Time Stands Still For No Man



... but sometimes it marks time on the spot.

The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword

But the pencil has inherent design problems which make it unsuitable for hand-to-hand combat.

- Hammy 2007

Incident On The Bus This Morning

It was looking like another uneventful trip on the bus this morning. That is, until Jason boarded the bus. From my seat I could see that he was a mid-twenties, bare-footed slob who probably didn't have a job. Not that I'm quick to judge people. No, not me. I'm just a bigot. And an opinionated one at that.

Jason told the bus driver, who was expecting payment, that his Smartrider card had been taken by a machine in Armadale and that he wouldn't be paying. The bus driver insisted on receiving payment. Jason told him that he had recharged his card but that the machine had eaten it and that he should call the Armadale station because they knew about it.

The bus driver radioed base but, of course, the new Smartrider cards don't get eaten by recharging machines and he couldn't talk directly to the station anyway. Jason had to pay. He refused to pay and he refused to get off. The driver went to the next stop but on the way a lady stood up and showed some ID to the driver. She was some sort of transit guard and was on duty but not, apparently, in uniform. She instructed Jason that she was legally requesting that he get off the bus. He was a bit too large for her to push him off but you could see that that was her intention. She instructed the driver to stop, close the doors, call the transit police and await their arrival so that Jason could be arrested.

So, the bus stopped at the next stop. Two buses on the same route went past. People started to get a bit upset as they were going to be late for work. I could have changed buses but I wanted to see this guy get arrested and that would be worth missing 10-15 minutes of work for. I even felt like helping her push him out of the bus but could have been charged with assault should things have gotten out of hand. Besides, the duty officer seemed to have things under control, backup had been called and Jason wasn't being aggressive.

We waited for nearly 10 minutes before the officer convinced him to leave the bus with her and wait at the bus stop until the transit police arrived. She informed him that he would get a criminal record over this offence as he had not left the bus when instructed to which was a legal request.

We didn't get to see an arrest made. The driver refused to stop at any more stops on the way to the city, and you should have seen some of the looks that he received from people wanting to catch the bus, so that he could make up time. I was about five minutes later than usual but still not late for work. Pretty much all of the passengers were supportive of the action taken but a little put-out by the fact that they would be late for work.

The simple thing to do would be to buy a single journey ticket but if what Jason explained was true then he has some right to feel aggrieved. He also pointed out that some people are on a budget and, apart from the milk drink in his hand, he didn't appear to have two bob to rub together.

Perhaps there are still a few bugs to iron out in the Smartrider system. But it was nice to see the transit police system in operation and this young man be taught a lesson. Perhaps it is a bit harsh if it leads to a criminal conviction as he does appear to have a grievance.

Health Warning

I think that women of the world are in for a health shock in the coming years. Women are being bombarded with ads telling them to "fatten their lashes". In some cases the product is supposed to make eyelashes 2000% larger. Max Factor has a 2000 calorie mascara.

Women, what are you doing to yourselves? Don't you realise that the only thing that can become of this are hideously muscled eyes that have strained for years under the additional weight of mascara? Your bodies weren't designed for such stresses. Medical research in the years to come will shed light that this is as unhealthy an activity for women as breast implants have been shown to be.

Ed. - Perhaps this posting is a bit sexist and there are some of you men out there who take offence to the stereotype that only women wear mascara. If this offends you then you need to take a long look at yourself and your behaviour. Stop it!!

What Calendar Do They Use In Singapore?

This morning, bright and early, I recharged my mobile phone. When I say recharged, I mean money-wise and not battery-wise. Optus usually provides you with 60 days to use your credit. This time they issued my credit to be valid until 31/6/2007. That's only six weeks. And that's not taking into account that the 31st of June doesn't exist.

Does Singapore use some strange calendar whereby the last day in June is the 31st (Optus belongs to Singtel)? Anybody got any clues?

Yu-Jin's Birthday Party

We had Yu-Jin's birthday party today. Had to have it a few weeks late because we couldn't organise it during the school holidays as we don't know where half of his friends live. The party was at Tumblers Kids Gym at Riverton Leisureplex. Only one kid who was invited didn't show. But instead of having a total of eight kids there were 12 as siblings came along too. Luckily they didn't charge any extra and there was enough food to around. Bit left over for the parents who came too.

Couple of hours of running around, lots of Fanta and Pepsi, chips, fairy bread, hot dogs and popcorn. Surprisingly the chips were left over. Kids had a good time. Parents were relaxed and got to talk a lot. You couldn't pay me enough to run one of these parties with screaming, demanding kids.

The birthday boy.

Chips were on the menu.

Ice cream cake for birthday cake. No better way to go.

Family pic. The only time we get a photo together.

Tumblers Kids Gym.

What's The Best Uno Hand?

I was playing Uno with Yu-Jin last night and he was really excited about one hand that I dealt him. He kept going on about how good his hand was. When the hand was finished he had lost and I'd picked up 20 points. What was so extraordinary about the hand he had been dealt? He'd been dealt three Draw Fours. How on earth can you lose after that?

Don't worry, I rubbed it in.

Is It Nearly Winter?

I had to check my watch as I reached the bus stop this morning. Something didn't seem right. It was sunny. It was mild, almost warm. There were more people at the bus stop than is usual. There was less traffic than usual. I thought to myself that maybe I had slept in for a couple of hours. It's nearly winter, supposedly.

Today it reached 28.9 degrees and it's only three weeks from being winter. What's going on people?