Tanks and Pigs

The tanks that I wear to work are looking a little worn so I picked up a few more from Shein... cos ... why not? The weather is getting into the fucking-hot zone these days, which is usual for us this time of year. And where I work it's not an issue to come in with tanks (as long as they're decent enough) so I got these - for under 20 bucks (total!). 

Except I'm not loving the button detail on the middle one so I popped them off. They were just decorative anyway. Much better without. (Also, I love stripes! Can you tell?)

I'm looking forward to wearing them, but it all depends on the weather. This morning, despite the 33°C (91°F ) sunny days we've been having, the monsoon rains blew in at a nippy 23°C (73.5°F)! It might not be terribly cold to some of you but when it's raining and you factor in windchill, it gets a tad cold for someone used to living so close to the equator.

And on the topic of tanks... here are two dresses I'm waiting for -

I'm in a midi dress kind of mood these days, and I don't have nearly enough of them imo, besides the 3 spaghetti strap ones I own, and a couple of long black tee-shirt dresses (don't ask me why I ended up with 2 in the same colour; the style is ever so slightly different tho).

And in other news, my godson introduced me to a game he's playing - it's called Pig Farm Mix. So far it's cute enough to hold my attention, AND it doesn't take a lot time. I just log in every few hours to feed them, and once they're old enough I ship them out for cash. I think you can breed them too... but I haven't gotten that far yet. 

You buy them as piglets, feed them stuff, then over time they grow. And when they're mature you can see what kind of pig they are. I had a Japanese chef pig in a cute white hat, and a Wet pig when a bucket on its head. BUT you'll only get their 'names' when you ship them off to be sold. They then appear in your collection books. 

When pigs get too old (over 50 hours old) you don't get any money for them. Hence that old pig sitting in my pen with the red hat. You can still ship them off if you need to make space, but since he was my very first pig, I think I'll keep him. (And yes, when they're old pigs, you can't breed them either!)

Here's today chip pic - pork rinds anyone? 

Money Week + +

Let's start with the plus plus. I play a game called Angry Birds Dream Blast that BIKSS started playing first. And at first when I tried it on his phone I didn't like it. But after some time when I went to play it again I found that I actually enjoyed it. Perhaps he had moved on in levels and I found it just challenging enough.  

So I downloaded the thing. And now I'm at level 7000 and something. I just thought it was cute that they built the '7000' into the game layout for the level. 

Dinner last week was at a place by the beach. It was one of those things that look like a hut, no fuss, not many tables - read : less chance of having to deal with screaming kids thank goodness! - and so we had a greek salad, some stuffed portabellos, and a grilled barramund. Could have been better... but it was decent enough. I'm not complaining. The ambience was lovely. By which I mean we were the only people sitting indoors. There were a few tables occupied outside. A quiet dinner is a great dinner imo.

One thing I found hilarious was that on the menu it said all mains were served with vegetables and starch. I mean, who calls it starch? Couldn't they just say potatoes? LOL. 

The rest of this week has been all about finances for me. I pulled out some time deposits that were giving me pathetic returns and stuck it all back in for another term with more than double the interest. Thanks to the 'rona, interest rates were at something stupid like 1.1% when I placed those funds. Thankfully it's climbed back up to the 3 point somethings. 

I also had to renew my home and fire insurance. Which isn't a whole lot of money, but it's just tedious having to log in and make payment etc. 

Then I got an email saying that my government approved integrated insurance plan was up for renewal and I had to pay a little over a thousand bucks. What? Wait. No. 

So I did some digging and asked around and someone suggested this company that mum and dad's insurance plans are/were with. I don't handle their stuff, the brother does... so I had no prior experience with them aside from recognising the name of the company. 

Turns out a friend's sister is an agent with said company so she put me in touch with her, and we sorted out the stuff in one afternoon. I will save about 27% in premiums annually, so I decided to pick up a rider that would limit my copay to 5% (instead of 10%) with a cap at 3k per year, and take care of  my deductible of 3.5k altogether - taking it down to zero dollars - woot!

I mean, that's some serious peace of mind for $200 a year. 

