I previously put the contact details of the contractor who did the renovation for us. I thought about it and decided to remove as it might have been a breach of his privacy even though the intention was to give him some publicity. My apologies if he had any inconvenience as a result. No harm was intended on my part.
I feel so much like the lady from NTUC.......
Friday, October 26, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Renovation excitement
Last week was very exciting by our standards. We had contractors replace our kitchen cabinet and tear down the cabinets in our study. The work started on Monday and stopped temporarily on Wednesday. The contractors returned on Monday to finish the work. We were very satisfied with the work although it meant no cooking for a week and living with a lot of dust.
I took 3 days off work to provide support at home. It was 3 days of sending the children to school, going shopping for furniture and furnishings, buying food and keeping the children out of the way of the contractors.
This is what the kitchen cabinet looked like before.....notice the broken door below the sink, the small piece of tissue used to hold the door (next to the drawers) and the yellowing top. The cabinet is 10 years old.
The part with the sink was remodeled 4 years ago. The original sink was place on top of a wooden frame. Unfortunately the sink was not placed correctly, resulting in water seepage, wood rot and termites. That was a horrific incident. We had a contractor come in to replace the wooden frame with a cement one. We decided to preserve the cement base this time round to save some cost. The contractor was accommodating and did their best to save the base. They did a good job!
This is what the kitchen looked like after Day 1. Everything was cleared within 4 hours!!!
Similarly, the study room was transformed.......from this room with a lot of junk..................
................to one empty of junk.
Where did the stuff go? Check out the following pictures!!!
Mess..............................................................more mess....
............................................................. and even more mess.
BUT....the painful process was worth it! The bomb shelter a.k.a. the store room had a make over!
The kitchen is much easier on the eyes and a lot more functional than before. We now have a lot more storage space due to the design provided by the contractor. See the top row of the hanging cabinets. They used to flush with the bottom row and could not accommodate anything due to a strategically misplaced ceiling beam.
And the study is also more functional, thanks to Ikea. The books have a proper home, Vincent and Xavier have proper desks and we finally have a nice computer table!!!!!
All in all, a worthwhile week of suffering!! If anyone needs a responsible and reasonably priced contractor, please let me know.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Gym ethics or the lack of it
I have been going to the gym since April this year. The thrice weekly workouts are more regular now that my fitness and discipline has improved. I would try to run about 2km before my personal training session.
At the beginning it was more difficult to go three times a week due to work. When I was less fit, I would jump at any excuse to miss a session. As my fitness improved, I find that I have developed an addiction to the exercise. I almost feel uncomfortable if I have to skip a session.
The good thing about regular exercise is the result. I have dropped one dress size, lost a couple of kg and improved my cardiovascular strength. I actually enjoy the exercises now that I am able to do them better. And I secretly enjoy trying to meet the challenge of my trainer although I complain. Yes, I feel good that I can do 15 instead of 12 push ups. I am guilty of vanity.
The good thing about personal training is that you benefit a lot more than going to a class if your trainer is good. A trainer who understands your condition and knows how to push you can help you improve by leaps and bounds. Of course the competitive side of me also thrives on outdoing the lady next to me. I know, I am horrible in that sense. When I see someone struggling, I feel good. When I see someone doing better than myself, I push myself to put in that bit more effort to perfect the push up or row. I am still guilty of vanity.
My trainer would challenge me continuously and begin almost each new exercise by "I know you can do this". When he says that, I know I can do the exercise but it would take some effort. If he says "This is a bit complicated" or "This is harder", I know that I may not be able to do it for the full minute or number of counts he tells me the first time.
I have seen and heard of some trainers who would have their trainees do cardio exercises on the treadmill or other machines within the one hour of training. That's absolutely poor ethics because the trainee pays by the hour and such exercises do not require a trainer present. It's almost like a driving instructor asking your read your highway code book for 15 minutes before letting you go into the car for the rest of the hour of driving lesson. I'm lucky that my trainer not only doesn't do that, he makes sure I complete all the exercises he has lined up for me even if I take slightly more than an hour.
There are some things that one should not do when training in the gym but I have come across people who do:
1) Talk excessively when training. One lady I came across was chit chatting with her trainer throughout the entire hour of training. It was not only distracting but also very rude. She said, "I thought that I would be the only one here, but it's so crowded!" And there I was, 2 metres away. She started to grumble, "I pay you $80 an hour, don't idle!" to her trainer and then later, "You are like Saddam Hussein. That guy (referring to other trainers) is like Osama." Talk about irony.....
