Heaps Of Excitement

I do attarct unexpected adventures, I think. I started work at 10 am today so I got to sleep in. Hubs had already left for work at almost 6 am. As I got ready to leave the house, I realised that both the gate & the door were not locked. Hubs forgot to lock & I slept with unlocked doors for another hour & a half.

When I got to work, my colleague asked if I would like to try scrubbing for trabeculectomy (for glaucoma) as the surgeon is nice & there were only 2 cases. There were slight differences from those I did in SG but nothing unmanageable. After lunch, my colleague asked if I would like to try scrubbing for the afternoon surgeon. This surgeon used to be the ex-boss of another surgeon (famous for his no nonsense attitude & MD in my previous work place) in SG. This time, there were a total of 9 cases. So naturally, I was nervous. My 1st Phaco in half a year.

I was scrubbed up, preparing my trolley when the fire alarm went off. We were all looking at one another. Then, the PA system came on, telling us to evacuate. I unscrubbed, helped patients get out of the building, out to the gather point. 2 fire engines were already parked out the front of the building. Soon after, we were told that we could return to the building. The smoke detector was triggered by a coffee machine that gave out too much steam.

We helped patients back to the theatre, I scrubbed again & started off the list. The most challenging thing would be getting used to the set up of the trolley. We were down to the last 2 cases when they decided to stop for tea break. I guess this is something I have to get used to. Tea break? In SG, we get yelled at by the surgeon if we so much as go to the toilet.

Now that MasterChef has come to an end, I'll have an extra hour everyday except for Tues (replaced by Save With Jamie). I can spend the time reading in bed. My idea of a kick back after a day's work. ;)

Soap Making: Success!

The entire house is permeated by the scent of essential oils that was used to make the dead sea mud soap. The fragrance welcomed me home as I stepped into the house. It wasn't so nice when I'm making it though. I worked in 1 of the bedrooms that we don't use so Ton won't have access to it. The smell was overpowering & it gave me a headache as I was working on it. Even with the door closed, the fragrance is able to greet me at the front door after a day. So you can imagine how strong the scents are.

The instructions call for cutting the soap into smaller bars between 24 to 48 hours, when the soap has set but not too hard to make cutting difficult. I'm gonna wait for 48 hours the next time I make soap again. The soap has set but as I turned it out from the mould, it crumbled in 2 of the corners. I told hubs that this must be the ugliest soap bars we'll ever use. I have 10 bars, 2 smaller bars & 1 bar that resembled shit. I gathered the crumbled pieces & attempted to press them into a rectangle but it looked more like a piece of Ah Ton's shit than anything else.

With soft pieces of soap stuck to my hands, I washed them with water. It worked! I've got the cleansing sensation that you get when washing your hands with a soap bar. So now it has to air dry for 4 to 6 weeks for it to completely hardened. Soaps can be kept for up to 2 years. But I'm sure we'll used them all up before the time is up.

Time to plan my next hobby project. Thinking of learning crocheting off youtube but I'm not a very patient person. I like something I can complete in a short amount of time. I shall give some thought to it.

Dead Sea Mud Soap

The 1st time I bought dead sea mud was 5 years ago, when Ah Ton was only 3 years old. I bought it to treat him to a home spa. Yes, my dogs have very good lives. After his shower, I rubbed dead sea mud on his entire body & left it for 15 mins. The end result was soft fur & moisturized skin despite not using conditioner on him. My hands were smooth from applying the mud on him as well. I managed to dig this photo of him from my FB. This was taken in June 2009.

There're many benefits to dead sea mud, such as improving blood circulation, hydrating the skin & anti aging properties. Therefore, I chose to make dead sea mud soap out of so many other soap recipes from my book as my 1st attempt.

As with cake baking, cold processed soap requires accurate & precise measurement of the ingredients. Apart from that, one has to take safety precautions as 1 of the ingredients is lye (aka caustic soda), which is a highly corrosive alkali used to clear choked drains & pipes. Also, once lye has been added to water, it rapidly heats up the water to steaming temperatures. Next, the oils are added to the hot lye water mixture & mixed till trace has been achieved. In view of the fact that 2 of my oils are solid (coconut oil & shea butter), I added these 2 items 1st to melt them before the temperature dropped. 

I stirred with a silicone spatula I bought from Ikea. I stirred & I stirred. I switched to a plastic whisk hoping to speed up the process. I whisked & I whisked. I think I was at it for at least an hour. My arm was absolutely aching. But the mixture refuses to thicken to a trace. In the end, I made a decision to sacrifice my $7.50 hand held electric mixer (for making cakes) from K Mart. Instead of fixing up both the whisks, I fixed up only 1 to minimise the introduction of air into the mixture. It took me another 15 mins on maximum speed to achieve trace. So that was $7.50 well sacrificed. Now it has to sit in the mould for 24 to 48 hours until it hardens enough to cut into bars & another 4 to 6 weeks to air dry before it's ready for use.

