The 200th Post

This post marks the 200th post for Cuppa. In retrospect, the frequent readers of my blog will be able to tell the focus of my recent posts has shifted from geeky technical hacks (e.g. wireless Linux driver) to a more trivial, day-to-day ramblings.

This transition also reflects my intention of venturing into fields other than engineering.

From time to time I will take a step back and evaluate my skill sets against the real-world. What are the nascent trends, what is hot, what is not, and what are the effects on me?

Here are some random observations I have, listed below in no particular order:

1. Inflation comes hard to the whole world, and it can be felt right at home. All prices are shooting up, except salaries and beer (xf. #5 below)
   
2. The mini-markets opposite my flat are open 24hours now.
   
3. Gold price has hit US$900 per ounce
4. Oil price has hit US$100 per barrel
5. Chilled Tiger beer remains at S$2.50. Thank goodness!!
6. The Fed chairman said a reduction in interest rate is imminent
7. Some economists think stag-flation is creeping closer than we think. Personally I agree
8. I am planning to adjust my investment portfolio to buy more defensive counters

You can see the above observations are centered at a certain theme, and this exactly is the (somewhat biased) view of me. Some things are objective (rise of prices), some are more subjective (the coming of stag-flation).

I don't pretend to offer any conclusion or wise-cracks on the economy. What I can offer are the following pictures:

How I spent today....

A mommy cat with her kittens. She is on high-alert (look at her eyes), the kittens are under the table at the background