RIP - calculator battery: b-1997 d-2009.

Been away from here almost two months.
In the meantime dad + mum have come and gone, and I am starting to look forward to my trip home next month. Plus Australia. Nothing too exceptional to mention otherwise, with the exception of i) I am really enjoying my football these days - that day in indoor soccer I actually scored about 8 goals - maybe talk about the lethargy of the opposition keeper (Dominic), but I seem to be striking gold quite often now. ii) after losing in the cardiff games my badminton has gone downhill, plus my wrist injury is playing up again. I can still play badminton ok, it's just that the wrist can be uncomfortable in certain positions (not aggravated by playing sport), so I suspect something to do with my posture in front of the computer. Or maybe using the touchpad at home?? Cos I already use my left hand to move the mouse at work so unless it's a keyboard/hand interaction that's causing my wrist to be out of position I can't really explain that any other way. iii) I finally read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Also read the book Freakonomics, some of whose (I keep forgetting to point out) topics Qi Ying had mentioned to me 2 years ago while we were in Amsterdam.

Latest news is that:-
I went (or rather, made it) to Ikea last week - I think this is the first time I have been to one in the UK! But no, didn't eat the swedish meatballs. Bought the Kopparberg non-alcoholic pear cider and it sucks! Better stick to the alcoholic version! Ikea Cardiff was part of a long walk from Sophia Gardens down the River Taff through Grangetown, then onwards to Aldi (Ferry Road) and onto the flyover, culminating in a busy finish at Cardiff Bay in between the crowds. We then headed home on foot for some chinese takeaway dinner. We had wanted to rent a bike but because we started out late and couldn't find the bike hire centre we decided to get some exercise in another way. Will get Min Ven out again on another day to do this.

I still have plans for kayaking/canoeing, whitewater rafting, and rock-climbing/bouldering. Might even ski in Melbourne if I have the time, but I suppose not.

Other latest news - my calculator battery finally expired on me! After a long 12 years. I replaced it with an LR44 equivalent from a large pack of assorted round batteries I bought at the pound shop at least 3 years ago in Leicester. I have 7 more LR44's, going by this I won't even finish using 4 more in my lifetime. Plus I rarely use the calculator now; the charge is probably going to just leak over time....

Later latest news: anyone following home news would be drawn on to two things - the political impasse over the legitimacy of the head of the Perak Government, and the (still) lack of independence of the judiciary (and perhaps the Sultan); and in Singapore, the suspicious double deaths of alleged murderer+suicide in NTU. I think there's more to it than meets the eye, but you can see influential people are protected in Malaysia and Singapore differently. In both cases I smell a rat, and it really doesn't take a rocket scientist to. Also the Mas Selamat issue, Michael did mention that he thought the guy had died. He has compelling reasons for that, and I must say the continued silence and secrecy surrounding that issue does smack of another cover-up. Let's just hope the police don't continue to go handcuff-happy in arresting dissenting voices and opposition figures while allowing goverment-linked men on the loose (even though they may be in opposition in their state!).

Till next time.