Wake me up before you go pro

"You know how girl's can say - oh I really like her she's great, but if I were to say the same thing  I'd cop it big time mate !!" , "yeah mate, that f@rked yeah, and then". .. Argggghhhh do I have to wake up to this verbal vomit being spouted by the tradies who are working on the finishing touches to the houses next door?   I feel for my headphones on top of my "doona". (when in Australia....) and hit play.. ahhhhh thank the goddess for music. I scoot out of bed and look out my window at the two young tradies below who have no idea that the entire street can hear this heartfelt 'woe is me' bleat... Uh grow up please! I grumble to myself.  Such is life now that we've moved house, we had no idea that the development next door would take this long. Sometimes I wake up to the sounds of drilling (the drill guys the drill... tsk) or banging (again with a hammer...sheesh) and or someone has brought along a MEGA speaker, seriously the size of luggage, ok ok not the 25 kilo bags more like the 7kg carry on ones, but still.. and has ramped up the volume to the max with everything from mumble rap to Ozzie country songs. I shall not complain.. much.. because sometimes when I hear them all laughing together it makes me smile, how wonderful to have a great day filled with such good energy.

Tradie Matey

Every time I think of setting up to video my vlog, I wonder what conversations from the tradies will be picked up on my mic ! Can you imagine? ha ha ha, mind you it would add some spice and humour to the vlog!! Something I feel has been somewhat lacking in my life for a bit, last year was pretty dark, two of my closest friends passed away suddenly within months of each other, that hated phone call when all you hear is sobbing and sharp intakes of breath as the news is broken to you. I'm no stranger to death, we have a complicated relationship, it started when death took my husband away 20 years ago. Wait! What??! 20 YEARS??? I had to count back and do some swift calculations there!! WTH? has it been that long? WOW that was unexpected , and Oi none of those black widow jokes!

 

 However it brings to mind how much life has changed, I said to my buddy Johan, why do they not tell you these things about ageing for kerist's sake! The stiff muscles, creaky joints, the GREY of hair and not only on your head, OMG ...really?... yeah (hear that lad's next door, that's what you're going to be talking about soon enough, hah!) When I called up my mentor and ex boss to get some advice on podcasting, I had asked what he was up to these days, he said " D, I turned 70, I'm supposed to be retired but I can't sit around and do nothing! so I still do some consultancy and compose music apart from going for dialysis twice a week" .. umm .. So many of us have made huge changes in our life, either due to illness, (like me), a change of countries (again I raise my hand ) early retirement, ageing, or just to step away for a total change to help with work life balance. What made you make that change? How did you handle it, what goes through your minds, and how has it turned out? 

I'ma leaving on a jet plane

For me , as I was taking another one of my long walks and nodding to the people walking their dogs or fit mums jogging behind the prams and mumbling curses at the cyclists who zip by ringing their bells , UGH! I'm turning into THAT BAG LADY! I swear I can see myself standing at the corner of the street, muttering at everyone going past and casting them evil looks and showing them many different varieties of finger signs!! Anyway I digress I was thinking, so 6 years ago, the universe tapped me on the shoulder and said "Oi, you need to make some massive changes in your life or you and death are going to have a smackdown, here's cancer deal with them first". (cancer is a bitch who needs a kick in the butt) I thought so what did I learn, and how am I now? I can say, that the stress of the lifestyle I had was not worth it, that I should have learned to meditate earlier  and done more yoga! but I should have been truer to myself, and walked away from a load of situations that I had no control over. The first time I heard Eckhart Tolle the power of now I bawled my eyes out, but you have to be in that head space to want to discover, resolve and have inner peace. 

Eckhart Tolle

They say (and please don't ask me who they are) “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” It is the box in your mind that imprisons you, those false parameters that you set for yourself, and only you can break free from them . There are some vestiges of that mindset sometimes but all in all I feel freer, that huge event in my life made me do a 190 degree turn, and forced the change for the better I feel, and so I ask.. What next?

much love

Dx

Shop till you drop !

Phew what a week it's been, the bags around my eyes feel more like luggage!  I'm not complaining though, it's all been really good, as my second production is being rolled out to the sponsors, the meetings begin to intensify, but between all that , life does go on and one of the other things I had to deal with is having my widdle puddy tat being spayed.  Those eyes totally slayed me, I felt like the worst type of human after I picked her up.  She's ticked off with me no doubt!, she's turned her back on me so far... hmmnn I have to try bribery with her fav wet food soon! (guilty complex much!)

Our cat Blay

I have often thought (believe me I have many many times) how do the other single mums do it? I count myself very lucky as I work from home but when I had to work on the radio station full time,   and  I had  to start my day at 4.30 am, shopping was the last thing I had on my mind at the end of my workday! But you did it anyway.   I think the biggest blessing so far is online shopping, believe you me it's a life saver, or more to the point a time saver.   Between working, picking and dropping of kids, keeping the house tidy and cooking,  getting the grocery shopping done is,  lets face it , tis a bit of a chore sometimes.   So when  the supermarkets went online, I was in like Flyn!  

A few of my friends have asked me, isn't it more expensive?  Heck no, the fact that you can buy exactly what's on your list from the comfort of your home/office/back of a car etc, makes it more efficient and because you're not meandering around the isles being bombarded by the "specials", you head to the check out relatively unscathed and trust me, the costs stay down. Of course I prefer to go to the market to get my fresh veg and seafood but nothing beats delivery of groceries to your own home, specially when you're crunching deadlines.

Taman Tun indoor market in KL

Groceries are not the only things that I find economical to buy online,  I've been an online shopper for ages, and I buy everything from groceries to reading glasses online, so much so that when I read that 11street was coming to Malaysia, I insisted we get the CEO in to the radio station to talk about their online shopping portal!  We've also had the online clothing store CEO of  ZALORA (coupon code ZBAPj5M)  on the show to give us a few pearls of wisdom.   C'mon you've done it, flicked through the pictures  on your phone or tablet while waiting, it does save time!

My children bought my christmas prezzie online too!

There are many established and dedicated sites, so far from my experience, locally I trust lelong.com, 11st street, zalora and alibaba express is a great place too, to name a few.   I'm sure if I asked you, there 'd be even more sites I have not heard of!  I believe in the future we will have huge warehouses replacing retail shops or just fronts for the retailers for visual impact and most shopping will be done online.

The world's first virtual shopping center opened in Korea . All the products are just LCD screens that allows you to order the items by touching the screen. When you get to the counter, your items are already bagged and ready to go.

The world's first virtual shopping center opened in Korea . All the products are just LCD screens that allows you to order the items by touching the screen. When you get to the counter, your items are already bagged and ready to go.

Which brings me to another point then before I have to go and check on the kitty, doesn't it make more sense to move with the digital era and have your products listed online on the many sites for retail?  Whenever we look for something, we use the search engines online, everything you want to buy is there from AMAZON to EBAY.  So when you decide you have a product you want to sell, start first with online retail , overheads are low and you can build up momentum on the quantity, just make sure you have at least 2 to 3  sites you're listed with for maximum impact until you can build your own store online.

Right I gotta jet, you have a fantastic rest of the week, keep the comments and e mails coming, and I'll catch you next week!