MERRY CHRISTMAS! Who wants me to get the 2010 version of this calendar? :D

Poo nugget for this weekend: The Ritual Poo - The Ritual Poo occurs at the same time each day. Due to the clockwork nature of this poo, you can prepare by having a newspaper ready and your favorite bathroom location scoped out ahead of time. The regularity of these poos may provide comfort in an otherwise unpredictable world. Synonyms: Rite of Passage, Palm Poo, Calendar Crap.

Poo nugget for Monday, December 21: Johnny and the John - The Great Toilet Paper Scare was triggered on December 19, 1973. Late-night comedian Johnny Carson joked about an impending toilet paper shortage in the United States. This announcement in front of millions of television viewers caused massive hoarding of toilet paper, depleting supermarket inventory for a period of three and a half weeks.

Poo nugget for Tuesday, December 22: Doo You Know? - Doo-Doos and Don'ts of Hiking Etiquette - The incredible popularity of hiking and climbing has made waste disposal a big topic for outdoor recreationists and organizations. In 1990, Hikers Against Doo-Doo was founded. It is an international organization dedicated to keeping human and animal excrement off mountain paths around the world. The group claimed a thousand members as of 1994, and attracted nineteen people to its 1993 International Congress in Moscow.

Poo nugget for Wednesday, December 23: Bidet Backpack - Looking for the soothing comfort and thorough cleanup of a bidet while you're on the go? The Phess traveling bidet system includes a spray wand and container with manual pump that allows you to perform your post-number-two cleanup virtually anywhere. Touted as hygienic and environmentally friendly, this "misty mate" adds moistness to the cleanup process and reduces toilet paper use.

Poo nugget for Thursday, December 24: Dr. Stool Says - Rapunzel Syndrome - This rare condition occurs when patients who compulsively eat hair form a trichobezoar, an indigestible bolus of hair particles in the stomach and small intestine. Patients can develop abdominal pain and vomiting if this hair ball causes intestinal obstruction. As humans lack the ability to digest these particles, surgery is the only treatment option.

Poo nugget for Friday, December 25: Gift Poo - Surprise! - A Gift Poo is a dump that someone left behind in a toilet without flushing. They come in all shapes and sizes, and are most prevalent in public restrooms and fraternity houses. These gifts are sometimes left as trophies to anonymously show off accomplishments, sometimes as pranks, or occasionally as absentminded accidents - often resulting from multitaskers trying to talk on the cell phone, and wanting to avoid the flush that gives them away. The origins of these poos may remain a mystery, but they can linger anywhere from minutes to days, depending on when the gift is first seen or smelled.

I need to make sugar cookies and gingersnaps -- QUICKLY -- for Christmas Eve.

I have a great recipe and all the ingredients, however the recipes call for "all purpose flour". Just realized that I don't have any all purpose flour!!

I have whole wheat flour, white rice flour, and brown rice flour.

Will whole wheat flour do the trick? Please let me know!

EDIT: i got AP flour, thanks so much for the comments... I would have used whole wheat and ruined my cookies! Thanks

This photo was found in a box full of my Mother's photos that she took while traveling abroad with my Pop when she was in her early 20s. I found it while trying to organise her photo albums. She has double prints of this entire roll of film but has no idea who this man is and doesnt remember taking the photo. Her theory is that he is a train conductor that was on one of their trains while traveling around London. I love his expression and the fact that without context or indentification the image becomes very mysterious.
The flare on the right hand side is on the photo, and makes me think that perhaps she took this while winding the new roll onto her camera. I love the curved corners of this photo. I keep it tacked to the side of my computer and look at it regularly.
Circa 1988.

Hey Everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone had any good gluten-free cake/cupcake receipes? I have been wanting to try make some for a while and I have a few friends that are gluten-free and I want to bake for them :3

Read here: EZ-Reload issue--


I emailed PTC to get an response on the following:
1. a) why was the change of EZ-Link card necessary?
-- b) why not phased out like cashcards, with free exchanges up till each card's expiration date?
-- c) how much did EZ-Link "earn" from the confiscation of deposit?
-- d) wasn't old EZ-Link card supposed to pay for itself over time? Why bother with change?

2. a) what their thoughts are on poor implementation of GIRO facility?
-- b) how could auto top-ups be chargeable?
-- c) why is EZ-Link profiting from this? and why is it approved? (repeated question)
-- d) is EZ-Link profiting further from similar credit card links?

3. crowd should be moved along (remember MRT bomb scares?), and outside of complaints of SMRT re: the efficiency of moving crowds along, shouldn't automatic top-ups be encouraged to reduce queuing? See: long queue with confused tourists at machines near Orchard Ion exit.


Their response:

Dear XXXXXX,

Thank you for your email to the Public Transport Council (PTC) on 18 Dec 09.

Allow us to briefly explain that the intention of introducing the new Contactless e-Purse Application (CEPAS) open standard by IDA is to give consumers the convenience of having a single card for making transit, motoring and retail payments instead of having multiple cards for different purposes. It will also encourage competition by facilitating the market entry of more card issuers and provide more choices for commuters. For further details on the adoption of this CEPAS standard in transit payment, you may wish to visit:

CEPAS e-Payments - http://www.ida.gov.sg/News%20and%20Events/20050714100041.aspx?getPagetype=21
New E-Payment System and Next Generation Card for Public Transit - http://app.lta.gov.sg/corp_press_content.asp?start=1990

As you have rightly mentioned, Transit Link used to provide automatic GIRO top-ups at no charge to commuters. This was not because the top-ups were free, but because the cost of top-ups was absorbed by Transit Link which is jointly owned by the two public transport operators – SMRT and SBS Transit. Such an arrangement was commercially viable for Transit Link because the old cards were mainly used on board buses and trains. Going forward, the new CEPAS-compliant cards by intent can also be used in private vehicles for ERP, retail shops, libraries and many other places which are not related to public transport. EZ-Reload by GIRO is an extra form of value-added service introduced by EZ-Link Pte Ltd for the convenience of adult ez-link cardholders who want to avoid the hassle of topping-up their cards.

