On my own

Monday is almost over. But soon Tuesday will be here. It's almost time for bed, and then it'll be time to go to work again. I don't want to go to bed!

Nils is away this week, so I'm on my own. Took out the trash and what not, and after this I'm gonna tidy the bedroom a little. We have stuff from our honeymoon trip still strewn around the bedroom. It's driving me crazy. Two weeks ago we were going to the city and I couldn't find my boots. In fact, I still don't know where they are. Sedihnya!

Thanksgiving weekend was nice and quiet. Dad had his radio competition, so we spent most of the weekend with mom. We didn't do much, just hung out around the house. Mom adopted a family for Xmas, and Nils and I are going to buy toys for the two kids. It'll be fun! I can't believe the mother didn't have a single winter coat and had been waiting for the bus out in the cold. It's amazing what some people go through to make a little bit of money for their families. So on Sunday mom dropped off a heavy jacket for the lady because she didn't want her to wait for Xmas. It's getting cold these days, she's gonna need that coat! I hope she'll be warm now when she waits for the bus. And with all this talk about recession, I feel really lucky that Nils and I are somewhat insulated from the worst. Alhamdulillah. All the same, we're sticking to our budget and saving all we can. At least it's just the two of us and we don't have any other mouths to feed.

Ok, I'm off to clean the bedroom. Laters!

Thanksgiving weekend

I've been fighting this cold for a few days now. Good thing it's a short week. It's so hard to concentrate at work with stuffed up nose and sore throat. Nils and I are driving down to Virginia tonight. He wanted to leave right after lunch, but I was too sick and lazy to pack last night, so we'll leave after dinner. Nils has to make lobster salad tomorrow, and I haven't even asked him anything about it yet. I wonder if he has all the stuff he needs.

(The end. Cerita orang malas memang kadang-kadang takde ending nya...)

I tried to do handstands for you...

I tried to do handstands for you
I tried to do handstands for you
Every time I fell on you
Every time I fell for you
For you....

:)

Productive day

Working from home totally rocks! I got a lot done today.

Ok. So I have a new camera (new toy, yeay!) but I don't know what pictures to take. Especially since I'm stuck indoors all the time on weekdays. I still remember playing with my late dad's camera when I was a kid. Manual focusing was tricky. "Twist it until both sides are clear and the two sides connect smoothly." Maybe photography is a hobby people grow into and out of. Like playing a guitar. Obviously, I'm hedging against the likelihood that I will fall out of love with photography. My interests are rarely long-lived. I think I've said that before. I'm curious myself to see how long this one will last.

It's my TV night tonight. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my TV nights. On Tuesday I watch House, on Thursday I watch Ugly Betty and sometimes Grey's Anatomy. People keep telling me Grey's Anatomy now is so boring. Well, I haven't been watching the show regularly, and I didn't watch it back when it wasn't boring. But I like last week's episode. The girls sitting on a couch in derm being envious and bitching about what they have, reminds me of the good old days at my other job. On not-so-happy work days, I could go to my girls and share my misery. To just about everyone I am always professional, but with the girls, I am me. I miss them. Maybe that's why I dread the office every day. Because there is no place for me to be me except when I'm alone in my cube.

Life is funny like that. For the most part I cannot remember what I did in recent years. But small, silly things I can remember and make me smile (or make me wanna cry). So does that mean then that it is destined that a big chunk of my life will be wasted? How do I maximize the non-blur part of life? Already now I'm hating 5 out of 7 days in a week... And when there's no little nuggets of memories in the five days that makes me feel, it really feels like time is being wasted.

This and that and this and that

I am back home now. Back to being reminded of what it feels like to be inadequate. It's enough to make me want to stay in bed, but every morning I crawl out all the same. I wonder whether it's really that much fun to be retired. It must be. It better be.

