Recycling in Singapore

In Singapore, recycling takes on a different form. Having been overseas before, I have always been impressed with their efforts at recycling. Well, in Singapore, there are recycling bins around. But I don't really think that has been particularly effective as I have witnessed many times people actually "looting" these recycling bins for their own personal gains. I guess they must have sold the drink bottles and cans to the recycling companies directly to earn some extra cash.

Anyway, I heard the karang guni man as he came over to my block today. There are lots of these karang guni man plying their trade at my block and it seems that they are coming almost everyday. The karang guni man is basically a person who works for one of these small recycling companies that collects old newspapers, electronics, and whatever you can think of. Anyway, I wrote about the karang guni man sometime back. I guess those people who stay in private apartments or condominiums in Singapore perhaps never get a chance to meet one.

Today, I sold 5 kg of newspapers to the karang guni man. That earned me a small tidy sum of 50 cents. Not bad I must say.

Just doing my part for recycling and I get to earn money at the same time. But there is a question that I have. If the recycling man pays me 10cents for 1 kg of old newspapers, I wonder how much he actually earns from re-selling it. Anybody knows?

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Read and watched the news last night. It was actually quite frightening to see the impact of the earthquake and the tsunami. It wasn't too long ago that the last tsunami stroke. That was boxing day in 2004. Only 6-7 years have passed and another tsunami has occurred. Watching the videos on BBC, CNN and CNA just gave a deja vu feeling. It also felt almost like the end of the world kind of feeling. As we often read in the Bible:

"When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such thing must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains."

It really makes me thankful that we live in a safe place like Singapore. Where there are no earthquakes, and we do not face the threat of tsunamis.

Dividends for March 2011

Received dividends from a few of the REITs that I have been holding. Total amount of dividends collected adds up to $278. Not really a lot. But guess it is better than nothing.

Have been pretty weary the past few weeks. Running about and busying myself with things that do not really matter. But they still need to be done. Weekends always seem to come and go so fast. And then the new week comes. Hardly feel rested at all.

Week after week just seems to pass and it does not seem that much has been accomplished. Already, we are into the 3rd month of 2011 but I don't really have a clearer picture of where I am actually headed in life. It is really just living day by day and week by week.

Old Book from Ebay by James R Rutland

This is a picture of the book (that I bought off Ebay) as requested by one of my readers (LP) . This book really looks like any other ordinary book out there. I am pretty sure an online version exists since the copyright most probably has ceased.

Anyway, it is just cool to know that I am holding a book that is out of print. Using eBay to carry out my transactions is also something that I am pretty comfortable with since I have bought quite a number of items using eBay and so far, all the items have been shipped and are always in good order.

Bought a 100 year old book from EBay

Every now and then, I buy a few things off Ebay. It is an easy way to shop. I sit at home, browse through the various items and just buy anything that I fancy.

Lately, I decided to buy an antique book using some of the earnings I got from my online ads. I stumbled upon this old book with a title that I fancied. Coolest thing is that it is one year shy from being hundred years old! Just holding this book in my hands feels like I am holding a piece of history. The book is most probably out of print too.

This is what I have been busying myself with the past few weeks. And I am enjoying this new hobby of mine. So I do apologize if I have not been posting often enough. But life is really a lot more interesting when you have a hobby you enjoy doing. It breaks the monotony of work.

Guess what? I am going onto right now to see if there are other things worth buying!

Hello, Bye Bye

When I started working, I realised that how most friendships in the workplace don't really last very long.

While you are working together, you eat together, suffer together, get angry with one another. You enter the office and sit around people who might or might not talk to you for days or even weeks. Some of them you might have lunch with. Others, they are just acquaintances.

Then people come and go. Some quit. Some retire. And eventually, it comes to your turn and you leave too.

And you realise that the people whom you spent huge amounts of time with previously just suddenly disappear from your life. You see them around on facebook but that is it. You hardly meet up with them anymore.

It is truly amazing how we can spend so much time with colleagues but once somebody moves on, it is usually the "end" of the relationship as we know it. Amazing ...

Writer's Block

I finally had it. Writer's block. I cannot find the words to describe how I am feeling. I don't really know what to write about too. It is the worst thing to happen to a blogger. After the new year, I just felt kind of lazy and stopped blogging for a while. Days turned into weeks and I soon realised that I was hardly logging on with the frequency and fervor that I used to have.

I also do not seem to have any topic in mind to write about. There are lots of topics out there to talk about but does it really matter if I write about it or not? After all, there are people out there who can probably do a much better job than me dissecting the latest piece of market news, hot stocks to buy, and so on....

It does not mean that I will stop blogging. It only means that I am taking a break and hopefully I will come back with soon.

I enjoyed the conversations and comments on this blog but sometimes, it just feels like I am talking to the air and I really feel that I could better spend my time with family or even just do some of the things that I enjoy doing. Why blog? After a while, this blog will die eventually. But there are more important things in life than blogging. And I can put my time to better use in other avenues.

I have also been feeling a little down and lost lately and that has some what affected my mood to write. Oh well, I will be back. Maybe after Chinese New Year.

Wishing all readers a Happy Chinese New Year!!