It's over, Amazon

Amazon stock price dropped almost 13% today. That reminded me that I've not bought from them for quite some time.

My order history:

2016 was peak Amazon for me.

Shipping was deceptively low in 2016 cos the forwarding shipping cost was not included.

Even though I said I would stop buying when Amazon stopped free shipping at end of 2017, I still spent a lot in 2018. From 2020 onwards, it's like I ran out of things to buy — it made more sense to buy from TaoBao and Lazada.

Some items were bought on behalf of others. They skewed the results somewhat.

Is Deerma DT16C dehumidifier reliable?

I have 3 Deerma DT16C dehumidifiers. I bought the first unit in Aug 2020 for $200 on Lazada. It started to give E3 error intermittently after a few weeks. It could be recovered by power-cycling the unit.

Despite some misgivings, I bought a second unit in Nov 2020 for $175 (on 11.11 sale) from the same seller, as I had two rooms to dehumifidy. It is still working fine today.

The first unit showed E3 more and more often as time went by, until it showed E3 all the time — immediately on power-up — around end of last year. It was dead.

I finally brought it to the "service centre" in March this year after contacting the seller. The "service centre" was the importer at a rented lot in a warehouse. It took me a long time to find the place because I was looking for it up and down the office building. It did not strike me that I could enter the adjacent warehouse directly. The importer did not do repairs nor were they willing to exchange a new unit for me, since mine was way past warranty. The seller was just a drop shipper. Why did he tell me to go to the service centre then? What's more, my unit did not show E3 there. :duh:

Since I had nothing left to lose, I opened up the unit to take a look. It took me a while to figure out how to open it, as it appeared to be sealed at first. However, I could not tell what was wrong.

Eventually, I got tired of shuffling the single working unit between two rooms, so I bought a third unit in Apr 2022 from TaoBao for $156 (579 yuan plus 171 yuan shipping and GST). It took almost 1.5 months to arrive because that shipment was detained for special inspection.

Sadly, it did not last even two months before it failed — the fan would not spin.

I opened it up. I found that if I spinned the fan manually, it would continue to spin slowly for some time before stopping. If I set high fan speed, the fan would spin forever at a slightly faster speed, but it was too slow to move air through the condenser. The fan spinned up to normal speed a few times, but then it never did again.

As I had a spare unit, I thought of swapping the fan over. I connected unit 1's fan to the unit 3's PCB. The fan turned! So unit 3's fan was spoilt. But I had not figure out how to remove the fan.

(Before I remove the fan, I should check if it is due to the capacitor — the fan is connected to a large capacitor. It is much easier to replace the capacitor than the fan.)

What was wrong with unit 1? I swapped unit 3's PCB over. It still showed E3. I connected unit 1's PCB to the condenser and coolent tank. Still E3. Finally, I connected it to unit 3's Display and FP. It worked! After that, I just swapped unit 3's FP over. It still worked.

Interestingly, unit 1's FP worked on unit 3. However, it showed E3 after a few tries. The E3 would go away if I disconnect and reconnect the FP. Later, I found the Display would show E3 if the FP was not connected. So E3 means FP is spoilt or not connected.

So, the easiest path now is to use unit 3's FP with unit 1.

There is another issue with unit 1. Its humidity sensor always reads a lower value. It used to read 5% lower. It now reads 15% lower. It means the lowest RH the unit can get to is 55% (by setting 40% RH) — the unit stops dehumidifying when it reaches the target RH. This is still alright with me for now as I want that room to reach 55% RH.

If I connect unit 3's sensor to unit 1, it shows the correct reading. However, I decided not to swap the sensor over for now. I realize the sensor shows the ambient RH on startup, but becomes 15% lower after a short while. I suspect the condenser is causing it.

I'm now somewhat of an expert on DT16C. I can now do parts-swapping repair. :lol:

Given my poor experience with DT16C, you might think I'll be crazy to buy it again. Well, the export model is now called LifePro DT16C. Everything looks the same. The cheapest is $140 on Lazada. Let's see if they actually deliver. (Update: it was auto-canceled by Lazada for the second time. I don't think the seller has any intention of selling at this price.)

