Joe is my beetle – my car and thinking back I never thought I would own my car outright because back home buying a car was pretty expensive and like they say at home that it’s more expensive to own a car than to feed a wife and a few kids. Yes, the crazy COE (Certificate of Entitlement) that one has to buy before owning your own car. Well, actually – the huge amount of taxes incurred is to discouraged people to own their own car as home is a small place and the government is trying to reduce pollution.
Anyhow, Joe had been with me for many years now and he had ferried my kids to and fro to school and to music lessons as well as tae-kwon-do lessons. When I bought Joe – I didn’t want a girlie car because of my kids – I didn’t want to embarrass my kids – so I bought a car that I was comfortable with but not a girlie color. I also did not dress Joe up or go crazy with stuff animals like some of my friends did with their cars. But it is about time Joe retires and I get another car as for the last few years – we have been paying a lot to keep Joe in shape and so much so – I’m getting worried about bringing Joe out on long drive to the city.
I’m not sentimental about my car but Joe had afterall, served us for many years and seen me thru’ my good days and bad ones – Joe also faithfully kept me warm while I wait for the spouse’s plane to land everytime he had a long trip. I’ve spilled coffee on Joe and he never complained and although I’m OCD at home, I’m quite relax with Joe and not too worried about getting Joe dirty with soccer shoes or snow boots from the kids. But all good things must come to an end and I’ve asked the spouse to bring Joe to the garage as soon as we found me another trusty friend on the road. Good bye Joe – you have been a good friend.
The March break is just round the corner, the spouse and I decided we should stay in Canada and drive to PEI instead of going to Cuba or Mexico with the kids. Why PEI ? because there is just so much history there that I wanted my children to learn plus we haven’t had a driving trip for a long time. I think with our new tomtom gps we will be fine arriving there, we’ve come to learn that having a GPS is one of the best investment one can have – because you save so much time. The GPS shows you exactly how to get to your destination at the shortest time. This trip the spouse seems a lot more confident because of having a GPS in our car.
So you all know that my daughter just started college this year right? And she just wrote to her dad that she went looking at some samsung lcd screens for her dorm room with some of her friends in college. They were going to chip in for a LCD tv for their common room because she didn’t like them to be in her room with her room mate while she was studying. You see – the daughter is just like me – she needs absolute silence while she is working on her papers or reading and is easily distracted. So she wants to ask her dad – if she would sponsor her share – since she really didn’t want to buy a new LCD tv but had to – if she wanted to do her studies quietly.
College expenses can be quite expensive – but we understand that she is trying to be smart with her money – but if we bailed her out every time she runs into a snag – what are we teaching her right? So as much as we hate saying no – and that she just have to suck it up and make do with the money she has – or get a part-time job – that’s it. We are trying to toughen her – and to teach her to back up what she agreed on with her friends. So she sulk all week of course, and when she came home during Thanksgiving – her dad sat her down to explain the consequences. I hope we are teaching the kid the right thing – it’s not the money we are concern about as the LCD tv cost only a few hundred dollars – and her share was but $50 – but agreeing to it without discussing with us – means she needs to live up to her own expectations. Life is not always easy – the sooner she remembers that – the better it is for her.
I love my car, in fact I pride myself for choosing the right car for myself – and keeping it well maintained unlike the spouse. I cleaned it often – I dust it and I make sure that it’s vacuumed inside at least once a month. If I feel like it – I would bring it for a shine too. While other woman put frilly stuff in their cars I looked for the more essentials that is of quality for the car interior and exterior. You will never find me with a pink hello kitty in my car – sorry – NO SIR! I had my auto floor liners changed because of the weather we have here in Canada – winter boots and the snow can do nasty things to the car – so a good floor liners were a must. I didn’t mind spending more money than I would on other things – because my car is my way of getting around – and I’m not a sloppy person – so I do take care of my car – and never wait for the spouse to help me out. While some women cannot even gas up their own cars – I’m great with my garage guys and even when there is nothing wrong with my car – I bring them donuts and coffee every now and then – so I know that the floor liners were a good buy.
Old stuff brings back lots of memories – and when a dear friend showed me an old camera of his father’s – I was quite impressed. This camera reminded me of my old and first camera I had when I was a teenager – this camera takes those roll of films that one had to buy and then develop in a camera store. It’s ancient – but it brought back lots of memory for me – because my parents didn’t take a lot of pictures of us when we were kids – because cameras then were expensive. An uncle who could afford it – would take some random pictures of us – out of goodwill – it’s sad how relatives don’t love kids as much as I do – there was no compassion on their part – for some reason.
My kids are very blessed because our extended family are awesome to them – unlike my uncles and aunts – they were horrible. One of my aunt – smacked my brother for a little mistake he made, I would never think of smacking my own kids – for that kind of mistakes – maybe because of all these horrible things – that I’ve seen – that’s why my children are brought up differently. Old memories – things were different then.
