Hospital care

Recently I had the unfortunate experience of being in the ER with a family member, and then getting admitted for observation. Compared to the last time that a family member was admitted couple years ago, this time around the service was crap.

Yes, we live in a first world country, where our health care is suppose to be the best. It's free after all right? 

It's utter crap and it's just getting worse. Take this from someone who actually works in health care in Canada. Health care isn't free. We basically get taxed out of our butts and that goes into everything that you see is 'free'. Refugees? Yes, we've basically paid for your stay AND your salary here. Which is why our country is in the dumps. 

Anyways, back to hospital experience.

We went to ER on a Thursday evening, and was pretty much in ER for just under 24 hours, before getting a hospital bed. The sad thing is, I'm not surprised at all that it took that long. If anything, that's a pretty good time (compared to others). It's definitely not acceptable, but it is what it is. Now, this is a well known hospital, one of the best in the country (if not the world). But depending what you're in for, you could be in for a long haul. If you aren't dying or bleeding to death, then you will be sitting in ER for 20+ hours until you get a bed. And that's if your condition is serious enough to warrant a hospital bed. 

I can't even tell you the name of our ER nurses because we never really saw them much. They came to take a set of vitals. And that was it. You could die in the chair and they probably won't even notice, because the nurses are getting pulled left right and centre. At night, there are maybe 2 rounding doctors who have to check 3-4 separate units in ER to assess patients. On top of that, if they get a trauma case come in, they get pulled. So it can be a very busy night. 

Which is why if you're in ER alone, those are the worst cases because no one is there to observe except for other patients and families that are around. I'm fortunate that I can take the time off and accompany my family member and stay with them all day and night to ensure they remain alive while waiting for a bed. It has come to that point in this country, to ensure survival, you really should have someone with you in ER. It's sad, but it's more scary. 

Once we got a bed and went to the unit, the unit was located very far from the main building. In the words of my mother, it was like the poor side of the hospital. I mean, it is an older section of the hospital. We are grateful we got the bed, but this was just the beginning. If you thought distance was an issue, this barely touched the surface.

The unit itself was built like a square. The nursing station was in the middle, while the outer portion was surrounded by hospital rooms. Just like every other unit, the nurses rotate throughout the week. You may not even get the same nurse the next day. That's just the reality of it. I introduced myself as a health care professional whenever I got to meet the nurse for the day (or night). When they hear that, they either get super anxious, or super happy. Anxious being a trouble maker family member, or happy because I actually help them, and that is what I did. 

The issue with that is, when they see you being very helpful, they don't check in as much on your family member. The moment my family member required assistance to the bathroom (for example), the second family member was there to help, but given that there was an IV pole to push, along with the family member being unsteady on their feet, it would be a lot safer if extra help was on hand. They called for a nurse to come. The response? Oh, stay inside for now, we will be there. 

When it took a while, they realized that the nurses were giving each other report, one shift to the next. No one cared to check in on the patients' request to use the bathroom. Instead, the family member struggled with all the equipment and the mess left behind in the bathroom. They had a risk of falling, and yet, not a nurse went in there to check.

Basic nursing 101. If your patient is calling you for help, doesn't matter if it's to go back to bed, or go to the bathroom, you GO and CHECK on them. I don't care if you're giving report. You tell your colleague that you have to go check on your patient, you'll be back, but feel free to continue reading my report. What ever happened to basic common sense in nurses? 

I get it that we are all busy. I'm a nurse and I've been in situations where I had to cover an entire floor of 30 something patients with 1 colleague. But if someone called for me to use the bathroom and I was giving report, I'll be running into that room quickly because the last thing I want is to have a patient attempting to walk themselves and then falling out of bed trying to do that. 

The nurses these days, what is happening? Is everyone on Tik Tok trying to make a buck or two on their shift, and forgetting you have lives in your hands? Is it really that difficult to go check in on your patient to help them to the bathroom? If you find it annoying or if you rolled your eyes, then don't be a nurse. Find another profession to do. But just don't be a nurse.