All bowls & equipments used in soap making have to be left untouched for at least 24 hours. This is to ensure that the lye has been fully neutralised by the oil so you don't get chemical burns while trying to wash the items. Oh, I need to get a replacement for my electric mixer. I'm so eyeing the bench top planetary action mixer complete with whisk, hook & paddle so I can start making bread as well. It has always been my dream to own a KitchenAid but I'm just gonna settle for Kambrook at less than a quarter of the price. Perhaps coming or next pay day. 

Developing Hobbies

Ah Ton is in need of a shower. His last shower was 4 weeks ago. I shower him way less often in SG but the heat & humidity masks the smell. Here, the air is cold & fresh, accentuating his stench. In his defence, he doesn't stink as badly as Puggy does. I like the way he smells but it won't be too pleasant for guests if I have any.

I wanted to write a short story of an abandoned dog trying to find its way back to its owner. But it was too close to my heart & drew too much emotions. When I was a teen, I wrote a lot of stories. I tried to pick it up again but non fiction  eludes me. I have no original ideas other than the dreams I do remember. Even then, my dreams had no endings & a story won't be complete without a good plot. I might work on an interesting dream I had though. Right now, I'm trying to finish reading the 4 James Patterson books I borrowed from the library that due in 2 weeks.

The soap making items that I ordered online has finally arrived & I just picked the parcel up from the post office in the morning. I shall get on it 1st thing tomorrow. Hoping hard that it'll be a success as the ingredients are too expensive to foil.

While I'm keeping myself busy, hub's temporary stint at Nix's work place is coming to an end. It's as though we're back to where we started with him not wanting to eat or buy groceries becoz he's "got no money". While I've been putting in hours sufficient to sustain us for the time being, I may not be required to work everyday once I pass my probation. I'm getting lots of hours now as I'm still on orientation to learn up the work. So yeah, everything's still really uncertain at this stage & I don't feel secure as yet. Hubs has been applying for jobs but it's the same thing all over again. "Thank you for your interest in the postion of blah blah blah. Sorry, you're not successful on this account." I'll see how it goes.

1st Time Late For Work

Traffic was a nightmare this morning. I was to start at 8 am today so I left home at 6.30 am, expecting to arrive at 7.30 am. But I was caught in a terrible jam along Vincent Street, taking 30 mins to clear 1 traffic light. Then, I made a turn onto Loftus Street & got stuck there for another few more minutes. By the time I arrived at work, it was already 8.15 am. That was 45 mins more than my usual travelling time. Apparently, the jam carried on till beyond 10 am. Another colleague who was due at 10 am came in at 10.10 am, saying that her bus ride took 1 hour 40 mins instead of her usual 40 mins. Subsequently, a patient turned back for home after getting tired of being stuck in the jam.

I didn't bring any CDs over with me & my Integra's player doesn't come with a USB port. Hence, the only thing keeping me company as I drive is the radio. What struck me is how music has evolved. The top hits are the ones with lyrics that doesn't make sense other than the words sound good together. Gone are the songs that are made of meaningful lyrics & haunting melodies that touches your soul. I think this must be a sign of old age. Remember our parents are always listening to oldies & have no interest in the current hits? That's kinda like me now. My favourite songs must seem like oldies to the young ones.

I get the feeling that my colleagues feel that I'm too good at my work (if there's even such a thing coz I feel I have a long way to go). I received my 3rd set of comments in a joking manner. The 2nd was during my half day attachment at the CSSD where the staff told me not to "work too hard". I don't think I am coz I heeded D's advice from the start. When the staff announces that it's tea time, I drop whatever I'm doing & go for tea. Today, I started wheeling the machine away, forgetting to unplug the diathermy cable. My partner jokingly told me that I was doing my work so well that I put them to shame. Now I actually forgot something & it means I'm settling in. I always say, behind a joke, there's always a glimmer of truth to it.

Can I be fault for learning too fast? Like I said before, I had almost 6 years of experience doing the same thing. Even if it's in another country, the principles remain the same. Although I'm a newcomer, I was a senior & in charge back in SG. So the knowledge is there already. It was never my intention to outdo my colleagues or out perform them. I'm also not here to contest for the management post. I was offered sponsorship by my previous company for Masters degree to be the 1st Ophthalmic Advance Practice Nurse in SG. If I wanted to climb the corporate ladder, I would have done so rather than come all the way to Perth. I just want to prove that I can work so that I can pass my probation & secure my place in this job coz it's so important to me. Becoz it's either this or pack up & head back to SG. I didn't post this but after the head count freeze ended in end of June, my previous application to Fiona Stanley was processed. Despite hearing from people that they are severely short, I was still rejected with an email telling me that I wasn't successful. By then, it didn't matter coz I was already employed. I know what I want & I'll just have to keep praying about it. I hope that 1 day, with my sincerity, I can show them that all I want is just to earn a simple living. I have absolutely no hidden agenda. Just pure honesty.

1st Scrub

I was trying to add tags to my older post & hit "publish" to update it. Perhaps I should have used the save function instead. It moved my Ikea post up to the top & messed up the sequence. Oh well.

