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Next Xant found himself holding on for dear life, his body crammed into a vehicle it clearly wasn’t designed for. His tail was squished between the tall seat and the frame of the machine, his legs too far apart for them to sit comfortably in the narrow footwell, so he was almost sideways in the forward-facing seat, but that also gave him a clear view of its pilot’s insane method of ‘driving’ the shaking contraption.
Jasmine didn’t even need to look where her feet and hands were going, moving them simultaneously to shift in and out of gear by instinct, all the while singing harsh, deep-throated songs at the top of her lungs.
Xant had been observing the human since her revival, and while she had had her ‘aggressive’ outbursts, brought on through stress and despair respectively, to see her exercise such aggression was fascinating. She was entranced, focused on some unknown ‘enemy’ and screaming her pent up emotions at ‘it’. Xant had never seen such emotional power simply blasted into the atmosphere without worry or consequence, but he couldn’t deny he was caught up in the triumph and relief the song gave her.
With practised ease, Jasmine stopped the car at the base of the enormous craft, then gleefully jumped out to climb atop the roof again. “Up here, Xant!” she called.
The doctor squirmed his way out of the car and stood on the ground, looking up at the human. She pointed to a small thin ladder welded to the side of the ship’s stern. “We need to climb that to get on board.”
Xant stared at her and then at the wide jump needed to cover that distance.
“Is this another attempt at humour?” The human did laugh, so he supposed he was right.
“Well, we could always wait for Rynard to throw you!” She smiled, making a hand motion of hefting a ball. “Like tossing a dwarf!” She giggled.
Xant for the first time questioned Jasmine’s intelligence.
“Perhaps we left you in stasis too long…”
He quickly examined the gap. It was going to be an extraordinary effort for him to climb atop the vehicle, let alone cross the divide with his physical ability alone. He tried to mimic Jasmine’s method of climbing on the car, but his hands and feet were not able to find the small gaps her narrower ones could find. In the end she had to pull him up, and felt the roof bow with his weight. From up top the distance to the ladder seemed even greater. “How exactly do you propose we climb the ladder from here?” he asked her, but Jasmine was still riding the exhilarating high of being ‘thunderstruck’.
“Like this!”
Without so much as a run-up Jasmine leapt towards the ladder and landed with precision, her elongated limbs showing an agility Xant had not considered during the physical examination. “Let me reframe the question,” he huffed. “How exactly do you expect
me to climb the ladder from here?!” “Oh it’s not that far, it’s barely a jump!”
“Zenthi don’t ‘jump’.” “That offer for Rynard to throw you is still on the table.” Xant scoffed, took a deep breath and rationalised the situation.
He was in a military-grade suit, so while his weight and aerodynamics would be affected, his strength was increased and any fall damage negated through the armour and pain blocker chems. So, even if he fell, the only thing that would suffer would be his pride. Another uncomfortable thought peeked through the rationale.
He said he wanted to follow Jasmine. This would mean having to keep up with her. He couldn’t do that if he forever deliberated his shortcomings.
Xant inched closer to the edge of the car and Jasmine helpfully reached out to him, hanging precariously from the metal bars. “I’ll catch you!” She encouraged him. Her arms closing the distance boosted his confidence considerably, and he swayed his body back and forth, ready to leap. This would count as the most adventurous he had been in the steel suit, forever wary of Rynard’s warning of torn ligaments. Xant closed his eyes and pushed himself forward, the suit multiplying the force needed to get him across and almost smashing into the side of the yacht. Thankfully, Jasmine was able to correct her friend’s trajectory and guided his hands to the ladder’s sides, which he clung to for dear life. Jasmine gave a loud cheer. “You did it! Way to go, Xant!” And she patted his shoulder. “Now we just have to get to the top! Did you want to go first?”
Once again, he looked at the human as though she were lacking in common sense.
“How do I ‘go first’? You’re clearly ahead of me!” Jasmine could only smile as she maneuvered so only one hand and arm were on the ladder, her body swaying in the open air, unafraid of the drop below. “There you go! Now you’re clear. I’ll make sure you don’t fall!”
Xant shuddered, flattened his ears and forced himself to climb up the ladder. He could almost feel the thin aluminum bars being crushed under the strength of the suit, but one step at a time he climbed higher. The top was open, no hatch or easy step, so he had to scramble his way over and landed with a thud. By comparison, he heard Jasmine’s light footsteps make quick work of the ladder, and she was soon helping him up to his feet. “Careful,” she teased “you’ll scuff the deck!” “Scuff the what?...” “Take off your helmet, you’ll see things clearer!”
