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Compulsory Leave for Domestic Maids? OMG!

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:24:35 +0100

I read in disgust the announcement that the government has agreed to make it compulsory for employers to give one day off a week for their domestic workers – all in the name of ‘welfare’. Indeed, it would seem that the policy-makers are more concerned with the welfare of foreigners at the expense of us tax-paying citizens.

Lately there has been much talk about the welfare of domestic workers, or rather the lack of such welfare by abusive employers.

While it may be true that some domestic workers from some neighbouring countries have been subject to unfair treatment, does it really make a compelling argument that this would be the norm? Should this be an allowable argument to push for punishment to all other employers, good and bad?

Going by recent developments, I guess it does. Too bad for the rest of us, huh?

For employers with small children, for example, the possibility of any sort of retaliation by mistreated maids is a constant and real threat. Just the thought of having a vengeful employee under the same roof when you and your kids go to bed at night would make your skin crawl.

Enough on welfare for the employees! I know of a few who treat their maids as they would members of their own families.

It’s about time somebody stood up for the welfare of employers. Sadly and rather unfortunately, welfare of employers has gained much less coverage and attention.

Let’s start with the question, ‘how much exactly does it cost to maintain a domestic helper?’

It starts with the ever increasing agency fees followed by the salary followed by everything from food to tooth brushes to slippers!

Let’s break that down just a bit for the high-and-mighty, just in case they have trouble understanding what the regular Joe’s and Jane’s have to endure. Agency fees alone would set you back perhaps RM4,000 – RM5,000. How many regular people do you know who even have that much in net salary?

Up-front salary of 6 months – at the recently suggested minimum of RM600 per month, a monkey would calculate that to be RM3,600. That’s a total of no less than RM7,600. Yeah, right! More like RM8,600 given what agencies are charging these days. All that goes to the employment agency. Sure, they claim that half of that goes to their counterparts in the originating county to cover things like ‘training’ – ever had a maid who didn’t know how to mop the floor? Go figure.

With a net salary of RM600, the maids are actually making more in monthly net cash flow than many employers. How much, really, do the policy makers think that the normal Malaysian makes in a normal month? How much do they think is spent on travel, food and accommodation – which is, by the way, things that domestic maids couldn’t give a hoot as they aren’t the ones coughing up the dough to keep the household up and running.

That brings a total of about RM20,000 every two years if the maid leaves after a two year (standard) contract. Sure, small change to some. Life savings for others.

Compulsory days off for domestic workers? Granted!

Oh my god! I’m at a loss for words. Just because they can does not give them the right to do it. Would you really want your maid frolicking with other immigrants? Have you not heard the horror stories of robberies and murder that have arisen in the past, allegedly relating to links between domestic maids with persons they meet outside?

What about the cases of maids having too much fun and end up pregnant? Or those who just run away?

Who then foots the bill for a replacement? Reimbursement for robbery victims? The re-incarnation of the murdered?

What else? Higher pay and private medical treatment? Great idea! Why not also bundle in provisions for overtime for work done before 8.30am and after 5.30pm? Don’t forget triple pay for work on weekends and gazetted holidays while you are at it.

While you are at work, does your maid work non-stop throughout the day as you do in the office? Come on, get real! One of my previous maids once complained that she had not had her dinner at 8pm – fair enough as she was hungry. Thing is, on other normal working days I was going home and having my dinner way past 10pm. I don’t hear any employee associations blaring the horn for us middle-income workers.

Already hostages of the situation, employers will soon have less take-home pay then the people they employ. Some already do.

Now, with deepest gratitude to those who selfishly impose the new regulations, I’ll just have to get my three year old kid to lie comatose one day of each week while his mother and me eek out a living – and the maid enjoys her day off!

Ed: Of course to understand the context, one would have to be familiar with the Country and everything relevant to the topic.

