Valen’s Vanity Square

Most people are enjoying their year end holiday right now, even if they are not out of town, they are leisurely spending their daytime sleeping, watching DVDs, or shopping in the mall with their bonus.

Not the case for hubby. His company sales closing day is today, and he still has to do some last minute check if there are any sales coming in. Well, I doubt there’s anything you can do on the last day of closing. And usually people won’t be requesting for medical plan or term life insurance quote at this time of the year! People are busing enjoying the last week of 2009! Only shitty company will have their staffs working like cows at such times.

No shopping for me, too. No need to mention why, again it’s about the shitty company. Well, not entirely due to that to be fair. One of my assignment paycheck is still pending after 3 months! I think my client’s finance department must have missed my invoice. So, I have several hundred bucks less to spend. Not to mention that I need to save up my purchasing power for Chinese New Year celebration. Oops!

Jeez, I think this is such a bad ending for me in 2009. I’m really in a shitty mood…. did I even spell the word ’shitty’ right?

It’s one day before Christmas and I should be in a jolly good mood now, right? Wrong! For the past few weeks I’ve been like living in hell, thanks to my neighbor!

I have no mood to think about whether to ask for a steam cleaner or a light-weight super wonder mob s a Christmas present. I have no mood to think where to dine on Christmas’ eve. I have no mood to play my favorite Christmas CDs. Thanks to my neighbor!

To be exact, a neighbor who is yet to move in next door. My neighbor, Mr B, I think he is so darn rich. He can afford to buy a house and not move in for more than a year! He said, “Oh, I was very busy with my business… we don’t want to move in hastily, my wife is very fussy and particular, she wants everything nicely done… we’ve bought our furniture looooong time ago, they are all now sitting in the warehouse…”

So 3 weeks ago, Mr B finally decided that he and his family want to move in before Chinese New Year. Hence, my  world of serenity and peace started to shatter and tumble down 3 weeks ago, and is still being shattered today! For 3 WHOLE WEEKS, renovation has been going on next door. Drilling, banging, hacking, hammering, knocking…. it’s like Mr B wanted the workers to tear down his house, perhaps mine too! The noise pollution is sooooo unbearable that it drove me nuttier than nuts!

I can’t stop you from stopping your workers to create noise pollution on weekdays, because, hey, weekdays are working days, right? Fine, I shall escape and take refuge at my mom’s place or in Starbucks. But what the fxxx, the drilling and banging continues on even weekends and public holidays, starting early in the morning! What is he thinking? Is he building a grand palace or something? Didn’t he know that people work in weekdays, and need to rest on weekends? What if there’s a baby staying in this house? Or a sick old woman that needs a lot of rest and quietness? Absolutely shittier than all animal shit added together!

I already hate my neighbor before they move in. The hatred is so intense that I even dreamed that my other neighbor also hated him. Merry Christmas and happy contributing to noise pollution, Mr B!

While some people prefer to lose weight taking fat burner pills or tablets, my husband’s favorite ‘fat burner’ is the new X-training machine at home.

Since we got the machine last week, hubby has exercised on that machine for almost every day. And every time he got himself soaked in sweat. Oh, more than soaked actually, his sweat was literally dripping! And he is oh-so enjoying that kind of feeling.

As for me, I have been on that machine only once, haha! I think I should work out on it more often, say 3 times a week. I will set the calories to be burned at 200, then slowly step my way while watching TV at the same time. May be 200 kcal is too little if I want to lose weight fast, but that’s better than not burning any calories at all!

Wonder how long will it take me to shed 2 kilos with my slow-motion exercise?

Hubby’s new ‘toy’ is here - an elliptical cross trainer machine from AibiGym! (So sorry that I had always called it a stepping machine, haha! Well, this just says how much I’m into sports…)

This cross trainer machine was not the one we saw initially, this is double the price of what we had in mind earlier. The monthly installment is still cheaper than signing up for a gym membership though. And just like you have to read up an adipex review before you decide to try the diet pill, we asked many questions and tried ‘pedaling’ on the machine before we made the purchase decision.

The first cross trainer that we saw was cheaper, but it uses a belt-driven system, which may start to break down after 1 year of regular usage. The warranty period for this is only 1 year. The machine is lighter, so when a heavy person (such as hubby) pedals on it, the machine tends to be a bit ’shaky’. Moreover, the gliding is not smooth; it will be quite harmful for my left knee, which is prone to knee pain after climbing stairs (oh no, sign of aging!).

The elliptical cross trainer that we bought is built on a magnetic system. The gliding is smooth, it will last longer than the belt-driven system, and the supplier is giving 3 years warranty for the magnetic system. The size is slightly bigger than the previous one, but still much less bulky than those you see in the gym centres. It is stable and sturdy. There is also a small digital setting device to help monitor the calories burnt, the pulse rate, and the speed of pedaling.

The machine was delivered before lunch time. I haven’t started using it as I was rushing to meet a project deadline, and now I’m catching up with all my blogging activities. Oh well, since this is hubby’s toy, I will let him do the ‘official opening’ and be the first one to ride on it. Haha!