It was a wet wintery morning with warning of possible hail. I started work at 8 am instead of my usual 7.30 am, hence I got to sleep half an hour more. The sky was starting to turn light as I left home at 6.30 am. I felt in my soul that today was going to be a special day. As I drove along Beechboro road, all I could see was gray blue sky. I couldn't stop marvelling about how beautiful it was. It was definitely a change from the pitch dark that I always drive in. I could see the houses & trees along both sides of the road. In my head, I went, "Oh, so that's how this road looks like." (I take a different route home.)

Work started off like it always did. Arrived half an hour early, had toast before I kicked off. Halfway through the morning list, my CNM came out to recovery, asking me to scrub for the afternoon list. My colleague in theatre will do the Phacos & 1 of the extra ocular cases just to show me what instruments the surgeon uses. I was to scrub the remaining 5 extra ocular cases solo. I was quite nervous during the 1st case, afterall, it was my 1st scrub in half a year, in a different hospital. By the 3rd case, I was back in my element. Glad to know that despite not having scrubbed for 6 months, I've still got it.

So I guess my 6th sense was somewhat spot on, that today's gonna be a special day. On a side note, retraining Ton to be outdoor trained had its flaws. Now that he's used to doing his business outdoors, he refuses to do it indoors. He's in not used the pee tray I've prepped for him even once. It was raining last night & it took forever to get Ton to pee. He refused to step out of the house. When he finally did, he ran back in the moment the 1st drop of rain hit his body. I stood outside in the drizzle with him until he finally went. Repeat telecast this morning but he took lesser time compared to last night. Perhaps he'll eventually get used to peeing in the wet weather.

Virgin Trip To The Library

After work on Sat, hubs headed to Ninja Nurse's place, having been invited for breakfast & subsequently helping to deliver food to the Soka centre in Osborne Park.

I wanted to get safety goggles & mask for the soap making project that I'm going to embark on. So I suggested that we go Bunnings to get them. While we were there, I picked up some gardening items. I grabbed a pack of 5 gardening tools for $7 & 1 of it was a weeder. J had suggested that I get it for ease of weeding & I put it to the test immediately after getting home. It was indeed much easier & the roots come right out.

Last stop was to the library. I've never been there though it's just nearby. I applied for a card & borrowed 4 books by 1 of my favourite authors, James Patterson. With so many books available, I think I won't need to buy the Kindle, thus saving me $178. Heh.

11 Weeks: 1 Month In My Job

It's Friday once again. I started work at 7 am today. So I left home 30 mins earlier than I usually do. I listened with disbelief when the DJ on the radio reported that another Malaysian Airline plane had crashed in Ukraine, supposedly shot down by a missile. People in this age are taking lives too lightly. We're taking actions to the extreme end. We need to learn to be accepting of others regardless of our differences. We may not see eye to eye, we may not agree. But we need not take to violence to force the other party to yield. To achieve & sustain world peace, we must start with ourselves.

I started work last 17th of the month with an orientation. Yesterday marked my 1st month in my new job. It's been a while now but everytime I get to Wednesday, I felt that the week has flown by. Till date (keeping fingers crossed), I've not dreaded going to work at all. I will & do so on a daily basis tell myself, "I wish I can sleep a little longer." That's all it is. In fact, I felt quite relaxed, leaving home early with extra time to spare, sitting down & having toast at my workplace (company issued) before I start work.

I was attached at Central Sterilised Supply Department (CSSD) today. I got the hang of it pretty quickly though to be independent I'll need more time to familiarise what instruments are in what sets. There're 2 staffs permanently placed in CSSD so this is more for ticking off my orientation checklist than training me to work there.

Several (if not all judging from the fb posts) of my friends are extremely unhappy in their jobs. My closest friends are depressed, lack morale & dread going to work every single day. Pretty much as I did when I was still in SG. I have no encouragements to give for I have long given up on the hope that things will improve. To tell them everything will be alright is bullsh*t they needn't hear.

For the 1st time in 2.5 months, I'm finally having money going into the separate savings account. My 1st pay for the 2 weeks I worked in June came in on the 15th. Though it's only enough for 1 month's rent & possibly enough for expenses up till next pay day, hubs offered me $430 from his pay "to pay for rent" which I've decided to put into my savings account instead. I've got only 25% of the initial amount I brought with me to Perth left. I need to build up the amount again. I hope hubs can successfully get a job soon.

