Just after Christmas, I received a late gift from Santa. The recent weather is so hot that my car engine went on riot – it almost gone over-heated! My wife was driving to work yesterday when she noticed the temperature meter jumped well over the average mark – pretty much on the red line. She pulled by the roadside and called me. Suspecting it was a radiator leak, I grabbed a couple bottles of water and walked 15 minutes to where she is – just in case it’s all empty already.

Inspection

The radiator hose on the engine end has a leak and it’s spewing the coolants all over the place. Obviously, the engine has responded to the freaking hot weather of late.

Acquiring the Replacement Part

Initially, we were thinking about getting it fixed in a workshop nearby, but hey, why not do it ourselves and save on those labor charges? which might cost up to 100% more than the replacement part itself!

So, we went to a Toyota parts and accessories outlet just outside of Melbourne CBD to grab a new radiator hose.

The new radiator hose. This is an original part, so it’s exactly the same as the old one. While I was working in a spare parts supply store back in Malaysia, as long as we find a hose that fits the opening size, and looks similar, regardless of the what manufacturers it belongs to, we’ll sell and the workshop mechanics would still accept it – cause they know it works as long as it gets the coolant to where it needs to go. Neat eh?

Total cost is $27.30, including two hose clamps to lock both ends. That wasn’t so bad, the counterfeit one might cost $4-5 cheaper but I won’t spare that amount for reliability.

Operation

The faulty one has to go, so…

Losen the clip on the radiator end, pop it out.

Removed the hose on the engine end. Some remaining coolants splashed out during the removal due to heat-pressure. I didn’t empty the radiator tank because I’ve no time to buy a new coolant just yet.

Pop in the new radiator hose and screw it tight. Make sure everything is tight and tidy.

Whooosahhh! A new radiator hose and the engine gets cooled again.

Before it was fixed this afternoon, I had to drive extra cautiosly to the city to get the replacement hose, monitoring the temperature meter constantly just to prevent it from going overboard. Cause you know, once the engine goes Kaboom! I’ll be wishing for a new car for this coming New Year.

Just thought that it would be safer if I could get Milo microchipped, just in case she’s lost.

A microchip is a rice or grain-sized pellet that is implanted under the pet’s skin. The microchip contains information of the owner such as name, home address, contact details, everything that will help in finding us if the dog is found.

The injection of a microship takes about a minute or so, using a needle as big as those used when you’re donating your blood. I don’t know how Milo went through the whole process with only a little squeak, and then back to her jumpy-self again. She’s a brave puppy ya know.

The vet prepares for the microchipping while Milo is still waving her tail in joy, not knowing she’s gonna be injected later on. The vet then cleanses the target area where the microchip will be implanted.

Personally, I’m afraid of needles. A needle this big would scare me off, but luckily, I don’t need to be microchipped. The dog seems to be handling it quite well. She went through the whole process with a little squeak and that’s all.

Cleaning her up and she was scanned to confirm the microchip’s ID. Done!

Besides microchipping, female dogs here are even de-sexed (surgical removal of the ovaries and uterus) to prevent them from getting unwanted off-springs, thus, reducing the unwanted, homeless, stray dogs population. I’m not sure whether I’m gonna do it on Milo, I thought it’s a bit harsh for her, but I’m not asking for more puppies though, coz my speakers are dead by now thanks to Milo.

UPDATE: Many has been requesting for free CDs, but I’m sorry to tell you, although this might be a bit late, that I’ve none left. This article was posted about 2 years ago.

I’ve just received a package of 15 CDs of Ubuntu (Linux) open-source operating system.

It’s totally free and I’m about to distribute it free as well.

I’ve got on my hand, 10 PC version CDs, 2 for Macintosh (Apple), and 3 for your 64-bit PC.

If you’re interested on trying Linux-based OS, leave a comment by including your e-mail and specifying the OS that you’re using, I’ll get in touch with you.

The blog was left unattended as I kept myself busy changing its “clothes”. It’s been two weeks since I last surfed on ADSL and I tell ya, there’s not much alternatives other than that bloody dial-up. Dial-up are bad mmkay. They keep you waiting, but you can’t stop waiting cause you just have read that dreaded e-mails and keep yourself up to date with news from broadband-optimized news sites. Worst off, the line at my new place will only go 28.8kpbs the max! and on top of that, I had to share the connection with 2 other users. Now that’s really fucked up.

I’ve got problems with ADSL availability here at my new premise. Reason being the old “digital pair gain system” was incompatible with ADSL data carriage. Here’s a letter from my ADSL provider.

Telstra has identified that your nominated phone line (03 xxxx xxxx) has
incompatible infrastructure – “Pair Gains System/RIM” and is
incompatible with ADSL. In order for TPG to deliver an ADSL service, we will need
to organise the removal of “Pair Gains System/RIM”.

This means that your telephone service is sharing copper wire between
your premises and local telephone exchange with another telephone
number. While a “Pair Gain” system is perfectly adequate for normal voice
transmission of telephone conversations, it will not allow the full
throughput of data via an ADSL Connection.

Yesterday, the issue was resolved and the phone was out for a day due to some technical problems. The Telstra guy came this afternoon and got everything fixed. ADSL is back to where is should be!

Damn it. The days of dial-up are freaking tiring okay. But then, it is still able to provide me some form of satisfaction for being able to check my mails and stuff. Just ask wingz and those who’re affected by faulty Streamyx (Malaysian broadband provider) and what they think about TMnut and dial-ups. Expect some hostile feedbacks you guys.

Today, I’m gonna introduce you to a very close friend of mine. He’s the kind of friend who’ll stick to your ass whatever happens – especially when you need some cash to burn.

Meet my wallet and his friends.

Here I have are some business cards, a mini calendar, and a Boost Scratch ‘n’ Win! Card. I keep all my receipts for book-keeping purposes.

These cards on the left are my defaults. They’re Australian ATM cards (Bankcards), FlyBuys card (a reward program similar to BonusLink or RealRewards in Malaysia), and my Public Bank ATM card. I’m not using it here in Australia, just that it’s my favorite bank in Malaysia, so, that’s why I’m still keeping it in the default list. On the other side, I’ve some other Malaysian ATM cards and a Commonwealth Bank NetBank card. Those are my secondary’s.

I like foreign currencies and I keep plenty of them in my wallet. You know, can show off a bit if you have them, but most importantly – they’re my backups.

So there you have it, all the stuffs in my wallet. Don’t rob me okay, I have no valuables and mine is not a Dunhill wallet either.

Wuching and Ajay, go to Crown Casino now and win that Porsche 911 Cabriolet back home!

I did a post on cars with pretty plate numbers not long before. I’ve spotted another car with a ’888′ number plate. This one’s near Westfield, Southland.

James Bond ride on these cuties. See that number plate?