Kittens, anyone??

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not such a glutton to want 8 cats in the house. 9, if you count the baby we found outside a pub on Monday night. The poor thing was wailing away in a box in a deserted area. Siapa la punya *cerdik* buang kucing kat situ? Saba ajelah. Nasib baik I managed to foster her to the resident Mama after 2 days of trying to bottle feed.

If you look closely at the photo, there is one white kitten and 4 tabbies. The lightest tabby is the 'adopted' one. Mama is all white with one blue and one yellow eyes.

The mama came to my house during raya and never went away. I was hoping that she'd move on, but no such luck... Before I could fix her, she was already preggers. The daddy-o is a neighbour's persian tabby who comes over often. So babies are bulat and have silky, thick, Persian fur.

All you have to do is make sure they're fixed early on, and you'll be spared over-population problems. Cats are easily toilet trained and make affectionate pets. They don't cost that much to feed and don't need to be walked or meticulously groomed.

I'd hate to send them to SPCA, where they might be put down if they're not adopted within a certain timeframe; but I really can't handle any more cats in the house. 3 is already stretching it...

I really need to find homes for these babies. As a very, very, very last resort, I'd have to send them to SPCA. So please, please help me find homes for these kitties.

Leave a message here or on the taggie and i'll get back to you ASAP.

Relieved

It was a relief when I received a call on Thursday confirming their offer to me. But I won't feel really safe until I sign the papers tomorrow or get confirmed after 3 months!

2 weeks after the 'successful' interview, I still had not received my offer letter nor heard from them. Apprehensive, I called and was told that they just interviewed a few other candidates and that they "will get back to me soon". Excuse me, I thought you had already offered the post to me? I was upset. Scared. Nervous. Was I just hallucinating when I thought they had offered the job to me?

I had been so happy then that I had stopped fishing in other places. And of course, I had put it up on the blog. So to add insult to injury, "satu kampung dah tau" - so to speak. It will be quite malufying to admit that I didn't get that job after all.

But more importantly was the money issue. There are loans to service and bills to pay. Even if I managed to get another job or freelance jobs, my savings might not be able to cover the gaps in between payments. Borrowing will bring the added headache of paying back. In short - not good.

After the initial shock, I started fishing again. Some leads gave me hope, although they did not pan out immediately. However, I realised that I wanted that job because 1) it was something I had wanted to do, 2) will give me the kind of experience I need and 3) will provide me the training. The other jobs will not be as good.

So I did something drastic. I asked a friend to courier my CD of previous assignments back and emailed them samples of my reports. That same day they called and asked when I could start. Phew!! So now I have a job confirmed, insya-Allah, I can take care of other things pulak.

I hope things work out with this new post. Well, no one promised that life would be easy, right? You just do your best and pray things work out for the better. Wish me luck...

Wash Whites Separately…

As it turns out, there is wisdom in this common reminder, which we normally ignore. Iya la, modern synthetics and dyes do not run, so there is little point in separating whites, unless you’re planning to bleach. Anyway, I already know which of my clothes need special handling; so the rest just gets dumped into the washer. Unfortunately, I didn’t know my linen all that well…

When Twinky the cat decided to have her babies in the linen cabinet last week, I was faced with a mountain of compromised tablecloths, cushion covers, kitchen towels and *stuff*. For the past week, have been washing them in batches. That’s when the fun begins… After one batch was done, I happily opened the washer door and was greeted by a formerly white tablecloth. It is now blue! Proceeded to unload the washer and finally discovered the culprit – a piece of cloth Inas got us from Egypt. The brilliant aqua thing is now very2 faded… Oh dear! But then, I actually LIKE the faded colours. Oh well… The whites can still be used before I bleach and rewash. It's only colour anyway.

Kena again last night. I noticed that my maroon floor mat looked a little grotty. Out of things to wash, but not wanting to waste water and electricity, I threw in the off-white welcome mat into the washer to keep it company. Both were made of cotton, but I forgot that the maroon one was ‘dyed using natural colours’ and it ran like nobody's business. In the end, I got a maroon rug and a pink one. Lallalaa… I can either bleach the pink, or else use it until needs another wash and bleach it then. We’ll see la how. Saba ajelah…

I'm SAD, what can I SAY?

Hadith
Asmaa' bint Omays, radi Allahu 'anha, said:
Allah's Messenger, sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, told me,
"Shall I not teach you words to say whenever you are aflicted with something? Say: 'Allahu Rabbi (Allah is my Lord), Laa Shareeka lah (He has no partner).'" - Abu Dawood

[Lessons from this hadith]
The entire universe is the creation of Allah. When you find yourself aflicted by something, follow this advice of what to say and notice what happens. Allahu rabbi, laa shareeka lah!

[Suggestions on how to implement these verses]
http://www.powerworkshops.org in the "Free Stuff" section

With best wishes to see you succeed at the highest level!
- Muhammad Alshareef
DiscoverU, 1 Stafford Rd., East, Suite 141, Nepean, ON, K2H 1B9, Canada

I had a dream...