On a separate note, I'm now recycling the collected water. I used to pour it away. I usually collect 2L of water every 2 - 3 days. Now I store it and use it to flush the toilet or wash my feet. It does not last long — 2L is just enough for one flush or one wash. It makes me realize how much water we use.

Home loan interest rate hike!

(Amount is based on current outstanding loan amount.)

In one go!

$566 is around 40% of my monthly installment. And interest rate is expected to rise...

Guinness World Records jigsaw puzzles

When you buy the Guinness World Records book in Singapore, you get a free limited edition 500-pieces jigsaw puzzle.

Missus got the 2022 book earlier this year. My kids treated the pieces as 'leaves', scattering them throughout the house. By the time I recovered them, they were in poor condition and there were many missing pieces. They slowly turned up in the next few weeks, but there were still around 20 missing pieces in the end. I got a second set on Carousell for $14.

That was when I realized this started the year before. The two puzzles could even be joined together. I searched Carousell periodically without any luck, until recently. It was a used set, but it was the only one to show up so far.

The 2023 book just came out and it included the jigsaw puzzle as well. I do not intend to buy the book as it is rather expensive ($40). Would someone be already selling the puzzle? I could not find it at first, but I noticed it appeared as a recommendation. It did not show up in my searches because the seller mispelt the word 'jigsaw'! I jumped at it.

The 2023 puzzle can be joined to the 2021 puzzle.

I like this kind of 500-pieces detailed jigsaw puzzles. They form a nice illustration, are somewhat challenging, yet can be completed in reasonable time and are not too big.

Update: the 2021 puzzle has one missing and two duplicate pieces. I suspect the seller has a second set that the contents are mixed up.

Electric bill shock!

^* Estimated.

My usage seems to be creeping up from 550 kWh to 600 kWh. But the main increase is from $0.25/kWh to $0.30/kWh. 5 cens/kWh really adds up — an additional $25 for 500 kWh usage.

Prices are before 7% GST. This is just the electrical bill. The total bill is about 10% to 15% more. My water usage has also been creeping up from 8 m^3 to 9 m^3.

I have quite a few 24/7 appliances:

• Fridge
• Server
• Raspberry Pi
• Notebook (going to put it to sleep at night)
• 3 routers! (going to turn off 1, turn off wireless for another)
• At least 8 chargers/adapters (going to hard power off most of them when not in use)

High power usage:

• 2 air-cons nightly, around 8 to 10 hours
• Kettle, usually 2 - 3 times a week
• Washing machine, usually 1 - 2 times a week
• Dryer, usually once a week
• 2 dehumidifiers, around 5 to 10 hours daily
• Hair dryer, around 3 mins, almost daily

Update: the Oct – Dec 2022 tariff is 29.74 cents/kWh.

Nord Stream 1 and 2 offline!

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Some people think Russia blew them up. Come on.

These pipelines are Russia's strongest cards to get Europe to fold in the upcoming winter.

And they blow them up?

It's obvious who does not want to see that. And has the means to prevent it.

The great Masterpiece purge

An extremely outdated Megatron

I've put up MP-5 (Megatron) for sale. It has been on display since 2007, so its condition is not that great (though not that bad either). I'm selling just the figure, no box, instructions nor accessories — they are in JB, I don't want to retrieve them. I've listed it on Carousell for S$40. The next cheapest is S$70, with box and all. Let's see if there are any takers.

I've sold a number of TakaraTomy Masterpiece figures in the past year, some at great loss:

• MP-3 (Starscream)
• MP-10 (Optimus Prime)
• MP-11 (Starscream)
• MP-13 (Soundwave)
• MP-15 (Rumble & Ravage)
• MP-16 (Frenzy & Buzzsaw)
• MP-18 (Bluestreak)
• MP-21 (Bumblebee)
• MP-22 (Ultra Magnus)
• MP-27 (Ironhide)
• MP-36 (Megatron)

Starscream, is that you?