Don’t Stop Smoking, Just Smoke Less

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:26:59 +0100

Something happens to somebody you know and suddenly the realisation of the harmful effects of smoking hits you like a falling watermelon.

Dear Old Uncle smoked just a bit; a few in the morning, a couple during lunch, half a pack for tea and a handful after dinner. Stage four lung cancer … shocking, really. He wasn’t even that old, under the heavy wrinkles.

Taking deep drags of your favourite menthols while digesting the news just seems a bit odd given the perceived link between lung cancer and smoking.

Another puff and another … with ciggie still hanging from your blackened lips, a sudden and emotional urge to stop smoking. Then one more puff.

Now, let’s be practical. From a pack a day to a complete stop in a blink of an eye? No wonder the final puff just because it was the natural thing to do closing in on the stub.

So if quitting smoking the old fashioned cold turkey way won’t work, what will?

That perhaps would be to cut down. You know, from 20 down to, oh I don’t know, perhaps half? Simple (and perhaps misinformed) probability would mean that you’d end up with lung at 50 rather than at 40 as you would have, burning a pack a day.

Doesn’t seem like so big a jump now, does it? Besides, under-promise over-deliver makes for such a sweeter case than over-promise under-deliver. Soon you will find out that you don’t really want 10 and can live with less.

Ridiculous, you say? Hmmm … OK then, the next time you want to smoke, just ask yourself ‘do I really want this?’ Perhaps the answer is ‘No, not yet’. But if the answer is ‘Yes’, then ask yourself another question, ‘do I really want this NOW?’

These are the few times in life that procrastination is good. Let’s call it the Procrastination Method then, shall we?

Apart from that, set a few simple rules to help you cope … such as, no smoking before lunch, while taking a dump or while driving. For heavens sake, stop lugging your cigarettes around in your pocket. Habitual smoking may indeed be more different than an addiction than you might think.

I don’t care about the nay-sayers who preach that if you smoke one stick, you’d better swallow a chimney. Neither should you. One stick less is better than one stick more. That should be your mantra.

Perhaps one day smoking for you will be a thing of the past. Perhaps not. As they say, different strokes for different folks.

But it doesn’t matter what they think … what I think … what anyone else thinks. What do you think?

Note: The author decided on a whim that smoking less than 5 ciggies a day would quite simply allow him to live just that much longer compared to knocking back a pack by dinnertime ... and that was a month ago, and so far so good.

Stock Market Ups and Downs

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:32:17 +0100

Like most retail investors, yeah punters more than investors, ups and downs of the market really do suck. Sometimes its not a matter of making losses … sometimes its just the horrid feeling of missing the bus, or in my case of getting off the bus too soon.

I once made this mistake, quite recently really, of buying in an ‘up’ market. Of course I thought it was going higher. Guess what? It went down right after! No surprises there.

Now, that’s not the worst part. Being an experienced punter, if there is ever such a thing, I averaged down. That means I bought at lower prices to bring down my average cost of holding the shares. Therefore, the share doesn’t have to rise as much for me to bail out at a profit.

That was my second mistake.

The prices just went downhill from there, eroding some 30% of my total fund size. Cold sweat? You wouldn’t imagine. Well, actually you could if you’ve played the market at some point of your life. And all that happened within a week thanks to my unusual risk profile of ‘extremely high risk, low returns’.

So there I was holding a fraction of the value of my investment. I knew that the prices would recover. It was just a matter of time.

Recession, you say? What recession? The stock market doesn’t believe in all those economic forecasts … it just runs on fumes and hype. Or so I’d like to believe when I’m so deep in the red I can’t see where my next mortgage payment is coming from.

After a gruelling two months (for punters, investments gone ‘long’ are investments gone wrong – and two months means something did indeed go wrong) the prices started to edge up. Yippee!

After switching portfolios several times in the meantime, the shares that I now hold move up at the speed of a tortoise being chased by a snail. Of course, the rest of the market was on steroids, shooting for the stars … including the shares that I had traded off for the current set. Huh, no surprises there either.

