then & now again.

 

then......

 

 

now.......

 

and because the boy didn't go this time, he's missing out.....& tries to communicate.....

a rite of passage of sorts for the family........

T - 1 day

yeah, i'm all mushy about my little girl today......

then and now

this was 2010.....(on vacation)

this is now.....(& it's no holiday this time).....

after the initial application, followed by an interview & offer & acceptance, application for certificate of good conduct & student visa......

this is it.....

she's off to varsity.....!

a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!

it's been 12 years.....and the year of the horse is upon us again.

my boy will be 12 this year, & i foresee he'll be as tall as i am very soon. just see how we match....his right hand against my left, palm to palm.

 

this quote is from Shakespeare's Richard III. in the battle, King Richard III 's horse, Surrey, is killed. unable to flee and unable to gather more troops, he falls to the Earl Of Richmond who slays him, to become King.  he died and his kingdom went to the conquerer because his horse was killed and he could not flee.  it is a manner of summing up the frustration every human feels when he or she lacks the service of something once taken for granted.

 

my son & my late father were both born in the year of the horse, 72 years apart. one living at home, the other in our hearts. indeed, by grace, in my family, we lack nothing.

credit card scam?

you know how it is when the bank wants to offer you a credit card.

they will call you (how did they get your mobile number when you don't have an account with them????) or more likely, hound you at the shopping malls or at the exit of IT/computer/furniture/travel fairs. often, they will entice you with free umbrellas, flashdrives, toys, shoe bags, etc. that it can be difficult to turn down.

but what happens when you want to cancel the card after finding out a competitor is offering a better deal?

you go to the bank to cancel it, right?

i was waiting at the bank today when i saw this guy try to do just that. he waited for about 10-15mins for the customer service exec to return from lunch. she's alone because the others must have taken off for Lunar New Year. she gave him a form to fill while she disappeared into the main office, the locked room you can't access without a keycard.

and made him wait for at least another 15mins, because he was still waiting when i left.

is this a one-off incident or do banks treat their want-away customers this way?

i don't know. i usually call customer service (the number given at the back of the card) when i want to cancel. every time without fail, they will offer to waive the annual fees AND give me the govt service tax rebate of rm50 after using the card for a specified number of times, usually 3 times within a month.

and every time, almost without fail, i will change my mind & retain the card.

after all, i think i have nothing to lose.

or, have i been scammed as well????