A needed rant

August 25, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I need to rant about my medical insurance saga. Briefly, I had to sign an Offer of Conditional Acceptance (OCA) before my insurance company would accept the ‘endorsement’ or an amendment to an existing insurance contract, which in my case was my decision to increase my Med Saver. A Med Saver is a deductible. OCA […]

Insurance saga

August 18, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I wrote about my shooting-through-the roof insurance premium in 2024. The saga sadly continues. In July, my insurance company sent out emails asking if I, its customer, wanted to save on insurance premiums. I said, yes. How? Deductibles, it said. The email, paraphrased, read as follows. ‘The higher the deductible the more you can save. […]

Taxes, aging, death…

August 11, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

Nothing is certain but death and taxes. Aging is also certain. If we don’t get hit by a bus or die instantly from a heart attack. Thanks to modern medicine, prolongation of life, the process of living longer is more certain than not. No so certain is the quality longer life offers. Aging is inevitable. […]

One-arming it

August 4, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

The first two days were the worst. Now, it’s WIP. At various times, my long term ailments have felt debilitating, but not quite like this. This is a different kind of debilitation. A kind of forced limitation that hit home almost immediately. I couldn’t do the everyday stuff. The non-thinking, just get on and do […]

Pickleball tumble

July 28, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I’ve felt dizzy, nauseas and sweaty, before. Singularly and all at once, at various times. But not quite like the way I felt at pickleball the Sunday before. I was all three plus blurry eyed, unable to focus and in agony. My wrist throbbed. Everything spun. Sweat ran down my face. And I was shaking. […]

Singers, bakers …

July 21, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I counted the number of people in attendance at the café cum event space that was hosting a musical performance titled, ‘One Hit Wonders.’ The venue was a happy surprise. Very Art Deco’ish with exposed brick walls, and hardwood beams holding up a very high ceiling. It looked like a lot of thought, time and […]

Nice HTTYD experience

July 14, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

Niece number 3 recommended the live-action movie of HTTYD. She gave it her personal thumbs-up, must-watch, sure to entertain, five-star rating. Hmm. I was sold on her enthusiasm but not so on the movie itself, at least not immediately. Only because I wasn’t familiar with the animated film series or the characters. She had reminisced […]

People and lies

July 7, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

‘A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth puts on its shoes.’ I like this proverb. It’s especially true in the world that we live in. Thanks to social media, all kinds of audio-visual information get instantaneously communicated across the globe. The apt saying was attributed to Mark Twain, although there is […]

What to believe …

June 30, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I was told by a long-time friend that Christmas carols weren’t allowed to be sung during the Obama administration. This was just one of the many nuggets of information that was pronounced with conviction during our conversation which included events that have happened and are happening in the world. Serious stuff like war, beliefs, and […]

First year anniversary

June 16, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

My mum’s ‘Thevasam’ or first year anniversary prayer was on 7 June, 2025 at the Maha Shivan Temple in Jalan Gasing. The appointed date or ‘tithi’ was based on the Hindu lunar calendar. Driving along Jalan Gasing and up to the temple that Saturday morning brought back a flurry of memories. My husband and I […]