So I just discovered yesterday that my suede shoes are mouldy. MOULDY!
SHIIIIIIT!!
I didn't know that suede shoes can turn mouldy this quickly!
All I did was neglect them in the shelves since November or October. Can't remember exactly when and too lazy to search my blog. Now the back and the front are covered by this greenish-grey fluffy stuff that I normally see on bread.
Fortunately, google results assured me that this is a common occurence and it's easy to handle. All I need to do is wipe it with a vinegar-soaked rag and the acid will kill the fungus. After that, I'll have to do my normal maintenance to waterproof it and restore the nap.
These suede shoes are more trouble than I thought they'd be but they're just too comfortable to throw.
...
Cleaned them with a rag and some diluted white rice vinegar.
Tomorrow I'll see if it's fixed, and if it is, I'll do the usual waterproofing treatment and maybe I'll start wearing them again.
The mould was horrible. Not only was it outside and in the hard-to-reach gap where the shoe was sewn into the sole, it was also all over the inside of the shoe and under the shoelaces.
At least the shoelaces weren't mouldy, but despite being immune to mould, the shoe tree did get some of that fungus stuck on it.
I think the worst thing about this whole problem was that I underestimated the mould and neglected to wear a mask. Got an irritated windpipe for a while and now I wonder if there will be more consequences to come.
I'll have to remember to wear one next year.
Meanwhile, my washing machine broke down. No idea why and I couldn't find the manual for it. It stopped at Rinse and beeped about 16 times. If I hit Pause and Start to make it continue, it stops and beeps again.
Now the wet laundry is in the basin next to it and I'm too annoyed to fix it. From what I've read, I'll have to open the machine with a screwdriver to troubleshoot it, and I'm totally not in the mood for something like that.
Fuck this. I have enough clothes to last me another week. Let the laundry rot for all I care. If my bro dares to ask me about it instead of trying something himself for once, I'll throw him the same lame excuse he gives me," I don't know how to."
In case anyone doesn't get how bad this excuse is, I'll just say it right here that with the internet, you cannot possibly not know how to handle 99% of the things an average person can encounter in life.
Monday, 18 February 2013
Friday, 15 February 2013
Rant 1108 / Is It Child Abuse If You Snort A Baby Recreationally?
So the bill came and it turned out that Starhub did not waive any part of my bill despite the emailed promise.
Oh well, that's just another reason to make the switch next month.
So this CNY I managed to have yu sheng thrice just because I like the dish and it's not available for the rest of the year.
Bought the packaged stuff from Shop N Save, just the smallest ones, for around S$7 each.
For that price, I have to add my own carrot and fish, the only fresh ingredients necessary to complete the recipe.
Carrots were easy because of the food processor my bro bought last year. Still loving that grater it comes with. It leaves a bit of the carrot ungrated at the end but that's better than having to grate anything manually.
Fish was a little hard. The buying was matter of luck. I went to the market at around 8.30am on the Saturday before CNY which was the day before the eve to look for salmon without really expecting to. In fact I was already thinking of alternatives I can go for if I couldn't find it as I walked to the market.
Only one stall still had any salmon left and they only had the very tail ends. Moreover, they were smaller than the ones I usually buy from another stall. Cheap though, because the stall was closing. Yea, 8.30am on the day before the eve and they were closing.
The stall only had 7-8 pieces remaining when I arrived and I initally asked for two. But when the guy said he was packing up already, I asked for one more. TBH I was tempted to ask him for all of them since they were small but I felt it was too much. Finally, the weighing machine said $18-something for the three but he charged me around $16-17 instead.
Skinning the fish wasn't easy because of the leanness. For some reason, the skin tends to stick a lot harder to lean meat. Not sure why. Unfortunately, the tail end is the leanest part of the fish body. In addition, I haven't done this for months already. Usually, I don't skin the fish because it's far easier to just strip it away after cooking.
But after some trials-and-error, I got the hang of it again.
Good thing they were all boneless fillets so I didn't have to remove bones.
The rest was easy. I gave a bit of the yu sheng to my bro to remind him of why he doesn't like it and finished the entire plate myself.
That was the first time. The other times I just ate them all by myself. Good times.
Also made claypot rice the other day. Nothing but rice, preserved duck legs, fresh mushrooms and loads of dark soy sauce.
Wasn't as good as it could have been. Should have cut up the legs and bury them in the rice. Instead, I merely placed them whole on top of the rice. But I wasn't really interested in chopping them in case I get bone shards in my rice.
The duck legs were the preserved ones I got from Shanghai. Tasted less similar to preserved sausages than expected but were very salty.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that this is that new cheap rice I just bought. The size of the grains may make it look overcooked but it's actually not soft. Like I said, it's probably very old crop.
Oh well, that's just another reason to make the switch next month.
So this CNY I managed to have yu sheng thrice just because I like the dish and it's not available for the rest of the year.
Bought the packaged stuff from Shop N Save, just the smallest ones, for around S$7 each.
