what I've learnt from J

When I first visited J's flat (where we now still live) years ago, I learnt that instead of using the usual mop and pail to clean the floor, he uses a cloth or rag to clean each of the tiles, Cinderella-like on his knees. I had thought then he was just being super anal fussy about cleanliness. In time, I found out that he's not really a neat-freak, but is just someone who takes very good care of whatever he has - however small the thing is or large the effort. Perhaps it comes from being from a big, lower-income family. My nouveau-riche household has fewer qualms about use/waste-and-replace!

Though it doesn't always work out this way, the care invested is sometimes reaped in terms of a certain longevity. Simply put, the object lasts. The same goes for work - I think what results is that a design stands to longer and repeated scrutiny. And for certain, there's something in there about relationships.

What I've learnt from J is that when you've decided something or someone is yours to care for, you should do as you've decided - and recognise that it's not without effort. So Happy Birthday J! Here's wishing you many more Birthdays - with me, heh.