceberg. i'm barely afloat. but i still like econs. i realli do. bcoz of econs, i noe tt some politicians r offering nonsensical policy suggestions, like removing some taxes n blah blah. when i get past tis module, i intend to take Public Finance as i further my minor. i do hope i get my wish of a B+ (anythin higher is a bonus), n tt my timetable wun clash.

Mkting ppl having paper later at 930am. Gd luck ppl! Dylan, Janus, Jem, Renita, Weiyang, Yanxuan. And any other names i omitted. Gd luck for ur last papers! mine is a freaking Fri paper. Nerissa's Genes R Us module on Fri morn too. Gd luck to u.

Gd luck to me.