Finally the laggards that I now held rose and held at a price where I could escape with a very minimal gain. So small, in fact, that I would have been better off just keeping the cash under my pillow all that while.

The price holds for a few days – and this is a big deal since a few days in current market climate means that the market can turn directions and I would once again be stuck at a negative net position. Pushing my luck, I hold it for another half day before finally selling at a meagre 1% net gain (after costs).

Happy that I’m out and not sacrificing too much, I go out to lunch … and checked the prices that afternoon. It was up 12% by the time the market closed that afternoon. I almost fell of my chair!

Hating myself for selling, I bitterly waited for the next day to see the price drop as it had done on me so many times. Seriously, I’ve had my fair share of immediate drops after purchase.

It was up another 6% by mid-day the following day! That’s a total of 16% in the span of 24 hours after I sold my holdings … and last I saw, it was still climbing. I can feel a tear forming in my eye …

… if only I had hit on the head by a falling bird and been rendered unconscious the morning that I made the sale. Oh well … at least I'm not owing anyone any cash.

Toxic Vomit

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:37:51 +0100

That’s something you don’t often hear, unless of course you live next to a leaking nuclear reactor.

Let me put it to you like this, somebody vomits on your lawn and the grass dies. Yes, the grass dies! Right on the spot covered with vomit. I never thought that possible.

Curious, I Googled ‘vomit killing grass’ but, surprisingly of course, nothing relevant came up. Not in the first thousand pages or so at least. What did come up were hits on sick dogs vomiting, how to clean vomit stains, blah blah blah … blood in vomit … apart from the last match, didn’t seem like the rest of the world had heard of deadly vomit.

Back to my story …

I have a lawn planted from brim to brim with that lovely carpet grass. The type that has to be bought, planted, fertilized, fertilized and fertilised.

One bright sunny day, along comes a toddler … jumping up and down as toddlers often do, gravity got confused, out came … well … out came SOMETHING.

Arguably it was vomit, but as far as I’ve heard, vomit doesn’t burn a hole in carpets of any kind. Carpet grass included.

Before you start calling in the CDC, you know, those people in hazmat suits, it didn’t exactly burn a hole immediately. It just stayed there, a stain, for a whole day or two.

Yes, I did try hosing it down … spreading the joy, huh? It did make the grass look a bit greener too. Doubt that was the watering. I can’t be faulted to think that the grass would actually grow better now, can I? For a while I think it actually did.

Heard about dung fertilizer, why not vomit fertilizer. “Get sick, get a bucket” that would be my brand motto. Pour one cup on of our Super Vommie Ferti and we guarantee a patch of dead, dry, leafless and lifeless grass in a day or two.

I don’t know what his parents were feeding him. What I do know is the next time he’s around and looks like he’s going to barf, I’m holding him up to the wall in the nursery … been putting off stripping off that old paint for ages!

SMS – Language of Marz

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:02:08 +0100

SMS or short messaging service has evolved much from the time that subscription was not automatically included in your mobile phone bill.

This would be about the same time that you had to pay extra for Caller Line Identification – unimaginable in this day and age as most of us would consider not answering calls without knowing who the caller is.

Some of us are even too young to have known ‘texting’ without the use of T9, and some of us wouldn’t even know what T9 is as it is as standard as the phones that we now use.

Gone are the days of clicking the same key multiple times to get the desired letter of the alphabet. Although widely used nowadays, the introduction of this feature surely had some die hard opponents. The transition, perhaps for most, was tiresome and tedious. But catch on it did and it wasn’t long till T9 was available in a variety of languages.

Ironically perhaps, that this was the beginning of the end of the good old days where anyone could understand any SMS written. Somehow this journey of evolution took a U-turn of sorts from the focus on efficiently entering legible messages for the benefit of both the sender and the reader, into super-efficient shorthand punches for the exclusive benefit of the sender.

