Saturday, September 23, 2006

Missing Entry

I just got an email from my friend J. She just read the merciless blog entry (her words not mine) about our mutual 'friend' and she suggested that I edit it. While she respects my freedom of speech, she just doesn't want to have to deal with the result of it all if this person reads this particular entry. ...and since I do not edit any of my posts - shiiiiiiiiiit, I don't even do that for the posts on my mil and sil (lol) - I will (as a favor to J) remove it temporarily. But only for J and her personal safety hahaha. Though I only did it upon reading in the same email to me, J told me that her daughter had egged a friend's house last weekend. Hmmm... maybe it was a threat and I removed the blog for my personal safety hahaha!

If you have not read 'If They Are Not Psychos, They Are Stupid' and have a need to do so before Oct 8, email me directly.

Friday, September 22, 2006

New Cleaning Ladies In The House

Traci - the ex-cleaning lady who had been working for us for more than three years, moved back to Alabama to take care of her father a month ago. Since then, the house has been, well, not clean. I am a clean person and people tell me I'm anal about cleanliness. But there is only so much I can do... or want to do in regards of cleaning. I can handle a one bedroom loft apartment. I can handle even a two bedroom and two bath apartment. But I can only polish the bloody huge ass screaming red island in this large kitchen so many times before I decide to just let it go to hell! There is only so many times I want to vacuum the deck (we have the top deck covered with an outdoor rug) before it pours a few hours later and all the damn leaves and crap from our neighbor's trees get onto the deck again.

I've been searching high and low for a reliable cleaning woman. But everytime someone gave me a mere glimpse of hope, the cleaning person would call and break the bad news to me about not having any openings. I have been so disheartened I was ready to polish the damn island all over again. ...and then... last Friday, I had to go get my hair done (of course!) before my crazy girl's night out; and who was getting her hair done by the same hairdresser, Maryanne, but Angie! Angie was talking about starting her own cleaning business and voila(!) 'a matchmade in heaven'. :D Well, Maryanne's words, not mine.

Today, my new cleaning ladies are here and I am, to say the least, thrilled! Angie and Paula are sisters-in-law and I'm glad to see that not only are they professional, claim to be anal (like me), are clean themseves (they smell nice lol) and bring everything they need; unlike Traci. Not to say Traci was bad. But Traci sometimes didn't have her act exactly together ie, not looking like she was totally out of bed or smelling like an ashtray or both. With Angie and Paula, I have my own client file, they take notes when I'm showing them around the house and they let me know when light bulbs are out and needs replacing or little things like that. But it's always the little things that count, isn't it? They are nice and tell me that the first job takes some extra time and then they will upkeep the place after this first long cleaning. Yes it sure was long. Both of them took three hours to clean upstairs alone! Traci used to finished the entire house AND the deck in 2 1/2! Yes, Traci worked at lightning speed but I like the detail that my new cleaners are putting in. Hell, they even cleaned the chandeliar in the foyer!!! Best of all, they cost less then my former hired help. How can you beat that!?

So I'm a happy camper again. The husband even did his part to clean up his usually un-vacuumable/cleanable room so they were able to clean it out. He adviced that they not step into the closets for fear of falling objects hahaha and I made that pretty clear to the ladies :D They might never see the floor again after this first clean but hey, at least the room is prestine and clean for now.

I'm giving them each an ang pow (red packet/envelope) for good luck. They just started their business and I think they'd do awesome at the rate they're going. Traci called earlier to say her former customers need someone to clean their houses too and if my new cleaning ladies are good, to send them her way. Angie and Paula are thrilled and so am I to be able to help :D

They left a half a page of flyer for 'comments or future projects' for me to fill out. I inspected their work and as happy as I am, the half a page wasn't enough lol. I feel bad but hey, if I'm paying someone to clean, I might as well let them know they're cleaning for Hitler right!? No, I try to be nice... really! I even complimented the good job they did... then went on to let them know what they overlooked. We'll see what their reaction is in two weeks :D My happiness might be short-lived hahaha!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

It's Official!

