20240414 My Right of Way

 No one ever goes to Amcorp Mall except for obvious reasons. You either have an Office there or you're dealing with Toys. Or Collectibles. Or well, vintage stuff. The excuse of going to closed/ now open/ about to close/ and still open A&W doesn't even cut it close.

 When NSK replaced the outgoing Giant, things changed. This, I suppose would attract the weekend crowds apart form the usual suspects. So, my Wife is quite acceptable to going to Amcorp Mall now, because of that. The only issue is the parking, which is located at the front. Not only were the charges steep but there were quite a lot of those guys carrying small black bags and getting you to buy their spray cans.

 So, I showed her another parking area which, despite having a Guard at the Lift Entrance, it is still quite dark. But this is still much better than confronting those spray can guys. However, I am starting to change my mind as we exit the parking area, through the downward winding ramp...

Despite his passenger (girlfriend?) pointing to the 'Exit' sign indicating there are right, the car behind us and I were quite patient. No angry horns nor shouting and eventually, he realised his mistake. We patiently remained on the spot so that he can maneuver safely out of the spiral. Thank goodness both of us were not going too fast and had our headlights on..

I realised what had happened. He obviously had parked in the basement and the only exit is the spiral ramp. In the middle of the ramp, there is an opening on his left (ground level) where he is supposed to get out. But yeah, instead, he continued upwards, where the ramp is now against him. So, if another car followed him, it would be a very difficult stand-off.

The Amosphere

 I can say that the place is almost devoid of people. Maybe it was because I arrived at around half past three in the afternoon where most booths are starting to clean up. But then again, about the booths, there were not many around either. So, I can surmise that most are still in the Hari Raya mood. With the clock ticking, it's time for me to finish my mission as quickly as I can...

I was hoping to catch a friend of mine who has a booth set up but he was nowhere to be found today. So, I decided to visit some shops and man, I was so tempted with this one. These are from Haslab before they cut-off small time loyal dealers, forcing us to deal directly with them.

Next up is this wonderful looking Viper. Since I'm a hurry to meet up with my Wife, I did not ask for the price. Looking at the box, it could be a 1/32 die-cast. OK, just Google it. It s an Eaglemoss and the price is, "Oh my God".

Next stop is V Store Collectibles where they deal mostly with 1/6 figures and 1:18 from Joy Toy.

Do I want it? Yes.
Will I buy it? I dunno, there's no display space where I'm going.

 

All bags must be sealed with a cable tie.
I am not sure about the reasoning from NSK but maybe its to make sure Customers do not put unpaid items into the plastic bags form other shops. So, someone must be doing their job to the letter.
Other places would tie the bags first or make sure other bags are properly locked before putting the cable tie.

A small purchase for the spare parts which I will eventually use.

20240404 My very own Makita

  I now have a Makita (Dark Green). I was hoping for a Hilti (Red) or a Bosch. But I have a Makita. More than a decade ago, that brand made an inroad and to me, it did gather traction alongside Hilti. And most of the contractors at the Site either had a Makita or its knock-off.

 Long ago, after acquiring a used Hilti tool box, I was besotted with their sci-fi like design. Yeah, some were even on sale on eBay but for a very ridiculous price. In all that, the only power tool I had was a Makita Knock-off due to its dark green took box. But today, I have, in my hands, the real thing.

Actually, it's a...

...Cordless screwdriver/ impact drill. It was all the rage back then because of its tremendous torque which got a lot of screwing done instead of by hand. Yeah, contractors value efficiency and thus they always had a cordless screwdriver with them and they would only lend it to you if they liked you.

 So, yeah, we do need one and with my Wife's blessing (and her Lazada account), I got it for a better deal than using my Shopee methods.

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

So far, each batteries took about slightly more than an hour to charge but I will soon know when I exhaust them later on. Lithium ion packs do have some charge in them when it arrives to you. First impression is that it does feel wired maybe because of its rubberised surface. The instructions are pretty generic because it covered other tools without much graphics. Still, having used some in the past, I got things figured out. All except for "1" and "2" at the top which I have no idea what it's supposed to do. It even has a level gauge at the top but I'll have to test this later.

The charger is not your typical power tool charger where you snap the battery pack on. Rather, it was a plug which you plug into the battery pack. You will know your battery is ready when the LED turns from red to green. Still, playing with the battery pack, I have concurred that it is very important not to drop the whole drill. Maybe that is what the wrist strap is for...

The small-ish case is nice with two black plastic locking clasps. But I can foresee that if I used it too often, the folding part of the case will break since it is just thin hollow vac-formed plastic. This is when I would need some metal hinges after I figure out a way to fill in and reinforce the insides first.

It comes with two batteries, a simple charger, some drill bits, the orange thing is for you to screw yourself into corners.

 

20240304 Dat Sponge Thingy

 So, the sponge thingy arrived. Which means over the next week's Hari Raya holidays, I can take down my Bengmobile2's front bumper and began the installation process. Yay.

 Except that it's not going to be.