The most aggravating thing is when my family member tried to use the bathroom, and attempted to get out of bed, but lost their balance and fell to the ground. This room was also right in front of the nursing station. Family member did end up calling for help, and that's when FINALLY the nurses came in and assisted them back to bed. 

I understand that not all eyes will be on every room at every waking moment, because sometimes the nursing station is empty, that all the nurses are with patients. I can't blame them for not watching and seeing said family member fall down because they can't be sitting there just watching a room for their entire shift. 

This obviously is a systemic issue. It's not just a hospital issue, but it's really a domino effect, and that starts from the higher up. Hospitals are all underfunded. Yes, they may do fundraising events, or have donors donate huge amounts to the hospital. Reality is, do we actually see any of it? Do we see the money? Does it reflect on each unit? No, it doesn't.

The only money that we see is when they built an entirely new wing or section of the hospital, the proof of where some of the money went. Or maybe one unit finally got a new bladder scanner from that money. Aside from that, where is the money going? Research? You've had decades to find a cure for cancer. We have the most advanced technologies, yet we haven't found a cure. But think about it. If they could actually find a cure, what's going to happen to the pharmaceutical companies? They'd go bankrupt. The nursing staff? The specialist doctors? Jobless. They wouldn't need any of us anymore. Pharmaceuticals would lose billions of dollars. 

So of course, they must have a cure already. They're just not saying it. Because hospitals would run out of business. And that's the thing. Hospitals are a business. It's not a centre of care and compassion. It's a very big business. They don't care much about retaining staff such as nurses or assistants. We are just a small pawn in a big game of chess. You don't like it? Leave. They will replace you in a heart beat.

Anyways, that's just me side tracking. But the overall hospital experience this time around was a lot worse than the other one I had that happened less than 2 years ago. It was also a lot worse than from 9 years ago when I was last there for my mother's case. So yeah, hospitals are definitely getting worse as time goes on.

I also think the nursing knowledge and care is getting much worse. I don't want to blame one generation, because from what I see, it's a mix of all generations. I don't know if it's because we don't give a crap anymore about patient care, that everything is just about making the big bucks (but really, we don't make big bucks...if we do, we get severely taxed). Or that the generation of nurses are just that incompetent and lack common sense - perhaps they see it from their colleagues and just follow along. 

I don't know what it is. But whatever it is, it makes me terrified to continue getting care in a hospital for any of my family or loved ones. I cannot rely on the hospital to provide care to my family. I would rather take an extended leave of absence to care for them at home. That's how unsafe I feel. 

To everyone else, as I mentioned above, I highly recommend ALWAYS going to the hospital with your loved ones. Don't rely on the hospital staff to care for your family. 

7 months post - op check

Now that we are in June, let's do a 7 month post operative check!

Can't believe it's been just over 7 months now. How have things been since the spinal operation? Well, it's definitely had it's ups and downs. 

Initially, I didn't feel so much of the pain and I think it's because of the pain killers that they had put me on. I had taken the equivalent of Naproxen during the early healing days. Oxy was also prescribed to me but thankfully I did not require it. I'm proud to say I didn't require any narcotics during this time. If anything, I would take a narcotic for menstrual pain. Now that's just crazy when your period pain feels worse than back pain. 

What I've noticed almost daily now is the constant muscle ache type of pain. It's not to say the surgeon was horrible at the surgery (actually, he is quite the opposite!), but it's the way the body heals after such surgery. The incision heals fast, but it's the internal portion of the body that will take time to heal (I'm reading it could take a year for internal healing). 

Each case is different. Some people fair quite well after 6 weeks and start skiing or snowboarding (although it's highly recommended after 3 months of healing). But some will take years to recover. I don't know where I currently stand, but I feel like I'm heading towards the 1 year mark of healing. And I'll tell you why...

Walking. For months I've been trying to increase my walking tolerance. The max that I have gone is about 1.5 hours. I would try to push to 1 hour 45 minutes and I believe I have done it once at the mall without taking a break or a seat. However, I haven't been able to successfully repeat it as when I hit the 1 hour mark, my back feels exhausted already. It's the type of feeling when you work out your back too much that it feels tired and somewhat burning, like you've burned too much calories. 

