Someone told a new staff to be careful of me cos I am very close to the boss. HAHAHAHAHA !!! Yeah right ! I am the last one to sidle up & whisper into the big boss' ears & carry balls. Then another colleague was also said to be the same. LOLOLOL Such bullshit & quite juvenile if I may say lol. Yeah so I work with the boss on some projects but so do a whole lot of other people in the office. I wouldn't dare talk about office gossip to the boss. Plus where got time to play games. I'd rather spend the time more meaningfully....like shopping lah, eating lah, play computer games lah, read lah, watch tv lah, dig nose lah, scratch backside lah, squeeze pimples lah, fart lah, look for kutus on my dogs lah... Chey ! Got no fucking time to do all that where got time to chitchat with boss. Lucky people got eyes to see (then tell us about it heh heh) rather than listen to rumours. Damned bladdy funny lolol.

On a more serious note of rumours, some schoolgirls are really quite bitchy these days. The vicious rumour that has been passed around about sarah has me incensed. I intend to take this up with the school. If the school cares at all, they will take it seriously. If not, the topic of verbal bullying will go up to MOE & ST forum. Obviously the person who started the rumour doesn't know how close we are as a family & how our children do talk to us. Of course they don't tell us everything lah. But enough for us to have a strong relationship. So poor thing (read sarcasm) that this person or persons do not have the same relationship with her/their parents. Life must suck (or is it no life??) to have to resort to lies & rumours. Sad sad. Kudos to sarah that she doesn't conform to them just to be popular. She is her own person. But I know all this viciousness does affect her & we worry. We will need to stop this.

In other words, rather crudely; don't fuck with me.

Lament for the day : People who spread rumours have no lives or are cowardly or cruel or perhaps just plain stupid. Yaaaawn.

Heavy headed at work yesterday but persisted as it was Friday. Did visit the doc to pick up meds so that I could recover by Monday. Slept very badly last night, kept waking up to pee. And took me a while to get back to sleep each time...sigh. Sarah wants to do shopping tomorrow so hopefully I won't be feeling so badly with the rest today.

So channel 5 televised Exorcist : The Beginning on a weekday night at 10pm. How does that work when the movie was rated NC16 in the cinemas before ??? Are there extra snips for TV ? If there are, then there wouldn't be much of a story. Waste time watching & waste of airtime. Yes they indicated parental guidance cos of the horror theme but it means I can be sitting & watching with my below 16 kids. Plus its televised on national tv so isn't that an open invitation for everyone to watch ?

Why have movie ratings for the cinemas when such movies eventually make it onto tv ? Movies in the cinemas are censored already and have the various ratings which customers and cinema management have to comply with. So I don't get why national tv can screen such NC16 or M18 movies. I can't make sense of it.

I remember when the Da Vinci Code arrived in the cinemas & it was rated NC16. Checks were made at cinemas to ensure that no one below 16 was watching the movie. Some below 16 year olds were caught sneaking into the cinema halls to watch Da Vinci Code when they bought tickets for some PG or G movie. Articles have appeared in the press on how vigilant are such age checks in cinemas. Yet you get this NC16 rated movie on tv. So ironic. So contradictory. Something to ponder over & probably still not be able to make sense of. LOL.

A few nights ago was watching Fox tv crime investigation channel. It was about a man who had hired a hitman to murder his wife & physically disabled 8 year old son. All for their bank account. The wife & son had a 2 million settlement from a hospital which had carelessly & accidentally turned off the boy's oxygen supply when he was hospitalised for some illness. This left him paralysed and also brain damaged. Hence the settlement to provide for the round-the-clock care for the boy. The father who was separated from the wife wanted the money but of course he wasn't getting it. However, the judge did pass that if the wife & son should die before him, the money would go to him.

Anyway, all the evidence pointed to the husband who received a life sentence. The guy he hired was sentenced to death for the murder of the wife, son & also the nurse who was present in the house caring for the boy. In the hitman's home, the police found a book on How to be a Hitman. Its scary that such books are published & sold to the general public. It teaches you to stand how many feet away so that you don't get sprayed by the blood, how to make the gun untraceable etc. The hitman followed the intructions apparently.