Warily, Xant let the locks of his helmet click and examined his surroundings. It was an ‘open air room’, the floor layered like in his office, multiple steps divided for different purposes, with a deep pit made of what looked like blue plastic as the focal point of the main room. Jasmine threw her arms open. “Welcome aboard, matey!” she announced. “Enjoy the pool deck!” “Pool? Was this filled with water-” Xant took a step closer but his ears were tickled by the sound underfoot. He had assumed the floor would have been of the same steel or plastics the ship was composed of but no, underneath him, the entire floor was made of
wood. The doctor spluttered, reaching down to the floor to feel it. There was more wood here than he had seen in his entire
lifetime, and humans used it for *flooring. *
“Ooh yeah, nothing beats a pristine hardwood deck, that’s why I told you not to scuff it.” Jasmine smiled, walking towards the glass doors. “Let’s check inside! I wonder if everything is still here?” Xant followed her. The whole building catered to a human’s sensibilities. He would be stepping into a truly alien environment.
And it was
beautiful. He was welcomed to a room detailed with wood and gold, whose glass windows shimmered even in the dim light. Displaced furniture, long couches and tables made of wood, extravagantly painted cloth with the shimmer of arvas pupa silk gathered dust, their beauty was comparable to imperial belongings. He ran a finger over the cushions and inspected the thin layer. “Phew! What a mess. Help me clean it up a bit…” Jasmine began lifting up an over turned chair, sliding it into a corner with an almost innate knowledge of where everything should go. The chairs, a long couch and two armchairs had all been pushed into the corner of the room the tables had slid to either end. Xant was almost too scared to touch anything. “What should I do?” he asked, afraid to risk any delicate work.
“We’ll start by dusting off the chairs, then I’ll tell you where they go, okay?”
“Alright...”
The chairs were covered in a soft cushiony material. Xant couldn't stop brushing his hand over them as he delicately placed the furniture, and was dismayed when he saw none of them had a hole for his tail.
“I’ll need help with this!” Jasmine called. The space beneath a large window was taken up by a long lounge, on which Jasmine promptly plonked herself. “Oh my god…I missed cushions.” She patted the space beside her. “Don't be shy! Take a load off!” “Just a moment.” Xant tapped his suit. He couldn't contain himself in steel any longer, the temptation to feel his new environment was too great. The suit splayed open and he was able to step out of it onto fluffy, soft carpet.
Xant lost himself rubbing his feet on the soft fibers. First wood, now fabric? It was obscene!
His own carpet was a precious momento, why would humans consider a laborious resource worth turning into a construction material?
“Is something wrong, Xant?”
“The floor, is this a common fixture?”
“The carpet? I mean, the owner was a madman to have white carpet on a boat, but if you can afford something like this you’re not cleaning it yourself.” Jasmine shrugged. “Carpet’s not uncommon, but generally going out of style because it's so hard to keep clean.”
Xant was both relieved and perplexed by the answer.
“So the reason it is not more common is maintenance?”
“Yeah, keeping carpet, let alone white carpet clean is a nightmare,” Jasmine explained, happy to be talking about the mundanity. “If you think the carpet is amazing you should try out the couch here!” Xant looked over the seat. It appeared all human furniture had a tall back support, with no consideration for large tails such as his own. He did spy a more accommodating stool, however, with the same cushiony substance on top.
“I think this might be more appropriate.” He flipped over the stool and sat, comfortably,
very comfortably. He let his body relax as he took in more of the surroundings through naked eyes. There were still so many things thrown about. Cleaning against the wall next to his seat Xant spied an intricately carved container. It was rectangular, heavy and for whatever reason, had uniform, pyramid-shaped protrusions on the outside decorative surely, but the design made it difficult for him to hold. He had to be very careful picking it up.
Jasmine's eyes lit up when he inspected the object more closely, opening the stopper to sniff the contents within.
It smelled of disinfectant.
“Oh my god, yes!”
The human scrambled off the couch and started rummaging through the shelves in the lonely island bench.
“Jasmine?”
“Ah ha!” she cried triumphantly, pulling out another uniquely shaped bottle. “Now
this is going to be great!” She skipped over to Xant, picking up more glass rectangles, handed him an empty one and placed his original find on the table. She poured out an amber liquid, a drop in his glass and a more substantial pour in hers.
“What is it?” Xant asked.
“Old enough to vote,” she giggled, then closed her eyes and took a small sip before exhaling and shivering pleasantly. “This is...well, I'm guessing it's older now, but aged whisky, a.k.a, human alcohol.”
Xant wrinkled up his nose.
“Is it supposed to be this colour?”
“Yes! When you drink it, you can taste the oak barrels and honey. But I know you guys use this for disinfectant, so, you get a drop if you're brave.”
“Considering what it does to
your physiology, I doubt my own constitution can handle it.”
“Shame.” She shrugged and took another sip.
Xant couldn't taste it, but watched as Jasmine melted into relaxation.
“Ahhh, like drinking warm silk,” she described.