(For definitions on copay / deductibles etc click HERE)

I tried explaining all this to my sister when she asked why I was meeting an insurancent agent, but as usual she's all like "Oh I don't understand any of this my brain's too old to fathom these numbers and make sense of all the terms... I don't know... I'll just let my husband deal with this stuff." I REALLY CANNOT UNDERSTAND how someone could be so negligent. Yes, negligent, in that she just doesn't think about what will happen and how it will impact her children should anything happen to them. Argh. 

Side note - I later told my niece about the Silver plan - see below - and suggested she find out what her parents are covered for and consider picking up a plan on their behalf so if they end up in hospital she won't be bankrupted by their bills. 

Anyway, aside from that, because I know I don't have a great disability / critical illness plan, I decided to check if they had a cancer-specific plan cos the boss suggested it - he recently got one for himself because of the way cancer treatment costs here are escalating every year. It's gotten to a stage where in April this year they'll be announcing a revision on the payout schedules for ALL insurance companies across the board cos there's going to be some huge overhaul in the Health Ministry's definitions of cancer treatments and management.

So there's a cancer plan that pays out upon early stage AND late stage diagnoses of cancer (for 125% of the sum assured) and also the full amount of the policy in the event of accidental death; and then there's a "Silver" plan (I found this rather amusing) that I'm just old enough (50) to qualify for. My agent recommended that I take that over the former, cos on top of all that the other one has, it's got additional coverage for "fractures requiring surgery or surgical fixation" PLUS there is an extra payout (albeit only 25% of the policy) in the event I need to be placed in a hospice for "terminal cancer". For about $3 more monthly, that's not a bad deal. 

But if I die of natural causes then my next of kin gets a measly 5 grand flat. LOL. 

Alright, so I paid for all the things, and filled up all the forms. 

And downloaded all the apps and documents and what nots. 

Then I got an email saying it was time to renew the work visa for my caregiver... which also meant I needed to renew HER insurance plan. 

The government makes it compulsory for all employers to take up an insurance policy for stay-in caregivers / housekeepers when we commit to a contract. And so I rang the agent again to ask if they had a policy for stay-in caregivers, and she got a general insurance specialist to give me a call. 

My, but she was super efficient. She definitely knew her stuff! And she was a fast talker!

"Hi my name is Jane, and I'm calling per your agent's request (Marilyn) to help you with your caregiver's insurance plan prior to her work visa renewal. Is this something that you requested?" 

Me taking my own sweet time on the phone... - um, oh hi Jane, yup I asked Marilyn if she could assist with getting my caregiver a policy for the next 2 years. 

"Sure, we can do that. Have you received the official notice of renewal? Either hard or soft copy?"

Me - uh yeah I have an email.

"Ok I'm going to ask you to pull up that email, and also get hold of your caregiver's passport as we'll need the passport number and date of expiry, I'll hold while you gather the necessary documents." 

"If you look at the notice of renewal on the top right corner below the date you'll see a permit number beginning with  0 - can you read that 8 digit number to me beginning with zero?" 

"Now below the salutation (Dear Ms Fondles) you'll see a service expiry date - can you read that date out to me in date date month month year year format?" 

And on and on she went. It was ALMOST like being talked thru an automated system. But BETTER!

Anyway we got that done in no time at all and I'm a happy camper. 

Except now I have to keep an eye on the date cos come 30th March I'm gonna need to pull out another bunch of time deposits and re-deposit them with better interest. One matures on the 30th, so I thought I'd just wait till then (and not pay the penalty for that one) and then pull the rest (that won't mature till months later) out on the same day. 

Oh, and in some good news, one of mum's homecare grants has been doubled from this month onwards. Some enhanced financial measures that the government announced in the recent budget. It's only $200, but that's better than nothing.

It'll buy me more chips, at the very least :)

At the Makeup Counter

At one point while looking for some blush I exclaimed in frustration that it was ridiculous just how expensive make-up had gotten. 

I mean, if I want a little colour on my cheeks maybe I should just slap them. Then I proceeded to pat my own cheeks... and turning to face BIKSS I said, hey, or YOU could do it... have a go! 

He pulled away and said no no no, there's CCTV all around and he could get into big trouble! LOL. 