Then the families of the wife & nurse decide to take the publisher of the book to court. However american law has the first amendment on freedom of speech which rendered case ineffective. But the families' lawyers persisted & eventually by some other events that happend, they received an out of court settlement.

The publisher's lawyers gave an example of publishing a cookbook. That it doesn't mean that the person who buys or reads it will bake a cake from there. How weak !!! Eventually someone is going to try a recipe otherwise why bother with publishing the book. So if someone somewhere who buys a book in how to be a hitman or how to make a bomb etc will eventually try it. DUH !! So much for laws to protect.

Yesterday was hubby's birthday & we went to shashlik, a russian restaurant that is run by a bunch of rather err matured men & women. Has been around for as long as I can remember & very popular. But don't expect exceptional service. Its the quality of food that makes it so popular. Their borsch soup is excellent as are their shahslik beef & lamb. As I wasn't feeling well, I had a big bowl of the soup & bread. Usually, we'd split the one portion of soup for two to share as we wanted to have enough space for their steaks. Ryan had a whole bowl of soup to himself, two pieces of bread plus a whole steak to himself. He did well to finish every morsel lol. Kids bought hubby a CD on jazz for his birthday.

Lament for the day : my birthday is coming soon too & I hate the number I am hitting. Good thing I don't look or feel it lol.

arrrgh...the diva !! Dunno how she got around to the big boss, we reckon via email & managed to get her way in some things. She told me not too long ago..."I thought I better check with you, go through the right channel...." Chey ! Say only, bypass me twice already !!!!!!!!!!! Bugger it lah.

Ryan's new guitar ! Last weekend Swee Lee had a sale, up to 50% off for their musical instruments. Ry sold his electric guitar & wanted to get something better. So instead of buying second hand from an online forum, we took him to Swee Lee when he told us of the sale. Loads of nice guitars but soooo pricey, we thought. Till Ry asked the sales person if the prices were before or after discount. It was before & the guitar he wanted was 50% off, brand new. Aiyo ! How not to buy ! Good thing is Ry saved his own money plus he had cash from the sale. We topped up a little & he picked up an Epiphone Les Paul (or something liddat) priced at over $900 before discount. Very good deal compared to a second hand one he was looking at which was going for some $400 odd. For that price, you get it brand new. Ry had already told the dealer not to reserve it for him so no harm done on that end. But now Ry has no money to buy birthday presents for hubby & me lol. Or anything else for himself lololol.

We like the idea that the kids save up to buy an item they desire. They learn the value of money & don't expect us to fork out whenever they want a luxury item. It is a good habit & we strongly encourage it. Both kiddos have been jamming together & have been enjoying it. Their task is to learn Samba Parti or Breezin' by Christmas for us lol.

Work has been fine lor. Sometimes a little bit exasperating. But mainly it is just ok. Not happy doo dah, yet not horrific hell. It fluctuates close to the latter sometimes like all work place, though not often. But heavely bells don't ring either. Garden of Eden perhaps where sometimes the serpent rears its ugly head ? Typical of all workplaces lol.

Another celebrity visit end of the month & this one (whom I dunno but vaguely heard of), I am told, will invite the hordes of adoring & the curious. Uggggh !!

Got the kids new mattresses as their's are at least 10 years old. Had to visit a few places before we made a decision. And I was pretty surprised that they cost quite a bit ! Not the pasar malam type lah but not the high end type either. The better than pasar malam type is averaging $200 per piece. Also ordered a new headboard for Ry's bed. Sarah doesn't need one as her's is nice & still fairly new. One of the shops we went to had all these mattresses brands advertised on the building & happily we went in. The lady asked us what budget & we said $200. She promptly showed us one that was $400. Harloooow ??? Ask budget for what hah ? One of those that don't listen, just out for a quick sale. And when we asked for a certain brand which we knew was in budget, she say dun have. Then why the brand advertised hah ? Asked is anything in our budget, dun have. Wah liao, then dun open mouth & ask what budget lah. Just say, "our mattresses are priced from what-what upwards". So we don't waste each other's time. But maybe she was bored cos there was no one else in the shop & now we know why lol. It is not an obscure furniture shop. Sigh...

