The expression "when it rains, it pours" was obviously coined by someone who enjoyed a day like last Friday. Firstly PB was diagnosed with Head, shoulders, knees and toes disease, a not uncommon infection in HK. For the most part she has remained her usual cheery self but with the doctor's instructions of no swimming and a looming 34 degree weekend the omens weren't good. Luckily the inclement weather and a rapid recovery meant Sunday afternoon was spent in chlorine-soaked Romanesque indoor pool in the Disneyland complex where we live. With its imposing mural of the Palace of Versailles remains PB's favourite picture. And she's not yet 2. I feel very sorry for the poor man who one day will need to keep her in the comfort she's expecting because her Daddy keeps telling her that will be her house one day. Serves the bast@rd right for thinking dirty thoughts about my little girl.

Next my attache case, all of 2 weeks old, broke. Purchased at a reputable retailer for a significant amount of silver and gold this customer was not happy. The ensuing discussion with store staff approriately conveyed my strong feelings on the matter.

Thirdly our helper, Jackie, announced she wants to return to the Philippines forthwith. With Mrs M expecting Ubul in around a month, JC moving to a new school and PB to start school, the timing is inopportune to say the least. On top of that it has taken the better part of 12 months for Jackie to pick up on Mrs M's reasonable but comprehensive methods of doing things. Having taken Jackie up that steep learning curve, she has peered over the horizon and decided it wasn't for her. Because we are hands-on parents Jackie has not had a huge amount to do with the kids but JC is certainly old enough to be aware of what's going on. It will be interesting to see how she copes with Jackie's leaving. I have a feeling there's a Barbie or two in JC's near future.

In searching for a new helper we go through the usual channels: word-of-mouth, supermarket postings, online meat markets and the like. It will hearten Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo how solid the employment situation is for her fellow countrywomen in Hong Kong. Only half the women we had rung for interviews even showed up. One particularly good one (on paper, at least), when asked by yours truly why she decided not to come to an appointment she herself made not 24 hours previously, told me she had already been offered another job and she had taken it.

What is funny about this process is even though we are the employers, the good helpers tend to get a preponderence of offers and can choose who they wish to work for. We have a fairly strict set of criteria but once we decide we like one they have to decide if they like us. This is fair enough given they live under your roof for 6 days of their week. However so far the main issues seem to revolve around how "out-of-the-way" we are, because we are 20 minutes bus ride from Central. These are the same people who tend to endure 24 hour odyssey to return to their villages. Most of these women are also extremely savvy negotiators and know exactly what to ask for. The UN could learn a thing or two from these people. It's a cut-throat world in the amah game in Hong Kong.

What is disturbing is whereas we think it is a luxury having a helper at all, there are several people we know in the process of hiring their second. Their reasoning revolves around the same basic premise of why not given it is so relatively inexpensive (monthly wages are roughly US$500-600). It's hard to find an answer to that except I have no idea what a second helper would actually do. It's not like kids need an adult/child ratio any greater than 1:1 at the very best of times, and many seem to grow up perfectly normal with far worse ratios. Maybe if I can convince Mrs M to go for child number 4 our tune might change. Until then we are still hunting for a replacement. If you know of anyone, let us know.

Still, it all could be worse: I could be enduring the ritualistic humiliation of senior politicians that seems to mark the end of every ASEAN meeting. What are they thinking with yellow hardhats?