OUR PETS - PARAKEETS & FINCH

Now we have 3 birds in the house.

Parakeets - Named " Putera" & "Puteri"

Finch - Named " Whatever"

Side view of "Whatever"

New place for our pets

The Finch was a lovely and talkative bird when we bought it from an estate sale on 9/20/2008. We were then on our normal Garage Sale on Saturday. We wanted to find a bigger cage to house our 2 parakeets bought on 09/06/2008.

When it was about time for us to end our hopping around and went for lunch, an estate sale along the road caught my eyes. There were 2 bird cages placed outside the yard of a house near the traffic light. Don pulled the car to the side and I jumped straight to the house and asked the owner how much could I have the cage. He replied that the bird went with the cage. At my first glance, I thought I liked the cage but did not like the bird; next, I was not sure if I were able to keep another bird. So I left with disappointment.

While in the car, I kept thinking about the bird and the cage. Suddenly, there was an urge that I wanted to have the cage & the bird; I was figuring that I could exchange the finch's cage and & trade with that of Parakeets. Having such thought, I asked Don to reverse the car back to that house. When I returned there, the owner had left for lunch. I requested the other guy to reach his cell phone , which he did. without any further negotiation, he accepted my offered price !!

Now, since it was not a good idea to have our lunch and leave the bird in the car under the hot sun. oh yes, it was a super hot day! We went home right away.

In the car, we were discusiing what name to be given to this finch. It was friendly and making a lot of noise in the car. Being unable to give it a proper name so we simply named it " Whatever" !!! And this is in fact a nice name for the pet ! ha ha ha.

After our lunch, I cleaned the cage and transferred the parakeets to this bigger cage that belongs to "Whatever". It looked good since "whatever" is such a tiny bird ! But, ever since moving to the small cage, "Whatever" stopped singing. It was flying around and looking for an escape! "Whatever" was not happy in the small cage. He was crying instead of singing.......... :(:(:(:( This went on for nearly a week till he felt safe with us again. This happened the same to the parakeets. they were both unhappy and frightened in the new cage. I regretted for making such a quick change. I should have waited till such time that they are familiar with us.

Anyway, I am glad that they are friendly and happy again. Every morning I carry the cages to the patio while I do my exercise. They will sing and echo to other birds chirping in the woods. Watching them is such a fun!!!! They make me happy too!

Expert says>>>>>>>>> Keeping pet is good for seniors ....... So here I am .. ha ha ha ha....

DON'T WAIT TILL IT'S TOO LATE

I receive ArcaMax's newsletter everyday. Below is a letter from one reader to ABBY that I like to keep as Reminder ....Thing can happen any time when you are least aware ; we can be caught in a situation where we are totally unprepared. I do not want to be in a situation where I have to say something like this ......." I hope I can turn back the clock and let me do what I should do which I didn't or to undo what I have done with quilt "

I always remember my father's last word to my mother before he died in 1964, He told my mother to take care and love me more as he felt he did not love me as much as my other 2 sisters during his life time. (I knew the reason why .. because, I was very naughty in my teen and less smart than my 2 sisters! ). That last word changed my life. I became the queen of the house but that also turned me into a better person that deserved my mother extra care and love .

Here is the letter from the reader:

DEAR ABBY: I recently lost my wife to a long illness. When she could no longer work, I tried to give her the best quality of life I could. It took a toll. I worked long hours to give her everything she needed. The medical bills were astronomical. All she ever wanted was me. I was always the macho type, and "I love you" was always hard for me to say. (I'm a real tough guy.)

Well, this tough guy would give anything for one more chance to say it. She died so suddenly, it was like it wasn't real. For the first couple of weeks I threw myself into work and thought I could handle it. When the death certificate arrived in the mail, that's when I fell apart. I feel guilty because I was gone so much. I miss her terribly. Sometimes the loneliness is so bad it feels like someone is standing on my chest.

Abby, I would like to remind all the other macho guys out there that TIME is something you only get so much of. It is precious, but unfortunately, limited. I realized, too late, that it's not enough that my wife "knew" I loved her. I should have told her more often. I know now that "I wish I would have," "I know I should have," and "If I had just one more chance" are the worst things in the world to hear yourself say when it is already too late.

PLEASE tell your spouse you love her or him. You never know if the last time you say it might be the last time you get the chance. -- -- ( from ) TOO LATE IN TENNESSEE

REPLY FROM ABBY :

DEAR TOO LATE: Please accept my deepest sympathy for the death of your wife. Your letter makes clear the depth of the loss you are feeling. Although true lovers never get enough of each other, I am sure she understood the strain you were under and that you loved her. Readers, this gentleman's letter carries with it an important message.

"I love you" is the sweetest music a person can hear. Bouquets of flowers smell the sweetest when they are in the hands of the recipient, not stacked by her (or his) casket. And praise is most appreciated when it can be heard by the person who has earned it, not when it's recited in a eulogy after he or she has passed. So speak up now, before it truly is too late.

HELP !!!!

BYL is asking how much she can get in surviver benefits if she murders me !!!! OH MY GOSH !!! I cannot close my eyes or I might not wake up !!!!


