Untwisted Vortex

The New Olongapo Pedestrian Overpass – The End of Pedestrian Injuries?

RT Cunningham — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:26:13 +0000

Most news travels by word of mouth in Olongapo, despite it having a huge population. I didn't hear about the new Olongapo pedestrian overpass when it was announce. None of my relatives have said anything at all.

Under Construction

Manila has quite a few pedestrian overpasses in place already, yet this is the first one in Olongapo and it's way overdue. Just shy of a couple of weeks ago, when I was headed to the bank and my wife was driving, I noticed the overpass under construction for the first time. It was the first time either of us had seen it.

It's no wonder. We only travel in the northern part of the city when we're going to the Philippine National Bank and we only do that once a month. I'm sure we were distracted by other things in the roadway on previous trips.

Location

If I was asked for an exact location, I wouldn't be able to tell you anything other than it's on Rizal Avenue near the Olongapo City Elementary School. Yes, around 4000 students cross the road in that particular area on every school day and yes, the traffic is always controlled by crossing guards. What compounds this problem is the amount of vehicles that run on this particular stretch. It's unreal and traffic jams are commonplace. You can appreciate why we avoid that part of the city.

I know this is the first one and I hope it won't be the only one. There are several areas in the city which could become a lot safer for pedestrians overnight once pedestrian overpasses are put in place.

Pedestrian Accidents

Will having this overpass in place reduce pedestrian accidents and pedestrian injuries? Obviously it will, but it will not eliminate them, not even in that particular area. The reason is simple. A lot of the residents will be too lazy to use it. Okay, go ahead and ask me how I know that.

I'm a good observer. On one of my many trips to Manila, in the places where pedestrian overpasses exist, there are still people who refuse to use them. I can't count how many times I saw people weaving and bobbing to get across one of the large thoroughfares. It's easy to change conditions. It's hard to change human behavior.

We rarely hear of pedestrian car accidents in Olongapo. Again, it's because most of the news travels by word of mouth. The city has four times as many residents as it had 25 years ago (currently around 200,000) and probably about ten times the amount of traffic. I'm surprised that there isn't even a local newspaper in Olongapo.

Disclaimer: Since almost all of the news comes by word of mouth, certain things I write about could be utterly wrong. I invite anyone who wants to take the time to correct me to do so.

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Am I Responsible for my Son's Nursing School Education and Nursing Degree?

RT Cunningham — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:25:08 +0000

Every once in awhile, I have to ask myself if I'm responsible for my son's (Jon) nursing school education and nursing degree. I think any parents paying for college should ask themselves that question at least once or twice since paying for college is a huge financial commitment.

The Responsibility is All Mine

A year after Jon graduated from high school, I saw that his life was going nowhere fast. He was content to live at home and kept applying for jobs which paid minimum wages or a little more. He wouldn't work at fast food joints, so his choices were that much more limited. In the early spring of 2005, after watching Jon spend most of his waking hours playing video games with his fellow video game addicts, I decided to send him to live in the Philippines, with relatives. He was a dual-citizen (American and Filipino) by birth due to a Philippines repatriation act in 2003, so I knew it wouldn't be too much trouble. I figured that even if he couldn't or wouldn't improve his life, he could at least get some form of education. By the beginning of summer, Jon left with my mother-in-law and moved to the Philippines.

The fact that my wife and I decided to move to the Philippines a few months later was purely coincidental, although I'm sure my concern for Jon's welfare had something to do with it.

Assuming Responsibility

I wouldn't be responsible for Jon's nursing school education in the Philippines if I hadn't been the person to force him into it. If it was his choice, providing his education would have been completely optional. Since I am responsible for him being here in the first place, I'm responsible for supporting him until he's able to support himself, regardless of education. It wasn't his choice and therefore, I assume full responsibility.

Jon started attending the first semester of nursing school at George Dewey Medical College, formerly Global City Innovative College at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone almost exactly a year after arrival.

High Hopes

Despite the fact that I thought Jon would never be able to finish nursing school in the Philippines due to his learning disability, he's not very far from graduating with a nursing degree. He's only had one setback due to failing a required course the first time around. Had it not been for that, he would be graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing this summer, along with his peers.