MP-3 is supposed to be Starscream, but it is not in its signature cartoon colors. Instead, we were told the alt-mode was supposed to be real-world accurate. I bought it because there was no alternative in sight, but it was never Starscream in my eyes. I finally decided not to live with my mistake after 16 years and get rid of it.

It is a similar case for MP-5. Because Masterpiece releases were few and far between, I bought MP-5 even though it looked pretty ugly. It was widely acknowledged that it was difficult (impossible?) to convert from a gun to a toon-looking bot mode, so this was the best that could be done?

Of course, now we know better — MP-36 Megatron managed to do the "impossible".

With MP-5 gone, I will only have two MPs from the era before the MP-10 reboot: MP-1 (Optimus Prime) and MP-8 (Grimlock). They survived this round, but will they survive the next one? :-D

Do I really need a new phone?

Can I just repair my S6 instead?

I'm not a power user. I just need a few basic functions, all of which are fulfilled by S6.

Before deciding to buy S22, I inquired around and found it would cost $80 to repair the buttons and another $80 to change the battery. The battery could only last around ~2 hours of usage (surfing net).

Other than battery life, my S6's screen has a light yellowish tint. The bottom of the screen is burnt-in with my browser's navigation bar — it cannot be turned off.

S6 runs Android 7.0 and most apps still run on it. The exceptions are bank apps and Virgin Pulse. While the latter works, it cannot retrieve steps from S Health. The first bank app to stop supporting Android 7.0 was UOB (Sep 2020). Then DBS said they would require Android 9.0 and up from this September onwards. The latest OCBC app crashed on startup. Other than these, I have no problem using the phone.

(There are custom ROMs bringing S6 up to Android 12.0! But as always, they are buggy and some functionality are missing.)

So yes, I can very well repair my S6 and continue to use it.

Anyway, after buying S22, I sent my S6 for repair. The new battery, quite disappointingly, lasts only 4+ hours. I can use it almost normally at home (or wherever with WiFi). The only problem is WhatsApp. It can only be registered on one device at a time.

New phone after 7 years!

The 'Lower Volume' button on my Samsung S6 failed to work. It could not be pressed. No big deal, just press 'Raise Volume' button and then slide the volume bar on the screen.

Then one week later, the Power button failed. Now I'm in trouble. I can still turn on the screen by using the Home button, but I won't be able to turn on the phone anymore if it powers off (if it's out of battery).

So, time for a new phone.

The Samsung A series have good price points, but wow, are the phones big!

No choice, of S22, S22+ and S22 Ultra, S22 is the biggest form factor that I'm willing to accept. To my pleasant surprise, it is only a little bit bigger than S6, though it feels noticeably heavier.

The MSRP of S22 with 128 GB is S$1,178 ($100 more for 256 GB). It comes in four standard colors (Black, White, Green and Pink), none of which are particularly appealing to me. There are another four colors (Cream, Graphite, Sky Blue, Violet) to choose from if you buy from Samsung online store.

Among my neighbourhood's mobile shops, I found one of them selling S22 w/128GB for $1,050, but none can beat Mobile Square's price of $900 ($80 more for 256 GB). It's a no brainer, get the 256 GB model. At that time, I was too weak to go to the shop, so I opted for delivery for another $5.

(The exclusive colors are nice, but they are not worth an extra $300 for me.)

The UI is still 90% similar after 5 versions (Android 7 to Android 12).

My preferences:

I like the new gestures (since Android 7):

• When the screen is off, single tap will show the clock. It goes off on its own after 5s.
• When the screen is off, double tap will show home screen. (No lock screen for me.)
• At home screen, double tap to turn off the screen. This will save the wear-n-tear on the physical button!
• At home screen, swipe down to see notifications. (Used to need to swipe from top.) This makes sense as it is now hard to reach the top of the phone.
• At home screen, swipe up to open Apps drawer. No wonder the Apps button is now optional.

Some likes:

• Crop and resize option in Photo Editor! Can only resize to some sizes, but it is good enough.

