Why I Hate Windows - No. 527

Windows crashes 2 out of 5 times (rough estimate, sure feels more than this of course) if I run more than 1 program close to startup. We're not talking about clogging the RAM at startup when its loading all the crap the cruddy OS needs at the start. I mean I'll start clicking when the cursor stabilizes from the hourglass icon to the simple white arrow icon. Don't tell me abt optimizing. I optimized when my desktop was running an Athlon 700mhz Thunderbird, with 512MB RAM. When I have 3Ghz Pentium Core 2 Duo E8400, 2GBs of RAM and an awesome mobo and video card.. why do I need to optimize WinXP for..??

I logged into Linux Mint to 1) Run Firefox, 2) file transfer a movie to USB, 3) play music on Rhythmbox. Not a problem.

I logged off Mint and started WinXP to 1) start transferring earlier file from USB to HDD. Then plugged in 2) my iPhone to back it up with iTunes, 3) play said movie on VLC.

Movie and iTunes hung. Entire system froze after some time.

Went back to Mint, 1) Played movie on VLC, 2) ran Firefox.
Again no problem.

So there.

Were it not for iTunes and Word..

Remember the A-Team?

(Ten years ago / In 1972), a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team.

Well... come the summer of 2010, there'll be a new A-Team movie out! The cast includes Liam Neeson as Hannibal, Bradley Cooper as Face, and some South African director/actor as Howling Mad Murdock (my fave character then!), and an ex-UFC fighter, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, as B.A Baracus.

The internet is rife with leaked shots of the new A-Team van.

Another bit of nostalgia coming to the big screen.. whee!

Mky's Horse-riding Lesson at Riders Lodge

Sherm on Prince Chester (the Jester)

I brought Sherm to Riders Lodge in Kulai, right by the Legends Country Club. I've been wanting to bring her for a course and it finally happened. We left her place in the early hours of the morning (7am), and had our mini-road-trip over the Causeway and into Malaysia. It was the first time driving in for me (though I have ridden in and been a passenger multiple times before). It was still kinda novel, and we had our music and snacks/food all planned in advance..

We arrived without incident at 845am though, a little too early than I had planned. So after giving Sherm a tour of the Manor and stables, and watching an early lesson for a bit, we went out to Kulai town for breakfast at Marry Brown's. According to one of Sherm's fave food bloggers, the porridge there is a standard must-try, and we thought it was pretty good too. There we found a shop selling real cheap stuff, and among other small purchases, picked up an RM5.90 kite too! Now we have our "monster" kite to fly at Pasir Ris!

The lesson was standard, we were part of a beginners' class, and learned to walk, guide and trot the horses. Unfortunately, though I managed it successfully in my earlier venture here some years ago, I was unable to trot my horse beyond more than 5 or so steps. The instructor Cat was very encouraging though. Sherm was quite good at handling the horses and had no trouble whatsoever. However, our class-mate had just trotted a day prior and got to have more than 1 go at the perimeter of the ring.

For lunch, to avoid the exorbitant club food, we drove out for eats again. This time we adventured a little further and found some really rocking chicken rice (roasted and fried). Due to the noon heat, we couldn't do much else but return to the cool of the club house to chill a little prior to the trail ride next.

Sherm again seemed a natural at guiding and walking her horse, keeping up the pace that our guide, Azman set. The walk through the plantation was real entertaining cos our horses actually tricked us into letting them grab mouthful(s) of grass each (our instructor had warned earlier abt not allowing the horses to eat grass - just cos its a bad habit). Suffice to say, my trail horse, Jazz Malone, was problematic and embarrassed me by taking 2 mouthfuls, in full view of both Azman and Sherm, who were resting, waiting for Jazz and me to catch up.. again..


See how far apart I (taking the pic) was from the others..

Sherm's horse, Prince Chester (the jester) was a real character too, doing one-legged kicks and rolling out the green-poop carpet for poor Jazz to walk on. Note: Never pat a horse on its neck during a long, hot walk. You'll find your palm covered in sweat and possibly hair too.

Luck continued to shine on the combined power of Sherm and Dax on our way back; we cleared the Causeway customs (both sides), in abt 1/2 hour only. Note: Try to return through Customs before the Sunday post-dinner crowd for quick transit. Also, drivers will need to have thick skin and some skill to negotiate the post-Nothing-To-Declare convergence prior to shooting out onto the SLE.


Sweaty but necessary cam-ho pic post-trail-ride; my face is long again due to last month's weight loss

I'm very glad Shermaine enjoyed herself so much! Now to seriously consider the Singapore Horse-riding clubs for more local and convenient options (though its easy to envision a possibility of making mini-road-trips every month or so for cheap shopping and private riding lessons).

Riders Lodge. Rates are about S$62/lesson or trail ride, quite similar to the local jockey club prices though, thus we'll likely check the local clubs out soon.

Another update

I try to post stuff a few times a month to keep up with what Sherm and I are doing or maybe share interesting stuff and opinions (like Singapore being 3rd in the Competitiveness Worldwide ranking which I have serious doubts about the criteria). I've kinda slowed down the past month or so simply cos I've added on a couple of things to my plate that's sorta changing my lifestyle a little.

I'm still here most of the time, I'm just doing other things.. like updating Tefibi, or playing with my hamsters, or reading (the new culprit). I've also become involved in a side project for a friend, and that's the serious bit that's making me really tired.

Sherm and I still take time to enjoy a good meal and have a good weekend together doing stuff we like. So all's still good. We're going horse-riding this Sunday!

And oh ya, I've taken to sorta "twittering" on Facebook now. Its easier too, and hits the right target audience. So that's my update for now.