He took a sniff of the sample she gave him.
It was woody and sweet, but the second sniff burnt the inside of his nostrils. Xant graciously placed the ‘drink’ down, while Jasmine chuckled at his reaction.
“Yeah it’s not a drink for a first timer, I think it gets even more potent the longer it sits… and who knows how long we were floating out there.”
“By my best estimates, it could be anywhere between 10 to 1000 [quarters]. Calculating in the unexplored regions of the system, what is currently reachable by galactic council gates and the limit of stasis pods.” Xant informed her.
Jasmine sat quietly for a moment, staring into her glass, before she threw back her head and the drink in one go.
“Whoooo!” She coughed. “Okay, we've seen this room, what else is there to explore!” She swayed getting to her feet, but charged forward anyway. Xant followed close behind, in case she lost her footing, or incase the alcohol began interfering with her Freq control.
The hallways connecting the chambers were very narrow, almost too narrow for him, and all of them had such sharp ascents and descents. The human led inside to one of the many inner chambers, each one as tossed around as the last. There was an entire ‘library’ of paper books, another room dedicated to the act of ‘entertaining’, featuring a destroyed dataslate the size of an operating table, and smaller ‘bedrooms’ that appeared just to be filled with more cushiony furniture.
“And here is the
master bedroom.” Jasmine pushed open the ornate wooden doors to reveal yet another spectacular room, almost as large as the entertainment deck, but was sparsely furnished, all Xant could see was that it contained a bed with tables either side, but the bed was nothing short of magnificent. The tapestry stretched across it was nothing short of breathtaking, where giant intertwining flowers embroidered with gold thread sprawled across its majesty. He’d never seen anything as intricate made from pure cloth, the designs were simply beautiful.
“You really like that bedspread, huh?” Jasmine questioned. Xant ran his hand over the quilt, picking it up and feeling the weight of it, wondering what it was like to
not be mesmerised by it all. “Are humans always surrounded by such beauty?” he asked.
The question caught her off guard, and she looked around the room.
“Not always, but, at the same time, this is closer to what it’s like on earth than either the station or the base.” She held her arms wide as she took lazy steps across the room.
“Windows, pictures and paint on the walls, bedsheets and pillows...we like ‘beautiful’ surroundings.” She fell backward onto the large bed, rolling on the blankets and looking up at Xant. “You’ve got no excuse not to feel what the bed is like.”
Xant sighed, took a deep breath and mimicked Jasmine’s actions, letting himself flop forward onto the bed.
It was fluffy and soft.
“I think the sheet’s a genuine 1000 thread count too. Maybe I could make a proper cape out of this, huh?”
“It is absolutely fascinating that humans
sleep on such luxury.”
“The lucky ones sleep on such luxury! But I do appreciate bedsheets after going without for so long.”
Her attention was shortening by the moment, as she rolled off the most comfortable place in existence to peek around a door.
“The ensuite!!” she squealed. “Oh Xant, you have to see what a real bathroom looks like!”
If the master bedroom was the most comfortable place in the world, then the ensuite was the most ornate. Xant couldn’t even identify what half the items were in the room, but they apparently all pertained to the simple act of grooming.
Long, wide mirrors lined one entire side of the room, double marble basins and chrome taps sat beneath them. Frosted glass windows, a bath big enough to fit four and a bidet decorated with gold made up the rest of the fixtures. Jasmine once again began rummaging through the shelves, making happy noises with every new discovery.
“Xant, hold out your hand!”
The doctor reluctantly did so, and Jasmine placed a small white blob in it. “Smell it!!” she insisted, fever in her eyes.
He took a quick and wary sniff, but the burning sensation he expected never came.
A fresh and vibrant perfume filled his senses, a sweetness he’d never known.
“It's
jasmine hand cream! This is what my namesake smells like!” She dotted her entire arms with the cream and rubbed it into her skin.
“A moisturizer?”
“Yes! And here’s shampoo and conditioner, for hair, moisturizer, face cream, body wash, exfoliant, oh god please, oh please let the water be running!”
She dived for the taps to the bath, wrenching the handle as hard and as fast as it would go, but to no avail.
“Noooo,” she sobbed, hanging her head. “S’pose it was too good to be true, the water in the tanks would be dry…”
Xant curiously looked over the bathtub and jasmine could feel his freq overflowing with curiosity.
“So humans clean themselves in still water?”
“Well, soaking in the tub is fun, it's not exclusively how we clean ourselves, the shower is better for that.”
“So what is the difference between a human shower and our own?”
Jasmine pulled a disgruntled face.
“It’s the difference between a warm gentle rain and a cold pressure hose!” she exclaimed. “Oh, I wonder if we could get it running again…?” She absent mindedly lifted up a wicker basket, finding a few clothes the previous owners had left behind. “So, what do you think?” she asked, lifting a floral summer dress up over her figure.
