Archive for September, 2007

Greed! Greed! and more Greed! Thats why.

I came across a confidence trickster up close once. Nothing about her indicated that she was one. She was well dressed. She carried herself well. The only thing that gave her away was she couldn’t keep up to her words after a while.

As some of you know, I was in the training business. We conducted conferences for the public as well as in-house courses for companies. One day, a good looking lady came to my boss and offered her services. She said she could conduct training for companies as well as for our company staff and she was to be paid several thousand dollars a day for her services plus payment for accomodation etc. She was to start off by training the staff. She gave high credentials.

She was very friendly and went out for drinks etc with everyone but she was always late for the “training” sessions and she didn’t “teach” much of anything. In the meantime, she fed my boss with stories about how she was suing our competitor for not paying her. Boss was very happy to hear that. And we paid for her accomodation and fees etc.

One day, our competitor called up to inform us that this lady is a confidence trickster. Boss did not believe it. She said that the competitor was the one being sued by this lady and was just sour grapes. And so we continued to pay for her accomodation and fees etc.

Eventually we managed to find out that she had been going around town cheating on all the training providers and getting free accomodation and several thousand dollars of consultation fees per day but it was a bit late. We had been cheated too of thousands of dollars.

If only boss had listened to the warning from the competitior? What stopped her? Greed of course. And that was the basis in which she was tricked.

Thats the basis of all the get rich quick scams you see, whether on the internet or otherwise. So beware. Don’t be too greedy and you won’t be cheated.

I do wonder why some of these people do it. Like the lady I mentioned. She looked really good. Well dressed, spoke well etc. She could have fooled anyone. Someone who looks so good and speaks well? Why does she want to do this for a living? I am sure she can do better than this??!!

Thank you Shopping Mum for sending the genie my way. The genies look rather cute. Now if only they were real, I’d wish to be happy and healthy. Looking at the wish list, I can see that my wish is just about the same as everyone else’s. We all just want to feel love, joy and happiness and most importantly we would like to be in good health too. Thats the key to happiness isn’t it?

Now, I’m suppose to send the genie along to other bloggers too…

***Start Copying Here***

1. Write a short paragraph about your visit by the two Genies and include a link to the blog that passed on the Genie Symbol to you.
2. COPY the Rules and ENTIRE List below and post it on your blog.
3. List down your wish.
4. Place your name below the last name on the list and pass on the Genie Symbol to at least 5 other bloggers.
5. Please put up either one (or both) of the Symbols of the Genies on your blog to show that the Genies have visited your blog:

Genie King and Genie Princess The Genie King, the Genie Princess and their trusty Genie Buddy have visited:-

Mariuca would like to wish for happiness and success.
Adrian would like to wish for good health and happiness.
Emila would like to wish for happiness and success.
Trinity would like to wish good health for Jan’s brother and Yah and Wan and success
MPG would like to wish for love and peace
Jean would like to wish for stress free work environment and happiness
Cbenc12 would like to wish for health, happiness and luck for my family and friends and me too!
Paris Beaverbanks would like to wish for more publicity! Hooyah! (taps swollen head)
Giddy Tiger would like to wish for longer weekends and never-ending holidays!
Shooi would like to wish for peace on earth, love, good health and happiness.
Chinnee would like to wish for happiness and good health forever!
Hui Sia would like to wish for love, health, wealth and happiness.
LemonJude would like to wish for world peace!
Shoppingmum would like to wish for all her wishes come true.
Mumsgather would like to wish for love, health and happiness.

Welcome aboard the Magical Flying Carpet for the Ride of your Life!

Alakazam!

***End Copying Here***

I’m feeling a little tired today, too tired to tag anyone. So anyone reading this who would like to have this genie visit your blog, just drop me a line in the comment box and I will grant your wish. Muahahahaha. Meaning I will link you lah!

Alakazam! The genie is now flying over to….

Shopping-Kids

YOU MUST WATCH THIS! ITS REALLY FASCINATING!

Someone sent Mr MG an email link to this amazing hand puppet song by Ray Crowe. I’m sure everyone has heard of that song “What a Wonderful World”. The accompanying hand puppet show is simply amazing and befitting the song. I found it too delightful not to share on my blog.

My kids love playing with torchlights in the dark and making shadow puppets with their hands. They loved it. I loved it. I hope you do too. Have a Wonderful Day you all.

What mooncake flavours have you tried this year? Last year I tried durian and coconut and yam and green tea. Usually the snow skin ones are the ones with the variety. This year, so far… I’ve tried…..

1. Miniature Snow Skin Chocolate Sunflower Seeds with Bailey Soft Centre
2. Miniature Snow Skin Coffee Paste
3. Miniature Snow Skin While Lotus Paste
4. Miniature Snow Skin with Hawaiian Nuts and Oriental Herbs Paste
5. Baked Miniature Red Bean Paste
6. Baked Miniature Pistachio Nuts and Green Tea Paste
7. Baked Miniatre White Lotus Paste with Yolk
8. Baked Miniature Pandan Paste with Yolk
9. Low Sugar Barley Tangerine
10. Black Sesame Seed Paste

The kids love them because they look so pretty and colourful and come in little boxes. Its a real adventure to eat. Sorry no pictures as we ate them before I could get my camera out. Haha. 

They’re so “miniature” you can wallop all in one mouthful. To me they all taste almost the same ie SWEET with only slight difference in taste. The coffee paste one tasted like local coffee. The bailey soft centre was sinfully chocolate but the most distinctive of all had to be the Oriental Herbs one. It sure was strange to smell and taste Chinese Herbs in a mooncake. Others that have distinctive flavours are those that have a strong aroma of their own such as Green Tea, Pandan etc.