H E L PPPPPPPP !!!!! Ha ! Ha! Ha!!!!!

WHAT A FEELING

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!

AH DON

FOR THE FEELING

& THE APPRECIATION

LOVE BYL

My Birthday

BYL has left out a few things about my B. D. that I thought I might mention.

The gifts I got were the phone, an 8gb Memory Stick for the phone, a couple of shirts, two pair of shorts and hair conditioner!!! These are all things I bought for myself a few days before my B. D. !!!

This is how BYL buys me gifts. Anything I buy prior to a special day she takes, hands it to me and says Happy ______. This is GREAT!! It means I get exactly what I want. I tease her about this but it does not bother me. I tease her that I have to buy my own gifts but then she reminds me of the golden rule: What is mine (Ah Don's) is hers and what is hers is hers!!! So, by this rule, whatever gifts I get she is buying and whatever gifts I buy for her she is buying !!! HA HA HA HA HA!!! Only a woman can take what seems obvious and turn it around to their advantage !!! HA HA!!!

On my B. D., I took BYL to the SGI Women's Meeting, then took her shopping for 3 hours, then had a nice late lunch early dinner, then took her home so she could rest, then I went grocery shopping and also bought my B. D. cake. Hmmm ... seems like these were mainly things for BYL !! ?? !! ?? Ha Ha Ha!

I kid about the things above but they do not bother me. There is a simple reason. Every day BYL gives me her kindness, caring and love !!! These are more precious than any other gift she could give me. I love BYL with my whole heart and am the luckiest man alive to have her love.

Thank you Beautiful Young Lady

AH DON'S BIRTHDAY

It was Ah Don's Birthday yesterday. He is 59Y +1 D today !

In this life, he will never have any chance to catch up with my age ! I am ahead of him in this race ! :):):)

It' really hard to think about what to buy for him for the birthday. So, whatever he bought for his personal use before his birthday, I claimed that as his Present from me. For this year, he has a new red Sony Ericsson W580i! cell phone..........And guess who paid for it ???? Ha ha ha....

In the morning, He sent me for the SGI Women meeting. He used to sit around for the meeting , So . I thought I could get the members to sing the Birthday Song for him but he left the meeting earlier as he could hardly hear the talk while the kids around were noisy.

After the meeting, we went for our lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse. We ordered the Lobster & Shrimp Dip and Baby Back Ribs. For the joy of it, I ordered Cider Margarita. The foods were nice and the margarita was good. But, as soon as we walked out the restaurant, I became very tipsy. I thought it was nothing unusual but Ah Don insisted that I should take a rest and sent me home right away. Truly, I was flat right away on the couch!! And he went shopping for our weekly groceries alone. Poor Birthday Boy.

In the evening, there was a small cheese cake to mark his birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AH DON

WHAT A DAY ?

Can't imagine this could happen !!

When I woke up this morning, everything looked fine to me until when I about to go to the patio then only I realized that the back door was close but not locked !!! When I looked out, the door to the garage remained open too! It was left open since yesterday afternoon when I worked on something in the garage!

Thank god. Nothing happened!

Next, as usual, I like to place my shoes under the hot sun on Sunday. When there was a sudden downpour in the afternoon, all my shoes got wet!!

This is certainly not a good day when Ah Don is not around ! :(:(:( Because, he is the last one to close the door and will help me put away the shoes if he sees the rain coming !

Nevertheless, I did have a good evening to watch the whole show of "Coco Chanel". I was unable to find the Lifetime channel for this movie last night. By the time I found it, it was almost towards the end of the movie. Luckily, there was a replay at 7 pm this evening . I liked this show. I enjoyed her character and admire her creativeness, innovation and persevere attitude.

PRAYER

I was watching a lifetime movie up to 12 Midnight last night. Thought I could wake up late this morning. But, an unknown call woke me up at 8 o'clock!

Ah Don left for Misshawaka, Indiana yesterday morning to visit his eldest sister. She has been discharged from the hospital to rest at the nunnery home; It is sad to hear that her condition is not encouraging.

On the other hand, my eldest sister has to go for her second operation yesterday due to some complication after the first operation. My daughter called me this morning to update.her condition. It's a relief to hear that her operation went fine.

This is why any calls that ring anytime is overwhelming to me.

As I am unable to visit either one of them, all I can do is to keep chanting to my Gohonzon and send them abundant daimuku to get well as soon as possible.

NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO

"A STRONG PRAYER TO THE GOHONZON IS CERTAIN TO BE REALIZED!"

THERE ARE THREE CONDITIONS,HOWEVER:

NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO,

NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO AND MORE NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO

****************************************************

MY LIFE MY PHOTOS

I like to collect my photos. They are good to trace back my look in the past . From them I see how I matured "progressively" over years. They also enable me to visualize my look in another 5 years or 10 years . I don;t want to assume my look over the age of 75 because I really don't want to to live that long !

It is funny but true. I always have this idea - if the time is up for me, I like to die peacefully and beautifully. That's why I like to leave more pictures for my love one to have memory of me when I am gone.

Hey, please do not think that I want to end my life with the above thinking. It is merely something in my mind if I have the choice to choose how & when to die beautifully !!!!.