I have achieved Platinum Executive status on American Airlines hee hee. I am SO excited! When I woke up in the middle of the night (2:30am to be precise), I had to go online to see if the miles from my weekend trip to San Francisco had been fully posted. Voila! Not only had it been posted, my Platinum status had already been changed to platinum executive. ...and at that ungodly hour, I woke the husband up and showed him the page on the notebook. My sweetie pie managed a "huh? WOW! Yeh for my sweetie!", and fell back asleep immediately. That was all I needed anyway.

Now I'm aiming to hit the final 25,000 miles for this year to qualify for an extra four more one way system wide upgrages. Meaning, apart from my regular 8 one-way system wide upgrades I'm getting from flying 100,000 miles already, I will get 4 more for this year because of the 25th anniversary celebration. Wow! That's 6 rountrip international upgrades for free!! How awesome is that!? Plus upgrades on travels within the United States will be automatic and I wouldn't have to use my 500 miles upgrade coupons from now till feb 2008. Double awesome!!

I'm a happy camper. We're hoping to get these system wide upgrade coupons early so we can start using them for the next few trips this year. The husband should probably make it to platinum executive too - of course, he's platinum for life after hitting the two millions miles mark lol. Yes, we are a crazy flying couple! If he makes it, wow, we're gonna have 10 international upgrades to use for a year. How will I be able to fly economy class again after February 2008 if I don't make platinum executive ever again!?

Monday, September 18, 2006

Update On Girls Night Out

Well, I went and I'm back from my crazy quick trip to San Francisco. For a change, I did not see Union Square, did not go to Slanted Door, Aqua or Farrallon... did not even stay at a downtown hotel! In fact, the only thing I saw of SF was the exit on the highway to downtown SF lol. We spent all our time in San Jose and Walnut Creek.

My trip consisted of having a yummy neverending lunch at Prima Taste - the only Prima Taste restaurant in America (I believe the ones in Singapore all closed down. The satay practically brought tears to our eyes. It was SO bloody good! We had an awesome dinner at Singaporean Chris Yeo's Straits on Santana Row... and in between, we shopped on Santana Row at Gucci (didn't buy anything there), Ferragamo, Tods, Cold Haan and window shopped some. Most of all, the most fun thing we did was just hanging out and catching up with gossips and how everyone's been doing.

It was so nice to see W again. It has been almost ten years since I last saw her. She just turned 30 and ready to grow up - her words, not mine. She is ready to go on with the loser she's been with for the last 7 years. That was music to all our ears. We bugged her to get her Green Card (after all she's been married to an American man for seven years - and no he is not the loser I just mentioned - yes it's a story too long even I wouldn't get into lol). But W looks AWESOME! It was like looking at a hot Korean actress. The once tall, curvy, super tanned Chinese girl who loved Black bad boy military boys is now (after a series of lipo and cosmetic surgery) a tall, trim and pearl complexioned girl who's ready to be committed to a legitimate (read: rich) Chinese man. She says she wants MY life hahaha! I guess I should be flattered. She obviously doesn't know what she wants lol. What's a hot bombshell gonna' do with laundry detergent, spices and a dishwasher lol. But kudos to her for picking the only somewhat normal one in the group to emulate lol. N showed me the commitment ring Mr Jehovah Witness gave her... I suppose I will accept Mr JW. At least he's educated and has his own business, a home owner and is good with N's three kids. For some reason, my acceptance is important to N - or so she claims lol. M is pregnant and her once showy big firm breasts have gotten humorously oversized. Sort of like Pamela Anderson's. Maybe bigger - but surgery-free :D She's annoyed about not being able to see the floor under her, sick of not being able to tie her own shoelaces - fortunately people at the office are kind enough to do crap like that for her - though she has turned to just wearing flip flops; yes, even to her corporate job everyday hahaha. Her tummy in comparison to her large neh nehs is not so big at six months. But she's happily pregnant and loving food all the more. Loving A LOT of food hahaha! N and I had to laugh. It was a side of her we were not used to. I laughed and told her that it was a refreshing time for me since none of them have ever beat me in my bra size hahaha and N warned her that after the baby, the pair of bazookas would get even more ginormous. I'd like to see that! I don't know if baby Annaliese would be well fed or afraid of being suffocated or both. All I know is the Mister (her Mister) is psyched about that part hahaha!

