Tag Archives: Home

To Work or Not To Work….That is the Question…

Posted on by
Reply

Another day, another commute in a crowded bus. To add, it rained last night and early this morning adding to the jams on the road. There are a couple of accidents on the expressway which I take so the bus is inching it’s way to the exit. You must have guessed that I am writing this on my way to work.

The past few years I am increasingly being asked by myself this question – Do I need to work?  The answer is not as simple as it seems. Based on my earning ability we upgraded to a bigger house about  18 months back so any decision to quit work has to factor that in. But now this question has been quite insistent and I look forward to the way that I can take a break from work. I want to take a couple of years off, concentrate on BB & GG and once they finish the dreaded PSLE exams, do something that enjoy doing. Maybe study further – there is a world of possibility out there. But all this will remain a dream unless I find a way to replace my income for the next four years at the very minimum.  I estimate I will need approximately S$ 120,000, give or take a few thousands to replace my take home income for the next four years. This is actually a pared down income level as for the past three months I have been getting around 75% of my previously drawn salary as I am now working less hours a day. Now all I need is to strike the lottery or get an unexpected inheritance and I’ll be set for my life of leisure.

While we are dreaming let me dream about that perfect life I will have when I am not working. I can wake up later than the 4:45 am I currently do, maybe around 5:30 am? Then get GG & BB, along with S ready to get out of the house by 7:15 am and start preparing my day. I would quickly finish my cooking and clean the kitchen. Next on my agenda would be some exercises say between 30-45 minutes after which the exercises would continue in the form of clew if the house. Once that is done, I can go and have a bath. By now the time should be around 10 am. After this would be some computer time or other general stuff – like ironing, clearing things etc. By this time, if i have not had breakfast, I would be hungry so time for lunch. Then rest till the children get home from school. Once back, they should keep me on my toes till it’s time to unwind and sleep! Aah, while I continue to dream about the perfect life, let me get to work!!

Air conditioning woes

Posted on by
Reply

My sister called me on Thursday and confirmed that she, my brother-in-law and two adorable nieces were finally coming to Singapore! This trip has been in the offing for the last year and a half and finally it was coming to fruition. In fact the month after my sister, it’s the turn of my parents – but that’s another post.

After we brought our new place, we converted what was supposed to be the study into a guest bedroom. The original owners had left that space as part of the hall/dining room. The floors are pure marble and so in order not to mess with it, we decided to do the doors in such a way that the tracks (it’s a sliding door) are at the top of the room. Now we installed a fan in the room, but there is no air conditioning in the room. Since we will be having guests back-to-back, S asked an acquaintance who is in the a/c business to come and have a look at the space to see what best will work in that space. We already have a 3 split a/c and apparently we existing main unit can’t take another line. So the alternative was to have a casement unit, which would mean sacrificing one window for this. The last choice is to have an air cooler. We checked out air coolers today and have kind off narrowed it down to two options. The first one is about S$249 and the other is S$349. We’ll probably go for the $350 one but need to check out some more places before we make the final decision. Ah well I’ll make the update when it happens