2) Not putting on deodorant before you work out, especially when you have body odour. There is the smell of sweat, and there is the smell of SWEAT.
3) Putting on too much perfume. Yes, perfume is not the same as deodorant. One day I almost chocked on the cloyingly sweet perfume of a lady training next to me. I was suffocating and had to pretend that I couldn't take it more than twice. When she left, I felt like I had walked to a meadow full of fresh dew.
4) Wiping the soles of your feet after a shower with the towels provided by the gym. Need I say more?
5) Putting your face towel on one machine while you are working out on another. Total inconsideration.
6) Not pulling the curtain to the changing stall aside after you are done. I have had to bend over to check for feet almost every time to avoid barging in on someone who is half naked. Yes, I am still respectfully shy.
7) Farting in the exercise area, especially after you have had onions for lunch.
8) Grunting extremely loudly. I cannot take it when someone grunts very loudly when they are trying very hard to push themselves with the weights. I've been guilty of squealing though, when it gets too hard, but only for a couple of times. After that I decided to politely just grimace with pain in the direction of my trainer.
I shall try to continue with my efforts to work out. It's not only for looking good but also for the health. Yes, still guilty of vanity.
At the beginning it was more difficult to go three times a week due to work. When I was less fit, I would jump at any excuse to miss a session. As my fitness improved, I find that I have developed an addiction to the exercise. I almost feel uncomfortable if I have to skip a session.
The good thing about regular exercise is the result. I have dropped one dress size, lost a couple of kg and improved my cardiovascular strength. I actually enjoy the exercises now that I am able to do them better. And I secretly enjoy trying to meet the challenge of my trainer although I complain. Yes, I feel good that I can do 15 instead of 12 push ups. I am guilty of vanity.
The good thing about personal training is that you benefit a lot more than going to a class if your trainer is good. A trainer who understands your condition and knows how to push you can help you improve by leaps and bounds. Of course the competitive side of me also thrives on outdoing the lady next to me. I know, I am horrible in that sense. When I see someone struggling, I feel good. When I see someone doing better than myself, I push myself to put in that bit more effort to perfect the push up or row. I am still guilty of vanity.
My trainer would challenge me continuously and begin almost each new exercise by "I know you can do this". When he says that, I know I can do the exercise but it would take some effort. If he says "This is a bit complicated" or "This is harder", I know that I may not be able to do it for the full minute or number of counts he tells me the first time.
I have seen and heard of some trainers who would have their trainees do cardio exercises on the treadmill or other machines within the one hour of training. That's absolutely poor ethics because the trainee pays by the hour and such exercises do not require a trainer present. It's almost like a driving instructor asking your read your highway code book for 15 minutes before letting you go into the car for the rest of the hour of driving lesson. I'm lucky that my trainer not only doesn't do that, he makes sure I complete all the exercises he has lined up for me even if I take slightly more than an hour.
There are some things that one should not do when training in the gym but I have come across people who do:
1) Talk excessively when training. One lady I came across was chit chatting with her trainer throughout the entire hour of training. It was not only distracting but also very rude. She said, "I thought that I would be the only one here, but it's so crowded!" And there I was, 2 metres away. She started to grumble, "I pay you $80 an hour, don't idle!" to her trainer and then later, "You are like Saddam Hussein. That guy (referring to other trainers) is like Osama." Talk about irony.....
2) Not putting on deodorant before you work out, especially when you have body odour. There is the smell of sweat, and there is the smell of SWEAT.
3) Putting on too much perfume. Yes, perfume is not the same as deodorant. One day I almost chocked on the cloyingly sweet perfume of a lady training next to me. I was suffocating and had to pretend that I couldn't take it more than twice. When she left, I felt like I had walked to a meadow full of fresh dew.
4) Wiping the soles of your feet after a shower with the towels provided by the gym. Need I say more?
5) Putting your face towel on one machine while you are working out on another. Total inconsideration.
6) Not pulling the curtain to the changing stall aside after you are done. I have had to bend over to check for feet almost every time to avoid barging in on someone who is half naked. Yes, I am still respectfully shy.
7) Farting in the exercise area, especially after you have had onions for lunch.
8) Grunting extremely loudly. I cannot take it when someone grunts very loudly when they are trying very hard to push themselves with the weights. I've been guilty of squealing though, when it gets too hard, but only for a couple of times. After that I decided to politely just grimace with pain in the direction of my trainer.
I shall try to continue with my efforts to work out. It's not only for looking good but also for the health. Yes, still guilty of vanity.
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