Tomorrow is hubby's birthday. Dinner at Shashlik...yum ! Borsch soup here I come ! Ryan's face lit up when we mentioned it. Didn't know what to get for hubby so asked him is I could pay partially for his over $200 case for his reels. Phew ! He said yes. Heng aaah...otherwise sure end up buying a shirt lah or a tee lah or a belt lah or cologne lah. Gifts for men are a little more boring. Women have so much more choices and possibilities lol.

Not posting as much as I would like as am usually tired from facing the comp when I get back home from work. Plus now we have new channels on cable lololol. So yeah...beeeezeeeeeeeee !

I still haven't found a cheap exercise bike. Don't need the fancy type. Simple one that does the job will do. Second hand also can. Went to cash converters but honestly, alot of the stuff quite icky ! Got no exercise bike anyway. I need the exercise bike for exercise lah & also to improve knee condition. Can't do high impact so start slowly on the cycle & shall see how it goes.

Oh I had a dizzy spell this morning. Do not know why. But it did not persist. I don't think it was from hunger as I did have breakfast.

Hmmm cigarettes went up & it is more than the 2% Gst increase. Their calculator must be different from mine. And so I have begun to cut down.

Lament for the day : I think I feel a cold coming on...yuck !

Had meeting with diva yesterday together with her ex-boss so that we get everything straight & on the record. I did my piece on work processes etc. Her ex-boss grilled her on a few items diva brought to my attention which were inaccurate, clarified & verified it was previously discussed & agreed upon. Guess diva was trying her luck with me lolol. As the archives contain some important and valuable items as well as one of the servers, we mentioned that there would be a possibility of a camera installed.

LOL it was funny & annoying the reaction. "I don't like a camera looking at me ! I don't want a camera pointed at me!!!" Very adamantly. I patiently explained that our entire office except this room hasn't got a camera & it is not to look at her but to ensure that no one fiddles with the server or anything else in the room. And I had to explain that no one is sitting there looking at the TV screens for all the cameras. Its not like in the movies...duh. If anything should happen, we can look at the tapes & then find out what happened.

Let's just say the entire meeting was a little exasperating & I felt like I was dealing with a child though she is older than me. We all work for an organisation which has procedures & policies. It ain't no mum & pop shop. These policies, procedures & even SOPS ensure that all is in place, employees don't take advantage or be taken advantage of. Its not strict rules for goodness sake so why be so resistent. Infact we have been very flexible with her. Guess she doesn't want to be caught sleeping or playing card games on comp lor.

Lament for the day : ughhhhh I am tired of the divas & prima donnas around me.

Arggggh !! Office diva ! And she reports to me. Restructuring threw her my way. I had one diva before but she is gone now & here comes another. They grow on trees or what !?!! Told her she needs to give me a weekly report & she goes crying to someone asking why, we dun trust her, we checking on her...

Her job is simple, she records on comp & stores away items we want to keep for historical record. All she needs to do is cut & paste the information onto the template I created for the weekly report. What is the big deal ? She says when she was hired, it was meant to be a stress-less job, no rush, no datelines, as she pleases. Who is rushing her ? Still stress-less what. I didn't set any datelines, I just want to know progress so that my boss also knows what's happening. As I am custodian of this particular section, it would be ridiculous if I knew naught of what is happening.

And it is not as she pleases. We all work for a boss & it ain't her own hole in the wall shop. I was told that other people have heard her chatting long on the phone, playing card games on comp & worst of all, snoring !!!!

We are all required to give weekly progress reports to our boss. So I need to attach her section to my own report. I need to know her work progress, my boss needs to know our progress & his boss needs to know everyone's. Sheesh ! Imagine me going to the president whom I report to & say the same thing. Wah liao !

Becos she is a contract staff on project basis, she is not entitled to staff benefits as was agreed when she was hired. But she has been bugging people for free movie tix. And not everyone wants to give them to her as they want to take their families. A number of people are tired of her hassling them for tix & other freebies. She has not asked me. One day, she waylays the president, bypassing me, to ask him. Unfortunately for her, I happen to be walking by. Fortunately for him, he knows pretty well she isn't entitled but he says to check with HR. So she calls me & says she had better go through the right channel & check with me first instead of going to hr. Duh...didn't she already go by the wrong channels ? sigh

She tries to buy favours & that is scary. I dun like that. So when she gives me something, usually makan, I will make sure I return the favour so that we are even. My other assistant has also wisened up to this ploy.