Not too much misaligned from the notion of ‘me, my and I’ that seemingly has become the mantra of the younger generation …

Today, SMS’s are as much coded language only to be understood by people who are on the exact wavelength. That means you don’t have to worry about your parents reading your messages – at least not if they are over 35.

Mix two or more regular languages as often done in Asian countries and you would have an almost unbreakable code. Forget expensive hyper-encryption protocols … just talk as you would normally do. Nobody understands teenagers anyways, right? Taking advantage of that is simply a logical progression of events.

This is probably the only area where the ‘born cordless’ generation is the undisputed heavyweight champions, totally outshining the older ‘upgraded from landline’ relics. It really is a battle funded by the losers – how many kids can actually afford a hand phone without financial support from their parents.

So, if you are one of those on the losing side, what do you do to bridge this divide?

I x knw wht u wud wnt 2do … bt I knw id strt prcticg txting dring lnch!

How to get your neighbour NOT to park in front of your house

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:40:09 +0100

Terrible problem it is … on one hand, it just annoys the hell out of you. On the other, hot to let them know without alienating yourself from society.

Of course, if it’s an isolated incident, take no action. Surely there will be times when you would have to do the same. Perhaps there will be times when your guests will park in front of your neighbour’s homes for a change and you wouldn’t want them to have punctured tires when they leave.

Nevertheless, what can you do when your neighbour parks their car in front of your house even though there is plenty of space in front of theirs? Or when your neighbour’s guests decide that your house offers more shade for their car than does that of their host.

Here are a few ideas …

Leave a note

Using a waterproof pen, write a short note asking your neighbour to park somewhere else in the future. Place it on their windscreen and wait for them to read it. It’s that simple.

Similarly, if you live in a condominium and your ‘parking neighbour’ in the basement parks his car just a bit too close, just write a short note and do the same.

When the piece of paper is gone, you will know that they got the message. Whether they act on it is another question.

However, be careful of what you write. Be nice and unthreatening. Besides, a nicely written note would probably just get the response that you wanted.

Talk to them

This is easier said than done!

We live in a society that judges others on everything we do; even if you have a legitimate case of ‘please don’t park your car in front of my house when there are no cars parked in front of yours’.

Talking directly to them would also seem confrontational and nobody likes confrontational neighbours.

If this is the only logical solution, don’t let the downside keep you miserable. Just be nice, but keep to your point. Make your stand and make sure they understand where you are coming from and what you expect them to do.

They might just be too shocked that you brought it up in person that they wouldn’t want to se what else you are capable of!

Water your plants …

… and their car! Accidents do happen, and most people wouldn’t want their car to get wet unless it’s being washed or when it rains.

Careful to make this seem like an innocent mistake … Opps, the hose slipped! Hope you didn’t leave your window open.

Set him up

The next time your neighbour parks his car indiscriminately and your housemate is out, get another friend to drive over to your house and park right in front of the gate or in the driveway (as opposed to parking where your neighbour has put his car). When your housemate gets home, get him to pound on the horn to get your friend to move his car.

Hopefully this would get enough attention and your neighbour – hopefully – will get the message.

Somebody call for a tow-truck?

If the road shoulder is marked, getting a tow truck to get him off your back would be an option. Desperate situations call for desperate measures – maybe this should be kept for the time when you have exhausted all other ‘neighbourly’ methods.

This may, however, backfire. Nothing would be stopping him from calling a tow truck when you park your own car in front of your house …

It is your choice, so choose wisely …

Whatever you do about it, you have to be sure that it’s worth what you may go through. In all likeliness, whichever action you take; be it nice or malicious, would offend your neighbour.

Even if they earned the right to be offended, they certainly would not see that they had wronged you and that you were just defending your turf.