Once Jon graduates from college, he'll be moving back to the US to live with his older brother (and family) while he studies for and passes the required board exams. From that point on, the future is all his and I'll no longer be responsible for anything he does or doesn't do.

Yes, I have high hopes for Jon and I'm more than happy that I'm able to put him in a position where he'll be independent and self-sufficient (unlike all the other relatives I have around here). Isn't that the position all parents really want to be in?

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Virtual Assistant Opportunities

RT Cunningham — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:53:38 +0000

My friend, Lin of "Telling It Like It Is", asked me if I would like to tackle the subject of virtual assistants because she knew that I had a bit of related experience. I hemmed and hawed and mulled it over a bit and decided to take her up on it. The best way to start is tell you exactly what a virtual assistant is without beating around the bush.

What exactly is a "virtual assistant"?

There is no single, stable definition of a virtual assistant, but my basic definition should suffice. A virtual assistant is someone who works from home (usually a home office of some kind) and is considered an independent contractor for tax purposes. A virtual assistant is contracted to a do a job as opposed to being an employee of a company.

While the worldwide web side of the Internet is fast becoming the medium of choice for virtual assistants, virtual assistants are contracted to use other mediums such as telephone landlines with specialized software, electronic mail and VPNs (virtual private networks).

If you've ever encountered a pop up window on a website asking you if you would like to chat, there's a good chance that the person on the other end is a virtual assistant operating from home. My older son worked for a short time as a customer service agent (a virtual assistant by another name) for U-Haul, a personal cargo transportation service. He had to log into a VPN to receive the calls.

Virtual Assistant Opportunities

It isn't known how many people around the world are working as virtual assistants. The numbers, even in the US, are merely guesses based on surveys of businesses which are known to use them.

There are enough virtual assistant opportunities available right now that the contracts cannot adequately be filled by qualified people. You only have to view them on the Craigslist of any major US city to see how many opportunities are available in any given week, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

If you're searching for virtual assistant jobs, you have to be aware that they are only called by that term some of the time, not all of the time. You can find them by searching for that specific term as well as terms like "freelance writer", "web content creator", "virtual office assistant", "virtual personal assistant", "virtual administrative assistant" and others I can't think of at the moment.

I would be doing you a disservice if I neglected to mention a website from which I receive RSS e-mail on an irregular basis, whydowork.com, because it exists to support home job opportunities. In fact, the latest blog post was about a virtual assistant opportunity that you can only understand by reading the post and by visiting the website mentioned.

Another place to look, especially for writing jobs, is Elance. Yes, there are opportunities there that I would classify as virtual assistant jobs.

If you own a computer, and I hope you do since you're reading this, and you can read, write and speak whatever language is required of you (and you're not completely computer illiterate), I recommend you take the time to open your mind and investigate any opportunity that may take you away from the drudgery of working for someone else (except contractually). I have a few friends online who work as freelance writers and virtual assistants and they like it. I can't say the same thing for friends at traditional jobs.

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Asperger Syndrome, Alzheimer's Disease and Other Mental Disorders

RT Cunningham — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:51:55 +0000

Knowing people with mental disorders of any kind can have more of a negative effect on you than it does on them. How can that be, you might ask. The cause is fear, frustration, worry and guilt – all negative emotions that the sufferers of the mental disorders don't seem to display very often, if at all.

Remembering Which is Which

I've always had trouble remembering to do certain things when they need to be done. In my early twenties, I learned to write every task down on a pad of paper and cross each task off as it was completed. At the beginning of each new day, I would tear off the top sheet and transfer the incomplete tasks to a new page and add to as the day progressed. It was back then when I was told I had CRS disease and what it meant. I was not amused but looking back, I laugh at myself all the time.

I don't have as much trouble remembering things as I did, partly because I've learned to use humorous word associations. One example is using "old timer's disease" in place of Alzheimer's Disease because I would never be able to remember it otherwise. I just recently read an article about a TV show that used "assburger syndrome" in place of "Asperger Syndrome" and I now have a new word association embedded for the rest of my life.

That article is what inspired me to write this and while I'm trying to keep everything in a light-hearted tone, I assure you I've dealt with all of the negative emotions I described.

My Son's Learning Disability

My younger son, Jon, is 24-years old and attending a nursing college here in the Philippines. He doesn't get the best of grades, but he's passing. It would never have been possible had we not sought out the reason for his mental problems as early as we did.