Some dislikes:

• Clock is on the left on the status bar.
• The VoLTE icon cannot be removed.
• Camera:
  • The aspect ratio is now 4:3. I still prefer to take photos in 16:9 for now.
  • For the main camera, can only choose between 12.5 MP (default) or 50 MP. It is not possible to choose a lower size upfront.
  • No Depth-of-field control. The DoF is very shallow at macro distances.

Update: the clock can be moved to the right, the VoLTE icon and alarm clock icon hidden using Good Lock with QuickStar module.

I now have spike proteins!

It was a usual Tuesday in July. The day started uneventfully. Then, when I went downstairs to tabao my lunch, I felt my heart starting to beat fast and was a little out-of-breath.

When I went home and had my lunch, it started fine, then I realized I had some difficulty eating. I had to take big gasps of air to breathe, and I can't do that while chewing. Obviously I would prioritize breathing. :-D

After that, I had to lie down to rest. I had to breathe very hard and deep. It felt like I didn't have enough oxygen. For a peace of mind, I measured my oxygen level using the free pulse oximeter. 99%. Okay, safe — anything below 96% is cause for concern. Pulse rate was almost 130! (My usual is 80 to 90 — yes, high.)

I highly suspected I got COVID, but I was reluctant to test with ART because my nose was totally dry — there was no mucus to pick up. As expected, I tested negative.

By evening, I was extremely short of breath. I was dizzy after taking a few steps, like I didn't have enough oxygen. I checked my oxygen level again. Still 99%. Originally, I thought I could walk very slowly to the nanny's place to fetch my kids home. I walked about 50 steps from the lift and I felt like passing out. I was not going to make it. I told the nanny to bring the kids home.

That night, my body started to ache. It was very uncomfortable. I was still very short of breath. I was very worried about my oxygen level, so I checked it periodically. Still 99%. I really thought I needed supplemental oxygen. It was like I couldn't breath fast and deep to take in enough oxygen. I was still breathing entirely through my nose, though. I didn't need to take in air through my mouth.

Then, I remembered that I read it is easier to breathe if we lie on our chest. I tried it. It's true! I could breathe much deeper and I felt like I was taking in more air. I fell asleep in this posture. When I woke up a couple of hours later, I was no longer so short of breath. I still felt out of breath after a short walk, but I no longer felt like I didn't have enough oxygen.

The next day, I had moderate fever. The fever was okay, but the aching was making me very uncomfortable. I remembered Panadol was also a painkiller, so I decided to take half a pill. Like magic, the fever subsided and the aching went away.

I was still pretty short of breath, so I lied down for most of the day. After resting the entire day, I just had enough breaths to walk to the nanny's place to fetch my kids back. I was very out-of-breath after that. I also had no appetite. I had only two biscuits the whole day, because I didn't want my stomach to be empty. I still tested negative. Not surprising, because my nose was still totally dry.

On Thursday, I had a bit more energy. I could walk around almost normally, just needed to catch my breath more often. My fever had subsided and my pulse rate had also gone back to normal. I still had no appetite, but I decided to have instant porridge and instant soup. No loss of smell and taste. I did not do an ART test.

On Friday, I was 99% sure I had COVID, cos I had loose stools. The symptoms match. I did an ART test. This time, my nose was no longer dry. It was very positive (extremely thick red line). Ironically, by this time, I was clearly recovering. The worst was over. I just needed to breathe a little deeper and take longer stops to catch my breaths.

Over the weekend, I had very mild running nose and dry cough (like, a few times a day). I started to have hoarse voice around this time, but my throat was not sore. I drank lots of coconut drink, cos plain water tasted strange and made me want to vomit. :lol:

I didn't bother to to ART test until next Wednesday. (It costs $5 a kit!) It was still mildly positive (faint pink line). It finally cleared on Friday. But that didn't mean I had fully recovered. I still needed to catch my breath after walking some distance. It got better every day, though. Something lingered in my throat and I still couldn't drink plain water until 1+ week later.

My younger son started coughing that weekend. He had COVID before. Could he be re-infected? He had the usual flu symptoms: fever, running nose (not much) and coughing. But he was still active and his ART was negative. He missed school for four days the following week. At his nanny's insistence, I brought him to see Doctor on Tuesday so that he would at least have cough medicine.

