facts of life

1. cockroach vs. man: 'roach wins. every time.
2. cockroach in room = sleepless night. even if it's dead.
3. cockroaches reproduce de novo. no doubt about it.

my knees are still trembling.

new species

psle mom n. the female parent of a child sitting the national primary school leaving examination (psle) during the year in discussion. the child sits the examination, not the mother. the term describes a consistent syndrome of paternal anxiety about the future coupled with increased hovering behavior and intense physical and financial educational investment. [f. E. psle (acronym) + mom (mother)]

recalcitrant part-timer n. a worker employed on prolonged part-time terms. usually a middle-aged female with older children or an empty nester who begins working part-time to facilitate child-care, and continues on part-time terms when the [part-time] state becomes self-perpetuating. [f. E. recalcitrant + part-timer]

very important considerations

here are the implications to the VIQs.

the bicycle's true nature will determine its rightful place. on the roads fully helmeted and duly and grudgingly respected. or on the sidewalks on a special lane. right now pity the pedestrian. and pity the cyclist. both endangered.

the motorcycle's true nature will determine its rightful behavior. occupying a full lane and duly if grudgingly respected. or death-defyingly slipping in between real vehicles. both endangered.

very important questions

i totally get that:

• we make choices
• we can choose to minimize our carbon footprint
• we can choose the bicycle

what i want to know is:

• is a bicycle a vehicle or a pedestrian?

for good measure, i also want to know:

• is a motorcycle a real vehicle or is it an aggressive bicycle?

apartment living

one inescapable feature of apartment living is the fact that you are exposed to your neighbors' piano practice. they are at it again, HOM tells me, in case i miss the tinkles. mostly mozart and beethoven, with the occasional ballade pour adeline. mostly elementary, where we live. mostly uninspired, i guess. but most of all DILIGENT. 

you might think that with all this practice they might be able to progress to something nicer by now, HOM says helplessly.

birds of a feather

work-life balance is the new mommy wars, it appears. or mommy wars are the new work-life balance. or mayhaps they are a subset of each other. 

whatever the case, the haves and the have-nots are arrayed on two sides of a clear divide. how do they think they will ever amount to much, the haves ask. or perhaps they are the have-nots. the day will come when they will have missed their children's entire childhoods, the have-nots say darkly. or perhaps those are the haves.

as for me and HOM, with all respect, our professional ambition is to retire.

seen and heard and felt

HOM and i do the quintessential singaporean holiday thing and visit a showflat. the place teems with couples with little bouncing children who unconcernedly brush you aside in their projectile motion across rooms. excuse me, i say to thin air, i was standing here before you exploded onto me! 

no more jumping on the beds, i hear a mother say to her son. which can only be predicated on prior jumping on beds, i tell HOM.

it is an incontestable fact that some children are adorable primarily to their own parents.