This is what happens when you don't update Wordpress for years. I've just updated it to the latest version. If it looks crappy on your screen, it's probably because it DOES look crappy right now I'm working on it even as you read this! If all goes well, I'll get my new look sorted out soon and HWA will have a revamped focus. In the meantime, apologies for irritating your visual senses!
Yes, Yes, I know my blog looks crappy. But it's getting there...
Withdraw PayPal Funds To Malaysian Bank Accounts Directly
Well, shows you how out of touch I am with what's happening online. I usually leave my PayPal funds until I need a little bit of extra cash (I know... I know... they say it's not a good thing to leave your money in PayPal...) so it was a surprise when I logged in to find that they allow direct withdrawal to Malaysian bank accounts.
I then checked online and found lots of other bloggers alrealy discovered this and posted about it. In any case, if this is the first you're hearing about it, here's what you have to do :
1. Log into your PayPal account.
2. Click "My Account" then "Withdraw".
3. You'll see that there is a new option to "Withdraw to your bank account".
4. When you click this option, you will be prompted to add a Malaysian bank account if you haven't already done so. The process is pretty much like adding a debit card to your account for withdrawals.
5. I was stumped when they asked for the Bank Routing Number but PayPal is pretty proactive and provided a list of codes. They made the process easy peasy.
6. After adding your account, you can then make your withdrawal.
I initially wanted to withdraw $500, but I'm always careful with first transactions, so I changed it to $20. I'll wait and see if the transaction goes through. There's a RM3 charge for withdrawals below $USD400, but it's a small price to pay for peace of mind. With this new service, I don't have to keep my Public Bank Debit Card which charges an annual service fee.
I have to say I looooooooove making money online!
Planet Pulse Demonstrates The Art Of Pissing People Off
I received this survey invitation from Planet Pulse.
A couple of years ago, I won a Cybershot Camera because I participated in a Honda contest. The camera was good. Honda was good. So I figured freebies from Honda just to participate in a survey was a good thing.
Wrong.
Well, actually, I don't know if the survey was good, but I DO KNOW that the company (Planet Pulse) that conducted this email survey has demonstrated they are champions at the art of pissing off customers.
Here's how Planet Pulse pissed me in the face.
The survey starts off politely by thanking you for giving them 15 minutes of your time. Actually, I think what they mean to say is "Thank you for giving us the opportunity to piss you off".
The first question itself is misleading.
Reading that, you'd immediately think of all your pals, uncles and aunties who work in the industries stated right? After all, you WANT to be as helpful AND cooperative as you possibly can in the survey, right?
So I checked 2 categories : Advertising and Healthcare (although I pretty much knew people who worked in every category).
Then it happened. They pissed me in the face.
Huh? I thought.
This can't be right. I then hit the back button and tried a different category. This time I made it to the next question. It seems that if you check certain categories, they tell you you are a pariah and they will spit you out of the survey.
"Go away. Quit. We don't want you're shitty participation".
No... I won't go away.
The next question. Select "male" or "female".
I selected "male" and made it through. Then I thought... hang on... let's try being a female instead. Hit the back button and selected "female". True enough :
Okay... they've just pissed off half of the world's population.
Oh what the heck. Let's go on to the next question :
Decided to be honest. After all, my grey hair is a dead giveaway.
WT Fish!!!! Rejected Again???!
Oh what the heck. I'm a sucker for punishment. Let's see if they piss me off again. I back-tracked and lied. I took a couple years of my age and Voila! their survey is too dumb like them to know that I'm lying! Lying my way through that question then brings me to the next...
I answered honestly "I can't recall".
So since I said "I can't recall", they told me to go piss off again.
Now... I tell you...
Sure, you hope that you might at least win a freebie by participating in the survey, but heck you ARE giving them your time you know. Planet Pus (oops sorry... pun VERY intended) must either have morons OR insensitive jerks OR BOTH employed in their research and promotions dept.
Hey Planet PUS. You DON'T tell people to PISS OFF in the middle of a survey. That's like asking people to come into your restaurant and half-way through their meal, telling them to get the hell out because they said "salt" when you wanted to hear "pepper".
Okay... so I don't fit the demographic that you're targetting, but the least you can do is LET ME finish the survey and PRETEND that I'm in the running for a freebie.
