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The last computer I’ve been using runs on a Pentium 3 with 512 mb RAM. Surprisingly its still working after all these years though its been having some problems lately and running really really slow. Its about time I upgraded my PC but I’ve been too cheap to shell out the money to get one. Plus I couldn’t decide what to get, there’s just too many choices out there.

Eventually I settled on another Dell probably because I purchased a Dell Notebook just a couple of years ago so I guess I’m biase at that. I’ve been quite happy with that Dell Notebook and haven’t had any problem with it so they’re still in my good book. Plus I’ve been checking out PC from other vendors but didn’t find one that would suit me. For the first time since I knew computers I’m choosing my PC based on looks rather than what’s inside and Dell has just the right one to suit me.

The Dell Inspiron 545S slim tower PC was just what I’m looking for; it is slim and compact unlike the normal tower PC which are way too big and clumsy for what I want. But instead of a tower I prefer to lay it flat as a desktop. I hate the fact that they had the Windows and Intel stickers stuck on assuming that I’ll have it as a tower. I managed to turn the Dell badge 45 degrees so it looks better that way. The 2 stickers I had to peel them off, I’d rather have no stickers on them and you’ll soon find out why. To get the stickers off without scratching the panel use a hair dryer to melt the adhesive underneath them before peeling them off. Then use a little bit of eucalyptus oil to clean the remaining adhesive off the panel.

Did you know that buying a Dell PC from Australia will cost more than if you were to buy it from Malaysia eventhough they’re all from the same factory in Malaysia? I understand there’s transportation cost involved but the difference in price is way too much after the currency conversion. I’ve complained that to Dell through their survey but I doubt they’ll do anything about it.

The Dell Inspiron 545s base model comes with very basic components; it doesn’t even come with card reader nor WIFI which I had to put in myself. Sure they would do that for me but they were going to charge me over $100 for the WIFI and over $36 for the card reader. Ripoff! I did it myself for far less. However I did had to choose a better CPU than what the base model comes with and also put more memory in it to take the price over $1000 for tax reason.

 I got my WIFI for $33 and $15 for the card reader which I installed myself. See? If I didn’t tell you you’d have thought its an original from Dell. The only mistake I made when customising the PC was not choosing 64 bit Windows. There’s no price difference between the 32 bit version and 64 bit version but I didn’t pick the 64 bit because I thought there was no point in getting a 64 bit because the memory could only max up to 4 GB. I found out after I purchased the machine that you can upgrade the memory to 8 GB which would take advantage of the 64 bit Windows. I did asked Dell if I could change the Windows over but they refused. *sticks togue out*

Oh well, nevermind. I’m still happy with my purchase. See the reason I wanted this PC is because with its compact black body it can be discreet when I place it in the living room together with the Personal Video Recorder. It looks less like a computer and more like a household appliance. I’m using the LCD TV as the monitor and I can play my DVD and movies straight from the PC to the TV.

Instead of the normal keyboard and mouse I’m using the Logitech wireless keyboard with built-in mouse pad. So now I’ve integrated the home entertainment unit with the personal computer. The PC can do just about anything so I don’t need a DVD player nor the DVD recorder. I can surf the net from the couch, download movies and play them straight to TV. The only thing the PC lacks is a TV tuner so that’s why I still need the PVR. If I install a tuner in the PC then I can also get rid of the PVR. Hmmm…*thinking*

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Filed under: Computer, Gadgets & Internet

Well its been a while since I last updated about my veggie patch project, in fact its been a while since I updated this blog full stop! Time for an update..

If you remember I had some brocolini, bok choy, kailan & peas growing in the veggie patch. The bok choy were a great success and were the first ones to go. The peas were doing great too; we’ve been harvesting and eating them till now. The kailan were a little disappointing but we managed to get a few feeds out of them as well. The most disappointing plants were the brocolini because though they grew big and healthy they tasted very bitter and stringy too! It was a waste of time, money and effort growing those brocolini and they had to go.

So without wasting anymore effort on them I ripped out all the brocolini and some kailan leaving the peas and 2 rows of kailan because they’re still productive which means I have 2/3 of the veggie patch to plant new veggies.

But before I could do that I had to turn the soil over, digging it over and over, loosening up the clumps of soil till it’s friable. Then I added 2 bags of cow manure, handfuls of blood & bone, lime and potash mixing everything up and smoothing up the soil and left it for a week or so before planting.

According to experts I’m supposed to wait a few weeks before planting but I’m a little impatience so on the weekend we went and bought more seedlings. We got more peas since they were doing really well, some round carrots, some Chinese cabbage called wong bok, some mixed Asian greens that included bok choy, silver beet and more wong bok! We also got some coriander and lemon thyme since we use them a lot in the kitchen. I think we overdone it with the purchase, hope I can plant them all in the patch.