Neighbours talk, and in these cases you can be sure that their version would be entirely different – placing the blame on you. They would simply say that they put it there as other cars were parked in front of their own houses. Why should they admit to any wrongdoing when you are the one going against what is perceived to be ‘good neighbourhood manners’?

But then again, if you are anything like me you’d probably be happy if he spreads the word and nobody bothers you … no more cars obscuring your view of hedgehogs crossing the street and best of all, no more community bake sales to attend!

‘I’m right, you’re wrong’ – nothing much to say now, is there?

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:40:26 +0100

Life would be so much more pleasant without people who think too highly of themselves. Those who are eternally right, even when they are wrong. Those who THINK they are eternally right, rather.

If you are one of these people, better just stop reading now. We all know it’s all lies, don’t we – jealousy of a higher, more enlightened being, that kind of junk. If I think I’m right, then I must be right; if I’m right then the other person must be wrong … clear, concise and logical.

Persons of another breed would want to read on.

Sometimes, the personality comes with the job. Most bosses seem to have this affliction, perhaps by their virtue of being bosses. Tolerating such behaviour is a requirement of the job and besides, the boss is the Boss. Suck it in and march on out. Whiners are never winners!

However, it becomes much less tolerable when you have colleagues who (by some quirk of nature) fit the description. Whatever the reason for being, they just are. If you are a peace loving creature, they will definitely annoy you … and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Frustrating, huh?

Unlike the complaints about your boss, who is ultimately responsible for your actions (or should be anyway!) the annoying colleague, or AC as this person shall be named doesn’t share that responsibility.

Neither do they understand that people operate at different levels and with different perspectives. It is always their approach and solutions or nothing at all. Deeply ingrained in their beings, the AC’s are amazingly self-centred beings. The world revolves around them and other people are simply moons orbiting the planet.

Highly confident, AC’s can be spotted a mile away. They are extremely egoistic, thinking so highly of themselves that even the Gods of Olympus would buckle under their might. Try telling an AC that they aren’t capable of anything and see how they react – never a pretty sight.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work in the reverse. AC’s wouldn’t have a care about telling others that they aren’t capable. Much less of being direct about the level of competence that they feel is beyond the poor mortal’s ability. At times even beyond the ability of the AC themselves, but this is a rare case where it is not about the AC.

Well, it’s actually not that rare as any discussion on incompetence can’t possibly be about the AC now, can it?

Alongside the self-recognised godlike abilities, AC’s are also extremely self-confident to the point of being as cocky as the lone rooster in the henhouse. Ever try hammering out details with this type? If you walked off feeling like hammering your head into the wall then perhaps you have.

In most cases, admittedly they are good at what they do. Key words being; ‘at what they do’ as they may not be up to mark at what those surrounding them do. Often times they are not, and that just adds insult to their list of offensive weapons of egoistic-ness and cocky-ness.

In a working environment, amongst the worst things that you could do when you have an AC in your midst is to complain about an assignment given to you. If the thought even crosses your mind, remember that stapling your nose to the desk would probably be less painful in the long run … at least at one point you can cut off your nose.

The assignment might actually be something that the AC wouldn’t mind doing in the first place. In all probability, it would be a highly publicised project. Not surprising at the least that they would offer to take the load off you.

Now, the absolute worst thing that you can do at this point is to let them do exactly that. Counter intuitive perhaps, if doing more work is not on your list of favourite things to do, but from this point on things will get progressively worse.

First of all, it would be apparent to the AC that they have helped you. More importantly, they had offered and you had accepted the help. Secondly, if and when the requirements of that assignment increase to above what they had initially expected, it would be your fault for pushing it to them.

Any argument from then on would simply be a matter of ‘I’m right, you’re wrong’ where selective memory plays a huge part. You were just complaining, as employees are expected to do, right? You never asked the AC to do it for you, right? You didn’t even mention to the boss that the AC offered to take it off your plate, right?

Wrong!

