Cruisin’ down the freeway

Posted on December 8, 2008 by The Giddy Tigress

 

Woohoo!  Today, I went from holding a Temporary Driver License to being a bearer of an Interim Driver License.  Please don’t ask me to explain the difference between “temporary” and “interim”, because the only meaning I get out of this is that:

I passed my driving test today!!!

Yipppeeee!!!!  I simply can’t wipe that grin off my face. 😛

After the many steps I had to undertake, it has finally paid off.  The driving lessons I took, the written test I had to pass weeks ago where I was only allowed to make not more than 6 mistakes out of 36 tricky questions, scheduling an appointment for the road test, queueing up in line waiting for my turn for the road test, having weird dreams prior to the test (like the one where the car I was driving was suddenly a right-hand drive instead of a left-hand drive), praying fervently that I would not have to retake the driving test because of some stupid mistake I made…well, now it does seem as though a great burden has been lifted off of my shoulders. 

And in a few weeks’ time, I’ll be getting my valid California driver’s license!  I can’t wait…hmm…hope I look good in the picture. Heh.  The picture was taken at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) right before I took the written test.  It’s not like in Malaysia, where we get to go to some photo studio and make sure we look good, you know.

So this morning, my driving instructress picked me up from my apartment an hour before my test and we did a last-round practice before the actual test.  Thankfully it was a nice day for driving, not hot at all.  My driver’s test appointment was at 10:30a.m., and surprisingly my tester arrived at 10:40a.m.!  My instructress told me sometimes her students had to wait for an hour past their appointment time! 

In the US, we use our own car for the driving test.  In my case, I requested to use the driving school’s car.  My driving test took only about 10 minutes, and when we were all done, my tester (who was a young lady, by the way), told me I had passed, and she said, “Good job!” 🙂

I’m not someone who likes to brag, but this is an exception:

 

Never mind that she spelt “performance” wrongly.  I’m getting my driver’s license soon!

*does giddy dance of joy*

Posted in Relax & Celebrate | 20 Comments

Embracing the differences

Posted on December 3, 2008 by The Giddy Tigress

Having a baby in the States is so much more different than the experience of having one in Malaysia.  Well, as I had mentioned before it takes quite a while to land an appointment with the OB/GYN, as opposed to Malaysia, where I could call up at 11:00a.m. and have an appointment set up at 2:00p.m. the same day, at worst I would have to wait two or three days later.

There are so many new things I am experiencing now:

  • Unlike in Malaysia, the OB/GYN’s office does not come equipped with an ultrasound device and a patient’s bed.  Instead, every OB/GYN has a separate room with a bed and other equipment, where the patient is ushered into, and then the doctor will come by and do the checkup.
  • Appointment reminders are in the form of an automated phone call, where you are reminded to come at least 15 minutes before your appointed time.  The last appointment we had, we were there 20 minutes before, and we were amazed that the entire checkup finished in about 15 minutes!  The wait time was only 5 minutes.
  • Ultrasounds are not done at every checkup.  I heard that throughout the gestational period of the pregnancy, only two ultrasounds are performed.  And it’s not hard to see why!  The ultrasound is performed in the radiology department, where an appointment has to be made (everything is about appointments here!).  And that’s not all, the ultrasound is VERY thorough.  They take like 15, maybe more, pictures of the baby from all angles.  And after that, all the images are saved in a CD for you to take home and look at.  The radiologist took a longer time with mine, because the baby was moving a lot and it was hard to get a good shot.

  • There are also lots of tests that need to be done.  But since I only started seeing the doc here when I was 21 weeks along, I guess I *escaped* some of them.  The tests are all so very thorough too.  Even though I had a urine test done the last visit, I am also required to have a glucose test done, which is really a blood test.  The lab has already provided me with a big bottle of glucola, which I have to finish within 5 minutes.  I think it’s close to 300ml!  My blood will need to be drawn precisely 1 hour after drinking the glucola, BUT I need to be at the hospital 15 minutes before the 1 hour.  If I arrive too late, I’ll have to redo the test.

I haven’t decided when I can make it for the test yet, but redoing it by drinking the entire bottle of sweet solution is definitely out of the question.

Well, other than that, baby is doing fine.  Been kicking a lot lately in all directions and at all times of the day.  I think we have a really active one on the way! 😛

Posted in Thoughts & Scribblings | 10 Comments

The voice at the other end

Posted on December 3, 2008 by The Giddy Tigress

One of the things that irritate me the most is getting unsolicited phone calls. This has become the norm since we moved into our apartment here in the US. The previous tenants apparently had some unfinished business with their car loans, credit card accounts or banks, because I keep getting unending calls reminding me to renew this and register that.

Most of these calls do not have a hot-blooded human on the other end of the line, rather they are all recorded messages. So if I were to hang up, I’ll have to endure a repeat of the call a couple of days later. Therefore, I have to wait for the automated message to finish playing (which sometimes takes a long long time), and hope that there is an option to select to stop further calls from the number.