For that price, I have to add my own carrot and fish, the only fresh ingredients necessary to complete the recipe.
Carrots were easy because of the food processor my bro bought last year. Still loving that grater it comes with. It leaves a bit of the carrot ungrated at the end but that's better than having to grate anything manually.
Fish was a little hard. The buying was matter of luck. I went to the market at around 8.30am on the Saturday before CNY which was the day before the eve to look for salmon without really expecting to. In fact I was already thinking of alternatives I can go for if I couldn't find it as I walked to the market.
Only one stall still had any salmon left and they only had the very tail ends. Moreover, they were smaller than the ones I usually buy from another stall. Cheap though, because the stall was closing. Yea, 8.30am on the day before the eve and they were closing.
The stall only had 7-8 pieces remaining when I arrived and I initally asked for two. But when the guy said he was packing up already, I asked for one more. TBH I was tempted to ask him for all of them since they were small but I felt it was too much. Finally, the weighing machine said $18-something for the three but he charged me around $16-17 instead.
Skinning the fish wasn't easy because of the leanness. For some reason, the skin tends to stick a lot harder to lean meat. Not sure why. Unfortunately, the tail end is the leanest part of the fish body. In addition, I haven't done this for months already. Usually, I don't skin the fish because it's far easier to just strip it away after cooking.
But after some trials-and-error, I got the hang of it again.
Good thing they were all boneless fillets so I didn't have to remove bones.
The rest was easy. I gave a bit of the yu sheng to my bro to remind him of why he doesn't like it and finished the entire plate myself.
That was the first time. The other times I just ate them all by myself. Good times.
Also made claypot rice the other day. Nothing but rice, preserved duck legs, fresh mushrooms and loads of dark soy sauce.
Wasn't as good as it could have been. Should have cut up the legs and bury them in the rice. Instead, I merely placed them whole on top of the rice. But I wasn't really interested in chopping them in case I get bone shards in my rice.
The duck legs were the preserved ones I got from Shanghai. Tasted less similar to preserved sausages than expected but were very salty.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that this is that new cheap rice I just bought. The size of the grains may make it look overcooked but it's actually not soft. Like I said, it's probably very old crop.
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Rant 1107 / How Do People With OCD Handle Yu Sheng?
Found this Japanese TV show called "Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou no Shiro", a really low budget parody of JRPGs and animes, although a large part seems to be based on the Dragon Quest series.
Very funny, probably the funniest show I've seen in years. The best thing is that unlike American comedies like Family Guy, the quality is actually consistent. The catch is that it only has 12 half-hour episodes, so it's really short.
Moreover, it's hard to find English-subbed versions so I had to get the raw Japanese ones and add in Japanese subtitles found separately. This led to some timing issues because the subs were meant for another version that I couldn't find, but luckily, VLC allowed me to manipulate the timing of the subtitles so for several episodes, I had to spend several minutes at the beginning adjusting it.
Still, it's well worth the effort.
The best kind of school is probably one that allows the students to live entire lives in a simulated environment. Lot of people have probably wondered if our world is real. I feel that our world makes a fantastic classroom and it's really a terrible waste that people die and let all that experience and wisdom vanish.
In fact, some scientists have even published a paper saying that this theory is plausible.
The results, as translated by a journalist, are as follow:
Someday, when virtual reality technologies get advanced enough, having something like this would be great. It's not just about school but also life experiences, so that you can go through the school of hard knocks without getting knocked hard. Not physically anyway.
This would also be fantastic for learning about the human psyche because you could simulate one person's life and throw lots of people into the simulation to get lots of different results.
Path of Exile. Got to Merciless, the third difficulty, after finishing the 3 acts on Normal and then Cruel.
My DPS is now like crap although it was recently dramatically improved by my purchase of a Lightning Strike gem. My build was meant for this skill but I just couldn't find it, forcing me to rely on the stuff I found from the beginning, Heavy Strike and Ground Slam.
I also had Shield Charge and Tempest Shield but these worked great for their functions.
Heavy Strike and Ground Slam, on the other hand, do not benefit from my Lightning Damage passives so they eventually became obsolete as I went on.
I still keep Heavy Strike on though because in a 1-on-1 situation, Heavy Strike still does more DPS due to its higher level. Until I can get my Lightning Strike gem to catch up with my level, Heavy Strike will still have a place in my inventory.
Still, Lightning Strike produces 3 projectiles together with my initial hit, so it's great against groups.
Good for farming.
Also got the gems for increasing drop quantity and drop quality. Fantastic stuff. I immediately kept them on as much as I could to get their levels up even when I can't link them to my skill gems. Only used them when I join farming parties since my damage doesn't really matter as much.
Still, my DPS is not as great as everyone else.
Very funny, probably the funniest show I've seen in years. The best thing is that unlike American comedies like Family Guy, the quality is actually consistent. The catch is that it only has 12 half-hour episodes, so it's really short.
