Unlucky With Electrical Appliances

The title says it all. I once bought a juicer which broke down after less than 10 usages. A blender that I was using emitted smoke & sparks. A digital camera gave off a burning smell before it broke down. This time, it was my Andis clipper. 4 months shy of 3 years it broke down on me while I was shaving Ton down in preparation for my absence & quarantine. Gosh... I hope this streak will end when I get to Perth. Can't be making purchases for replacement or sending the items for repair all the time right?

I've been grooming Ton Ton for a while now. Going to a groomer costs $50 per visit. I bought my clipper in 2011 for $268, the cheapest available model. Assuming that Ton needs a shave every 3 months, I would have gotten my clipper's worth in 1.5 years. That's excluding the cab transport fees since I don't have a car. Of course, I'm not very good at schnauzer cut so Ton has been making do with what I can offer. Can't be helped. I gotta do whatever I can to save money. It's even more imperative now coz I'm sure sending Ton to a groomer will cost a bomb.  

Ton will fly to Melbourne on 3rd June. With a 10 day quarantine, he will join us in mid June. That will give us 1.5 months to look for a place to stay & get settled down. With us flying over in less than a month, I still can't imagine what it will be like. Will I be overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness? Will I be in a state of panic, weighed down by fear of the unknown? Or will I be happy, living the life I've envisioned myself in? Ok, missy! *slaps self a couple of times* 1 step at a time. Worrying absolutely doesn't help.

Habit To Bring Over

Hubby's the 1 with the consistency. Ever since we've picked up jogging a few months back, he's been jogging regularly even if it means only once a week. I on the other hand keep getting lazy & go for month long breaks. I've been jogging for the entire week, my last jog before this stint being early March. Somehow I can't seem to make jogging a habit. I'm hoping that I'll continue to jog even when I'm there in Perth.

There's a canal 2 HDB blocks from my flat. That's where we jog these days. The ground is concrete flat, the only elevation & down slope being at 1 end of the canal. It's a popular spot for joggers & dog walkers, the latter being evident by the littering of shit on the pavement. 1 has to literally keep eyes on the ground to avoid 1 of those "huat ah!" moments. This annoy me no end. Why can't they pick up after their dogs? Whenever I walk mine, I'll bring enough newspapers to scoop up 5 defecations. In the rare event that I do run out, I use the leaves scattered all over the place instead. If I can do it, why can't others? Grr...

Anyway, 1 complete round around the canal is 1.3 km. We run 2 & use the 2.4 km timing to gauge our run. My timing for 2.6 km is currently at around 21:30 minutes. I came in at 21:17 minutes for last night's run but I was stopped by a lady asking for directions. I'm being optimistic here but I think I might have shaved 1 minute off my usual timing. It's my dream to be able to attain 15 minutes like I did when I was in Sec 2. Of course, I know that I'm more than twice that age since but it's a nice target to aspire to.

I'm hoping to keep it up & gradually increase the distance. I have to keep reminding myself not to be impatient. Stamina & fitness doesn't come overnight. It takes months & months of training for many others to achieve their goals. I'm guessing once the weight comes off, my body no longer have to carry excess weight, my heart doesn't have to work as hard & my timing will start to improve. So I must must must keep at it. *Remind self to read this post every now & then. 

Summary of the week:
Jogged 1, 3, 4, 6
Averaged 21:30 minutes

Fell Down From The Sky

Hubby's friend who's offering us a room to stay in until we find our own rental place? She has a friend who's leasing out her 4X2 in Ellenbrook for $420 pw as the family is moving to another suburb. She's allowing dogs on her property & not going through agent means we save on the agent fee. I'm tempted as it'll mean solving the housing plus dog problem at 1 go. All that's left will be to find a job.

I've been monitoring the rental prices on Real Estate ever since we got our PR approved. There aren't that many houses that goes below $400 pw, even lesser when I filter it through to allow pets. So naturally you see why I'm excited over this turn of event. Of course, I'll have to put into consideration travelling distance to work. The other option is to work it the other way round, to find a job within reasonable distance from Ellenbrook. It's still too early for hasty decisions. Let's get our asses over there 1st.

Hubby's friend has insisted on picking us up at the airport despite us telling her that we can take a cab in since we'll arrive at 2335 hrs & it'll definitely be after midnight by the time we clear customs. She told us that the agenda is to go car hunting the very next day & encouraged us to sift through Carsales for our desired make, model & price which I've been doing for a while too. :P I've also been keeping tabs on job search websites. Singaporean mentality lah. Super kiasu. I like to do my homework before a move this big you see. Hubby doesn't do any of this research stuff but he's the 1 with the skills. I'm the brain & he's the brawn of our marriage. LOL.

I feel so indebted to the people who have offered us help & advice, namely asingaporeanson, ninja nurse & hubby's friend Jill. I promise you guys help if & when you need it (though nobody reads my blog) & I'll pay it forward by offering my help for others who are looking to migrate over. ;)

It's Written In The Cards

I know some people associate tarot with occult practices. In this modern scientific times, relying on tarot to tell your future seems a foolish thing to do. I've never viewed tarot as a fortune telling tool. Your future is in your hands & with each decision you make, your future changes. I don't know how it works but tarot tells you your life story, bringing to surface what is in your subconscious mind.

