Ways To Avoid Work

It's almost Chinese New Year again and time for the annual spring-cleaning! Just two days ago, my mother broke off her thumbnail whilst scrubbing close to the bathroom outlet. She felt the pain, but figured it wasn't anything because there was no blood. Yup, she has a high threshold for pain. Fact is, she does everything in haste, and that tends to lead to injuries. Don't know what her rush is, but that's always been the way she does things. I was thinking to myself, "I would never get such injuries because: 

1. I do things slowly
2. I don't do things if I can help it"

So today, she gave me the task of wiping/cleaning the windows and the grills. Lots of house gecko droppings and dust/grime. It's a lot to do. Want to know how I managed to take 1.5 hours and make her then say, "Continue another day"? Actually, I'll be adding more points (which I didn't need to do) for your benefit.

• When tasked to do the chore, don't complain. Do it 'willingly' without excuses.
• Make sure you are seen doing the task in public - if it's cleaning the windows, remove the window/pane and wash it in view of others. Ensure that the person who told you to do the work sees this and feels remorse.
• After some time, start grunting and making 'working hard' sounds that would put any porn star to shame.
• Go OCD and treat the stain/grime like an enemy. Concentrate on one spot for as long as you can.
• Instead of wiping, use a toothbrush for those hard-to-reach places.
• Yowl in pain/discomfort when bits of soap powder gets flicked into your eye thanks to the toothbrush.
• Insist on going to the doctor for proper medical attention or you will go blind.
• Failing that, wear goggles/mask after washing eyes.
• Take as much time as possible to do the task. When not being watched, take your time changing the water in the pail. Look at flowers, check out the praying mantis on the chilli leaf.
• Stop for breaks. After lunch, go back to doing the chore.
• What might take other people to finish in an hour, plan to finish in three days.
• Bribe neighbour/person who can see you doing the work in public to say, "Wow, I never knew I'd see another Cinderella in my life! Cleaning with a toothbrush!" to the task-giver.
• Hurt yourself - nothing major, just enough for blood loss. Do NOT try to break bones, though it will certainly help in avoiding the chores for awhile.
• If you have to clean dishes, look for stubborn stains that require industrial strength detergent/cleaner and a lot of elbow grease.
• Never, ever complain or break things. Make it the task-giver's choice to stop you while you still want to do it.

While this worked for me, it might backfire if you do such a good job that they start expecting the best from you every time. Don't underestimate the intelligence of the task-giver who may see through your ploy.

Good luck avoiding the work, and Happy New Year!

Update 16th Jan 2012: After two days (consisting of 1.5 hour sessions), the task giver did the remainder of the work while I was watching the Golden Globes. ;-)

mailto:S.Landi@kent.ac.uk mailto:sl241@kent.ac.uk mailto:spartaco.landi.1972@gmail.com

The Big Bad Wolf Sale

There was a crazy booksale last November 2010. It was called the Big Bad Wolf sale and it was quite by accident that I came across it online. As it happened, I was in Kajang and the organisers held it at South City Plaza in Seri Kembangan. Of course, I grabbed the chance! I met up with a friend at the Serdang station and we took a taxi to the venue. There was a loooooong queue waiting and my friend went off to have breakfast while I waited in line.

The Big Bad Wolf

How cheap were the books? Any cheaper and they would have been free! Most went for RM8.00, some were between RM10.00 and RM25.00. They provided plenty of payment counters, and as expected the credit card counters were the busiest. I bought novels and it came to around RM35.00. After a few hours there, my friend treated me to lunch at Chili's KLCC and from there, we went on the train to Bandar Tasik Selatan where we parted ways.

My friend, pleased with his purchases

I went on to Putrajaya to meet another friend after her work and we went again to the book sale. By this time, the free bookmarks had run out. There weren't as many books left and they weren't as orderly as compared to that morning. My friend bought a few books herself and we went back happy.

When I arrived at my sister's, I raved about the cheap books (and the variety!) and so we went on the second last day with my youngest nephew. Sis bought her management and cookery books, I finally spotted the Scrabble-related books for a friend of mine who was a Scrabble fanatic and my nephew bought all the Bionicle books he could find.

The damage

I would say that the sale is well worth it if the cost of books these days is simply too exorbitant for your tastes. I went to MPH the other day and spotted the same Scrabble dictionary selling for RM59.90! I saved RM51.90. Isn't that just mind-boggling?