“The patterns are beautiful, but, is it a cape?”
“No, it’s a dress! Hmmm, but I’d have to lose a few kilos for it to fit.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Well, I’m a little bit bigger than the supermodel who stayed on this boat, but nothing a few weeks of exercise and diet couldn’t fix. Since there’s no junk food I really don’t have the excuse.”
“Are you not already in optimal condition?”
“Pfffft! No, god no.” She pulled at her stomach fat playfully. “Too much good food and junk food makes for chunky humans.”
“Junk food?”
Jasmine grinned ear to ear.
“Junk food, food that holds almost no nutritional value but is all about taste, glorious morsels of sugar, salt and colour dye.”
“There’s a chance sugar could be found aboard this vessel? We’d need to destroy it if there is any intact, its addictive nature can destroy a Sulins inhibition perminately.”
“Well if it’s going to be anywhere on the ship, it’ll be in the kitchen!”
They headed down to the bottom decks and stepped into a stainless steel wonderland. Jasmine was in her element, running her hand over the many pieces of specialised equipment as Xant watched on in wonder.
They found a perfectly polished kitchen, filled to the brim with human utensils, and all of it for the sole use of producing food. Jasmine lifted a book from the floor and brought it over to Xant.
“Here, this is what human food is supposed to look like.”
The graphical fidelity of the pictures was phenomenal, given that they weren’t on a computer screen, but the colours and shapes didn’t even seem similar to what he knew as ‘food’. He had seen sculptures that didn’t have dimensions nearly as interesting as those of the consumables depicted, and there was page after page of them, dish after dish, each one a work of art.
She showed him the variety of knives on display and the stupid amount of cutlery for eating said food. This was an entire industry to these people, the production and skill devoted to it was…
Garish.
Jasmine stood before a giant set of doors, her hands hovering over the handles.
“This is a refrigerator, we keep perishable goods inside… I wonder if anything is still…”
She jerked open the doors and they were both greeted with the foulest stench. The rotting and liquefied remains of meat and vegetables slopped onto the floor. Sealed inside the fridge, the smell had fermented to overpowering levels.
“Air!” Jasmine shouted as she scrambled past Xant. “I need air!”
They ran up several stairs to escape the toxic gas and were able to breathe a sigh of relief once above deck. They appeared to have come out the other side, more couches and pools littering the area Jasmine made her way across to get to the bow of the ship.
She walked to its peak, then climbed over the safety railing to hold the spearhead.
Puffing out her chest and throwing her arms open, she proclaimed for the entire engineering wing to hear,
“I’M ON A BOAT, I’M ON A BOAT! TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT THE MOTHER FUCKING BOAT!”
An echo of uproarious laughter soon followed suit, a joke Xant wasn’t privy to, then Jasmine climbed back to join him.
“You know, I think I’m done for the moment. I need a break from all this excitement…”
She flopped herself down on one of the sunbeds, and Xant stood over her.
“Jasmine, I’ve been meaning to ask...”
“Go ahead?”
“All of this, it’s wonderful, but it’s nothing like the memory you shared with me. All this is pure opulence. Your memory was far more humble and comforting…”
“Well, that’s because this is a superyacht, and not a lower-income one bedroom apartment…” The human shrugged.
“So, what measure of wealth allows people to live such drastically different lives?”
“... I, dunno know, they're mostly owners of companies, corporations, kings, queens, people who run economies…”
“What expertise defines their worth to be that much more than yours?” Xant asked pointedly.
Jasmine faltered for an answer. While she could throw around words like investment portfolios and trust funds, she didn't actually understand the system as well as she would have liked.
“They study finance, have rich parents, inherited gold mines…luck, I guess? There’s many different ways to get there.”
“So, every human has the chance to attain this level of contribution credit?”
“No…”
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Xant remarked, finally lying down beside her. Jasmine stared up at the steel enclosed ceiling, reflecting.
“No it’s not, but it’s getting better,” she replied. “Slowly but surely, it's getting better.”
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Next Section One: Assets and Debt - Retirement Balance: $0 (it’s in my RRSP account below)
- RRSP & TFSA portfolio: $8,969.53
- Pension: I have never had a job that contributed to a pension plan. I’ve always worked for small business and recently joined a “large corporation” (i.e. a company that really invests in their employee’s future wellbeing/personal development etc.)
- Equity if you're a homeowner: not sure but we bought our condo for just under $280k in 2017. A similar unit recently went for $425k, so around $125k?
- Savings account balance: $7,555.33
- Checking account balance: $4,828.89
- Credit card debt: $0
- Student loan debt: $0 (YAYYY finally OSAP sucks, OSAP = Student Loans Program)
Section Two: Income Income/salary/job progression:
- 16-22: variety of minimum wage jobs. Retail mostly. All of my next jobs are in Administrative Support or Executive Support.
