Neighbor cooked for my parents and I a wonderful Chinese New Year feast.
To add to the meal, I opened 2 cans of abalones. See below.
Tomorrow is the 1st day of Lunar New Year.
Neighbor’s Cooking – Reunion Dinner On 31 January 2022
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Crossing 3,000 Mark For Followers!!
I am being silly but whenever I reach a new milestone on WordPress, I get all excited and happy. As if, I got an A grade on my essay in school.
I suppose it is an endorsement of sorts that readers can connect with me and not find me nonsensical…though often times, I feel I am.
Acceptance….recognition…fuels my ego! Nooooo….my years of Zen or Buddhist readings gone down the drain as my ego reigns.
Geez….emptiness…nothingness eluded me. But hey, I am not a money grabber, although if a million bucks fell on my lap, it will be a tad hard to say “NO” to it. Which brings to mind that if I ever find such wads of cash, the law says that I must hand it over to the police.
Finders keepers do not apply! But seriously with my bad back and recent wounds, there is no way that I can lug $1,000,000 in cash home quietly and stash it. So there!!
Still, I am happy..ego or otherwise that I have 3,002 followers. Thank you! Thank you! Each reader is valued.
I love the banter.
I love the chit chats.
I love your encouragement.
I love your care and concern.
I love this virtual WordPress community.
Garfield and I send you all mega Garfield hugs.
Here’s wishing all a happy, prosperous and HEALTHY year of the TIGER!!虎年🐯🐯快乐万事如意!
When Sick & Bored…..Rhyme On!
It’s no fun being sick,
Things don’t make me tick!
It’s no fun being sick,
I cannot simply take my pick,
It’s no fun being sick,
Neither can I anyhow kick!
Yes, it’s no fun being sick,
I can be such a prick!
It’s no fun being sick
There is no ice cream to lick.
Good Hired Help Is Hard To Find Or Retain
In Lil Red Dot, the majority of families rely heavily on hired help or we categorise as Domestic Helpers. These Domestic Helpers hail from countries like Indonesia, Philippines or Myanmar. Not any nationality can enter Lil Red Dot as a Domestic Helper as their countries must enter into a bilateral agreement with us to allow their citizens to work as a Domestic Helper.
We hear of heart wrenching stories of how Domestic Helpers may be tortured and abused or on the flip side, greatly appreciated till they retire.
Mr Nice has had a Domestic Helper from Philippines since he got married some 30 years ago. The same lady has seen his 2 sons grow from birth to adults and recently retired to return home. Mr Nice was sad to see her leave and she was replaced by her daughter. The legacy continues and Mr Nice must have treated her right for her to pass the baton onto her daughter to help his family.
Others are not so lucky as I have heard of how some are not fed properly or forced to work extremely long hours. There were cases of the Domestic Helpers being physically abused too.
It takes 2 sides to clap and I have also read in the papers of how some helpers abuse their charges by pinching or feeding them with urine contaminated food or menstrual blood contaminated food.
I find it hard to co-live with a stranger and will find it hard to adapt to living with a Domestic Helper if and when the time comes to engage one. It takes a lot of adjusting from both sides and synergies must exist to continue as partners in the household. I like my privacy and will find it tough when another person is living with me.
Neighbor has a helper from Philippines and Neighbor has complaints about her. I listen but do not comment as her helper also complains to me. I agree on ironing work clothes or items that need to be ironed. But ironing underwear including lingerie and everything is odd! They are paired for 2 years now and Neighbor feels that every 2 years she has to change helpers else, familiarity breeds contempt!
I guess, no one is ever satisfied and I feel that people who engage helpers think they have a 24 hour live in “slave” of sorts!
I do my own ironing. But honestly since Covid broke and working from home, my iron has not been used for the last 2 years. I am suspecting that my iron will be “dead” when the time comes for me to use it again. I used to iron towels, bed sheets, t shirts as it gives it a nice feel. But given my hands undergoing surgery, i have learnt to accept folded towels and sheets.
I have a decent part time helper (8 years with me) that comes once a week to do the heavy lifting i.e. only vacuuming, mopping floors and washing bathrooms. I do my own laundry as I am weird, washing all sorts of towels daily! I like freshly laundered towels, be it hand towels, bath towels, floor mats etc.
I am happy with a part time arrangement. But the time will come when I need to find a live in helper for my folks. This is the hard part as my mum is not the easiest person to get along with and I know there will be a lot of friction between helper and her as she expects spontaneous cleaning behaviour and no helper is able to do that nor have a crystal ball to predict what my mum wants cleaned.
As an employer, how will I be?
I really do not know……..
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