Moreover, it's hard to find English-subbed versions so I had to get the raw Japanese ones and add in Japanese subtitles found separately. This led to some timing issues because the subs were meant for another version that I couldn't find, but luckily, VLC allowed me to manipulate the timing of the subtitles so for several episodes, I had to spend several minutes at the beginning adjusting it.
Still, it's well worth the effort.
The best kind of school is probably one that allows the students to live entire lives in a simulated environment. Lot of people have probably wondered if our world is real. I feel that our world makes a fantastic classroom and it's really a terrible waste that people die and let all that experience and wisdom vanish.
In fact, some scientists have even published a paper saying that this theory is plausible.
Observable consequences of the hypothesis that the observed universe is a numerical simulation performed on a cubic space-time lattice or grid are explored.
The results, as translated by a journalist, are as follow:
The basis of the idea is that, if the universe is a simulation, then it would have certain observable constraints.
The laws of physics, which appear continuous, would have to be superimposed onto a discrete three-dimensional lattice which advances in steps of time.
This lattice spacing, says Professor Silas Beane of the University of Bonn, would impose an otherwise unnecessary limit on the energy that particles can have, because nothing can exist that is smaller than the lattice itself.
And, he says, precisely such a a cut-off in the spectrum of high energy particles exists: a limit to the energy of cosmic rays known as the Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin (GZK) cut-off.
Someday, when virtual reality technologies get advanced enough, having something like this would be great. It's not just about school but also life experiences, so that you can go through the school of hard knocks without getting knocked hard. Not physically anyway.
This would also be fantastic for learning about the human psyche because you could simulate one person's life and throw lots of people into the simulation to get lots of different results.
Path of Exile. Got to Merciless, the third difficulty, after finishing the 3 acts on Normal and then Cruel.
My DPS is now like crap although it was recently dramatically improved by my purchase of a Lightning Strike gem. My build was meant for this skill but I just couldn't find it, forcing me to rely on the stuff I found from the beginning, Heavy Strike and Ground Slam.
I also had Shield Charge and Tempest Shield but these worked great for their functions.
Heavy Strike and Ground Slam, on the other hand, do not benefit from my Lightning Damage passives so they eventually became obsolete as I went on.
I still keep Heavy Strike on though because in a 1-on-1 situation, Heavy Strike still does more DPS due to its higher level. Until I can get my Lightning Strike gem to catch up with my level, Heavy Strike will still have a place in my inventory.
Still, Lightning Strike produces 3 projectiles together with my initial hit, so it's great against groups.
Good for farming.
Also got the gems for increasing drop quantity and drop quality. Fantastic stuff. I immediately kept them on as much as I could to get their levels up even when I can't link them to my skill gems. Only used them when I join farming parties since my damage doesn't really matter as much.
Still, my DPS is not as great as everyone else.
Friday, 8 February 2013
Rant 1106 / Forbidding Dirty Talk But Condoning Pre-marital Sex
Met the weirdest taxi driver the other day. I asked him if he could
turn up the air-conditioning a little, and he replied with,"Why? Not
cool enough?"
Apparently my driver was Captain Obvious.
Of course I said," Yes. It only drizzled for 2 minutes just now and it's not even cloudy. In fact, the road's dry already."
Then came what could be the most unexpected reply I've ever heard," That's not enough? Must it rain really hard to be cool enough?"
The first thing that came to my mind was "Duh, check your rear view mirror and look at my wet forehead, just in case you didn't notice me wiping my sweat with my handkerchief before. This is just typical Singapore weather; it has to have a thunderstorm or something for it to ever go below 27 degree Celsius on sunny afternoons."
But I figured he must be one of those crazy people who's not crazy enough to stay in a mental institution. I mean, any driver who refuses to turn up the a/c on a hot afternoon for a passenger has to have a screw loose unless he's wearing a windbreaker, which he wasn't. I've met female drivers who have though, and I don't make the same request in their cabs.
But this guy, he didn't seem to be feeling cold, so there's no reason he would risk anything for such a minor issue. What else could it be?
Since he wasn't right in the head, it could be a bad idea to argue, so I just stopped saying anything and pretended it never happened.
It's just weird. I wonder what his life is like.
So the reason why urban planners rarely ever merge multiple residential blocks into a single giant complex is due to Sick Building Syndrome.
From Wikipedia, this is about the air quality in the building due to poor ventilation.
Moreover, green building technologies are rather new in Singapore, so utilising any in public housing could be hard and expensive.
In addition, I guess there's also the issue of sunlight from the ones living on the lower floors near the centre of the structure. Unless they can legally force those residents to get out regularly (hard to enforce) or spend on costly lamps that can simulate the full spectrum of sunlight, it's going to be a health hazard just to live there.
So the cheap rice does have a very distinctive feature that may be the reason why it's priced at $6.80 for 5kg.
