Once upon a time, this was my room.
Completely colonised now that we are at full capacity and then some. I thought our max capacity was 4 bunnies or bonded pairs (3 in my room, 1 in Jon's) but we had a guest who booked for July when she meant June, so we had to create another enclosure.
Right now we have Biscuit:
Robbie:
And tiny grumpy Hana! Not to be confused with Hanna:
Also said goodbye to cuddlebug Pixie:
And our big puppy girl bunny Haybeon:
So that's where my week went, basically.
Other than pet-related things, I've been getting used to a new routine. Animal chores and housework in the morning (and there's a lot these days), gym (weights and treadmill on alternate days), cook and eat lunch, get dressed and do some work at the library or Mos Burger, go home and cook dinner, read War and Peace. I'm really leaning into that housewife life.
Met dad for lunch twice this week, which was nice. We planned our upcoming JB and Penang trips. I booked the flights on AirAsia. Also planning to go to Hoi An in August with Van. I can finally think about travel again!!!
Things I cooked: Japanese beef curry, chicken fajitas, polenta. I have been eating what I think of as Holy Grail veggies: cabbage, frozen spinach, mushroom, cherry tomato, and coriander. They don't need washing (much), can be cut up with scissors, and seem to go with everything - on polenta, in an omelette, over rice etc.
On Friday I went for the 2nd session in this Grab x SUTD study I'm taking part in. It's sort of a guided, individually tailored work/income exploration and development journey to help platform workers diversify their income streams. In other words, to get gig workers to hustle more and in different ways.
I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, there's something very wrong with the assumption that the answer to income security is even more hustling. Some of the terminology used is very unsettling. "Future proof yourself", "build your competitive advantage" etc. That's not a world I wanna live in. And while these days it's possible to monetise diverse interests and skills, I find it so sad that monetisation is seen as the thing to do. ("What do you do for fun?" "I create images of Jesus Christ from discarded electrical parts." "OH YOU CAN SELL THEM FOR SO MUCH MONEY!")
On the other hand: there are a lot of interesting/talented/skilled people in gig/part-time work. Grab drivers studying to be sommeliers, food delivery workers dreaming of becoming tattoo artists, retail assistants with master's degrees...
No one sees their platform/part-time work as their identity-defining job. BUT, it's really tempting to coast by on easy mode. The work is brainless, the money isn't terrible, there's no boss. There is a cause-and-effect relationship between working and getting paid. Makes it hard to justify spending time on a whole new enterprise that's risky, difficult, requires ownership, and/or may take a really long time to monetise. Nah... might as well turn on the app and make $15/hour instead.
So. There's value in this project because (a) it validates platform workers' skills/interests/talents outside of their work and (b) encourages them to pursue those in a structured manner, with greater accountability than a vague "I'll start my own business one day... but not today, obviously".
For my part, I had the desire to take the next steps with Pets Hideout but hadn't even given it any validation - let alone serious thought - until meeting the researcher at SUTD. Only then did I put down on paper that I wanted to (a) revive my old Instagram account and use it for Pets Hideout (b) start microblogging. So far I have done (a) and also set up the Facebook Business page.
Positive side effect of doing gig/part-time work: more willing to take business/career risks? Like I don't worry much about the financial success/failure of my venture since I can supplement my income whenever I want to and however much I need to. Come to think of it, there isn't such a thing as a complete flop or success in reality; it is always ambiguous and fluid and a matter of your own expectations (which you can control).
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