Bad Yahoo! /smack

A few friends and regular visitors to our blog hosted on Yahoo here have remarked that there’s been a few database connectivity issues with the site over the last 2-3 days now. I haven’t quite figured out what’s causing those problems yet, as the problems seem pretty intermittent. Tried repairing the MYSQL database a few times but the site still see-saws around. So, do bear with me while I try to iron them all out. If things still don’t work properly, I’ll redirect the blog to the backup site instead.

We spent that once in a blue moon day of days yesterday, 8th August 2008 or 08 08 08, quite out of home for most of it. Ling had a National Day celebrations in school, after which we both headed downtown to look for the Thinktank Bazooka. We spent most of the afternoon going from shop to shop in the Raffles City area looking for the thing.

The shop—TK Foto at Shaw Towers—which normally brings this in had run out of stock for it, while Cathay Photo at Peninsula Plaza carries Manfrotto bags instead. The padded Manfrotto bags were crazily expensive, so at the back of my head I’d decided to buy the unpadded ones at $55 if I couldn’t find another shop that carries the Bazooka. The fellow at Alan Photo quoted a price for the Manfrotto unpadded bag that was way more than the price that Cathay Photo asked for.

So, I was resigned to the $55 Manfro but on our way out of Funan, swung by the small but still very well-regarded camera shop John 3:16. And lo behold, they had the Bazook right there for an asking of $83, which is also about right for this item.

One purchase later, even Ling was impressed with it. She remarked that with the tripod’s stuffed inside this bag and slung on my shoulder, she can see why a photography enthusiast with a similar bag has been stopped by Park Rangers at Lower Pierce Reservoir before; I do look like I’m carrying a dangerous weapon. Swung up and resting on my shoulder it really does like like a Bazooka too.:)

In any case, we went back up to Challenger on the top floor to pick up a replacement laptop bag for my NEC (the current cheapo one that came with it was ripping on the seams), then headed back home to clean up the house for movie night with Ann and Priscilla of our small group, with the selected title of the night “that rat show” i.e. Ratatouille. I’ve already seen the movie on disc at least 6-7 times now, but Ling is still fascinated with the show and could stay awake. Ditto for Ann and Priscilla, who were squealing with delight from scene to scene.:)

Me, I was too zonked out, so sneaked off to the bedroom and crashed face down into the bed Zzzzing.:)