Although it does not look any different from other rice when before cooking, the grains really expand a lot when cooked. Yet despite the size, it is not particularly soft, so it's not due to being cooked in too much water.
Strange because the grains look like those found in porridge, like they're all burst open.
I'm not sure why, but I feel that this may be the reason they're cheap.
Probably very old crop.
Practically speaking, I like this rice. The cooked rice is not soft and the grains don't stick to the pot as much. Less wastage and may possibly be great for making fried rice.
Don't feel like going out recently. Not sure why. Went out today only because I recalled only this morning that I promised a supplier I would pay him this week, and I really don't want to encounter the horrendous Friday queue at the bank. Worse, it's the last weekday before the Chinese New Year, so everyone's trying to withdraw cash for red packets.
ATMs are not useful because there are lots of people who are taking out large amounts of cash (at least 5 digits) and the machines only handle up to $1k per transaction.
I'll have to go out tomorrow again for work. I don't know why but I just don't like the idea at all.
Also planning to go back to the office during the CNY week even though we officially reopen only on the Monday after that.
Been playing Path of Exile, but not a lot. Just finished the 3 acts on Normal so I'm on the next difficulty now, whatever that is.
Found out about the vendor recipes so I did a lot of farming before I realized how pointless it has to be. I should be farming when I'm done with all 3 difficulties, not now. So what if I get a lot of valuable orbs if my gear isn't going to be used for very long?
Apparently my driver was Captain Obvious.
Of course I said," Yes. It only drizzled for 2 minutes just now and it's not even cloudy. In fact, the road's dry already."
Then came what could be the most unexpected reply I've ever heard," That's not enough? Must it rain really hard to be cool enough?"
The first thing that came to my mind was "Duh, check your rear view mirror and look at my wet forehead, just in case you didn't notice me wiping my sweat with my handkerchief before. This is just typical Singapore weather; it has to have a thunderstorm or something for it to ever go below 27 degree Celsius on sunny afternoons."
But I figured he must be one of those crazy people who's not crazy enough to stay in a mental institution. I mean, any driver who refuses to turn up the a/c on a hot afternoon for a passenger has to have a screw loose unless he's wearing a windbreaker, which he wasn't. I've met female drivers who have though, and I don't make the same request in their cabs.
But this guy, he didn't seem to be feeling cold, so there's no reason he would risk anything for such a minor issue. What else could it be?
Since he wasn't right in the head, it could be a bad idea to argue, so I just stopped saying anything and pretended it never happened.
It's just weird. I wonder what his life is like.
So the reason why urban planners rarely ever merge multiple residential blocks into a single giant complex is due to Sick Building Syndrome.
From Wikipedia, this is about the air quality in the building due to poor ventilation.
Moreover, green building technologies are rather new in Singapore, so utilising any in public housing could be hard and expensive.
In addition, I guess there's also the issue of sunlight from the ones living on the lower floors near the centre of the structure. Unless they can legally force those residents to get out regularly (hard to enforce) or spend on costly lamps that can simulate the full spectrum of sunlight, it's going to be a health hazard just to live there.
So the cheap rice does have a very distinctive feature that may be the reason why it's priced at $6.80 for 5kg.
Although it does not look any different from other rice when before cooking, the grains really expand a lot when cooked. Yet despite the size, it is not particularly soft, so it's not due to being cooked in too much water.
Strange because the grains look like those found in porridge, like they're all burst open.
I'm not sure why, but I feel that this may be the reason they're cheap.
Probably very old crop.
Practically speaking, I like this rice. The cooked rice is not soft and the grains don't stick to the pot as much. Less wastage and may possibly be great for making fried rice.
Don't feel like going out recently. Not sure why. Went out today only because I recalled only this morning that I promised a supplier I would pay him this week, and I really don't want to encounter the horrendous Friday queue at the bank. Worse, it's the last weekday before the Chinese New Year, so everyone's trying to withdraw cash for red packets.
ATMs are not useful because there are lots of people who are taking out large amounts of cash (at least 5 digits) and the machines only handle up to $1k per transaction.
I'll have to go out tomorrow again for work. I don't know why but I just don't like the idea at all.
Also planning to go back to the office during the CNY week even though we officially reopen only on the Monday after that.
Been playing Path of Exile, but not a lot. Just finished the 3 acts on Normal so I'm on the next difficulty now, whatever that is.
Found out about the vendor recipes so I did a lot of farming before I realized how pointless it has to be. I should be farming when I'm done with all 3 difficulties, not now. So what if I get a lot of valuable orbs if my gear isn't going to be used for very long?
Monday, 4 February 2013
Rant 1105 / Low Hit Rate Is An Annoyance.
Somehow I have this feeling that the most popular class in Path of Exile is the Witch, just because that's the easiest path to becoming a summoner.
Any class can be come a summoner, but the Witch's starting point in the skill tree is the closest to all the minion passive skills.