Having said that, PTC's role is to ensure that basic "free" electronic top-up channels will continue to be available within transit areas. This is so that the majority of commuters can continue to access such "free" top-up channels to electronically top-up their cards. Records show that more than 90% of the daily top-up volume is done though such top-up points. This safeguarding of basic service provision applies to all transit cards. Therefore, commuters who do not wish to take up any extra value-added services offered by card issuers will still be assured of free top-up of their cards at conveniently located General Ticketing Machines and Passenger Service Counters at all MRT/LRT stations, Add-Value Machines and ticket offices at MRT stations, major bus interchanges, etc.

We hope the above clarifies.

Here's wishing you a Merry Christmas.

XXXXXXXXX
for Secretary
Public Transport Council

Quite a decent reply that actually makes sense! Which is making me super irritated. Also, there are still some unanswered questions.

In summary:
- there will be increased profits posted by SMRT and SBS Transit next year because they no longer have to suffer from burden of these 'administrative fees'
- EZ-Link was earning money from the start from these automatic top-ups
- PTC's role stops before premium services, which means this concerns them not (????)


I still think this entire thing very shady. First, the person quoted more than 90% topping up through normal channels, but did not clarify if this was before EZ-Reload came along. It would be more accurate if they provide two figures as comparison, and not in percents (we can safely assume the new cards are from relatively active users; while there should still be many old cards out there which would greatly decrease the percentage of active users who used auto top-up previously).

I also don't know how many people got the new EZ-Link card as a direct replacement for their cash cards (which is very much alive), but I wouldn't feel safe purchasing things off an automatic-topped up card when I already have a NETS card. There is a policy which protects the cardholder which is all good, but we have no idea how easy this would turn out to be. It might be very easy, but let's cast doubt since it's new.

--

I'm super slow but I googled Octopus Cards (Hong Kong) to see what other first-class transport services have to offer regarding automatic top-ups, and GUESS WHAT?? The facility is named 'Reload'. Talk about creativity. :\

The cards can also be used at retail outlets, but there is no fee. NONE (except when changing banks where top-ups occur).

And I'm super duper slow but Today has addressed whatever I just typed above with no recourse.


I really don't think it is a fair trade-off, mainly because I'm one of those who used automatic top-up previously. What do you think?

Hello all,

If you're free on the evening of the 29th, head down to Post-Museum and listen to five speakers provide a sectoral round-up of the developments within their community. They will be speaking about:

• historian Loh Kah Sengt: the changing manner young Singaporeans are reading history,
• research fellow/playwright Tan Tarn How: debate and its nature in the non-public sphere
• Arts NMP Audrey Wong: the recent activism within the arts community,
• Coordinator of MARUAH Braema Mathi: human rights development and priorities in Singapore and Asia,
• Vice President of Singapore Society of Finance Professionals Leong Sze Hian: finance and the economy

There will be a break-out discussion sessions with the individual speakers after the presentation, with a special session with members invited from the youth wings of political parties.

The event is jointly organized by The Online Citizen and Talk Politics All Night.



The Facebook event page is here If you wish to attend or have any further queries. For directions to Post-Museum, gothere.sg/directions#109%20Rowell%20Rd

I'd like to bring a fruit salad to a brunch potluck on Boxing day, and was considering adding a splash of Grand Marnier. I'll be making it the day before, and depending on what I find in the grocery store tonight, I want to throw in some pineapple, blueberries, bananas, strawberries, tangerines, and kiwi. Is that enough acidity to stop the bananas from browning? Will that curdle the Grand Marnier? Does it curdle? Or is there another liqueur that might work as well or better?

What is a good substitute for quark cheese? Wiki link here

I'm using a recipe that requires quark (creamy kind) and here it is very easy to obtain. However, I know it's not common at all in several other countries and I like to give advice/suggestions when I translate recipes so it'd be nice to know if anyone know a good substitute. I tried googling but didn't find that good answers.

The main use of the quark in bread is to make bakery bread rather soft. Whenever I don't use it in the dough, the end-result works but the bread (not the butter and cheese bread but the bakery/sweet/pastry kind that still require yeast though) becomes more dry.

Hi everyone,
I have this recipe for Beef Stew (under the cut) and I need alternate ideas/instructions for thickening because I think if I purchased a box of tapioca, it would end up going to waste. Plus my husband does not like tapioca (I think he's grossed out by the creamy pearls of goodness) and if he detects it in the stew, he probably won't eat the stew.
( Lesley's Easy Beef Stew )



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Now playing: Keenan Wynn / Mickey Rooney - Put One Foot In Front Of The Other
via FoxyTunes    

Does anyone know of a way to use freezer burned vegetables? If I put them into a stew in the crock pot will that make them edible? I have about 3-4 bags of different vegetables that are freezer burned and I hate to just throw them away.