Standing. This one is in combination with the walking. But I find that if I just stand there and not do any moving, the exhaustion will hit much faster. An example of this is at work. I haven't gone back to floor nursing yet as I know my tolerance isn't the greatest. This time, it was different as our program received new machines, and this would require me to be on the unit to test it out, and utilize it more comfortably with our clients. Our changeover usually lasts about 2 hours, and this involves a lot of walking and standing, with some time for sitting to chart. I couldn't do the entire 2 hours of walking and standing. In between I had to either lean over or sit down and stretch until my muscles felt more loose before I could attempt to use the machines. 

Sitting. I have no problems sitting. But I know that I cannot sit forever and that I need to stand and walk to avoid further damage. I have noticed that if I do sit for a prolong period of time, my right knee locks up and it's VERY painful getting up to walk because the ligaments are all tensed up. For a period of time, my physio had to focus on my knee and my quads because they were so tense, and caused too much pain. 

Core building. The amount of times both the surgeon and physio have said this: strengthen your core!!! Last year I couldn't do it. I remember trying to suck in my core and not use my back for anything. But as soon as I sucked in my core, I could feel the tingly sensation going down my left leg. That was the result of the compression in the back. Post surgery, I made sure to focus on the core. Honestly, when you strengthen the core, it relieves the back of the tension. I do admit I still have moments during high pressure that I forget to use the core and end up using my back muscles. I learn pretty quickly that I cannot do that because I start to ache pretty much right away. 

Use. Your. Legs. Yes, with any lifting or transferring, USE YOUR LEG MUSCLES. USE YOUR GLUTES. I work with clients who sometimes can't help themselves, and as health care professionals, they trust us to help transfer them. It's really exhausting on our end when we have to do that and injure ourselves in the meantime. 

What do I do when I feel my back muscles aching? First thing's first, I sit and I stretch my back. I don't ever hyper-extend anymore but I pretty much flex forward and just stretch. I do light back rotations, and of course do some squats when I can. At home, I use a heat pad. I didn't use the heat pad for a while given my incision was still healing but now that it's healed, I never thought I would need my heat pad again. But really, it's become my best friend again. Lastly, if I REALLY need it, I take Baclofen. I find it does help relax the muscles, but the side effect is another battle. I don't take the Baclofen during the day as it does make me super sleep and would impair my judgment. But at night? No problem. I would sleep like a baby through the night without pain. 

Although the surgeon has pretty much cleared me, I still take those words with a grain of salt. It takes 1 year to fully recover? Give it 2 years. 

Roller coasters. As much as I would love to go back on them, I know I physically shouldn't. And it would be a terrible idea to do it even now. Given the G forces and random drops and twists, it is no wonder why all coasters have a warning label before each ride that if you have back issues or spinal issues/surgery, to NOT ride any coasters. 

High heels. Man, just as I kept practicing to try and perfect my shoes, I had to put a halt to wearing them. Although the surgeon said I could wear them now, I prefer not to. Heels alter the spine tremendously, and if you fall, there's a risk of re-herniation (if not other injuries). I'll have to give it another 6 months or so before I attempt to wear high heels again, and having to learn how to walk in them again. 

Running, I used to be a runner, cross country in particular. It was my escape and my high. However, with the constant pressures from running (and perhaps uneven ground), it's considered a high impact sport that should be avoided after spinal surgery. 

All in all, I'm able to do more than last year, without pain. I'm able to walk for just over an hour now, versus 2 minutes. I used to be able to walk the entire Las Vegas strip, or just walk the entire day there without issues. Now? I know I have a long way to go, to get back to my base line. 

I still continue to do my physio, to continue with my stretches. I'm taking advantage of what I couldn't do last year. It's been a huge blessing to even do all this, knowing that things could've been a lot worse. Hubby has been my biggest supporter in all this: reminding me to sit, to take a break, and noticing if I'm getting exhausted, he would look for a spot for me to sit (or even carry me if he had to). 

Someday, I will get back to baseline. I just cannot give up. Just have to keep on moving forward. 

Happy 3 Years!

