Have I ever told you about batteries? Of course, we don’t need to discuss their usefulness here, as everyone knows that life is hardly possible without them in this day and age. That, however, doesn’t mean that that makes their life possibly lasting longer. Not at all. And surely not here where I live. In fact, the life expectancy of batteries are just as unreliable as you could imagine. Let me give you a recent example: I was buying an appliance that works with the help of batteries. And on the box of that appliance it tells you clearly that with proper use, a battery will last two years before it needs to be switched out. Well, did I think when I bought that appliance, make that a couple of months instead, and then we’re getting closer to reality. Little did I know that I was wrong. Dead wrong. For it didn’t take two years; neither did it take a couple of months. Within one month after I’d bought the appliance, it stopped working because …

Something dreadful has happened to me! My friend, Little Heater, who used to be indispensable for me during winter in the last couple of years has abandoned me. Just like that! No, it didn’t give up its spirits, or just quit its services. It just flat out abandoned me! First, it went off to serve one of my friends in his bathroom – quitting its social sphere of the heater community and turning into a dryer – can you imagine that degradation? (And yes, our building still has issues and needs constant maintenance. My friend’s apartment, for example, had gotten flooded right before he wanted to move in, and after months it still needs help drying up.) And now, Little Heater has gone off to be with one of my other friends who complained about having to give exams in freezing classrooms the other day. So Little Heater decided to take up heating business again and stay with my friend for a while! Well, maybe I shouldn’t be too upset with Little Heater. Maybe it’s …

When it comes to meals and holidays, there’s a slight dilemma. You see, we get our meals served three times a day, buffet style. Now, that’s not the dilemma. That’s what I call service – never having to clean up dishes, I don’t mind that (though I really wouldn’t mind doing some cooking of my own every once in a while). But generally speaking, it’s a good thing that we get meals served three times a day. For the winter break, however, things change. With “things” I mean the meal service. The problem is: breakfast would have to be finished before 8:30 in order for the staff to be able to prepare lunch in time. But, while on holiday, who wants to get up in the whee hours of the morning only to get breakfast? Most of my colleagues wouldn’t. So, the meal schedule changes to two meals a day. Two meals at very odd hours … a 9:30 breakfast, and a 5 o’clock dinner. With lots of nothing in between. I don’t mind, though. …