Of all that is seen and unseen....

It has been two months now since I moved house. Almost settled in, there are still some things here and there that need to be done.

There has been no daily routine, except that I have been getting up at five in the morning. At six, I start to walk to the bus stop, which takes me ten minutes. Three bus stops away, I can take the direct bus to church avoiding having to change buses. I find myself in church by six thirty, which is earlier than when I was staying nearby the church. Occasionally, someone will give me a ride in their car.

Lately, I feel my life passing me by. Some old magician friends took me and the wife out for dinner one Sunday. Meeting some other old friends, we had a good time reminiscing over the past and singing some of the oldies.

Last Saturday, I attended a wedding in church. The groom was a nephew of a dear departed colleague in the air force. His father has been keeping in touch with me, knowing how close I had been with his brother, Lawrence.

Lawrence was with me in No. 1 Squadron, and we spent many flying hours together and enjoying each other's company for many years. When Lawrence got married, I was in his guard of honour, and helped him set up the reception at the Officers Mess.

After our service days, Lawrence migrated to Australia. I had lost contact with him until one day, I had a surprise call from Lawrence here in Singapore. We met up for lunch and thereafter we had lunch whenever he came to Singapore. I found out that his wife had passed away due to illness. I noticed that Lawrence was losing weight and did not look good. He brushed it away by saying that his liver was not functioning well.

I did not hear from Lawrence again until one morning, I was serving the altar at the morning Mass in church, when the priest read out the Mass Intentions. Lawrence had passed away in Australia. His brother had requested the Mass for Lawrence. I was shocked and felt a deep sense of loss for an old friend. Last Saturday, I met Lawrence only son. He has his own family now. When I saw him, I thought of his parents, who were such good and close friends of mine and how we were so young and happy many years ago.

I just had a call from my old magician friend, inviting me to the SAM guest night tonight. I shall attend to see how the new young members are doing. Most of the older members have gone and being a founder/charter member myself, it will be interesting to see SAM is doing these days.

Ah to be young again!

Till then....

Life goes on....

For the past few weeks, I was bothered by 'bees in my bonnet'. Those bees were those adapters, (transformers), I have for my musical movements and boxes. Numbering about a dozen, I had packed them carefully inside a box. I started to search for them, for I needed them to run my musical boxes. Frantic, I even opened some of the big boxes under the staircase. Frustrated, I walked around and stood in front of the storeroom. Looking up, I saw all the adapters neatly arranged on the shelf! What a jackass, I had forgotten that I had much earlier unpacked them and laid them neatly on the shelf.

I have been plagued by my poor memory lately. Only this morning, I remember going to Cold Storage but had forgotten what I wanted to buy there. After browsing for a while, did I jog my memory that I wanted to buy garlic bread.

Looking for something or other, I rummage through, and after finding it, I took it out. After I have tidied up the place, I had forgotten where I put the darn thing again.

On several occasions, I started out to a certain location only to forget why I went there in the first place.

Lately I have a lot on my mind trying to settle in the new place, and trying to deal with some personal problems. I am very weary and tired and hope things will eventually work out.

Anyway the new place is coming along nicely. I managed to tidy up and put up some of my things. Last week, the home theatre system was set up and is now running. Cost me a bomb for it. Bought some DVD movies and saw King Arthur. I actually sat through it without falling asleep.

The new sofa and living room furniture are very comfortable. So comfortable that when I tried to watch a television show, I fell asleep. During the evening, it is nice to sit down to listen to music, or read. Reason for the comfort, it is reclining.

I am looking forward to set up my grotto in the living room. The area is ready, except that the painters will be coming to give the place a final coating of paint. So I wait a while longer for them. Unfortunately, I still have things unpacked but have problems finding a place to put them. This is a problem because some of the things will be required on a day to day basis. In time to come, I will forget which box I left them in.

Till then....

I have done it!

Selamat Hari Raya Adil Fitri. It has been a quiet holiday for me being left alone at home. So after reading the newspapers, I set out to tidy the living room, which has been inundated with boxes and heaps of stuff all over the place.

The problem is, I have too many things and insufficient places to put them. Despite of giving away so many things and throwing away and selling some, I still end up with so many boxes and things too good to throw away. Looking at some of the boxes, I felt so helpless and frustrated that I quickly closed them and pushed them aside. As a result, I have lost track of somethings that I need.

What I have done today has been to tidy up the boxes, and arranged everything neatly under the staircase. To be more precise, hid them under the staircase. They still look untidy. So I sat in front of them, and started to think. I have decided to get the decorator to construct two white panels matching the wall, to act as a screen to hide all the stuff under the staircase. When I need to access the boxes, I merely pull out the panel screen. Next thing I have to do is to set up my grotto by the side of the staircase.

I had originally planned on tidying the place by 1 October, so that the movers will come on 2 October to collect all the empty boxes and refund me the money. This has now worked out and tomorrow, I hope the movers will show up. It is such a relief to see the place finally taking shape.

Tomorrow, someone is also coming to set up my home theatre. So another busy day. I have been having people coming and going, trying to finish up the renovations, that I had problems going out and having my haircut. Yesterday I managed to do that. At the same time, I have been on the lookout for UPS to deliver a parcel to me, which incidentally arrived a while ago. I have a problem communicating with the workmen because they all speak Mandarin, some being from China.

It has been one month now since I moved house. I am more settled now and getting to church earlier than when I was staying close to the church. Since I stepped down from my church duties, someone has been harassing me to resume my duties. This person is someone whom I dislike and used the excuse to step down, I will continue to turn up early and ignore him to frustrate him. He is really thick!

Till then....