Sweating It Out

Been doing recovery this week & last. Initially, I didn't quite enjoy it but it's just my perfectionist psyche at work. On my 2nd day in recovery, I felt I wasn't picking up what was required of me. I was right there on my 2nd day circulating that I could be left on my own. So being unable to replicate that frustrates me. I was missing out things that should be documented. I felt awkward going through pre op assessment & post op instructions with patients & their relatives. Firstly, becoz I had not familiarised myself with the processes & secondly, becoz of my inarticulate self. I know it's unrealistic to expect myself to be able to function well on my 2nd day in recovery. I made use of my feelings of inadequacy to push myself forward. I told myself that I just have to face what I fear. Face it & conquer it. That's the only way to get ahead. I continued to feel lousy on my 3rd day (Monday) in recovery. But by my 4th day, yesterday, I began to feel being "in it". I'm giving out post op instructions without appearing that I'm reading from script. It feels like a well rehearsed dance. I feel like I'm dancing around recovery, floating from 1 task to another. For 2 days in a row, I actually sweated while at work. I still feel lost though, when there's nothing to do. I'm still not used to having periods that are quiet, for example while waiting for patient to come out from surgery. I feel like I should be doing something. I just can't kick back & relax.

On my drive out this morning (no, it's not another driver), I noticed a red light that flashed every few seconds just ahead. This road is unlit as it doesn't have street lights. I slowed down & when my headlights revealed what was ahead, I braked & gave them a wide clearance. It was a guy skateboarding on the road with his husky without a leash! Oh my gosh! I had several cars behind me & anyone of us could have hit them in the dark. The husky could have dashed into the middle of the road & gotten itself killed. What was this guy thinking??? No matter how well trained you think your dog is, there're no guarantees that it won't take off if there's a sudden loud noise. Something my dog trainer said stuck with me despite all these years. I sent Puggy for obedience training as he's really a handful when he was 8 months old (he's 7 years old now). The trainer related this incident where a guy felt his dogs were perfectly trained. They could walk without a leash perfectly. That means that they never walked ahead of him, always alongside. When he stopped, the dogs stopped & sat stay. 1 day he was out on a walk with his dogs when there was a loud pop, all his dogs scattered. He didn't even know who to chase after since they all ran in different directions. 1 was lucky as it ran into the housing area. 2 were not as lucky as they dashed out onto the road & were killed instantly by an oncoming car. I don't want to be critical but these are potential accidents that can be prevented. Urgh! It makes me so furious that people are not giving a damn about their dogs' life & well being.

Having a half day list today, I got home by 2 pm. Seeing that the weather was nice, I decided to bring Ton for a walk around the neighbourhood. As usual, my lazy ass of a dog only managed to make it to the park 200 m away before indicating that he wanted to go home. We got back & I unleashed him without letting him into the house. He had been indoor most of the times & I wanted him to get a bit of sunshine & fresh air. He patiently sat by the front door while I pulled weeds from the front lawn for an hour. Occasionally, he would walk over & smelled my butt. Silly dog. I haven't done much weeding since I started working so I had weeds with thick stems, weeds that had flowered & the "spring onion" weeds that J told me about. An hour squatting on the lawn is no joke. When I tried to get up, my back wouldn't straighten. Lol. Signs of ageing. Even then, I still had many smaller weeds & that's just the front lawn. Not to mention the weeds that've grown in between all the pavers. Gosh... I think I really need the Weed n Feed for the back lawn.

There you go. I kid you  not. The weeds really flowered.

The "spring onion" weed, complete with a bulb of "onion".

Perils Of Driving

Yeap, another post about driving. Most days go without much drama. Some days I get 1 or 2 incidents. This morning, I was hit with a record breaking 5. Started off early into the drive, not even 10 km from home all the way to work. I was a stiffy, all tensed up with adrenaline pumping through my veins until I finally parked in the staff carpark.

P told me occasionally he sees someone overtaking 2 cars at 1 go on a dual carriage way (I'm not sure if it's called that but it's a single lane in each direction with no partition in between). Never has he seen a car overtaking 5 cars like I did several weeks ago. I saw 2 cars that did that this morning. I had this heavy vehicle in front of me & they usually pick up speed slowly but once up to speed, they do keep to the speed limit. 1st car obviously impatient, overtook 4 cars to get in front of the truck even though I was already at 86 kph just behind the truck (with some distance between us of course, I don't do tailgating).

Then we got to a round about, truck got through, I waited for a car coming on the right to pass, took up position behind this car. It was a double white line immediately after the turn which means absolutely no overtaking. But this car didn't want to wait for the truck to pick up speed, immediately drove onto the oncoming lane, only to brake hard, veered back into lane, narrowly missed crashing into the oncoming traffic. That's the reason why it was a double white line!

3rd incident, I was approaching a traffic junction when the lights turned amber. Since I was still a distance away, I chose to stop coz I know I won't clear. I saw in my rear mirror this car behind me immediately signaled right & blew past the junction. Flash, flash, flash. Red light camera went off 3 times. A total of 3 cars decided not to stop for the amber & all of them caught on camera.

4th incident had nothing to do with others. My GPS suddenly shut down on its own, giving me a shock. (No, the battery's not flat coz it's plugged in.) While I know the way to work (mostly), I make use of it to tell me how many more km I am away from my next turn so I can get into position early enough. I was still thinking if I should just find somewhere to stop & have it switched on again when it did by itself. 有惊无险。

Last incident was about 5 km to go before reaching my work place. I was in the left most lane. In the lane to my right ahead, was a heavy vehicle that's not entirely in his lane. So I made the decision not to speed up so I can get ahead, even though I was at 50 kph on a 60 kph road. Behind this heavy vehicle was a car, big 1, probably a 4WD. He was just ahead of me. As we rounded a bend, this car suddenly came into my lane, as if the driver failed to turn his steering wheel & it was a gentle bend! I stomped hard on my brakes to avoid hitting him. Thankfully, the car behind me kept a safe distance or I would have been rear ended.

