I Relented

She was hoping, more like yearning and I relented. What can I say; I don’t have a heart of steel. Fortunately for her I still remember the excitement with which I anticipated and the disappointment I was left with, if a much anticipated wish was not realised.

It was a smooth drive… not bad at all, took all of six hours to and from. I refuse to count the half hour or so we wasted on our way to the venue by taking a wrong exit and driving a good 20 km or so before realising we are in alien territory. Upon which we stopped on a side road to figure out how to get back on track. I sat staring at the front till she read the map and figured out how to get out of the mess. I am roadmap illiterate. Then again, come to think of it, I thought I can’t drive for long hours on the freeway too.

Anyway we managed to get back on track and reached the venue without any further mishaps. I am happy I decided to indulge her and seeing another mother asleep in her four-wheel drive only reinforced that decision. Auditorium was packed to capacity (yes, I had a sticky beak when I went looking for some nourishment for me)

At one point, while comfortably reclined in the back seat and having a shuteye, I heard a thunderous pounding and thought the auditorium was crashing down… only to realise it’s the so called music.

There must have been around 200 cars parked in the area we parked and there were many more car parks, surrounding the complex, so it would be safe to say there must have been over 500 cars, not counting the parents who dropped their kids and drove off. As you can imagine, getting out of the complex afterwards was bumper to bumper and snail speed. But to appreciate and to the credit of the considerate drivers of that state, I managed to merge without any trouble. They are a courteous bunch compared to the lot here. As soon as you put the indicator they slow down and let you merge! And how many times did I change lanes to jump to the faster moving lane! Initially I thought it was because I pushed and forged, though retrospectively I know I needn’t have done that, I would’ve been let in regardless. I am afraid I can’t say the same about me. I only let one other car merge in front of me : ) that too because there was a significant gab between me and the car in front…. it would’ve been extremely uncivil to just glide along ignoring the car (first among a pile of cars behind it) waiting to merge from one of the car park exits. This is all hindsight, how was I to know they are that gracious? I will remember to be a more courteous driver next time around.

It was 3am when we got home and my fear of falling asleep at the wheel was kept at bay with a conscious effort to concentrate and by stopping for a coffee the moment my eyes got droopy.

Overall it was all good …..she is happy….I am glad I took her…. Besides, I enjoyed the drive; it proved to me I can do it! And I got a hug and a “thank you mum for driving me”. So now I am in the good books ‘for today’ : )

Hopefully now she won’t do crazy things when she reaches mid-life. That was one of the arguments she used to bargain with me to drive her. “Do you know why people go through mid-life crisis and do crazy things in their forties? That is because they didn’t have fun when young” : )

Okie doke

Mysterious Happenings of the Past Two Weeks

 

1) First, I can’t account for money that was in my purse. Not much but that is beside the point. Went to coffee with a friend and we ordered our regular mochas and she said “I’ll get it” and I said “no, I’ll get it” and opened the purse and not a thing in there. I looked baffled and said “ok you get it” : ) It sure was baffling. Anyway no point in breaking sleep over it as I will never know what happened.

2) I bought a new phone for my son few months back and last Tuesday he came home without it. “I can’t find my mobile” And now that is lost!

3) On Sunday I wondered where son’s school sports uniform was while doing the ironing. I couldn’t find it anywhere in the house so asked him to check his locker on Mon to see if he accidently left it at school. To explain to anyone who is wondering by now how that could be possible without him coming home in his underpants—- it is compulsory to wear the sports uniform all day on Wednesday –the sports day- However, once or twice a week, depending on the schedule, he has PE for one period when he is required to wear the sports uniform for that period only (together with sports shoes and socks) and change back to normal school uniform, shoes and socks. On such days he carries the lot (sports uniform, shoes, and socks) in a bag. If it sound like a ridiculous rule, believe you me it is. Parents have complained to no avail. Anyway on Monday he came home and said the uniform is neither in the locker nor in the dressing room.

4) Daughter had gone to withdraw money from the ATM and when she put her card in, her card was gobbled then pushed out with the machine asking “would you like another transaction” she pressed ‘yes’ and followed the prompts to indicate $60. Out came $60 with another card! Now, this is what I believe – daughter didn’t fully concentrate to realise “this is odd I hadn’t put the pin yet” but then again if it had not happened to you before, you only realise on hindsight.  

My understanding is, Somebody before her checked their balance and left without taking the card and what the ATM did was accept daughter’s card then pushed it out and give money from someone else’s account.

Anyway it was after hours so she had no way of going into the bank to notify and in her panic driven state had given the card and money to a security guard, without even getting his name!

Have I never taught her anything? What about the police? Later at home I made her phone the bank 24hour helpline and report the incident just in case the security guard was developing unethical thoughts. Obviously they asked her for the security guards name but she was only able to provide the card holders name because she had a look at it.

 

 

All I know is I need two jobs!

Easy Peasy

I just came home from making the quickest $80 ever. Perhaps the rate was an atom closer to Mr Gates own gearing.

A friend always goes for market research forums in the evenings and he brags about the tax free money he makes in a couple hours. He kept saying I should register and I kept putting off saying I can’t be bothered, eventually he twisted my arm and off I went for my first market research discussion group.

The forum was at 6pm and I arrived at the venue quarter to…. thought I’ll wait in the car instead of going in too early. Went inside five to and the lady in charge of the discussion group greeted me at the door with “we always invite eight people, though we need six, thinking two won’t turn up, and you are the seventh one” You could say I was a bit mystified and unable to comprehend what she meant, so just gave a quizzical stare. Holding out a envelope, she said “but we will pay you for your trouble” but when I tried to take the envelope – you know the automatic reaction of your hand reaching out to grab something proffered to you – she pulled it back before I could grab it and started walking down the steps mumbling something… so I followed her still mystified…… I followed her without fully comprehending what on earth was happening.

At the reception she asked me to sign a piece of paper which had my name on it and handed me the envelope….. and explained, when questioned, that they only need six people on the panel and I was the seventh one and I would be paid regardless for the trouble of coming. I thanked and went on my way thinking there must be about $20 or so for my trouble.

Back in the car, I opened the envelope to find the full amount promised for the two hour session.

I lost some money last week so this will fill the gap : )

How easy was that? I still can’t believe it! Basically, I walked in and walked out $80 richer!

Now all I want is to find such discussion groups for each day of the week and earn tax free money. And they even provide dinner!!!

How good would that be?