Christmas carol for this year

Someone had already come out with this recessionary carol:
You'd better watch out

You'd better not cry

You'd better keep cash

I'm telling you why:

Recession is coming to town.

It's hitting you once,

It's hitting you twice

It doesn't care if you've been careful and wise

Recession is coming to town

It's worthless if you've got shares

It's worthless if you've got bonds

It's safe when you've got cash in hand

So keep cash for goodness sake, HEY

You'd better watch out

You'd better not cry

You'd better keep cash

I'm telling you why:

Recession is coming to town!

Finance products are confusing

Finance products are so vague

The banks make you bear the cost of risk

So keep out for goodness sake, OH

You'd better watch out

You'd better not cry

You'd better keep cash

I'm telling you why:

Recession is coming to town.

Looks like us but I have this strange feeling he is not one of us

Family reunion at wedding of grand nephew

My eldest brother’s eldest son’s eldest son had his wedding reception last night, which we attended as a day trip. We did not attend their buffet last Friday.

Though my nephew is five years younger, his eldest is of same age as my son. A few years ago, his second son already had the honour of being the first of our grand nephews to get married. Then my eldest sister’s eldest daughter’s son got married and they are expecting a baby due in June, who will be our first great grand nephew or niece!

Because of our infrequent get-togethers, most of us do not know who is doing what and so on. Even the number of children and their names are not remembered. Cheng commented before that we should have a family tree compiled and last night, I gave my email address to three different families to gather information like names and dates of birth of members of their own families, to start the ball rolling. I have a niece married to a Kelantanese Malay and they have five adorable children - four boys and a girl - the last two (boy and girl) are twins! So, do you think I can be anti-Malay? My eldest brother used to be really good at 'ronggeng' during the days of BB Park! While myself used to play football with a group of Malays behind a sawmill on soft sawdust next to a smoking charcoal-making mound and drink from the tap when thirsty. We were lucky to have had a player from 'Sunrise Club' I think, to teach us some finer points which I used to surprise some classmates in school because of my nerdy personality. I still remember a few Malays known as 'din' for Baharuddin, Kamaruddin and so on.

Age is catching up. I thought I would have no problem driving after the dinner at Flower Drum in Jalan Bukit Bintang, which started really late, (9.00pm!), because of the traffic jams all over KL and PJ. Anyway, they managed to squeeze in an impromptu tea ceremony to get to know the elders like myself. One of the unexpected entertainment was the lady mc singing the well known 'Rose Chan's striptease' song... 'apple blossom...' offhand cannot recall the full name. (Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White)

It is a pity I did not take a picture of my fourth nephew because many of us agreed that he looks like Najib! Can probably stand in for him while he is away overseas!

Anyway, SP was well in dreamland before I even got out of KL and I got sleepy even before Tg. Malim. I carried on until Slim River and stopped along the entry road leading to the expressway. I got out to exchange seats with SP. She is one for fresh air and decided to open some windows. I was worried about her driving as I felt the car veering now and again and it was impossible for me to really sleep. Just before reaching Gopeng toll, I looked for the ticket and panic (heard about the penalty before) – no sign of it at first glance and everywhere that I looked at. Immediately I realised that it must have fell from the usual place (visor) on to my lap and dropped when I got out of the car! What to do but to pay the penalty for it – you are presumed to have travelled from Johor Baru! Rm68 instead of the Rm23.50 and it really put me off the rest of the journey. Though we are given a grace of 3 days to find the ticket, I searched all over a few times last night as well as this morning without success.

This morning, while at breakfast, my brother-in-law phoned me to ask what time we reached home. When told about our unlucky incident, he said he got a police summon yesterday morning! Immediately, I told him that both of us were born in the year of the Tiger, he is older by 12 years, if there is any explanation for them.

Last night (actually early morning), when we reached home, SP opened the gate for me to drive the car in and she let the two dogs out for a run. This morning, I was told one of them did not come back. His name is Lucky and I am not sure if he is lucky to be free or me. Though I have tried to get SP to transfer him to the factory before this, I feel sad he is actually missing. Though he is spayed, we are hoping he is temporary being attracted by a bitch in heat or something and will be back in a couple of days.

Though I cannot explain the strange happenings, to make me feel better, I would think of it as a 'blessing in disguise'. Instead of fretting over 'losing Rm44.50' when we switched drivers, maybe we had avoided an accident had I decided to continue driving while feeling sleepy. But losing another dog by letting him out and expecting him to come back, seems like a lesson not learned by my dear wife. How am I going to explain to Nee?

Obama campaign started 20 years ago?

Obama and the White House must be one of the most frequently quoted jokes and there is even one cartoon of it.
But that should be the last thing on his mind as he prepares for Presidency of the USA if the following report going round the web is anything to go by. I would put it as genuine caring nature which cannot be pretended by those opportunistic politicians striking while the iron is hot:

I checked this on Google and found it was indeed published in the Norwegian newspaper. Unless the newspaper was duped into it, this is not a hoax, and I am sharing this inspiring story with you.