We played abit in the store, I said, nah they won't think you're abusing me, I'm smiling and touching your chest and we're obviously getting along, I don't look like I'm distress! 

He went on to say that it might also look like I was trying to placate him in an effort to stop him from continuing with the slapping. It was funny. 

Not abuse. That's NEVER funny. And it's NEVER ok. But it was funny how he twisted everything I said or did into something that might have been misconstrued. 

And isn't that the real problem with the world? One thing said or done under one circumstance could be misinterpreted VERY VERY badly. 

That's all I wanted to say today. 

Enjoy! Cos these are ALSO Chips :)

Have A Good Sunday

It's not Tuesday but this was too cute not to share. 

Happy Easter Every Bunny

 

Valentines Schmalentines, Fun Puns and Updates from Around the House

BIKSS has come down with a fuzzy throat and he's feeling under the weather again. The fact that we're seeing 10k plus new cases daily isn't helping everyone's morale. So far he is still negative.

Hospital beds are getting snatched up by the thousands each day. We're headed for a crisis if you ask me, but everyone is so casual about the omicorn variant it's scary to think it could blow up even bigger than it has. 

Mum has officially gotten 'discharged' with a memo sent by the health ministry. My caregiver will have to wait till tomorrow before she is officially allowed to leave the house. 

They still have to both test negative before entering the hospital tomorrow afternoon if they are to attend mum's physio session. 

I'll have to call them and update them when I know the results of their a.r.t. I am also supposed to have a kid coming in for lesson tomorrow afternoon. I've told the mum I will update her as well. I don't want to expose anyone to this. Getting sick is one thing, passing it to 10, 50, 100 people is another. 

👄👄👄👄👄

Tomorrow is also Valentine's Day. Obviously no one here is going on a date. It'll be crowded, expensive and risky. 

Not to mention I don't think either of us should be meeting the other until everyone is Covid-free, we are a.r.t negative for at least 2 weeks, and neither of us is feeling sick-ish. 

That leaves us with, um, maybe a date in March. LOL. We'll celebrate it along with his birthday that was a week and a half ago. 

But aside from Valentine's Day there is also Galentine's Day. It's celebrated on the 13th of Feb so I guess this is me wishing all my blogging gal pals HAPPY GALENTINE'S DAY. 

"The best thing about Galentine’s Day is that it was created by a fictional character: Leslie Knope of Parks and Recreation. In 2010, the second season of Parks and Rec included an episode called “Galentine’s Day,” in which Leslie gathers a group of her closest gal pals for a brunch full of waffles and love."

I mean, gal pal love and waffles??? I'm in!

But what if you wanna hang with a guy pal, or if you're a guy and well, "galentine" isn't for you? Don't fret. There's always Palentine's Day. It is also celebrated on the 13th of Feb so I'm wishing my NON-gal blogger pals HAPPY PALENTINE'S DAY!

👄👄👄👄👄

I've been sitting on these for a bit, I guess I should share them or else they'll just get mouldy by the time I get round to it. 

(And if you, like me, enjoy music-related things, try Byrdle - it's like Wordle but with a choral theme.)

Heh. Heh heh. I really liked this one. 👆

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH BOTH OF THESE. Reading the news makes me irritable. The amount of stupid in the world is mind-blowing. I realise I should be used to it by now. But it still surprises me. 

👄👄👄👄👄

Mum has been hooked on magic-related TV shows. It's a good thing we found something she enjoys so as to kill the time she has to be stuck indoors. She has watched the reboot of Charmed (3 seasons) and is currently going thru Merlin (from 2008). I enjoyed it when I watched it a decade ago, so I'm glad she's also finding it entertaining. There are 5 seasons so she'll have plenty to distract her. 

Meanwhile I'm on season 2 of A Discovery of Witches. I like the premise, I don't like the main actress - I think she's over acting and doesn't seem to be doing justice to Matthew Goode who plays the character opposite her. (And she has the worst American accent. I get that she's Australian, but seriously.) I DO like Matthew Goode - yeah yeah, that tall lanky type. My friend thinks he'd make a good Bond. I think he'd make a good bonk. But only if he smells nice. The problem with LOOKING at eye candy is that I worry (unnecessarily so, but still I worry) that they'll end up not smelling good. 