This morning I added to my iGoogle page the weather for Calgary, AB. Boy will be there for the next few months, and I thought it would be nice to know what kind of weather he's getting. After all, in a few weeks he will be the only person who will have worse weather than I do. I might need such taunting opportunity to lift my spirits. Many times today I caught myself hoping that it would get warmer there (webpage showed a high of 44F). I don't know why. It's not like he wouldn't know to put on layers and jacket. Maybe in my mind he's still my little brother. Takut beku pulak budak ni karang...

Ok, so a little personal discovery I stumbled upon in the last few weeks. You know how people ask "What makes you tick?" For a long time, I don't have an answer to this question. But now I do. Obsession. I think this even Nils would vouch for. I've heard people say life is a series of random occurrences. But for me, it's a series of mini-obsessions. I go happily from one obsession to another, regardless of whether it benefits me or someone else. So when I'm scouring the internet to get info for someone, it's not so much because I'm trying to help them. It's only because I'm feeding my obsession. It really does make me happy. Some of my happiest moments are when I'm obsessing on something, be it work, pictures, budget, flight tickets, or whatever. Hai bertapa lah screwed up nya pala otak ku. :p Whatever floats your boat, right? I wonder if the next time I go for a job interview, is this something I can share with the interviewer? Will it sound too psychotic?

In Dubai @ Burj Al Arab

Model of the hotel

Lobby

Fountains in the lobby

For honeymooners

Bathroom pun nak amik gambar
(wif Hermes sets yang bakal di kebas)

Breakfast

When we were in Madrid...

Just about jumped off the bus when I saw the store....

A few minutes later....

Sukses..... :)

Sighting

Oh, agaknya inilah kasut Onitsuka harimau yang Sang Iddy sangat minat tu... Baru hari ni dapat aku menengok nya...

Mad Men

Sometimes random lines in TV shows or movies strike a chord with me, and point out things that are so close to my face, I couldn't see them. Today I was watching Mad Men (TiVo) and I was disoriented, as usual (I don't know whether it's the 60s clothing, lifestyle, or the tangled storyline), when out of nowhere this lady went "It's America. Pick a job, and then become the person that does it."

Eh, was she talking to me? Did somebody tell her what I've been whining about lately? Don't get me wrong, I like my new job and company. It's being confused and lost all the time that I'm having a hard time getting used to. I'm slow and unproductive at work since I'm training on new things, software, processes, etc. I wish this training period would end soon.

Too many things are whirling and swirling around me, I just need more time to get used to things. New job, new place, new life, new people. My feet are not touching the ground. I wake up on Mondays and crawl through the week to celebrate my weekends. But I'm too old to live one week at a time. Because that means I'll only have 52 units of "living" a year, and I don't have that many years left to spend with everyone I love. So 52 units/year is not an acceptable number.

That same lady in the show later said "You have to start living the life of the person you want to be."

I think I'll try to take her advice.

Saturday breakfast

This is our new weekend breakfast menu - Prata burrito. Prata segera, scrambled eggs with onions, and Lingham. Just fold and eat. Yummmm....


Prata burrito

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I just finished writing my last paper for my MBA program. I am now done with school. Forever. And ever. It feels so good. I can now go back to sitting on my ass when I come home from work. Whoo hoo!! No more worrying about school stuff.

I started my new job this past Monday. When I was in still in school, I first wanted to do consulting. Then I switched to Marketing. And now I get to do both. That rocks! I'm in training this week and next week, and I like what I'm learning so far. I missed one week of training, so now whenever I get any free time, I sit at my desk and do some self-training stuff. It's been a long time since I were this clueless at work. It is exhausting and disorienting having to learn new company lingo and what not. But people at the new office is friendly, and they are very laid back, so I think I'll be ok.

One of the good things about my new job is that it's really close to Nils's office. So this week we have been carpooling. With gas price hovering around $4 / gallon, that is a big saving for us. Talk about saving, Nils and I have to revise our budget soon, now that our expenses have changed. I want to ask for an increase in my allowance. Hehehe... That way I can save a little bit more in my personal stash. Wish me luck!