Oct 05, 2008
The Norwegian newspaper VG has reported a truly amazing story about a newly-wed trying to get to Norway to be with her husband, and the stranger who helped pay an unexpected luggage surcharge.
The blog 'Leisha's Random Thoughts' has translated the story:

It was 1988, and Mary Andersen was in line at the Miami airport checking in for a long flight to Norway to be with her husband. When it was finally Mary's turn, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness."You'll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway ," the man behind the counter said.

Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway , and she had no one else to call.

"I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions," says Mary.As tears streamed down her face, she heard a 'gentle and friendly voice' behind her saying,

"That's okay, I'll pay for her."

Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before. He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive.

"The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?"

Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man. He was nicely dressed, with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants, says Mary.

She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.

Who was the man? Barack Obama.

Twenty years later, she is thrilled that the friendly stranger at the airport may be the next President and has voted for him already and donated 100 dollars to his campaign:

"He was my knight in shining armor," says Mary, smiling. She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway . At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker in Chicago , and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard university.

Mary even convinced her parents to vote for him:

In the spring of 2006 Mary's parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier. And Obama replied.

In a letter to Mary's parents dated May 4th 2006 and stamped "United States Senate, Washington DC ' Barack Obama writes:

'I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami airport. I'm happy I could help back then, and I'm delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway . Please send her my best wishes.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama , United States Senator'.

The parents sent the letter on to Mary. Mary says that when her friends and associates talk about the election, especially when race relations is the heated subject, she relates the story of the kind man who helped out a stranger-in-need over twenty years ago, years before he had even thought about running for high office.

UPDATE: Also, remember this was 1988, when 100 dollars was quite a bit of money, compared to today's value. Truly a wonderful story, and something that needs to be passed along in the maelstorm of fear-and-smear politics we are being subjected to right now. The Ladner Report http://theladnerreportblog.blogspot.com/

Marital strife manual

Someone somewhere must have compiled the following examples (certainly not exhaustive) for our information, or is it entertainment?:

101 ways to start a fight (my suggestion for a title)

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, 'What's on TV?' I said, 'Dust.' And then the fight started...
>-------------------------
My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds.' I bought her a scale. And then the fight started...
> ------------------------
When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace expensive... so, I took her to a gas station. And then the fight started...
> ---------------------------------
After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's license to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later.
The woman said, 'Unbutton your shirt'. So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, 'That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me' and she processed my Social Security application.
When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office. She said, 'You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too.' And then the fight started...
> ------------------------------
My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. My wife asked, 'Do you know her?'
'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.'
'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?' And then the fight started...
> -------
I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my order first. "I'll have the strip steak, medium rare, please."
He said, "Aren't you worried about the mad cow?"
" Nah, she can order for herself." And then the fight started...
>--------------------------------- --------------------------
A woman is standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. She is not happy with what she sees and says to her husband, 'I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'
The husband replies, 'Your eyesight's damn near perfect.' And then the fight started.....
>-------------------------------------------
I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light for $14.95. Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95. I told her the beer would make her look better at night than the cold cream. And then the fight started....
>---------------------------------
My wife asked me if a certain dress made her butt look big. I told her not as much as the dress she wore yesterday and then the fight started.....
>-------------------------------------
A man and a woman were asleep like two innocent babies. Suddenly, at 3 o'clock in the morning, a loud noise came from outside. The woman, bewildered, jumped up from the bed and yelled at the man 'Holy crap. That must be my husband!'
So the man jumped out of the bed; scared and naked jumped out the window. He smashed himself on the ground, ran through a thorn bush and to his car as fast as he could go.
A few minutes later he returned and went up to the bedroom and screamed at the woman, 'I AM your husband!' The woman yelled back, 'Yeah, then why were you running?' And then the fight started.....
>-------------------------
Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, grabbed the dog, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the truck, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day. I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, 'The weather out there is terrible.'
My loving wife of 10 years replied, 'Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?' And then the fight started ...
>--------
I asked my wife, "Where do you want to go for our anniversary?" It warmed my heart to see her face melt in sweet appreciation. "Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said.
So I suggested, "How about the kitchen?" And that's when the fight started....
>-------------------------
My wife and I are watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire while we were in bed. I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have sex?" "No," she answered. I then said, "Is that your final answer?" She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying "Yes." So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend." And that's when the fight started....
>-----------------------------------
When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first: the truck, the car, e-mail, fishing, always something more important to me. Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point.
When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a few minutes. When I came out again I handed her a toothbrush.
'When you finish cutting the grass,' I said, 'you might as well sweep the driveway.' and then the fight started...