Does Santa Claus really exists?

Taken From Gamefaqs Paranormal Forum

No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.

There are 2 billion children (persons under eighteen years of age) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to the Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.

Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, and assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of his sleigh, jump down the chimnye, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course we know to be false but for the purpose of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.

This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.

The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set (2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 punds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (refer to point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal load, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - 353,430 tons.

353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecrafts re-entereing the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy per SECOND, EACH! In short, they will burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create a deafening sonic boom in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centripetal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.

Conclusion: If Santa did ever deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now.

And The Elites continue its decline...

Today, the elite strength dropped again...from yesterday 25 to today's 14. With each passing day the number decline...

But...I am still in the team. And it's probably the finalized one already...

I really...don't know if I should be happy...some say it's better to be normal RP. Some say it's good to have the special buddy...Other information includes probability of being posted to air base... (cause it's the camp that need the elites)

Well, but since It has been chosen for me, I'll just do my best! I'm sure it'll be much more interesting than the normal RP...haha. But It would probably include more work to do... so it's a "double-edge" sword I guess...

Hope I get a good "buddy"...not some "siao" ones that will make me run... =_=

Looking forward to tomorrow cause it's going to be the first day of the "Elite's Course". They'll have their normal RP lesson while we go for the special lesson..whew...very nervous. I think I will get dragged / lead by it instead of me leading it...

Oh yeah! Jason my BMT Section Mate, got transferred into the same camp (RP) after his failed attempt at swimming...Haha! Unfortunately, he's not one of the "Elites"...Well, anyway I met a lot of new friends~Saw my old secondary school mate Hatta~Learnt that Xian Yong, Fahmi and Ivan are doing MP course at the same camp. My secondary buddy Zhi Wei's also assigned to MP course, and only living just 1 floor below me! Talk about coincidence...Then I met some guys from Raven company, who told me about Sergeant Alvin...

Whew~So many things going on...I kind of like the new place, but I also miss my old bunk. Sometimes, I kind of 怀念 my times in the Tekong Bunk...haha. The whole section, sit down together in the middle, eat cup noodles, TCSS~ Ahh...those were the nice times. 往事只能回味 liao...LOL.

Who Let The Dogs Out?!

Hahaha! Hahaha! Wahaha! I am...so...speechless.

世事难料...(Things of the world are hard to predict)...

After I received my posting orders, I've been like, coming up with all sort of funny scenarios in my head. Playing through them, thinking of the good and bad things that will happen, what will happen on the first day, how I would get "tekan", how the people there will be like...

But never, never...did I dream I would land up in what I am doing right now...

Seriously...I don't have a good idea of what to expect...but like what Anthony said - "Be Grateful About What You Have"...

And like our new PC said - Don't be a Pepsi, Be A Nike.*

I'm actually very glad that I'm in a land with no Jacob's Ladder and Balancing Beam...and I won't have to go outfield again...at least in the foreseeable future...I already felt very very fortunate for that.

So, I really shouldn't "hiam" and try to ask for more already. I've met some "can get-along" people there already. Some of them were actually from 5SIR (Respects to them...), and they were so happy to get here...Haha.

We're a very special, chosen batch of "elites"...People do guard duties need 2 people, we only need one person...so we are very "UP"...LOL. That's such a nice and...indirect way to put it. But seriously, very few people will get the job I'm doing now. Asked my brothers and none of his friends got into this unit before...I must be very "heng"...

Lastly...I know some people sure will "Pattern More Than Badminton" (Best quote from CC)...so please try to control yourself...haha.

So...all said and done...I have to ask again...Who Let The Dogs Out?!

*In case you're wondering, it means don't "Ask For More", "Just Do It".

Kiwi-ing my boots...once more.

Hmm...I was sort of packing my stuff around, then I notice my "Cheong Sua" (aka Charge Mountains) boots...still got some mud stains on it...haha.

