Thursday, September 30, 2010

It's not yet friday!

It's not yet Friday but I am celebrating already. Yoohoo! The weekend is just around the corner. It's a short school week for my two older children as the schools are celebrating children's day with a day off tomorrow, 1st October, and that in effect makes today seem like a friday!

So as reminded by bp this time, here's my joke for the week, even though it's not yet friday!

A business man got on an elevator in a building. When he entered the elevator, there was a blonde already inside and she greeted him by saying, "T-G-I-F" (letters only).

He smiled at her and replied, "S-H-I-T" (letters only)."

She looked at him, puzzled, and said, "T-G-I-F" again.

He acknowledged her remark again by answering, "S-H-I-T."

The blond was trying to be friendly, so she smiled her biggest smile and said as sweetly as possibly "T-G-I-F" another time.

The man smiled back to her and once again replied with a quizzical expression, "S-H-I-T."

The blond finally decided to explain things, and this time she said, "T-G-I-F, Thank Goodness It's Friday, get it?"

The man answered, "Sorry, Honey, It's Thursday."

Have a great weekend ahead!!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Higher the Expectation the harder you fall

How you interpret what is said to you tends to affect your understanding, and as a result, your expectations.

Words mean different things to different people.

I have been told at every medical appointment that they have been very pleased with lil D's development. So what does did mean?

To me, it meant that she is growing normally, as normal as normal can be. She has not had fractures since those super early days, even with falls (*touch wood*!.) So silently, I was praying and hoping that their early diagnosis of OI was wrong. I guess a Mum is forever hopeful.

So when the results of her Bone Mineral Density Scan showed her to be below the base line, it left me stumped, disappointed, and totally shattered. In fact it is so near to a level which would trigger monthly pamidronate transfusions, and that has left me totally worried. And you know what is the worst part? He gave me a letter for lil D's school for next year, stating her condition and what she is not allowed to do! That was just made it too final and too conclusive for me!

So what were they pleased about all along? That she has OI? Sigh!

Ok, I am not being rational here. They were probably pleased that despite her OI, she has not had fractures, her growth is not stunted, her eyesight is still good, her teeth are not all rotted or decaying. I guess I should be thankful. But unfortunately, that was not what I heard or understood their meaning to be at that time.

As I was expecting good news from the scan, I went totally unprepared for bad news. As a result I did not ask all those questions that are now cropping up in my mind. What do I do? Make an appointment and go back with all those questions? No way. That place gives me a dreadful feeling. Seeing all those other children with different disabilities, and illnesses makes me want to cry. I count my blessings that Lil D is no where near their condition.

Like the Persian proverb that says:
I scowled because I had no shoes on my feet, until further down the street I saw a man with no feet at all.

Well I know of someone with bigger problems on their hands than I do. This lil girl has already gone for one cardiac operation with another due this November, and she isnt even 2 yet! Have a read of this lil Brave Heart but please be prepared with a pack of tissues. It was for me at the very least a 3 tissue read!

Be Grateful for all your blessings!!

Monday, September 27, 2010

An interesting idea to prevent spam and junk mail

Got this in an email, and I think the ideas on junk mail are worth a try.


The man that sent this information is a computer tech. He spends a lot of time clearing the junk off computers for people and listens to complaints about speed. All forwards are not bad, just some. Be sure you read the very last paragraph.

He wrote:
By now, I suspect everyone is familiar with snopes.com and/or truthorfiction.com for determining whether information received via email is just that: true/false or fact/fiction. Both are excellent sites.

Advice from snopes.com VERY IMPORTANT!!
1) Any time you see an email that says "forward this on to '10' (or however many) of your friends", "sign this petition", or "you'll get bad luck" or "you'll get good luck" or "you'll see something funny on your screen after you send it" or whatever --- it almost always has an email tracker program attached that tracks the cookies and emails of those folks you forward to. The host sender is getting a copy each time it gets forwarded and then is able to get lists of 'active' email addresses to use in SPAM emails or sell to other spammers. Even when you get emails that demand you send the email on if you're not ashamed of God/Jesus --- that is email tracking, and they are playing on our conscience. These people don't care how they get your email addresses - just as long as they get them. Also, emails that talk about a missing child or a child with an incurable disease "how would you feel if that was your child" --- email tracking. Ignore them and don't participate!

