Finding Good Help

[FLASHBACK]

January 27th - 28th

The cleaning lady came for the first time today, and was a little surprised at my lack cleaning supplies.  (We've been in the house for a week, and I've been surviving on the bottle of dishwashing liquid that the last renters left behind.)  She went out and bought some herself, and then returned only to find I also did not own a mop or broom.  Let me take that back, I owned a mop and broom, but not a mop or broom that she wanted to use.  We had our Euro broom and super fancy mop we had gotten at the state fair, but she simply made a face and shook her head.  Instead, she preferred using this:

This is a fancy one because it has a handle attached.  Years of innovation and the bunch of sticks still works better.

One of the first questions people ask when they find out we've just moved here is "Will you be getting a helper?"  Most people here have live-in maids, or "helpers".  Most of the girls come from Indonesia or the Phillipines, and are pretty much like live-in nannies who also cook, clean, wash the cars, walk the dogs, run errands, and do yardwork.  It's pretty cheap, about S$500 a month (about $350 USD), and that's WAY more money that the girls can make in their home countries, so it works out for everybody.  Since we don't have any kids to take care of and I like cooking and walking the dog, we will not be getting a helper.  Occasionally it would be nice to have someone do the ironing for me and clean the floors, so I'm happy to pay Shirley S$50/week ($35USD) to at least do that for me.

David and I went to run errands today, and had three goals to accomplish.  To buy hanging and manilla folders, get our phone rebates, and apply for a credit card.  5 hours later, we were 0 for 3.  It took forever to find a place that sold office supplies, but a.) they only sell A4 size paper and therefore only A4 size hanging folders which will not fit in my file cabinet and b.)  none of the salespeople had ever heard of manilla folders.  We made it all the way back to where we bought our phones, only to learn that we could put in the paperwork, but it would b 4 - 6 weeks before we got our $600 back.  Last, we went to apply for a credit card, but the qualifications here a tad more stringent than back in the US - David needs a letter from his employer proving his income among other things.  Gah, this day was a bust.

But at least we could come home to clean floors!