At least not in the mind of the AC – you complained because you knew that the AC is in a position to help. By virtue of that, you had asked for assistance from the AC and you did facilitate the topic to arise in conversation with the boss who officially instructed the AC to get on with it.

I’d be surprised if you are surprised that this would be the outcome. Be honest, at first contact all those days, months or years ago … didn’t you notice the signs?

If you were hoping to get tips on how to live peacefully in the shadow of an AC of this type, you would have been greatly disappointed. The fact that the AC casts a shadow over you means that you are doomed.

Perhaps the best advice would be to keep everything to yourself. The AC won’t understand why if you snap back at them, or even use their own lines against them.

They won’t change to adapt to you, and you won’t change to adapt to them either.

Antibacterial soap, anyone?

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:36:22 +0100

Ever notice that most people using public toilets don’t bother to wash their hands when they are done doing their business? Makes you wonder if they wash their hands before eating, drinking and sleeping either.

Why sleeping, you ask? Thumb sucking may be one of those things that you grow out of, but do you really know what you are doing while asleep?

Sleep behaviour aside …

It would seem from these ‘toilet observations’ that not many adults abide by the simple rule of ‘washing your hands after you go’. In itself, it is bad. Unfortunate it becomes when these adults set an example for their children, and their children observe the actions of other adults.

Monkey see, monkey do … as the saying goes. Kiddies see, kiddies do. Maybe it is as simple as that.

Perhaps as you read this, some poor miserable kid is being taunted in school just for spending an extra minute soaping up and getting clean. Bullied to the point of extinction, clean hands may soon be a thing of the past.

But hope is not lost.

Some people actually do wash their hands after visiting unhygienic places as a matter of common and natural practice. Bucking the trend, these same people might have been part of an underground movement through their schooling years … the Clean Hands Fraternity, I think they’re called. No wonder they didn’t have much of a following.

With a world awash with harmful bacteria and other menacing micro organisms, it just makes sense to protect yourselves and others by doing what you can. Washing your hands regularly is one such action. A full sterile body suit would be another, just that it makes going to the toilet such a chore!

As far as washing hands go, the argument between regular or anti-bacterial soap is long winded and, at least to some, inconclusive.

On one hand, anti-bacterial soap kills harmful bacteria. On the other, regular soap should be enough to get rid of all that grime of which the bacteria holds onto and multiplies. So, without their homes they get washed away into the drains and pipes and sewerage to join their brothers in arms.

However, some argue that using anti-bacterial soap reduces the ability of the body to build up natural defences against future invasions, especially in children. Apparently small doses of bacteria do help you get stronger. A classic case of what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, eh?

But then again, what good would be soap that simply displaces bacterial from your hands onto the sink surface anyways? This goes on and on and on.

Whatever the argument is, in all probability a consensus has been reached – that using soap of any kind is always better than not using soap at all. Or that using water without soap is much better than not washing your hands at all ... something is always better than nothing, it seems; especially in this day and age.

So, the next time you use public facilities where you work or study, keep an eye on what your neighbour does … NO, voyeurism is not encouraged! Just take note of who washes their hands and who doesn’t.

The next time that person borrows your pen; you’d know whether or not to soak it overnight in chlorine.

Internet Scams … opps, I mean schemes

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:32:35 +0100

Surely you have at one point or another received invitations to participate in internet money making schemes. Chances are, if you have an email address you would have anyways.

I used to get flooded by this type of spam mail to the point that I would actually have to look for legitimate incoming emails. But then, that's what spam does - annoy you to the point of insanity!

I know this is wrong, but there were occasions that I opened the emails and read what they were about. Of course you aren’t supposed to do that … it might contain a Trojan virus aimed at wiping out your hard drive. Then you'd have to re-download all that porn. What a drag, eh?

Anyways, touch wood; I’ve never had a serious virus attack. But then again, I’ve always had my anti-virus up to date.

