Autobots running wild

How can productivity be an adequate reason for potentially fatal risks?

With all the construction taking place all over our island, the roads are inevitably filled with mega vehicles. Some seem big enough to live in! It is a terrifying sight to see these Autobots, vehicle-sauruses, barrelling down our neighbourhood roads at high speeds, and nerve-wrecking for other drivers on the expressways. 

Mind you, these giants are of course legally obliged to maintain low speeds. However, as our little Swift has been frequently overtaken by these giants, it is obvious that speeding is common habit among them. Perhaps we can't really blame the drivers - they are paid by the trip i.e. the more trips they complete in a day, the more they earn. It is only natural that to maximise their wages, they resort to excessive speeds. One can only imagine their frustration when there are traffic jams, as there always seem to be. 

Why is such an inequitable arrangement allowed at all? Employers argue that if a fixed wage is given, drivers have little incentive to be productive, and might not complete as many trips as they should. They then hinted that this would lead to increased costs, and higher prices for the consumer. 

The pay-per-trip system compels a lowly paid worker to bear all responsibility for road safety, penalizing those who abide by the speed limits. The public is subject to the consequences of any reckless driving. Business owners gain in productivity, their customers enjoy lower prices, but what good is it to the rest of us? And thus this clever arrangement keeps all profits private while making the costs public. 

How many more fatal accidents must take place before something decisive will be done? 

Brushing Whitty

Of course you know by now that Whitty is terribly wilful. No one is allowed to touch her tail, to carry her, or manhandle her in other ways. She thumps freely to express her disapproval, and even bit me once, drawing blood. 

Unfortunately, she is shedding again, and I don't want Blackie to eat up all the fur when he grooms her. It is time to brush the diva. 

Attempt 1: Whitty backs into a corner, facing the bad guy warily.

Attempt 2: She dashes to sulk beside Blackie and get comfort from him.

Finally, success. I can't take photos of myself brushing her because she was squirming and backing away all the time.

Look at all the fur! I think one of these day, I can spin some wool out of all their coats.

Quick soup noodles, the healthy way

Boon One and I had a conversation on how to prepare a meal in the fastest, easiest way possible, without compromising on the nutritional value of the food. Every meal I suggested to her seemed troublesome, but this recipe, I am sure, is simple enough for anyone. If you can cook instant noodles, you can manage this. 

First, find noodles of with convincingly healthy description. I bought multigrain ramen, made with organic flour. That sounds jolly virtuous to me. 

 Next, make some rudimentary chicken stock by simmering chicken until the meat is cooked through. Test by pushing a chopstick into the thickest part of the meat. If there isn't blood, the chicken is ready. I added a piece of garlic, freshly ground white pepper and sea salt to season.

 Lastly, throw in a few stalks of vegetables and the ramen, keeping the pot on low fire. In a few minutes' time, your meal is ready.

I cooked and served the noodles in the same Corningware pot so there was minimal washing up to do.

I don't think cooking can get easier than this :P

Mealworm, anyone?

"Nobody likes me, everybody hates me

I'm going to eat some worms..."

Yes, your eyes are telling you the truth. This is a box of worms :P EEKS! But those lyrics above don't apply to hamsters. For us hamster slaves, feeding them mealworm is an act of love. It is rich in protein, and part of a hamster's natural diet. 

The worms are dried to a crisp, and smell faintly of prawn crackers, so they aren't actually too disgusting. Still, my overly busy imagination keeps making me see them wriggle. 

How else can I offer it to him, if I don't pick one up by hand? I can't believe my own courage either. 

 

Potato loves it. He pounced on it like a predator, and crunched it up greedily. Then he searched out the rest of the worms in his foodbowl, and ate them all up as well. Ok, I guess it is worth the effort...you know...I am getting used to touching the worms :P

Picturesque moment

Potato has a picturesque moment, gazing into the distance in contemplation, probably wondering if it is a good idea to go roll in his sandpit again.

Reading Rabbit

So funny, it looks like Blackie is trying to learn to read, poring over texts. 

Now, the rabbits nibbled my washing machine, broke the vacuum cleaner and squeezed behind the fridge. Why do I still let them come out to play? Don't ask me. Love is irrational.

Incidentally, the bag of bedding you see in the picture was soon torn, ripped by rabbit teeth. I had to patch it up with tape. Blaaaaackiieee!

MYOB

It is a hot afternoon, perfect for lounging away in the BusyBunny maze, resting on the cool tiled floor. No wonder the rabbits gave me their best "mind your own business and leave us alone" look when I tried to play with them :( Hey...when are you going to do your duty as pets? 

Handshake

It is hard for you to believe it, but this is Potato's favourite sleeping position. He must be practising some kind of martial arts! 

Hm...notice that the recent posts are on Potato. Frankly, he is now my favourite pet, because the rabbits are in disgrace, again. They had been so naughty about using their litter box that I am spending precious mornings cleaning up the muddy puddles. They even throw their hay cubes into their pee! So I had been pretty miffed with them, and not taking their photos.

Toilet training - back to basics

As you know, the rabbits had developed pretty naughty behaviour about their litter box, so now we are training them all over again. The problem is, one of them (or maybe both) can't be bothered to go back into the litter box if he (or she) is too busy eating the hay. In case you are wondering how we toilet-train rabbits, the secret lies in bringing the hay to where you want them to pee. You see, rabbits will pee where they want to pee, and no amount of scolding will make any difference. 

There you have it: a hay ball right above the toilet. They have no more excuses. Now...please be good. 

The Hamster and his favourite toy

Here he is again, having an epic fight with the toilet roll core. If I leave a thin layer of paper on it, he gets even more excited, and would strip the core bare in a short while, carrying the loot off to pad his sleeping areas. We are running out of these cardboard cores because he gets through them so fast!