Reluctantly, I took out my secret weapon, the shiny black kiwi, and began to polish it...The feeling when I was doing it was so...hmm...kind of weird.

It feels like...something that I haven't done in a very very long time. It's a "familiar yet so distant" kind of emotion. Haha. Now that I think about it...I used to kiwi that boots almost every single day. Now almost 2 weeks never do it...a bit out of touch...

A brand new beginning~

Full of uncertainties...

忐忑不安。。。

I don't know what to expect... contradicting information...mixed feelings...

The feeling when I clicked on the "Submit" is like...whew...seriously, the tension and the nervousness is MORE, MUCH more than when I click to view some Poly semester results...

Anyway, I just don't want to think so much right now...

是福不是祸。。。是祸躲不过。。。

Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu - First Impressions

Started watching Ella's new drama series today~Very Nice!

Only watched 2 episodes so far, and already addicted liao...LOL. Started watching the 2nd one immediately after the first. I think the storyline, presentation and cast is FAR better than their previous Idol Drama (aka Reaching For The Stars)

The story starts off extremely typically of 80% of the idol dramas...aka "Girl likes guy, but guy hates her". At first was a bit turn off (I was singing "Same Old Shit Again"...)

But the pace picks up immediately after the first 15 minutes of introduction. A lot of interesting characters gets introduce into the story. Even some of the minor characters have unique personalities and traits that will make them more easily identifiable. (Even when you don't know the names)

There's this big lecher going around campus, the "paparazzi" reporter, the guy with the ability to communicate with beings of the other world...Then there's this mysterious gay doctor that tries to hinder Ella's progress at the start...but later sort of becomes her friend. The interactions (even little ones) makes you quickly grow attached to the characters in the story. Very nice.

The story is kind of like a modern "Hua Mu Lan" - about Ella going into a "Boy's School" using a male's identity, in order to chase after the guy she likes. There's this 2nd male lead (extremely exaggerated acting...but funny to watch at the same time) that "falls in love" with Ella, and soon becomes extremely worried that he's a gay (cause he doesn't know Ella is a girl)...

Overall, very enjoyable drama...Ella's extremely exaggerated and "psychotic" acting is really fun to watch (I was laughing like more than 50% of the time watching the show)...The interaction scenes between the 2 male leads and Ella are the best. Just makes you smile.

Okay...stop rattling liao. Overall I think it's their best drama so far! Far better than the Reaching For The Stars...which was way too "moody" (the overall feel is always so sad in that show). The only good thing about Reaching For The Stars is probably all 3 of them are acting in it...

Alright...think maybe I should watch Episode 3 now? Hee...

Do all living things become ghosts after death?

Pretty amusing stuffs I found on Gamefaqs Paranormal Boards...

Original Topic Creator

"I always hear stuff about ghosts haunting other people and places. And it's always human. Why can't it be a dog or a cat or a lizard. If humans die and become ghosts, wouldn't other animals like dogs or cats, or reptiles, or insects become ghosts? Because they are all living things just like humans. Wouldn't bacteria become ghosts because there are living too? So in other words, the world shoudl be filled with insect ghosts and reptile ghosts and bacteria ghosts, and anything else that is living ghosts."

Poster Number 1

"I have heard stories of housepets coming back (dogs and cats, for example), but I doubt insects can. But...maybe we just don't realize the insects and bacteria ghosts are there.

For example, it's hard enough finding a ghost of a human or pet, right?
Well, imagine trying to find something as small as an insect, that isn't exactly giving off much energy.

Besides, ghosts usually come back (apparently) to people/animals that meant alot to them. I'm not exactly friends with that many bacteria, so I don't know if I'm going to get some visiting me one day."

Poster 3

"Maybe it's a good thing they don't all have ghosts...

Tiny bacterial voices chirping in the middle of the night: "We were just innocent bacteria looking for a good home, and then you took those antibiotics and KILLED US ALL! Now we will haunt you forever to remind you of your guilt!""

