Entries from August 2007 ↓

Recently we bought a simple gadget known as Kill-A-Watt. I have seen this item being listed on sale since last year on several online retailers. I was very curious about what it does and pretty much tempted in purchasing one. However, I never did (back then)…Daphne probably gonna start grumbling about how I waste my money and all that (not that I really listen :P..I do sometimes, perhaps most of the time..). Anyway, last month we saw this item on sale again and she asked me what it does. So I go on telling her how this small gadget works and guess what, she say go ahead and buy it! Of course, there was a reason behind it. Our energy bill was high! Pretty much about $90-$100/mth while both of us were out working. No appliances were turned on, well except for our computers..haha…I have this habit of leaving the PC turned on for the convenience (so that I can start checking my mail and browse the web after I got up from bed..no wait time for it to startup! Save time man..)

So what does Kill-A-Watt does to save us money? Well..it does nothing…nothing productive but providing some basic information about how much electricity our appliances is using. We paid $17 for this…yupz..$17 for something that doesn’t look worth that much at all!….These things retail for about over $20 elsewhere so $17 was pretty much a steal…well..for some. So what do we know now? We found out that our air conditioning unit was using 1 KWh every hour. My computer is currently using 1KWh every 4 hours. Per our energy billing scheme which includes energy charge, delivery charge and taxes, it came out to be $0.40 per 1KWh used. So $0.40 every 4 hour…no big deal man….not much….so we thought!

What is our conclusion? Running our PC 24hr a day used up about 6KWh, which is equivalent to $2.40 per day, which brings us to $72 per month!!! (30 days). I was like WTF…..oh well…we started turning off our PC when we leave home and only have it turned on whenever we need it. So why is my computer sucking up $72 per month?! So all the appliances including Daphne’s PC is using $20-30 worth of energy! Guess it was a bad idea to have too many peripherals w/ a huge power supply hooked up to your rig. So there you are…source of our power sucker….. Due to the heat of summer, we have had no choice but to blast our AC for a couple hours everyday..so our energy usage stays pretty much the same as before. At least we don’t have to sweat ourself when we’re suppose to be chilling!…Here ya go..my power sucker.

It’s been a busy day and a lil hectic as well. I guess, due to the stressful situation, all I could think of is vacation!. So again I thought, where should we visit this time. As usual, most of these places we’ve been to when we (me and Daphne) had this awesome roadtrip back in Summer 2002. This was the best trip ever so far. I felt adventurous travelling from Buffalo,NY to Los Angeles,CA and back. If you ask me if we will ever do this again? HELL NO! Guess we just got older and thinking about the time spent travelling just got me off the hook. It was fun, no doubt about it and I am very glad we did it. Many said we were crazy and some were amused as well The whole trip took us about 2 weeks plus. I don’t exactly remember the details. Our major stops includes…. Continue reading →

Alright, seems like Daphne is having a depression due to boredom therefore, she haven’t been writing lately. To all you girls/ladies out there that think of quitting your job just so you can relax, plan a wedding etc….think twice, thrice or fries….cause Daphne have done none of it..LOL.. There’s some good stuff too while Daphne stayed home since I no longer have to do the laundry, dishes and filling up the Brita jug… I hate laundry..ugh..

Daphne is leaving tonight back to Malaysia for a long vacation. I’ll be bored I guess…nobody to welcome me home when I am back from work, no home cook dinner…aiya….No fear, I’ve plan some stuff that I could do while Daphne is away, since I no longer obligated to sit right next to her everyday and be around her every minute (for the next couple months)… Should I be happy since I will get some freedom? LOL… I am partially happy since I am free and yet I would be bored as Daphne’s presence has been a part of my life for a long time now.

So what I would be doing while Daphne’s away? Stuff that I’ve always wanted to do:
1. Detailing my car - wash, clay, polish, glaze, seal and wax
2. Photography - Gotta learn how to shoot some nice pix.
3. Programming - Do some fun stuff maybe…

Ok, activity #1, I guess there’s no way I can do all that considering I live in an apartment and access to outside water supply is practically NONE, thus no washing, claying, polishing or glaze..LOL.. Bought some Meguiar’s detailing supplies but so far I have only been able to quick detail with the Ultimate Quick Detailer (UQD) and wax with the NXT Tech Wax. So far, I have 3 coats of waxes on and soon I’ll try to top it off with some pure Deep Crystal Pure Carnauba Wax. Got kinda ripped off getting the carnauba wax, paid $7.99 when it is retailed at $5.49..damn it. Gonna try return it if I can find it cheaper somewhere else. I am too anal to have the car wash at a drive thru carwash…they suck.. A low light shot of the car w/ my new Canon SLR.

Next, activity #2, Photography…..always have been looking forward to own an SLR, so finally bought an entry level Canon Rebel XTi last week. Got an extra lens (non USM) which was recommended by some that I’ve read from some photography forums. Below is a sample shot of my wife…..just gotten us some 100F Starbux coffee in a 85F day…:(

Finally, activity #3, Programming. So far, I haven’t thought of anything Any ideas? Stay tune. Getting back to work. I’ll post more when I am back. Will be dropping Daphne off the airport tonight.