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Month: April 2009

  • April 11, 2009

    Shopping adventures

    Finally got around to visiting Dress Smart today! The cute blue woollen top that caught my eye in Portmans (the city branch) a wee while back is now mine. I went back to buy it a couple of weeks ago, only to find them all gone. I spoke to the sales girl, who told me they had JUST literally shipped the remaining tops over to their outlet store.

    Anyway, I went to the Dress Smart store today. It was marked down another $10 to $20, and when they scanned the label it was another 20 per cent off! So just over $15 for a top that was originally $60. Go me! I must NEVER EVER shop anywhere else but Dress Smart.

    SO, very happy and feeling pretty pleased with myself…

    Then onto grocery shopping. We splashed out on some chai tea, two cute mugs (red and yellow, drinking receptacles NEVER last in this house, they all get broken. Our bowls and plates have all pretty much also mysteriously disappeared. I hate it here), got some flour and sugar (I anticipate some baking) and some Worcestershire sauce along with the usual suspects. I’m trying to get more greens into our diet, so there’s going to be a lot of salads this week for dinner.

    Our checkout girl today wasn’t very onto it. She forgot to process one of our mugs, and I had to pay for it separately (luckily I had a lot of change and paid in cash, it would have really annoyed me to have to swipe my card again). I did my best to check the items as they went through the checkout, but they whizzed through so fast I missed one of the 2 for $5 specials. It cost us about 6.60 instead. I did catch that on the receipt as we left, but figured a dollar something wasn’t worth going back for. It did annoy me, though.

  • April 10, 2009

    Homeland heart

    I don’t think that title even makes sense. I just like alliteration. Make that, i LOVE alliteration. Disproportionately so.

    Anyway.

    I had dinner with the family and some family friends over from Singapore, at a Malaysian restaurant. (I felt bad in hindsight, for not asking them questions about their trip and visit, etc. I think I still feel like a child around the family, not like a grownup at the grownup table. But I’m 20 now, and I can’t really just sit around and only speak to answer any questions thrown my way now, can I??)

    The staff were really lovely, really homey, hearty, earthy types. They make you feel at home. Even me, a rather culturally confused banana. The accents strike a chord in my heart and their ways of speech. So did all the photos and posters on the walls. KL. Petaling Jaya. Putra Jaya. Big bustling cities with amazing architecture.

    I really, really want to go see them. Honestly, I don’t even know where in Malaysia I’ve been. Obviously Kuala Lumpur, but I don’t know if I’ve been anywhere else. But all of a sudden seeing all that up on those restaurant walls made me want to see it ALL! It made me want to take BF there and go shopping and sweat in the humidity and eat the great food, and probably get food poisoning but chug on nonetheless. Of course it would probably be good to have the parents there at least for some of it, seeing as I don’t know the language or my way around.

    Just some photos off the net…

    Putra Jaya

    putra putra1

    putra6

    putra5

    putrajaya3

    putra4

    I think I actually have been there, it looks familiar…I think we drove through when we visited YEARS ago. The big open clean streets, the lake, the Arabic architecture….it was really quiet and open and sort of winding….suppose it’s their version of say Botany Downs/American style McMansion developments, but obviously with a federal/govt twist.

    Apparently there’s also a Multimedia Super Corridor, an area devoted to companies in multimedia/IT/communications. Interesting..

    I don’t really feel particular links to the country. No heritage, no fond memories. It does make me sad though, from the little I’ve gleaned about the political situation. Apparently there’s a tizz about the new PM, who’s banned all mention of a Mongolian woman who was the mistress of his aide, who wanted her share of commission (??? Something to do with acquisition of submarines ??) and ended up dead, shot in the face and then blown up with C4. Nice. (Most of the news seems to be in Malay from a cursory search, so a lot of this I got from other blogs). It’s a pretty disturbing tale; if nothing else, that’s a GRUESOME way to go.

  • April 10, 2009

    Just got back from hospital….

    BF’s nephew is sick and they suspect meningococcal.

    I haven’t had the meningitis  shot but didn’t touch him and didn’t go too near him…BF’s sis has to shower before she gets home and goes anywhere near her kids…

    It’s very sad and worrying.

    I’m glad I budgeted this week. We were in the black.

    But instead of putting money to the car fund, it has gone toward gas and food (getting to hospital, and then eating there).

    Honestly, I admit I was annoyed because bf didn’t get around to calling any job leads today because of that.

    It didn’t help that once we got the call to drive over, BF was frantically rushing round, turning the house upside down trying to find his keys. They were LOCKED in his tool box. Yeah, don’t even go there. He decimated it to try and get them out….tried to prise it open by whacking it, burning/melting it, etc.