I could too, since the Templar's right next to the Witch. I'd need to go through the elemental damage region of the tree to get to those, but it can be done. It will take longer and the final build will be slightly different because the skill gems I get from quest rewards are different from what a Witch can get.
But I'll go with the Lightning Templar, basically a mace-and-shield melee fighter with lightning damage and uses lightning spells.
Still waiting for the Lightning Strike gem but I'm only in Act 2 of Normal difficulty.
With my current set of skill gems, I'm also wondering if I should go Lightning or Fire because I seem to have a lot of Fire-based skills and only 2 Lightning ones - a support gem that adds Lightning damage to my attacks and a Tempest Shield which raises my shield block chance and does Lightning damage to melee attackers.
So far, I still have yet to add any points in Lightning-specific passive skills so it's not a real problem yet, but I worry about the future.
Actually my current issue is my hit rate. I miss a lot more than I'd like and I don't really know how to fix that. I can add like two more points into that kind of passive but beyond that, I don't have a lot of such passives near the skills I really need.
So I really went back to get another 2 5kg-bags of rice. This time, there was another stack of rice of the same brand and weight but with a different name. Instead of "Fragrant White Rice", these are called "Jasmine Fragrant Rice".
I'm sure they're the same stuff.
Also realized just now that they're not airtight so I'll need to seal them up with the vacuum bags I got a long time ago. My rice tends to get weevils around the same time I almost finish a 10kg-bag. It used to be even faster back when I didn't know I had to clean the tub I use to hold the bag every time I take out the empty bags.
I'm still not sure where they're coming from, but weevils aren't toxic and they're easy to rinse off so they're not an issue until the infestation gets really bad, which generally doesn't happen anymore nowadays.
Watched someone stream Saya no Uta. There were a few sex scenes but the streamer had "masterfully" censored all the naughty bits with video-game-related images so we could only read the text and hear the Japanese voice-acting.
This visual novel is really weird but I guess it's normal for a Japanese product.
The story is about this guy who went under an experimental brain surgery after a near-fatal car accident that turned out to have an unexpected side-effect: it made his senses go haywire. Everything normal looked grotesque to him, walls are covered by fleshy stuff and people appear to him as monsters, and even food tasted bad.
Just when he had decided to commit suicide, he encountered Saya whom he perceived as a normal pretty girl when in fact, she was a man-eating alien whose appearance alone could drive people insane and whose purpose is to mutate all humans into her race.
This is probably the only kind of romance that couldn't possibly have a good ending, and none of the game endings were good: she dies, both die or they never see each other ever again.
I like the concept and I feel that more could be done with the idea, like a full-fledged horror game, although these days the horror genre is pretty dead.
I have a feeling I will be going to work on Wednesday and I'll be the only one there. If they can finish packing everything tomorrow and if all the stores have sent their orders during the weekend already, I'll tell my staff they can stay home from Wednesday onwards for CNY and I'll handle the rest.
I really hope all the orders are in but I'll find out later.
Any class can be come a summoner, but the Witch's starting point in the skill tree is the closest to all the minion passive skills.
I could too, since the Templar's right next to the Witch. I'd need to go through the elemental damage region of the tree to get to those, but it can be done. It will take longer and the final build will be slightly different because the skill gems I get from quest rewards are different from what a Witch can get.
But I'll go with the Lightning Templar, basically a mace-and-shield melee fighter with lightning damage and uses lightning spells.
Still waiting for the Lightning Strike gem but I'm only in Act 2 of Normal difficulty.
With my current set of skill gems, I'm also wondering if I should go Lightning or Fire because I seem to have a lot of Fire-based skills and only 2 Lightning ones - a support gem that adds Lightning damage to my attacks and a Tempest Shield which raises my shield block chance and does Lightning damage to melee attackers.
So far, I still have yet to add any points in Lightning-specific passive skills so it's not a real problem yet, but I worry about the future.
Actually my current issue is my hit rate. I miss a lot more than I'd like and I don't really know how to fix that. I can add like two more points into that kind of passive but beyond that, I don't have a lot of such passives near the skills I really need.
So I really went back to get another 2 5kg-bags of rice. This time, there was another stack of rice of the same brand and weight but with a different name. Instead of "Fragrant White Rice", these are called "Jasmine Fragrant Rice".
I'm sure they're the same stuff.
Also realized just now that they're not airtight so I'll need to seal them up with the vacuum bags I got a long time ago. My rice tends to get weevils around the same time I almost finish a 10kg-bag. It used to be even faster back when I didn't know I had to clean the tub I use to hold the bag every time I take out the empty bags.
I'm still not sure where they're coming from, but weevils aren't toxic and they're easy to rinse off so they're not an issue until the infestation gets really bad, which generally doesn't happen anymore nowadays.
Watched someone stream Saya no Uta. There were a few sex scenes but the streamer had "masterfully" censored all the naughty bits with video-game-related images so we could only read the text and hear the Japanese voice-acting.
This visual novel is really weird but I guess it's normal for a Japanese product.