Then it was my elder son's turn. He started to have very mild running nose the following weekend, but he had a bit of coughing (a few times a day) and had no fever. He sounded a bit hoarse, though. ART was negative. His running nose was mostly just before bed time. He was well enough to go to school. His worse day was Thursday, when he told me he did not feel well enough to go for his evening tuition class. His ART was negative that day. He seemed to be well after a night's sleep (no symptoms except for his somewhat hoarse voice), so he went to school as usual on Friday. I messaged the teacher to keep a lookout if he had any symptoms.

What do I think?

I didn't get many of the common symptoms, but I got some of them. Being short of breath is really scary. When you are breathing as hard as possible and you still feel you are not taking in enough oxygen (it's like pumping air into a leaky balloon), it feels like drowning. :horror:

The first 12 hours is the worst. You need to survive it. I can see why it is tough for older people.

The price of neglect

I ride my CB400F just once a year for inspection.

Bike parking used to be free at my old office. It is still free, but overnight parking is no longer allowed. The bike was wheel clamped last year, but I only realized it in May this year. I could not get it waived. No choice but to apply for season parking at my residential carpark ($18.19/month).

The tires were extremely flat. I almost couldn't ride the bike to the nearest petrol station (about 2 km away) to pump the tires. The tires only had 5 psi of air in them! (Usual is 29 psi.)

The front brakes sort of jammed after about 5 km of riding. I noticed the bike was getting slower and slower. At first I thought it was engine problem and feared for the worst (it could be a total write-off or an expensive overhaul). Then I realized the bike slowed down quickly in neutral gear instead of coasting smoothly. Finally, I saw smoke coming out of the front disc brake. :-O

I quickly stopped at the side of the road. As soon as I stopped the bike, the disc brake 'fused' onto the front wheel and I could not even move the bike a single inch anymore.

Hopefully, I'll ride the bike at least once a month going forward. (That's what I said last year!)

Improving Talisman (2nd ed)

Some ideas how to finish Talisman in a shorter time. (Shorter = less than 2 hours.)

Gold

Every player starts the game with two golds.

Lives

If you lose in combat to non-players, you may lose one gold in place of one life. Leave the gold on the space. You may only parry (using Helmet, Shield or Armour) if you are losing a life.

If you die, your new character inherits the Strength and Craft improvements from your old character.

Craft

Note that in 2nd ed, you cannot level up Craft by killing Enemy-Spirits and trading in 7 craft points.

In instances where you gain a spell but your craft is too low to do so (< 3), gain a Craft instead. This benefits only Troll in the base game.

Movement

Movement bonus. If you have six or fewer objects and followers, you may add one to your movement. (Unless you are a Toad or under other restrictions.)

It is hard to stop at specific spaces. Let's make it easier to stop at the four corners: City, Village, Tavern and Chapel. If the player is at a space next to a corner space, he may move to it instead of rolling the dice for movement.

Mule

A Mule allows you to carry any number of objects. In 4th ed, Mules are Followers and can carry only 4 objects.

Let's change it. Mules are Followers and can carry any number of objects, but for every four objects carried (rounded down), minus one from your movement. (-1 for 5 – 8 objects, -2 for 9 – 12 objects and so on.) If your movement is zero or negative, move one space.

If you have two Mules and both carry more than 4 objects, the penalty is cumulative, i.e. -2, one from each Mule.

Objects carried by a Mule must be placed with it. They can still be used, but if the Mule is lost, the objects are lost with it. You may only rearrange objects in your turn.

Since Mule is now a Follower, Thief may not steal it from another player. He may still steal it from the Market.

Followers

You can only have 4 followers at any time. If you want more than that, you need to pay one gold at the point of acquiring him/her/it.

You can discard followers at the Village or City for 1 gold. Prince and Princess may be left behind at the Castle for 4 golds.

Each follower can help you carry one object. Place the object with him. The object can still be used. If you lose the follower, the object is lost with him. You may only rearrange objects in your turn.