So far still no word yet from the photographer about my wedding pictures. He said the pictures will be up this week. That reminds me, I have to call makeup lady to make an appointment. We didn't have a professional photographer at nikah, so we thought we would use the "engagement session" to take pictures in our nikah outfit. Too bad Boy is not here to re-enact our youtube akad. Teeheehee... :)

Mmmuuaahhs!

Thank you my darling friends for being there with me. It wouldn't have been as much fun if you guys weren't there.

What do these socks have in common?

They are all black? *******

They all belong to Nils? ******

They are all missing their pairs!! Ding ding ding ding ding!

I couldn't believe it. 6 different kinds of black socks! Hehehee... No wonder Nils switched to his new strategy - buy 12 pairs of the same one and stick them in the drawers. His logic: this way he can just grab any 2 and they will match. Sungguhla creative anak mak :)

4th of July

Nils and I are celebrating 4th of July in Virginia this year. We're usually at the beach house at this time of the year, but this year nobody had any time off from work, so Dad canceled the trip. We were going to take the metro into town to watch fireworks from the rooftop of Dad's office, but it was drizzling and what not, so we bagged that plan. Instead, we went for a bbq at the neighbor's house. The entire block was pretty much there, and I got to meet all of them for the first time. They were very nice and warm to me. For some reason I'm always surprised at how nice Nils's family and friends treat me, mostly because I know I am usually not particularly nice to strangers (I'm not rude to them, I just don't make extra effort to make them feel comfortable). But today I was nice. I was chatty with almost everyone there. Maybe part of getting old is learning to be nice to people I don't (yet) know.

We're heading off to Mom's tomorrow morning. Might grab a bite at this Japanese restaurant we usually go to (yeay fish cheek!). I wanted to do dim sum since we don't have those back in kampung Bedminster, but it would take too long. Next time, I supposed. So no chicken feet for me this trip.

Oh, I turned in my resignation letter yesterday. It feels so weird and scary to be in-between jobs. It's like I've fallen off a tight rope, and still waiting to find out whether there is a net down there...

Relax

The maid is here, so I am seeking refuge on the balcony. Thank god for the wireless connection. Yesterday turned out to be a really good day. Nils finally beat his long time pool rival. It's so awesome, and even though I can't fully comprehend it, I'm so proud of him. Apparently this guy is the only other 7 (pool also got handicap) in Northern NJ, and Nils has never beat him on the small table. And yesterday's match was extra good, because it was on the guy's old pool table that he gave to the bar when he upgraded to the pro one - so he knew the table like the back of his hand. Anyway, bottom line is, it was an extra special win. I had to make Nils take Nyquil to stop him from being hyper and so I can get to sleep. Muahahahaha...

And the other good news is, I got the phone call! Whoo hoo hoo! Sekarang tiba lah masanya......

My essentials

ps: I miss Malaysia Hall :( Huwaaaaaaa!

Fortune

Even the fortune cookie is mocking me! Arrrrrggghhh! All this waiting is killing me.

Today's fortune...

The elements of my new life -

- laptop, tv, maruku, soda (hidden behind shoe), and fleece blanket.


Trying my new shoooz... (Whoo hoo!)

It's been (almost) a week since I got back from my Helsinki - St. Petersburg - Moscow - London trip. I'm finally settling down and getting things in place. I got a new trash can for the kitchen, so no more clanging and banging. Threw out boxes, cleaned the garage, Nils's car, etc. Hah, now I can rest and comfortably plant my butt on the couch (Iddy, I miss the window by your couch!). The house doesn't feel as sunyi as it did when my family first left. Although I'm still reminded of them when I drive by the Marriott and the mall. :( It's ok, I'll see them again soon.

My new life will unfold in the next few weeks, and I hope it turns out ok. New place, new job, new routine. New everything. Got my New Jersey license, and getting new title and registration on Monday. And I keep getting sms from my mom to make drinks for Nils and to take care of him. Hehehe thanks, Mak. It's still a few months before our trip to Malaysia in October, but things will be so hectic, I'm sure it'll be here in a hurry. (I can't wait to eat sambal goreng!)