My flight landed on time yesterday at 2:30pm. The husband and I rushed to lunch at Blue Coast Burritoes for fish burritoes - mmm, burritoes! We were starving! His breakfast consisted of two nectarines - yes, that IS considered breakfast lol and mine of water with no ice on the plane, a few pieces of Gardettos mustard pretzels (the only kind of pretzel I like and will eat) and some DEEP sleep. At home, I slept the moment my head hit the pillow... with absolutely no sleep at all the previous night - M, Mrs Motor Mouth was on full blast and I'd admit, we loved every single minute of it even though a lot of her gossips were of people I still have no idea who she was talking about hahaha - plus it's just not right to slip in any sleep if I'm going to be anywhere for only 17 hours - sleep was a welcome gift for a change. I slept for a good four hours... woke up and went out to dinner and then again hit the sack till 5:30 this morning. I'm now well rested :)

It's back to the salt mines today. No, I'm not complaining. How could I? There is actually someone out there who wants to have MY life hahaha :D

Friday, September 15, 2006

Girl's Night Out

Tomorrow, I'm flying to San Francisco for a girl's night out. Yup, all the way from the southeast to the west coast for one night with the girls :) Sounds glamorous, extravagant and fancy doesn't it!? I know. When I told my mom last night about my planned trip, she was opposed to it when she heard that the husband wasn't going. "Girl's night out? Why do you like running around on your own?" she asked. Guess what!? I don't care 'coz she's not the boss of me anymore muahahaha!

Actually, the trip is all for a day of hanging out with three friends whom I have known for a good ten years back in my twenties during my serious partying days. Now, most of us have grown up; well, sort of. There is me, the oldest of the group (arrgh); M is pregnant with her first baby girl due in months, N is recently divorced with three kids and doing well in her shoe business and the W... well, her life's still a mess at 32. The three of us are supposed to inject some sense into her over dinner and a slumber party. No seriously I'm known to be a pretty affective Dr Phil'esk kind of advisor to most of my friends and their problems - and you know all those psycho friends of mine need it lol. So I've made a mistake or two... men have gotten dumped and good relationships come undone. But it's mostly for the better lol. No I'm only kidding!

Two of the three girls who will be picking me up at sfo tomorrow live in the Bay area. The pregnant one who is married to a sweet all-American accountant lives in Walnut Creek. The other one now lives in Alameida with her new man, Mr supposedly ex Jehovah witness (no comments!). The third one is in the US settling old love / marriage issues (don't ask) and enroute back to Singapore from Seattle she thought she'd stop by San Francisco for a mini-reunion with the three of us. So mini-reunion it is!

Not looking forward to the flight alone but the big incentive is, I have been upgraded and after this trip I will be Germantown's first unemployed platinum executive on American Airlines. Whoohoo!!!

Thursday, September 14, 2006

If They're Not Psychos, They Are Stupid

What is it with me? I seem to attract people who become friends whom I eventually realize they are psychotic or stupid or both!

I have an ex-friend, K (I know, ex-friend sounds so juvenile, but you'd understand if you knew her... or just read on - it's going to be looonnngg) who can't stop trying to be my friend - or make me like her again. I don't want to be her friend neither do I care about her anymore. She moved away from the Memphis area more than a year ago and not only have I not contacted her in any way, I have not returned her calls, replied to any of her emails or even via other friend's suggestion, give her some sign of life. You'd think that someone who has passed the fifty year old point would get over that. Nope... this is one of those people whose success is to annoy the shit out of you so at this moment, she is cheering 'v for victory!!'. Gag me!

K is selfish and a bossy brat and cannot imagine why anyone would dislike her for any reason. I tried to tell her before (when we used to hang out together) that not everyone is loved by everyone (not especially her) and not everyone loves her; but she would always think I was joking. Mean as I can be I always tried to tell her the truth... maybe not always verbally nor in a very direct manner, but I figured she would get the hint somehow, someday. Wrong! I simply cannot understand how someone who constantly tells me and another girl, J, that we are (were) her best/closest friends would treat us the way she did/does.