I'm going to try and not make this post too lovey dovey, but SORRY NOT SORRY if I can't help it.

I can't believe it's been 3 years since hubby and I first started going out. Honestly, the past 3 years have flown by so fast. There's a post I found on IG that pretty much sums up how I've felt since we started going out:

Turns out the honeymoon phase lasts forever when you don't date a f*cking loser.

I don't want to be condescending to my past that they were all losers (ok, maybe some of them), but every past gives you life experience. You learn about what you like and don't like in a life partner, what you can tolerate, and not tolerate. You grow as a person. You take what you've learned and apply it to your everyday life. 

If you have read my previous posts about love, you probably remember why this relationship is so much different than my previous ones. It's not because of some high school crush, or that they had an awesome car (hey BMW, I still love you, but not as much as him - sorry not sorry), but it's the way I am treated with love, with respect and most importantly: accepting my weird self. 

When I look back to our previous years of the "talking stage", I can't really tell you exactly when we first started talking. We talked years prior, but again, it was more of a respective colleague type of conversations. But I do recall us talking a bit more about the fall of 2022. Sharing car pictures and random life updates, working as a great team on the unit, having bubble tea with our other friends. I didn't think too much of it until May 2023 when things really started taking off. 

There has been so much that has happened in the past 3 years, where it tested out our love for each other. I'm sure there will be more challenges up ahead, but that is all part of life. It wasn't easy, especially in the beginning where we each had this perception of each other in our heads. The fear of saying something that would hurt the other. We have taught each other a lot, embraced our mistakes, apologized and made up, and we still continue to grow together. I think the biggest one of all is that he makes me feel safe, no matter what. It's not just protecting me from random strangers or falling items (yes, throwback to the PTN event when the backboard at the dealership almost fell on our heads but he had the greatest ninja reflex to see it from his peripherals), but the everyday occurrence that if something had bothered me at work, or my deepest darkest thoughts that randomly hit me, I could tell him and not be judged for it. This goes for the same vice versa. Just showing up for each other, and being there for each other really makes the bond so much stronger and different.

Things that were lacking in my past - it was finally all being shown to me at last. I wish I could explain and put it into words but I'm just so happy that I could giggle like a kid in a candy shop. 

Although things have been quite hectic this year and we didn't get to go on our annual anniversary trip, one thing's for sure: I don't really care where we go, or if we stay home - all I know is I'm super grateful to have him. 

Happy 3 years Anniversary babe :) 

Ladies, if you got yourself a good man, embrace him. Appreciate him. Don't be stupid and think the grass is always greener on the other side - if anything, that is the biggest downfall. 

Genesis vs. Cayman

This post is dedicated to my 2 babies: the Genesis Coupe, and the Cayman S. 

Credit to Boris Lau (2022)

I've never been married nor do I have children, but I do consider my 2 cars as my children. Why? Because they can get expensive as heck to maintain and keep happy. Whereas my colleagues and friends are busy taking their children to swimming/ski/hockey/gymnastics/ballet/drawing lessons, which can all add up with time, I have 'invested' my hard-earned money on these gigantic mechanical devices that don't technically have a soul, nor carry my last name to the next generation. But, they do have a driving soul (as I like to call it). 

When people spread rumours that I can't commit in a relationship, they have no clue what they're talking about. This year, I celebrate 15 years of service in my work place, 16 years together with the Genesis Coupe, and 8 years together with the Cayman. That is more than all my relationships combined over the years. The problem is not that I have commitment issues. The problem is I committed my time and energy to the wrong type of person for my mental and spiritual health. My job and my cars have been more reliable to me than all the men I've ever dated in the past. 

My Genesis has been with me through the beginning of my career, from my very first job, to my current job. It has seen all my struggles, my depressing days, my happy days, and of course the annoyed era where I have to keep fixing it due to various reasons which I will list below. It has been through when M was around, and when M passed away. It has been there when I first started my nursing career. It has brought home my 2 current cats from when they were kittens to now adults. It continues to live on. 

