It’s the bigger stuff like shipping boxes, cartons and cardboard that frazzles me out. While I can easily dispose of paper in the recycling bin, the last thing I want to do is litter the walkway and area around the bin with cartons, boxes and cardboards. We already have all the boxes we’ll ever need in case we move again (*touchwood*) so yeah…any tips on how to get rid of these boxy babies without being a litterbug?

*giggles*

For those interested in insurance, particularly disability insurance, you might want to check out Allsup.

Allsup has a 98% success rate for those who complete the SSDI process with us. Allsup is a leading nationwide provider of financial and healthcare related services to people with disabilities. Since 1984, Allsup has helped more than 110,000 people receive their entitled Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare benefits.

Only applicable for those living in the US though.

Alrighty, end of commercial.

It was no different for us. We bought over some track lightings from the previous tenant, similar to the ones you see here on ShopWiki’s site. Unlike traditional shopping sites which feature only stores that have paid to be part of the inventory, ShopWiki provides the shopper with over 200,000 stores that carry a certain product, for example, indoor light fixtures.

There are guides available to help you make better purchase options, such as FAQs and even product reviews. There are also video reviews made by shoppers featuring the details, reviews – good or bad – and other necessary information needed by other shoppers to make a good purchase decision.

One of the products available, Progress Lighting (the ones I have in the apartment) features at least 12 different stores with different specs, (naturally) different prices and information. They can both be used as feature or accent lighting and are fully adjustable. And mind you, looking at the info on the page, it has been enlightening!

So if you have been a fan of Wiki, trust me, you’ll be a fan of ShopWiki!

I must admit that I didn’t know much about these Moroccan lamps until I got this assignment and boy, are they awesomely beautiful! Apparently, these lamps are made from “sheep or goat skin that is stretched around different shapes of handmade Moroccan wrought iron frames” before being dyeing and drawn by henna artists with a needle. The motifs are often different and intricate andcan take hours to complete – this includes the drying process. Typical colours include red, yellow, orange or blue – a reminder of Arabian nights, if you will.

Now, if I had a really free rein and budget to toy around with the deco of this apartment, this would be it for me in terms of lighting!!!!

…yummy houses!

The location? A rather cosy yet quaint (my personal opinions) island on the East Coast of the US. From its website…

Hilton Head Island is one of South Carolina’s most beautiful barrier islands. It is the second largest barrier island on the East Coast. The overall length of the Island is about 12 miles and the widest point is approximately 5 miles.

Its natural beauty and expansive Atlantic beaches have made it a world-class resort destination for over 1.5 million visitors each year and why over 35,000 people have chosen to call the Island their permanent home.

…

Thousands of years before the first Spaniards set foot on the shores of the New World, this Sea Island was home to Native Americans dating back to at least 2000 B.C. Yemassee Indians hunted and farmed in this area until the early 18th century.

Today, the Island bears the name of the English explorer Captain William Hilton. In 1663, he was sent to prospect the Carolina region. Subsequent colonization of the area brought an era of cultivation where cotton, rice and indigo were harvested by slave labor on vast plantations. After the Civil War, the Island’s land was divided and bestowed to former slaves who would live quietly on Hilton head for the better part of the next century.

…

The development of Hilton Head Island began when a young, visionary landscape architect named Charles Fraser laid out the master plan for the Island’s south end community. The vision was to “lay lightly on the land” by building unobtrusive homes to blend into the landscape. Roads would wind around, not through, sensitive areas, and land would be set aside in its pristine state for the enjoyment of generations to come. The rest of the Island followed suit, creating a resort community like no other.

Hilton Head rentals includes both oceanfront and plantation views and range from bungalows to apartments. The one that I took a fancy to was a 2-bedroom apartment-style home overlooking the ocean for a rather fancy price of USD800 to USD1,600 a week. Yes, they don’t come cheap but at least one can take comfort that the apartments are fully furnished and well, it’s luxury living.

Yes, I can always dream, can’t I?

What do you write when you know absolutely nothing about alcohol rehab or drug rehab centers? Sure, the place looks great, exactly like a spa and relaxation centre that anyone of us would go to if we had the cash. The horseback riding, hiking, surfing, yoga classes, massage and even acupuncture…they all sound tempting.

If you want to be an alcoholic and fly over to this great alcohol rehab place…

Y’know, despite my babbling about how difficult it was to tackle this assignment, I still managed it – ranting all the way throughout. *sigh*

I think I’ll go get a drink now…

Over the years, I have encountered less sterling ones – there was this one peppered with very obvious grammatical and spelling errors written by an English graduate; another blunt and rather arrogant sounding “I am good at this job so I want it” one written by a sound engineering graduate; and there was also the one where the writer just goes on and on about their life and beyond.

It was later that I discovered that many people just don’t know how to write cover letters or sell themselves modestly via the written word. I remember my first cover letter – it was too modest and well, Dad thought it was a factory-type letter; y’know, the one that is generic and written the same way by thousands of other graduates.

What about you? Do you remember your first cover letter?

Honestly, I don’t really know much about corporate performance management except that it helps organize and arrange business processes. The exact term – courtesy of Wikipedia – could be this:

It is a framework for organizing, automating and analyzing business methodologies, metrics, processes and systems that drive business performance.

Personally, I hope companies don’t forget that the first thing that drives a business are its employees. I have seen managers get all worked up over the numbers and percentages yet completely forget about the motivation and drive of their employees and team mates.

Maybe it’s because I’m not manager material…that’s why I can’t seem to understand the theories behind CPM. O’well…

* Please don’t mistake Corporate Performance Management (CPM) for Cost per Thousand.

Magnifying glasses have come a long way since my grandfather’s death. They have them on watches and in all sorts of sizes and shapes. If he was alive, my grandfather would have been the most stylish old gent around…at least in my eyes.

Truth be told, I don’t really know him that well. He passed away when I was around ten and before then, I didn’t speak much Hokkien (a Chinese dialect) so we weren’t exactly conversation buddies. I did remember my dad talking of his carefree personality and how he loved all his grandchildren, especially my brother and myself. We were the only ones in the family that carried names he personally gave…my other cousin’s names were bestowed by my grandmother.

I like to think that he was a gentle-hearted man who gave his children little material things but many important qualities like diligence, hard-work and appreciation for life itself. It was a pity that he died bedridden, after suffering from two strokes…but come to think of it, God must have loved him well enough.

Sometimes I think despite the fact that he used glasses to read, he could see clearer than any one of us. I wish I got to know him way better than I did.

Maybe in the future…

Even though the distance was near, the trouble was that most of our items were located in Lyon…about 100 kilometres away. This included our cupboard, bedframe, mattress, dining table and chairs plus a refrigerator and a whole big boatload of stuff. We couldn’t get hold of a professional moving company – well, honestly, we couldn’t afford one with all the cost in transporting things between countries…

BUT if we had the money, I’d have definitely hired one. For starters, we didn’t really know what we were doing – we just packed stuff in and shoved them into three HUGE cars, courtesy of my mother- and father-in-law. We certainly didn’t make a checklist, and our change of address was only done like one day before the actual move!!!!!!!!! I certainly couldn’t help with the move because I was pregnant which added to the tension.

After the whole thing was over, things were crazy – because we didn’t label the boxes, we didn’t know what we chuck in some and Nil spent a day looking for some photos that he was supposed to send back to his grandmother. I hate to say it but we were really out of our league with this move…

We should have done more, like check out professional moving companies for tips or even a checklist. If there is a ever a next time, you can bet that I’ll be on those sites ASAP!