- 22: $33k out of university, full time role. I worked here part time at minimum wage as an assistant for 2 years and then they offered me full time. I quit because there was no work life balance but part of it was amazing. On the flip side, I missed out on a lot in my personal life while working here. One of the major ones was that my only sibling & sister moved out of country and ugh, I wish I could spend more time with her now. I see her every 2 years for about 1-2 weeks now :(
- 24: $40k, complete 180 from the previous job. Way more business forward & corporate but a different type of stress dealing with type A personalities all day/week long. I did learn a lot from the job but long term, it wasn’t good for me because I got stress hives from the panic/demanding needs of the operations.
- 26: $47k, also in admin. Recruiter got me in with “it’s amazing, colleagues are great, you will never work after 5pm” … it wasn’t. My colleagues were demons from hell, so when I left, I gave department head & HR a full run down of everything that happened so that was fun
- 28: 55k, in not for profit industry, admin. Really enjoyed working here, it felt like it was my calling! Welp, COVID hit and I was laid off permanently. SO FUN. I immediately looked into recruiting agencies to help get placed in a role. I even interviewed at some large multinational corporations but…basically everything was put on hold. You can read my job hunt if you into my post history. I applied to close to 400 jobs. I landed a full time job in August and it wasn’t my #1 choice. I know, beggars can’t be choosers. I still took it because who knows what/when I’d get another opportunity of full time work. My #1 choice was put on hold. I start working and the first month I’m there, there’s a 30% employee layoff due to new COVID restrictions. Yikes. I think to myself, did I make the right decision? Am I next on the chopping block? I am quite new and do they even really need me?
- 29: 60k. Come October, my #1 choice connects with me and says they want me in as full time! I sign on the dotted line and best parts are they are a fairly secure company and they pay into a pension!!!! I start in November. I actually haven’t gotten my first paycheck from this job yet.
Main Job Monthly Take Home: approx. $3,794 after tax, EI, CPP (my calculation as I haven’t received my first pay yet!)
Side Gig/Any Other Monthly Take Home: None.
Section Three: Expenses - Rent/Mortgage: $525 for my share of the mortgage
- Maintenance Fees: $245 for my share of the maintenance
- Retirement contribution: nothing yet. I plan to contribute 10% as the company matches 10%!
- Savings contribution: whatever’s left at the end of the month.
- Investment contribution: $100 currently because I was jobless for the better part of this year. I will adjust as I find out my final paycheck after pension/benefits are taken out.
- Cellphone: $80 (15gb grandfathered plan)
- Subscriptions: DH has Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO so we just watch there. I have
- Apple Music and Cloud backup ~$10 for both of them.
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it? My parents moved countries so that my sister and I could get a better education. There was definitely a big expectation of doing something along Finance or Engineering. I ended up doing Business Administration (not a BCom but more in an General Business route). I went to a local university and did 4 years Bachelors, which took me 5 years. I worked part time while studying to pay out of school expenses (social life/eating out/etc). I lived with my parents while studying at university, which I’m super grateful for. My parents spent most of their savings moving countries so I ended up taking OSAP (which are student loans). I did even up getting a few grants here and there but nothing large enough to make a dent on the actual loans. I think I graduated with $30k in loans? I’m all done now, I paid it off.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent/guardian(s) educate you about finances? My mom never really worked while I was young but once we moved countries, she did work retail jobs. I grew up hearing my parents argue about money. My dad never had a stable job since we moved to Canada, which affected how I looked at money. They never budgeted and never really taught us about it either. My mom did tell me to save my money and don’t spend it every time I go to the mall or go out with friends. This didn’t really hit home for me…which I regret a lot now. My dad would get a great job but couldn’t hold it down for longer than 3-6 months. Whatever he earned, he would spend on us like buying us new clothes or getting himself a new computelaptop/etc. As I’m typing this, I can see why I spend the way I do every time I get a new job. I have to buy a few new items for my closet or new shoes etc. because “I earned it”.
At 24, I finally got serious and created a budget sheet to track my expenses. I have been using it on and off but it has helped me pay off my OSAP loans and my credit cards loans. This is why I have $0 on both accounts.
What was your first job and why did you get it? Incoming call centre sales. I worked here after school and it was great. My boss let me do my homework if there were no calls.
