Opposite of "behind"

Pop Quiz: What's the opposite of "behind" to a 26 months old kid?

Well I learn something new everyweek (sometimes daily) when I take care of my kid. He was playing a tube which holds the shuttle-cock, opened one end of the tube and inserted the shuttle-cocks in before replacing the cap. Turned the tube around and said "Mal open befront. Wow! Mal do magic". Then he poured the shuttle-cocks out and repeated the process.

That's your answer. Befront. Kinda makes sense if you consider that hind legs is the opposite of front legs, so be-front has to be the opposite of be-hind.

(NOTE: shuttle-cock is also known as birdie in these part of the world but it sounds like something else I won't mention it here since I want to keep this blog rated G)

TV vs. Books

If you had a choice, would you choose TV over BOOKS or vice versa? Can't choose both since time is limited, especially when life revolves around a busy working career.

Personally, I'll go for books rather than plain old TV. With books, I can set the reading pace, perhaps even reread a funny passage and commit certain words to memory. With TV, they capture your attention and control the pace.

Just over the weekend, a friend showed me a book "The Science of Discworld II" and I remember a passage which has the words "THEOSTRY" printed. Discworld is still in telex era and it cost money to send every letter. The response a query was "to change the story" and shortened to 'THEOSTRY'. After a few minutes, I found the passage and showed it to my friend then said "Yep, read this book before".

Before books came to my life (actually before wife was pregnant), we had spent a lot of money and time watching movies (lovey dovey dating scenario, thank you GV and Eng Wah) and after the kid is born, I've been grounded at home. Books are the only resource available since watching TV is a bad habit to be doing in front of my kid. A definately no-no to be teaching a kid to be addicted to TV (or computers) at a young age.

That's why we read to our kid nightly. He's just as addicted to books as I am although 20 mins attention span cannot be called an addiction.

Amazing 2nd Hand Book Sale

Just visited a 2nd hand book sale at below Tg Pagar hawker center. A place which I seldom visit since it's out of the way. Nevertheless, they have some books which I am looking for like "Wyrd Sisters" by Terry Pratchett and "Forging the Darksword (Darksword Trilogy)" and "Dragon Wing (Death Gate Cycle, vol 1)" by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Yep, both are the same author as the Dragonlance Chronicles and many numerous Dragonlance books.

What's even better is that these books cost only $10 for 3 and "Dragon Wing" is in hardcover too. Located the another book called "Elven Star (Death Gate Cycle, vol 2)", also in hardcover. But alas, I can get the book easily from library, so tis better to spend it on something else.

$10 for 3. I'm laughing all the way back to my office. Yay! More good books to read over the weekend (if I do find the spare time).

Que Sera Sera

Just over the weekend, my wife asked if our kid would be a good kid when he grows up. Only mothers worry about these things while fathers worry if the kid gets enough playtime.

Looking back at my own childhood life (not much to brag about), I guess it is hard to predict how a kid would turn up to be in 20 years. Personality wise, I didn't change much and am still the loner I used to be. I still like animals a lot, especially cats and dogs.

My reply was our kid is a happy kid, always cheerful and he's a smart kid. At 26 months, he can say things like "Mommy, Mal want to tell you the cooking is very good", then shows a thumb up or even "Daddy, what happened to mommy? Where is it? What happened?" (When wife goes out marketing before he wakes up).

Say what happened to the terrible 2's? He's not suppose to say these stuff but rather throw tantrums when he doesn't get the things he wants.

Well I hope that he will grow up to be a happy kid since being smart ain't enough in life. We all have to learn how to smile and appreciate the wonders around us, especially when times are bad.

Books, the thief of time.

I can't remember a time when I read so much books, an average of 3 novels per week lately and most of it is done while travelling to and fro work. The book that got me started was Terry Pratchett's "Thief of time". Won't recommend new readers this book because his humor and sciences are all out of this world (ie: weird). Try the nightwatch series which begins with "Guards! Guards!", then "Men at arms" and followed by "Feet of Clay". "Monstrous Regiment" is a good standalone book to get one started.

It was back in 2002, Chinese New Year when I picked up this book "Thief of time" in my in-law's bookshelf in Ipoh, Malaysia. It was a good way to waste time while on holiday. That started an avalance of books which resulted in me being addicted to books.

Well going to the library twice a week with my kid helps too. I read to him almost nightly and it's his bedtime routine. Sometimes, he reads to us and even provides us with his own version of the storyline.

Books are really a thief of time. When I have time for myself, I avoid the TV and the PC, instead I indulge myself with a book (mostly fantasy or sci-fi). I never read a book twice because I rather be reading something new than old.

GP badder than flu

You know what's worse than having a 5 day flu + fever? Having a bad GP whose only interest is making a profit out of the sick.

Had fever, runny nose and a bad cough (sore throat too). I tried Healthline GP (Ms. Foo) and asked for my usual medication, panadol and erythromycin. Instead, I was given Dhrasedyl (for cough), Fedac (for runny nose), something else for swollen throat and Clarithomycin (supposedly cause less gastric problem).

