THE LOCKDOWN CHRONICLES

 

While we are still in the middle of the pandemic, I expect that we are looking back in five years, saying “Wow, what weird times that were!” Talking to friends, business partners, family and complete strangers, I realise that there are loads of awesome stories that each person has to tell about how they experienced the Covid-19 pandemic.

I know of people that had to wait almost a year to see their new-born child. Others had to postpone flights back home the last minute as they tested positive for Covid. During the lockdown, clueless husbands wandered the empty isles of supermarkets, trying to get the right packet of some bizarre noodle for the family hiding at home. All these fragments need to be preserved. I would hate to see how we lose all these awesome stories about how people had role-play dinners at home or ran a marathon in their homes.

Please send me YOUR story from the lockdown. It can be anything. An account of one day, a month, a sad occurrence, although I rather much want the fun stuff. How did you prepare for the weeks locked up at home. The wild things that you did in order to make it through this unique period of time. I would want to collate these stories, edit and eventually publish them as a collection of “The Lockdown Chronicles”. Anything goes: short or long stories, work related or purely at home or how you perceived the rise of Zoom. I am sure it will be an amazing read. And while I am based in Malaysia, it could be from anywhere in the world. I am not looking for print-perfect language, but YOUR story; how you felt and went about things.

Send your text in any editable format to chronicles@launchpad.com.my

Thanks for your contribution!

No worries (mate)!

 

Actually, I feel very safe in Malaysia. In some parts more than in others, but generally.... Safe. 

Go home tree, you are drunk!

 Well, 7:00 and still hanging around outside. During my party days, we would not allow this to happen. After a night out, we would still go to work, on time, all the time. there is no excuse! What is this Arbor thinking!

Of course we called the nursery to have him put back in his place....

Too Young to what?

I won't discuss the morality of sugar-daddy / sugar-baby dating apps or whether one man needs more than one partner etc. I have an issue with this:

Most sugar babies are known to be students in their late teens or early 20s who are at a stage where the prefrontal cortex of their brain has still not fully matured. This is the part of the brain that enables an individual to solve problems, control their emotions, understand themselves and make decisions with regard to moral and ethical issues.

AND WE LET THEM VOTE IN ELECTIONS?

https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/living/2021/04/02/sugar-dating-leaves-psychological-scars-on-former-sugar-babies 

They Usually Ruin It!

 

Why You Asking?

 

I like to give feedback. Did you know that I am a "Google Local Guide"? Yeah, cos I like to give constructive feedback. Especially, when the place / service / product is one that I really like. Maybe it helps someone else to make a better decision. 

This blog is weird though. It is asking me for feedback as the first thing that I will see when I log on. Well, how would I know without having had the chance to experience it. Needless to say that this is not going to pop up again later on. I would have to come back. But... Ah, never mind. 

Kinda like the same as the packaging for the steaks I buy at the local supermarket: the packaging is fashioned in a way that you could peel off a corner and then tear away the clear foil. Never works. All it does it that the little bit you manage to lift off rips, revealing plastic edges that are as sharp as shark teeth. And that thing bites. You get your steak bloody, but it is your blood on it.

Which makes you wonder: Doesn't the owner / maker of this ever try it him / herself, thinking, "Uh, that don't work as we thought and maybe we need to amend this?"

Socar the next debacle?

 

Whenever I went to Singapore on business, they where everywhere. Even in the most remote places. ofo bikes. And I really, really liked the idea. Just to remember, here is what Wikipedia says about them: ofo, was a Beijing-based bicycle sharing company founded in 2014. It used a dockless system with a smartphone app to unlock and locate nearby bicycles, charging an hourly rate for use.

In 2017, it had deployed over 10 million bicycles in 250 cities and 20 countries. The company was valued at up to $2 billion and had over 62.7 million monthly active users.

In 2018, Ofo announced massive reduction in operations, including withdrawing from most US cities and from several entire countries. By 2020, facing a large amount of unpayable debt, the company was no longer operating bike rentals.

While I liked the idea, I never used any of the bikes. For one, the idea of cycling to an appointment was met with a mental image of me being all sweaty. Better to sit in a taxi. As I have been in a state of panic for the last 20 years, never any money on the credit card, which would have been required to ride the ofo bikes. Add to that the fact that I am usually running around with a phone that has no credit to use data. That is on a good day when I have the battery charged. 

Picture shown here was taken in our compound where I stay now. I was planning for this post for a while, but I was in no hurry, seeing how this vehicle isn't going anywhere. It has been at least 9 weeks since the tyre subimitted itself to the sad state it is in now. 

Note how the car is SUPER-Clean? Yeah, that is because every 2 weeks 2 chaps come and give it a rinse, polish and dusting off. However, I would be sure that the battery is dead by now. My next guess is that the tyre will be changed one fine day and then it is another eternity until someone swaps / charges the battery. Meanwhile, other systems will have issues. Nothing worse than a vehicle that ain't moving about.

Here I am now, thinking: what a great idea, but how is this going to be successful when an asset just sits there and is not only depreciating, but also at risk of damage... Hopefully, these cars will not end up like the yellow ofos that were carted off by the truck load.