Goat In Small Group

Monday, September 21, 2009

Running On Empty

It has been fifty-four hours since I had my last meal!

Date : 18th Sept 2009

Time : 8PM
Location : Mongkok Restaurant located on Gouger Street, Adelaide
Cuisine : Szechuan food
Menu : {1} Steamed oysters and scallops with black bean sauce {2} Dry-fried long beans with chopped dried shrimp {3} Spicy preserved fatty pork strips, fried with gow-choy and preserved vegetables {4} Steamed rice

That was the last decent meal I had. It is now 2am on the the 21st Sept and all I've had since then, was a lot of Coke, a packet of milk, three ice creams, two packets of salt & vinegar chips and some Khong Guan lemon biscuits. Not all at the same time, of course! And yet, I'm not ravenously hungry.

Since I came home on the 19th evening, I haven't done anything except sleep, lie in bed, read my book and newspapers, surf aimlessly and text friends on my phone. The thought of walking to the mall for food was too exhausting. Calling for delivery was too expensive and besides, I only wanted a piece of chicken or two. Peggy's family is around so I stayed in my room and out of the kitchen, hence no instant noodles either. All I had were the biscuits and chips in my room.

I'm going to get ready for work in an hour. Should I eat something light in case I faint from lack of food? Or should I just have another can of Coke?

Friday, April 24, 2009

My Poor Fan

This is the story of THE FAN...

It was a tiny, little thing - standing at 3 feet 0 inches? It was some unheard-of brand, it wasn't very powerful and it had a tendency to shake and tremble if you chose the fastest speed. And it couldn't oscillate either - it could only blow in one direction. But it was better than nothing!

It was probably Karen's fan. I don't remember buying it - it just appeared at the Tampines home one day. It was in the spare room upstairs?? I think Karen must have bought it for guests when they came to stay over. After she moved out, she left the fan behind. I brought it with me to my Bedok apartment where it was placed in the dining room, providing me with much relief on a hot day. When I moved to Pasir Ris in April, this trusty old fan came along too.

Andrew came by one day, to help me with my Ikea stuff. The big oaf thought the fan was a little too close to the sofa so he tried to push it away. He didn't know that there was a ledge on the floor (a step-down to the balcony area) and my poor fan went toppling over! Ka-boom!

My fan came apart. The front grill popped off and the blue blades flew to one side. The main stand was also a little wonky. We tried to fix it but like Humpty-Dumpty, it could not be put back together again..

Andrew offered to pay for the fan. But how do you put a price to something that you've had for years and years?? An old faithful! Got sentimental value one, OK!! Thankfully, I had a cheap Akira fan in storage, which I bought for Kek when he moved in but he never used it, so that has since replaced the little fan in the living room, yes - next to the sofa.

Many, many days later, I lugged the forlorn, broken fan downstairs to the recycling dumpster. I was almost sure that it waved its little blue blade at me to say Goodbye when I left .. :(

Friday, March 27, 2009

Old Liao !!!

My Shinco SDP-5860 DVD player broke down over two years ago, after four months of use. Since I bought it from EBay and I didn't have a valid warranty and I didn't know where the service centre was, I never got around to getting it fixed. I bought an LG player from Harvey Norman instead, thinking that I would rather pay a bit more to get a better brand and also a warranty. After the first major move from Tampines to Bedok, I misplaced the Shinco player in one of my many boxes and totally forgot about it.

When I found it again last week, I decided that I would get it fixed. Maybe sell it on EBay and get some money back. So today, I went down to the service centre at Tannery Road. The guy took one look at it and went, "Wahhh! This model har?" He tested it out, handed it back to me and said, "Don't waste your money." The player still looks brand new. Now I have to throw it away. Damn.

Since I was in the mood for fixing stuff, I decided to get my Canon S820 printer fixed too. The paper feeder wasn't working . So I bought another cheap-cheap Canon printer to tide me through till I got the old one working again. Temporary measures, I thought. And as usual, I've delayed fixing the old printer till now. It's been six months?

I lugged the printer up to the service centre this afternoon and the young chap at the counter, gave me a look, "Wow, this is an old model. But this model was one of the top ones at that time la." I think he added that last line in when I started to glare at him. He tested it out and told me that the gear was not working. As it was an old model, they didn't have the spare parts anymore. So he gave me an option to trade in my printer for a new one. But I already had a new one!! I wanted my old one back :o(

All I got was a piece of paper, giving me the option to upgrade my printer. I could also trade in my old printer ink, which I thought was good as I still had about 3 boxes left. So now, I have to look up the Canon website and see which printer I want and give them a call. Free delivery too. I must say that the service is really good. I give them two thumbs up!!

Today has reinforced what I have known all this time. When things get old and you can't fix them or get them in tip-top working condition again, you would rather just get a newer model. Something that would last you a while longer than try to fix the one that you have. I think men generally, follow that rule when it comes to gadgets. And women.

WTF.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Mustafa Calling ...

Eddy called at 6:15pm today. From Mustafa.

Ed : Eh, you want to change Pesos or not? I'm at Mustafa now.
Sk : Dunno lei. How much you changing?
Ed : Seraj said that we need about S$500 per person.
Sk : How much you have? I don't think you have $1k on you now, right?
Ed : No, I think I have about $600??
Sk : Then where got enough? You change for yourself first la.
Ed : Ok la. Bye.

WTF. The phone call was a total waste of time. If Eddy has any romantic bones in his body, I would like to think that he missed my voice and just thought of an excuse to call. Fat hopes, Girl!

I really do not know what is going on in his head. Does he call me to let me know that he still has a life without me? That he is out shopping while I am rotting at home? Does he call just to taunt me? Like,"Hey, you're home??!! Hah Hah! I'm outside in the real world with real people and you're still caught up in your own misery! Hah Hah!" The last time he did that, he called from his carpark to tell me that he was going out for dinner with his friends.

I don't need to know that. I DON'T WANT to know that! WTF.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Stoopid Things I Do

I was at the pharmacy in Las Vegas, getting a bottle of water, when I saw this : sunscreen in a spray can! Which I thought was COOL! Now I don't have to get my hands all greasy from applying the gooky stuff. It was SPF50 and Ultra Sweatproof too. AS IF I go into the sun and do lots of sports, right? Well, it was sunny in Vegas and since I was planning to be outdoors for the next few days, I thought that I'd better get some protection before my "freckles" get any worse!

So the next day, before I checked out of the hotel, I decided to put some on. The description said " Ultra Sweatproof so it won't run into your eyes and sting." So I gave the can a good shake and sprayed it on my face.

#$%^&*(@#$%^&* WTF! It stung my eyes and I was tearing! I thought I was going blind! Eventually, I managed to wash it out of my eyes. But I was so upset when I thought, Hey, I'm in the States. I could sue for false advertising! So I picked up the can and read it again. This time, I read the instructions : Do not spray directly on face. Spray into hands and apply to face.

The silly things I do. Damn.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Time Management Needed

I just had a look at the calendar. I only have six full days in the coming weeks to pack my entire house! WTF.

I packed eight boxes yesterday and that was the easy stuff. I now have 95% more to go. Sheesh! I really can't afford to waste any more time. But yet, I can sit here and blog! Haha :o) Jean and Ray will probably have to help me again. And I will have to hear the usual refrain from her : Throw la! Throw la! I just hope that all my roster changes and leave applications will be approved. That will give me a bit more time to pack.

Darn. I hate moving.