The Wannabe Economist

How come London has this kind of ad, our developed nation does not?

(Ad discovered by http://onelesscar.wordpress.com/)

The day took a bizzare turn since the evening.

First was the boring (yes, but probably only applicable to myself since i’m not part of the group in the first place) dinner at Peperoni and ice-cream at Ice-creamery. Then was the late night search, then $12 cab ride (yeah so what if i’m broke and taking cab is such a pain now), then fighting, then another $12 cab ride, then shuttle around in friend’s jazz, then cycle 7km home (alright i’m cool with this trip since it doesn’t involve money).

All in all, i’m still very hungry since i didn’t had my fill during dinner, and very sleepy because i have not slept since waking up at 9am yestermorning.

To end off the long day, i swear that if i were to be a minister, i would push for specialized bicycle lanes at parliament meeting. !)(#*%#)@%&)@*%, it’s a miracle i made it back alive. But not that anyone cares in the first place.

Reminder to self: drop Rick a message to thank him for loaning the car. This is the truest friend i ever gotten. He’s so sincere that he actually took time to talk for half an hour outside his gate after i return the car, at the early hours.

Hell man, if it weren’t for the assignment deadlines and piled up work and now, the mess to be sorted out at home and outside, i would pop a bottle of wine (told you i’m broke) and get drunk. Then fall asleep.

Haven’t sleep, and 8 more hours to pre-interview test.

Screw me.

And screw you. I don’t really like you. And you. And you. And you.

It was shocking to find out that Sheldon Brown has passed away.

His enriching articles have accompanied me through the few past dry finance classes. Though i do not know much about him, i am impressed by his willingness to share his knowledge on bicycles, from the technical aspect to the introductory parts that appeals to novice cyclist like myself.

My condolence to his family and friends.

Friday - coffee treat day. With 10 minutes left after paying double (to the private bus operator) of what i usually pay for bus fare (on the public SBS bus route), of course i should make use of that 10 minutes i have bought (the other 15 minutes were spent sleeping) and head for a well-deserved coffee treat at the end of the week.

The economies of taking bus. LOL.

SBS is of course doing a great job here. It’s just that the private bus operator does a better job by having a service in the peak hours that goes up on the highway. I would cycle to school of course, but i won’t take the chance of parking the bicycle in the school car park for the entire day and risk getting it being loaded up some car / wheels being removed through the quick release mechanism.

Reminder to self: (1) file for graduation (2) apply for a job (3) scrap the idea of cycling in Alaska or South Coast

I might as well set a deadline. Sunday.

I quote this blog that appeared on Mr Brown.

After a particularly unpleasant commuting experience, I wrote to the Straits Times Forum about two idiots who violated bus lane hours and passed me way too closely. Surprise, surprise, one response was the ‘you don’t pay road tax so get off the road’ argument. I’ll accept the argument the day when you stop polluting the public air, raising the collective air temperatures of the island, increasing noise levels on the island, and killing people. None of the road taxes you pay goes towards removing your negative influences on our shared environment. It only goes towards building more roads and hence encouraging more pollution.

And another ‘if other people swerve to the right to avoid you they endanger other people and it’s your fault’ comment. Right. If it’s not safe for you to either pass me without swerving or swerve to the right, yet you choose to swerve to the right, it’s my fault?

It’s funny how people can think that they own the entire damn road just because they pay road tax. I guess it’s not an abstract idea that public road is a public good, regardless of having road tax or not. Tax is just a mechanism for the government to increase revenue and add on to the cost of owning motorized vehicle in this tiny sunny island. If i follow the flawed arguement of keeping off the road if you did not pay road tax, i guess there should not be any marked crossing on the road since you and i who cross the road may not have paid road tax. Or should i propose gantry at the crossing and some form of ID for road tax payer who are allowed to pass the gantry, while you and i who are not paying the tax should use other overpass or underpass.

While the public good cannot be excluded from anyone’s use, laws are in place to ensure proper use of the public facility for the greater good of the society. Since the law allows and requires bicycle of travel on the road, who are we to complain and harbour resentment towards cyclist?

Disclaimer: the author is an avid cyclist who wishes he has more opportunity to cycle to school without incuring more nagging from Mrs Chongky.

I admit that i usually giving the local news a miss on whichever papers i’m reading, since read or no read, it’s not going to change anything.

But check this out.

AS should consider including this example in the updated syllabus. If A happens and B happens, A must lead to B. Since B happened, therefore A.

Brilliant.

I am not a very maths or finance person, hence if you have to read Mr Wang’s comment to know more about the issues in those perspective.

I still think cycling is the best. No ERP when i head into town.

After 10 minutes spent on loading up 2 bicycles into the car, lots of pespiration under the hot noon sun, and getting 1 set of singlet and berms dirty….

I have brought the bicycles back to the shop.

1. Fix the stand on Mrs Chongky’s bike
2. Do up quick release on all the wheels
3. Adjust my seat back to the original angle
4. Change the flat tube
5. Spend more money on pump, saddle bag and tools

I think i is love cycling.

Yes, bad luck. Tire went flat. Just as i was reaching the SLE Flyover.

There are nice Singaporean around. A fellow cyclist who was behind me noticed the flat and shouted out. Then he stopped with me, checked where i’m heading to, and offered me a spare tube.

Unfortunately, i didn’t get around to zhng the bike with quick release. I do not have saddle tool box too. I thanked him for the offer… and he left stating that it’s just bad luck.

LOL…

So much for waking up at 6.30am, only to cycle for 30 minutes, and waited 20 minutes for a cab, and then spending $11 on cab fare.

If you are wondering whether to catch this movie, do watch this, especially if you are:

1. A fan of Resident Evil
2. A fan of horror/thriller
3. A fan of Milla Jovovich

I is tired. And looking forward to cycling bright and early later.