Sheer panic isn't the best emotion to feel, especially when you don't know how to solve the problem which caused the panic. last night, my computer died before i finished my lab report. after the panic subsided, common sense and signaller training kicked in. in the army, i learnt how to troubleshoot for and identify faulty components. the basic idea is that if you replace components one-by-one with components which have been confirmed to work, the system will work once the faulty component has been switched out. turns out that my computer ran fine once i pulled one piece of RAM out. this leads me to 2 possible conclusions: (1) that bit of RAM's fried. (2) there's a problem with the RAM slot. i'm not too inclined to do any further troubleshooting, less i mess things up irreparably. this means that i'm running on 2gb instead of the usual 4. so far, everything's still working pretty smoothly, though i don't quite dare to play games or run any programs that might tax the computer more than necessary. i'm not hoping for much, but it would really be nice if the rest of my computer held up until my exams ended.
thanks to the circle line, going to school has become SO MUCH MORE convenient! the journey from home to science now takes about 40 minutes, compared to about 1.5 hours before. best thing is, i don't have to fight for a place on crowded 95s and 198s. though it is a little bit more expensive ($1.60 compared to $1.41 to alight at buona vista), the extra 19 cents is well worth the time saved.
with this new development in transport, i'm starting to do calculations for concession again. if i take the train between kent ridge and bishan twice a day, that's $3.20 a day, $12.80 a week (no school on wednesdays), and $51.20 a month. but, if i were to take BTC to botanic gardens MRT for the return trip (not going to school, as it's a little risky), the total would be $2.86, $11.44, and $45.76 respectively. assuming i decided to be hardworking and leave home early to catch BTC to school as well, the figures become $2.52, $10.08, and $40.32. the first 2 choices are more expensive than concession, and getting concession would be a good idea. the only thing i find kind of wasted is that train concession allows 4 free trips a day, while i'll only be making 2 most of the time. if only they could reduce the price and the number of trips...i'd get concession in a heartbeat. i think i'll give concession a try for a month, provided that it's priced less than $45.
i do have some complaints, as well as one negative experience about/on the circle line so far. so the story goes like this. on tuesday, the train was stuck at bishan for about 5 to 10 minutes. normally, i expect the train door to close within 20 to 30 seconds. so, there was a 600% to 3000% increase in waiting time, which sucked. to their credit, SMRT did try to do damage control, by telling us (repeatedly) that "the train service was delayed", and that "it would be running shortly/soon". i don't know about you, but i find that not knowing vital information in times like these REALLY annoys me. for instance, i would like to know the reason for the delay, just to satisfy my own curiosity. but i'm ok even if they don't tell me that. what i'm not ok with is not knowing the exact duration of the delay! "soon" is a very relative word. being done with my lab report "soon" could mean up to half an hour, or even more. if they had announced that the train would be delayed for x minutes, i would have some mental preparation to wait for at least that long, or else make alternative travel arrangements. i personally feel that the way SMRT handled the situation was unsatisfactory. and yet, we're being charged higher fares, a move which was approved by a panel of reviewers. what a joke.
also, i noticed that the circle line trains move slower than their counterparts on the red and green lines. i'm told that the reason for this is because circle line trains are driver-less. seems like technology is taking a step back, no? why not hire train drivers, and create jobs at the same time? i hear it's to cut costs. but should a government-linked firm providing essential public transport services really be looking to maximize profit? i'm not an econs pro, so i'll leave the question open.
one last minus about the circle line. it seems to me that the doors stay open for a longer time at each station, as compared to the red and green lines. or it might be an illusion, because fewer people go through the doors per unit time, thus giving the impression that the door's been open for longer when it actually hasn't. i'll have to time the door-open durations for trains on each of the lines one day. but for now, assuming that i'm right about door-opening lengths of time, i think it's because SMRT wants to get as many people as possible onto the train. hence, the trains stay at the station for a bit longer, in the hopes that people who would have missed a particular train get to jump on at the last minute.
