hectic week

it had been a difficult week to get by.


i found out i have hypertension. had been feeling a little faint 2 weekends ago & i thought it was because of the sinus problem that started around that time. when i checked my blood pressure, the systolic pressure varied between 140 - 160 while the diastolic hovered around 90. that's definitely NOT normal under any circumstances & even after the sinus got better, the pressure remained high. that's when i decided i'd have to start treatment.


actually, i've been having borderline high pressure for sometime (135/85) & had been trying a non-drug approach to control it, eg. diet, exercise, but i suppose the job didn't help. so after asking around a few colleagues, i started myself on perindopril, an ACE inhibitor. after a week, the BP has stabilised at about 130/90. my target is 120/80 so there's still some way to go.

way before that, i had promised pastor that i would share a message last sunday. so, amidst the dizzy spells & blocked/running nose, i also needed to put together the message although i had searched & prepared the texts & illustrations some weeks ago.

but God, in His great mercy & compassion, saw me through the difficult week. He even impressed upon me the song of response which i selected. it was from psalms & it was appropriate, not only to emphasise the message, but also personally to me.

Return unto thy rest, O my soul;
for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.
For thou hast delivered my soul from death,
mine eyes from tears,
and my feet from falling.
psalms 116:7,8 (KJV)

turning 8

the boy had his own birthday party recently & all his buddies were invited.

in a way, i'm envious of him - he has something i never had - a group of friends that he has known from birth, are classmates in primary school & growing up in sunday school.....  

it's must be reassuring to him that he is much loved. even the sister called him to wish him...

being such a stickler for tradition, he insisted on opening his presents on his actual birthday itself.

(or, will he develop OCD later in life, i wonder?)

and the new car will be a.......?

it's a toss-up between the civic, sylphy & altis.

it's NOT going to be a civic because there's a 3-mth waiting period & although it has a very sporty exterior, it has a spare tyre looks like it fell off a motor-cycle.

it was ALMOST a sylphy. i was going to sign up this afternoon when i got an sms from my mechanic friend. he had warned me earlier that its CVT transmission is still new in the market & if it's going to be like the CVT in the previous honda city model, then expect problems. i almost went ahead anyway because the sylphy dealer offered to trade-in my 9-year-old car for rm8,000 more than the civic or altis dealer. EIGHT THOUSAND BUCKS!!

in the end (i'd like to think) i listened to reason instead. unlike the sylphy, the altis has a reliable 4-speed gearbox, vehicle stability with traction control, steering wheel audio control, multi-information display, 16-inch wheels with rear disc brakes AND 10,000km service interval. besides, for this month, the altis comes with rm2000 discount plus a free garmin GPS.

with so many superior features, why did i even consider the sylphy? i think it was nearly a case of penny-wise & pound-foolish.

thanks, Roy, for the sms. the car will arrive in 2 weeks. 

not an ordinary day!

it's mothers' day......

in church, so we had the customary appreciation for all mothers. the guys prepared lunch including cooking rice & preparing the main course (roast duck) on site.

it's also a birthday.......

darling daughter turned sweet 16 today, & for the 1st time, we couldn't celebrate with her. the boy, on his own initiative, made a card for her, although he initially thought she's only 14.

it's also a brand new day.....

.....for 11 people in church when they took the plunge in the baptism pool. especially to C who made the decision to accept Christ as her personal saviour after i prayed for her, i bid all a warm welcome to the family of God.

what an awesome day this has been!!

playing safe!

it's like using a condom.

do you want to take the risk? are you prepared to suffer the consequences? i have been mulling over it since the issue came up last year & yesterday, i decided to play it safe.

i got 3 syringes of the H1N1 vaccine for the family.

i had strongly resisted the use of tamiflu last year as well as the newly manufactured H1N1-specific vaccine this year; the former because although it's effective against the common seasonal flu but doubtful against H1N1, while i hesitated over the vaccine because there's concern over it's long-term side effects, specifically to the nervous system.

besides, since H1N1 is reportedly to affect mainly those who are pregnant and people with underlying conditions like hypertension & diabetes, i figured the potential risk of the vaccine just about exceeded that of the flu itself.

that was until i read about a healthy 40yr old man who died from the flu. for me, that changes the scenario altogether. that's when i decided to play it safe.

like using a condom.

reunion

my varsity mates & i had our little reunion over the weekend. it was "little" because 15 people turned up (most with their spouses & kids) compared to about 40 at the last reunion in 2005. perhaps it was the location. previously, we had it at pan pacific at KLIA which was easier to access for those flying in, while this time, we had it at janda baik, just off the highway to kuantan.

why in janda baik, you might ask? this place is owned by our ex-medical lecturer from the varsity. she & her architect husband retired here & the organiser of the reunion, Dr L, is a  close associate of theirs.

as it turned out, because of the smaller numbers, i got to reaquaint myself more intimately better with the others compared to the last time. well, you know what reunions are like - we walk down memory lane & share stories about our current jobs. a few remained the extroverts they were before & frequently held court, while the others, like myself, were more content to just be the attentive audience.

i just figured out one reason why we still got on so well 26 years after graduation. none of us are  filthy rich extremely successful, neither was anyone found wanting. we could all associate with the common-man experiences we've gone thru.

the chap from penang, Dr C, has agreed to organise the next one there. coming from a military background, i'm certain he'll get the job done.

the other reason i was pleased with the event was that the wife got along well with the other spouses & the boy, despite not having kids of his own age group, kept himself occupied in his own child-like ways.