To me the mooncake industry is turning into one big con job. They’re so expensive. Still we get conned every year. Every year we would organise a mooncake party at one of our siblings house. We would all come with different flavoured mooncakes then cut them up into tiny pieces so that we could taste all sorts of varieties while the children would have fun with their lanterns and candles.

So… what mooncake flavour have you tasted this year? Care to recommend any?

Stainless Steel is widely used in the home because it is known for being lasting. Compared to ordinary steel, it does not rust, corrode or stain as easily. Hence the name Stainless Steel.

Although more commonly used as everyday cutlery and cookware, stainless steel items can also be decorative. They make pretty decorations in the garden. They make good doorsigns, keyholders, door hooks and umbrella holders too. They make classic picture frames in your living room. You can also use them at work to organize your stationery. Its pretty versatile.

Stainless steel is lasting, pretty and classy. So the next time you go shopping for decorative home items, keep your mind open. You just might find some stainless steel items that are perfect for your home. You can try checking out The Stainless Steel Store for a start.

1. I will not open more than 10 website pages at one time
2. I will not refresh those pages more than 10 times an hour
3. I will limit my blog hopping to 10 blogs per day
4. I will not write more than 10 posts a day
5. I will spend not more than 10 minutes on those 10 posts
6. I will not spend more than 10 hours in front of the monitor without a break
7. I will try to reply to at least 10 comments a day
8. I will not add more than 10 tools on each of my blog template
9. I will not let my ToDo List grow longer than 10 items due to my blogging
10. I will not walk back to my PC every 10 minutes to check on my pages

Well, those are my new blogging resolutions. Ok. I may have exagerated somewhat but the gist of it is the same. I will not let blogging rule my life. I will organize and prioritize. I will be better at time management and I will type at the speed of lightning. All because I want to blog but I still have a responsiblity of looking after the family and the home.

Whats your Blogging Resolution?

I’ve just turned 3 years old as a blogger but I’m turning into a blog machine! Hahaha. 

Tell me. How long does it take you to write a blog post? For me it takes anything between 5 minutes to 30 minutes. 5 minutes is for things close to my heart. A word, an idea, a scene can get me going and *clickety clickety clack* A blog post is born in about 5 minutes of less. The same amount of time it would take me to write or reply to an email. Usually my brain works faster than my fingers so I have to learn to type really fast.

It takes me just a short while to write and little while longer to browse, download and upload relevant photos due to the slow internet connection. Grrr… *pulls hair*

Contrary to what others may think, posts which take a longer time to write for me are sponsored posts. I have to read up, do some research, post some pictures, post the correct links with the right keywords. Phew! Its a lot of hard work.

As for my personal posts, well, like I said, all it takes is a word, a look, an idea, some news I read, etc and *clickety clickety clack* For the record, it took me just 5 minutes to write this post.

How much time do you spend on your blog posts?

I worked for a lady boss once. Lets call her Boss #1. After some years the lady boss was joined by a lady partner. We’ll call her Boss #2. Boss #1 and Boss #2 got along really well at first. Both of them were women with strong personalities.

I don’t know what happened but their relationship turned sour soon after that. One day it turned so bad that they had a fight and that was the end of the partnership. Boss #1 kicked Boss #2 out. Bye bye. Sayonara. Chai Chien.

I had never seen women fight before. That was the first time. It was so ugly I got a shock that my species could behave so badly! They called each other the foulest names I ever heard. They accused each other of really surprising things I did not imagine of either of them. (Like “I’m going to sue you for CBT” “You man stealer you!” etc) And then they spat on each other! Two grown women! And then Boss #1 chased Boss #2 down the stairs and told her not to come back. I think if there was a broom around she would have used that!

I lost my respect for both of them. It was shameful. Even more shameful because they were in positions of authority. They should have remembered that and carried themselves better. Their only excuse must have been they were really angry, ENRAGED would be the better word I suppose, for them to lose control like that.

Have you ever seen women fight? Have you ever been in a fight?

I noticed that aromatherapy is getting very popular these days. There are more and more shops selling essential oil and burners. Instead of using burners for aromatherapy, another method would be the use of Vaporizers. Vaporizers heat without burning making it safer and healthier.

Some people use vaporizers as a healthier althernative to smoking. Some use it to ingest drugs and other herbs for medical or other purposes. You can also use it for aromatherapy.

You can go to this link to find out more about What is Vaporization and how it works? Apparently the key to vaporization is the temperature. The temperature has to be digitally precise and accurately maintained at all times. When the heat source is at the correct temperature, the substance will not burn. Instead vapor will be released. No smoke or odor, only vapor from the plant mixture of your choice. Thats basically how it works.

Its interesting how the world seem to be getting smaller each day with new technologies like internet and systems like the TANDBERG Video Conferencing Systems. How convenient things are these days.

You can work from home, like I do, without leaving your home and get paid without leaving your desk. Its simply amazing and good! I love it. I can be home with my kids where my heart is.

Similiarly, my husband can conduct meetings with people across the continent with video conferencing systems as if they were in the same room as him. They can conduct meetings and training sessions complete with presentation materials. Its really so amazing.

Technology really does make the world seem smaller each day. With cellphones you can exchange videos and see your caller too. Its no longer something that only happens in science fiction movies. Its here and its real. I wonder what man will come up with next.