RuehYinn & Juleen @ blueepinkk.com

“Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference” (Barack Obama, 2008)

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Originally uploaded by lorenzodom

Usually, I can’t be bothered to participate in any contest that appear in the newspaper or magazine. I tried when I was young but never have any luck. But, this one is different…

Because of recent oil price hike and my salary review only at the end of the year, I cannot resist myself not to participate in Shell’s “1 Million Free Kilometer” contest …

The contest is at its 10th week and ending tomorrow. Final week of the competition will be from July 21st - July 28th. Basically, you’re entitled one chance with every purchase of RM30 at Shell station. Just fill in the form and drop into the box. As easy as ABC…

Don’t you think, it is worth to try?? If you won the final week’s contest, you will be bringing back home RM17,000. That is a lot of ….

I have 20 forms to submit on July 21st… Some of you wonder how come I have so many forms?

20 forms x RM30 = RM600 !!!

Since the final week offers the highest prize payout, I intentionally keep the receipt until the final week of the contest. For instance, you only take home RM1,000 if you won the 3rd week but you’ll be bringing home RM17,000 if you won the 11th week. That is a lot of different, you know… hehe

So do you think RuehYinn got…

or simply…

KIASU

Whatever it is, I am gonna fill up my forms now, so excuse me, for a while..hahaha

p/s: If anyone of you are throwing away the receipt (especially to you Jolene), please give me a call… Don’t WASTE…hahaha!

Others have hearty breakfast every morning but I have to reject people every morning !!! Yes, virtually every morning at Kelana Jaya LRT’s parking space. And No, I am not a mean person. So who do I reject every morning? I reject this guy every morning:-

Oh no, did he see me???

This nice fellow will approach me every morning to solicit his car wash service. Despite being rejected every morning he never gives up on me. See how persistent is him:-

First 2 minutes… (he waited for me to come out from the car)

5 minutes has passed… (still waiting for me after got rejected by another person)

Persistency is a virtue. And because it is a virtue, I will be persistent too… I will insist not to allow him and his friends to wash my car !!

But why RuehYinn?? Simply because… (seeing is believing)

Who would spend the money on car wash and your car get dirty the next minute when you exit the parking? The whole parking space is full of potholes filled with muddy waters. There is no way I can avoid those potholes given that the parking space is full of cars. And because I’m a person with some common sense, I won’t waste my money that way. Now do you know why I wouldn’t even spend RM5.00 for the car wash?

I think the car park’s management should consider to repair the road, else it will look like this one day:-

Yes, those potholes at the parking space will be as big as the Arizona Meteor Crater one day… It won’t be a POTHOLE anymore, it will become a CRATER !!!

The funny thing is sometimes they would use reverse psychology on me too. This is our conversation:-

Car Washer: Cuci kereta boss? (translation: Car wash, sir?)

Me: No, no (waving hand only)

Car Washer: RM5.00 saja. Murah. (translation: RM5.00 only. It’s Cheap)

Me: No, no (waving hand only)

Car Washer: Tapi kereta boss sangat kotor! Itu tayar pun banyak kotor! (translation: But sir, your car is very dirty! That rim is very dirty also)

At this point of time, I will just stop responding and walk away !! Upset but still a happy man inside… haha!

I will only allow them to wash my car if they hire …

while keeping the old rate, i.e. RM 5.00 per car wash! He he…

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Moral of the story: Successful business needs common sense!

As I was crunching the newly introduced “Reese’s Peanut Butter Pieces” candy in the office, I was wondering whether this chocolate will be affordable in the future. Anyway, the chocolate candy that I was talking about was introduced by Mr. Kar Fu (not that I wanna feature him all the time, but so happened he bought this delicious chocolate candy):-

Apparently, this super - duper - delicious chocolate candy is manufactured in Pennsylvania, United States. And I was shocked!! I was astonished to find out United States, a developed country still producing such a simple consumer product. And then, I was wondering how much does it cost for them to ship it worldwide. Fuel is involved when you talk about production and shipping. Come on, please don’t tell me you only chew and swallow and you never wonder how your food came about. However, look at the graph below:-

The oil price has increased more that 80% year on year. It has been the most talked about topic around the globe lately. The chocolate candy has inspired me to start a post on how to save on your petrol cost. I shall write them in ….. errr….hmm… just two (2) series. The first shall comes from others and the second will come from me.

Anyway, I came across this advice some time ago. From the writing it does sound logical, but since I am not a petroleum engineer, I would not know whether this is the ultimate truth. But what the heck, I shall share with you guys, anyway.

Picture originally posted by TPorter2006

Tip 1: Only buy or fill up your car or motorcycle in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Since, all petrol kiosks have their storage tanks buried underground, the colder the ground the denser the fuel. When it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening, a liter pump into you car in not exactly a liter. It was claimed 1 degree rise in temperature makes a lot of different. And almost all petrol kiosk do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

Tip 2: When you are filling up your gas tank, do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the fast mode. Normally, the trigger has three (3) stages; i.e. low, middle, and high. When you are pumping on low speed, you are essentially minimizing the vapors that are created. All hoses at the pump have vapor return, therefore if you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes into you tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank, so effectively you are getting less worth for your money.

Tip 3: And never pump gas when your car is completely out of gas. The reason is simple, the more fuel you have in your tank, the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.

Tip 4: If you notice a fuel truck is pumping into the storage tanks, do not fill up your gas tank at that station. There is likelihood that the petrol/ diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles at the bottom. Dirt in your car engine will decrease you car’s efficiency.

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They sound logical, don’t they? However, I do not know how much money you’ll save by following the tips above. I did experiment on Tip 2, and I can assure you it takes so long for me to fill up my gas tank that I can see the next driver waiting in line was scolding me in %^&#$#@. I don’t know, you guys go figure out what it means by %^&#$#@.

Again, I am not suggesting the tips above are the ultimate truth but it does add on to existing fuel saving tips such as:-

1. Do not drive with under inflated tyres;

2. Drive smooth and steady;

3. Do not sudden brake too frequently;

4. Do not wind down your window as you are driving;

5. Send your car for service as scheduled;

Blah blah and the list go on…..

Stay tune for the final series on this topic. Feel like taking a break and have a kit kat…. Talk so much also useless! And goodnight!

Photo originally posted by troutfactory

Tips by: Ramesh Patel

Edited by: RuehYinn (Patel?)

** Click here for Fuel Saving Tips Part II