We really shouldn't underestimate the power of suggestion in books, movies and other media. Some people started hobbies and lifelong careers from watching things on TV or reading books. For me, a movie which ended with someone sculling her way down a river captured my imagination. It was something a loner like me would appreciate - an opportunity to be on the water, quietly contemplative, at one with nature.

But to turn a dream into reality, opportunities must arise too. I do enjoy being in and on water and have had the opportunity to kayak, canoe and raft over the years. But so far I have had not tried rowing, which for the longest time was relegated to my 'things I'd like to do someday' list.

Finally did get to try it today, with invaluable instruction from the mega-patient Encik Ahmad. I WAS informed that it was not easy... Am hardly a star student, but it went OK, for a first lesson. For someone declared "hopelessly unbalanced" (as if I didn't know that. Heh :p), I didn't capsize... Well, actually I almost did. Not easy to balance the boat, OK? And of course everything flew out of my brain once it started listing heavily la... Kesian cikgu tu... Sabar ajelah, ya? Have a feeling I'll need to find another instructor to supplement this one. Feel bad using up so much of his time for free. I owe you one :)

Kaki Tipu

Am trying out Vox but found their blog a little too messy with so much stuff. The good thing is, I can put a lot of stuff online!

Check out this footage I got in Gamla Stan last October! The Kaki Tipu

A piece of wisdom (courtesy of our lovely Inas)

Felt I just had to share this, it's lovely.

Good days give you happines,
Bad days give you experiences,
Both are essential to life.

To keep going...
Happiness keeps you sweet,
Trials keep you strong,
Sorrows keep you human,
Failures keep you humble,
Success keeps you glowing.

Here's to a great 2007 ahead!

When You Think You're Not Doing Well, Think Again

"I cried because I had no shoes, until I saw a man with no feet"

I'm sure most of us have read this proverb before. But nothing brought it home to me until yesterday afternoon.

Had gone to visit someone when she told me that her daughter had not come home since before Raya Haji. She had gone to the clinic to clean up a sore toe but had not returned. She was not at her own house and the old lady had no means to check the hospitals in case she was warded somewhere. I immediately took her to the Sg Buloh hospital, which was the closest, and after checking with admissions, found that her daughter WAS a patient and had been hospitalised for more than 10 days.

We went up to see her and discovered that the sore toe had been badly infected and was immediately amputated upon admission. She was still recovering and could leave soon. She did call her previous employer who came to see her and offer some financial aid. We visited for a while and I was amazed at their cheerful nature and resilience. If I was in a hospital for more than 10 days with no visitors I would have cried my eyes out!

I was upset that none of the relatives who were told of the missing daughter took any action to help. The old lady had no telephone, no husband and no income. She used to be a cleaner, but had become too old to do the work. Last year she babysat, but the people paid her very little, and this year had not confirmed if they were still going to employ her. The daughter had been retrenched and still had not found another job. Another son lived nearby but is not much help. I was further upset to find that he did not inform the sister that a factory was looking for operators last month, despite promising me that he would. Mainly, I was upset that these people did not take care of each other and took advantage of the mother's passive nature. It just shows how important your upbringing is in determining your future and outlook in life.

Looking at these people, living on borrowed land, with a history of bad and deceased husbands, uncaring family and barely enough to live on, I was forced to realise how blessed I was. At least I have an education, a roof over my head, a decent income and a social life, no matter how limited. I know my family would help me out in case of emergencies and I have the means to take care of myself, insya-Allah.

I don't know if something can be done to help them improve their situation. They are not totally helpless, the daughter can still work. The mother too, to a certain extent. Maybe I'll ask Kakak about that. I'm no expert on social matters, but I don't want them reliant on aid, it would be degrading to them and no help in the long run. Everyone should be able to live in dignity. I hope they will too.

Happy New Year!!

This is promising to be a good year. I hope so. Insya-Allah.

Zach reached 88888 km. Bring me good luck, hopefully...

Have been offered job which will commence as soon as I finish current contract. That is a HUGE worry off my shoulders. Some worries are easing up. Some loans are going to be cleared real soon. Hope I'll manage to make good progress this year. And I do hope I'll find that elusive other half PDQ. Don't laugh. Loneliness ain't no fun, savvy? I'm human too...

As omens go:

Went out birding in FRIM in the morning. As usual, they never asked me to pay the car entrance fee. It was quiet but I did see a lesser green leafbird. I like leafbirds.

Cindy, Teck Wyn and baby Cerys came over around ten and we saw a crested serpent-eagle overhead. I'll take that as a sign of good luck :-)

Loved the facial I got.

Found my missing watch .

And finally created my environment blog -Environment Malaysia. Bookmark and visit it often, please!

To all, wishing you a great Year 2007. May you find love, success and happiness always.

Love,
Oza