Moving into the 3rd decade of my life...

Ahh...yesh. Today is my 20th birthday~Another 10 years slip pass...What would become of me in another 10 years time?

Anyway...birthday. Well, seriously speaking, I don't celebrate it. My birthday, to me, is just like any other "normal day" of my life. Haha...so I don't really plan on doing anything special or what. At most I go out, meet my friends and have a meal. Or better if I can get my mum to cook something good. At worst, I stay home and rot my day away. Haha. There just isn't this "convention" to celebrate birthdays in my family. (At least for my parents and me, my siblings are exceptions)

Thinking about it...

The first 10 years of your life, you basically are a "clueless person". You come into this world, grow from an infant to a small boy and to a kid. You basically follows your parents around everyday and getting into trouble...basically, by the time you're 20, you would have little clue what has happened throughout your 1st decade...So basically, it's just a "stage where everyone has to go through, and is about the same for everyone". (Unless you're some genius kid of course)

Next 10 years is the one that gives you the "foundation" for the rest of your life. There are many paths and decisions you'll make that will shape you into what you are at the end of the 10 years. The friends you come across, the way you handle things, the places you go to. All your beliefs and goals and philosophies of life are shaped during these 10 years. I think it's probably the most important 10 years you have to go through, and the one that has the biggest impact on your life....

Now I've come to the end of the 2nd "10 Years" and beginning my journey into the 3rd...I think the next 10 years will be one where you really grow. Where you move from being dependent to being independent, mentally, spiritually, financially...everything. It's the 3rd decade that you'll meet some of the most important people of your life~

Well...just my two cents worth...let's all look forward to the future~

Assembling the new computer...

I kind of did it in a "fit of fury" but this is the FIRST time I'm spending so much money at one go. Was breaking out in cold sweat when I handed over the money...heart really ache...

Spent almost 1 whole day assembling the computer! (it's my first time assembling a computer from scratch...)

Lots of ups and downs, and met a lot of obstacles and errors throughout the assembling, from hardware to software, stupid craps and in the end I just reformat the H/D, cause the "Change Mobo without reinstalling OS" method didn't work...

But right now, at this moment, I'm finally enjoying my fruits of labor~Medival 2 Total War and Civilization 4 on huge maps, with max settings~not to mention incredible speed across all~

Total Damage: $1200

Luckily, I've gave up the Sound Cards and stuffs at the moment. Decide the Creative XMod isn't so viable because I just realize it cannot be used on the go...so it isn't really "true-portable" in a sense. It can only be powered using USB...I think it's a huge overlook on Creative Part. Anyway, heard there's going to be a warehouse sale near Christmas period, with Audigy 2 refurbished Sound Card going for like $29! Looks like a good deal~

And I'll never forget...

The past 3 months have been one hell of a ride...lots of memories. The good, the bad, the joys we shared, the blood we spilled...the sweat and the tears~and the moments of happiness~

The first day of enlistment, the taking of the sacred oath, sleepless nights, first presentation of PS Wee, getting accustomed to the life, learning the handle the weapons, first aid tests, live range, doing "2 million push-ups", field camp, sit test, all the ST and AGR (s), all the route marches till the 24km~

Thank you Taurus 3! Thanks for all the help and support from EVERY single person in the platoon, else I would never have survive~(especially the route marches and field camp)

Dedicated to my section~

1. Zhi Yang - Always the most "suay"...LOL. Always get called down to so "Sai Gang" cause he's the IC. From the first day till the last day, he'll always be our sleeping IC~And our "Yang ah yang ah yang!"

2. Chris - Laughing Buddha~the nicknamed Sergeant Kenny gave to him. Haha. Always on the phone talking to "Da Sao", 80% of the time in the bunk he's on the phone. Really give it to him. And of course, my "Toilet Buddy".

