Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Pet...Troll!

As my friends who have been reading this blog would have known, I do keep fishes as pets which I lovingly look after every day. Day in and out, I feed them with dried grains which I buy from 2 fish shops along the Sungai Buloh Road. When I can, and I try to do it regularly, I give those fishes frozen redworms which I would pour hot water so that the fishes don't eat cold servings as living in the water, I think, can be cold enough already. But now, I have to think twice.

That's right, I am, like many of my fellow countrymen, am not a rich man. But even if I were, I think I'd be like the owners of those many luxury cars queuing at many petrol stations in their want to put in fuel before midnight. Petrol prices, as many would have known by now, are unlike the song Spinning Wheel, as rarely ever it comes down.

Now, I'm not going to berate about it as by now, maybe quite a number of people have already. What I would like to do however, is try to give tips - and hopefully get some too - about trying to save those precious RM's in liquid form. I also think there is no point telling people to buy a car with smaller engine capacity, as some makes of higher capacity are more fuel efficient than others, most especially the local production.

Off course, they will always be someone who would say 'no need to drive, take public transport'. Fine. But not everyone can take public transport. This would most certainly apply to people in sales and services, where many time rather than not, they would have to carry some items. Further, while public transport may save one on fuel cost, it may not hold true for time management.

OK. Foremost, make sure your engine are well-tuned - too high a rev would consume more petrol, while too low could mean a shorter lifespan.

When driving on the highway, try to get to the optimum speed - around 90 to 100kmph, depending on makes - and maintain it. Pressing and depressing the accelerator, or changing speed often, should be avoided as unnecessary fuel are being burnt.

When reaching a stop - toll booth, petrol stations, and even junctions - judge the distance, then coast your way to it. Simply means, if you are traveling about 90kmph and the distance is 200 meters aways, just lift your foot off the pedal and allow the car to carry through on its own momentum. Off course, you would have to adjust the speed with slight braking. Do not however, disengage your gear or put it in neutral! Doing so COULD mean losing control of the car and lead to mishaps.

From a dead stop, do not rev or accelerate to high speed. Rather, build up the speed accordingly - not too fast as you'll consume more petrol, nor too slow as you may be the cause of an accident. Driving slow too, does not necessarily mean you are saving fuel.

Avoid applying brakes unnecessarily. Many drivers do so due to their failure to anticipate either the driving condition, or the speed of the vehicles in front of them.

When the weather is sufficiently cooling, switch off your air-conditioner, and breathe in the fresh air...but not when driving behind a diesel transport!

Well, I guess that's all I can think of for the moment. Would appreciate anyone adding to it.

Oh, by the way, I think I misspelled the toll booth up there; believe the correct spelling comes with the letter 'R', as in Troll.

Found this 500 million Zimbabwe Dollar note at Rediff - World's Costliest & Cheapest Petrol.
Just hope our currency will never ever reach such low value.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

dear bro shah

your tips on driving in the light of the increse in petrol price come handy. if everyone were to drive their cars as per your suggestion, im sure we could save at least 25% of our total consumption. but i think, most of us treat our roads as formula one circuits, nascar and rally tracks. the jpj should really include road-civic as a compulsory subject for those who wish to have a driving license or even those who wish to renew the existing ones.
Fuel increase can spell many bad things. increase in electric tariff and etc. even the livelihood of pet fish can be under serious threat when the owner/s refuse/s to travel regularly to get their food. :)

Anonymous said...

But your fishes keep dying!

Lily Abdullah said...

Salam,

Shah apa khabar?

The huggable animal is back and she' s fine.

Terima kasih atas panggilan terlepas itu. Saya tak dapat membalas sebab kredit exprixed.


ps: esok saya email sebab saya nak minta pandangan sikit.

Salam Shirzad.

I can see u here. And I love cats too. LOL

Anonymous said...

dear bro shah...

tumpang lalu...hi waterlily. hope u r fine there. these days some of us love to play david copperfield. hehe. but not with cakapaje though

cakapaje said...

Salam shirzad,

True, TNB main source of power generation comes uses fuel. But that, is currently out of grasp for people like me - we should have wiped out the entire Barang Naik and Sarkas in the last election. Thus, I'm just trying to do what I can for people who are willing to follow suit.

As for my fishes...well, I can always grill or smoke them, lol! But, they'd be kind of too small to have any taste ;)

cakapaje said...

Salam MB,

Yes, they do, don't they? But, so do human. Or, for the matter, anything that's living.

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam WL,

Alhamdulillah. Saya call kerana teringin bertanya khabar. Semoga WL dan abang sihat sentiasa.

InsyAllah, setakat mana yang boleh, akan saya berikan :)

cakapaje said...

shirzad bro,

lol! I must be quite a mean person for people not to want to play with me :) Hmm...perhaps should change my ID to MeanAje ;)

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

boss, i have one solution that might work. its gotta work because it has been used by our ministers for years now; compare to other asian countries and well, you'll at least feel good about it. i think its like, once you start comparing and your woes will disappear into thin air...tadaaaaaaaaa...

Bebee said...

Salam Cak,

Thanks for the fuel saving tip! first i change my makan habit, now i have to change my driving habit. I can't say lifestyle cos I have neither life nor style. But if changing habits ultimately means getting rid of them, i suspect there are bigger things to be changed... ah well!

Anonymous said...

salam shah,
wow! million zimbabwe dollar! kalau kita pun gitu esok shah, ramailah yang jadi jutawan! heee...

cakapaje said...

Salam kerpie,

Bro, that's a very good solution! But, I thought we are well on our way to becoming a developed country already? Why then, the neighbouring countries? We should compare ourselves with Germany, Sweden, France, UK, Canada, and even US. For the high cost of living in those countries, what are their income level? And for the same thing, what are the goods they get in return?

Here, we are taxed every single thing under the sun. Who pays for the service and government tax, you think? Surely not the retail outlets!

cakapaje said...

Salam bebee,

Hehee...soon, we'll have to change our skins as well. Just hope it won't be from sheep to wolf's ;)

Don't get me wrong about the tips; I believe we will still be fighting against this rise. Otherwise, soon we will not have any money to pay for anything at all - prices of retail goods are also expected to rise too!

cakapaje said...

Salam Accia,

Hehe...wow! Ini macam, lebih baik dari berniaga unta! (Cite P Ramlee).

Unknown said...

Shah,
I was dissapointed really. I was hoping that he would announce a RM2.50 increase, no rebates and higher roadtax. Why? Its because soon I am going to be a millionaire so I would be able to affor5d the increase.
Oh, didn't I tell you I am going to migrate to Zimbabwe?

jaflam said...

Salam Shah,
Thanks for the tips. The Chief Kitchen Cabinet tells all the Rakyat to spend wisely to avoid inflation but he is the head producer of inflation that going to burned all the Rakyat pockets.

Hope all the Kitchen Cabinet can start living as ordinary low income Rakyat for 3 months to have a taste of their magical new fuel price.

cakapaje said...

Salam Cikgu,

Lol! You really don't have to go that far though, currencies of Indonesia and India may soon reach such proportion!

cakapaje said...

Salam Dato',

I think the Kitchen Cabinet you are referring to are old and, antiquated and dysfunctional already. Time for rakyat to do some spring cleaning.