The story is about this guy who went under an experimental brain surgery after a near-fatal car accident that turned out to have an unexpected side-effect: it made his senses go haywire. Everything normal looked grotesque to him, walls are covered by fleshy stuff and people appear to him as monsters, and even food tasted bad.
Just when he had decided to commit suicide, he encountered Saya whom he perceived as a normal pretty girl when in fact, she was a man-eating alien whose appearance alone could drive people insane and whose purpose is to mutate all humans into her race.
This is probably the only kind of romance that couldn't possibly have a good ending, and none of the game endings were good: she dies, both die or they never see each other ever again.
I like the concept and I feel that more could be done with the idea, like a full-fledged horror game, although these days the horror genre is pretty dead.
I have a feeling I will be going to work on Wednesday and I'll be the only one there. If they can finish packing everything tomorrow and if all the stores have sent their orders during the weekend already, I'll tell my staff they can stay home from Wednesday onwards for CNY and I'll handle the rest.
I really hope all the orders are in but I'll find out later.
Saturday, 2 February 2013
Rant 1104 / Path Of Exile Looks Good So Far
Path of Exile was a little different than expected. I knew it was
like a MMO version of Diablo 2, but what took me by surprise was that
the active skills were all derived from crystals that I could equip (and
unequip at will) on my equipment.
Basically, the FF7 Materia system.
The skill tree is only for passive skills and all classes use the same gigantic map of a skill tree, albeit from different starting locations.
Due to the size of the tree and the speed at which players gain level, the starting locations really matter a lot for a large portion of the game. Maybe the effect will be diluted enough at much higher levels but respeccing is not easy in this game.
The trading part was also quite strange in that it was a barter system when trading with the NPC merchants. Instead of buying my loot with cash, they give me things like Scrolls of Wisdom (for identifying items). In other words, these little items become some kind of currency.
Very interesting.
Right now I'm trying to be some kind of battlemage as a Templar. I'm going for melee damage for now and then elemental damage later. Main focus is on mace-and-shield combat and some proficiency at magic.
I could also be a summoner but I might as well start as a Witch if I wanted that, especially since a mace-and-shield guy with summons can't be very effective - one is focused on melee damage and HP while the other is on MP and buffs. I could be good at summons but I'll suck at doing anything myself (might as well be a Witch), or I could be good as a warrior but my summons will be just for decorative purposes.
That's how I see it anyway.
So I found this website that I thought was a Chinese pirate site. Now, I don't think it was.
The game I found there came with several games I didn't want and a launcher filled with ads.
I think the site's legitimately providing free downloads of old games and making money through ads, and I really like the idea.
This could theoretically take the place of the indie bundles.
On the other hand, it's China, a country where I feel it's easier to find counterfeit products than originals, so I could be wrong about it being legit.
Holy crap! Shop N Save is selling rice at 5kg for $6.80!
Promotional price but still, that's way cheaper than anything I've ever seen.
The cheapest was its housebrand 10kg bags at about S$16 like early last year or something, and they're now going at about S$18.
But today, the housebrand 5kg bags are priced at $6.80! The only reason I can think of is that they're trying to clear stock desperately for some reason.
I kinda doubted it was true when I first saw it but bought 2 bags anyway just to see if it was a typo error. At worst, their normal prices are still below $20 for 2.
There was no typo. The rice really costs $13.60 for 2 bags of 5kg.
I've never seen rice going below $16 for 10kg since I started buying groceries, so I'm definitely going back to get another 2 bags tomorrow. Hopefully they don't get sold out by then.
After cooking at home for so long, I finally thought of using the Lee Kum Kee hotpot soup bases. Can't believe I've completely forgotten about them for so long. My mum used to use them and she left like 7 packets of those in the fridge. One of them had been neglected for so long it was covered in some dried black powdery stuff that I believe used to be raw meat juices.
But it was unopened so I just rinsed it to get rid of as much of the stuff as I could so that none of it drops into the pot when I pour the contents in.
I'll be needing more of those in the future so that I can make easy soups. I just buy some cabbage and fishcakes and fishballs and throw them all in with the soup base, chicken bones optional, and I get dinner.
Basically, the FF7 Materia system.
The skill tree is only for passive skills and all classes use the same gigantic map of a skill tree, albeit from different starting locations.
Due to the size of the tree and the speed at which players gain level, the starting locations really matter a lot for a large portion of the game. Maybe the effect will be diluted enough at much higher levels but respeccing is not easy in this game.
The trading part was also quite strange in that it was a barter system when trading with the NPC merchants. Instead of buying my loot with cash, they give me things like Scrolls of Wisdom (for identifying items). In other words, these little items become some kind of currency.
Very interesting.
Right now I'm trying to be some kind of battlemage as a Templar. I'm going for melee damage for now and then elemental damage later. Main focus is on mace-and-shield combat and some proficiency at magic.