Phone Number Reporting would certainly come into handy here, provided I have caller ID on my phone. Then I would be able to know where the call originates from, and hence be able to gauge what to expect when I pick up the phone.

Thankfully, the number of these irritating calls are on the decline now, and I can look forward to spending an uninterrupted hour on the couch watching TV and drinking some hot chocolate.

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Exacerbation of frustration

Posted on December 2, 2008 by The Giddy Tigress

Photo credits

Today’s post is going to be a LONG rant about one of Malaysia’s leading telecommunication providers.  Its name starts with a C, ends with an M, and has an ELCO in the middle.

Ever since I started using a cellphone, I have been a loyal Celcom subscriber, never once changing my number, and always a prompt bill payer.  Loyalty begets loyalty, and I had assumed my request to temporarily suspend my account for the period I will be in the States would be handled with perfect efficiency.

But how wrong my assumption was.

A few days before I left Malaysia, I walked into the nearby Celcom branch, and requested for a temporary suspension.  The man behind the desk told me that he could do so immediately, however the temporary suspension would only be for a total of FOUR months, after which I had to reactivate my account, if I want to keep my number.  I patiently explained my situation to him, and told him that I would like to extend my account suspension after the four months.  I was willing to email the Celcom Careline to provide them the authorization to do so.  After all, in this day and age, an email instruction is as good as a signed one.

But the Celcom guy behind the counter apparently was not empowered to make any decision, so I had to make do with the temporary suspension.

On that same day, I called up the Celcom Careline, and spoke to one of their consultants, who informed me that the request for an extension would only be accepted via FAX.  I told him that I would like to request for the extension via email, just like the arrangement my hubby had made with Maxis.  I told him I would not be able to fax in the request from the United States, and asked that he allow me to get the extension done via email.  Unfortunately, the consultant too could not confirm if this could be done, but all he could do was to put in a note to indicate my request.  He suggested that I email the Celcom Careline directly to request for it.

…which was exactly what I did when I reached the US.

Ten days went by without a reply from the Careline, so I resent my email requesting for a prompt reply.  And I got this five days later:

Huh?  Now the temporary suspension is for THREE months only??!!!  And I have to PAY to have it reconnected?  So, I calmed myself down and replied in as civil a manner as possible, and got an equally frustrating reply from the Careline.

Of course, I had to reply to that, right?

Now, as you can see, Celcom has not even answered my questions yet:

  • They have not told me if the reconnection and further suspension can be done via email.
  • They have not committed to a seamless extension of my account suspension.  As a customer, I expect that the extended suspension be executed as I have requested, never mind if you have to reactivate and suspend the account again.  It doesn’t matter what happens behind the scenes, as long as my account suspension is in place.  To me, if a rival telecommunications company can do the deed without any hassle to the customer, so can Celcom.
  • And I am still confused about whether the temporary suspension is FOUR months (as I was informed back in Malaysia) or THREE months (as the Careline has told me via email)

Is it any wonder why I am so very seriously considering switching to a different telecommunications provider?

Posted in Thoughts & Scribblings | 18 Comments

Fun & learning = happiness

Posted on December 2, 2008 by The Giddy Tigress

Time really flies, and I mean that in the best possible manner, and before I know it, it’s December already.  This year, it will be a unique Christmas for my family and I, because we are spending it in a foreign land.  We have not decided if we will be putting up a Christmas tree yet, but I certainly hope so, because where are we going to put all those presents if we don’t have a tree, right?

Well, everyone who knows me well enough knows that I enjoy shopping tremendously, and much more so when I am shopping for the ones I love.  For Ethan, I always like to get him something he will love, something he will cherish, something that will light up his face when he sees it, and yet, I try my best to make sure the present is as educational as possible.

We recently bought him a train set, complete with four trains, and boy was he excited as ever when we set it up.  Toy sets like these may look childish at first, but they really do help to stimulate the imagination and work on perfecting coordination skills.  Hey, educational toys aren’t just about flash cards and word puzzles, you know.  It’s completely okay to have fun and learn at the same time.

Maybe when Ethan is bigger, we’ll consider getting him something even more exciting and appropriate for his age, something like the MagNext iCoaster, or some people probably call it the magnet in usa, which will be like a mini roller-coaster all in the comfort of our home.  Sure, it might be a tad noisy, but this toy will enhance a kid’s creativity and provide endless hours of enjoyment and learning.

Or if your child likes dinosaurs, get him one of these cool Magnext Magna-Bones sets.  I know for a fact every boy will like this (even adults!) because it is an excellent way to develop their scientific knowledge and encourages experimenting as well.  And it certainly looks good as a decorative piece, and is a sure conversation-starter!

For the time being though, my boy is so intrigued by Mickey Mouse that I am really leaning towards getting him something along those lines. We’ll see…

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