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A Lovely Surprise, Part 2

28 Feb

I am really loving my new iPhone XR. Why didn’t I change earlier and subjected myself to such aggravation with the battery issue of the old phone?

The best feature so far for me is the Face ID and swiping upwards to unlock the phone without having to fuss keying in the password. And I don’t miss the Home button, something I once dreaded I couldn’t do without.

Oh… and I don’t have to carry a power bank anymore! No more worrying about the phone dying on me as it can last almost three days after a full charge with my usage pattern. Three days! So cool.

As for the size of the phone, hmm… I am still adjusting to get used to it because this is a like/don’t like issue.

I like it for the big screen size because it makes reading easier. But being bigger, it’s cumbersome to hold. And bigger means heavier, it is not comfortable to keep in the pocket of the pants. And if I wear my Uniqlo jeans, it sits in the most awkward position in the front pocket, poking me in all positions. So most times I put the phone in the handbag but this then adds weight to the handbag. Sigh…

Also being bigger, the phone is now a two-hand operation device. I find myself preferring to use both hands instead of having the keyboard moved to one side to type. Seriously, some adjustments to get used to with this giant.

But generally, there’s more positives––the interface, the battery lifespan and other cool stuff––to this upgrade and I have embraced them well enough. In time, I will forget my old once-reliable iPhone5S which is now retired to the bedside.

I must admit though, there are some nights I find myself holding it out of nostalgia and wonder in amazement how did I managed with this minuscule thing and its screen for the past five years?

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The Challenge Begins

26 Feb

Last Monday, we finally went back to gym after almost a month’s break. Thank goodness I did not feel sluggish after so long. The past month there were all these reasons to skip gym – valid reasons though – M2 leaving for Ireland, preparing for Chinese New Year, leaving town for the Reunion Dinner and all. But now, with all these out of the way, there’s no more reasons to miss gym anymore.

And last night we hit the gym again because last Friday, Saturday and Sunday was packed with dinner dates, making me guilty, so all the more not to skip.

The determination to want to lose that awful added weight made me rather pumped up. And like last week, I used one ten-pounder weight for some of my routines, a big jump from my usual two four-pounders.

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My serious ten-pounder

Although gym session is only once a week, I think I am off to a good start on the challenge especially with the solid program that my trainer has drawn up. Besides working out with her, there’s also golf to burn some calories too. I just need to stay more disciplined with the food intake, after all there’s a whole list of things I avoid due to Endometriosis, then I will do fine. I hope…

Today I am sore to the core and it will be worse by tomorrow. The challenge is on.

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Daily Bonus Mess Up

25 Feb

It was a usual morning must-do routine upon waking up yesterday. I would reach for my devices to launch Candy Crush Soda. The phone was picked up, the game launched and it showed ‘915 Days’ instead of ‘17 Days’!

Strange… Why is it showing this figure on the phone? Typically, not including the gold bar tally, all devices (the iPad Mini, iPhone XR and iPhone5S) are independent of each other for the Daily Bonus trek and rewards garnered.

Then I picked up the iPad to launch the app. There was no Daily Bonus showing! Oh no… It got messed up. Would it break the next day? I got worried even though there were many occasions I wanted to stop this silly addiction.

This morning, with a slight dread, I reached for the iPad first.

‘916 Days’ when I launched. Phew.

And the phone… ‘916 Days’ too! What a weird mess up.

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What to Name Your Caterpillar

22 Feb

The more I researched about caterpillars, the more fascinating it became. I thought about giving my caterpillar a name and would you believe it, there’s such a topic on the internet – What to name your caterpillar! It’s amazing what people talk about out there.

From websites like Reddit, Yahoo and Answers, there’s even a write up on ‘Caterpillar names: the finalists’ on MSNBC.

So what am I naming my caterpillar?

Munch Pot. That’s the name of my caterpillar but sadly, Munch Pot met its untimely demise. I could not find it at its usual spot on the branch yesterday evening when we got home! Noooooo…

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Some leaves are gone, so is Munch Pot!

It could have been discovered by the maid while she was watering the plants and squished it. So I checked with her and she said she didn’t even know Munch Pot existed. Or perhaps a bird came and swoop down on it? Now we will never know. So much for having it as a pet, a short-lived one.

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Killer Whales, Part 2

18 Feb
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The big and the mini vise clamps

A week before Chinese New Year, I bought a bigger vise clamp and put it to good use immediately over the weekend purchase. And in the midst of working on two whales back-to-back, I injured myself. But on the left foot! Huh? Where’s the connection here?

Let me explain…

The vise clamp worked beautifully and held the block well; I was able to shape the block without exerting any strength on the left hand which was good. But in the midst of the carving action, I got up too fast and caught the edge of the table so hard with my left foot. Ouch hardly describes the excruciating agony.

The shooting pain was right on the Lateral Malleolus, the bone bump and it bruised beautifully. What a sight to behold…

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Top (L): the day after, Top(R): after golf, a week later and Bottom: four days after the knock

 

 

 

Those cute whales are such killer whales I tell you. It was a good two and a half weeks before the bruise subsided. As for the pain, it is still there.

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Killer Whales

12 Feb

Actually, carving on Meranti wood is not good for me. While it may be satisfying to channel my energy into it and then feel the joy whenever a lovely piece is completed, the choice of the wood is the culprit that adds to my Wrist Tendonitis woes.

I was carving a lot of Meranti whales in December and they are much bigger pieces than the Gnomes and Citizens, which unfortunately have not increase in their population count. And being bigger pieces, it magnified the Wrist Tendonitis on the left hand because I have been gripping the wood block too tightly, looking back at the situation now. Sigh.