Board

City, Enchantress. 1: toad, 2: lose 1 strength, 3: lose 1 craft, 4: gain 1 craft, 5: gain 1 strength, 6: gain 1 spell.

If the player rolls 1 to 3, re-roll. He only gets the penalty if he rolls 1 to 3 again. 4 to 6 has no effect.

The Witch has a similar encounter. 1: toad, 2: lose 1 life, 3: lose 1 strength, 4: gain 1 strength, 5: gain 1 craft, 6: gain 1 spell.

Same handling as above.

Village, Blacksmith. The prices are lowered by one.

Fixing the worst of Talisman (2nd ed)

Talisman (2nd ed) is widely held to be extremely random and unbalanced. Actually, the base game by itself is mostly fine with some exceptions. Let's fix those exceptions.

Toad

Becoming a toad is a major setback. You can only move one space for three turns, you lose all your gold, objects and followers, and your strength and craft are 1!

Let's change it. You can only move one space for three turns. You lose 1 object and 1 follower (discard them in the space) per turn. Do not draw Adventure card. Do not encounter faced-up cards. Roll a dice per turn. If you roll 6, you turn back normal.

Also, we'll make it harder to become a toad.

Characters

Prophetess is the most powerful of the 14 characters by far. Her first special ability:

Wizard has the same ability. Wand gives a similar power. This should be changed to:

Her second special ability:

This is the overwhelming advantage people are talking about. Orb of Knowledge gives a similar power. (In 2nd ed, it has only one charge.)

This should be changed to:

Monk is also widely cited as over-powered due to this ability:

This has been clarified that only starting Craft is added. This is still pretty powerful, given that his starting Craft is 3.

Adventure Cards

The worst cards are:

• Cursed by a Hag
• Demon
• Poltergeist
• Raiders

Cursed by a Hag

The Village is at one corner of the board. It can take some time to reach there, especially if you have the Poltergeist as well!

Let's change it. You lose one Follower per turn. You may discard the Hag if you roll a 6. You may stop at the Village even if you have movement points left.

Demon

Demon is an Enemy-Spirit of craft 10. He is a difficult enemy and will remain on the board for a long time. No change.

Poltergeist

There are two bridges at opposite corners of the outer region. It takes at most 6 steps to get rid of him. If you pick him up in the middle region, you have to go back to the outer region (by crossing the river).

Let's change it. It halves your movement (round up). You may discard the Poltergeist if you roll a 6.

Raiders

What makes this bad is that you cannot defend against it.

Let's change it. Roll a die for each gold. It is stolen if it is 1 - 4. Roll a die for each object. It is stolen if it is 1 - 3.

End Game

If there are no other players in the inner Region when one player reaches Crown Of Command, he wins the game immediately.

Too many board game expansions

I have a small-ish board game collection, only 37 unique games. I'm counting all variations as one, e.g. Clue, Ticket-to-Ride.

But my collection is a lot bigger than that because I have way too many variations and expansions. If I can restart, I would go for base game only, or base game + one expansion only — with some exceptions. It'll take a lot of willpower! :lol:

To be clear, I have not been adding new games for a long time — two games and one expansion since 2019 — but I want to streamline my existing collection. I do not expect to add many new games in the future either.

(Note: this entry is very similar to one that I wrote in Feb 2019, Way too many duplicate games.)

^*One copy on its way out.

Same means it is the same game, though it need not be an identical copy.

The worst offenders are Clue, Power Grid and Talisman.

Clue

• Cluedo (1990)
• Clue, Nostalgia wooden box (2002)
• Clue: The Great Museum Caper (1991)
• Clue: Super Sleuth (1995)
• Clue Master Detective (1998)
• Cluedo Suspect (2011) [card game]
• Super Cluedo Challenge (1986)

At one time, I wanted to collect all major Clue variants. I have achieved my goal. I'll keep them for now.

Clue: Super Sleuth and Super Cluedo Challenge are really niche. There is not a single YouTube review video on them!