despite all the negative stuff i've said, i'll still end up taking the circle line anyway. simply because the convenience is a major, major plus point. i don't think delays will happen all too often, and even if they do, what are the odds i'll be caught in one based on the times of the day which i go to school? it's a risk worth taking, i guess.
this week has been horrendous. well, not really, in retrospect. going through it felt worse than looking back upon it. on the bright/dark(?) side, next week will be worse. the standard japanese quizzes, an organic spectroscopy test, and viva during lab. not to forget writing lab reports as well. bleh.
thanks to the circle line, going to school has become SO MUCH MORE convenient! the journey from home to science now takes about 40 minutes, compared to about 1.5 hours before. best thing is, i don't have to fight for a place on crowded 95s and 198s. though it is a little bit more expensive ($1.60 compared to $1.41 to alight at buona vista), the extra 19 cents is well worth the time saved.
with this new development in transport, i'm starting to do calculations for concession again. if i take the train between kent ridge and bishan twice a day, that's $3.20 a day, $12.80 a week (no school on wednesdays), and $51.20 a month. but, if i were to take BTC to botanic gardens MRT for the return trip (not going to school, as it's a little risky), the total would be $2.86, $11.44, and $45.76 respectively. assuming i decided to be hardworking and leave home early to catch BTC to school as well, the figures become $2.52, $10.08, and $40.32. the first 2 choices are more expensive than concession, and getting concession would be a good idea. the only thing i find kind of wasted is that train concession allows 4 free trips a day, while i'll only be making 2 most of the time. if only they could reduce the price and the number of trips...i'd get concession in a heartbeat. i think i'll give concession a try for a month, provided that it's priced less than $45.
i do have some complaints, as well as one negative experience about/on the circle line so far. so the story goes like this. on tuesday, the train was stuck at bishan for about 5 to 10 minutes. normally, i expect the train door to close within 20 to 30 seconds. so, there was a 600% to 3000% increase in waiting time, which sucked. to their credit, SMRT did try to do damage control, by telling us (repeatedly) that "the train service was delayed", and that "it would be running shortly/soon". i don't know about you, but i find that not knowing vital information in times like these REALLY annoys me. for instance, i would like to know the reason for the delay, just to satisfy my own curiosity. but i'm ok even if they don't tell me that. what i'm not ok with is not knowing the exact duration of the delay! "soon" is a very relative word. being done with my lab report "soon" could mean up to half an hour, or even more. if they had announced that the train would be delayed for x minutes, i would have some mental preparation to wait for at least that long, or else make alternative travel arrangements. i personally feel that the way SMRT handled the situation was unsatisfactory. and yet, we're being charged higher fares, a move which was approved by a panel of reviewers. what a joke.
also, i noticed that the circle line trains move slower than their counterparts on the red and green lines. i'm told that the reason for this is because circle line trains are driver-less. seems like technology is taking a step back, no? why not hire train drivers, and create jobs at the same time? i hear it's to cut costs. but should a government-linked firm providing essential public transport services really be looking to maximize profit? i'm not an econs pro, so i'll leave the question open.
one last minus about the circle line. it seems to me that the doors stay open for a longer time at each station, as compared to the red and green lines. or it might be an illusion, because fewer people go through the doors per unit time, thus giving the impression that the door's been open for longer when it actually hasn't. i'll have to time the door-open durations for trains on each of the lines one day. but for now, assuming that i'm right about door-opening lengths of time, i think it's because SMRT wants to get as many people as possible onto the train. hence, the trains stay at the station for a bit longer, in the hopes that people who would have missed a particular train get to jump on at the last minute.
despite all the negative stuff i've said, i'll still end up taking the circle line anyway. simply because the convenience is a major, major plus point. i don't think delays will happen all too often, and even if they do, what are the odds i'll be caught in one based on the times of the day which i go to school? it's a risk worth taking, i guess.
this week has been horrendous. well, not really, in retrospect. going through it felt worse than looking back upon it. on the bright/dark(?) side, next week will be worse. the standard japanese quizzes, an organic spectroscopy test, and viva during lab. not to forget writing lab reports as well. bleh.
-random thought of the day: If any chemists are reading, please visit this blog.-
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