Jon learned to walk at 9-months of age. He didn't learn to talk, however, until he was more than 5-years old, while I was deployed to the Middle East as part of Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Just prior to the deployment, I had him tested for anything and everything which may have caused him not to talk. I don't remember what the tests were, but they found nothing wrong with him.

While Jon was in Kindergarten and the first grade of elementary school, his teachers noticed he couldn't keep up with his classmates. After a parent-teacher conference, we took him to see a child psychiatrist of some kind who specialized in neurology. After many weeks of consultations, the conclusion was made that his neural synapses hadn't grown as fast as a normal child. After another parent-teacher conference, Jon was put in a learning disabled program that he participated in throughout all of his elementary and high school years. I was surprised to see him graduate with his peers.

During the early years, I felt guilty that I had passed some bad genes or something to my son. I was sure it was my fault. I consulted with doctors to make sure it wasn't something like Asperger Syndrome, a form of Autism, since he seemed to be a video game addict at an early age, much more so than anyone I had ever known. He's still addicted to video games, but at least I know he's somewhat normal. Those with Asperger Syndrome have trouble socializing. Jon was just the opposite and was annoying about it. I simply can't describe it in any other way.

As Jon has aged, my worries and fears have all but dissipated. I still get frustrated with some of the things he does, which doesn't make sense to anyone but him, but these incidents are few and far between now.

Friends and Alzheimer's Disease

A friend of mine, who I used to communicate with regularly (before moving to the Philippines in 2006), had a mother with Alzheimer's Disease but was never officially diagnosed with it – her condition started before Alzheimer's Disease became widespread public knowledge. Perhaps it had something to do with some of her escapades. She took some kind of medication which kept her calm and stable. If she failed to take the medication (whether intentional or not) she would do odd things like visiting neighbors in the nude while forgetting where she lived.

Until the facts surrounding Alzheimer's Disease were highly publicized, many people where simply called senile. From what I understand, senility as a natural condition doesn't exist and has been used as a term frequently used to describe certain old age conditions for which no known diseases can be ascribed to.

So far, and as far as I know, no one in either my family or my wife's family has ever suffered from anything that could be called senility. Of that I'm thankful and I can only hope that I manage to retain all of my mental faculties until the day I die.

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An LED, LCD or Plasma TV with 3D Technology – I'm having Uncomfortable Flashbacks

RT Cunningham — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:04:10 +0000

I was born in 1960 and 3D movies at the local theater were no longer the rage by the time I was old enough to remember going to it. Actually, I don't know what movies made in the 1950s were designed with 3D filming technology and I don't care. I don't have fond memories of movies designed to be watched with 3D glasses and I seriously doubt I'll ever watch another movie filmed in 3D only.

The Horror of Watching Movies with 3D Glasses

Before I wore my first pair of contact lenses in 1982, the only way I could watch a movie in 3D was to tear the arms off those cheap 3D glasses the theaters give out and tape them to the front of my eyeglasses. My vision was bad and I had "Coke-bottle" lenses. I even watched an adult movie in 1979 or 1980 like that and I think I'll be scarred for life. The human anatomy was never designed to be seen in such a way.

I think I saw a grand total of two movies in 3D between 1982 and when I had LASIK eye surgery done (and none since). I remember Friday the 13th Part III and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and that's it. I refused to watch Jaws 3 in 3D because I just knew I'd have a heart attack.

The New 3D TVs

Samsung has rolled out a whole new line of LED, LCD and plasma TVs with 3D technology built in. They include two pairs of 3D glasses that only work with their TVs. I can see the glasses becoming popular reorder items – does anyone at Samsung have any experience with kids? Two is never enough if you have more than one kid in the family (and big kids like Dad too).

I've read the chatter of the people looking forward to seeing Avatar in 3D when it comes out on Blu-ray discs but meh, I've already seen the regular version and I'm not impressed.

I didn't look to see what other TV manufacturers have decided to get in on this 3D craze and I really don't care. I will never buy one for me or anyone else. The advertised prices seem to be about double what the going rate is for the current batch of LED, LCD and plasma TVs. I have plans already in place to buy a 42-inch LCD TV, without 3D technology, and I'm sticking to it.