But why did I have the thinking ?

Well. let me tell you honestly,! I am very scare to suffer from pain due to sickness more so if I am unable to look after myself and need to be served!

I always admire those people who have the strong will and spirit to fight against their sickness or overcome their disability to become strong again.

Since I don;t have this kind of fighting spirit , the only choice for me to prevent the suffering. Hence, I choose to keep my health manageable by doing exercise and going for natural healing and remedy.

My goodness! Why did I bring up this topic???? I thought, I just want to keep some Pics in my blog ....


Anyway, this is just a "Play Play " only ! haha ha ha....

FINALLY WE HAVE THE PETS!!!

This afternoon, after our lunch at one of the Chinese & Japanese restaurants, we thought of getting some household items from the nearby store. It ended up we went into Petsland to look at pets on sale. I have always wanted to keep some birds eversince we are not allowed to have cat. For this reason, we bought a nice cage sometime ago just waiting for the right bird to house in !

There were several lovely puppies selling at 50% off the normal price just for today; but they are not for me even though I love to have them. I love all animals. There were some lovely and talkative parrots that could be touch and hold. Their prices were ranging from $1,299.00 to $2,499.00.!!!!

On the other side of these expensive birds, there were these cute little "parakeets" in green, yellow , blue and grey colors. Some 30 Nos of them were playing and hopping about. I was very attracted by them. I stood and looked at them for a long time . Then, I noticed 2 grey and blue birds were very loving to each other. I wanted to have them !!! So, we bought the couple home !!

I named then " Putera" and Puteri" . In Malay, it means, "Prince" and "Princess"

I took their first Picture.......... I hope we can train them to talk in future ..... meanwhile, I have to learn how to take care of them. From what I read from the Internet, it said we must treat them like a 3 years old toddler !!! I bet, for sure they are ! They are my babies !!

LISTEN TO MY BODY & UNWELCOMING AUGUST

It was just one of those days that I could have stressed myself with work or have strained my eyes too much on the pc that I felt so sleepy and tired last night. I went to bed before 10 o'clock!. It had been a long long time that I did not go to bed this early!

Guess my body is sending this alarming reminder that I do need more rest!!

**************************************************************

The month of August 2008 wasn't a good month in my record.

First of all, we were threatened by the news that Tropical Storm Fay would hit here on the 19th and that Sarasota was under " Hurricane Watch" Thanks God, Fay did not make a landfall here so nothing happened ! But, it's a good for us to learn something about how to handle the situation if it happens.

Secondly, with the recent change of the Phone Provider to our office's phone system, we encountered various complications and interruptions after the installation. The communication system was down for several times in a week. Ah Don has to provide temporary connection or transfer the machines to ensure the main line was available for the communication. I would say this is the worse phone company I came across. Their management team is so inadequate and irresponsible. They did not make an effort to provide us with solution. Since we are providing IVR system for clinical study and involved randomizing of subjects throughout the world, we could not afford to lose the connection at any hour of the day and night. So Ah Don has to go back to the office during the weekends to check the servers and machine to ensure that they were working fine. As a result, I missed 2 weeks of outing to Garage sale!!!

Thirdly, I received a news from home that my eldest sister was undergoing a major operation in Sunway Medical Center in Malaysia. She has to be closely monitored by doctor in the ICU for few days. This was certainly not a good news. I was told that prior to this, she suffered severe pain to her body. She has gone down so much because she could not eat for 2 weeks. She was weak and could not walk up right. It hurt to hear that she has to go through this kind of suffering; the worse of it is nobody is able to relieve her pain except the pain killer. I am very sad about this !! But, it's exciting to hear that she is progressing and recovering faster than expected after the operation. My niece Yee Mei told me that her Christian friends all over the world are praying for her good health. I am sure the prayer is positively answered for her . I will make a trip home before end of this year or during the Chinese New Year to see her. Meanwhile, my niece and my daughter are updating me on her progress everyday.

Coincidentally. we also got another bad news that Ah Don's eldest sister was admitted to ICU for intensive care due to her existing and unknown medical complication. It has been a while that I heard about her poor health that trouble her on and off over the last few years. She has been confined to wheelchair for sometime. I met her once in May 2008 when we joined the celebration of her 50th anniversary as nun in Indiana. She looked good and cheerful at that time. I pray and hope that she will get well soon so that Mom does not have to travel up and down visiting and worrying about her. Thanks to Sharon for the update on her progress of treatment. as well as keeping Mom accompanied for the hard time. Due to our work commitment, we are yet be able to visit her.

So, those were the bad and unwelcoming experience in August. However, there are something remarkable and significant for record here.

Of course... we are talking about the grand success of the Olympic Games hosted by China in Beijing . It was the best ceremony event that I have even seen on TV. I am proud that China was able to organise such a wonderful and remarkable event in this world event. China Boleh !

Another thing to note is the date of 08.08.08 - this is certainly the most wonderful & special day for people to mark and celebrate their special occasions. Thousands of Chinese couple tied their knots on this day.

Hmmm ... this makes me wonder which day would my daughter pick if she decided to tie the knot one day !

We are waiting , waiting ........