Okay maybe you jerk heads don't know how to conduct a survey. Here's a couple of tips :
- If you really don't want folks who are not in your targetted demographics to participate, then for pete's sake STATE the pre-conditions for the survey BEFORE you get people all pumped up. That way, if I read that you're NOT looking for hunky dudes over 40, I'll just skip the whole damn survey.
- A survey is a golden opportunity to gather data. So what if I'm not in your demographics target this time round? Why not collect my data anyway and store it in your stupid database? You never know when you're going to have a client who WANTS to target hunky 40-somethings in the future. What you gonna do then - piss off ALL the under 40 non-hunky idiots who are stupid enough to participate in your idiotic survey?
- Okay, so let's say I answer question #2 and immediately you know I'm not in your targetted demographics. Why not set up a series of questions that probe what my interests are for future use? Come to think of it, why not ask me the damn questions anyway, but just file my participation as "N/A"? I don't have to know. You don't have tell me what you do with my survey. Why do you have to piss me off half way?
Can you imagine how many people would have taken the survey and after 14 minutes and reaching the last question, that stupid "reject" screen pops up telling you to go fly kites? Wouldn't that be piss off your participants?
Planet Pulse, you truly are from the Planet Pus!
[there... rant complete... adrenaline rush achieved]
H1N1 - It's Up To Us
A MalaysianInsider article puts it very nicely :
H1N1 is going to kill the whole of Malaysia because we've got incompetent people in government. It's up to us to make sure our children and families don't get infected. Weeks ago, I began to get concerned and I thought I was bordering on paranoia.
Not anymore.
My kids wear masks to school and carry small bottles of hand sanitizers.
They don't go to school on Fridays to lessen potential exposure.
We wear masks when we go out.
I carry a bottle of diluted Dettol everywhere now. If we eat out, I spray the table top with the solution and give it a wipe. I dip cutlery and even straws in a glass of hot water before we use them.
We've stopped going out for our nightly mall walk for the time being.
I may cut down my kids' school days to 3 days or even take them out entirely if need be. They're top 10 students, so I don't worry about them catching up with their lessons. If we wait for our stupid government to take action, we'll be visiting our kids in the cemetery - unless we land there first. This stupid government of ours says they're going to launch a huge campaign to inform the public soon. It's 51 lives too late (that's the latest death toll as I write this).
We were supposed to go watch "Aliens in the Attic" this Friday, but we've cancelled. Can you imagine being in an enclosed cinema with 300 other people? All you need is one single moron who doesn't want to waste his ticket sitting in there, coughing and sneezing and potentially killing all 300 innocent people.
Am I being paranoid? Probably.
But in this case, I'd rather over-react than NOT do anything.
Our Little Eat-At-Home Experiment
 Image via : Papa Razzi1 |
My family and I decided to carry out and experiment over August and September. We did this because every year without fail, our customer base dips beginning September. I don't know why - maybe it's the weather, maybe people just don't like eating in September, maybe there are lots of holidays in September. Whatever the reason, Sara, Sam, Mum and I decided to prepare ourselves for the slow months by trying to save as much as possible. I suggested that we try eating at home as much as possible.
You know how it goes. Even though we're in the food business and there is ALWAYS delicious, home cooked food at the end of the day, the kids (me included) like to eat out once in a while. Well that "once in a while" eventually became :
- KFC on Friday afternoons after school
- Wednesday evening at the Food Court because Sam would come home from school activities late and it's easier to just eat out and let someone else wash up
- Saturday dinner after our regular trip to the mall.
- Sunday dinner because it's Sunday
Then there would always be one excuse or another to grab a snack once or twice a week, and these snacks would eventually end up costing as much as a dinner for four.
We decided that other than our weekend meals, we would eat at home. Each meal we ate at home allowed us to save at least RM25 to RM45. At the end of two months of eating at home, I calculated (based on our average eat-out bill, 3 times per week) that we saved RM905! Whoa! That's RM450 a month just for eating out and snacking. And that's only eating at my kids' favorite budget places like McDonalds, KFC etc. Imagine how much we would be spending if we were in the habit of snacking at more fancy restaurants.
So the whole point of this post is this. If you think you've got it tough trying to make ends meet, try looking at what you're spending to fill your tummy.
We've decided to keep eating in. At an average of RM400 savings a month, it adds up to RM4800 a year! That money would be better off in our holiday piggy bank or in the children's education fund.
Think about it. Eat in and save. It justs takes a little self-control!
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