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The End of Banking Debit Card Overdraft Fees?

RT Cunningham — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:25:57 +0000

Now, this is an interesting story. Bank of America has published plans to remove the debit card overdraft fees completely (starting this summer), which will cost the bank millions of dollars annually. The move will probably put pressure on other banks to follow suit. I, for one, am glad this is happening.

Why were there debit card overdraft fees in the first place?

When Bank of America does away with the debit card overdraft fees, and when you have insufficient funds in the bank to make a debit card withdrawal, the withdrawal will simply be declined. This is how it should have always been and I don't know when people started being allowed to overdraw from their bank accounts with their debit cards.

I know a quite a few people (in the US) who've been hammered by these debit card overdraft fees and one of them has a gambling addiction. That person paid nearly half his salary last year towards overdraft fees because he always thought he'd win enough back to cover them.

The ability to draw more out from an account by using a debit card than what is actually in the account seems to be for no other purpose than to feed overdraft fees to the banks. What other purpose could it possibly serve? The first time it happened to me, when I had a Wells Fargo checking account and debit card, I was charged a $35 overdraft fee for going in the red by 25 cents. It was crazy. I called the bank and had the overdraft fee reversed, but how many other people are willing to do that every time they're unfairly charged?

Not all banks are like this.

Perhaps I'm wrong and there's another reason, but I know of one couple who can never overdraw from their bank accounts using their debit cards. I can't remember which bank it is offhand, but it's one of the major banks.

Apparently, these debit card overdraft fees only affect debit cards specifically. No one can overdraw with regular ATM cards without the VISA or MasterCard logos on them.

I applaud Bank of America for doing away with these stupid debit card overdraft fees and the ability to overdraw in the first place. I hope the other banks follow suit, but you never can tell.

News Source: BofA ending overdraft fees on debit cards

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Planned Purchase: Whirlpool Washing Machine and Dryer Set

RT Cunningham — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:08:58 +0000

A washing machine and dryer set is a planned purchase for after the completion of our dirty kitchen and laundry room extension. After my wife and I looked around at several appliance stores, we settled on a matching set by Whirlpool.

No Electronic Keypads or Push Buttons

Any appliance in this area, which requires a keypad or push buttons to operate, seems to last no more than a year or two before the electronic components give out. The first microwave oven we owned here in the Philippines, coincidentally a Whirlpool microwave oven, was no exception.

It seems that every electronic appliance manufacturer wants to put keypads and push buttons on everything they make. Well, after I talked to the sales person for the appliance department at whichever appliance store it was (I'll have to ask the wife – I think premature senility is hitting me), I found that Whirlpool makes the exact same models with the keypads or push buttons. They have the same familiar twist knobs that we've been using for years. The price without the extra electronics is actually a couple of hundred dollars cheaper.

Made in the Philippines

While I was looking at a different brand of dryer at another appliance store, the sales person showed me where to look (after you open the door) for the manufacturer's plate. Lo and behold it was an off brand sold by Whirlpool. Not only that, but the plate said it was made in the Philippines. It's odd that I'm just now finding out about all the American-owned companies producing appliances in the Philippines.

Even some of the washing machines made in the style of the old Japanese-type are made here in the Philippines (along with Korea). That kind of washing machine is made cheaply, doesn't work very well, and generally doesn't last very long at all.

Changing Outlets

The imbecile of a subcontractor, knowing that we were going put a laundry room in that spot, put standard outlets where other than standard outlets needed to be. We need to replace the one for the dryer with a heavy duty outlet designed for dryers and replace the one for the washer with a universal outlet because the plug prongs are circular.

I have a feeling that quite a few things will have to be changed before we're finally finished with everything that needs to be done to the house. Local contractors still haven't quite adapted to building American-style homes while leaving their Filipino-style homes mentality out of it.

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Planned Purchase: Portable Air Conditioner

RT Cunningham — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:37:18 +0000

More than I, my wife wants one or more air conditioners in the house. Presently, we have a big, fat zero count on those. You see, my wife finds it difficult living in the Philippines, even though she was born and raised here. I guess following me around while I was in the military, away from high temperatures and high humidity, acclimated her in the opposite direction than I. Going back to the US to work for months at a time doesn't help. The heat only bothers me for about three months out of the year (March – May) these days.