    Here it is.

    p4080218

    Silly boy.

    the_union_for_st_john_ambulance_officers_says_sing_2776043194

    We tried to follow the ambulance from the one hospital to the other. We kept up for awhile..it had its lights and sirens on and was RACING like nobody’s business. We sped down the roads behind it, running a couple of lights, but it was doing 90 in a 50 zone and once we began approaching the motorway onramps the ambulance flew down the wrong side of the road and we knew it was time to quit. Don’t know how much faster it got there than us but I’d wager it was there within 5-10 minutes, and we took about 15. I never knew ambulances could go that fast!!

    * * *

    UPDATE: next day.

    I’m really grateful to Starship Hospital, they do such a fantastic job and I wish I could do something. They have a campaign going on getting people to donate their old cellphones. My cellphone is pretty old but I’m holding on to it until it dies. I might write in a letter or something…it almost inspires me to  want to work for a non-profit.

    They provide rooms at the Ronald McDonald house for kids’ parents, subsidise parking ($10 max – BF’s mum borrowed the car to go there, and put $30 gas in..we ended up paying for her parking but it was only $10 so we’re still ahead thanks to  her). They also provided phone credit so the family could ring the doctors/nurses rather than just texting.

    We scootered into town to pick up the car and leave the scooter there for them. It was…an experience. It was COLD. But invigorating. I thought it was freezing just walking home from the bus stop…try going 60k/h while exposed to the elements. And a little scary, being among all the cars on the road and having nothing between you. I am definitely not a scooter person. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun! I just wouldn’t want ot do it all the time. I’d rather drive. The trip took an age, mainly the first half getting through all the suburbs and all the stopping and starting and turning into streets. Once we got onto the main roads it was sweet, although realistically scooters don’t go that fast, especially with two people on them! The bus is probably just as fast, if not as flexible.

    Also, we definitely are no longer in the black for this week. I ran out of face cleanser, and also, we bought a garage coupon deal. Basically, it’s a big sheet with a bunch of services (like warrants, brake stuff, service, labour etc). You pay $40 and it’s about $400 worth of services. We took it for $20. Too good to pass up, and at the worst we can easily onsell it!

  • April 9, 2009

    Caught between the two

    spreads

    People complain that the media sensationalise and beat up everything. Stories are too negative. They trash everyone.

    I was asked today by someone how I got the idea for one of my stories (which was, perhaps, a bit of a beatup). I explained I just wanted to write something about this particular thing, and that angle came out of the
    interview.

    And yeah, it was printed, although I was told would be better if I’d found someone who said they were rubbish and slammed them. (Which I more or less had, until the source wanted to change their quotes).

    Which yes, I feel is unnecesarily harsh and making something out of nothing. I guess we are always trying to seek out extreme opinions, it makes for better reading. Conflict, after all, is one of the big news values.

    No doubt i’ll soon be wholly entwined in the working reporter’s mindset, but for now I teeter between both and can see the two sides.

    Just as an aside, something I found really interesting…. sometimes you just don’t get the quotes you want, or sometimes you get gems that make a whole new story. In our textbook chapter on interviews, it says interviewing for stories is a bit like cross examination by a lawyer. Good journos know exactly what to ask and they know what the answers will be before they even ask them, so they know what to expect.

  • April 8, 2009

    That four wheeled thing…

    that gets you around.

    Is there any bigger money sinker than these damn vehicles?

    I reckon when it comes to cars it’s better to buy a cheapie in cash for a few hundred, then when the inevitable repairs come up you aren’t paying on the car as well as paying for the work.

    I was discussing this with BF –  how much we’ve spent on the car, in terms of work done.
    He said it was not that much and started rattling off various repairs (to be far we have had some wicked lucky deals), but he’d left out the most recent stuff we had done like the new clutch. So we added those up…

    The numbers were getting REALLY high and I really didn’t want to know, so I went off to brush my teeth and left him to it.

    It irks me that he spent 3k on a car and has spent probably not far off that amount again in work. To be fair, the car itself is fine. Most of that is due to his accidents, the repairs and the insurance excesses. Really i can only think of
    one or two major things that needed doing that weren’t caused by one of the crashes.

    It’s nothing like this…

    green-basics-electric-car-zap-alias

    but more like this 😀

    1984-toyota-corolla-levin-gt-apex-ae86

    But it’s a bit of a Rudolph, and I mean, he’s got a red nose.

    Is there anything more hoary looking than a white car with a red bumper?

    ANYWAY.

    It may not be good for your ego to drive a total junker, but it sure will be better for your wallet….

  • April 7, 2009

    Dwindling savings

    Gosh, my savings has really taken a beating as of late. I’m definitely grateful for my parent’s offer…and that I accepted.

    Where’d it all go?

    Well, there was my eye stuff…new frames and lenses, and contacts. I did however get most of this reimbursed, but not for awhile.

    Uni stuff. Fees were about 650, plus a little more for books and stationery, and my Dictaphone (which I haven’t used much but it has proved very useful)

    My new laptop and camera after the burglary.