I picked up tarot many years back, my interest piqued by the then popular series, Charmed. It was a show about 3 sisters who found out that they are witches, blessed with magical powers. They used their power for good. With everything, your intention determines if something is good or evil. 善恶只在一念之差。

I haven't picked up my deck for a few years now, left forgotten on my shelf. I uncovered it while going through my stuff, packing for the big move. So I did a couple of readings & they were accurate. Till now, I don't know how it is so. This is my latest reading, my question being is everything going to be alright with regards to the move.

1st card tells the past: Ace of Cups. As with all aces, it signifies a new beginning. This card tells me that I have been planning for a new project or job that I feel passionately about & that this new undertaking offers me a chance to actualize a long-held dream. I will have to invest efforts over a long period to fulfill it. Sounds familiar?

2nd card tells the present: Knight of Wands. This is a card of change. It means a job change, relocation or shift in responsibilities is likely. It's time to challenge yourself & take a few risks.

3rd card tells of the future: 4 of Swords. This card represents solitude & contemplation. Draw away from the outside world & tend to your inner world through meditation, rest & spiritual practice.

Dental Issues Best Solved in SG

I met up with my 2 poly friends last week for steamboat & KTV session. 1 of them did her degree in Perth. So I took the chance to ask her if dental treatments are expensive there. She told me, "Fly back if you have to. The air ticket on a budget airline is cheaper than going to a dentist in Perth." Turned out that she had a toothache & was forced to visit a dentist while she was over there. She paid a few hundred dollars for consultation & antibiotics.

In my mind, I went, oh shit! I've got 2 molars that a dentist told me require crowns last December when I went for scaling. I previously extracted a molar that was so badly eroded that my nerves were exposed, causing me excruciating pain. That will require an implant.

I've put it off for a long time as it costs $900 per crown & $4500 for traditional implant. I decided the implant can wait. But the 2 worn out molars has the potential to create problems anytime. A search online told me that getting crowns done in Perth will cost me AUD$1800 per tooth. It was a mad scramble to get dentist's appointment. I was due to fly early May & getting crowns is a 2 step procedure. 1st to file away the tooth with a burr to half its size & a temporary cap is placed on the tooth. About 2 weeks later, you go back for crown fitting once it is ready.

A dental clinic near my place was able to slot me in on the same day I called, which was yesterday. This dentist told me that it would be a waste to file my teeth to fit a crown as my teeth were still relatively healthy except for the worn off top surfaces. She recommended fillings & a night guard to wear at night so I reduce further damage to my teeth from grinding. I agreed. Saved me tons of money espcially this close to the big move.

The implant though will have to wait. Perhaps on 1 of my visits back to SG. I'm exploring mini implants offered by Camden Medical. According to its website, it can be done on the same day. Well, it'll definitely have to wait till I'm bringing in a steady income.

Prolonged "Summer"

It was a furnace outside my air conditioned room, even at 4 am in the morning. I stepped out to use the toilet & I was already starting to sweat as I slipped back into my room. I think it took all of 2 minutes for the return trip. These days I have 2 fans working at full speed for 24 hours a day, alternating them only at night. (Hubby finds the room too stuffy without a fan to circulate the cool air at night.) Even with 2 fans blowing at me, I'm sweating loads by the minute.

How hot can SG get anyway? 36 degrees? So I'm absolutely certain that I'll hate summer in Perth with a vengeance. Worse still with bugs that came along with it. Perhaps it'll reduced me down to a crazed woman running down the street, swatting at the bugs flying around my face. But at the very least, we'll have 3 other seasons that are more comfortable.

"Summer" came early this year in SG, probably due to global warming. I remember it used to get really hot only around June till the monsoon season breaks it up in late November during my childhood. For many years now, the heat started around April. This year, it was mid February, followed by a 6 week dry spell that turned the grass all over SG yellow. Neighbouring Malaysia even had to ration water in the rural areas as their water supply ran dangerously low.

In Dan Brown's Inferno, the antagonist blames over population as the cause. We're depleting the earth's resources faster than they can be replenished. He proposed a reduction of the world's population by more than half & went on to release a virus to render a fifth of the population infertile. There's always a ring of truth in all his novels.

1 thing I do agree on. I think we're already past the tipping point. There's no way to remedy the global warming issue fast enough to make a difference. The ice caps are melting at a unprecedented speed. I kinda feel that earth is doomed. I wonder how long we have.

Regardless, let us all do what we can. Well, on the individual, we really should cut down the usage of plastic bags, switching to reusable or biodegradable bags, avoid buying bottled water, consider switching to energy saving electrical appliances & switching off lights that we don't need. Setting the air conditioner at 25 degrees (You can't go higher than that. Believe me, I've tried. It'll start blowing out heated air at 26 degrees.) & not using the air conditioner for more than 8 hours a day helps. On cooler days, we leave the room door open for circulation & ditch the air conditioning altogether. If everyone makes an effort, maybe we can slow down global warming enough for recovery efforts to work.

The Beginning of Growing Old Together

About 4 years ago, I sprained my back at work carrying a heavy load. I couldn't go into a sitting position when standing & neither could I get up from a sitting position without difficulty. I went to the 跌打师傅 but it still took 2 months to recover. Ever since then, I've got backache every single day, made worse by being on my feet all day at work. The pain goes away with rest but by the 1 hour mark at work, my back would start aching again.

These days, me & hubby will take turns "cracking" each other's spine by exerting pressure on either sides, followed by application of salonpas plasters on the site that hurts the most. It's an uncomfortable ailment but it brings a smile to my face when I think about it. We're sort of growing old together.