I could also be a summoner but I might as well start as a Witch if I wanted that, especially since a mace-and-shield guy with summons can't be very effective - one is focused on melee damage and HP while the other is on MP and buffs. I could be good at summons but I'll suck at doing anything myself (might as well be a Witch), or I could be good as a warrior but my summons will be just for decorative purposes.
That's how I see it anyway.
So I found this website that I thought was a Chinese pirate site. Now, I don't think it was.
The game I found there came with several games I didn't want and a launcher filled with ads.
I think the site's legitimately providing free downloads of old games and making money through ads, and I really like the idea.
This could theoretically take the place of the indie bundles.
On the other hand, it's China, a country where I feel it's easier to find counterfeit products than originals, so I could be wrong about it being legit.
Holy crap! Shop N Save is selling rice at 5kg for $6.80!
Promotional price but still, that's way cheaper than anything I've ever seen.
The cheapest was its housebrand 10kg bags at about S$16 like early last year or something, and they're now going at about S$18.
But today, the housebrand 5kg bags are priced at $6.80! The only reason I can think of is that they're trying to clear stock desperately for some reason.
I kinda doubted it was true when I first saw it but bought 2 bags anyway just to see if it was a typo error. At worst, their normal prices are still below $20 for 2.
There was no typo. The rice really costs $13.60 for 2 bags of 5kg.
I've never seen rice going below $16 for 10kg since I started buying groceries, so I'm definitely going back to get another 2 bags tomorrow. Hopefully they don't get sold out by then.
After cooking at home for so long, I finally thought of using the Lee Kum Kee hotpot soup bases. Can't believe I've completely forgotten about them for so long. My mum used to use them and she left like 7 packets of those in the fridge. One of them had been neglected for so long it was covered in some dried black powdery stuff that I believe used to be raw meat juices.
But it was unopened so I just rinsed it to get rid of as much of the stuff as I could so that none of it drops into the pot when I pour the contents in.
I'll be needing more of those in the future so that I can make easy soups. I just buy some cabbage and fishcakes and fishballs and throw them all in with the soup base, chicken bones optional, and I get dinner.
Friday, 1 February 2013
Rant 1103 / Every Village Has An Idiot
Avadon: The Black Fortress has so many elements from the Geneforge games!
Though I've only played the first and half of the second, I can already recognize so many sounds Avadon ripped off from them.
It's seriously confusing because my ears tell me it's Geneforge while my eyes tell me different.
Whoever made the game must have been a huge Geneforge fan.
An email from Starhub arrived to tell me I'm getting a week's worth of this month's internet bill waived.
Here I come, M1.
This also made me rethink my own business's way of handling such an issue. Before, I didn't know what to do when there's a really serious complaint from an angry customer, so I agree with whatever the store's people suggest.
It's usually just a 1-for-1 replacement, no different from any other complaints.
Now I think I need to go further the way the Apollo shirt people did, but not to that degree. They refunded me my entire order's worth of credit when I only requested for a third of it, and there's no way I'm going to do that unless it was really bad.
I'll just see if I could go with double. Not sure how things work exactly in the stores, so I don't know how I could go about giving that kind of store credit.
So business dropped quite abruptly this month. I don't really understand why but I'm not seriously concerned. It's nothing compared to what I failed to accomplish last year anyway.
Still, it has been better than 2011 so I gave my staff a bigger bonus. After 2012, I certainly see why the elder one was pissed when I gave them both the same amount for 2011, and why it's fair to give her a bit more.
For one, she's the first person I turn to when I have minor logistical issues. In fact, I always have something to ask her everyday and most of the question are quite retarded, like stuff she had already told me at least once before. I'm surprised she never said anything about it; almost everyone else I know wouldn't be so patient with my level of absent-mindedness.
I don't really know how I'm going to handle 2013 because I've been failing at sweaters. I may appear to be doing well from my suppliers' perspective, but they don't know I've been selling mainly my mother's old stuff while the new goods I ordered are constantly accumulating.
I just suck at picking wool, for example. At first, I thought I should look at the smoothness. Turns out that wasn't the most important quality. Next, I discovered that some of the new wools I've been using pill like crazy, and in some of the stores where the salespeople are lazier, they look terribly old despite being brand new.
Heck, I recently even bought some sweaters made of wool that feel seriously itchy. Fortunately it's not a huge amount so I don't really care if they don't sell. It only matters if they do.
At the moment, I think I'm getting it after discovering a few other things I should watch, but I don't believe this is going to be the end of it.
People have told me I'm doing quite well for someone in my situation. That is not true - I have no idea how I'm doing at all.
Hence, I'm giving myself a five-year period to judge. Two years have gone, one in which I didn't actually do shit and another that I spent figuring out what to do, so there are three years more to go.
Then, I'll be able to tell with some degree of confidence whether I'm doing well or I'm merely delaying the end.
And jackets. Wow. I've been neglecting that area for so long because my results there are even worse than sweaters. To be honest, I've got this feeling I'll be doing a lot of donating later this year.