I think these drivers need to go back to driving school to learn the basics of road safety. They're either going to end up killing someone, themselves or both. How many times can I get lucky? Perhaps 1 day, like everything else, crazy drivers will become a norm & avoiding accidents will become a daily routine to me.

The Flip Side Of 9 To 5

Special shift today for hubs who will be working in the store from 5 to 9 am. He woke up at 3 am to get ready, have his coffee & all, left the house at 4 am. We were admiring the full moon last night. 这里的月亮真的有比较亮! (The moon really is brighter here!) But I'm sure it's just due to the lack of light pollution compared to SG. Again, we admired the full moon before he left for work. It had orbited to the front of the house from the back. I'm wondering if today is the 16th (of the lunar month) coz the moon looked more complete than it had last night. There's a saying that the full moon on the 15th is rounder on the 16th. (十五的月亮十六圆。) Then hubs drove off, leaving deafening silence behind. Yeah, his car is really loud.

I think hubs will find a way to do the job well. When he was working in KFC, his "preceptors" if the guy can be called that, always have a balance of a tray or more of chicken by closing time. A tray is 32 pieces of chicken & that's a lot of wastage, not to mention the number of chickens that lost their life so their meat can be thrown away. By the time hubs was solo, he brought the wastage down to less than half a tray, sometimes with only pieces to spare. He also kept the work space clean & tidy by washing up the frying cages, trays, etc, pull out the fryers so the night time cleaner can access the back of these machines to scrub the floor. When hubs worked with the staff on weekends, he just asked hubs, "Why you wash the utensils? No need lah! & why you pull out the machines? If the cleaner don't wash the back then don't wash lor." Hubs has got the potential to work well, minimise loss & maximise profits. Too bad nobody here is willing to give him a chance.

He doesn't work well with people though. He gets pissed off with people who don't do their job properly & work with a nonchalant "not my problem what" attitude. Actually I'm the same. Towards the end of my employment in SG, I was constantly angry becoz things are not done properly. I know everyone's tired & they just want to do the bare minimum becoz like everybody else, I worked frequently beyond 12 hours. By then, I was severely burnt out & unleashed my fury on inanimate objects. When I saw the cupboards empty, consumables not topped up, long list ahead of me, partner coming in at 8 sharp when the surgery's starting at 8 am, leaving me to do all the preparations by myself, I slammed the cupboard door shut with a bang. Happened almost everyday. Real mature. But I just couldn't take it anymore.

Got back into the house & saw that Ah Ton had already monopolised hub's side of the bed. I found myself unable to go back to sleep. Maybe if I lie down long enough....

10 Weeks

What a better way to complete our 10 weeks in Perth than to attain another "milestone"? I'm having a day off today as there were only 2 cases & my CNM asked the surgeon to cancel them as "we're not coming in just for 2 cases". Wow. Try telling that to surgeons in SG. I'm down to my last week of pills & I need a prescription for it. I only brought 3 months worth of it with me to Perth as that's the maximum amount allowed into the country. Tried my luck getting an appointment online with the medical centre just 5 mins walk away & I found the 1 & only slot at 2.15 pm. I arrived at 2 pm, handed over my Medicare card for the details to be entered into their system, called in to be seen in about 5 mins & was back home by 2.20 pm. That was really fast.

Nix called in the morning, asking if hubs can work as a driver for a week, starting immediately. He grabbed the chance, saying a week of wages is better than nothing. I told him to do a good job & maybe Nix's boss will decide to hire him. Lol. Nah, I'm sure it's becoz the usual driver got sick or something. Thanks, Nix, for thinking of us.

Home alone, I got some cleaning out of the way. Vacuumed the floor, washed the dishes, changed the sheets. I even tidied the wardrobe. The only shelf is on top & all our clothes that don't require hanging goes up there. But whenever I need something, I pull 1 item & many more comes falling down. So on our Ikea trip, we bought a hanging wardrobe organiser each. Now the shelf holds luggage & other bulky items that were previously sitting on the floor of the wardrobe. Looks so much neater now. I never bothered in SG but somehow being here makes me more responsible for the cleanliness & tidiness of the house. Maybe I'll go get some weeding done later. My lawn's been overrun.