Power Grid

I sold Power Grid Deluxe after I realized it was not doing anything for me. However, I still have a ton of expansion maps:

• The New Power Plant Cards (2007)
• France/Italy (English first edition) (2005)
• Benelux/Central Europe (2006)
• China/Korea (2008)
• Brazil/Spain & Portugal w/ box (2009)
• Russia & Japan (2010)
• Québec/Baden-Württemberg (2012)
• Northern Europe/United Kingdom & Ireland (2012)
• Australia & Indian Subcontinent (2013)

Do I really need 8 maps? The only good news is that they are rather compact. I'll keep them for now, but one thing is for sure — no more maps!

Talisman

I sold Talisman: Revised 4th Ed and all its expansions after I realized it was not the Talisman I wanted.

• Talisman, 2nd ed (1985) [2x]
• Talisman, 4th ed (2007)
• Talisman Expansion Set (1986) [2x]
• Talisman: The Adventure (1986) [2x]
• Talisman Dungeon (1987) [2x]
• Talisman Timescape (1988)
• Talisman City (1989) [2x]

I will keep Talisman (2nd ed), but I have two sets of them! Maybe I should put one set on sale and see if there are any bites.

Should I get rid of Talisman (4th ed)? It would be really hard because it is the non-Revised edition.

Race for the Galaxy

I have five expansions for RftG.

• The Gathering Storm (2008)
• Rebel vs Imperium (2009)
• The Brink of War (2010)
• Alien Artifacts (2013)
• Xeno Invasion (2015)

Technically, the first three expansions are "part" of the base game — they were developed as a whole, but were split out to cut down on game size and playing time. So, I only have two expansions. :-P

Ticket-to-Ride

Variations:

• TtR USA (2004)
• TtR Nordic Countries (2008)
• TtR 10th Anniversary (2014)
• TtR Europe 15th Anniversary (2021)

I got the Anniversary editions purely for their trains.

Expansions:

• TtR USA 1910 (2006)
• TtR Map Collection Vol 1: Team Asia & Legendary Asia (2011)
• TtR Map Collection Vol 2: India & Switzerland (2011)

Do I need TtR Nordic Countries and the Map Collections?

Multiple copies

• Acquire (Schmidt German ed) (1993)
• Acquire (AH German large box ed) (1999)

Should I keep the 1993 version? It is a "holy grail", but one is enough. (The 1999 AH edition is also sort-of a "holy grail". The English edition was out of my price range, so I got the German edition which was much cheaper.)

• Monopoly, Nostalgia wooden box (2001)
• Monopoly: 80th Anniversary Edition (2015)
• Monopoly Deal Card Game (2008)

I should keep just one Monopoly game.

Others

Special mentions: Modern Art (1992), Space Alert, Vast. I'm wondering if I should let go of these games.

Next Gen USB chargers

My Energea 2-port 17W USB charger gave up the ghost recently, so I started hunting for a new USB charger.

After some searching, I found this:

3 USB-A ports and 1 USB-C port. The listing claims it delivers a total of 48W: 18W for USB-C PD, 18W for QC 3.0 and 12W for the two USB-A ports. And it is only S$8.17!

Surely it is too good to be true?

It is.

The adapter is labelled PD+QC3.0 Quick Charger 36W. Does it deliver 36W?

Looking at the Output, it says: 5V 4.0A, 9V 2.4A, 12V 1.8A. The power is 21.6W, a more believable number.

Long story short: this is a 20W charger, shared among all four ports. If the USB-A ports are used, it is likely all ports are limited to 5V.

Also, I thought that it was fine to get USB-A ports, then use a USB-A to USB-C cable to charge USB-C devices. However, only USB-C ports support PD (Power Delivery).

With improved knowledge, I found this:

2 USB-C ports and 1 USB-A port, total power 65W. It can even charge notebooks! (Supports 15V/3A and 20V/3.25A.)

This time, it is real, because the Output states, when used alone, the output is 65W for USB-C port and 60W for USB-A port, When used together, it is 45W+20W (C1+C2), 45W+18W (C1+A), 15W (C2+A) and 45W+15W (C1+C2+A).

This is also slightly bigger and heavier, and much more expensive at S$34.42. But at least it is the real deal.