Did you worry about money growing up? I wasn’t super aware of it until I saw my parents argue about it. We weren’t deprived but definitely aware of it around the time I was 15/16. We didn’t live in the best neighbourhood and our building was awful.. Plus, not having my dad have a constant job really affected how I look at him because my mom works twice as hard to run the house. Yes, I’m resentful of it. I have gone to therapy for it. More recently, I felt okay on how I look at money/finances until the beginner of this year when I lost my job. My sister also lost her job and she was in education field. Seeing both of us unemployed brought me back to really dark thoughts as to whether I’d end up like my dad…
Do you worry about money now? Yes, because COVID is a nuisance for all industries. I think the company I’m at now is going to be ok (I truly hope). The short stint I had at the previous company is not going to do well so I thank all my lucky stars and God that I landed something that I feel I will enjoy and will be at for a long time. A lot of the money in my Savings will go back during tax season as I took on CERB (which was unemployment insurance during COVID).
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net? 27 LOL. As for my financial safety net, I can take money out of TFSA if needed. I also have $4000k in my chequing account if needed.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain. Oh my, I wish. No, my paternal grandparents never left us with anything. My mom’s parents passed away before I was even born.
Day 1 – Sunday: 8:30 am - woke up groggy because I had taken allergy meds. I love my cat but she sometimes rubs herself all over me haha. We got her from a shelter so she’s still squirmy around new people but we absolutely adore her. She is the cutest catto and very cuddly and loving! Last night, we watched The Queen's Gambit and are almost done the series. Such a good show! Next, I got up, fed my cat and went right back into bed. DH is sleeping peacefully. I scroll through pinterest and instagram for recipes of what to make for the week. I want to use up whatever is in the fridge as we have our grocery trip this Thursday. Cat jumps into bed and settles herself right by me. My little baby!
10:30 am - spent an hour video chatting with my sis, who lived abroad, catching up. We decide to do a paint session over Zoom later on in the afternoon. That sounds so nice to me, especially given COVID has completely eliminated seeing anyone for a long time. Next, I obsessively check my orders from H&M, Amazon and Myntra (an Indian fashion website - my dad is flying back so I ordered a bunch of clothes and jewelry to support local businesses there). I end up cleaning the bathtub and putting up a new shower curtain. Feeling tired. Perhaps, I’m still groggy from the allergy meds?
12:30 pm - DH is off to work out too at a gym and he'll pick up some cat food for our cat using my card. They only allow 10 people inside so he was one of the lucky 10! I'm used to be semi-regular with my gym about a year ago. Kinda fell off, trying to get back into it. Our condo unit is limited in space so I have to be resourceful in equipment that I buy. I had dropped $200 on dumbells, barbells and a yoga mat in September. I've been using them consistently now. Finished my workout. Feeling good! I start meal prepping for part of the week as I'm working part of the week in office. I prep an Indian dish, Cajun shrimp rice and chicken/shrimp pad thai.
2:00 pm - brunch time! I decide to make Turkish Eggs! These are delicious and so filling. I also use up bread that's going to expire in a few days. After brunch, I finish up my meal prep.
2:45 pm - set up my art and pick a cute painting from pinterest. Great little activity when I'm watching my spending plus I get to spend time with my sis who I haven't seen in person in more than 2 years
3:30 pm - massive wind storm knocks out the electricity for our whole condo complex and different parts of the city! LOL about 30 mins later we get our electricity back and I finish up my art around 5 pm. I then put out the dry cat food for my cat’s dinner.
5:30 pm – DH is going to cook dinner so I relax and watch some Schitt's Creek on Netflix. What a hilarious show, such an easy watch and oh god, I don’t know whose character I enjoy the most.
6:30 pm - We eat dinner and watch two final episodes of the Queen's Gambit. What a great show. I wanna be more like Elizabeth Harmon. She doesn’t mince words haha
8:00 pm - I shower, put a Korean face ask on, do my nails and relax before getting into bed at around 10 pm
Spending: $20.34 for cat food + $60.31 for H&M order Day 2 - Monday: 6:50 am - alarm rings and I jump out of bed. Feed my cat and she is just extra cuddly this morning. :) Get ready and DH is kind enough to drop me to the nearest transit station. Oh, I don't know if I mentioned but DH works from home right now. I take the train down and start work for 8:30 am. I walk by a Starbucks but sticking to my IF...I packed Cajun shrimp rice for lunch and I'm doing IF so I wont be eating lunch till 12:30pm. I'm eagerly looking forward to it!
12:30 pm - I wolf down my lunch and browse my phone. I get a notification that I have two deliveries waiting for me! Woo
4:00 pm - I wrap up and head home.
5:00 pm - come home and relax. Feed my cat! DH is doing his weekly cleaning (I don't clean well so he takes it on. I do most of the cooking, which I really enjoy!)
6:00 pm - I pick up my deliveries - two work blouses that I purchased from H&M. I put these in the wash. Afterwards, I warm up dinner - pad thai!!! I take it easy because I have a really nasty headache. Basically rest of the evening, we watch some more Shcitt's Creek and think about if we want to watch The Boys or The Crown (lol I know how varied our choices are). We stick with Schitt's Creek. We share two oranges as little desserts.