Although I have a vise clamp albeit a mini one, it cannot clamp the block for me to work on. And I have not been using my workbench enough to ease the situation. It is not the repetitive motion that’s causing the flare up because the repetition is on the right hand, the carving hand, and not the left hand – the non-working but gripping hand.

If I am not carving daily, the situation can be contained because with ample rest, nothing gets aggravated and it’s fine. The therapy sessions, which concluded, helped but I must not overdo things that can cause a recurrence. That something obviously being carving, of course. And I guess I overdid it in December. Oops.

Then in January as we were busy preparing for M2 to leave, carving took a backseat. But after M2 left, I was back to carving whales full swing AND playing golf before Chinese New Year, double whammy you could say. I felt a teeny weeny set back. Uh oh.

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The whales, cute as they may be, are really killer whales. And I’d better take care especially if I want to play more golf this year. Perhaps I should go back to balsa instead of Meranti or get a bigger vise clamp if setting up the workbench is too much? Something to seriously consider.

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900 Days

8 Feb

In the midst of celebrating and enjoying Chinese New Year, I was obsessing to achieve my milestone for Candy Crush Soda! The last four days, without fail I synced my iPad Mini to my iPhone5S, using the Personal Hotspot setting for connection to get the Daily Bonus. If this isn’t being obsessive, I don’t know what is.

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Today I hit Day 900! I am trying to convince myself once I hit the thousand mark, I will stop. I think.

I don’t know…

Yesterday our journey home took six hours, which was not too bad considering I was prepared for a ten-hour drive, unsure of the traffic condition before we started. After three hours on the road, there was a stretch that took longer than necessary but thankfully, the drive home was quite stress-free.

We packed lunch to eat in the car so we don’t have to stop and only did one stop for a toilet break.

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You see nothing but paddy fields in the first stretch of the journey

After a good night’s rest, we are back to work today, otherwise the holiday long break is too long and work will pile up come Monday. Better to clear some now and so that the weekend is more enjoyable with gastronomic gatherings with friends and family. And of course, continue on with the next pursuit for the 1000 Days milestone.

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Before the Reunion Dinner 2019

4 Feb

Last Thursday was our last day at work because Friday was a public holiday. And we left town only on Sunday morning, clocking the drive 15 minutes shy of six-hours. I would say this was not too bad despite a crawl along a stretch that lasted 20 minutes and we even had a quick half-hour lunch stop.

The horrid crawl

A flavorful Nasi Kerabu at the Agromall

And this morning, we actually managed to play a round of golf before the Reunion Dinner tonight.

For us, this year’s Reunion Dinner is simply just another dinner with the family. Both our girls are not here for the first time and it feels funny without them. This is something we both have to get used to. Who knows? Maybe M1 will be back for the next Dinner? But M2 certainly won’t for the next few years… Sniffle.

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New Found Freedom

21 Jan

Thank goodness for technology! It’s been a week that M2 has left but we don’t feel that she has left because we connect daily via WhatsApp with messages and video calls. So there’s hardly a moment to miss her despite the physical separation.

As we now have more time on our hands because there’s no tuition run to contend with and time to keep, both of us are doing things together that we enjoy, that is playing more golf. I played my first golf game of the year on Saturday and it was nice; pain-free and responsibility-free but a bit rusty on the approach shots and bunker saves. I’m not worried though, in time these two problems can be fixed with the new found freedom to play more often.

And today-being a public holiday-I am playing my second golf game instead of sleeping in! Gotta make up for all the missed opportunities last year.

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Where’s the Bluetooth Icon?

18 Jan

There are some things in life we take for granted. Like the Wifi symbol, it must show when there’s connectivity or the Bluetooth symbol to show that it’s turned on.

I didn’t realize the Bluetooth icon was dropped (from its usual top right place) by Apple when I updated to iOS12 last year. Maybe because I don’t use it often (syncing my Mi Band2 only once in a blue moon) and the phone automatically connects to my car whenever I get in without me having to fuss over it. So the disappearance went undetected.

It came as a mild annoyance in early January when I discovered that my Mi Band2 suddenly could not connect to my iPhone5S. How could this be? It could connect in December when we were in Penang. Anyway, I must have been having a bad day because I decided to give a one-star on Mi Fit’s Review on the AppStore, highlighting the inability to sync problem. But I didn’t pursue further after that and left it as is.

Two nights ago, the app had an update. And I thought, Aha! They must have read my review and decided to fix the bug. So I updated the Mi Fit app, thinking the syncing would be resolved.

But nothing happened. Hmm.

The Mi Band2 still could not sync and that was when I discovered that the Bluetooth icon went missing. Initially a sense of panic kicked in. Oh no! My phone has developed another illness. Already dying with the battery issue, now this?! I was aghast.

I had done the ‘Forget this Device’ step, rebooted the phone and yet, the Bluetooth icon couldn’t be seen nor can the phone detect the band. It was so frustrating, I even contemplated giving up my Mi Band2 if the problem persisted. The survival of my phone was more critical. Then I read up in forums and learnt that the Bluetooth icon was dropped. Eeesh.

Another last resort attempt…

I deleted the Mi Fit app but not before syncing all the data to the Health app and downloaded it again. Crossing my fingers, I signed in and voila! My Mi Band2 finally synced. Phew. What an unnecessary scare that was.

As for the missing Bluetooth icon, I’ve decided to manually manage its appearance, opening Control Center and swiping it ON or OFF now that I know the little icon won’t be sitting on the top right anymore.

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To have it ON or OFF, that is the question!

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