Can I just say again how I love that BIKSS always smells good? Mmmmmm. Nothing beats that clean, crisp scent of laundry detergent and fabric softener LOL. Dettol is good too. And so is bleach. I think I have a sickness. 

But back to TV.  You can watch the trailer HERE or click on the video below-

And while looking for that trailer I decided that I shall give Scandal a go. Why not right? I mean, I should be doing my module videos on Understanding Dementia but TV is so much more exciting. 

Ok that's not entirely true. I am enjoying what I call my dementia videos. If basic brain anatomy is something you're interested in, maybe you will too. 

You can read more about it here. It's another MOOC in the same series as the one I did last year on Preventing Dementia. I told my caregiver about it and she has also signed up! It'll be good for her to have this under her belt, I think. Practical knowledge is always a plus, but more importantly she'll have an additional qualification for future employment opportunities. 

Oh, and speaking of caregiver, mum slept thru the night again last night. We are happy that her new medication schedule is working well. Most nights she gets up maybe once, sometimes twice, but some nights she manages to sleep right through. My caregiver jokingly addressed me as "Doc" the whole morning. She also thinks our geriatrician is a quack and that I've managed (with the help of my boss) to do a better job at solving mum's sleep issues. 

Today's chip pic ~ 

(I really could do with some french fries ...)

Breakfast on a Normal Day

Wanna see what I do for regular breakfasts? Leftovers. 

Half a red-bean paste pancake (mum's leftover breakfast from a day before), a kale/quinoa patty from Strong Roots (leftover from last night's dinner), and a cup of papaya cos there's just so much of it in the fridge.

My chip pic today ~ 

The First Day of 2022

First, a resolution. I hate them. But this one looks do-able. 

Second, I hate moths. Which is why this guy thought it would be a good idea to visit and hang out on my ceiling fan. My friend identified it as the Oleander Hawk-Moth. Ghastly things. 

Third, I woke up to a new plant. The mother decided that since our peace lilies weren't blooming (it's the end of the year and I get very little light in the spot where my lilies sit - I already have two pots - and all she needs to do is wait till February when the weather gets warmer and sunnier again) she would pick up a new pot from the store. It annoys me that she's spending money on random stuff that she shouldn't be spending money on. 

It's huge enough that it won't fit on the top of my shoe cupboard with the other indoor plants, 
and it has to sit on the floor of the outside plant area cos well, it won't fit on the rack.  Le sigh. 

I keep telling her we have no money so please save your cash for medical visits and taxi fares. As long as she has money in her wallet she'll spend it. When I leave a single 10 dollar bill in there she tends to save it for when she needs to get a haircut or get a wash at the salon. But once in a while I feel bad for her and I stick a 20 or a 50 in there. And then I immediately regret it cos she'll spend it on crap. 

One day she bought a tub of pineapple tarts. Another, it was mooncakes. Does she want to eat them? Nope. She doesn't like them, she says. Then why did you buy them? Cos they look pretty. Just leave them on the dining table she says. ARGH. 

My siblings, friends, colleagues and random food rescue group members have all benefited from her food-buying spree. A lot of the stuff she buys are things I don't particularly enjoy eating either, so I'm just bleeding money in food-giveaways. It's a good thing I get free stuff from the rescue group too. At least that helps defray some cost. 

So anyway, that's the state of things here on the first day of the year. 

It could be worse, sure. But it sure as fuck could be a lot better. 

Meanwhile, mum will have physio on Monday, an ENT appointment on Tuesday, and a brought-forward 'emergency' geriatric appointment on Wednesday morning which I have now had to take urgent leave of absence from work for. Because while she's calmer and eating better during the day, she is sleep-talking and sleep-doing-things at night. (Kinda like sleepwalking but not limited to walking... instead she fusses with the things around her - bedding, blanket, trinkets on the side table next to her bed, just whatever stuff she can get her hands on.) And it's not a 5-minute situation, but lasts anything from 30 mins to 4 hours. 

The geri doctor wants to solve this as it means she's not getting proper sleep / rest when she's supposed to be sleeping, but nothing has worked so far. 

