I am bloody mad right now!

 

I just got a call from A Bank - you know, the one with the camel sticking out. Up till now, my perception of the bank has never been in the top 50percentile. Well, as of today, it has no chance to surface above the lowest of the lowest scale!!!

 

A little background - I'd applied for a card sometime this year/ late last year cause they had this reading light up for grabs when you sign on. Being the Malaysian I am, I did just that. When the card arrived, I just tucked it away in my collection of credit cards and forgot all about it. Up till 2 months ago, I received a statement charging me annual fee. Pissed mad, I called and scolded and they gave me a form for me to cancel.....and I did, just that I had forgotten about that too. So .... fast forward to today.

 

Banker: Hello, itu Cik Chooi? Saya dari *****Bank. Saya mahu tahu kalau cik sudah tak mau guna kad kami?

Me: Yes, don't want it anymore.

Banker: Sudah Cik Chooi cancel itu kad?

Me: Huh? Sudah cakap bulan lalu ma. Apa lagi saya perlu buat???

Banker: Oh, you sudah isi itu borang untuk cancel?

Me (and I swaer I'd forgotten): Apa borang? Saya sudah cakap ma!!!

Banker: Tapi you perlu datang ke bank kami and sign itu borang.

Me: HUH?! You tak boleh faks ke?

Banker: Tak boleh faks sebab I dari Collections department, you kena call Customer Contact Centre untuk mereka faks itu borang.

Me (boilling mad): You dua tak same company ka? Apa sal you tak boleh terus cakap???

Banker: Memang satu company, tapi lain department, so tak boleh faks itu borang.

 

Wah at this point I was red in face, so....

Me: I think you all very mah fan la, buat ini buat itu.

Banker (some more want to question me): You ada ingat itu borang permohonan you sign? Ada cakap sana kalau tak guna cukup 12 kali satu tahun, kita akan charge.

Me: So?? Sekarang saya tak mau lagi.

Banker: You ada minta itu borang cancellation bulan lepas?

Me: Huh?!! Mana saya tahu ada itu borang? Patut you beritahu saya kan??  

Banker: Ya ya ....

At this point, I slammed the phone, fumming, stupid bank.

Then I just

 

 

 

 

You know what?

This virus has got to stop itself circulating!

I didn't get to go to Ikano on merdeka eve cause Ryan came down with a high fever!

The doctor gave me some medication and after taking that he immediately puked all over!

I tell you, next to my ex-neighbour at work, being puked on is the next most hated thing for me!

Unfortunately, i cannot do anything about this....

 

In the middle of the night, Ryan got hotter and hotter, so I had to bundle him up with his bear and stuff, looking at the possibility that he was going to be admitted.

But the hospital said it is ok and sponged him - i tell you i could not breathe when i heard him screaming because of the chillness! no book or any degree could possibly prepare me for this man! i was so close to tears!

And they say motherhood is a life time process, i cannot imagine it if it got any worse than this.

 

Thankfully though he got better yesterday although his fever did not completely go away.

But then i was so bad i slept through the 2.30am panadol dose and he was with fever again this morning!

I tell you, motherhood has given me a strange power i did not know existed in me - the power of unconditional love and sleepless nights.

 

As of now, i am super groggy and just dying to go sleep and yet, my powers will come back when Ryan needs me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surprise surprise!

I just discovered that I am able to log into MSN Spaces and leave comments and even enter my own blog in the office!

I was previously barred and felt terribly frustrated not being able to leave comments and add an entry.

 

Wah, suddenly feel so inspired ... but it is time to go home, so maybe tomorrow then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I have a very interesting conversation with my boss.

We talked about retirement needs …. And I did an estimation on how much I would need for my retirement – it was staggering!!

 

With reasonable assumptions on inflation rates, investment rates and income earning rates, my estimated monthly expenses when I retire at 50 years old is RM19k … with a ready lump sum of RM4.8m  by 50 years old to sustain this lifestyle. And how am I supposed to achieve that? Well, simply save RM10k on a monthly basis to achieve this number.

 

Wah! I almost fainted when I saw these figures. 5 years back when I did this, my retirement fund needed was RM3mil … now it has increased to close to RM5mil. However, I was being more conservative in today’s calculation … but what a change in 5 years!

 

Clearly, I need to re-evaluate my lifestyle and my investment strategies (like I have any!). But then when you come to think about it … why sacrifice when you have reached your golden years when you are suppose to enjoy your fruits of labour?

 

So what to do? Start planning now!

I read this interesting article on The Wall Street Journal today.

The article, in short, was on how the digital age has changed our daily lives. It goes on to say that in the past, letters were written, put into envelopes, sealed with love (or not!), stamped with exotic stamps and posted. The postman became a very important person for us to keep in touch with our loved ones, our friends etc.

 

What has happened now? The digital world has taken over….the flick of a switch and the keyboard and the press of the little “Enter” button and our mail gets sent all over the whole world. Instant messaging becomes a lifestyle and a necessity in our lives.

 

But, how do we compare the value of a letter (which we know was lovingly written, carefully folded, mindfully mailed and punctually delivered to the doorstep) to the click of a button?

 

No doubt, one could argue that the e-mail/ IM could also have been lovingly written … but try pressing the “Backspace” on the aerogramme! It just does not work!

 

I have not thought of this before, but come to think of it, I do really look forward to receiving hand written letters/ cards more than digital ones. I may be a little sentimental, but many would agree that the letter brings not only a form of communication, but also an emotional attachment to it.

 

A letter not only communicates its contents but also the emotions of the writer – like how the words were written and cancelled 5 times, like the ink that was used, the way which the handwriting slants (how many of us actually can identify our friend’s handwriting nowadays?), the way in which the letter was folded (I really hate people who fold the paper in a size which is way smaller than the envelope … stresses me!) etc ….

 

Oh, the feeling of longing to see the postman arriving with the much anticipated letter with the wonderful scent of the sender and the beauty in the handwriting … look what the digital world has made us miss out!

 

HOWEVER, how many of us will keep in touch if it was not for the beauty of technology?

 

Me … I am still storing away all those letters and cards which I receive over the years, sad to say that these are now all replaced with digital mails, SMSes etc. … how to keep these ah?!