Ariston Water Heater Tank Leaking

When I reached home at almost 9 pm on Thursday, I found water was leaking from the pipes leading to the water heater. Based on the amount of water accumulated in the tub underneath the leaking pipes, the leakage had thankfully started not too long ago.

I turned off the water supply leading to the water heater but it was still leaking. At that moment it didn’t occur to me that this was expected as there was still water in the heater. I called my plumber and told him it was an emergency and he came promptly half an hour later.

Well his diagnosis was that the water heater was spoilt and needed to be changed. Spoilt to me meant the water couldn’t be heated up as was the previous case. I was surprised to learn that when a water heater is spoilt it could leak. This got me to immediate make a mental note to myself that if my family and I were to take a holiday trip, one extra thing to do is to turn off the water supply to the water heater in case it gets spoilt during our absence.

My water heater was purchased in February 2005 and there was a possibility that it was still within the warranty period if mine was five years. A call to the Service Center revealed that mine was under a four-year warranty and thus had expired. The Customer Service Officer told me that those made in China carries a warranty of three years, whilst those made in Vietnam, four years and those made in Italy, five years.

Told my plumber yesterday morning to replace the water heater for me, which he will do so later this afternoon.

Thank God for his promptness as I have already took four unpleasant cold showers.

Warm water open up your pores which will make cleansing more effective. Towards the end of your shower, you should reduce the temperature of the water progressively to a comfortable level so that the pores can be closed after showering.

Autobot Stronghold Wish List

Having discussed with my cousin, her husband and her 8-year old son, who introduced me to the game, we came up with this Wish List. This is a list of things we thought might increase the “fun factor” of the game.

We are no expert in flash games and not aware of the design and play limitations, if any, such games might have compared to a “full pledge” video game. As such our suggestions are mainly focused on game play.

1. More Autobots – there are currently only five

2. More Decepticons – there are currently only six

3. More Waves – there are currently only fifty

4. Have different terrains/courses/layouts/tower designs (maps) to choose from – currently only one layout

5. Possibility of combining points (1), (2) and (4) together; that is with each different map, different Autobots are available and different Decepticons will appear.

6. Option to be the “bad guy”, that is the ability to deploy Decepticons against the Autobots instead of the current single mode of just deploying Autobots against the Decepticons.

7. Two-player mode: one player to deploy the Autobots and the other player, the Decepticons.

Do you have any others?

Notes to My Mother (a dementia patient) by Gan See Siong

"Now I find you where I left you" - Diane Ackerman

1

Each visit I find you where I left you
We haven't moved
Yet I am winded from the battle
You do not wish to
We do not wish you to
Do not wish to
Really do
Beside you
I think I heard a hurricane beating behind closed doors
I felt my bruises the entire length of each stay
Your speech, manner and mien
Where are they?

2

I have no key to your door;
I tread the fragile catwalk between your lucidity and hallucination.
It's hard to notice when the door is ajar
When it's only a few heartbeats wide
I hold you as you listen and speak
Fully present, yet wholly mind-roaming.
Tomorrow we will speak again
I will find you where I left you.

3

If words anchor thought
I will gather enough of them
To build a mind bridge towards you
Wishing it will span the angry swirls
Of water churning beneath.
But like Hope's slippery pontoon, my words fall apart
Leaving me in a wet and remembered now.



See Siong wrote this poem in August 2009. This poem was published in the latest issue (Vol. 8 No. 4 Oct 2009) of the Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, the lnternet literary journal of Singapore.

As See Siong is a friend of mine, this poem is more poignant to all of us who are aware of his mother’s condition.

His other poem in the QLRS, Words, can be found here.

The Cockpit?

What goes on inside the cockpit, most will not know. It is well secured.

Whenever a pilot wants to use the toilet, a senior flight attendant has to secure one, and then signal to the pilot to come out. Out he comes quickly and the cockpit door is immediately closed. In he goes inside the toilet swiftly and promptly, as if he has been holding for a long time, whilst the flight attendant stands guard outside his cubicle and the cockpit. When he is done, he swiftly and promptly goes back into the cockpit. Almost the same procedures apply when meals are served to the pilots in the cockpit.

Before it became a rule not to open the cockpit door to non-crew members, decades ago, and well before 911, there were instances when the pilots might invite a person or two to go inside the cockpit to have a look.

And here is a true, albeit funny, encounter by my friend’s sister; yes, two decades ago.

She was waiting for her flight at the airport and a pilot walked by. He made a pass at her and asked her whether she wanted to go to the cockpit. Whilst she was pleased she was also wary as she wondered why the pilot wanted her to go to the Cockpit Hotel.

Side note: The Cockpit Hotel, in Penang Road, was completed in 1972 but razed down in 2002 to make way for a commercial cum residential project.

Talking about air travel always reminds of this encounter by a former SIA stewardess (not the one in Perth now).

She was going about to clear the food trays. She asked the passenger, “Sir, are you finished?” The passenger responded, “No, I am British.”

Pilots have the lives of the crew and passengers in their hands literally. If they goofed up not only those on board are in danger, those in the vicinity of where the plane might hit or land are also in danger. As such, no sympathy for pilots whose licences are revoked because of safety violation.