Well, at least the last 2 days of 2021 were good ones. I spent NYE night at home but had a good long afternoon sit-down and chat and dinner with a couple of my girlfriends who are also primary caregivers to their elderly parents. I think we all needed some time to chill and forget about our mums / dads for a bit. We met at 4 for tea, then had dinner, then had dessert, all while parked in the one restaurant we could find that didn't have a line to get into. 

I know many people have been wishing everyone the best for 2022. I too have left such greetings. But you know, the reality of it is that I don't need good things. I just need not to be constantly bombarded by the bad things. 

So for 2022 I wish you all : NO covid-related illnesses, NO medical problems of any kind, AS LITTLE aches and pains as possible, the ability to WAKE UP ON TIME on days when you have to, ENOUGH MONEY to get thru the day / week / month / year, LOTS of energy - or at least an ADEQUATE amount for whatever your day requires of you, NO sleepless nights, NO broken mirrors / jars / pizza sauce bottles, DON'T drop anything on your toes, feet, general selves, and MAY STUPID PEOPLE BE ABSENT FROM YOUR IMMEDIATE VICINITY. I feel like that's the most important one for me! 

My chip pic today ~ 

Tuesday Tickle

We were talking about the blog and I said something about not minding that people who don't live here knowing that I live where-I-live. It's the people who are local knowing and figuring it's me that freaks me out. 

I also mentioned I recently looked at the stats and while most of my hits are from the US, I got 50 views locally.  

"So aside from the two of us, the rest of those hits are from people in ____ reading my sex-blog!"  I said in faux (but not really) horror, cos we live in a really small everyone-is-connected-to-everyone place. 

BIKSS replied "You don't have a sex-blog. It's all plants and food these days!"

He's got a point!

My mood pic today ~ 

Getting to Know Me

I shared this on social media and thought it would be fun to post it here too. 

I know some people did a meme (does this count as a meme?) recently around blogland, but if you feel like doing another... feel free to hop on for the ride. 

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1. Who was the last TV personality you thought was HOT? 

Mae Martin on Feel Good.  Her body-type is exactly what I look for when I'm in girl-mode. (Also, I thought it was a good series - I can definitely identify with having manic mental episodes. I just binge watched both seasons this weekend.)

2. How do you feel right now?

I'm gonna go the physical route - I feel soft and flabby. Need. Exercise. Soon. 

AND ALSO - my upper body muscles are aching from balancing myself over Roger during yesterday's festivities... goes to show how deconditioned I am right now.

3. What have you discovered about yourself in the last year?

I've discovered I'm not a plant killer after all. I'm really happy about that. 

4. What's your favourite soda? 

I love Mountain Dew. If you had to have only one soda (yes yes I know, HFCS blah blah) for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

5. What's a local food that you really enjoy?

Of all the kinds of breads I've tried, I really like the soft buns with stuff in them that comes from our local bakeries best. I wonder if they have these types of buns in the Western world.

They come in both sweet and savoury options, and the most common are BBQ pork, hot dog sausage, tuna mayo, egg mayo, chicken pie filling, curry potato/chicken, while sweet ones tend to be red bean paste, coffee or vanilla or custard cream, or sometimes they're topped with peaches or other fruit like a tart, except instead of a tart crust it's a soft fluffy bun. Another very popular one is pizza bread. Basically it's any combo of sausage, capsicum, pineapple, cheese and tomato sauce on top of bread instead of pizza dough, and often found with mayo drizzled over the top!

Oh, wait. I just realised. They're really all just tarts, pies, danishes, pizzas and croissants that have all been swapped out for buns. Soft, fluffy, slightly sugar-glazed, shiny buns. Yum.

6. The one snack you will die without is - 

I really, REALLY love potato chips. Like really. But you already know this! 

My mood pic today ~ 

Tuesday Toons

He didn't like Downton Abbey before. But I raved about it. So he gave it another go. And now he's hooked.  

A lot of MY bubbles have been burst over the last 18 months... I know how THAT feels

Can-can you see this happening?

It doesn't take a detective to figure out the punch line in this one!

As always, let me know if you had a favourite. Mine's still the Downton Tabby one. (Yes yes, I know I've posted this before... but it's just SO funny!)