Yes physically she is a little hampered as she is a bit heavy & so her legs can't quite take her weight. But she is not handicapped. There are things which we will do for her but there are things which we choose not to as we are well aware she can do it & we do not like being taken advantage of.

These & other things, been accumulative, in just a couple of short months.

I need to draw a bolder line between being friends & work. You can't mix it up. But some folks are blind to it. I need to be less nice, less accommodating & more of a bitch cos I get taken advantage of. So a friendly warning, don't fuck with me.

Lament for the day : I have had a bad day & I am not PMSing grrrrrrrrrr.

I just realised that my book Roots is about 30 years old ! Anyway, colleague who went to the States found me dvd on the series ! Made me real happy. Was S$62 with the taxes in & it is the 30th anniversary edition with extras. Heh...we've started watching already. Was up intrigued till 3am this morning ! Awesome. Hubby saw the audio tapes at Borders which was S$70, couldn't find dvd or cd or even the book anywhere. Glad I kept the latter :>

There were weird people at the gala premiere. The general public I mean & it is to be expected. Arggghhhhh ! Everything went well. A couple of disgruntled public who weren't allowed into the private party area but it is a "private party"....sigh. One lady kept peppering us with questions, where is the star, what time she is coming, how old, where she is staying, what movie...then one guy armed with camera wouldn't go away, wants to meet her personally. Though I was taking care of our chairman, I didn't even get to meet her personally. So duh !!! I had my 5 mins of fame on the red carpet lol. Then at the end of the evening when we re-opened to the public, our buffet line was attacked by the public which was no surprise. They happily helped themselves, no invitation needed. I am sure by the next morning, our congratulatory bouquets of flowers would have been stripped naked. Then while we were hanging around waiting for the premiere to end, we saw a very young couple seated at our internet kiosk area smooching like no tomorrow. Gross lah !

Some re-org in our org structure but no shuffling. Just re-defining some sections. Not major. My department remains unchanged.

Took half day off on Friday to help hubby with kids' wall shelving. Fixed up the kiddos' new desks. Very nice. Ryan's wall shelving was done yesterday & it looks good. Moved the furniture in his room a little. Sarah's shelving will be done tomorrow as hubby is involved with NDP thingy today.

School starts on Monday ! Ryan just went off to cut his hair & I re-coloured Sarah's. She had it highlighted during the hols which isn't allowed at school so have re-coloured the whole head a dark mahogany. Turned out okay.

Gonna continue with Roots.

Lament for the day : Slight migraine...aiya that time of the month grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Went to changi village for lunch yesterday cos we felt like having the famous nasi lemak. It was cheap & the fried chicken wing was good. But the rice was sadly lacking...not lemak enough. No smell, not enough coconut & pandan. The chilli also not so good. The otah was ok, the ikan bilis is not fresh crunchy. Quite disappointing. Sarah tried the Anything drink. It was like a coke flavour but dam lousy. Was like diluted coke & this we tried before pouring into the cup of ice.

These are the signs we saw at changi village. We were trying to figure out if "queen" was misspelt ?? The singh tailor sign very cute, proprietor baboo singh :>

Then there was a new shop which was selling army stuff. Hubby says not genuine army stuff. Then we saw a M-16 rifle on one of the shelves, priced at $318. And get this, PLASTIC !!!! So obvious !! We weren't even close enough to touch but can see its plastic. Wah liao...like something from some toy shop ! Incredulous that would be priced like that.

Headed to ikea, loads of parking space...we like ! But when we got inside the store, it was pretty crowded. Ordered the tables, shelves, drawers & bought some other stuff. The goods arrive on Wednesday. Picked up a pack of swedish meatballs from their market corner, plus the sauce for the meatballs & the jam. Fixed that for dinner. Yummy & quite filling. Got sauce leftover, froze it & will use that for mash. Can have bangers & mash.

