reno woes 3

pressing on with the count:

11. the main con continues to be elusive

12. HOM to the rescue as de facto project manager troubleshooting guy and part-time electrician. his earlier education coming in useful, i say

13. another permit appears to be missing 

14. and the cabinet measurements need rescuing

in other news, and in the fine tradition of murphy's law as applied to home renovations, the car breaks down today in the course of duty.

anatomy of a (middle-aged) date

i meet him after work.

me in a dress, he in longs.

we pay the peak-hour toll into town.

we dine on sake and sashimi.

and head home for coffee.

niceeee. 

new eating place

we discover a new eating place at funan mall. ingredients by weight and a most umami chicken and fish maw soup base that has me lapping to the bottom of the bowl.

unfortunately the mall has changed. it is now an eclectic mish-mash of women's young adults' kiddos' and f&b places in addition to the tech stuff which circumspectly stays on level 3. so we get a delicious lunch but do not find our new printer.

new toys

the workmen put in a new playground. HOM and i avidly follow their progress as we prepare for A's visit in a fortnight. it occurs to me this is the first time in thirty years we look at a playground with any interest.

soon we'll need to look for a stroller too.

plan b

kbt at bao er instead of jb. it turns out to be a smashing alternative. cool weather after the pre-dawn shower ice cold kaya and 'fridge solid butter in toast that stands up unaided topped off with a lazy stroll through the saturday fair at the market. pleasures seem to get simpler as we get older.

reno news: the electrical wall boxes arrive today, which is great timing indeed.

scuppered

we plan a quickie trip across the causeway for the long weekend, HOM and i.

wake up early zip over have breakfast at ah koong coffee at oriental shop at mid-valley lunch at new lucky then massage. don't forget the hanjuku cheesecake from lavender. good plan, eh!

we manage the wake up early bit. the live traffic camera shows a solid line of car lights to the border.

we go back to bed.

lookin' nice

today i notice that they try to make even the temporary pathway to the MRT station look welcoming and living room-like. which is very good of them and almost makes up for the additional 10 minutes i have to walk to get to where i want.

in additional news, the cement screed is finally poured. yesssss. one month late, but i tell HOM it definitely feels like we are renovating and progressing now.

un-bucket list

my friend comes back from the camino walk. i begin to realize, with something of a dawning pain, that i may have a list of dreams more than a to-do list:

• the camino de santiago, because there is a physical limit to the body 
• playing the jazz piano
• playing the chinese flute

here's to hopin' the last two still have a hope.

imminent showers (not)

my favorite kind of weather! i tell HOM happily as we take our evening walk. and yet forty minutes later i continue to wait for the rain. it looks like the clouds did not get the memo.

some reflections about getting older

the whole point about forgiving someone, i realize, is not to figure out if they deserve it or not but to remember that i do not but am freely forgiven anyway. it helps to also remember that forgiving is not forgetting and i need not heroically try to inflict amnesia upon myself.

if i don't watch out i will really become a crotchety old woman. the old bit is already there i just need to be crotchety.

it is amazing how many of my ruminations circle around the elders. when i become a venerated elder i really hope i do not need to be served up with a garnish of helpless forbearance.

new robot

the new guy in town, who by virtue of his provenance almost gets the entire shipment halted at the border. not a drone! we text the guy at the customs, all agog. a vacuum cleaner!!

first fruits

the first lot of our home electronics lights and various other paraphernalia arrives from china! this is a most exciting validation of our leap into the dark this renovation round with direct dealings with vendors and shippers.

the credit goes to HOM without whose research language skills tenacity and sheer bone-headedness i would have helplessly devolved and happily deferred to the local guys.

in other news, the old place is starting to resemble a warehouse.

confessions

at the exams today and a number of people tell me separately that i examined them at various points in the past.

when you've been around the block several times your past eventually catches up with you, is wot i say.

i also say my bark is worse than my bite, as evidenced by the fact that i do not recall actually examining any of these present luminaries of the fraternity, as well as the fact that i consider them my friends these days.

my man the plumber

to his many other virtues (as my in-house tech support on-demand financial adviser indefatigable project manager personal trainer bedmate best friend and occasional fellow slug) HOM now adds plumbing. 

look for a faithful man, we tell young girls. a kind and gentle fellow who will treat you like a queen. we need to tell them that practical life skills matter too. a slick gentleman who can also change your tap and repair the water closet leak is a sexy man indeed.

new gym

the condo has a spanking new gym! new floors new equipment free weights (at last!) repositioned chin-up bar and all-round new smell (it smells less, in any case). fortunately the old yoga mat is still around so i don't feel so intimidated. but they removed the clock. how am i supposed to know when i can stop?

the diary of a nobody - g. & w. grossmith (1892)

a pleasant meandering read. the diarist is somewhat pompous extremely proper painfully earnest and quite entertaining. shades of mr. collins, but a tad more likable.

diaries have their charm, i must say. there is little plot development or tension so you can read them at leisure, like anthologies.

reno woes 2

continuing the list:

6. we discover neighbor's pipes in our home (ikr, who designs things this way?)

7. neighbor's pipes (in our home) might be leaking. cue near-apoplexy on everyone's part

8. work stops because you need water to cut the walls, apparently (duh?)

9. smart wall switches are sized differently from regular switches (the wall cutter did not know this either)

10. and the dji robot vacuum narrowly avoids being barred from export due to them thinking we are processing a drone 

this is a good place to quote Ps. 94:17, slightly out of context: unless the LORD had given me help, i would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.

the love hypothesis - ali hazelwood (2021)

chick lit featuring chick (and dude) with brains wit and career plans beyond the kitchen bookshop or office. after a lifetime diet of mills & boons debbie macomber and barbara cartland this is a welcome change indeed. that she writes quite sharply helps too. easy read for when you are tired of the journals.

morning walk

sand in my sock.

the modern twist to the princess and the pea.

and the update to the sand in my shoe. considerably harder to remediate too.

surprise!

complimentary of nespresso, a box of 6 different coffees all packed into identikit capsules. all i can say is, thank you and good grief.

night into day

 

and there was evening, and there was morning, another day. quite breathtaking.

and the renovations plod on.