I wonder where the sale will be this year, and I hope it'll be close enough for me to attend again. =)

Update

Hi all,

My friend who came to visit has come and gone. It was such a joy to have company for a month. We did have our differences, but it was nothing to lose sleep over. It was unbearable for him the first 2-3 weeks as it was unusually rainy for March. We couldn't go out and he couldn't walk as much as he wanted. However, he made do by walking to the public pool with Mum. And when it cleared up, I'd walk to the pool later so we could meet up and walk on the beach or have an A&W Root beer Float. Strange, why did I never bring my A&W VIP card? Oh well, always a next time. Yup, he plans on coming back to visit next March/April. Seems promising, yeah? I hope I don't mess it up.

In other news, I was at BookXcess at AmCorp Mall and I got A Lion Called Christian for only RM17.90. It was such a good read, I finished it in under a day. I also bought Pearls Sells Out, haven't finished reading that yet, and won't until I go home. That day is yet undetermined.

The nephews have two rabbits and one of them was sick. We first brought it to the State Vet Services and the assistant gave her a jab and told us to give it something for the fever. Two weeks later, with no improvement (and taking a turn for the worse within 24 hours), we took it to a private vet. That vet was really pissed off at the first vet because the former did everything wrong. Rabbits can't be jabbed like that and aren't supposed to be given fever meds. Poor Bandit's kidney and liver were compromised due to that. It's been 13 days now and Bandit is very much better. No more slobbering. =)

Been awhile, eh?

Hi there, I don't even know if anyone actually checks in to this blog anymore. So many things have happened since I last checked in. (When did I last check in, anyway? *grin*)

I was in a non-relationship for awhile and going nowhere. I finally decided that enough was enough and proceeded to purge him out of my system. I removed him from my contact list on FB (we never communicated there anyway), as well as on YM. In the meantime, I started checking out OKCupid again. I really wasn't expecting any results. I usually say hi and the communication tends to peter out eventually. You can tell from the initial messages how it's going to go anyway. I recall checking out someone's profile, and not impressed by what I read. So I happened to catch a glimpse of similar users listed on the right hand side of the rejected profile. One guy caught my eye. I clicked over to read his profile. He had some nice smiling photos, a very detailed profile not unlike mine and I could tell he was smart. One could be almost intimidated by it. I didn't send him a message then. I decided to write a testimonial instead, applauding him for an interesting profile. He approved it and that was when we started sending messages to each other. I must admit that had he not mentioned an obscure writer, I might not have initiated any contact. Yes, I realize how close I was to not knowing him.

Skip to two months later (all the while we had been communicating on FB and playing daily Scrabble games) and he decided to visit me. Had I not spent all that time chatting and writing to him plus getting a phone call, that decision of his would have scared me. Normally, I would try convincing anyone to rethink their decision. But he seemed sincere. He even wrote a fairly long message to my parents, asking for permission to visit me (as I live with them and he would naturally be staying under their roof). Just reading his letter to them, in all his honesty, made my walls crumble a little.

When he went back home to Italy and couldn't spend time getting online, he would make short recordings for me to listen. He'd describe how he had escaped a storm as he cycled the mountains with that cute accent of his. I mean, he rode a bicycle, not his cute accent. Oh, you know what I mean! =P Nobody has ever made the effort as he has in communicating and sharing part of his life with me. No one has ever called me long distance multiple times just to hear my voice! And that quiver in his voice when I attempted to speak in Italian. I doubt that can be faked. He's as genuine as Lingam's Chilli Sauce.

Just when I think that my feelings for him can't get any more intense, he says something more endearing. Since the very beginning, I have been forthcoming with him. He knows my feelings, my hopes, my dreams. He knows 90% of everything there is to know about me. And he's still here after almost 6 months! He's more than I could ever wish for in a man. He goes swimming every day, cycles, walks, does yoga. He goes for regular health checkups. He's not afraid of going to the doctor at the first sign of trouble. Yes, he seems too good to be true. Yet, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Being cynical all the time is just too tiring and it does prevent one from enjoying what's left in life to enjoy. I'm giving in to my feelings for now. I'm ready to accept the consequences. The ride has been smooth so far and however it ends, I am so glad he is in my life!

105 days until we finally meet! And I will get to spend a whole month with him. =)

Ti voglio bene, S!

Found a site offering cheap electronic alternatives

Hi all!

Been busy working at the bakery. 6 days a week, so that one day off, you'll find me in bed or taking pix. Blogging has been put on the backburner. Oh yes, you will also find me on Facebook, playing lots and lots of Scrabble.

Anyways, wanted to add that there's this site I found that offers cheap electronic alternatives. They have a page on FB and a running contest where fans who post products from their site could win US$200 to use at their site.

I've posted the links on Twitter, FB, Google Buzz, Yahoo pulse, Friendster and now here. Wish me luck!

If I won the US$200, I'd use part of it to buy this:

http://www.cheap-electronic-store.com/prodDetail.asp?MercID=48&ProdID=713&page=5

I could do some ghostbusting since I live so near the cemetery. But am I brave enough?