Central Air Conditioner?

Certain neighbors and other people who have experienced living in the US keep asking me if I plan to install a central air conditioner. My usual reply is something like asking them if I plan to cut off my left arm. My house would require too many structural changes to make central air conditioning feasible, even if I could afford it.

I know all about heat pumps, air exchangers, ventilating tubes and duct and everything related to central air conditioners except for the mechanics of the air conditioning unit itself. Those are actually the easy parts. What's harder is replacing the windows, the ceiling panels (which would have to be cut), cutting a holes through two ceilings (one below a cement floor), weather-stripping every door that leads to the outside and lot of things I don't feel like writing at the moment.

In the end, I might be whole lot cooler but I'd be whole lot poorer, including the inflation of the monthly electric bill.

Window Air Conditioners?

Window air conditioners are out of the question. The last things I need are big square warts sticking out at the level of the second floor. I don't fancy cutting square holes into solid cement walls either. The reason holes would have to be cut is because all my windows are either too big or too little for window air conditioners.

When my wife was in Cebu City, in January, her and her relatives saw a lot of nice homes in that particular area. The only thing that detracted from the view was the big wall warts sticking out from the second floors. It only took one look at that for her to agree that window air conditioners are not an option.

Portable Air Conditioners

Of all the air conditioner choices available, the one my wife wants is made by Carrier and is called a Slimpac. It's also about $1300 and requires installation and some wiring changes. Sure, it would probably cool the entire house, but I convinced her that we'd try a single portable air conditioner instead, at a cost of about $400.

It's simple, I want something that will cool a single room, not the entire house, especially since the house isn't weather-treated and would leak a lot of cool air to the outside. I also want to be able to move it without it becoming a major operation. Because there are a few months when air conditioning isn't required at all, like during the wet days of the rainy season, it would be easy to move a portable air conditioner out of the way when it's not being used.

Using a portable air conditioner will be on test basis. If it craps out too fast or doesn't cool well enough, then I'll have to break down and do it the way she wants to do it. If it works out, then we'll be buying two or more for the other rooms. Dealing with heat downstairs isn't an issue yet and since cold air travels downwards, I'm not too worried about it. The wife, on the other hand, might not be so inclined. Whatever happens, I guess I'll just have to deal with it.

I have eight months to buy it, set it up and test it before my wife returns in November (if all goes as planned). When she returned last November, she was already complaining of the heat, so I know what to expect if I don't get it done. No, I do not have a dog house should I fail.

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Planned Purchase: 42-inch Sanyo LCD TV

RT Cunningham — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:14:01 +0000

I've been living in the Philippines for almost 4 years and in my house about 6 months less. We still do not have a large TV of any kind in the house. I've been trying to squirrel away enough money to buy a 42-inch LCD TV because that's what my wife wants. Unfortunately, emergencies keep happening to eat up any disposable income I'm able to save. Hopefully, her current 8-month stint in the US will provide enough extra income to take care of this planned purchase and many more.

Why 42 inches?

Frankly, I don't know why my wife insists on a 42-inch LCD TV. Perhaps it's because she had one in the US or perhaps she just likes that size, I'll never know. Our living room wall unit can accommodate the largest ones being made, so size isn't an issue. The narra wood wall unit we bought actually had an extra TV stand sitting in the area designed for a large wide screen TV, made for smaller TVs. That TV stand is now in our bedroom with an "Insignia" 19-inch LCD TV sitting on top of it. By the way, Insignia is a brand sold by Best Buy.

It doesn't matter to me what size LCD TV ends up in the wall unit because I'll never watch TV there. I don't watch TV in our bedroom either. My wife has it tuned to one channel and that's what channel it tends to stay on, even though we have cable TV. On the rare occasions where I actually watch TV programs or movies, I do it here, on my desktop computer – it's a 19-inch monitor, the same size as the TV anyway.

Sanyo is the Brand I'm Buying

I don't know why but when it comes to electronics, the Japanese brands tend to last the longest. There isn't a shortage of Japanese LCD TVs in the Philippines, but most of them are overpriced. Sanyo is the only brand I found to be affordable. I can get a 42-inch high definition (1080p) LCD TV for under $1000. The last time I checked, the cheapest Toshiba 42-inch TV was priced at 80,000 pesos (over $1700) and I'm sorry, that's just too expensive. The Sony LCD TVs are not just expensive, they're ridiculously overpriced – it's the name that costs the money.