6 Pack Toons

CLICK HERE for the article. Or just be mildly amused at these pics taken from the website.

 

Many Tuesday Things and McMany McGriddle Things

It's a holiday here, as many places with a Muslim presence celebrate Hari Raya Haji. I had some McGriddles for brunch (of all the Macs offerings this is my ONE thing I will never say no to) and now I'm in a bit of a food coma.

It isn't available year round, they bring it back for a few weeks each time and I go crazy and spend too much money on them. But a friend sent me a video so I could make my own any time I wanted. It seems like way too much effort, cos I never want it THAT badly that I would make it... but here's one version if you want to see what the fuss is about.

Here's another - 

And it turns out... there are quite a number of make-your-own type videos on Youtube, including a low calorie high protein version! 

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RIGHT. Now that I've got THAT out of the way, here are today's Tuesday things! 

1. I think making McGriddles from scratch might be easier than making friends!

2. They might want to change the description on this shelf.

3. Dream came true for this fella!

4. Heh. Heh heh. 

5. Yes, Doug. We totally get it!

6. Dedicated to JZ, of course.

7. Poor kitty...

8. Not an investment strategy I would encourage.

9. My favourite one this week! 

10. It's all about the optics.

11. And finally, here's one for the summer! 

As always, let me know if you had a favourite! And what's YOUR favourite McDonald's menu item? 

Things I've Learnt Recently

1. Some people get diarrhoea when they take melatonin. We're back to giving mum a benzo, 1/4 of a tablet, as that seems to work better for her. 

2. A fruit eating animal is known as a frugivore. (Thanks to Scishow Tangents, I now know a lot more stuff about a lot more stuff.)

3. I am a pollo-pescetarian, or a pesce-pollatarian. (A friend asked me what I considered myself. Semi-vegetarian? Pescetarian? "But you eat chicken," she said. So I looked it up.) 

4. The cutest fracture name ever is a fracture in the wrist - it's sometimes called the Pooping Duck Sign. One poor sod came in with a pain in his wrist. We sent him off for an X-Ray and ta-da! 

5. I wear hats more often than anyone I know... 

And despite saying I wasn't going to spend money on things I don't need, I caved and ordered a hat.

It was $6.75. But I got it for $4.88. PLUS free shipping. The weave of the fabric looks interesting, but the absence of a noticeable seam where the crown meets the brim is really the thing that drew me to it. 

This next one was a close contender as well, but BIKSS prefers the first one, and I thought it might also be a bit too dressy for food rescue missions - which is when I usually reach for a hat.

I  do like it quite a lot though - the shape of it, that is. The belt detail, not so much. 

Maybe next time, if I ever come across one that DOESN'T have a belt on it. :) 

My mood pic today ~ 

Finally! Tuesday Things on a Tuesday! And Xanax

I gave the mother a tiny teeny dose of alprazolam last night. The doctor said it might help her sleep as her lying awake in bed till 5 in the morning was causing her (and us) a whole lot of grief. The longer she stays awake, the more she imagines things and the more she believes the stories she's made up, the more awake she remains. 

Rinse and repeat. 

Last night she popped her PM meds and went to bed. In less than an hour she was snoring. And she slept a good 11 hours till this morning. 

We were afraid that she *might* be zoned out as some people don't 'recover' very well after such medications, but it turns out she was cheery, well rested, and HUNGRY! She ate breakfast AND lunch. And was in pretty decent spirits. 

It won't be a long term plan, just for a couple of days till my melatonin gets here. I know some people who experience great success with it, as well as some others for whom it does nothing. We'll try it on the mother and see how it affects her. I would much prefer that to a benzo so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

And now - enjoy! 

1. LEAVE A COMMENT and let me know what you saw first!

2. An ad on a game I'm playing. I swear. Brainded?

3.Courtesy of BIKSS. EVOO or CSO2?

4. I have to admit, I really giggled at this one!

5. A multi-orgasm with every screen touch guys! REALLY!

6. I'd not seen this before. I thought it was quite clever!

7. And this one is my favourite this week!

As always, please leave a comment to let me know if you had a favourite - and DO DO let us know what your first reading of number 1 was!