8:00 pm - I write up some of this post while listening to BTS. I also steam my clothes for work tomorrow. Shower.
10:45: I head to bed thinking about how I forgot to do 10 squats for my squats challenge. Welp.
Spending: $0 Day 3 - Tuesday: 6:50 am - Similar as yesterday. Woke up 10 minutes before my alarm so I decide to curl my hair. It only takes 10 minutes but I feel super glam. I feed my cat. I decide to wear one of my new shirts from H&M. I'm really feeling myself this morning with a new shirt and curled hair. Yay! DH drops me to the nearest station. Work, lunch (leftover pad thai) and leave for home at 4:00pm. Two people compliment me on my shirt at work so definitely a good purchase!
6:00 pm - I have defrosted chicken in the fridge; so I put together a random Chinese fried noodles and chicken manchurian dish. It turns out surprisingly like a restaurant quality dish, without the MSG. We eat dinner after and both of us try and stop ourselves from eating the whole wok full of goodness. We watch the Crown while eating dinner. Season finale for season 3 is next! Oh Dear..
8:00 pm - Now I'm feeling extra lazy and don't want to work out. I instead do 20 squats and call it a day. We watch more of the Crown. So good! Ah, I love it. Later, I look through Amazon for robot vaccum. Since black Friday is coming up, I'm hoping to get one because the combo of my hair shedding and my cat's hair...way too much to clean haha
11 pm - DH and I go to bed.
Spending: $0 Day 4 - Wednesday: Ahhh WFH for the rest of the week!!
7:50 am - woke up, fed my cat, put on whatever was closest to me and get to work. I'm grateful and thankful my work allows me to WFH because I have a few friends that are "forced" to go into work even though their work can be done remotely. Anyway, I'm eagerly looking forward to lunch as per usual. Security calls me and letting me know that and my H&M order arrived! Yay! I immediately try out the items and my phone drops to the floor as I’m taking a picture of me in my new pants. I bend down and the pants rip down the back. WTF? It’s the regular size that I normally order. So upset.
12:30 pm - Lunch! Leftovers and whatever I meal prepped. I check in with my BFF. I haven’t seen her in person since September due to restrictions and probably won’t till next year if I’m being honest :( we laugh and crack jokes. It ends up being that it’s been 9 years to the day today that we first reconnected after high school (Facebook reminders are helpful!)
4:00 pm - as soon as 4 hit, I shut off my laptop and get into bed. I’m awfully exhausted today. I don’t realize it but I knocked out till 5:45 pm. Now I really don’t want to work out.
6:00 pm - I warm up yesterday dinner and we both quite enjoy it! We end up watching 3 episodes of the Crown. Amazing performances! Jillian Anderson is DH’s first crush and he’s still obsessed with her. We have watched X-Files which I enjoy at times and hate at others.
9:30 pm - I hate that I haven’t worked out in 3 days. I put on a random playlist and work out. I end up doing upper body strength workout with 30 squats and 120 skips to follow. Now I’m tired.
10:30 pm - shower and we cuddle in bed and knock out.
Spending: $0 Day 5 - Thursday: 7:50 am - woke up, put on whatever was closest to me and get to work. I'm in a boring all day training session.
10:30 - my boss said can I take something on for tomorrow? I don't even know the software but of course, I say yes! She also asked me to come into the office on Friday and all week next week. I'll be acting as support for her boss (a C-level executive). I really don't want to commute all week - these numbers are scary me but what can I say? I say yes. I think about it all day and tell myself it's an opportunity to impress the executive of my work.
12:30 pm - I shower and then made instant ramen noodles for lunch! I also fry an egg to serve on top. It’s delicious!
4:00 pm - I need to learn how to use this new software so I message my boss if we can do it now. She says she's free at 4:30 so I waste time browsing Pinterest. Training takes an hour so I log that overtime and call it a day! I feed my cat and then get ready for grocery. I use Flipp to make a grocery list and also check if anything we regular buy is on sale.
6:00 pm - We have grocery at two places - an Asian mart and Metro! $81.09 for my half of it. I totally do not want to cook when I get home so I also order a pizza from their to-go meals. Lucky for me, I knew it was the special of the day $9.99 for an XL 3-topping pizza. We also stop off at the pet store and buy more cat food. It’s still on sale! I’m stockpiling it while it’s on sale.
