Met up with a few good friends on Sunday afternoon. We had drinks + snacks next to this pebble-lined fountain.

There was a lot to catch up…from one who had returned from Cambodia working with pastors in the rural areas and from another who had been to the quake-hit Tianbao village in Sichuan with a medical team. We heard updates on a long-lost friend who was found through Facebook, then from another who’s got a new property and what else is happening to our other friends…you know, all that stuff!

When we finally looked at our watches, it was time for dinner! We happily adjourned to another spot for crepes.

-:- 2 half hitches -:-

Front view

* A knot that attaches a rope to a rail, bar or any object is called a hitch.

Back view (aka reverse 2 half hitches)

-:- Alpine butterfly -:-

Front view

The alpine is a mountaineering knot. It’s other name is lineman’s loop.

Back view

-:- Simple Simon over -:-

Front view

Developed by Harry Asher and published in 1989, this knot is used to secure 2 slippery cords.

Back view

-:- Ring and Prusik -:-

Front view (L:Ring, R:Prusik)

The ring hitch is a common way of looping a string on a ring. The prusik, which is also a mountaineering knot, is named after Dr. Karl Prusik, an Austrian music professor who initially came up with this knot during WWI to mend broken strings of musical instruments. He later published the tying instructions for mountaineers to be used for self-rescue.

Back view

Thought I’ll end this week with more pictures of the knots I like to use, not for climbing though :-) .

Came across this tip on next month’s issue of BHG (Aust): line the back of a rug with strips of construction adhesive or silicone to make it non-skid. A commenter on the BHG site reminded readers that a thin layer will stay on the rug should you peel off the strip. For me, I keep the ones I have in place with duct tape beneath.

More basic knots

-:- Button -:-

Front views (yellow knots from L to R): button knot, button with loop, a flat button

* The green knot is also a flat button.

Back views

-:- Double coin -:-

Front view

* The 2 smaller knots on the left are double coin knots tied twice.

Back view

-:- Clover leaf (2 leaves) -:-

Front view

Back view

Here’s part 1, if you’ve missed it.

I was taking a closer look at all the cutters and pen-knifes in a shop two days ago and I learnt something behind each pack of OLFA cutter: get a plier to snap-off dull blade!

When I got home, I had to try it out on my pen-knife and oh it was sooo quick, easy and safe! Way more efficient than any method that risks sending out a flying blade.

The pale sand on the left pair ‘disappears’ into my skin, just the kind of shoe colour I like. For several weeks it has been pretty comfortable…but lately there’s an unhappy bunion on my right foot, making it very painful the minute I slip my foot into it.

Well, I’m happy to have found a new pink pair. It’s more comfortable, has a wider (by 4cm) heel which gives the wedge base more stability. I can walk for miles without much discomfort. And there’s another bonus, it doesn’t slip off the foot easily. I can now chase after the train or anyone with ease!

If only I had seen the pink pair before the florals then I wouldn’t have to waste the money to buy only to part with them when they still look very new!

…on a mass-forwarded email.

Teacher: Why are you late?
Nick: Because of the sign.
Teacher: What sign?
Nick: The one that says, “School Ahead, Go Slow.”

✣

Teacher: Nick, if your father has $10 and you ask him for $6, how much is he left with?
Nick: $10.
Teacher: You don’t know maths.
Nick: You don’t know my father!

✣

Teacher: Nick, why are you doing your math sums on the floor?
Nick: You told me to do it without using tables!

✣

Teacher: Nick, how do you spell “crocodile”?
Nick: “K-R-O-K-O-D- A-I-L”
Teacher: No, that’s wrong!
Nick: But you asked me how I spell it.

✣

Teacher: What is the chemical formula for water?
Nick: “HIJKLMNO”!
Teacher: What are you talking about?
Nick: Yesterday you said it’s H to O!

✣

Teacher: Nick, go to the map and find North America.
Nick: Here it is!
Teacher: Right. Now, class, who discovered America?
Class: Nick!

✣

Teacher: Nick, give me a sentence starting with “I”.
Nick: I is…
Teacher: No, Nick. Always say, “I am.”
Nick: All right… “I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.”

✣

Teacher: “Can anybody give an example of COINCIDENCE? ”
Nick: “Sir, my Mother and Father got married on the same day, same time.”

These windows are on the open ground of an art college.

The windows look into the basement.

Hub wanted our heads to reflect a heart shape.

This city campus sits next to the computer mart, hub’s favorite hangout, which means we must have walked by these windows countless times without knowing they were what they are.

Bloomize’s own little music station playing uninterrupted + continuous music ♫

Connect all 9 points with 4 (or 3) unbroken lines.

1 – the most accurate answer
2 – possible if 6 dots are treated as abstract

3 – possible if all dots are abstract

Nothing like a distraction on a Thursday afternoon.