4 days later and with fever still hovering at 38.5C, I returned to the GP (Mr Lau on duty then) and asked for 2 more days of MC. After examining me, he prescribed me a stronger antibiotic called Zinnat and charged me $30/- (very expensive drug!).

When I reached home, I realised that there isn't any literature on Zinnat and I had to look for it on the net. I was startled by what I discovered when it prints "...if you are allergic to penicilin or cephalosporin antibiotions, you may have an increased chance of being allergic to Zinnat".

The following day, I return to the GP (Ms. Foo) and here's an excerp:-
Me: Do you know the literature for Zinnat caution users with penicillin allergy?
GP: We know that you have a slight chance of getting an allergic reaction but the benefits outweights the risks. There is a 20% chance that you will get allergies when you take it.
(Note: 20% risks in medical line is VERY HIGH, ask your doc if you don't believe it)
Me: Why didn't you inform me of this fact before prescribing me this medications?
GP: It's our policy not to explain to patients or even give out literature. Do you know how long it will take to explain all the risks to our patients?
Me: So it's your policy to keep patients in the dark?
GP: The risk to you is only 20%, we can't be turning down that 80% because of this 20% risk. No matter, I can prescribe you another medicine if you don't want to take this medication.
(See how well she avoided my questions)

Then she proceeded to exchange that unused EXPENSIVE drug for a LESS expensive one without REIMBURSING me for the difference. So, if an alternative drug exists which doesn't carry a 20% risk, she should have prescribed it first!

All these boils down to profits, since if I am sold the EXPENSIVE drug, the GP makes more money, regardless if I've a 20% risk. Being pissed off, I refused to start on the new antibiotics and on the next day, my fever started to subside.

In fact, my wife already have said that if this is a viral flu attacking the throat, I will have a slight infection there and no antibiotics will cure it. True enough, once my fever went away, so did my sore throat.

Another BAD-der flu

10pm 2rd July, Sat night: noticed throat was dry, though it was just the hot weather and I didn't have enough liquid.

10am 3th July, Sun morn: Hiking with my own family and another group. Muscle ached when pushing kid up the slope, also did notice my back was a bit aching.

2pm 3th July: Wife felt my body was warm and i took my temperature, too good to be true, I was having a mild fever at 37.8C. Slight cough and throat was getting more sore.

7pm 3th July: Shivering in bed, temperature rose higher and went to see the doc, by now I was coughing my lungs out and voice became hoarse. Doc said my throat was swollen, hence some medication to reduce the swelling along with the antibiotics. Gotten 2 days MC and by now, fever already went as high as 38.5C

4am, 4th July, Mon morn: Shivering in bed despite the fan being off, temperature shot up to 39.8C. Took panadol to ease the fever, chills and aches. Can feel my whole body is sore, like after a heavy workout. Cough still persistent but throat was less painful. Still coughing up thick pglegm. Took an expectorant to loosen the phlegm and got me a short nap.

7am, 4th July: Still felt cold in bed, temperature was at 38.3C and took some sudafet to relieve congested nose plus Cetrizin to stop runny nose. Suspected that I may have dengue fever on the onset of sudden high temperature.

12pm, 4th july: Despite aches and chills, checked the net for symptoms of Dengue and Malaria. Took panadol to control the fever too. Thankfully I don't have all the symptoms of the disease but only time will tell.

6pm, 4th July: Sick like a dog abeit lesser cough and temperature is rising, had to swallow more panadol treat the symptoms.

9pm, 4th July: Antibiotics time (always at 9am and 9pm) and took sudafet to clear my congested nostril.

Almost midnight, 5th July: Gastric pain from antibiotics, supposedly this stronger one (Chloromycin) causes less gastric problem. Big baloney from the doc, should had stuck to my old prescription (Erythromycin). Ate two slices of bread and a cup of milk along. The plopped in two panadol and piriton (antihitamine)

5am, 5th July: Body still aching, stomach felt bloated, no appetite. Can feel fever rising, almost time for another round of panadol anyways. Drank some water with 2 slices of bread. Then took some panadol and tried to get back to sleep.

6pm 5th July: Stomach still felt bloated and burped a few times. It's the antibiotics which causes all the symptoms (freaking heathline doctor!). Forced myself to eat a pear and drink a bit of milk before eating panadol.

9pm 5th July: After dinner, stomach felt like exploding. Cough is subsiding though still have a lingering sore throat. Getting dizzy off and on from lack to sleep the past three nights.

9am 6th July: Sneaked out of the room and went to work. No way I'm staying at home after 3 days being coop up in a room. But I enjoyed the Drangonlance Chronicles, the first 3 books of the famous Dragonlance series.

BOTTOM LINE: I usually get one or two flu bugs in a year but twice in such a short time. Who's to blame for creating all the super-bugs? DOCTORS!!!!

Sometimes, doctors can lie to patients into accepting another prescription when they are overstocked or the stocks are old. Also, to get better business, they prescribe something stronger so that you'd recover faster. Unfortunately, this creates superbugs in the long run.