A little of a year ago, one of my nephews worked at Ocampos, a department store in downtown Olongapo City. At the time, he told me I could get an LG 4-inch LCD TV, including a home theater system, for about the same price as the Toshiba. Uh, no thanks. Last month, my wife and I went there for another reason and a different sales person steered us toward the Sanyo LCD TVs – he was someone else we know (a non-relative). We didn't buy anything, of course, because we didn't have the money.

No Hurry

As long as I buy a 42-inch LCD TV before my wife returns in eight months, everything will work out fine and she'll be happy. I'm not in a hurry to get one and I'm going to make sure I pay the least I can for the best LCD TV I can get. We don't get anything in high definition via cable yet anyway, even though Colorview CATV told us it was likely to be rolled out two years ago. Of course, peripheral devices like DVD players can alleviate that as far as movies go.

On the other hand… I found a couple of DVD players which can play MP4 (the format used by DVD VOB files) and DivX (AVI) movie files. Since I have a few conversion programs in my possession, it would be a cinch to convert my DVDs over to one of those formats and watch them on a 42-inch LCD TV via that kind of DVD player. If I add some decent speakers, I'll have the kind of home theater system I alone would probably appreciate.

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Our House: Tin Roofing for the Dirty Kitchen and Laundry Room

RT Cunningham — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:11:07 +0000

Tin Roofing for our dirty kitchen and laundry room is next on the agenda. Although we had our house built in 2006, we didn't start building the dirty kitchen and laundry room extension until after the rainy season was over in 2008. The skeleton of the structure was the only thing completed until a year later because I just didn't have the money in my personal budget to keep construction going.

A Year Later

After my wife returned to the Philippines in November of 2009, we continued with the construction. Most of our savings money was spent on cement and sand, but a fair amount was spent on hollow blocks, reinforcement bars and plumbing supplies. Very little, believe it or not, was spent on wood because we only needed support beams for the tin roofing.

We continued with the construction project for as long as we could and until we ran out of savings money again. This is a condensed list of the things we completed before the end of 2009:

Walls
Window Frames (with security bars in place)
Dirty Kitchen Counter Top and Cabinets (without surfacing or doors)
Plumbing
Electrical Outlets
Support Beams for Tin Roofing

Just like the main house, the extension is comprised of mostly cement.

This Year

I don't know how much I'll get done this year. If things go as planned, we should have everything done during the next phase, but I'm not banking on it. The most important part is the tin roofing because it has to be in place before the rainy season begins (in June). If the tin roofing doesn't get done before rainy season begins, then I have to wait until after rainy season is over to do anything. If it does get done, then we can continue with construction during rainy season (for the inside of the rooms, but not the outside).

I estimate I'll be spending around $500 for the tin and the paint for the tin roofing. It's going to be painted red on the upper side, just like the tegula-style aluminum roofing on the main house, and plain white on the lower side (even though it won't be seen after the ceiling is put in place).

Since my wife is back in the US, working at her former job (with a raise) and with previous medical bills and obligations taken care of, I can't foresee a reason that I can't finish everything started but not completed. These are some of the items we need to complete the construction:

Aluminum Doors (or solid wood doors, whichever is cheaper)
Sink for the Dirty Kitchen
Counter Top Tile for the Dirty Kitchen
Wood for the Kitchen Cabinets (just the doors)
Washing Machine and Dryer
Linoleum as Floor Covering
Ceiling Panels (probably thin gypsum board)
Light Fixtures

Obstacles

Again, if I can't get the tin roofing in place before the rainy season starts, everything gets put on hold again. It has to be in place by the end of May and I have other financial obstacles to get over that are going to put a strain on my budget. Here's a short list:

April: Personal Income Taxes (I don't know if I'll owe or not at this point, but I think I will)
April: Car Registration
May: Nursing College Tuition (for my son)

Since my wife is scheduled to be in the US for only eight months (hopefully, the final eight months), we have to make every penny count. The money she earns will not be used for the house – it's being used separately for other things I'll be writing about. The money being used for the house comes from part of my monthly pension and from making money online.

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