 The sponge that came was soft. I have not felt the original sponge yet but I do feel that the replacement sponge are too weak. It's as hard as a dish washing sponge.

The Plan

 The whole reason for these sponges were to create a basic box where the aircond condenser's (that looks like a radiator) fan does not pull in the hot air from the engine next to it. All is well but in my mind I was thinking, what if the car was moving at 100km/h or more? The tremendous rush of wind would cause the whole sponge to collapse.

 And so, I have ordered some EVA Foam with 60° (I am not sure what kind of hardness measurement this is) which I hope will be able to withstand the wind buffeting.

 

The only thing I can do with these sponges right now is to use them as cutting template for the coming EVA foam. I intentionally ordered this without the double-sided tapes for reasons unknown. At least, that proved correct.

 

20240401 The one with the Rat issue

 Catching rats is not something I like. I just hate being the chauffeur because it was much kinder to relocate them than ending their lives there and then. Knowing they're pests, many would be killed at the first opportunity. But it is a living animal which is does what they do.

 The only difference is that they do not understand the concept of property, something which we all hold dear to. To them, I presume, its just obstacles preventing them from getting food, or source material for their nests.

The 'Cat' Burglar

 It takes me a few days before the trap was sprung. But in the workplace environment, while I was busy, I tend to forget about it until the next morning or, when I had the opportunity to get some food. Not only that, this little rat is quite smart because despite how sensitive the trap was, it managed to eat the bait. Every time.

 It took me about 2 weeks to catch this little guy after the usual methods with the trap did not work. From adjusting the sensitivity to digging the bait deeper, it failed. So, in the end, I had to rely on the rat's or rats's (assumed) greediness.

Setting the Trap

  So far, there are two rat traps available to my disposal. One is the sticky kind which in theory, can catch more than one but their disposal means death. The other, is more expensive but it will make sure they are still alive. For this instance, I am using the latter.

This is the smaller version but the principle is the same. Despite all the ones I saw on YouTube which catches them in hoards, they do look complicated. Unless the rats are bending metal or chewing through them, this simple cage was always the best.

 And so, it begins

20240318 After placing the trap yesterday, I went for lunch and managed to take back a piece of chicken meat wrapped in some serviette. I put it inside the trap and went on with my Duties. And I totally forgot about until the next morning. This proves the rat or rats are hungry as the tissue was pulled and torn outside the trap.

20240323 I wished I had set up a CCTV to see how this was done. Bear in mind, in this second attempt the piece of chicken meat was about a cubic inch and the serviette was soaking in the oily sauce. Plus, I've forgotten about the trap again.

20240323 On the same day, sometime in the afternoon, I raided the common pantry and got a small little biscuit which I firmly stuck to the metal hook.

20240325 Come Monday, the rats got away. This is the third time the rats won despite my having set the trap to be as sensitive as possible. Plus, there were no debris or objects to stop the trap from closing.

20240325 OK, there's no more food except for the cucumber in the trash. And once again, I have set the trap to be as sensitive as possible. It would trigger even if a rat sneezes (does it?) while inside.

20240326 And in the next morning, the bait was gone. Seriously, I should have gotten some CCTV to record this. It's like they're so good at it, I was thinking, maybe I can catch and train them to rob heavily guarded stuff like we see in the movies.

20240328 So, I decided to go out for Lunch and successfully secured another piece of chicken. And yeah, it's gone the next morning.

20240329 I decided not to go out for lunch since I was not in the mood with these rats. And so, I used some of my sandwich as bait. Bear in mind, it is covered with my own home made chili oil.

20240330 Well, well, well. It even loved my chili oil. I think I am starting to like the rats and I do think they're Malaysians rats.

20240330 Since this is a Saturday, I have another tactic but first, I need to secure some bait and there it is, a piece of the chicken leg. Its just deep fried skin over bone and ligaments.

20240330 This time I moved the trap elsewhere in case the previous spot really affected the triggering. I balanced the trap on the inside edge (which becomes the fulcrum) of this counter and hooked the chicken real deep. One, if the rat pulls the chicken leg, it will spring the trap. And two, if the rat was greedy and went in to the far end trying to get the bait, its weight would make the trap would fall a little, causing some vibrations which would then spring the trap.

20240401 Tadaaa! The small little tyke is caught! Being one of the earliest to the office means the trap is untouched. What I saw is quite scary.
The reason being is that the trap had moved out of its place and if you see the yellow lines, it moved a lot. Either the small rats got angry and shook the cage or, there are other rats trying to free it.

20240401 So, for the next 8 hours, its gonna chill in there, along woth the chicken leg gnawed to the bone. Heck, I can bet that it was caught on Saturday which means, it was unable to feed itself for two days.

20240401 After work, I took it to another place and freed it. In the meantime, the car does smell of its piss and all, but no poop. Sometimes, the ones I caught not only made a mess of the paper but it would pee and crap all over.
One of the guys said they can kill it if I can catch it. So, I caught it, he got cold feet instead.