2) Almost all emails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others are similar to that mass letter years ago that asked people to send business cards to the little kid in Florida who wanted to break the Guinness Book of Records for the most cards. All it was, and all any of this type of email is, is a way to get names and 'cookie' tracking information for telemarketers and spammers -- to validate active email accounts for their own profitable purposes.

You can do your Friends and Family members a GREAT favor by sending this information to them. You will be providing a service to your friends. And you will be rewarded by not getting thousands of spam emails in the future!

Do yourself a favor and STOP adding your name(s) to those types of listing regardless how inviting they might sound! Or make you feel guilty if you don't! It's all about getting email addresses and nothing more.

You may think you are supporting a GREAT cause, but you are NOT!

Instead, you will be getting tons of junk mail later and very possibly a virus attached! Plus, we are helping the spammers get rich! Let's not make it easy for them!
ALSO: Email petitions are NOT acceptable to Congress of any other organization - i.e. social security, etc. To be acceptable, petitions must have a "signed signature" and full address of the person signing the petition, so this is a waste of time and you are just helping the email trackers.



Tips for Handling Telemarketers

Three Little Words That Work!!

(1)The three little words are: 'Hold On, Please...'

Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.

Then when you eventually hear the phone company's 'beep-beep-beep' tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task.

These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting..

(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?

This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.

This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a 'real' sales person to call back and get someone at home.

What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call, and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer!!!

(3) Junk Mail Help:
When you get 'ads' enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these 'ads' with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.

When you get those 'pre-approved' letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.

Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 44 cents postage, 'IF' and when they receive them back.

It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes.

One of Andy Rooney 's (60 minutes) ideas.

Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back!
If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them.

You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 44 cents.

The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it...Twice!

Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea!

If enough people follow these tips, it will work ---- I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore

Friday, September 17, 2010

It's Friday again!!

My dear fellow blogger Stardust requested for my friday joke as I havent posted one for quite a while, so here is one just for her, which I hope you enjoy as well:

An old woman is riding in an elevator in a very lavish New York City building when a young, beautiful woman gets into the elevator, reaking of expensive perfume. She turns to the old woman and says arrogantly, "Romance" by Ralph Lauren, $150 an ounce!"

Then another young and beautiful woman gets on the elevator, and also very arrogantly turns to the old woman saying, "Chanel No. 5, $200 an ounce!"

About three floors later, the old woman has reached her destination and is about to get off the elevator. Before she leaves, she looks both beautiful women in the eye, then bends over and farts and says, ... "Beans - 39 cents a pound."

So Stardust, dont forget to eat your edamames, and they are ... what? 500yen a pound?

Have a great weekend!!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Cant take it anymore!!

Yes, I cant take all the nagging and scolding anymore. And mind you, its not me dishing it out, nor the one receiving it. And she's been home for less than 15 hours including some 8 hours of sleep time!

I am referring to MIL and the help. MIL was away for close to 10 days to help my Sil out in Perth, and now she's back. And since she stepped into the house (literally) she's been at it with the help.

I know the help is at fault - almost 17 months with us and she cant even cook rice !! She doesnt know how to steam food, she will leave pots and pans unwashed on the stove, if no one tells her to wash it, she takes things which she is not supposed to, and will slack whenever no one is watching.

That is quite a nightmare isnt it? Well that's my Cinderella for you!

Well I told MIL long, long ago to just change her, but she refused. She gave me a flat "no" to my suggestion every time I bring it up. And since she supervises the helpers, I have just left it.

