Tuesday, December 30, 2008

See you next year!


Nine more hours to go before we kiss 2008 goodbye. So, how did I fare? I'd say that things had worked
out very well.I am now well into my fourth year in marriage. My wife has been very supportive of me and well, she don't
have to show it, but she cares a lot!My kidz are getting older. The boy, well, will still be the boy. Our gurl has grown bigger. She's now bigger
than our boy, making him a midget.We have had a great year with the dogs without any untowardly incidents. They are healthy and gave us no
problems.Home wise, we saw some maintenance of the appliances. First, the main fridge went kaputt. Then the
master bedroom aircon went bust. And to cap it off, our ASTRO decoder was the next appliance to quit on
us.Not to mention, the desktop PC that served me for eight years is now a chunck of plastic. I just gave away
my Philips monitor to Michelle's aunt. She's very happy to be on the receiving end.I must say that career wise, things took a drastic turn this year. I left my old employment place in January,
broke for Chinese New Year and rejoined the company that first employed me some 17 years ago.So far so good! Money wise, well, got some ups and downs. The Inland Revenue Board had lobbed off a
chunk of my pay for claims and contribution payments from the old workplace. This is expected to continue into the first quarter of 2009 before I see any relief. Health wise, well, I'd say
that its okay. I was off my medication for hypertension for three months before resuming back.Occassionally, I had headaches the size of Texas, this is due to stress and the lack of sleep. But now, its
manageable.Hobby wise - its been a great year for me! Plenty of packs, knives and gear! The man up there has been
very kind to me. I scored some unbelievable toys!What to look forward to in 2009? Well, definitely not the economic slump. I have been conditioned to live
without the comfort of paycheck bonuses or ex-gratia payments - so, I can weather this.I might have to restrict my spendings. But certain things like outings with the wife and dogs have to be
increased. There's a few place in mind that I am targeting.Come what may, Michelle and I would have to work very hard to cover our expenses, put food on the table,
feed for the kidz and take care of the roof over our head..

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