Working late tomorrow, gala premiere & official opening. I need to take care of the board & media.

Sarah needs to fix her hair colour back cos school starts on Monday. Her highlights will be too obvious.

On Saturday went to dyran & carol's place for dinner. Dyran's birthday & to celebrate father's day. I brought a yummy mango cake from prima deli...all overlaid with fresh mango. Dinner was simple, chilli dogs, lye chee from cambodia one of the friend's brought, chips with onion sour cream dip. Booze of course.

Then the rain came. So we all went under cover.

After which we lazed & the boys started to jam with their guitars. Ryan brought his amp & electric guitar. For the first time he joined in to jam. And he had fun. Now he knows how fun it can be rather than playing alone. He learnt to follow nick & dyran cos he didn't know alot of songs, cos he only plays rock. Now he knows that to jam & really have fun, must improve on the repertoire, some old songs as well as the new. And the classic evergreen songs which every guitar player must know.

Over the weekend in the newspapers, a bulgarian busker was arrested for immigration charges, not for busking. A blind busker in the same location as the bulgarian complained that the public gave the bulgarian more money than to him. Errrr hubby say...he blind how he can see the other guy got more money ???? So true lolol

SCV kena from me. On Sunday morning I called cos our new package of channels were not activated. I rang on Friday evening & was told would be activated within 24 hours. Long phone call with the customer service who was very helpful in assisting me to tailor our channels. Anyway, I called on Sunday morning before heading out to lunch.

Boo Boo One : The customer service staff asked me what packages I want & I am like HAH ??? You dun have our history meh ?? Dun have. Grrrrrrr so I repeated the convo I had with other customer service on Fri nite.

Boo Boo Two : This girl then says, due to technical problem that's why not activated. Wtf ?? If she doesn't have my record of request for change, how to have technical problem ?? So I tell her exactly that. She says she will get customer care consultant to call me. For what ??? She kena me blurr oredi lor.

Boo Boo Three : Anyway, someone did call & said will activate it by that night "since this is an urgent case". Well hellooooo...I didn't say it is urgent. I asked for it on Friday night & was told 24 hours but it wasn't done. Told her that.

Boo Boo Four : Then she says that they have record of my request for change but the customer care staff's system can't retrieve all the info. HAH ??? I said that is laughable becos SCV is cable tv, broadband & mobile.

So so laughable cos they have all this technology & they can't get simple info. Just say that it was a mistake & overlooked. Why try & slip in those SOP answers here & there. Don't gel maaaah ! Sigh sigh sigh...

Caridee won America's Next Top Model !! Yaaaaayyyy ! I dun like the other girl cos of her personality.

Long post...making up for the days that I haven't been on lol.

Lament for the day : arrrghhh I watched Congo again cos kids never watched it before. Amy is cute though.

Fashion statement lol. When I get to her age (60s), I wouldn't want to be caught dead dressed like that. To each his/her own.

It has been a busy week of prepping for opening & press articles. The latter turned out great ! Big official do on Tuesday night & then after that we can breathe. Will pop down to the cineplex tomorrow & check out the sights.

Tomorrow night, a party at Dyran & Carol's to celebrate Dyran's birthday & fathers' day. Its just an excuse for a party lol. Sarah is at church camp & will be back tomorrow night, in time for the party. Got her godpa a nice wine-red tie from zara. And for fathers' day, a nice biege linen shirt from there also.

Sarah got me two packs of sunflower seeds a couple of days ago. Sigh...am hooked on it again, butter flavoured sunflower seeds. Very yum leh.

Changed our package for cable vision & dropped the sports channels cos they have increased it too much. Plus we don't watch it much. Took up the movie & family packages. Paying a little more but getting more channels which are very interesting. It will be activated within 24 hours. Looking forward.

Watching SWAT now with ryan. Hubby is on a boys night out with old army buddies. He didn't drive.

Will probably go to ikea on Sunday to order the desks & drawers. Then to a fathers' day lunch perhaps. Or lunch first then ikea. Our weekends aren't usually planned. We just go with the flow.