Ok, now the background. K's husband got a job in West Virginia and though he had a good job here, the pay would be higher in Morgantown which meant that K would be able to get that big ass house she always wanted. She had a nice enough house here... in fact, we hung out there quite a bit. But hers was the smallest among all the girls though you'd hardly call 3000 sq ft small! Of course, she failed to see that if she moved, it was to a bigger loser state then Tennessee! Who the hell voluntarily moves to West Virginia anyway?! It is one of the nine states American Airlines doesn't even fly into! Yes, truly! As if being in Tennessee wasn't bad enough. We tried to warn her... tried to talk her out of it since her husband was ok about staying. Nope, she insisted about wanting to be closer to family, namely her mom and stepdad, in Pittsburgh. That was a bigger mistake lol but we won't get into that. By the time they put the house up for sale, we knew it was a done deal. But it was then the problems started between her and all her friends. No it's not just J and I who wonder about her these days. It's EVERYONE. Trust me. They just don't have the guts to say anything to her. Up till then, everyone was still sad to see her go. I mean, she was a nice person. She was fun and at times, funny. She was a whiner but she usually did it rather tactfully.

Before she put up their house for sale, she asked J and I if she and her family could stay at our homes for an extended period of time. I remember avoiding her calls not knowing how to say 'hell no!' to her. I didn't call her back when she left voice messages for me and I was seriously stressed! Then came the afternoon when J and K took me out for my birthday lunch. I vividly remember we were seated at the corner booth having a nice meal at Yia Yia's. Things got uncomfortable pretty quickly. She brought up the upsetting question again. Since it was almost summer vacation, I used the husband as an excuse and said no to her since he would be home and on vacation and it just wouldn't be fair to put him through the crap I know she would bring with her. Since J and the family was going away for two weeks in Florida for the summer, she decided to let K and her family stay and house-sit for them. I thought that was a good idea too. Only to be hit by another even more upsetting question. She asked J if they had cable in the bedrooms they were going to utilize. Yes, gawdammit I'm sure she asked that. I am not making this up. My eyes bulged out like a cartoon character would when she asked J that. I couldn't even swallow my lunch after that. The bloody gall!!! I think J was a little shocked plus she's Brit and she thought K, the ugly American meant cable like the jack in the wall. Nope, K made it apparent that she and the family needed tv (which they will bring their own) with cable and that J's husband could actually get the cable company to hook it up in the rooms for a small fee. WHOA! Are you for real woman!? ...then she said 'that's why your house (meaning mine) would have been perfect 'coz I know you have cable in your guestrooms'. Again, like the courtesy is for free deal. Just 'coz I have it doesn't mean I want to give it to you or let you use it! That's why it's called MY bloody house you nimbkampook! Plus I'm not in the motel/hotel business thank you very much. My guest rooms are for guests... people I welcome and invite.

Well, K's house sold way early and they had to get out of there much earlier then expected. Well, not really but they would rather inconvenience their friends then the buyers of their house. They obviously wanted the money from the proceeds of the sale asap. ...so what does a professor, his wife and their college aged daughter do when faced with a situation like that!? They move into J's house a week early (they claimed they wanted to save money that's why they didn't want to stay in a motel) and then announced that they would stay not just the two weeks to house-sit but also an extra week after J's return from summer vacation since the house in West Virginia was not to close till then. Hey, I kid you not she is a piece of art, isn't she? ...maybe not art but certainly a piece of something! Yes, this does get worse! See, what did I tell you about being an ex-friend.

So in moved K and the no-personality husband of hers and their daughter who had a crush on J's college aged son. Run Forrest RUN!!! It only took days before K was running the household, helping buy groceries which was nice but was just buying crap J didn't appreciate. People just have their way of running their own households and K apparently didn't understand nor cared to ask. She brought everything from her ex-pantry from the house as a gift to J lol. Yes, rancid nuts, out-of-date cake mixes; you name it!

One night (before J and family left for vacation) we had a girl's night out thingy and we had dinner at a Thai restaurant nearby. The bill came and I paid my share (the idiotic American way of doing things) and I fully expected K to pay J's bill; I mean, she was staying at J's house and it was like fifteen sorry ass bucks for crying out loud. Did she? Take a wild guess. You think you're horrified!? I was speechless - and you know it takes a lot out of me to shut the phuck up! I was practically traumatized lol.

