Everyone, meet T-Rex. T-Rex almost became road kill when Mrs Nitrox found him in the middle of the road many months back - he must have either escaped from his tank or was abandoned. T-Rex seems to be a Amazom Green Turtle a.k.a. Red Eared Slider - these grow from just about the size of a dollar coin to about 1 foot across (the shell), and some live as long as 75 years if cared for properly - T-Rex is about 7" across the shell currently. We are pretty sure T-Rex is a "he" becoz he has long front claws and a long tail, and he is so named for the viciousness with which he attacks the worms we used to feed him.
Well, since finding T-Rex, we have been keeping him in a plastic container, but he has out-grown that, and we have been stressing out about where to keep him, especially given that we did not plan to have a turtle to begin with. :) This weekend we finally have some time to take over a old fish tank from my parents, and thanks to some scrounging around, managed to make T-Rex a comfy new home. Total cost? Absolutely nuthing! That makes Cheapo Nitrox happy and I must say T-Rex looks mighty pleased with his new home too! :)
I'm also pretty pleased that I managed to clean up the bike drive train. No fancy stuff - WD-40 is relatively cheap in Singapore, so I just spray it on the chain as a de-greaser to remove the gunk, wipe off the excess with an old rag, and leave it to air dry - all that while leaving the chain on the bike. A lot of bike gurus would not touch WD-40 as it strips grease, heavy oils and drys up the drive train, but that's exactly what I want. After a couple of days, I will add a proper bike chain oil for lubrication purposes - again spray on and wipe off excess. See how my drive train is shining! ;)On the training front, I managed to get in a 53km ride and 1.5km of swim drills this weekend - I'm starting to miss the hand paddles, so hopefully I will find a good set soon.
On the Intentional Discipleship front, something embarassing to share. My sister is a Christian but she has not been keen to go to church with us in the past, and over time, I just stopped inviting her. Sunday morning, for some reason, I thought I would send her a text message invitation and amazingly, she accepted! :) Later, she shared that she was thinking about attending church more regularly on Sat night, but did not think much about it since I stopped inviting her. The very next morning, she got my SMS inviting her to church! Best of all, she enjoyed the service and wants to attend regularly now. Yay! Praise God! Lesson learnt here is that persistance pays - it's embarassing that I gave up inviting her, when God clearly hasn't. Not an example of Intentional Discipleship at it's best then. :"( I am calling this incident a divine intercession by the Holy Spirit and it is giving me renewed faith that my parents will be saved yet! PRAISE GOD!
So all in all, a great weekend of training, catching up with some chores and a humbling lesson from the Lord. Tomorrow I travel to Indonesia, so I am hoping to get in a run today before I have to live out of a suitcase again... Train safe and God Speed!
13 comments:
I always thought it'd be cool to have a pet that would outlive you! :)
Charles Stanley was preaching last night on the tube and he explained in his simple, but eloquent way that it is not us that does the work, but the Holy Spirit. But it is up to us to do the action, speak the words, and live the life so that the Spirit can work through us. Well done, Kewl, I am inspired to invite more of my friends to church and see what God can do - as if I don't already realize what He can do!
Bike mechanic taught me the 'overspray' and wipe off method years ago. WD40 or even whatever lubricant you eventually use should work fine.
I lost my "slider" last fall. She was about 15 years old and live in my fish pond in the summer months and ate whatever bugs had the misfortune of getting in there.
What church to you attend? I know a youth pastor of a church in Singapore.
Stay tuned...
Kewl,
One thing i learn from sport of tri...persistence is the key....
often times i wonder and want to quit from doing God's work..then i realize...i don't give up on a run, why am i giving up so easily? :O..
I like T-rex. I use to have that kind of turtles. One of them grew so big. Bigger than my hand.
That is a very shiny drivetrain you are sporting there. Don't forget to lube it back up!
And nice job on rescuing a stranded turtle!
The quiet witness of the way we live our lives is stronger than any verbal reminder or witness. Your sister saw that, your parents will.
T-Rex has a nice new place. Way to watch out for him/her/it.
very cool post...awesome for you & sis to share in the service!! There's a sense of stability in family sharing that.
That's an amazing degreasing result right there! Must try the good'old WD40 some day, myself.
Cheers from Portugal!
Eloi
Sometimes, we have to step back and view things from another angle. God works through you to accomplish his purpose. If you had "gone on your own" and continued to "harass" your sister about church, you may have pushed her further away.
Instead, you planted the seeds of development, let them be so God could do what was needed, and then stepped back in at exactly the moment God needed you to. Instead of some error on your part, I see you serving God's needs quite well.
I'm glad for you and your sister.
Have a safe trip. Hopefully the tsunami was not too disruptive.
cool turtle!
I saved a turtle on Saturday who was crossing a VERY BUSY street. let him go at a nearby stream. I am going to guess someone let him go because you don't see too many turtles in the city.
Yeah - despite all the lectures while she was pregnant that I was not going to be up at 2am w/him and not going to babysit all the time, I end up ASKING them if they want me to take him at 2am and ASKING them if they want me to babysit. He's got MEMA wrapped around his finger!
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