3. Zhen Zhao - "Zee Zee"...the sleeping monster! Argh!

4. Guan Wei - My great great buddy! Even though he left us after 2 months, he REALLY did a lot to help me, even when he's OOT already. Help me fix Webbing, talk cock with me and we enjoyed listening to each other cold jokes. You'll always be my good buddy Guan Wei! (And the last month, I missed booking in without you!) Hope your back recovers soon!

5. Clement - Always...smiling to himself. Taking his time to savor his food. Play more DOTA, buddy!

6. Jason - The hardcore RPG gamer like me~ with a special trait...

7. David - Haha. And I finally found a friend who's a fan of wrestling! Enjoy your company in the armstoke room. The "Send Arms!" and "Draw Arms!" days are over~forever in our memories~

8. Zac - One of the most knowledgeable guy in our bunk (Previous NCC), help me out a lot, especially when learning how the assemble and strip rifle. Party on~ party on and hope you get your dream car soon!

9. Alvin - Ahhh...my Poly course mate! Alvin, I never forget how you helped me out on the first day of enlistment! Haha. And of course throughout the BMT~You truely deserve the "Platoon Best", although I hope you'll cut down on your "mind wrecking" puzzles...-_-

10. Wayne - Ah Lam!!! The guy who"sings Chinese songs but don't speak Chinese"! Been great listening to songs together and again, thanks for all the concern and help. Try not to act so "aggressive" towards others, ok Teletubby!

11. Xiang Jue - Nicknamed "Banana", aka Xiang Jiao. Don't forget to bring your 11B! Haha. The one that always "report sick"...ok lah...just slightly more often than me.

12. Jack - Jack! The greatest pirate of all time~our company best and the pride of our section. Always will remember his "Monkey God stunt" during the first week of BMT and of course the "Gentlemen, can you predict the future". The "talk cock" king. Seriously, our lives in the bunk will be SO boring without him. Best of luck in OCS!

13. Cheng Jin - Cheng Cheng the Hard Gay~Really appreciate all the concern~thanks for sounding off for me whenever I feel like trying to be "garang"~And I won't forget the Fire Trench we had to dig because of you...

And everyone else from Taurus 3~will be engraved in my memories for a long time~

Bye Tekong!

At long last! At long last! The big day finally arrives~!

"Gentlemen~I only want to hear 'piak' one sound, one sound only!"

Our long hard work finally "paid off"...Even though I only took part in the run in (pity...) but I can still very much feel the atmosphere~Last part with the war-cry and charging forward all high...LOL!

My Dad and Mum came~actually at that part where they suppose to put on caps...I waited very long for them...-_- Thought they couldn't find me. Diaoz. Luckily they did.

After POP, stayed back (like I had a choice) to take photos with all my friends and of course the sergeants. Lots of fun "tossing" sergeants into the air. LOL.

Sergeant Nick last words to me: "Zee Zee, don't sleep so much."

!!! 3 Months! 3 Months! Nearly 3 months together and that is the best he could give me...-_- The ironic thing was...Dean told me nearly exactly the same thing when I left. WTF...

After leaving the Island, went to have a simple meal with my family~then go home and rest for the night~

Ahhh...farewell Tekong...

Forever.

Our last night together...

On the 2nd last day, some event happened that left me very disappointed. It's like the feeling of you totally misjudge a person. I don't know is it due to me being very sick on that day, that I feel this way or what. But at that point of time, my feeling was "Is this the him I know?"

Anyway...One of the weirdest, strangest thing happened...a LOT of people in our platoon fall sick. Our section was the worst...David and Xiang Jue were both down with high fever and ATT C. My temperature was 38.5 degrees, but I try to be "garang" a bit...don't want go see MO (Cause I don't want to miss the important day...). Alvin temperature was peaking 39.5, and went to stay overnight at the sickbay. Later on, Clement was also down with high fever...Gosh! 5 out of 12 people in our bunk were down...and ironically 1 day before POP...

