thin king

Hello to all,


Making Money without Sweat

Money is a thing, a thing that can be used to buy other things,
almost anything. How wonderful money is! Naturally, everybody
wants money. There are mountains and oceans of money, and
there are many ways to get this money.

Some people work and get paid for it. Some exchange things for
it, some are given it, and there are others who just take it from
others, by stealth or by force. There are still others who fish for it.

Of all these many ways, fishing is most interesting, also subtle.
Fishing is really a confidence trickster's ploy. Although the modus
operandi varies, the ploy is basically the same; offer a bait and
get the sucker.

One favourite simple scheme is the three cones and a ball setup.
The operator usually has a few accomplices. Their business desk
is a small table about two feet square with foldable legs, very light
and portable. Their tools consist of three cones and a small rubber
ball, less than half an inch in diameter, usually the discard of a
well used pencil eraser. The operator's usual haunt is the by-ways
where many people pass by slowly, looking at things, like the
Sungei Road of old in Singapore.

The operator would first put the ball on the table, place a cone over
it and shuffle the three cones about. He would attract the attention
of the passers-by who would then stop and watch. Then, he would
invite the onlookers to guess where the ball was, which would not
be difficult. After a few times, he would invite the onlookers to bet,
paying an attractive 2 to 1 odds. A few people would bet, winning
or losing accordingly. This would go on, seemingly easy to track
the position of the ball under the cone.

Somehow, an occasion would arise when the operator would be
distracted; he would turn around to talk to someone, leaving the
ball visibly stuck under the rim of the cone, himself unaware of it.
One of the bettors would quickly push the ball inside the cone
and place all his money beside it, betting on that. He would also
encourage all the other people around to join in. This was a sure
win opportunity, and many onlookers would be tempted and joined
him, betting as he had done. Then the operator's attention would
be drawn back to the business. And as usual, he would check
whether anybody else who has not betted want to do so. Having
done that, he would topple all the three cones to reveal the ball.
And to the shock surprise of everyone, the ball would not be where
it was last seen to be. So, openly and clearly, after everyone had
seen the result, the operator swept all the bets, while everyone
would be wondering about the impossibility of it all. They had all
seen with their own eyes where the ball was!

Then, like it happened always, a shout "Police come, police come"
would be heard. And in an instant, the three cones got stacked into
one, the table got folded easily, and the operator and his helpers
scooted, leaving the losers in a real daze, scanning for the police
and not knowing what was happening. And once again, those who
wanted to take advantage of others on a sure win situation ended
up being taken advantage of, likewise, and not getting any wiser.

There is a well known saying,
"This fish would not be caught if it had not opened its mouth!"

Die dulci freure.
Ronald

Good morning to all,

Bearing Misfortune

There is a story that goes around the world; and like a boomerang,
sometimes finds its way home to the sender. From word of mouth
to postal service, to facsimile machines, to computer e-mail, speed,
it has reached and left its message to millions of people. It is a
story that flip-flops from good to bad, from fortune to misfortune, to
carry its message that whatever happens, it's not the end.

It is a simple story about a farmer, his son and their horse; the events
about the horse running away (bad) and returning with six wild horses
(good), the son riding the wild horse and broke his leg (bad) and
escaping conscription for the war because of his broken leg (good).
The story stops here, but it could go on and on, to show that life does
not end with a misfortune, and that a misfortune is not necessary bad.

This story has certainly given comfort and hope to many who would
otherwise have succumbed to despair.

There is another story, much more severe and annihilating, almost;
the story of Job.

Job was a very prosperous man in very ancient time, the wealthiest
at that time. When God praised him, Satan responded that it was
because Job had what he had. To prove Satan wrong, God allowed
Job to lose all his possessions and to suffer a very severe sore from
his head to his soles. This kind of misfortune is certainly one no man
is able to endure; the loss of everything including his family, the
discomfort, the ridicule by people who once admired him, and being
forsaken by all except a few old friends. But Job did not turn away
from God as Satan had predicted; he stood true to God; complained
yes, but remained righteous and faithful to God always.

Well, God rewarded Job more than he had lost; he recovered, got back
his family and twice of everything he had owned before and lost. Job
lived to a very old age and saw his great great grandchildren.

Have a nice day.
Ronald

Persistence in dealing with an unknown intruder.

This event happened a couple of weeks ago.

The first signs of the presence of an intruder was some nibbled
marks on the plastic packaging of some dried food near the kitchen.
It looked like the work of cockroaches, but there being no damage,
it was ignored.

The next morning, the food packaging was bitten through, and there
was some droppings of the nocturnal visitor. The bite marks indicated
small teeth, and the droppings, though resembling that of cockroaches,
were thinner and twice as long.

Whatever it was, it could pose a health hazard and had to be alienated
and got rid of. I made a trap, fashioned out of a rectangular biscuit tin,
suitable for trapping cockroaches and small house mice, for whatever
the small creature was.

It was unsuccessful. The creature came over the night, left some more
droppings but avoided the trap. But it did something else, it left some
prominent teeth marks on the periphery of a plastic container and also
on the skin of a sweet potato. That ruled out the cockroaches. It was
more the work of mice or something else. For the next night, I enlarged
the opening of the tin trap. We also set up another trap, a contraption
of a plastic gangplank overhanging a large deep plastic container, one
from which all mice would not be able to escape.

That night was unsuccessful also. The creature did come, left droppings
as usual, but was not interested in the baits in the traps. For the next
night, we added other baits, including dried prawns.

On the fourth night, there was some positive response. It came for the
dried prawns over the gangplank. It was lucky, because the gangplank
was not properly balanced; it was wedged too tight and did not tumble.
One dried prawn disappeared while another fell into the container. The
creature liked dried prawns, but not the ones near the tin trap. This was
still a puzzle. We repeated the arrangement for the next night.

Something happened on the fifth night. The gangplank fell into the big
container and half of the dried prawns were gone, but the creature
escaped. We repeated the setting of the traps again, but the creature
never came again. It had got our message.

It could not have been a house mouse, that's for sure. It could have been
a squirrel though. Squirrels did come to our mango tree and ate our green
mangoes. If it was a squirrel, does its droppings resemble those of
cockroaches? Whatever it was, it turned out suitably. It was not trapped,
else we would have another problem on our hands, what to do with it.
We did not want it to come, and it did not come again. That was best.

Persistence did pay off.

Have a nice day.
Ronald

Hello,
I have just now, 2005.9.26.9+am, opened this blog, like a fool.
Thanks to the easy facility, I am enticed to try it,
after having been encouraged to do so by some.
When I am ready I will post something.
Goodbye for now. ...