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Browsing category: Uncategorized

  • April 13, 2009

    Roundup: Shoes, shoes, shoes

    I am quite proud of my shoe collection. I realise it’s puny compared to most, but I’m finally happy with where it’s at. It has expanded in leaps and bounds this last year… Believe me when I say it’s the largest it’s ever been! I think I have something for almost any occasion. I even have three (four, if you count my uggs) pairs of boots!

    It’s also all really cheap. I do tend to buy cheap shoes and wear them hard,. I don’t think I’ve spent more than $50-60 tops on any single pair. But it’s worked out okay for me so far.

    Hereby, my shoe collection (yes, too much time on my hands…)

    p4030170 p4030169

    My leather boots                                                                     My suede boots

    p4030177 p4030168

    My new peep toe flats and my trusty old black ballet flats

    p4030175

    Love these shoes but a bit too worn and scuffed, don’t wear much. Plus make feet sweat. Don’t go with all that many outfits.

    p4030183

    Uggs…haven’t worn in forever.

    p4030176 p4030172

    Love but have little occasion to wear…

    p4030182

    Got these totally brand new and free from inorganics…someone threw out a box of clothes and goodies! These fit me (!!!) and they did have a MaryJane strap across which made it too tight for me (not to mention ugly) but I cut those off. Tada, what you see before you! Comfy, practical.

    p4030178 p4030179

    p4030173p4030180

    My fave tan wedges                                                                 My cute ankle boots

    p4030181

    p4030171

    My skate shoes with mismatched laces…

    I have to admit, my storage system is a tad haphazard, to say the least. I keep my boots in my closet, on the floor. Except when I take them out to wear them I can never be arsed putting them back in, so they lie on the floor for days.

    Most of my shoes live in one of those over-the-door pocketed organisers. Kind of like this…

    429502293_2e827b7740

    Some of my more casual shoes tend to live by the front or back door, or in the shoe cupboard near the front door.

    Shoes I wear most often  usually just get left by my bedroom door if they are going to get worn again within a few days.

    One day, I will have the closet of my dreams…wire baskets, shelves, a long rail and sliding or walk in doors…and I will be in bliss. I’ve never liked the idea of keeping shoes in shoe boxes and pasting Polaroids on the front. Are you kidding? That’s way too much work! And the potential for mess is so much higher.

  • April 12, 2009

    Price book

    I’m seriously considering giving up keeping a price book.

    The original idea was to get an idea of what things cost, and what rock bottom prices are, and the sale cycles.

    Unfortunately, I haven’t noticed much of a pattern. Maybe it’s a New Zealand thing. Maybe our sales are more sporadic and based on supply and demand. Sometimes items stay on sale for weeks at a time…and it’s rare to see a significant discount on anything.

    I should probably sit down one day and rearrange all the products so they line up with each other. At the mo they are entered as shown in order on the receipt. I’ve tried to get around this by colour coding some of our most frequently purchased items, but it’s a headache.

    What have I learned from my price book? Not much, except that cheese and milk are getting cheaper, slowly. And that Countdown still hasn’t lowered its dairy prices at all. The difficulty of keeping a price book’s been compounded by the fact that

    a) we split our shopping between two supermarkets. One is generally a little cheaper but has less variety.

    b) the receipting systems are different. One shows if things are on special, and how much has been saved (ie, the original sticker price, and the amount discounted). Makes it a pain to work out what we actually paid, but shows how much we saved as well. Also, sometimes items don’t scan with a very detailed name and it’s hard to remember what they actually were.

    c) meat and veges are hard to account for. They don’t scan with the price per kilo (obviously it’s printed on the packs). But on the receipts, you only see the total price paid. I can remember these off the top of my head sometimes, but not always. And, we often shop for meat and product separately (at the veg shop and the butcher). Keeping track of those, well, is hopeless.

    Any thoughts?

  • April 12, 2009

    I’m very proud of BF. He’s so positive about this whole dire redundant situation. I know we probably shouldn’t be, but I’m still trying to plan a little overnight getaway in the city. If it happens, it’ll be a fairly last minute thing – ie, last minute hotel rate, booked on wotif.com. I have a fair idea of what else we want to do and where we want to eat, but nothing is confirmed yet.

    But what with nephew in the hospital, everything is up in the air. Everyone’s on edge, and there’s nothing much we can do but wait and see. Anything could happen at any minute. I don’t think we’d be able to enjoy ourselves. Which kind of sucks, but we’re not what’s important here.

    Plus BF is all like, “but what if I land a job by then? We won’t be able to go!” But as I keep explaining, nothing is set. I would be making the booking either the night before, or the morning of the day.

    I guess we can always postpone it. We probably should be anyway, the way things are going.

  • 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…

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