She Rambles On

Contacted By Kok Kok Kai

Running an ecommerce store, even though it’s just on a small scale and is low profile, I receive on average a couple of messages daily from random strangers. These people have one service or other to sell that they think that I may be interested in or would complement my online store.

Most of the time, I trash these email messages, or sometimes file them in case I need to get back to them when I expand my store. Normally, though, I do not believe in doing business with people who spam me.

The other day, I received an email from a Malaysian “man” which amused me no end. This guy was selling a payment gateway to me and he offered to give me a demonstration of how the system works and invited me to give him a call or email him.

This email, I would not have replied in the first place because it did not come with a company name, address, fixed phone line or website. However, I was glad that I read till the end because his email address was kokkokkai@xxx.com

It was so amusing because living in Malaysia, I am sure he knows there is a high percentage of me knowing what KOK KOK KAI means, which is Cantonese for Rooster or Cockerel, by the way.

And who in her right mind would take a business person seriously if the email address is kokkokkai@xxx.com? This person, assuming his service is real and legal, is representing his company and as a web service, I am sure most correspondence would be via email but I guess he has forgotten what people say about first impressions.

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Now, For Cheaper Auto Insurance

If you have read my post about the cheaper road tax that I am enjoying now thanks to the new reduction on road tax since October, you would know that I am saving approximately RM900 per year, and that’s even more than people who qualify for the RM625 fuel rebate, and that’s not even an annual affair.

Anyway, now that I am no longer ranting about the unfairness towards car owners who do not qualify for the fuel rebate and pump price for diesel has gone down to RM1.90 per liter with more to come, at least that’s what we hope, I am now on the lookout for cheaper auto insurance.

I have been buying auto insurance from the same company for years now and I think that it’s time to request for auto insurance quotes from other companies to see if I am able to save some money to reduce the overall cost of maintaining a car. Let’s see how much I could reduce for this!

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Word Verification Required

Last week, I had the occasion to contact a fellow eBay member and I noticed a new feature. By using the contact form via eBay system, we now have to go through word verification successfully before we are able to submit our message.

eBay thinks that this feature would deter spammers but a short note states that a message may not go through the system to the intended recipient if the message is deemed inappropriate. I wonder how they would know which messages are legit and which aren’t.

As for me, I never like word verification because I usually get it wrong at the first, or even second, try. I don’t know, maybe it’s my eyes, maybe it’s my brain. What ever it is, it’s just as waste of time for me because of the multiple tries.

But since this has been implemented, we will just have to play by the rules. Let’s just hope that if a message is not delivered, the sender would be informed about it.

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Collecting Life Insurance Quotes

It’s the end of the year again and I am once again reminded that I have to get a life insurance policy under my name as soon as possible. Yes, I have been procrastinating and I am not proud of it but the thing that is causing me to drag my feet is that my income is so erratic, I do not relish the thought of committing myself financially to something as long term as life insurance.

I figured that if I am subscribed to one, I would opt to pay my premium in annual installments. That would save me the hassle but the amount would not be small. I have been collecting life quotes for insurance for myself and a friend. Yes, we are both shopping for one.

Let’s hope that with company, I would not delay any longer. Besides, the longer I delay, the higher my premium, right?

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Great Black Friday Shopping Deals

My sister told me that she will be going shopping on Friday. You see, the day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday or Blitz Day (shopping blitz) and it is a great day for shopping as retailers would be slashing prices to attract people to start their Christmas shopping early.

Most retailers would open earlier though many offices would be closed to enjoy a longer weekend, stretching from Thanksgiving Day, which falls on the last Thursday of November until Sunday.

eBay is also having a promotion during this early holiday season with $1 doorbusters for eight days. And they are not alone. Not only do brick-n-mortar retailers try to cash in on shoppers, online merchants are also doing the same with loss leaders.

I tell you, if I lived in the United States, I would be up early and try to grab some great deals too. Although online stores also have Black Friday deals, it is not the same as being part of a jostling crowd, right?

ETA: The New York Times reported that a Wal-Mart temporary employee at the Valley Stream store at The Green Acres Mall in New York, was trampled to death on the morning of Black Friday. How tragic. Source: HERE

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Rekindling An Old Friendship

My friend, Christian, wrote to wish me Happy Birthday a couple of days ago. I was surprised. You know, when you have an online store like I do and exposed to the public, all sorts of people would contact you and it is always a pleasant surprise when old friendships are rekindled this way. This has happened a few times already and Christian’s just the latest!

Christian was a neighbour and went to the same tuition class as I did for two years but we lost contact after leaving school. He told me that he’s now working in London and shared with me lots of photos of his work place, home and vacations he took in and around London.

This Christmas, Christian would not be coming home to Malaysia because he has already made plans for mountain climbing with his colleagues. I was like, “Are you crazy, mountain climbing in winter?” I have never lived in a temperate country before so I don’t know if people mountain climb in winter. My sister told me that winter could be pretty harsh! Maybe this is just another of Christian’s whacky idea to spend some quality Christmas time with his friends.

Christian says that as long as they are well-equipped, everything would be fine. There’s still another month to his trip out to the mountains but Christian has already gotten ready mountain equipment jackets, mountain climbing gear and first aid kit. I told him not to forget his digital video camera so that he could share digital videos with me.

You know, even though we may be miles apart, being able to keep in touch like this via the internet breaches the distance. I bet we will have plenty more to catch up on when he visits his family during Chinese New Year.

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Auctions For Charity

If you are bitten by the celebrity bug, you may want to check out the auctions of Ewan McGregor, Kim Kardashian and her partner.

Scottish actor, Ewan McGregor of the Star Wars fame, will be auctioning off his motorbike, Moto Guzzi, on eBay. Proceeds will go to Unicef, which he serves as ambassador. Ewan hopes to raise £25,000 from this auction so that the funds could be used to help children in areas with disasters and conflict.

Meanwhile, socialite Kim Kardashian will be holding an auction for various items, including her white Range Rover where proceeds will go towards her favourite charity, Dream Foundation, a non-profit organization which helps to grant the wishes of terminally ill adults.

Kim’s partner, footballer Reggie Bush will also auction off his Mercedes Shark II custom car in support of Kim’s charitable fund raising efforts.

I think it’s awesome that celebrities get to use their name or fame to give back to the community in whatever ways they could. I’m sure fans who want to own memorabilia or collectibles of their idols would not mind paying a little more.

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