I wonder if it's the after-effects of the 24KM Route march, cause I never really recovered from that (even now as I am writing)...That day after the route march, my temperature was hovering above 37...then next day when I reach home...fever immediately...-_-

Whatever it is...our last night, all those that are still "healthy enough" went PARTYING~~~ outside the bunk...Yeah. Even though I was lying on the bed, I couldn't help listening to their conversations, their pranks on each other and at the end, the "emotional speech" by 2IC...PC also left us with a "No matter how small a role you play, always do your best, at least you can answer to your own conscience"~

Slowly drifting off to bed...until...something happen. A thunderstorm came. A catastrophic disaster struck us and caught me unexpected. Really left me feeling lost...

Whatever we do, we must know the limits...don't go overboard, or you might not be able to bear the consequences...

The 24KM Graduation March!

Wow...woke up at 3am in the morning...We started out at around 5+...I think. With a strength of 35...and prepared for the long journey ahead...

"SGTN~Are you alright?"

First 8KM was alright...cause it's so early and I didn't really feel too shagged. The next 8KM was very demoralizing -_-...The 16KM to 20KM was...the killer. My Webbing came off halfway...sibeh jia lat. LOL.

At that point, I was really..."When my body says enough, my spirit says never!". My legs are on auto pilot, my whole body is aching, my lower back is super painful and my shoulder feels like it's breaking...It's just the mind that keeps telling me to push on...

I got a lot of moral support from all my friends~Thanks to them else I don't think I"ll ever to complete this. Kept visualizing PC walking in front of me, recounting what he's said and stuffs...That's how I pulled through the last 12KM, especially when you look up and saw a HUGE uphill in front...

When reaching the company line, the feeling is...cannot be describe in words. The feeling of achievement and satisfaction, ultimate "shagness" and, the "chills". The last "Berhenti" was especially fulfilling, to know that you've complete the whole of BMT~

We were so high that we splash water at PS during the water parade (Not to mention 2IC, and then we knock it down on our own and ask for permission to continue -_-)

1st December 2006...very very memorable day. I don't recall feeling this tired throughout the 3 months...(滨临死亡的感觉) ...very very tired. Every single part of my body is worn out...When I reach the bunk...I was like, drop dead on the floor. Whew...I will take a long time to recover from this~

Note: Later that night was our Recruit's Evening...most memorable performance is probably the one by "Cindy" -_- ... Dot Dot...anyway, it turned out to be quite a disaster later on...luckily, it didn't get any more serious than it is...Whew...

OC Evening

Hmm...Week 12 of BMT Lo...time really files (as if...each day is like a year)

Anyway, this week basically just keep doing POP rehearsal...nothing much, except for 2 events I wanna mention...

OC Evening: Woo! This one is fun to say the least. Haha. At first we were quite worried about what performance to put up...until Nixon came up with...The "Tekong Fashion Show"! We basically spent the whole afternoon having lots of fun and coming up with all sort of crazy combinations~

That night, platoon 3 put on a OUTSTANDING performance~Audience response was overwhelming and even I feel we really put on a great performance. Who can forget all the wonderful characters that appeared on that night...The Buddha, Hard Gay, Dhalsim, and of course...Statue of Liberty...Just a side note. On my POP day, SGT Thomas actually remembered me and ask if I've taken a picture of the Statue of Liberty costume! LOL!

Our "Tekong Lion Dance" ending was spectacular as well~Really "professional"...

Platoon 4 performance was hilarious too. Basically, they gave out the "Tekong Awards" to all the recruits and commanders, from "Best Tekan", "Most Memorable Lines"...and they acutally have skits performance for each of the nominations. Really entertaining watching them perform (Best part was Platoon 3 "Explicit Sit Up" VS Platoon 4 "Explicit Push Up")

Games Day: Hmm...I actually find this to be quite boring...haha. Maybe cause we didn't win any prizes. The highlight was the Commander's Race where we really start to cheer.