    Insurance.

    And BF’s Christmas present….and I lent him $400 for car repairs.

    It’s all a bit depressing, but hopefully I’ll be working full time after graduation and can rebuild!

  • April 6, 2009

    I really can’t believe just how competitive the job market is out there. Check this out.

    O-I, one of the companies mentioned, were advertising really heavily online and in the papers. I can’t remember if BF applied or nor, but those are closed now and I think training commences this month for the plant to open next year.

    They received almost 1200 applications for 38 jobs.

    Competition is FIERCE. One of the temp agencies BF spoke to told him that they are FLOODED with qualified applicants, applicants who are coming back to work after being out of the labour force (for what reasons, I don’t know. Quality time at home? Living off the benefit? I don’t know, it’s beside the point really). Which means he’s pretty much screwed in his field, with ticketed and trade certed guys all over the show clamouring for the few jobs available.

    He’s hoping to hear back from a prospective employer this week. He was expecting to go in last week to look around, but there were so many applicants he won’t get a look in till later THIS week.

    This is for an entry level, minimum wage job…

  • April 6, 2009

    Relatively untouched…

    Another little reminder this week of just how little everyone else seems to be affected by the economy. So we were in class, discussing media coverage of the situation and all of the conflicting reports – one minute it’s doom and gloom and doldrums for another ten years, the next the housing market has picked up and it will all be over by 2010….etc, etc. And the statement’s put out there: We’re all relatively untouched, aren’t we? Nobody’s felt the impact personally?

    Well, I sure as hell have! It’s had an ENORMOUS effect on my life – it’s been a driving force behind me and BF’s daily lives since November. That’s a long time. And it’s a lot of stress. So I just couldn’t let that go, and I said so.

  • April 5, 2009

    Now I know how Tom Hanks felt in The Green Mile…

    because I had a UTI yesterday. (TMI? Sorry!).

    Is there really anything worse?

    I don’t think much can compete with the burning, stinging, aching that accompanies you relieving yourself.

    My med student friend instructed me to haul my ass to the doctor.

    I was already well inclined to, having googled my way around the basics, and I even planned to catch the early bus in order to make an appointment before my 10am tute.

    I drank lots of water – it helped! Made all the world of difference, and actually mitigated that full-bladder feeling. Weird, I know.

    By the next day I felt a bit better but went into Health, Counselling and Wellbeing services. Doctors were booked up until MONDAY, so I asked to see a nurse.

    She didn’t seem too worried. I explained my symptoms seemed to be lessened today and she asked “So, what do you want to do?”

    Uh…you’re the pro….

    She gave me some nasty ass antibiotics which I took then and there, told me to go buy some Ural from the chemist, and to come back if it didn’t clear up.

    I felt like a bit of a drama queen when she asked “so you were bleeding?” and I explained yes, but just a little bit, just a trace last night. I almost apologised for being such a wuss, but frankly, would you not find it disconcerting to see blood in the toilet, whatever the amount?

    By the end of the day it definitely felt like it was clearing. I didn’t buy any Ural. I don’t know what brought this on, but I sure as hell hope it doesn’t return.

  • April 5, 2009

    Should you get govt. assistance if you have money in the bank?

    I was just browsing through the TradeMe message boards, in particular one thread wondering about how savings affect your eligibility for assistance.

    People were jumping all over the poor OP for scamming the system and ‘swapping tips’ on how to milk the govt, etc, etc.

    I think people have VERY different definitions of what constitutes savings.

    What’s a significant amount of savings? Should someone with $500 to their name be denied help? $1000? $2000?

    Even a few grand really doesn’t go very far. Bond for a new place, car repairs, school fees, emergency dental, visual or medical stuff.

    If we’re talking more like closer to the five figures, then that’s a bit different. And that’s why the asset limit for help with accommodation is $8000. It could probably even be lower IMO. But that seems fair to me.

    Posters on that thread also went on about getting off your ass and working, how there’s tons of jobs out there to be had if people would only take them.

    Uh, HELLO? Unemployment is rising. Most companies aren’t planning to hire, and instead are tightening their belts.

    Out of touch much? Whoever they are, they must have a steady job. Or be retired. Or something. They obviously aren’t out there jobhunting themselves.

    BF is going into Work and Income tomorrow. He’ll have to show what he’s got banked, but I hope they are not too short sighted to realise how quickly that will run out. I’m anticipating they’ll need more info, which will delay everything. They also want income details for the last year. Not really possible, and I wonder how many people actually manage that? I don’t have every single one of his payslips; at worst we’ll just bring in a year of bank statements. I also don’t get payslips at work. We sign into a site online, so I guess I’ll print some out. But again, I see no point in having a year’s work of info, as I obviously make much less during the academic year and don’t see how my extra income over the summer should have any bearing on the situation.

    Will let you know how it goes.

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