The past 10 days, she has been the only helper around as the other had gone home on home leave, and I have been holding the fort .. with almost no help. I did all the cooking myself, including the preparation. I even cook for her to eat!! However, last evening, I could not cook dinner as I had to pick my eldest from school, for music class (exams are next week - Yikes!),and had to pick MIL from the airport - all that between 4 and 6.30 pm. My instructions to her were to cook rice and to fry the fish. I even double checked with her that she knew how to do it, and she said yes. When I got home at 6.30 from the airport - the rice wasnt cooked. She told me that she had put it in at 4.30. Guess what? she didnt press the "cook" button on the rice cooker, she pressed the "keep warm" button instead. And then she put in twice the amount of water that she should have - so what came out after more than 2 hours was something akin to gruel!

I just bare with it, and grit my teeth, making a note for myself not to tell her to cook again. BUT MIL just keeps blasting, and blasting her. Nag, scold, nag, scold, .... urgh! Help! I cant take it anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Buka Puasa Experience

Some overseas friends were in town last week and a few of us decided to meet up for dinner.

A muslim friend amongst us suggested a Halal Restaurant in Kampong Glam, so that was where we headed to. Hubs had gone by a different route from that suggested by my friend, and that gave us an insight into the "buka puasa" (break fast) experience, as it brought us through the congested streets and half-closed roads.

I have had Muslim neighbours previously, but was never invited to "buka puasa" with them - only to celebrate hari raya!! So this was a 1st for me.

As we drove through the streets of Kampong Glam, we noticed that it was filled with street stalls selling food, and with throngs of people buying them, as this was near the Sultan's mosque. At coffee shops and restaurants there were many people with drinks and plates of food in front of them, BUT no one was eating.

At the restaurant, I noticed big family groups all in a fairly joyous mood. As it was a buffet restaurant, many people were helping themselves to the food and thereafter, just sitting and talking. No one was eating .... YET!

At the designated "buka puasa" hour a representative from the restaurant came and announced that it was time, and everyone, with a "whoop", then joyously started tucking into their food. I just sat and watched as I didnt want to rush with them for the food as they had fasted the whole day. Let them go first.

Many started off the "buka puasa" with a sweet drink. Some did it with dates. My friend just wolfed down her plate of rice in front of her, before she had a sip of her drink.

I must say witnessing this was an interesting experience for me!

Friday, September 3, 2010

The Test

Ye, lil D is going in for "the" test again!! This Monday.

This test will probably determine her future ... as to whether she will be treated like a person with OI or she can pretty much live a fairly normal life. The same test she did earlier showed promising results, but the doctors were not willing to conclude as there was insufficient data for her age group.

Please pray for her: that she will be able to keep ABSOLUTELY still for that half hour, so that she need not be sedated for it, and God willing, the results will be what we are hoping for.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Teachers Day Presents

This year I had a relatively easy time for teachers day. No more cracking of the head for gift ideas. Why?

1. My oldest organised her own gifts for her teachers together with her classmates. Yippee!!

2. My son said he wasnt going to bring any ... and I didnt force him. Tell you why later.

3. Youngest - I arranged it, but many people had given me suggestions on what to do/get. So it was a piece of cake ...literally. Best of all, all given was really appreciated!

As for why I allowed my son not to bring gifts for his teachers. It is not that I dont want him to show a little appreciation. But you know, boys are just awkward about doing some things ... and like the saying goes: you can bring a horse to water, but you cant force it to drink!

At the end of the school year last year, my son came home with many gifts all wrapped up with the words "Happy Teachers Day". To my horror it was his classmates gifts (that were meant) for the teachers but the boys just didnt want to give to their teachers at all. So what did they do? They swapped gifts amongst themselves. Now it all made sense to me. My son was all for me baking my cashews for his teachers (last year). But actually it was his friends who enjoyed the treats! All this fell into place for me, when my sons friends wrote on their FB page that they have NOT been giving gifts to teachers for the past few years!! And my son confirmed that NONE of the boys brought gifts for the teachers - only the girls. POOR TEACHERS!!

I hope they understand that it is not because the children nor the parents dont appreciate their efforts, but boys just feel it is not them to give gifts to teachers.

So what I will do instead is contribute food instead for the teachers' appreciation lunch when it comes up after school re-opens in mid-september!