Another advantage of working from home is that it generates fewer costs. Homeworking indicates that no commuting is needed and it decreases the chance of dining outside. Workers can work remotely via the internet such as online meetings and electronic submissions of work and they are more likely to get food and drink from their kitchens. As a result, they can save more money by cutting external expenses related to work.

It's so healing to see the sunshine upon the plants and touch freshly washed clothes. It isn't that precious to me before as there were abundant sunny days. I actually think the sun is a bit too strong and I'm worried about photoaging (I've been following a YouTuber who is a dermatologist). But oddly, it's kept raining almost every day for about a month. I had to set up an alarm on a rare sunny day for doing laundry. The locals said they haven't seen this much rain either. I like season changes but I'm not a big fan of the Mediterranean climate. (Hi there, I'm practising my writing to make it sound natural. Let me know what you think about this paragraph. Thanks:)

I talked to a 96-year-old lady today when volunteering at a hospital. I sat down with her at lunchtime. She was in a yellow jumper, looking lovely and peaceful. Her speech was slow and clear and she didn't use any slang, which was a bit unusual in Australia, I think. She had a good sense of humour and used cute facial expressions (e.g. rolled her eyes). I really enjoyed talking with her! She seemed to be patient, carefree and mentally independent. Her 76th wedding anniversary was 2 days ago. She told me, "find one that treats you well and you will treat him well."

I met some visitors in my house today, a senior couple, and a lady who is pregnant. They are the friends of my housemate, and I met them before. The husband, Chris, was a journalist and photographer. He has talked about lots of fascinating stories for three hours constantly and glowingly until he left, yet did not present with any tiredness at all! I was impressed by the stories and his energy. I'm a bit of an introvert who does not enjoy small talks. But meeting with an interesting acquaintance, like Chris, who could not stop talking was actually a blessing. It was like listening to an audio book if you know what I mean.

two interesting little things I was on a bus the other day, seating on a randomly picked seat, listening to some random audios in my phone. Suddenly, the driver asked the passengers to get off the bus and get on another one ahead, possibly due to air-conditioning issues. I didn't hear what he said properly as I was wearing my earphones. There were 5 passengers on the bus including me. As we looked at each other, I knew I wasn't the only person who was confused. But anyway, we changed bus. I chose a seat without thinking. After I sat down, I found, surprisingly, we all sat the exact same seats as on the previous bus! I kept listening to my music, and I heard a female talking softly on and off in the midst of the recording. "Her voice sounds beautiful", I thought to myself. Later I realised...it was my own voice!! All of a sudden, it didn't sound pretty to my ears anymore. I went back to the previous part of the recording and well...it didn't sound good either this time. Some people do tend to make decisions subconsciously, and have bias towards certain things subconsciously, aren't we?

Pruning Roses It's the end of July, the middle of winter in Australia. It's the time to prune roses in the yard. My friend doesn't sound like a big fan of pruning. I haven't done that before. So I asked her to show me how to do it so I could help. The pruning was exciting, nervous and spikkkky!!! Here're the things I learned about pruning roses. First, find a bud that looks thriving in a low position of a brunch. Next, make a cut 1-2cm above the bud. Done! It doesn't sound hard, right? I like the click sound when I cut off a branch neatly with the gardening scissors. But, I got nervous when my friend pointed out some branches had died due to wrong pruning. Oh sugar, I realised there're literally half dead branches there. It felt like doing a surgery which is about dead and life! On the top of that, we don't have gardening gloves. I felt the roses are spiky everywhere in spite of the petals, and they are absolutely sharp. The back of my friend's hand was cut by the spikes and bleeding. She acted as if nothing has happened. Well...for me, I felt even more nervous seeing the blood (deep breath). Maybe I'm fussed but I do need a pair of gardening gloves! While I'm typing this down, I kept thinking about how amazing that people's tolerant level changes in different contexts. Finally, the work is done! Hope the bare branches grow strongly and happily. I put some roses in a jar and enjoy the beauty and fragrance of them. The winter here feels cold and long (especially when you don't have geothermal heating). It rains half of the month, but mainly showers. There's still some great sunlight during the day. I think it's a cracker of a city. I like to have some hot soups and drinks, covered by a blanket, snug and warm, and listen to the storm outside.