7:30 pm - we come home, I unpack everything as DH says we're spending a lot. Last week we went To Costco and bought a bunch of non-essential like the Greek Gyro family dinner (amazing btw) and Creme Brule cups. Did we need this? No, but they were actually totally worth it! I tell him that we should only go when we absolutely need something and stick to our two-week rotation. He agrees but is still pensive about it. We watch the Crown and eat pizza. We inhaled the pizza and now I don’t feel so good. DH’s mom texts him saying she misses us. I tell him that we’ll go next week (we’re sticking to 2 week rotations for covid and my sanity). They always have a way of making us feel guilty for our choices. We stick to our guns most of the time but it gets exhausting saying no and they keep pushing our boundaries on a lot of things (babies, future house purchase, etc. etc…. I can write another essay about it)
11:30 pm - I really can't sleep but DH comes home from the gym lol his only available time slot was 10:30. He's one of 10 people that are in a massive gym facility. I admire his dedication. Then we knock out after he eats the last of the pizza.
Spending - $81.09 for groceries + $20.34 for cat food Day 6 - Friday: 6:50 am - terrible sleep. It was super hot in our condo. I hate how the weather has been the past few weeks, some days it’s into the teens (yay) and then a drastic drop to close to freezing. Anyway, I get dressed cause I actually have to go into the office today and all of next week. I'm stressed because my open items went for 5 to close to 30 because of a boss being on vacation. Ugh.
8:00 - 5:00 - basically no breaks except 5 minutes to warm up my lunch and that's it. I log that overtime though because I end up staying till 5 pm. I get time in lieu for overtime so I'll take it. DH, my sis and BFF check in and I don't even have time to respond to any of them.
5:00 pm - Take my train home. I eye ordering dinner in or going to pick up my fave Korean Fried Chicken place called The Fry. I'm feeling like I need a pick me up after the crazy day I had. I order the fried chicken for pick up. DH comes to pick me up and we drive to grab the pick up order. I call them and also add Garlic Cheese Fries, 'cause why not?
6:30 pm - we drive home after pickup. I swear people are driving like maniacs since covid started. So many accidents!! The smell of tr fried chicken fills the car up and I'm drooling in my passenger seat. We get home and change. I actually eat a weed gummy and warm up the chicken in the air fryer. Delicious. Then we finish the season of the Crown. Wow! What a season. The actress that played Diana – spot on! Her mannerisms and her way of looking at the camera/other characters... Fantastic performances all around
9:30 pm - the weed is hitting me and I'm really sleepy. I get into bed and fall asleep a few minutes later.
Spending: $53.43 for take out order Day 7 - Saturday: 7:00 am - get up to feed the cat but I can't find her. It's still dark out. I look at all of her usual spaces and wonder if we locked her into the laundry room? I find her sleeping on the bathroom mat. Weirdo but I love her. I get back into bed and sleep till 9:45. Wow 12 hours of sleep!
9:00 am - I literally do nothing all day. I relax, watch some shows. I love browsing Pinterest. I catch up with my sister and check in on my friends.
5:30 pm - we go to the nearest mall to try and return my ripped pants from H&M. Well, it’s a zoo here. Restrictions are coming in on Monday so everybody and their mom is at the mall. These restrictions will be in place for 28 days. I don’t return my pants because I don’t want to line up. We actually don’t end up going into any store and leave pretty much right away. I spot a cute little pastry shop and I pick up some treats.
6:00 pm – Dinner at mom's. She lives alone currently so we go to keep her company and I miss having her over especially since she's only 10 minutes away from us. We stay here for 3 hours, chatting and catching up.
Spending: $6.78 Food and Drink: $60.21 (takeout/treats) + 81.09 (grocery)
Fun/Entertainment: $0
Home and Health: $0
Clothes and Beauty: $60.31
Transportation: $0 (work pays)
Other: $40.68 (cat food)
WEEKLY TOTAL: $242.29
Reflection: Wow, my spending is way higher than I expected. I normally spend less. I also think writing down everything makes me realize that I’m pretty good at meal prep/eating at home but I need to tone down on large takeout orders. I need to remember that I’m a good cook so I don’t really need to spend outside every week. I swear it’s just the laziness that comes out to play. Sigh. I also think the diary is quite boring but this is pretty much my week most weeks for the past 6 months (with less spending when I was jobless). Anyway, I also need to figure out my retirement fund situation. Once I get my first pay check, I’ll have a better sense of how my savings will look like. I need to buckle down and figure out my finances but a I’m a little weary as I’m not even 1 month old into my new job after being jobless for most of the year. I'm also a little embarrassed that I don't have any proper retirement savings at almost 30 years old. I made some very dumb decisions and I have a tendency to spend on take out and I don't pride myself for it. I also support my mom every so often as she's still trying to make ends meet. I go to therapy for some of this but haven't been since the start of the year. Reflecting back on this year, it's been very difficult and I went to some very dark places. I didn't think I'd lose my job but I did along with so many other people (but not anyone I know). I know we'll come around the corner but I have a constant nagging worry that I will lose my job again. It's not healthy, I know I'm a very competent employee and a talented one but the worry doesn't go away. I hope I can overcome it.
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