El Cheapos go to the spa

June and I are taking up el cheapo spa treatments as they are offered to us through credit card promotions. Spas entice first-time tryouts with low trial prices, then hit us with a package deal after the initial treatment is over. But we've been good so far, holding our ground and refusing to sign anything, no matter how competitive the pricing sounds like.

Perhaps for me, the novelty has worn off some. I could not get my mind to relax at today's treatment. Usually, a good rub-down sends me off to zzz-land but all I could think about was work. I don't mean I am being unusually stressed out by my job and I have things in particular to fret over; I mean I was thinking about how to respond to some very good questions a couple of my kids have posed me about the nature of the Law in society. It was a juicy bone my inner bulldog would not let go of.

So the masseuse was having a hard time getting me kneaded down into the compliant jelly that I like to become by the end of a good session. Nevertheless, I think she did a great job on my shoulders, neck and back; and she did find a nasty sore spot in my left calf -- probably the result of standing for too many hours favouring one leg over the other. Hazard of my profession, I suppose.

Final score: top marks to the massuese for treating individual body parts, but sadly, not so high on my overall sense of well-being. It may not have been her fault, but my mind was just too busy to enjoy all the good things she was doing to me.

We continue not signing spa packages...

Back in familiar territory

M2's home from the shop at last! I never got used to driving the Altis, but now I'm back in familiar old territory again. M2's acceleration is a bit more gradual and he doesn't brake as abruptly. The one thing I'll miss about the Altis, though, is the air-conditioning -- chills the interior in seconds whereas M2's is little more than just ventilation on hot days.

Jack, my contact at the 'shop had some words of wisdom for me: "Sometimes you hit people, sometimes people hit you. Driving's like that." Gee, thanks.

Vanity, all is vanity

Well, this was inevitable. A shot of the "new" Altis taken by the new Samsung camera/cell-phone. Yes, pix is a bit blurry. Still working out some of the kinks.

Replacement Altis

M2's gone to the shop. Meantime, I've picked up a rental Altis provided by the shop. It feels odd to drive a strange car that's a little longer and lower that the one I'm used to. It has a rather mechanical feel to it, like it's operating on pure muscle power -- say, that of 50,000 rabid hamsters running under the hood. The brakes are so responsive, I'm pretty sure it's been especially tuned to accommodate twitchy drivers, whose nerves are slowly recovering from a recent vehicle collision.

That's good, 'cos by the time I get M2 back on Friday, the tic behind my left eye should have completely gone.

Conspicuous consumption

Old cell phone on the fritz -- after just over a year. Not receiving sound, though I believe whomever I'm talking to can hear my frustrated "hello, hello..."

Went with emotion instead of good sense and sprung for a Samsung SGH-F480. Doh, and I wonder why I'm always broke.

Happy bumpday!

Siiiigggghhh...! My poor, longsuffering M2 picked up a new ding in yet another traffic light incident. I swear, traffic lights cause as many road mishaps as they are supposed to prevent.

I am already stationary, waiting for the lights to turn green. They turn green and I wait for the car in front of me to move, but the guy behind me doesn't. His blue Jazz shoves its nose right up M2's butt causing a dent and a scratch on my rear door. He loses his licence plate, mine is still intact, though slightly bent.

At this point, I'm pretty philosophical. No one's hurt and our damage looks merely cosmetic. So we calmly trade personal particulars and will let IDAC and our respective insurances settle for us in the morning.

Meantime, I've got my folks and Aunt Shirls in the back seat. We're celebrating Mom's 70th with a grand seafood buffet at Aquamarine, Marina Mandarin. The bump at the lights did not spoil anybody's mood or appetite. With the USA half-shell oysters on offer, so fresh and so delicious ("tasting of the sea", June says), they proved more than a balm to soothe ruffled feathers, if there were any. And that was just the starter.

Aquamarine was also a good choice 'cos they gave us privileged seating, and a complementary chocolate truffle birthday cake (as in the pix above) and parking because of the special occasion. And 10% off for UOB cardholders.

Happy 70th, Mom!