Surprisingly most of them fitted nicely in the veggie patch except for the lemon thyme which we decided to grow in a pot. Once they’re all in I gave them a good soaking of water and sprinkle some snail & slug pellets around to protect them from the nasty creatures.

After the planting we got all fired up that we went back to the nursery and bought more veggies like brolini from a different brand that has proven to be of good quality, more bok choy, lettuces and flowering annuals to be planted in individual pots and containers. We can get carried away like that.

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Filed under: Gardening

Let’s together gather sing song first..*music pway*

 Learning Engrish is lots of fun..

Lots of fun, lots of fun..

Learning Engrish is lots of fun..

Learn Engrish with Wuching..

Ladies and Genitalmen, Ah Boy and Ah Girl.. today Cikgu Wuching is going to teech you Engrish ya. As you know hor, to be a good brogger leh you need to have a good command of Engrish so your readers will not laugh at you lah, say you stewpig lah or just not come to your brog anymore lor.

Lesson 1: Shicken

Let’s start with something easy first; this is something we eat almost everyday. We eat it for lunch and dinner and sometimes even after a good night out. Its called the Shicken. So don’t be sakai and say you eat ‘kai’ like normal, next time you say let’s go eat shicken so your frens will be impressed. Funny until today I always thought its called KFC leh. So shame lah I!

Lesson 2: Beauty Checker

Next we move to something more harder, got 2 words this time instead of one. Let’s look at a spesel machine call the Beauty Checker. I have one at home also and I think many of you also have one. Its for checking how beautyful you are each day. So the higher number you get the more beautyful you are that day. I check my beauty everyday and I know some days I more beauty but some days I less beautyful wor. So if you dunwan people to see you when you not beautyful then you must check your beautyfulness before you go out next time okay?

Lesson 3: Happy Drug

We all have days when we feel down and not happy. So what can we do to be happy? Take happy drug lor, can buy wan. I think they got sell in Japan, I wonder if they sell online onot becoz I need happy drug almost everyday when my customers no pay me..like now, I need some happy drug now.

Lesson 4: Nut Club

Okay lets not talk about my unhappyness. Lets be happy, I remember long ago when I was still young and very hensem I used to go to Nut Club every Saturday night no miss wan. Nothing to make me feel happy than a night at the Nut Club with loud music pwaying and plenty of lenglui to stalk at. Sadly nowadays I’m too old to go Nut Club liao, too old and no more hensem liao cannot anymore..I need more happy drug.

Lesson 5: His pistol went off accidentally

Last lesson for today is how to make a whole sentence; “His pistol went off accidentally”. If you are boy then you should know becoz this happen to me quite frequently when I was a young boy. Very inexperienced back then so my pistol always go off accidentally lor. So paiseh lah can die lidat!

Class dismiss.

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Filed under: Humour

Its been 5 weeks since I started planting the veggie seedlings and I think its almost time to harvest the crops. The peas and the brocolinis may take a bit longer to mature but according to the info on the bok choy they should mature in 6 to 7 weeks.

I know its only been 5 weeks but I just can’t wait any longer, just look at them so big and juicy I drool everyday just looking at them! So yesterday I gave in to temptation and decided to have them for dinner.

As you may already know I have 2 types of bok choy growing; white and green stems so I’m going to try one of each to see which one is nicer. I think they should taste almost the same but I was wrong.

Terese did a simple dish with the 2 bok choy by just stir frying them with pieces of pork fillets. Both the white stem and the green stem taste good but we like the white stem better. The green stem sort of have a pepperish taste to it but the white stem is sweet and taste much nicer. We’ll just grow the white stems in the future.

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Filed under: Gardening

Its been 3 weeks since I started the veggie patch project. The idea of using plastic sheets to build a make shift greenhouse is a great one. It keeps the veggies snug and warm during the cold nights but retains heat and humidity during the days. I didn’t have to pay much attention to them coz I know they’re doing well inside the greenhouse.

The bok choy are doing really well, they’re powering along and in another 3 or 4 weeks I reckon we can start harvesting them. But today I found a caterpillar on one of them! Time to spray them with pesticide though I try not to spray. I use Dipel a systemic pesticide that kills the caterpillars when they eat the veggies. Muahahahahaha! *evil laugh*

 The brocolini are doing good also; they’ve grown big since the last time I updated and the kailan I planted almost 2 weeks ago are starting to take off now also though I found a couple of them not doing so great.

Lastly the peas though looking healthy aren’t growing as fast as I like them to grow. Oh well, maybe I’m in a hurry to taste some delicious peas. At least I can start to eat the bok choy soon. Just a couple more weeks to go..

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Filed under: Gardening