To cut the next few weeks short, K very quickly started losing J as a good friend. K even had to plan her own 'Farewell to K' party hahaha! I kid you not! J was away, I was away... we both got emails from her and other people she suggested on doing, telling us what to do ie, to be in charge of bringing paper plates and what not. Needless to say, it was more like 'Good Riddance to K' party' by the time it got around to it. J and the family came back from vacation and found their couch ripped and damaged, the water and power bill sky-rocketed and not only did K not apologize for the couch, or help pay the bills, she denied any wrong-doing and said it was already damaged before. She yelled at J's kids and made the youngest one cry and acted like she was the mother of the family and was doing everything for J. Before she left, K took J and her husband and the rest of us couples out once -big phucking deal! They did nothing special for J and her family and left with nothing but a bad aftertaste in J's and the whole family's mouth.

Shortly after her departure, she returned! Yup! It wasn't even six months! She asked to stay at J's and a few other friends. Yup, she manage to bully J into it. Which was fine except she started complaining about how noisy it was in the morning at J's to be woken up by the garage door when J's husband left for work; she compared the other friends' houses she'd stay at to J's and boasted about the sheets and fancy towels they had for her. I'm surprised she was not chased out of the house immediately. I saw her twice during that visit. Once at our weekly bowling session. She asked for a hug when she saw me and I commented "you just left yester-freakin-day why do you need a hug!?" She was obviously hurt and then she complained later how I didn't sit next to her at lunch and ignored her throughout lunch. I so felt like a man trying to ditch a sorry ass bitch! So I invited her, J and J's mom visiting from England, over for lunch the next day. I cooked a simple lunch and entertained them for the afternoon. That was the last time I saw her. What upset me was... a week later, a mutual friend of ours came up to J and I and asked 'hey, where were you two that day at K's coffee get-together at Starbucks? I was hoping to see you there since it was K's gathering and I knew you two would be there.'. Needless to say, J nor I had been invited to this 'event'... thing was, I didn't much care (though I'd admit, it did bother me for a minute since hello, she was at my house just the day before eating my damn food and saying crap like 'I really miss our days when we used to hang out and just eat and talk) but hello, at this point, she was still staying at J's!!!

Guess what!? She's returning to the Memphis area again. I got an email from her a few days ago asking if the husband and I would like to join them for a couples get-together. Now how do you deal with someone like that?! Yeah you gotta' just ignore it one more time. You guessed it, she's staying at J's for a week. Who the phuck visits for one bloody week!? Excuse me, she's staying longer then that. She'll be here Sept 27 through Oct 8! That an eternity! So it's a week at J's, a few days at some other so-called friend whom neither J nor I have ever heard her mention before her last visit (that's the girl who has the nice fancy sheets and towels and the big huge house in Mississippi - then again, it's freakin' lame ass Mississippi) and a few more days at J's and when her prof. husband comes to town, she will stay at a hotel with him. So guess who's ditching two weeks of bowling to avoid Ms. K lol. Hey, I don't mind. I can keep myself busy. ...and no, we're not going to the get-together. I don't care to see her... nor hear about what she's doing or not going. Besides, I'm sure I'd hear all about it from someone after she leaves lol.

So that's the story of K. I have resisted writing this piece of blog about her for more than a year; before her departure. It would be a lot longer but believe me, I cut it short. But now, it's time! The girl just won't give up! If she reads this, oh well. All the better. She can go complain to everyone here about what a horrible person I am... guess what? They already know it HAHAHAHA! She needs to realize that everyone she knows here has moved on with their lives. Just 'coz she hasn't made any new friends in "Worst Vagina" (no that is not a typo) doesn't mean we have to keep feeling sorry for her. Give it up K! Get a life and move on!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

My Better Half

I have come to accept that my husband, KOMT, is the nicer one between the two of us. He is the kinder one, the more compassionate one, certainly the less agressive one and of course, as reminded constantly by people around the two of us, both his friends and certainly mine (lol), he is the polite one in the couple.

