Working Hard for Retirement

I am working hard to save up for retirement. But apparently dad's medical expenses are pretty exorbitant, coating over RM 50k after 40 days in the private hospital and follow up sessions after stay in a second nursing home. I hope he gets well pretty soon and do the things he loves like attending church, talk to his friends, watch Astro and the like. Dad suffered 3 heart attacks in 6 months and I just hope he will have quality life in his golden years. I may not be the favourite child, but then again, he did take care of me and paid for many sessions of tuition and fetching me back and forth. Yes, he has done his part as a father, and now it is my turn to care for him in his golden years. The Bible says, Honour your parents and your life will be prolonged.

May Fly to JB this Friday

Well, there are plans to fly down to Johor Bahru this Friday, but the tickets are yet to be bought online and booked. Hence the boarding passes have yet to be printed. I am enjoying the current employment now that I get to travel and at the same time visit places of interests if time permits. We will rent Hertz rental car for 1 day and fly back at night, most probably. Just pray that we can secure the big project and convince the committee members to use our products. I guess, everything depends on God's timing and grace.

Flying to KL on Friday

The tickets have been booked and paid. The boarding passes for 2 have been printed for flying via Firefly this coming Friday. Well, there are sacrifices to be made when you wish to earn more. Nothing is free in this world and there will always be a catch if the goodies are too good to be true. Sometimes we have our arguments while other times I just forgive and move on. Life is to be enjoyed but at the same time, The Bible teaches us to work hard with our hands and not to idle around; for idleness is the devil's workshop and that is Alzheimer's disease or Dementia. God has blessed my family that none of us have this history. Manage stress well and you will be all right including being in the pink of health. I love flying in the plane and got used to booking online which is paid by the company.

I Love my JOB!

For most people, a JOB is Just Over Broke! But for me, it is Joy On Board! I get the remunerations of a manager in an MNC in Bayan Lepas, the silicon valley of Penang. But being bedridden and sick, can set one back by the tens of thousands in a jiffy! Therefore, always take care of your health and don't take it for granted that you will always be in the pink of health all the time. Age catches up slowly and before you know it, it is time to retire in your golden years, hopefully and not woeful ones. There are bills to pay, food to buy and put on the table, property assessment tax, car road tax and such. I get paid Medical Leave, SOCSO and EPF. These are the benefits of working hard for an SME to prosper and to pay you your salary in a timely manner.

Hoping my Brother Works Hard

I pay USD 10 monthly to get more bids using my credit card and I hope younger "brother" will work hard at getting bids and jobs and work every day, just like I do - blogging constantly and working by the computer frequently. Perhaps writing may not need so much brain power and he needs to rest; so I will just let it be. And I hope to get my returns in the investment and joint account. He has the knowledge, but I hope he also uses it productively. Sleeping in is so inviting and comfortable. But lazy hands will bring about poverty and one will go hungry. Be like the ant; working hard, storing food up for winter like retirement so that it will be golden and not woeful.

Not easy being a freelancer on Upwork

Upwork is a good place to find and bid for jobs with constant offers. But to win the bid, you have to pass tests like programming in constructive C, Ruby on Rails, PHP, etc. if you are looking for programming jobs. Well, I failed my writing jobs in the past due to mistakes made. There are a lot of people needing Shopify and web or mobile development projects and this pays handsomely. I have partnered with a younger brother who's a computer science graduate and we are working together, hopefully for a long time to come. I have other projects that I might need his help, but so far, he has not accepted any for paid ones from me. And Upwork takes 20% of the commissions that you earn. If you bid for $300 job, $60 goes to Upwork, leaving you with only $240 !

Working from Home is Good

I have been blessed to work from home in the last 14+ years. And the benefits are good too - with medical benefits, EPF, SOCSO, free meals daily, paying of utilities and rental of the unit to the company. This is all possible because my boss used my name to open up an enterprise company and while he helmed the SME, I did all the computer, secretarial and admin work besides updating the website that brings in 90% of the business. Some particular 2nd sister-in-law is very jealous as I did not help her daughter in computers and employ her, but hey, I did not go to university for free either. I had to pay through my nose for the exorbitant fees and slowly pay back the student loan that I took month by month. My parents did not help me as much as my younger sisters where they had excess money to tour Europe and USA as a gift for graduating!

Planning to go to Dubai next year with someone special

Now I got bitten by the travel bug. I hope to travel to Dubai via Emirates with someone special and this time really enjoy my trip. Youngest sister was too bossy for my own good. Besides, I missed the helicopter ride just because dad poured cold water to my plans and brainwash youngest sister that it was dangerous to fly in a helicopter! What utter rubbish! The weather was excellent and well, I just missed the opportunity. Sister was supposed to pay for me, but somehow my parents rather she used the money to buy vitamins for them instead!