I think that's going to be like tens of thousands of dollars going to charities.
I only hope the stores will keep supporting me despite these issues.
And my bro. That's something I don't understand.
He can't find a job and he hesitates at my job offer. Whenever I ask him if he wants to come over, he always replies with," I don't know."
I don't even understand why he can't say "Yes".
There is no obligation to stay; I don't even plan to hand any serious work over until after a year or two.
So where's the catch? Ego?
He could just work over here while waiting. Yet he prefers to stay at home to play.
I don't care if he's discouraged. Shit, I was discouraged and still am, but it's not like we have a lot of choices in our lives.
Eating into his inheritance like that is just bs, but I can't do anything about it because it's not my money.
Worse, the more he "doesn't know", the less I want to let him come over. By now, I'm already seriously in doubt if he should ever work with me. He may be my brother, but do I really want someone like that in my business?
He's most likely going to be a husband and maybe even a father within the decade, but the way he behaves disappoints me.
Choices, man. Is he even looking at where he's going?
Does he think I can protect him or something? Because I can't; I can barely handle things on my end.
Though I've only played the first and half of the second, I can already recognize so many sounds Avadon ripped off from them.
It's seriously confusing because my ears tell me it's Geneforge while my eyes tell me different.
Whoever made the game must have been a huge Geneforge fan.
An email from Starhub arrived to tell me I'm getting a week's worth of this month's internet bill waived.
Here I come, M1.
This also made me rethink my own business's way of handling such an issue. Before, I didn't know what to do when there's a really serious complaint from an angry customer, so I agree with whatever the store's people suggest.
It's usually just a 1-for-1 replacement, no different from any other complaints.
Now I think I need to go further the way the Apollo shirt people did, but not to that degree. They refunded me my entire order's worth of credit when I only requested for a third of it, and there's no way I'm going to do that unless it was really bad.
I'll just see if I could go with double. Not sure how things work exactly in the stores, so I don't know how I could go about giving that kind of store credit.
So business dropped quite abruptly this month. I don't really understand why but I'm not seriously concerned. It's nothing compared to what I failed to accomplish last year anyway.
Still, it has been better than 2011 so I gave my staff a bigger bonus. After 2012, I certainly see why the elder one was pissed when I gave them both the same amount for 2011, and why it's fair to give her a bit more.
For one, she's the first person I turn to when I have minor logistical issues. In fact, I always have something to ask her everyday and most of the question are quite retarded, like stuff she had already told me at least once before. I'm surprised she never said anything about it; almost everyone else I know wouldn't be so patient with my level of absent-mindedness.
I don't really know how I'm going to handle 2013 because I've been failing at sweaters. I may appear to be doing well from my suppliers' perspective, but they don't know I've been selling mainly my mother's old stuff while the new goods I ordered are constantly accumulating.
I just suck at picking wool, for example. At first, I thought I should look at the smoothness. Turns out that wasn't the most important quality. Next, I discovered that some of the new wools I've been using pill like crazy, and in some of the stores where the salespeople are lazier, they look terribly old despite being brand new.
Heck, I recently even bought some sweaters made of wool that feel seriously itchy. Fortunately it's not a huge amount so I don't really care if they don't sell. It only matters if they do.
At the moment, I think I'm getting it after discovering a few other things I should watch, but I don't believe this is going to be the end of it.
People have told me I'm doing quite well for someone in my situation. That is not true - I have no idea how I'm doing at all.
Hence, I'm giving myself a five-year period to judge. Two years have gone, one in which I didn't actually do shit and another that I spent figuring out what to do, so there are three years more to go.
Then, I'll be able to tell with some degree of confidence whether I'm doing well or I'm merely delaying the end.
And jackets. Wow. I've been neglecting that area for so long because my results there are even worse than sweaters. To be honest, I've got this feeling I'll be doing a lot of donating later this year.
I think that's going to be like tens of thousands of dollars going to charities.
I only hope the stores will keep supporting me despite these issues.
And my bro. That's something I don't understand.
He can't find a job and he hesitates at my job offer. Whenever I ask him if he wants to come over, he always replies with," I don't know."
I don't even understand why he can't say "Yes".
There is no obligation to stay; I don't even plan to hand any serious work over until after a year or two.
So where's the catch? Ego?
He could just work over here while waiting. Yet he prefers to stay at home to play.
I don't care if he's discouraged. Shit, I was discouraged and still am, but it's not like we have a lot of choices in our lives.
Eating into his inheritance like that is just bs, but I can't do anything about it because it's not my money.
Worse, the more he "doesn't know", the less I want to let him come over. By now, I'm already seriously in doubt if he should ever work with me. He may be my brother, but do I really want someone like that in my business?
He's most likely going to be a husband and maybe even a father within the decade, but the way he behaves disappoints me.
Choices, man. Is he even looking at where he's going?
Does he think I can protect him or something? Because I can't; I can barely handle things on my end.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)