In 2014, I made the decision to modify the Genesis. The ultimate goal was to build a quicker turbo version, but nothing too crazy. If anything, it was only to upgrade the parts that the stock Genesis had, and do a slightly quicker version. So here I went, trying to find all these parts to make it faster. Last one was to do a safe tune. I wasn't ready yet for the custom tune where the engine could potential blow up if I didn't upgrade all the correct parts. I thought modifications would be cool - an Asian chick driving a modded out Genesis Coupe?! BAZINGAAAAAA.

Well, the thing is modifications come with plenty of risks. Risks that I wish I had done more research on, but I was too excited back in the day to care. I was making good money and wanted to celebrate by modding. Little did I know that all these mods would potentially cause life long issues for the car.

As an example, when you modify the suspensions to make it lower, you play with the centre of gravity, but you also put strain on the rest of the stock parts. The car was meant to drive at a certain height that it was built to do. But once you mess with the height and suspension parts, it will strain the rest. The weight of the car plays a role - and that's why some decide to remove seats or whatever else from the car to lighten the load, or replace certain parts with carbon fibre to save on weight. Again, this would screw with the balance of the car. 

Initially I started off with springs instead of coilovers, because I was too cheap to invest in those. Springs cost $120 (back in the day), while coilovers were well over $1000 and I can see why - coilovers is a complete set of not just springs but better damping, and adjustable height. When I went with springs, I notice the ride was much more harsh, and the car was not absorbing all those bumps as good as before. When you only settle with springs, it will ruin your shocks over time. Eventually I upgraded to a set of coilovers and it was a lot better. But given our harsh winters, coilovers can also degrade if not taken care of - the salt will eat away at them, making them costly once again to replace. Currently I'm on my second set of coilovers and they have started to rust because of all the wintery salt. 

Internally I didn't do too much. I think the most expensive was the exhaust work and the tune. However, given that my tune was set up for a turbo back exhaust (no cats), I ended up putting the cats back in because it was a nightmare driving it around with a loud exhaust. After getting pulled over twice, I decided it was just safer to put the cats back in. Now, without another proper tune, the car wants to go fast but is limited. That now puts a strain on the entire system. My flexpipe had to be replaced twice probably because of the tune.

When you lower the car, you take risks such as damaging the body of the car. For example, the front lip and side skirts. The amount of times I had to fix and repaint the lip because it cracked due to hitting something...probably 3 times?? Let's not forget the time a member from the Genesis community offered to take my lip and side skirts to paint, only to completely disappear from the face of the earth (along with my stock rims and tires) - I'm looking at you Matt Burden. 

Let's not forget the time that the car was sort of swaying back and forth. Eventually the entire subframe had to be dropped to find the issue causing the swaying. That one cost an arm and a leg. The following year, the Genesis was involved in a hit and run in the work parking lot. All the damage was submitted through the insurance company to fix. I swear I thought that would be it. After everything was fixed and repainted, Genesis had a good run for a few months. Until...

I hit a mattress on the 401.

Getting old sucks. Let's just say driving at night with window tints, while it's raining, it renders me blind. I was driving westbound just past Westney, when I saw what looked like a puddle up ahead. As I drove closer, I realized ... IT WAS NOT A PUDDLE OF WATER. No, there were 2 mattresses on the freaking highway. I could not change lanes as 1) the right lane was the shoulder/merge lane and 2) there was a car in my blind spot on the left side. Hubby was behind me and has way better vision than me so he changed lanes. But sucker me, I braked hard and ran right into the mattress. BOOM! I felt my car bounce. When I got home, not only did I break one side of my front bumper clips, but my front lip had cracked. LITERALLY THE BUMPER AND FRONT LIP THAT WAS JUST FIXED 7 MONTHS AGO.

I could never get a break since finishing the mods. 

This is also why one of my biggest pet peeve is people not securing their loads properly on their cars, ESPECIALLY A DAMN MATTRESS. When I see people secure a mattress on their roof, with a string, yeah that thing is flying off. Just hire a damn moving company to do it. Or better yet, go rent one of those U-Haul vans. A mattress fits into one of those! I would know because I've moved before! I would never secure something as huge as a mattress on the roof of my car. Can you imagine if I drove around in the Cayman with a mattress on the roof? The mattress would be longer than the car. It's ridiculous. People are just retarded. 

This past winter, when the snow was bad, I gave Genesis a bit of a break until the snow levels started to melt a bit. One time I drove to work and I had to clear a steep hill. There was still snow on the driveway in the middle portion of the road. Basically the sides were clear because all the tires had ran through them, but the middle was the problem. I had taken this driveway slightly sideways (never head on because low car problems). Things were going well until I heard this loud explosion-like sound. It was like a BOOM POP POP sound. I must've scared the people waiting for the bus nearby. I didn't feel any different with the car.

Later as I parked and inspected, the car was too low that it had scraped the snow in the middle of the driveway, and that had dislodged my rear diffuser, which then cracked my rear bumper. Great. Not only did I have to deal with the front bumper and lip issues, but now THE ASS TOO?

SIGH. 

So here we are in 2026, I have asked the shop to adjust my coilovers so I could clear the ground easier from now on. Everything is pretty much just maintenance from now on. No more modding.

Which brings me to the Cayman. I had at one point thought about modding the Cayman. I have seen some really good project cars, and it's just so beautiful. However, I stopped myself because 1) modding a Porsche is a hell of a lot different than modding a Hyundai, 2) it's going to cost a lot more money, 3) do I really want to spend the next decade or 2 dealing with problems that will arise after modding a Porsche?

The only 'mod' I have done are window tints (if that even counts as a mod). And putting a sticker on the spoiler. The Cayman is a great car in stock form. I figured I would want to enjoy the car as is, and that's what I've stuck with all this time. It has served me well (aside from that one random hiccup the season after I took it out of storage for the first time). 

The Cayman is already quite low. But it came to the point that the Genesis was lower than the Cayman. Feedback from both family and friends have indicated that they definitely felt the difference. That's when I knew I had to do something about the Genesis' height. It's also impacted me in the long run, where after the spinal surgery, getting into a lowered car has its challenges. 

The Cayman's shocks are pretty good, the power is there. Except the noise. It needs to be louder. I really want to hear that flat6 engine scream. However that would involve upgrading the exhaust system and I don't know if I'm quite ready for that. Because I know I'd want a tune as well. And then it just becomes a deadly cycle again.

Cost of maintenance and mods? Honestly, I could've bought another brand new coupe with all the maintenance and fixing damages over the years. I could've just gave up and said, ok I'm saying goodbye to the Genesis because it's old and all the costs are way more than the value of the car now. But it's my first car, it has its sentimental value which makes it even harder to say goodbye. It's also been there for me through the highs and lows, times where not even a guy could console me of my miseries. So why should I give up on the Genesis when it didn't give up on me?!

I know, it sounds stupid because it's just a car. But really, when you pour your mind, soul and money into your project car, it's literally your baby. YOU did that. It's not just a transportation device that takes you from one place to another. You become one with it. For non-car people, it wouldn't make sense. To the car people, it would make lots of sense. I understand that there will come a time when yes, it won't be worth it anymore, that it's time to say goodbye for good. But until then, I will cherish every moment, every drive.

Cayman is there mostly these days as an emergency back up for work, and of course a weekend car for cruises and meets. Without the Cayman, I honestly don't know what I'd do if the Genesis required a long service appointment. I could take the bus, but given so many crazy people these days, I'd feel more safer in my own car. 

The Cayman brings lots of joy to those around me, especially colleagues and clients. When they see that bright yellow car in the sun in the parking lot, they always ask for pictures, or for the key (as a joke) to drive away. Everyone competes to park beside it, or stays away from it because they don't want to scratch it. It may be 12 years old this year, but it still looks like a brand new car. I give props to the previous owner for maintaining it so well, and I promise myself that I would do the same. 

Maintenance on the Cayman has been quite reasonable. Aside from the major work done to it such as brakes and tires, and perhaps replacing the condenser, the yearly maintenance is actually a lot less than the Genesis surprisingly. I guess because Porsche actually built their cars to last. 

Hyundai's paint job is crap. One little bump or scrape and BOOM your paint starts to peel. Porsche paint? Flawless. Ok, maybe aside from when I scraped the side of the Cayman against the garage wall. That wasn't fun. BUT it actually buffed out without issues. It also happened to the Macan when I had it on loan. I had scraped the side against the garage wall and when I inspected it, the paint was still flawless. No scratches, no paint peeling. Seriously, they are monsters. Highly respect Porsche for both their engineering and paint. Now we can see why they cost so much. You pay for what you get. 

Hyundai are good daily cars, as long as you don't mod them. Then it becomes a freaking nightmare trying to maintain it. I'm fortunate to own both a Hyundai and a Porsche, as they are very far from the spectrum of each other. But I do appreciate both for what they have to offer. Honestly, this is something that I'm fortunate enough to do on my own, and it may be my once in a life time opportunity to experience this. So I plan to keep this going for as long as I can, given whatever I have.

Appreciate everything that is given to you in life. Take care of it, and God will make sure it takes care of you. 

Porsche Handbag

Porsche what?!

Ok, before I dig into the nitty gritty, I have a question for you. Have you ever seen a Porsche handbag? One with the Porsche logo, with nice smooth calfskin leather?

I have not. And I don't even think Porsche sells nice handbags. There are luggages and perhaps a carry-on type of handbag, but nothing similar to a designer handbag. 

It was back sometime in late 2021 (lots of shopping happened in 2021 after my break up...you know what they say, retail therapy works) when I saw on IG that someone makes personalized handbags. From previous history, it looked like they were part of Saturns Drives, so at least others knew of this company. I took a chance and reached out to him to help me design my own handbag. 

Ideas were thrown around and colour schemes were chosen. Ultimately I wanted something to match the Cayman. I went with a piano black and yellow leather combination, with yellow stitching. 

It's been a while since I put the order in and received it, but it did take probably close to 1.5 years from the time the initial drawings were sketched, until the final product arrived. I have to give him credit though - he is the only guy working all those personalized bags, so a one man job is tough. 

I received the bag sometime in summer 2023. Lo and behold, here are some pictures:

I want to say it has a similar shape to the Hermes Birkin, but obviously not 100%. Overall size is quite big.

This is the back. No rear pockets. Just one smooth leather backing. 

The side profile. The yellow stitching is all customizable. I went with yellow, just because.

This is the bottom of the bag. There are 4 feet stitched underneath.

The Porsche logo up close. So shiny!

The interior - it's pretty much one gigantic hole. You can fit a lot if you wanted to.

I haven't been able to use this bag very much, except for long cruises. My brief review:

PROS:

-there is only 1/1 of it - unique in it's design

-leather is smooth, nice and soft

-you can fit a lot of things inside

-close lock is well done (similar to the ones used on LV handbags)

-handle is very sturdy, very good quality

-the colour is outstanding, same with the Porsche logo

CONS:

-it is already heavy even without anything in it (it's probably the handle as it is quite bulky)

-no divider inside, so everything is thrown around

-no crossbody option (you can ask for it)

-yellow colour/light colour gets dirty quick

Overall, if you want a handbag to match your car, I'd say go for it. He's done handbags with Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Porsche (to name a few). The handbag sizing and outline is standard, so you just choose whatever leather colour and stitching you would like. 

Shoutout to UAOP Luggage on IG (Paul) for creating such unique handbags!

High School Reunion

This month, my high school celebrated their 50th anniversary. The plans of a big celebration was in the works since 2024 so there was ample of time to get the word out regarding the big celebration.

The school was founded in 1976, and to this day remains one of the busiest high schools in Toronto. I graduated just over 20 years ago and man, I feel old.

I wasn't sure if I would go as a lot of my friends from my grade didn't really want to go. Everyone has their own busy lives and kids to worry about so going to a reunion wasn't really on many people's minds. 

After debating for a while, another friend had asked if I would go. Well, as long as I knew someone, yes I would definitely go!

The day of the event, my brother had called and stated that he totally forgot about the event happening, and asked if I was going. I said yes and after going back and forth, we decided to just meet at the school.

Unfortunately I did not have the Genesis that day, as it was in the shop (haaaaa again for maintenance work), so I had to take the Cayman. I mean, I guess it's an excuse to take it for a spin.

When the time came for the event, I realized that yeah, damn the traffic was quite bad. As soon as I turned into the school parking lot, I knew it was a horrible idea. The lot was not very big and of course, all the spots were taken. The other option was to drive across to the plaza next door and that was another bad idea. I decided to circle around and park at another empty school lot adjacent to the high school. There were just 2 cars in the lot, and no sign to say we couldn't park there.

I made the trek to the high school and met with my brother and eventually my friend. There was a nice tribute to all the teachers who had passed over the years. I knew some of the teachers, one of which was my gym teacher. I was shocked and saddened to see that a good handful of the teachers and vice princpal during my years, had passed away. 

After a few speeches and a lovely music played by the school's band, we were free to roam the hallways and some classrooms that were open for viewing. I had to admit, it was nostalgic to walk through the hallways again, and go through some of the classrooms. A lot of things haven't really changed physically - the chairs and desks are still the same (I swear, older equipments last a hell of a long time), the wall paintings are still there. Even the lockers are still the same. They're so old that the numbers have faded on each locker, so someone had resorted to writing the numbers with permanent locker on each one. 

I went through one of the science class rooms and I could swear it was where I had my physics 11 class. The teacher was a Polish lady with the thickest accent and for that semester, I could not understand for the life of me what I was learning. Physics is one of those things that either you get it, or you don't. It's really hard to teach it and understand it. 

I had got to see my previous music teachers. Honestly, that class is what made high school so memorable for me. It wasn't the math or the science, but it was music. I had taken music all throughout the 4 years I was there, so the teachers really got to know me as a student. If I had a mental breakdown, they were there for me. They remembered I played piano and prepped for my exam during my spares. That's how special these teachers are to me. It's so amazing to see them after all these years and to see they haven't really changed much.

I also bumped into my previous graduates and no joke, some I haven't seen since graduation. It's been a good 2 decades since I last saw them. Of course we had to take pictures with each other. The next fun part was to find our graduating year photos. That was easy as it was right in the middle of the big forum. It just brought back so many memories and all the fun times we all had as friends.

My brother was there much earlier and I ended up finding his graduate class photos. He of course bumped into his classmates from the past and literally for him, it's been 3 decades since he last saw them. 

Brother and I ended up walking around to try and find more things to check out. Unfortunately someone (or maybe it was something technical) triggered the fire alarm so the high pitch siren started going off along with the flashing lights. Just like old times. This was about 30-40 mins before the end of the event. At first we all thought it was just a fluke, so many of us still wandered the hallways. It wasn't until we tried to go to the pool area, that a staff member had shooed us out. That's when we realized oh, they're not joking. We had to evacuate the building.

We all poured into the walkways and sidewalks, and for the first time I realize this turnout was huge. Traffic came to a halt, with all the nearby parking spots all filled out. 2 firetrucks had arrived to check the scene. It was at this time that we decided it was time to go home.

All in all, it was a great event. Those who didn't go, all expressed regret of not going. I think many thought it would be a lame turn out but reality is, it really brought back old memories.

If you haven't gone to any of your high school reunions, I recommend it. You'd be surprised who you bump into and it just triggers an entire flood of memories.

Happy Mother's Day

This is to all the mothers out there...

Happy Mother's Day.

For all the moms who have been there for us, those who are moms to be, mothers for the first time, single mothers, mothers who have passed on...

Motherhood is not for the weak. It is the most challenging job in the entire world - one that is thankless, no pay, no vacation, no in lieu of benefits. 

To the stay at home mothers - you want to offer the best for your kids by taking care of them and watching them grow; you are basically the doctor, nurse, pharmacist, social worker, technician, coordinator, plumber, chef, babysitter, cleaner, teacher (to name a few). You are basically that all in one, without the pay. 

Some husbands think it's so easy maintaining a home because they're always home watching the kids. How hard could it be? Wait until you try it for one day.

Mothers. We all look up to you. You are the superhero of society.

Thank you. Thank you for all that you've done, and continue to do.

<3