I still need to finish up our Nikah wedding album, send pictures, and all that good stuff. Will do so as soon as I can. The last few days I've been battling a virus attack on my laptop. I think I finally cleaned it up. Next time must be careful when opening files.......

Hello, St. Petersburg

Am I really in Russia?

Day 1: Newark - SFO - London - Helsinki

I'm sitting at the airport, waiting to board my flight to Helsinki (via London). Thank God for the 6-hour wait, I finally got the time to do address changes, send out emails, etc. Even managed to get my blackberry unlocked for free (thank you, Cingular).

Iddy, I'll see you in 2 weeks!! I might change my flight to a later one so I can fly directly to Newark from London nanti. I wonder if I should stay an extra day. Hmmmmm... What do u think? But then I will need to find another room for the night. Cannot stay at Park Lane for the second night. Haha. :p. Can tido at your house or not? Hehehe

Keep smiling

There are some things you just never forget...

That's what friends are for

And I never thought I'd feel this way
And as far as I'm concerned
I'm glad I got the chance to say
That I do believe I love you

And if I should ever go away
Well, then close your eyes and try to feel
The way we do today
And then if you can remember

Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for

Well, you came and opened me
And now there's so much more I see
And so by the way I thank you

And then for the times when we're apart
Well, then close your eyes and know
These words are comin' from my heart
And then if you can remember, oh

Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, oh, for sure
'Cause I tell you that's what friends are for
For good times and for bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for

English Set 1 with Cik Narimah... Huhuu..

Nikah day

I guess I'm officially a married woman now :p

Buried

I spent the entire weekend holed up in my apartment, eating lunches and dinners from the one delivery order of Indian food. Once in a while, I peeked at the calendar to see how much more of this I have to endure. Nils is on YM, tirelessly cheering me on as I finish writing my midterm and work on my projects. I figured out what to do for one of the projects, so now it's only a matter of finalizing with the rest of the group and writing up the paper. Shouldn't be too bad. Crappy ass midterm is pretty much done. So that's that. I'm not going to sweat it too much.

Work situation still unsorted, and will stay that way for at least one or two more weeks. Considering the movers will be here in less than 4 weeks, I should probably call them this week and confirm everything. Car needs to get serviced, so I'll call them tomorrow to make an appointment. Hair appointment already taken care of.

I wish I have more interesting things to tell you apart from blabbering about my to-do list. But really, there is nothing interesting going on. Three more weeks and I will be free from the claws of school work. Whoo hooooo hoooooooo ! ! !

Almost...

Thank you my dear friends for your kind wishes :) Of course I will invite all of you for Malaysia reception, insyaallah. But it will be in Johor, ok? And dekat hari raya plak tu. Hari raya ke-lima if I'm not mistaken. I will send invitations once plans are firm and my wedding planner a.k.a. Boy gets the wedding invitations printed.

It's been a hectic week, and I don't think things will let up for a few more weeks. At least I've booked all the flight tickets except for Boy's. No more scouring different websites and harassing travel agents for a million and one quotes. Also booked hotel rooms for Kak K and family, and Nils's mom & aunt. I'm preparing for my cross-country drive with Boy and Cool Aunt. Got myself new wipers (no more streaks, yeay!), GPS, Rain-x & safety stuff. I better tell Boy to learn how to change tires. Just in case.

Nils is busy cleaning up his house for the akad nikah. The basement is nice and clean now. He and Craig finally put up the lights for the pool table. It actually looks pretty nice. Maybe we should get a couple of high stools. Even the garage is completely empty and clean (I've been waiting for this for 2 years)! Nils in charge of getting kadi and lunch venue. I don't think either is quite done yet, but if I ask again he'll get mad and tell me I'm nagging. Hehehee... So I'll just keep quiet.

At work, I'm wrapping things up and transferring everything to the new guy. Two more things on my to-do list, plus two training sessions I have to give, and then I'm pretty much done. Still no word yet on what my new position will be.

