Benign Trivialities

Call it what you will--1st world problems, benign trivialities, minor irritations--but they are still anger-inducing and cause great distress. My car got reared into by a Malaysian cab driver when I took my in-laws to JB. I experienced terrible customer service from an electronics store that gave me wrong labels for free gifts and wouldn't pick up my calls, and I couldn't do anything at the redemption center, which was a 20-minute drive away from home. I have numerous defects in my new home that require laborers to come in and rectify.

And of course, with a new home, comes all the relevant paper work to keep the machine running. Bills, taxes, groceries, insurance, conservancy charges keep coming at me. Unpaid (and yet unclaimed) expenses from the renovation come back to haunt me.

"This is nothing, you're being soft."

This, and a night of worship coming up on Saturday, with no time to practice because I have papers to submit, which I have no time to write because I'm handling all this nonsense. And the noise from renovation in the units that surround mine.

I happened to glance at an Instagram feed of an "internet guitar star". Yes, power chords and sloppy lead guitar playing can get you multiple endorsements, a towering 3-storey house, a wife and 3 kids.

Lord, this is so unfair.

At least, that's what my heart is crying out. But I know that for every trivial rant I put up here, there are a thousand legitimate problems people go through that are unnoticed, and they're genuinely struggling. Yes, I know. It's unfair that I get to rant about "1st-world problems".

Lord, help calm my anger with the Holy Spirit's presence. Transform my anger into thanksgiving and praise.

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My Experience with a SingTel Customer Service Officer

If my tone comes across as "the upright, uptight customer", it's probably because there's immense frustration stemming from the recent update of the SingTel app on my phone that keeps crashing.

I don't usually update apps for fear of buggy performance. Well, the SingTel app started crashing on the old version, so I felt like I had no choice but to update to the current 6.4.1. It STILL kept crashing after updating. When it wasn't crashing, there'd be the perpetual spinning circle of doom--so I thought that if I left the app to load, it would eventually load properly.

Nope, it still refused to work. So I have left the phone and the app on to load trying to get it to work on numerous occasions. Lo and behold, I get the warning message AND the notice of data usage within a short period of time. I'm a moderate data user, clocking in 2.5GB per month (with a 3.5GB plan as buffer), so it came as a surprise when my data usage exceeded the cap this month.

I'll let the screenshots speak for themselves.

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Why Like That: Ok, So How Else Do You Study Hebrew?

I was searching for guides to using my Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew lexicon, and stumbled across these videos discouraging its use:

That may very well be that the authors and editors of the lexicon do not share the same vision of biblical inerrancy, and that they hold on to ecumenism to bridge the gap between Catholics and Protestants, but are they really in gross error and in the grip of Satan? Really?

I'm very wary of people who are so quick to paint in broad strokes. How else would you learn and study Hebrew? Do you know every single Hebrew word in the Old Testament?

Hebrew is a beautiful language, but for an English-speaking, non-native learner of the language, it is virtually impossible to figure it out without help. And that's precisely what BDB is, a tool that helps and assists you. You can't encode a lexicon with your views on inerrancy or ecumenism.

Why like that!?

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Tech Talk: How to Disable Default Driver Search on Windows Update (Windows 7)

By default, Windows 7 will search for drivers on Windows Update first before searching any pre-configured drivers on your system. This becomes painfully slow at times, and it's especially frustrating if all you're doing is changing which USB port you'd like to plug your mouse in. Fortunately, there is a way to change the order in which Windows 7 attempts to find drivers:

1. Search for "advanced system settings" and select "hardware".

2. In the "hardware" sub-menu, select "device installation settings".



3. Select "no, let me choose what to do" and select "install driver software from Windows Update if it is not found on my computer".

This will ensure that Windows will search Windows Update last, and trust me, it's a lot faster to get things done!

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At Wong Chiew

I was standing at the front of the counter, waiting for someone to take notice that I haven't placed my order. A server came up to me after 5 minutes.

Server: Are you here to order?

Me: Oh me? Of course not, I'm here to admire the fine art of beheading a duck.

Fret not, I didn't actually say that, but I very nearly did, especially after her condescending tone.

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Why Like That!? Episode 2

Multi-storey carparks are difficult to park in; they're tight, they're congested, and they need quick hands to navigate the bends around corners to reach the next level in a bid to find an available lot.

I can understand the level of agitation one may feel at the end of the process, but that's not an excuse to be inconsiderate to other drivers:

I may not know the circumstances behind the driver deciding to make such a hasty parking, which may be legitly urgent, but I think spending 30 seconds more to park properly wouldn't make a difference to the situation, would it?

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Why Like That!? Episode 1

A brand new segment of this blog to commemorate the moments that make us drivers go, "Why like that!?"

For this inaugural post, I present to you a parking specimen:

I hope my tone of exasperation is warranted when I say that this guy is too far from the kerb! Private estates have narrow roads to begin with, so it is imperative to park as close to the kerb as possible, not just for other road users to pass, but also for the behemothal rubbish truck to safely pass through the estate when it makes its rounds in the morning. If the truck comes across a bottle neck (caused by, for example, the above), it will not risk scratching the car and give the houses after a miss.

In my book, that's incredibly inconsiderate.

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