Thursday 20 November 2008

Friday ramblings

I went for my flu jab yesterday and was happy to discover that I had lost 2kgs when I stepped on the weighing scale. At this age, any weight loss calls for a celebration.

I'm not sure if it is due to my pumpkin and sweet potato diet (for breakfast and lunch) or from doing housework, walking Rusty or running less. I find that my leg muscles bulk up really quickly when I run alot, so that muscle loss theory is very likely. Whatever it is, I like it when my pants and skirts start to swivel round my waist.

I'm also a strong advocate of flu vaccinations. Before I got my yearly shot, I was often sick. A bad case of flu would leave me feeling like an invalid for days. By spending $30 for a flu shot, it saves me hundreds of dollars in medical bills. But I haven't convinced my kids to get theirs yet. However, they're young with good immunity, so they're not so vulnerable.

I can hardly believe a week has gone. We attended our friend's wedding last friday but it didn't seem like it has been a week yet. Now that the kids are on holiday, I begin to lose track of the days and time. We don't get up at the crack of dawn anymore. When I leave for work, they are still in bed. YK is into his 6th day of the holidays and he's already complaining of boredom. In fact, all his friend are shouting they're bored and are looking for a vacation job.

YK hopes to find a job in a laboratory so that he could mix all kinds of chemicals. I doubt they would let a 16-year-old handle anything potentially dangerous. Still, I hope he finds something interesting for the next few months. It's a tough job market and many companies are retrenching. Yesterday a teenage boy walked into our office hawking perfume, a brand I had not heard of. When we turned him down, I could hear him sigh as he walked out the door. It's a tough job and I felt sorry for him.

The COE prices has dropped to a record low of $2. To curb the car population in Singapore, anyone wishing to buy a car or motorcycle has to bid for a 10 year Certificate of Entitlement (COE). The COE is therefore a barometer of how strong the economy is. During the boom, people bid up to S$50k for the COE. With that amount of money, you can actually buy a decent car. When I bought my car, I paid almost $20k for the COE. Mind you, that just gives you the certificate to own a car! Now that COE is at an all-time low, it just shows how cautious people are.

Enough ramblings for the day. It's time for me to get back to work. Have a good weekend.

8 comments:

WaterLearner said...

Flu jabs are good. But I am really terrified of jabs! I have been taking timed-release Vit C tablets recently and find them quite effective in keeping the flu bugs away.

For you, it's a good idea to take that jab since you would be leaving for Europe soon and the changes in climate can get one quite prone to flu.

Happy Friday!

Blur Ting said...

Water - the needle is very small, so it doesn't hurt that much.I would rather have than 1 second of pain than many days of misery throughout the year.

WaterLearner said...

Needles are scary to me unless it's for sewing. No matter what size they come in. Eeeeekkkk...

The Real Mother Hen said...

You know, I haven't got sick often since I moved here. So now I quite like getting sick once a year, but only for ONCE a year, not more than that :)

I haven't had my flu shot. People here tend to catch a flu right after the flu shot - yes it happens to many of my friends - so I'll give it a go.

Blur Ting said...

Water - Haha, my kids also feel the same way.

Blur Ting said...

MH -I think the air is better in Bend and population density is not high. Plus you're not exposed to kids alot. Linus gets sick every month because of my nieces. The germs spread around very quickly.

But yah, one tends to get fluish after the injection. I was still getting sick after my first shot but nowadays (after 4 or 5 shots), I hardly fall sick. Even if I do, I recover quickly.

The World According To Me said...

Well done with the weight loss. Oh I love that feeling when your clothes feel loose. Alas, that doen't happen very often to me.

I've never had a flu jab but you've got me thinking now. Especially as I always seem to get the flu every December! But I worry the jab will make me feel poorly afterwards and I always hope the flu will pass me by for one year!

Blur Ting said...

Hi World - It's a long term investment :-) You won't feel too bad after the shot, maybe just a light sniffle or nothing at all. Thinkof the flu-less days for the rest of the year!

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