School is almost over. Three more weeks of classes and eight more deliverables, and I am all done for the semester. Next stop, Helsinki. Oh, and then after that I get to see Professor Iddy. Whoo hoo! Until then, I am keeping my head down and plowing ahead. Wish me luck!

Round and round and round we go

I'm changing my nikah date to May 31st so that I don't have to take time off after starting my new job (other than for our honeymoon + Malaysia reception). According to my genius plan, in approximately 7 weeks from today, my brother and I will be on our cross-country adventure, and I will start my 6-week time off from work. But right now everything is up in the air, I feel like throwing up just thinking about it. Nothing is confirmed yet on my new job. And worse, nothing is set yet for the relo. My to-do list is so long, I feel like pulling my hair out. So do I wait to get relocation and time-off confirmation before buying tickets for my family? If I wait much longer, flights might get sold out and I'll end up paying through the nose for them. But then, if I buy now and later find out I have to change the dates, I'll end up paying extra too. What to do... what to do...

(help!)

Camera baru ku

I took these pictures from my parking spot this morning. Saje test drive my new camera. Need to make sure it's good enough to zoom on a leopard snoozing on the tree branch nanti. I'm not an avid photographer by any means. But still... the camera takes pretty decent pictures.

This is the view from my apartment parking spot.

Ok, I lied. That was the view from my neighbor's parking spot. Mine is about 10 spots to the left, with some trees getting in the middle of the scenery.

Part of the same view @ 10x zoom

So I think the camera will be good enough for our trip nanti. Whoo hoo!! I'm glad I returned the Sony DSC.

Goodbye my dear friend...

It's amazing how one man can touch so many lives. Your hasty departure made me realize that while I'm trying so hard to be a professional, busy climbing the corporate ladder, and going to school to better myself, sometimes I forget to be a human being. May I remember this lesson forever, and if I'm lucky, learn to be compassionate. Memories of you will be treasured forever, and one day they will be sweet reminders of our friendship, instead of the sorrow that they now bring. Goodbye, my dear friend. I hope you knew how much you are loved and respected.

:(

One down...

Marriage license done. Plenty more to do...

How did Petey manage to snap this picture?

Halloooo...

It's been quite a while. Life is a little crazy and there are so many things going on. Haven't really made plans for August yet. Good thing it'll be a small ceremony.

Have I told you I'm running out of steam and am super glad this is my last semester? Well, I'm telling you again, because I'm really really glad it's my last semester. I'm looking forward to the move - to a new job function (hopefully), and to a new area. Whew...

Oh, and I'm going to Finland and Russia for my last class in the program. Whoo hoo! I can't wait.

Three days...

... of classes in a row, pain in the butt. Not having a Saturday class, priceless.

My latest addiction

Tues 9/8c on Fox

Dr. Chase, kenapalah awak sangat cute?

I need some sleep. Work + Classes + Homework+ House = Tired Kokes

Happy Birthday, Kak CT!

We all met up today for Kak CT's birthday. It was a noisy table of 8 ladies, so noisy that they had to pull out the curtain between us and the table to our left. It was fun sitting there just chatting away. A few times I felt pangs of sadness when I was reminded of the fact that I won't be hanging out with them anymore after this summer (if everything goes well, insyaallah). A few of the ladies, I've just met and am only beginning to feel comfortable with. And soon it'll be time for me to leave.

I've started thinking of the hassle of moving. I'll have to find a new place for haircut, facial, to do eyebrows, get kicap & Lingham, for car wash, and not to mention having to find new people to hang out with. :( I'm sure it will all be fine once I'm adjusted to my new surroundings. I'm quite looking forward to it, actually.

Plans for the wedding are coming along painfully slow. Except for the photographer, I haven't made much progress for the preparation. I better not forget to tell my brother to get the album for duit hantaran. It'll be impossible to get that here. I think. I don't know what else to do for the nikah. Are we going to do it at the house or do I have to look for a place to rent? What about our clothes? Where to get baju nikah here? As far as the honeymoon go, we have some pretty good ideas but are still trying to decide. It's a bit hard to plan, when I don't even know how much time off I can get from work. Good thing Nils and I (miraculously) agreed not to have any registry, so that's one less thing to worry about.