I’m not getting paid for this, but if you are looking for a reliable and most importantly – free anti-virus, you might want to try AVG Anti-Virus (the free edition, of course) at http://free.avg.com

Back to the money making miracle called the internet …

I have read through quite a few, and through the years what has been circulated doesn’t seem to change much. Perhaps now the advertisements and brochures have more colour and links and add-ons, but in essence it remains the same.

They would ask you for a small fee and in return provide you with software and templates for you to create websites. Normally it would be fashioned in terms of multi-stream income lines or mass-mailing of newsletters, or any other conceivable money making mechanism. Down-streams, up-streams, sideway streams .. you know, that kinda thing.

Logic tells me, the advertisement themselves are the money making mechanisms. But how?

Notice the sign-up fee? That’s straight cash right into your pocket. Get more people to sign up, the more money you make. Clean and simple.

Or, the free sign-up for newsletters? That’s mass-mailing 101 … spam to the rest of us. There will be idiots like myself who simply can’t resist ‘just browsing’ to look for opportunities. Perhaps click a link to see if the idea is really plausible. Times that by a million lemmings and I’m sure there are many more who routinely flaunt the safety basics of navigating the internet, and hey presto! You have a million hits on your site with about half of them clicking an AdSense advert.

Ermm, that means you make money ... if you didn't know what I meant :)

Have you also noticed that there are always pictures of people and testimonials telling you just how much they have benefited from the scheme? Seriously, if I was making a hundred grand per week, I’d certainly want to keep it hushed up. Income tax is one thing, but there really is a reason why most millionaires don’t flaunt their wealth in public (or at least don’t give out the dollar by dollar detail!)

Also, perhaps you noticed that everyone has their own webpage … just have a look at the addresses. Do they really look like webpage addresses that you would visit for research, purchases … anything? To me most, if not all, of the website addresses look kind of dronish. Mass generated, extremely random ... you know. I hope.

I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if those pages contain repetitions of the same scheme, presented differently perhaps, and tons of advertisements. After all, advertisements are the holy grails of ‘continuous passive internet income’, or so I’ve heard.

But then again, perhaps it is true that these are legitimate money-making devices that actually work … given a free entry pass, I’d give it a go. I really am all for making money in my sleep. Read that again, talking about the internet here … and besides, I don’t have the body shape to pull off the double meaning to that!

But considering upfront fees to be paid, can’t help but think that pyramid schemes were at a time legitimate money-making mechanisms. That is, of course, until the first few ‘lucky’ participants had made enough and the scheme collapsed into, well, a scam.

Tea or coffee? One sugar or two?

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:52:38 +0100

Walked into the pantry this afternoon with my mug. Opened the cupboard and looked around for the green tea that is normally stocked and available … nope, not stocked and not available.

This is not going to be a good day ... sigh.

Before you get all riled up about me being a health nut, again, let me explain the place of office time beverages in my life.

I have a pint sized mug with which I make my hot drinks, and a bottle that holds about a litre of drinking water. A few mineral water bottles are around here somewhere.

In the morning, I fill the mug with hot coffee loaded with condensed milk. Normally get through that in an hour or two. In the afternoon, I make another drink. Throughout the day, I sip the plain water from the bottle.

Did I mention that I have another pint mug at home that I use at night for a large mug of tea with condensed milk?

This is much about the ‘other drink’ that I have in the office in the afternoon. No, its not a special brew of fermented anything :P

Preference is for green tea, or Chinese tea, although green is what I’m normally after. It’s not so much for the heath benefits of green tea and Chinese tea – apparently there are many. It’s simply because you drink these teas naked … well, that too, but what I meant was that you don’t usually add sugar or milk.

To help put it into perspective, think of it this way … a sugary drink in the morning and a sugary drink at night. Do you really need a sugary drink in the afternoon? Too much sugar I can live without. Have to keep some allowances for the snacks in between, don't I?

While you think about that, I’ll just sit back and enjoy my pint worth of black tea … wish I had the green.