When the spouse asked if I wanted a camera with a GPS in it – I thought he was going crazy – hahah! but then he showed me the digital casio that one of his friend had bought – and I was really intrigue with it. As you all know – I love taking pictures and since we are planning to travel a fair bit this year – I’m piggy backing on my spouse’s traveling plans for work – I think it just might be a good investment.
So what does this camera do – I hear you think – well, it helps people like me label the location or building’s name when I snap a picture with it thus making it easier for me to make when I am showing off the places I’ve visited when I come back from my trips. The camera has a GPS system in it and is pre-loaded with the world atlas data with information on 10,000 of sightseeing spots around the world. Pretty amazing right? and it’s not bulky to carry around with and does video as well. And the best part is – it’s not expensive – definitely affordable – as you know me – I won’t buy anything too, too expensive – so yes ! I may just go ahead and get the camera with GPS in our local electronic store or hint to my girlfriends to get it for me for my birthday – which is just round the corner. But it’s definitely a great present for anyone who loves traveling.
This is a back-dated post – we arrived in Manhattan on a rainy day – sometime in January this year. The reason why we decided to stop in Manhattan was to visit a long time friend of mine who had moved to New York a few years ago. We booked the flight with Virgins Airline with the hotel because the rates were much better than booking them individually. It was busy when we arrived and even though it was already late – there was traffic everywhere and an accident from Terminal 3. The taxi ride was an expensive one – some $60 but I figured that in Toronto to the hotel we paid like $40 – so it really wasn’t that bad. But the cabbie was right – there were just too much maintenance to pay to be on the road – but there is this Manhattan Accident Attorney that he recommends if you get into any kind of road trouble – from DUI to your medical bills for the injured party. Well, good to know eh – if you are driving on your own in Manhattan.
The location of our hotel was really good – right across the Madison Square Garden and great shopping area nearby – within walking distance. We had a great 4 days stay – visiting my old friend and we shopped at Macy’s which was 5 – 10 mins away from the hotel – so it was great – because we didn’t have to lug all our shopping with us – we walk back to the hotel – drop off our shopping loot and headed out again. We also went up the Empire State Building and visited Times Square. We didn’t eat at the hotel much as we were spoilt for choices around the hotel. I wished it wasn’t raining so much when we were in Manhattan – but we will be back – and this time we are going to be driving instead. And good to know about the Manhattan accident attorney too – just in case.
We’ve done a lot of road trips when our kids were younger in our SUV but now that they are older – we definitely need something a lot bigger – so this year – the boys suggested we do an RV road trip around United States. Since we lived just across the sea from United States – why not right? So the spouse needs rv financing to get a new RV and not borrow the one that his brother have and probably will need to use it during the summer as well. So yes! there are many models out there – and I’ve seen some pretty cool looking RVs with all the specials in them. Money well spent I have to say – for we will be saving on hotel bills and it’s a great way to let the boys do some roughing out – instead of waiting for a housemaid to make their beds and wash the toilet. We haven’t plotted our trip yet – but as soon as we get financing on our RV – I will know where we want to go and for how long.
Yes! what’s with kids and their gadgets ??? and cell phones??? the daughte’rs best friend bought a HD7 and guess who wants a new cellphone now *slap forehead* – and of course, they won’t ask me but would hustle her daddy because he is the more gadget savvy fella in the family. But cellphones are indeed a lot cheaper now than they were many years ago – when I first came to Canada – and I do love the smartphones and blackberry. These day having the latest cellphone is being trendy and “in” – if you know what i mean. We do love all our kids and cellphones do help us keep in touch with them – plus they don’t have to hog the phone at home – so the younger ones don’t have to fight with them for the home phone. Texting is the in thing for these kids these days – have you seen them text? they are faster than the secretary of my spouse. But as far as I am concern – if they wanted a new cellphone – they have to work for it – before I get them – but the dad – he likes to spoil them – but I am always the one to keep them in check – so they won’t overspend or splurge – kids need to know the value of money. So I told the kid of my – if she wanted a new cell phone – she just have to do extra housework or babysit the younger ones – till she earn extra money enough for a new phone.
My oldest will be on job placement at the post office this summer and I’m all for it. Ever since they were young – we’ve encouraged them to look for summer jobs during the summer – from mowing the lawn or going to Wendy’s or Mcdonald’s to serve fast food. This job placement was arranged by her school and she is pretty excited about it – because they are paying her for the job placement. Her dad bought her a utility knife and not just an ordinary one – but a smart one – that retracts if you are done cutting things up – because the kid can be quite careless at times. We just want to make sure she doesn’t end up in the emergency room on her first day at work – hahah! she thinks her dad is doing it to make fun of her – if only she knew how important it is – to have a safety utility knife during work – she wouldn’t laugh no more and appreciate it. Oh well children! parents just have to do what is right for them and keep them safe i guess.
