Where to adopt a family friend

There are thousands of abandoned animals and strays which need a home. Buying a pedigree animal these days means supporting horrific puppy mills, resulting in senseless abuse and suffering.

The Sunday Times ran an adoption story today [pdf] and listed these as sources below for adoptions. The process is an engagement as they’ll need to verify you’re ready to adopt.

1. ACTION FOR SINGAPORE DOGS – More than 100 dogs of various breeds, from mongrels to crossbreeds and pedigrees. Tel: 6100-2737. http://www.asdsingapore.com
2. ANIMAL LOVERS LEAGUE – 50 dogs, mainly mongrels. About 10 per cent are purebred dogs such as pomeranians and shih tzus. Tel: 9793-7162. Pets Villa, 61 Pasir Ris Farmway 3. http:// www.animalloversleague.com
3. CAT WELFARE SOCIETY – An open adoption board where members of the public can post up cats for adoption. There are four to eight adoption posts a day. E-mail: info@catwelfare.org; mailing address: Orchard Road PO Box 65, Singapore 912303. http://www.catwelfare.org
4. GENTLE PAWS AND FRIENDS – 35 dogs of various breeds – mongrels, crossbreeds and a purebred English cocker spaniel. E-mail: farmwaylove@gmail.com, 6 Pasir Ris Farmway 2. http://gentlepaws2010.blogspot.com
5. SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS – Currently more than 60 dogs, cats, rabbits and hamsters. Mixture of crossbreeds and pedigrees. Tel: 6287-5355 ext 24, 31 Mount Vernon Road S(368054). http://www.spca.org.sg

Mr Bats, b. Dec 2003 (estim.), found at Geylang Bahru.
Family friend since 21 Feb 2004, via Cat Welfare Society.

Next Gen NBN termination point installed, can I get fibre broadband?

In 2009, an unreliable Singnet line had me try out a six month trial with M1. After a fuss-free six months, I signed a two-year contract for M1’s 100MBps line.

This ended with a rude shock when I got a bill for $116.22 yesterday. Apparently the 2-year, 45% discount is over. What a way to let me know!

So it’s time to cancel or renew.

The current 24-month cable broadband contract with M1 costs $76.70/month. I can’t smell anything close to that speed on wireless so I could settle for M1’s 30MBps ($53.90/mth).

Meanwhile Singtel’s ADSL 15MBps costs $51.90/month but comes with a 1.5MBps mobile broadband USB modem. And if you almost double that price, they’ll give you a Mac Book Pro as well!

However, last September, I jubilantly noted that my broadband contract would end soon after they installed the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network termination point. Which has happened. And a few months ago, Techgoondu waxed lyrical about M1’s $39/month 100MBps fibre broadband plan – the same plan M1 is currently touting at Sitex:

Very nice, right? So I called M1 customer service and the chap on the phone checks his computer and says that my building is not ready. Seriously? So what is that termination point doing in my home?

Well, I just checked OpenNet and got this response – “Your building is ready for Next Gen NBN services. You can now approach a Retail Service Provider (RSP) to subscribe for Next Gen NBN services. Some of the RSPs include M1, SingTel, StarHub, and SuperInternet.”

Bah, what’s going on? I’ll call again and find out tomorrow.

If NGNBN access is delayed for a month or so, I’ll cancel my line for December. I seem to have to do that every two years because of some nonsense – which I can do since I’m usually on leave all December anyway, reading and licking my wounds from the semester. If it turns out there is a delay of more than a month, I’ll subscribe to M1’s 6-month 30MBps line which will cost me $58.80 (40% discount). Then wait for deliverance.

I’ll call M1 tomorrow and find out what’s what.

Update – a second telephone M1 service officer claimed we can’t install fibre broadband but at a both in town, they sign up immediately for installation in mid-December. The chap at the counter told us the M1 employees we talked to were accessing some old database.