In school during civics class, I was taught how to be a good citizen, what filial piety means (to take care of our elderly for you Americans who are not familiar with this term), cheating is bad and honesty is good. At home, I was constantly reminded that I had no other job but to not talk back to my parents and make straight 'A's in school. I didn't listen. Never did. The government taught us crap like how to live in harmony in a racially diverse country like Singapore and how to be courteous to one another via retarded songs like 'courtesy is for free, courtesy is for you and me'(you know how the song goes for those of you who grew up there and were taught those sorry ass songs). A lot of good that did me hahaha! Sure courtesy is for free. But just 'coz it's free doesn't mean you're gonna' get it from me!

My friends have asked me before... "what made Bruce pick you?". I often tell them it's because I'm cute but I usually get jealous bitchy remarks hahaha! More than one friend of mine have commented that Bruce picked the wrong girl (actually, one of their comment was Bruce brought shit upon himself - nice friend huh lol) and thus has to suffer the consequences. I beg to differ (of course!). He's picked a wonderful woman to be an awesome wife, a very good cook (for someone who hasn't had much home-cooked Singapore food - I'm the best he could have found). Besides, where else can you find a young, demure, do-as-she's-told girl when you're a successful man in his late 30s lol. Ok, maybe I got lucky... I did, still am - and I bloody hell know it. Still, he's happy with his pick. Really! Okay, I'm sounding desperate here...

My husband is my better half. Certainly to the few retailers in the Memphis area who have crossed my unfortunate path. I'm the bitchy Asian wife that the super nice poor teacher guy brings in all the time to give someone a piece of her mind. I'm the horrible Filipino looking wife (I can just imagine how many times those people have thought 'mail order bride gone wrong' lol) who yells at people if they don't stick to what they say. Yes, I'm the one who can relate my husband's dissatisfied messages back to the salespeople more effectively. Yes, we play good cop bad cop and I usually play the latter. I know, none of you are surprised lol!

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Bitter

I have been looking forward to this trip to Seattle for a long time. Even before summer when it was already too hot in Memphis. Seattle is my salvation from the heat, the sun, the at-times-dry-no-rain-place... the yukky southern accent, the not that great Japanese food place and the just not-that-fun-place.

Well, we left Memphis first thing Saturday morning. Equipped with an almost empty carry-on, with a practically empty toiletry bag (with the new STUPID TSA security rules, all I could bring was powder (I guess the anthrax scare is officially over), lipsticks and eyeliner. ...so there was no need to check in luggage - and just as well 'coz the line to do that at the airport was insane!

We got here 15 mins early and Bruce got back into his Seattle mode and we jumped onto the public bus to the city. I hate buses in Seattle. Ok, I hate buses in general. But in Seattle, it's filled with insane people and/or stinky homeless folks. Yuk! But I was happy to get here so I went with the flow even tho' being sweet the husband did give me a choice to take the cab, I caved on knowing he would be happier being on the bus. See, I can be sweet too lol! Taking that blasting sardine packed bus into the city was not fun. But seeing Bruce do 'acrobat moves' standing in the middle of the bus with the circular thingy (it circulates when the bus makes turns) was worth the ride :) Even the woman sitting next to me couldn't help from laughing out loud watching my laogong look hilariously monkey'ish changing holding bars from every acute turn.

Why am I so bitter then? Well, we get to the city and it's like 90 degrees! Can you believe it?! We left the too-hot mid-eighty degrees weather of Memphis to come to an even hotter Seattle. Worst, I have to walk everywhere in this city so it feels way hotter here than being in Memphis when it's 90 degrees and all I do is stay home. Of course the friends here say we brought the heat with us. What can I say.

A visit to Bartell's and it solved my toiletries problem... and my friend Julie got me a sample size for my two day use of perfume so I am set for this trip before my next trip in a couple of weeks to San Francisco for one day for a mini Singaporean girlfriends reunion; which better be nice and cool when I get there... :s

Fortunately, the Hotel Max's air-conditioning blasted from the moment we walked into the room. Imagine, we had to turn up the temperature before heading to bed... this might be the first for us to ever do so.