Other random things: I'm painfully looking for a third class to take, waiting for final words on my replacement, and dear God, I hope the girls were just kidding about the bridal shower. I miss going out with Nils. He doesn't know it, but sometimes I watch whether he would put his hand or elbow out for me to grab when we walk to the store. He always does :)

This week's burr

Every so often I get this burning desire to do something, whether it is to buy another doodad on my wishlist, change address on accounts, upgrade plans, or some other crazy and mostly inconsequential things that cross my mind and happen to get stuck there. This week's burr is to look for a financial institution for our common pool accounts.

Nils and I are in the midst of consolidating our finances, and after much debate, we decided to have a common pool for bills and savings, and each have separate accounts for our own money. I started looking around, and Etrade seemed to be the most promising. They offer investing and banking accounts, so you can have all your accounts in one place. But after transferring my money, it took (is taking) sooo looong before it shows up on my account. I did read ahead of time that funds will not be available for withdrawal for 5 days blablabla, but I thought that was only for withdrawing, and I could invest it right away. Ameritrade says the same thing about funds availability but I can buy stocks with the money on the same day or the next day. So what is with this 5-day hold? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the account is new. I don't know. I've been really happy with Ameritrade and would open the common pool account with them, but they don't offer bill pay. That means we will need another common pool account for paying bills.

So here I am, looking for a new place to set up our accounts. After my research, Fidelity seems to be the best option. And now I'm in the process of reading all the fees + fine print, and doing my "Fidelity sucks" research to see how many people out there hates them. Had I done the same thing before opening that account with Etrade, I would've saved myself all this trouble. Next time I will listen more to my instincts. I knew something felt funny when I was opening that account (from the little things I caught in the fine print), but I was too excited at the prospect of being able to see our accounts - savings, checking, investment, IRA - all on one page, so I just plowed ahead.

Etrade 1: Kokes 0

:(

Sunday morning

When will the rain let up?

"Hi, my name is Kokes"

work·a·hol·ic (wûrk-hôlk, -hlk)

n.

One who has a compulsive and unrelenting need to work.

----------------------------------------

This morning I woke up in a fury. Even in my dreams I'm getting pissy at people. It got me to thinking about what is causing this bout of anger and melancholy. I've been struggling to get out of bed in the morning for a few weeks now. Conversations that carry across the cubicle walls annoy me. I haven't been participating in them lately. I rarely do anyway, but at least I used to lend some snickers and what not. Those meaningless chats used to be entertaining and fun.

For better or for worse, I found out what is bothering me. I am a workaholic deprived of work and opportunities to accomplish, even when they mean putting in way more than what I get out of them. What to do, what to do. Bak kata Sang Iddy, "Terima ajelah hakikat." I think she's right. Time to get busy again.

Several things I'm definitely not loving right now:
1. xxxxxxxx is fxxxxxg demotivating
2. The organization processing visa stuff
3. Annual earnings that mystify
4. Saturday classes
5. Supply shortage in the house due to procrastination and forgetfulness
6. Weight
7. Tight clothes (very much related to #6 above)
8. Options that are worth less than cow dung
9. Waiting
10. Being lazy

Some of these I'm taking steps to remedy, others will just stay there because I am not going to put in any effort to stop hating them.

Nils's new look :)

Nils is going for a professorial look with his glasses and beard

"Here, this is my good side"

Both pictures are blurry thanks to my kokak blackberry. Have to push the button so hard to take a picture - and doing that always shakes the phone. When is Nokia coming out with a nice big screen phone nih?