Yesterday, the anaesthetist was asking me the usual questions. Where was I from? Did I work in the theatre in SG as well? I said I did & it was an eye theatre. He said (not his exact words but something to that effect), "No wonder you're so good at your work! You really showed these girls up. You need to take it slow or they'll feel threatened." He said it in a joking manner but I wonder if there's some truth in it? Are the other staff feeling threatened by me? From my perspective, I just want to quickly learn up my work so I can be an independent & efficient worker. If I keep making mistakes they'll be really pissed off with me right? But the reason why I picked up fast is becoz the work is familiar to me. Besides, I haven't even started scrubbing yet. So maybe I'll really suck at it? I don't know how to slow down. If you know something, you know it. How do I act blur? Hmm... maybe I shall ask people who've been here a while.

Inconsiderations Encountered

Perils of driving. A cyclist very nearly gave me a heart attack this morning. He was in all black, his bike was black, had it not been the light glinting off his spinning wheels, I wouldn't even have noticed him. Seriously? In the dark & in a residential area with no street lights? On the way home, I was caught in a massive jam. It took me 30 mins to clear 1 traffic light. Couldn't even go beyond 2nd gear. Thankfully mine's an auto transmission car. Must be terrible to be driving manual in a jam. But once I cleared the area, I couldn't see what caused the jam at all. No accident, no car broke down, no road works. Then some people, obviously impatient from the delay started weaving in & out of lanes with very little clearance, causing cars behind them to brake sharply. I was several cars behind & saw the entire thing. How much time are you going to save anyway? 5 mins? Certainly not worth losing your life, causing someone to lose their life or having to deal with the aftermath of an accident.

When I got home, hubs told me that the rubbish truck missed our street this morning. When he wanted to collect the bin, he realised that someone had dumped their rubbish into our half full bin to the brim. He left the bin out on the bin pavement since there's no way we can throw anymore rubbish in it. Our neighbour to our left has gone somewhere with the kids (we think) as we haven't seen them nor their cars for a few days. He thinks it's the neighbour to our right but our landlord says there's only a woman living on her own there so she doesn't think it's her. I went to open our bin to have a look & wish I hadn't. The person threw rotten food into our bin & the stench was just horrible. Eeewww... Whoever it is, this person is so bad. I told hubs we'll just have to throw our trash in the park's bin for the time being.

Virgin Trip To Ikea Perth

I have the day off today since there's only an afternoon list with 4 cases. Hubs suggested going to Ikea & I was all up for it. We used to visit Ikea (both the Queensway & Tampines outlet) for no reasons other than window shopping. I offered to drive since it was raining periodically with strong howling winds. An auto car will be less stressful to the driver.

We decided to try the food here in Perth. Hubs got himself a fish & chips while I ordered the meatballs. I haven't eaten Ikea meatballs for a long time, way before it was reported that there was horse meat in them. I felt it tasted different & the sauce not as thick. We bought 2 hanging wardrobe organisers as we've been dumping clothes that don't require hanging up there on a shelf. Whenever I try to pull a top, everything else comes dropping down. So this will help greatly. There's a lack of kitchen space so hubs insisted on getting me a mobile trolley.

The pelting rain & winds carried on throughout the day & into the night. I was awakened several times by the sound of rain hitting the roof. The wind was so strong our doors rattled even though all doors were closed. Heard on the news that the storm is moving east so hopefully it'll blow over soon.

1st Movie In Perth

Friday marked our 9th week in Perth & my completion of 3 weeks in my job. I've fallen into a routine, waking up at 5 am to get ready for work, leaving home at 6 am, arriving at my workplace car park by 7 am, making another 1 hour drive back home, watch MasterChef at 7.30 pm & going to bed by 10 pm. We've been kept occupied last weekend searching for cars. Now that that's settled, we finally have some time to ourselves. Received an invitation on Sat morning from Nix to have lunch at P & J's place. Immediately, I got to work, preparing for a pear tart, whose recipe I got on the internet. I finished work early on Friday & we bought ingredients for the tart. I was going to try it out over the weekend but instead everybody became my guinea pigs. Wrecker came at almost 12 noon to pick up our Lancer & we got $100 for it. Even though it's only a car, we've somehow gotten attached to it, feeling a sense of regret as it was being taken away. 

We watched our 1st movie in Perth today. I was looking forward to Transformers but I think it's kinda disappointing. I would have preferred the storyline to involve the Transformers more, let Optimus Prime's leadership & compassion shine through. We got the movie card that'll allow us to buy 2 tickets at $11 each for a year. Unlike in Singapore, movie tickets are priced at $18 regardless of the day or time of the showing. You're not allocated seats as well, so you can sit wherever you like. This 1st come 1st serve basis is good as if you don't want to get lousy seats, then don't come in late. Only thing I noticed was, the littering is worse than it is in Singapore. As we left the theatre, we noticed popcorn scattered all over the seats & floor. It's almost as if at the end of the movie, everyone just toss their unfinished popcorn into the air, allowing them to land all over the place before throwing the empty box on the floor. The clean up crew must have a headache after each screening. I always believe that we should take care of public places as we would our own home. Oh well...

