I needed to buy 4 AAA batteries. There is a 7-11 store just across the street, but I try to avoid it if I have a choice as it is expensive. Operating 24/7 has a cost.
But it was 8:45 pm, and I didn't really want to go out for too long, so I paid it a visit. 6 AAA batteries cost $7.95. That sounded really expensive!
Suddenly, it was not that late after all. I decided to walk to the town center.
10 minutes and some sweat later, I bought 4 AAA batteries (a different brand) for around $2 from Value$ store.
This is obviously not a apples-to-apples comparison. The reason why Value$ is cheap is because it imports stuff from neighbouring third-world countries.
A few days later, I needed to buy some AA batteries. I saw 6 AA batteries going for $3.95 at a neighbourhood shop. Will Value$ be cheaper? Yes, it is — 6 batteries (a lesser known brand) for $2.05.
I may be willing to pay $0.50 more for brand name, but over $1.50? No way.
Long story short: I'm making a short-term decision with long term implication. Why do neighbourhood retail shops disappear? Because they can't compete on the costs. And who drives them out of business? Consumers like us, who only optimize for the present.
That's globalization for the poor folks.
I was walking past a row of cars to my father's car. He had brought my brother and I to a park during a public holiday. We had separated, which was typical, as I like to walk at my own pace.
I recalled to an earlier scene. My father was wondering where to put the parking coupon or not. The chance of being caught was low, but the penalty was high.
The fine was $20 for parking without a parking coupon and $40 for illegal parking. And, it was double for public holidays. My father parked his car illegally, of course. Many people drove out because it was a public holiday.
I saw a white slip of paper on some cars. I knew the parking attendent had been there. Would my father's car be fined too?
It came into view. Yes, it had a white slip of paper on the wiper too.
Just then, my father and brother reached the car too. My father was upset, because he was now $80 poorer. I told him he could appeal.
I find this dream interesting because of the parking fine structure. In real life, the fine is $30 for parking without a coupon and $70 for illegal roadside parking — at all times.
Also, in the dream, it seems you can park "illegally" as long as you put a parking coupon!
It looks like my dream is more lenient than reality!
It is a general advice to pack the "hospital bag" by week 36. There is a number of things to prepare, but if the hospital provides some of stuff, it is possible to shorten the list.
For the mother:
I remembered the KK Hotel even provided disposable underwear.
The breast pump is good to bring even though you intend to breast feed directly. Sometimes, it is just not convenient.
For the baby:
I believe diapers are provided by the nursery.
For the father:
When in doubt, bring more. :lol:
It may be good practice to bring the hospital bag during routine checkups. There might be an emergency operation.
Missus and I puzzled over the name.
A name is like an identifier; all it needs to do is to identify the individual. However, it can also be significant: it can indicate the parents' hopes and aspirations for the child.
Not being very good at this at all, I asked my father for help.
He came up with a word that means vast and another word that means excel. Somehow, I knew it. Just look at my name. :lol:
(Unfortunately for me, I didn't know what my name meant until I grew up.)
I didn't like it. It would be a heavy burden on the child. Missus was impartial to it. However, she wanted to make sure the number of strokes was auspicious. I don't believe in this stuff, but she does. It was not.
We asked my father to give some variation, cos, you know, for the second child. We want to make sure there is some continuity. (For the same gender, it is common for the second word to be the same.)
As he liked the name very much, he said he had no more ideas. The weasel. :-D
Much later, I thought of asking my mother for help. She said she would come up with a list of names for us to choose! Ok, that's great.
Finally, she handed us the list of names. She came up with over ten names, with two main series (same 2nd char) and a few standalone ones.
They seemed to be fairly common names. One of the series was "handsome". That seemed a little conceited. I chuckled at my mother's choices. So that's what she's expecting of the baby. :lol:
Missus threw the list away.
Finally, Missus managed to come up with a name. It was a slight variation of my father's choice.
As for me, when I had time, I flipped through my beginner's level Chinese dictionary and randomly picked characters. The key thing is to make sure it sounds right and that the combined words also sound right.
In the end, I managed to pick the same character (actually, the same prounciation) as Missus, although my criteria was different from her. Ok, that's decided. :lol:
For the 3rd char, Missus wanted to use a "double luck" character. I thought it was quite appropriate given the baby's poor start. Plus, we like to split the char into two and use it as his nickname. :-D
And you wonder why some people have psychological problems...
Wash, sterilize, wipe, change diaper, wear clothes, wrap, feed, pat. Repeat every 2-3 hours.
I can see why some people choose not to have it. :lol:
