No More Caddies

I am saddened by the news that another US business icon is on the brink of bankruptcy. General Motors Corporation (GM), once the largest car maker in the world, will be reorganized under the US’s bankruptcy laws according to the news. For years, because of its dominant role in car making, it offered decent jobs to millions in the US and around the world. Their reliable and stylish cars labeled under the brand names like Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile, were most popular ones in both the States and abroad. I also noticed many governments had deployed the elegant and stately Cadillacs to transport their dignitaries. Hopefully, the upcoming reorganization of the company will make it a leaner and more competitive car manufacturer that produces only fuel-efficient and reliable vehicles.

This news also reminds me of a dark-red Buick our late parents had in the old country. It was a four-door passenger car that was a very reliable transport for our parents. While our father never learned how to drive, our mother did. She probably was the only woman who drove a motor car in our neighborhood. On the weekends, our dear uncle and his colleagues would pile us, the kids, up in the car and go sightseeing. I and my siblings certainly had a whale of good time riding in this GM car. - Ayee

To Have or Not to Have

I am talking about credit cards.

Many credit card holders face financial ruins by overextending credit to themselves. To avoid bankruptcy, some of them had to cut up all their plastics. By using credit cards irresponsibly, few of card holders had already bankrupted themselves.

Recently the US federal governments have enacted some new laws to protect credit card users. But these laws may not be necessary for the 70% of card holders who always pay off their credit card balance before the next billing day as well as for the consumers who refrain themselves from spending the money they have yet earned and from buying things that are beyond their ability to pay.

Based on my own experience, I found credit cards offer me many financial and non-financial benefits. Therefore, I always use my credit cards when shopping.

My reasons for using plastics to pay for purchases are:

• It is more convenient than cash and is safer than having cash in my wallet.
  
• It protects me from unscrupulous merchants.
  
• The cards are welcome and acceptable by almost all businesses.
  
• I can use credit cards to pay even utility bill, tuition, and insurance premium.
  
• It allows me take advantage of bargains on the things I need.
  
• It consolidates all of my purchases and simplifies my bookkeeping.
  
• In an emergency, I can use credit cards to obtain cash.

- Ayee

The Outlaws(?)

A mother and son became the State of Minnesota’s latest wanted persons under the law.

A desperate mother agreed to her son’s request not to have chemotherapy for his cancer. But the court in the land of thousand lakes decided that the young patient must continue taking this unpleasant treatment. To not follow the court decision, the mother and her sick son are now on the run from their comfortable home and become fugitives on a "crime" that harms no others.

Governments enact laws to protect innocent citizens. But in this case, a decision of good intent by the court might have done more harm than good to this young patient. Personally, I certainly do not want any government to interfere on how I deal with my own personal health issues.

I have not heard much lately on the whereabouts of the mother and the child. But I wish their governments will use a more empathic approach to assist them. Let the family decide this very intimate and personal issue for themselves. Enforcing a particular medical treatment by the court may not be the best way to deal with a life and death situation like this one. - Ayee

Tim, The Tuna King

In the early hours of Mother’s Day, we lost our dear Tim.

His sudden passing made me sad and feeling helpless. I could not believe his death could come so quickly at the snap of a finger. Tim's untimely death made me feel that I had failed to help him ward off an ailment that is common to both people and animals. Because of my short comings, I no longer have a rambunctious feline next to my feet waiting to be pampered. Now when I open the door to the back yard, I will miss seeing him under the shade of a filbert tree amid bluebell blooms and green grasses.

Tim came to our lives through a cat flap in the spring of 1999. We all know spring is the season when young amorous cats are out in the neighborhood looking for their perfect mates. After this handsome tom got his job done unscathed, he decided to move in with us. As a found poster for this young cat failed to find his owner, he became ours. And we named him Tim after the other tabby cats, Tommie and Tammy, we had before.

Over the years, I learned Tim was a very low-maintenance pussy. He was fastidiously clean as he licked himself often during the day, then another thorough grooming before bed. He got along with the older cats nicely unless they were fighting for the same cozy spot to sleep. Tim knew how to purr when showing of his affection was required. Sometimes he was a fool in disguise. Now and then we would see Tim on top of Sweetie even though he like his victim was a duly altered tom by qualified veterinarian years ago.

Tim’s other fetish was his weak resistance to canned tuna. If flaked tuna in water was the dish of the day, he would wait patiently as soon as he heard the can opener was at work. He would first devour his portion of the fish quickly then he worked on the leftover in the other cats’ dish. Matter of fact, a plateful of light tuna was his last square meal before he lost his ravenous appetite. His penchant for fish and other kibbles was the reason why Tim was on the chubby side for his age. He was fifteen and half pounds at the time of his passing.

Now our dear Tim is gone. Sweetie may find great relief living without him. His sudden departure makes me realize that there is no way I can turn the clock back to have him at my side again. But our fond memories of this precious feline will remain with us forever and ever. - Ayee

Miracle Workers

Even though I did not bond with my mother well, I bear no bad feeling toward my late mother. I am sure she had done her best for me and my siblings when we were kids.

But if I were given an opportunity to choose my own mother, I would opt for a mom who does not work outside of the family home. It sounds selfish as many loving and nurturing mothers are also very capable and well-educated individuals who can be successful in their chosen career. But for the kids it is definitely a comfort knowing that their mom is home.

Now thanks to the feminism and equal-opportunity movements, many mothers take up employment outside of their home. And there is a word coined for the working moms who juggle both their career and family well. These "supermoms" are miracle workers. After a stressful day at the office, mothers still have to take care of the insurmountable amount of household chores at home. By having a career, working mothers are burdened themselves with extra responsibilities for the family. For this reason, despite my preference of having a stay-home mom, I think working mom deserves an extra Mother’s Day. - Ayee

"The Family Way/Doc Martin"

"Doc Martin" is a popular television series about a surly London surgeon practicing family medicine in one of the most beautiful villages on the British Isles: Port Wenn, Cornwall, England.

I saw "The Family Way" again on PBS the other night.

This episode tells Doc Martin’s unhappy childhood. It explains why Dr. Martin Ellingham (by Martin Clune) was so inapt when dealing with others. He was a most competent and conscious medical doctor. But he was a pain as far as his mannerism was concerned. When his estranged parents came to sort out some family finance with his aunt in Port Wenn, his mother told him it was he who ruined her marriage to his father, also a surgeon. This was the reason why they sent him to study in boarding schools and to spend summer holidays with Auntie Joan in Port Wenn.

Yet in the same Port Wenn’s charming neighborhood, one of Doc Martin’s patients and her boyfriend, a music teacher, found great joy when they were told that they were expecting a set of twins.

Unfortunately, the series on "Doc Martin" had ceased production after three successful seasons. - Ayee