I'm looking into soap making for my next project, other than baking on my days off. I can't wait. But 1st, I'll have to buy essential oils & necessary equipments. I don't think home made soap will be cheaper than those sold in shops but you get to customise them. A typical cold processed soap requires a combination of at least 3 oils, caustic soda, distilled water, essential oils (not a must but it's a natural fragrance) & additives like grounded oatmeal (for the scrub effect) or aloe gel (for soothing & moisturising effect) or vitamin e (for antioxidant effect). After the mixture has been left to set for 24 hours, the soap block is cut into smaller bars & aired for a month before it can be used. 

I once read in Nix's blog that someone commented about the blogs of migrants he/she had read were mostly about cupcakes. I'm beginning to understand the rationale behind it. When you've more or less settled down (house, job, car), what you want to do next is to pursue your interests. That's part of the reason why we came here, aye? In Singapore, I never had time for hobbies. I'm perpetually exhausted, working 12 or more hours a day. Off days are used to catch up on sleep & spend time with loved ones. Now, we're just catching up on the things we missed out. I'll try my hand at gardening once spring arrives. I think nothing satisfies a cook more than using the produce he/she grows. 

Key To Happiness

Everybody's in search of the elusive happiness. We all know there's no avoiding the downs in life. I'm sure many are familiar with the quote etched on a picture of the ECG reading that has been circulating on fb that goes, "If there're no ups & downs in your life, it means you're dead."

Shakyamuni embarked on a quest to relieve mankind of suffering & founded Buddhism. Nichiren Daishonin studied the sutras left behind by Shakyamuni his entire life, wanting to lead mankind to enlightenment & thereby finding absolute happiness. It's been said that Buddhism is a philosophy, not a religion. I agree. Buddhism is a teaching, a way of life rather than praying to a higher being to solve your problems.

In Nichiren Buddhism, we chant Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo which translates into "I devote my life to the mystic law of the lotus sutra" & in Sanskrit means "Thank you very much". There we have it. The key to happiness. It's nothing more than a sense of gratitude. A person with no gratitude cannot be happy becoz he/she is consumed by his/her fundamental darkness. This is what this teaching is about. It unlocks the potential you have inert in you.

The world is a mirror. It reflects back to you what is in you. If you're unhappy, all you can see are the faults of the world. The law is never outside of yourself. The law (Dharma) is within you, is your life itself. Therefore, to change the world, 1st you must change yourself. As we practise, we tap into the power of our buddhahood & gain wisdom. With this wisdom, we see clearly our faults & seek to improve. This is human revolution.

I am thankful that I have a roof over my head. I am thankful that I am able to put food on the table. I am thankful I have a job. I am thankful for Ton Ton who brought so much joy into my life. I am thankful for the painful lessons & circumstances for they polish me. I am thankful that I am alive today. I don't know how much I can achieve. But I hope I can be the candle of hope that lights up the room & brightens up your life.

Near Miss

In a clinical setting, nurses put up incident reports for 2 scenarios. An actual incident & a near miss. This report goes to the head of department & to the quality improvement department who then assesses what measures can be taken to prevent the incident from happening again.
I had a near miss today. Not at work but on the drive back home. Almost an accident. I must be a magnet for such things. I love my Integra & I hope it'll last long, long, long. If I crash it, it'll definitely be another write off & it'll be hard to find another quality car for so low a price.

I was almost home. Probably 200m away. I drove in from the main street & have to make a right turn, follow the curve of the road & turn into my house. It's a T junction & though this is 99% of the time a quiet road, I always stop at the stop line, check for traffic from both directions before making the turn. I don't take it for granted that it'll always be clear. Before I even reached the stop line, this car sped round the corner from the left, cutting into my lane. I jammed on the brakes (which wasn't much anyway since my speed was probably 10 or 20 kpm) & narrowly missed getting hit by inches. I was still at least a metre or 2 from the stop line. Had it not been for my overly cautious driving habits (I know I probably drove many other drivers crazy) I would definitely have been hit. The driver was young, probably under 20 & sped off as if nothing had happened. Oh my gosh! Who gave him a pass on his driving test?

At the same time, I must have such good fortune that I've never been injured & I'm just so thankful that my Integra has been kept safe (this time). It'll serve as a reinforcement that I should keep my cautious driving habits regardless of who else gets pissed off with my adherence to speed limits, maintaining safe distances when driving & when stopping & ensuring I have enough clearance to turn instead of trying to speed past oncoming traffic.

Lost Job

Hubs went on a 4 hour training some time back. While on the training, he was able to complete 50+ meter readings an hour. He was given his 1st route last Wednesday & it was nothing like the 1 in training. Instead of a straight forward route, he was given a complicated 1 with 500+ meters to read. He lost his way a couple of times & completed the route in slightly over 2 days, averaging 30+ readings per hour.

Yesterday he was sharing with me how miserable he felt in this job. This job requires him to locate the gas meter at each house & key the reading into a device issued to him. The address is displayed on the device & he needs to match the gas meter serial number with the 1 in the device for the address that he's reading. He was supposed to be able to call the office for assistance when required. Conversation goes:

Hubs: The serial number on the meter doesn't tally with the 1 listed in the device.

Office: Are you sure you're at the right street.

