There’s nothing better to welcome the Chinese New Year than “landscaping” the front and side yard by doing shuttle runs and making sharp turns while kicking up dirt all over.

I still remember growing up, my parents were able to pack all five of us in their tiny two-door Datsun. My siblings and i grew up fine. None of us became serial mass murderers and blame the society for all our ills because our parents deprived us of the safety and comfort of a big ass minivan.

Nowadays, i can’t drive a few blocks without getting behind some minivan (or SUV) and unable to anticipate slowdowns or problems ahead because it is blocking my view. Thanks a lot!

Singapore has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, ranking #4 in the world at US$51,226 for 2008, topping all Asian countries. And yet, in the recent devastating earthquake that hit Haiti, the Singapore government donated an embarrassing US$50,000 to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). That meager amount comes out to be about one penny per Singaporean.

[23:47] Scammer: Hey
[23:47] Scammer: are you there?
[23:47] ktula: what’s up?
[23:48] Scammer: Well I’m tired,confused and overall not too good at the moment..
[23:48] ktula: i am a little tired..downing a can of Monster now
[23:48] ktula: getting ready for the Cerner downtime at work
[23:48] Meebo Message: Scammer is offline
[23:49] Meebo Message: Scammer is online
[23:49] Scammer: I’m in some kind of deep mess right now and i need your help..
[23:49] ktula: what’s wrong?
[23:49] ktula: if it’s easier over the phone, u can call me at XXX-XXXX
[23:49] Scammer: I’m stranded in London in a very bad situation and i need help..
[23:50] ktula: london, ontario 
[23:50] ktula: or london, england?
[23:50] Scammer: I got mugged at gun point last night in London,England by some hoodlusm
[23:50] Meebo Message: Scammer is offline
[23:50] Meebo Message: Scammer is online
[23:50] Scammer: all cash,credit cards and my cell phone was stolen..

I was getting kind of suspicious as soon as he mentioned that all his cash, credit cards and cell phone were stolen. I know my friend typically does not travel alone out of the country. So i asked:

[23:50] ktula: u there alone?
[23:51] Scammer: It was a very brutal experience for me but am glad i still have my life and passport..I need your help.
[23:51] ktula: how can i help
[23:51] ktula: ?
[23:51] Scammer: I’m here alone and still very scared and freak out right now..
[23:51] Meebo Message: Scammer is offline
[23:52] Meebo Message: Scammer is online
[23:52] Scammer: My return flight leaves in few hours time but i have a little problem paying off my bills at the hotel..
[23:52] Scammer: So i was wondering if you would be kind to loan me some few $$ to sort out the bills and i will have it refund back tomorrow
[23:52] Scammer: ???

At this point, i was almost certain that this was a scam. So i decided to ask whoever the person was the two things that only my friend and i know:

[23:53] ktula: is this some kind of facebook scam?
[23:53] ktula: if u r truly friend’s name…
[23:53] ktula: what is the thing u set up me build in my west seattle townhouse backyard for my bike?
[23:53] ktula: i mean
[23:54] ktula: what is the thing you helped me set up in my backyard for my bike?
[23:54] ktula: and
[23:54] ktula: what is our favorite sandwich place in seattle?
[23:54] Scammer: Ofcourse it me..If am not the one i won’t have ask you to send money to my name when we both know i will need some kind of ID with my face on it before i get the cash..
[23:55] Scammer: You are sending the money to my name just like i have it on my passport..
[23:55] ktula: hey..i m still waiting ..

After waiting for the response for a couple of minutes and not receiving one, i knew my friend’s FB account was hacked.

[23:57] ktula: guess u r not friend’s name

I immediately contacted my friend to notify him that his Facebook account had been hacked. Apparently Facebook scams very similar to this has been going on for a while. Here’s one and here’s another one.

1. Open mouth and chew on food before swallowing.
2. Unzip pants and hold your wee wee before pissing. Nokia can have the “Piss in your pants” patent – i don’t give a rat’s ass about that one.
3. After taking a dump, wipe ass with toilet paper before putting pants back on. (@mrbrown is filing the “Taking off pants before shitting” patent).
4. Remove clothing before taking a shower.
5. And finally, sleep with eyes shut.

This morning, as i was walking Mango to the lawn in front of the Queen Anne Medical Associates building at the corner of W Mercer St and 2nd Ave W, i noticed another dog owner was already in the vicinity. Since i know how distracting it can be for some dogs to do their business when other dogs are nearby – Mango is one such dog – i decided to wait about 10 ft north of Mercer on 2nd Ave W. The black and tan dog was taking a dump when i looked round the corner to see if i should start taking Mango there.

To my utter disgust, the owner of the dog was walking away from the pile of fresh poo. I immediately walked around the corner toward them. When the asshole saw me, he immediately turned back and pretended like he was going to pick up that poo. I decided to let Mango on the patch of lawn about 20 ft away from them, all the while looking at the guy from the corner of my eye. Every so often, he would look in my direction, probably hoping that i would walk away so that he did not have to pick up his dog’s poo. But i refused to move. I was ready to confront him if he was going to take off without cleaning up. Eventually, after he fumbled around for 20 seconds or so, he realized that i was going nowhere. He had no choice but to pick up the poo.

Lower Queen Anne residents, if you see an Indian-looking male with a medium size black and tan dog, keep a close eye on him!

Gas mileage statistics.

Really abysmal average MPG: 17.96 Miles per gallon. The low MPG can probably be explained by the lack of long road trip. Between last November and now, i only went on one long road trip (to Orcas Island). The maximum MPG of 23.54 was probably due to the Orcas Island trip.

MPG over a year.

The MPG graph indicates a gradual decline in MPG since April 2009. Prior to April 2009, i was living in West Seattle. On the days that i drove my car to work, more than half of the journey was spent on I-5 and local highway. Since April, i have been living in Queen Anne and i typically take the local routes. Even though the local routes are generally less congested, there are a lot of stop lights. It is clear that the frequent stop and go is not helping my car’s gas mileage.

Total gas expenses over the year.

Gas price per gallon over the year.