I've finished reading The Good Women of China. It is written by a former radio presenter in China. She had a programme which explored the lives of Chinese women and relates tales from women who annonymously left their stories on the phone recording system & through interviews with some women. Sadly none are happy endings...different stories about how the women were oppressed, crushed, used & brutalized. The author no longer lives in China. She wouldn't have been able to pen this book if she did.

Have a friend on holiday in the US. She dropped me an email to ask if I would like anything...told her tar pau Johnny Depp & Gerard Butler lol. Have asked her to look out for the old tv series Roots. Can't get it here, only the audio CDs are available at Borders...duh.

I finally did my hair...its been almost 3 months since I had a nice trim & colour to cover the whites. Didn't realise till my stylist checked the records. Kept it much the same, just neater & no white hair lol.

Is this sentence, which is a signage, wrong & bad English ? "Please do not touch display". I had a discussion with a colleague on this. Her kids & hubby said bad english & that it should be "please do not touch the display". But I think both are acceptable. It is not bad english like something so glaring as "please do not touched display" or "please do not touching display". Straw polled a few other colleagues who agreed with me. Ah well...

Lament for the day : just been too tired & brain dead to blog more frequently.

Went to Ikea at tampines on saturday to check out desks for the kids. Love the spaciousness of the store & the hassle-free & free parking. Such a breeze compared to the one at Alexandra road. Then went over to Courts to see what they had for desks. Nothing interesting. Ikea had much nicer designs & we have decided what we want. Will go on the weekend to order.

Then went to visit nephew in the hospital as he is down with dengue. We heard later in the evening when sarah text him that his blood count had improved. Glad for that.

Neighbours' son's wedding was at Legend's. Food was not so good but that's expected of wedding dinners anyway. Enjoyed the video of the day celebrations; the bride & groom had to do funny stuff to get into the in laws' homes. Doesn't happen to the bride usually but she got saboed. Funny ! We heard all the laughter & commotion in the morning.

Sunday was company family movie day. Watched Shrek 3. Think first 2 installments better. It was funny but the "better out than in" joke is getting a little stale. Still watchable & I'd rather Shrek anytime to Mr Bean.

Browsed around gramaphone & then had a light lunch at billy bomber's. Dunno why we were so tired & when we got home, took a nap. Naps don't usually happen for me on weekends. It was only an hour but felt longer so must have been really tired. Was refreshed when we got up.

Met simon, evon & godson for dinner at jalan kayu. This place called jerry's. Pretty good. Clam chowder was yummy & so were the buffalo wings & deepfried mushrooms. Didn't order a main course for myself, just picked & that was enough. Buuurrrrrp....better out than in...lol. Clovis is a cutie pie, happy duckie. Hubby finished his meal first & carried him out for a walk so that his mummy & daddy could eat in peace. When hubby came back, he said his arm numb lol cos clovis is a big baby !! And he is not even one. Takes after his daddy lol. Dessert was tiramisu & they do make a mean one ! Didn't spare on the alcohol. Simon said as good as mine with a hint that he had only tasted mine once lol. ok ok I get the hint lah wah liao.

Lament for the day : dreary mondays !

About a week ago I was on leave to collect ryan's report book. After that met godma & sarah at centrepoint to shop. As we queued at the taxi stand to go home, I spot an ex-colleague Shyam with her 2 sons. We chatted and reminisced.

Then yesterday I receive an email. The name was familiar but it could have been just someone with the same name. Anyway I ask. Lo & behold, it was someone I knew, an ex-colleague Fiona who was together with Shyam & me.

Coincidence or what with meeting 2 ex-colleagues in a span of a week or 2 !

The new gatsby ad is driving me nuts ! I have the tune in my head which is an old song by the stylistics. It keeps going on & on & on in my head "I will give you gatzebeee, gatzebeeeeee, gaztzebeee..." Wah liao !

Had a farewell lunch for a colleague today. Nice ! Till we were interrupted. Oh bleaaaaah !

Okay I have figured something to wear for wedding dinner this Saturday lol. Haven't dressed formal in a while so didn't know if I could fit in my nice evening dresses. Fortunately, yes. Cos Sarah can't wear them which is a pity as they are by Hayden.

Lament for the day : gatzebeee...gatzebeee...gatzebeee