Hubs: Yes. I've got my map with me & my GPS shows I'm at the right address.

Office: What makes you so sure that your GPS is accurate? How can you be sure that you're at the right street?

Hubs: (Getting fruatrated, walked out to the road sign.) I'm very sure it's correct becoz I'm standing in front of the sign that displays the street name.

Office then gave him directions on how to work the device so he can key the reading in. He was frustrated becoz they expect him to be fast yet waste his time asking stupid questions. For that route, he can have no more than 3 skips. Skips simply refer to meters that are unaccessible becoz they're in the garage & there's nobody at home. On the last day, Friday, he called office & told them he had 16 skips. Conversation goes again:

Office: No. You can't have 16 skips. You must go back & try all these houses again.

Hubs: Yes I have. I've been returning to these houses for the past 3 days. In fact, my last check was just 30 mins ago.

Office: No. You must go back & try again.

Hubs: But I just tried 30 mins ago & there's nobody at home.

Office: No. You must go back & try again.

Hubs: (Lan lan just try again. True enough, nobody's at home for all 16 houses.)

Hubs feels that the system is severely flawed. But of course there's nothing he can do about it. The device itself is also flawed in that the addresses on the device tends to skip. So you can be reading several houses on this street & it jumps to another few on another street far away & then jumps back to this 1st street. He can scroll to select the address he wants but it'll mean scrolling 500+ addresses just to search for the 1 he needs. It's a lot of time wasted.

This 2nd route he was given yesterday required him to read 366 meters. The office told him he needs to complete it in 4 hours. That's 91.5 readings an hour or 40 seconds per reading! Even his trainer whose been working in this line for 2 years can only complete 70 an hour on a super straight forward route. This route though not as complicated as the 1st route is still by no means straight forward. When he finishes an area, he needs to go back to his car & drive to the next area. All that takes time. Then he gets houses with dogs & there's no rushing or risk being attacked.

At 1 pm, he's completed 230+ readings & he called office since it had been 5 hours. So he actually went up to 50+ readings per hour. Office then asked him to return to the office, return the device & he doesn't need to come back to work the next day. The reason they gave him was that he's too slow & hence not suitable for this job. They said this is his 2nd week & he needs to have picked up on his speed. I said to hubs, "No, you started on Wednesday, today's your 4th day. Their expectations are unrealistic. How can they expect you to do 91 when a seasoned worker can only do 70?"

Anyway, every night he has to spend lots of time studying the route & he's not being paid for that. So it's back to job hunting for hubs. Well, at least we still have my income. I better buck up & prove myself worthy of employment. So far I've been on track, picking up fast & working efficiently (I hope). I'm going to do recovery tomorrow & subsequently start scrubbing. I hope I can pick up just as fast as I did circulating.

Car No. 3

We spent the weekend viewing cars being put up for sale by private seller. P & J invited us for a pot luck session at their place but we couldn't make it. The letter for us to return the Lancer's plates arrived last Wednesday & we shouldn't even be driving it. Yet we do. Or rather, hubs did to complete his 1st meter reading route. We viewed what was deemed the most promising car of the entire lot on Sunday afternoon. A couple was there to view the car as well. Seller was a student who had been renewing his rego & couldn't wait to get rid of it. He's obviously well to do as he's only been here 2 years & has gone over 8 cars. This car he was selling at $2800 which he dropped to $2400 & then $2000. He said he'll sell the car to whoever pays him cash 1st. Unfortunately, the funds I transferred to hub's account didn't clear. So we were $1000 short. The other couple wanted to think it through & might return in the night to buy it. So seller told us that he'll inform us if he sold the car that  night. The 2nd most promising car was going for $1250 which had a leak around the engine seal. The seller said that he'll drop it to $1100 if we take it & he'll even apply silicone to the seal.

We were waiting for Monday to see if the funds will clear. So he made a trip to office, told them that he's getting a new car that day & can continue working today. He was given a new route. The student seller had classes till 4 pm. So he didn't reply hubs when he texted him in the morning. He didn't receive any notification that the car had been sold to the other couple hence he thought he had a chance. When he was getting ready to head over, the guy then told him he had forgotten to inform us that he sold the car to the other couple on Sunday night. It was a mad scramble as hubs needed a car to work today. The 2nd seller then texted hubs, asking if he still wants the car. I'm not sure why hubs did the check but thankfully he did. The rego has expired & the car has been deregistered. Hubs was furious that the guy tried to trick us. 

Hubs did a last minute search on gumtree & made arrangements with D to go view another car. From what he told me, it seems that D thinks this car might not last even a year. I'm not good with car terminology & whatnots so I'm not exactly sure what the problem is. But he was so desperate for a car that he settled for it & agreed upon $1500, down from $1750. D wanted him to take a $3500 car that will have resale value due to its engine. He even wanted to loan hubs the shortfall. Hubs declined as he feels the car is only for work purposes & he doesn't know how long more is he going to stay in this job. (More on that later.) So there we go. Car number 3 in 8 weeks.