Ooops

I was changing the colors at this blog hari tu, and was going through some pages and realized there were some comments there that I have not seen. It must be those before my laziness periods and when I came back to write a line or two, I didn't even bother to look at the old posts. Sori ye kengkawan kalau ada yang rasa comment nya di ignore (kalau ada, kalau takde eloklah)... Tak sengaja. Ini kes jahiliah :)

The final lap

Classes started on Tuesday, since Monday was MLK holiday. This first week is especially hectic, since I have to go to many different classes to shop for the ones I like. The one last night didn't seem promising, the one today was much better. A couple more to check out, and then I just need to put myself on the wait lists and see which ones I get into. I tried really hard to avoid a Saturday class, but it doesn't seem possible. My choices are limited, and two or three of the good ones are on the same night, so I have to pick between them. So here goes one more haircut-less semester, unless I can get an appointment during spring break Saturday.

Tomorrow I'm taking Nayeem to an SAT class. I can't believe he's graduating high school soon. The cheeky six-year-old is all grown up now.

Now, it's time for me to crawl under the blanket and get warm. It's my favorite time of day... What's yours?

A few dollars short

I can't remember the last time I had to prioritize my shopping cart to weed out the least necessary things, so that I'd have enough money to pay the cashier. So today, having to choose between the bottled water and the pore strips because I was $0.11 short, brought back memories from my Berkeley days. I had some coins in my car, but didn't feel like making the trip out to get them. So when the cashier held up the pore strips and asked me "Should I take these out?", I told her "No, no. Take the water out." That's right, I chose pore strips over water. It didn't feel right, but Target didn't have the water that I like anyway. I had to pick the bottled tap water that just happen to taste better than my own tap water. I can live without it for another day. The pore strips - different story. My facial is still a few weeks away, I am too lazy to use the mask regularly, and now I'm desperate.

I would have had enough for both the water and the strips if I hadn't given some money away to the lady in the van. I was driving back to my office from a meeting when I decided to grab some lunch. I couldn't decide what to eat, so I headed to Target instead. I parked my car, and then realized that I didn't have my wallet. But I figured I have enough cash. I was walking into the store, counting my $1 bills, when this lady in a van stopped me (note to self: do not count money, $1 or larger, in public). The lady said her mother is ill, and they were driving up to Santa Rosa to see her when they discovered that her husband left his wallet at home. Now they don't have enough money for gas.

I looked at the lady, trying to see whether she is just taking me for a sucker, or if she really needed the money. Her husband behind the wheel, and her two teenage kids in the back seat looked away when I looked at them. The lady said she would give me her address if I wanted her to pay me back. (Now that I think about it, I wouldn't know what to do with it even if I had taken her address. Shouldn't she be taking my address instead, so she can mail the money?) I couldn't tell whether she was sincere, but figured that I would give her some of my $1's, just in case she was telling the truth. After all, I've had to ask money from strangers before. Once when I didn't have enough for my Bart ticket, and another time when I didn't have change for the bus. The ding-dong bus driver told me to just get on even though I didn't have exact change, since someone on the bus must have some. Well nobody had enough change, and in the end this nice Chinese lady gave me $1 for the fare. Anyway, my point is, it is possible that her husband forgot his wallet, and she really needed the money for gas. So I gave some of my money to her, and immediately, her husband became engaged in the conversation and thanked me profusely. I'll just assume she was telling the truth. Even if it's mostly to not feel like I've been had.

Driving back to the office, I thought that perhaps I should have asked to look at her fuel gauge, and if it was empty, I should've told her to wait for me at the gas station while I go back and get my wallet. If she trusted that I would come back and waited for me, I'd buy her some gas in return.

Oh well, maybe next time.

Awal Muharram

I would've completely forgotten that it was Awal Muharram if my brother hadn't sms-ed the entire doa akhir tahun. Alahai Adik, apasal tak email aje. Panjang benar, sampai 5 sms. Tak cukup credit, dik oi. Takpelah, thanks for thinking of me dalam sibuk sibuk awak mencari duit tu... Next year I will include reminders for Hijrah dates in my custom calendar. Have you ever ordered a Demotivators calendar? It rocks, yo! Very the appropriate for the office. I just put up a new one for my cube today. My current favorite (http://despair.com/ambition.html):

Selamat tahun baru semua... Semoga tahun ini lebih baik dari yang lepas.