Sick As A Dog
This was written Monday of last week. Actually, for the last several weeks, I’ve been very sick with various illnesses, quite amazing for me! I’m finally at a point where I feel ok to answer emails, etc etc etc. There are over 207 emails from people asking why no more blog posts (most of them 207 I’ve not even know or heard of before. wow, thxthx).
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had foot injury, a 104f (f, not Celsius, 105f=dead person) fever, elevated heart beat, pain everywhere, etc etc etc. Also a near drug over dose (of cos I was not close to dying, that would just be too damn convenient, yes?)
Anyway, I’m alive, so stop worrying about me pls (I’m not used to it). 
As of Monday last week:
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I’m at SOS clinic, writing this on my smartphone, and waiting for the nurse to stick holes in my arm for blood. I hate nurses. They’re just vampires! Ouch! One just stuck a thermometer in my ear while the others had me distracted! They attack in coordinated groups like wolves!
Let me tell you how I came to be here. Over the last few weeks, Ive had one illness after another. For a couple of weeks, I had terrible flu (I’m still clearing my throat and light coughing).
But, last week was another replay of my blood pressure skyrocketing to a point I get monstrous headache to the point even touching my hair hurts, followed by foot pain. My resting-rate pulse was hyper fast. I was sweating like a marathon runner, even after taking VERY COLD showers.
*~ Now i know i said ‘replay’ but this has only happened 2 other times in my life, so dont worry. ~*
Now, my ankle hurts even no true trauma occurred–uric acid maybe? Pain pain pain!
*~ Omg I hate hospital smell! ~*
When my ankle hurts, I compensate by walking on a different part of my foot. Now that area hurts too. Cryyy.
For two weeks i hid the pain from friends as they wold worry.
Friday, i got a med from a Guardian pharmacy. I normally need 2x the dosage to have any effect. What i forgot was, i bought the 2x strong pills, meaning I ended up taking 4x the dosage!
I bought the med, then sat at the krispy kreme. I got Snapple and downed 4x the dosage. Omg! I was Seeing things. I could not focus my vision, and i was very sure those women at guardian were staring at me (a side effect of the drug is paranoia).
I was waiting for the evil twin, while people stared at me as i tried to sit and act normal reading my Japanese manga, which i was holding upside down. The evil twin helped me to walk to her car and she drove me home. We got to my home at 425pm. At 430 in bed. I did not wake up until 6am the next day.
All I remembered was dreaming I was in a Beck video, Sexx Laws, and was in some costume dancing on stage alongside Beck: I was so cool!
After two message replies, i fell back asleep until 12noon omg.
*~ children, never do drugs! ~*
Now, my head is fine but my foot is half dead. So now I’m here.
Nurse #1 is staring at me as she takes my blood pressure reading. ‘Do you feel ok? Light headed? Dizzy? Not at all? Uhhh you should lay down in the emergency room….’ Oh great….
And here we are, after two blood samples taken, and now waiting to hear the results and what meds i need. I just want to know how many days from work i will get!
I’ve now been laying here in the emergency area for able one hour. They keep asking do I feel cold. I told them honestly I feel quite ok, and asked when i may expect some results from the test. They’re checking.
They didnt really want to know if i’m cold. They just checking if i’m awakes so they can exploit my carcass!
15 more minutes pass by. I cant help but to look around at all the gadgets: ekg, ‘the padles’, and such. Very cool to get to use such wonderful toys.
Another bunch of minutes go by. Finally the results! The doc said my blood samples do not match my body. I have normal everything (even cholesterol!). He would expect the blood to be from an athletic person hahahahahaha. But I have elevated iron in my body and my uric acid is nearly 3x higher than normal (thus the reoccurring foot issues!).
Ok, let me explain uric acid. It gets trapped in joints and become crystal. The crystals hurt like hell. even slightest touch will make u scream (and I do not scream, I get pissed and grown at all around me. My poor staff!!!!!!!).
Anyway, it’s so funny. When I was little, I was told I was anemic (low blood iron) and I was forced to eat iron-rich foods (esp that horrid creme of wheat…a food of torture!). Now I am told way too much iron, to the point it’s making uric acid. CRYYYYYY……
To Be Continued…
Now I’m waiting for my meds… I have to pee. This is a new location, the working bathroom is on the far side of that floor cryyyy. So must walk on hurt foot……pain pain pain
Now, I’m waiting for the bill…. They do not have their BCA card reader working, I must go back to the first floor, walk through that place to another bank to their ATM, then back up again cryyyyyy. pain pain pain
Best regards,
Rodney in Pain
Update: I’m 99% normal again. The doc and meds cost over 1.4million (omg, that is high as hell!). Will answer each email in the order I got them. Thanks for thinking of me. Jing, stop crying, and I love ur new blog.
Busy as Hell…
Hello Everyone,
I’m still alive! I’m quite sorry for the delay, but I’ve several projects at work that demand my attention, as well as 3 projects outside of work that are taking up time (this is a good thing!) At work, it is the typical Management stuff: budgets for 2009, high-level projects, etc etc. My personal life projects are are more interesting! Anyway, I started this blog at a cafe last night. Now, I’m finishing it at work, so I must rush LOL.
Personal Project #1 (the most important one!): “Hidden Realms” Photo Project
“Hidden Realms” is my current photographic project, that is taking me into the hidden places where people live in Jakarta. You’d be amazed and shocked at what I see when I head to and from work. This project is going to be massive! I’m having trouble with some of the planning. But, some of the pieces of the puzzle are in place: renting a car and driver (because some places are hard to get a taxi from).
I’m trying to brush up on my Bahasa Indonesia as well, as it’s really needed in these places, especially when people come out to see the strange black fat guy with a huge camera. Quite often, the very poor are worried I am with the government, and will have to soon move. I have to try very hard to reassure them I’m just there for “foto-foto aja” (photos only). I’m hoping to start shooting this project in October. I miss my camera VERY MUCH!
Personal Project #2: TheCafeConnoisesur.com
This site is dedicated to exploring and reviewing cafes (NOT restaurants) around the world. We will write reviews for new cafes, and give readers insights into the good and bad about the cafes we visit, complete with pictures, and ratings. After talking to some managers, I found I will also be able to offer some discounts on the site!
Why did I create this site? First, I love cafes. And, when I say ‘cafe’ I mean it. Cafes are NOT pubs or lounges! I am always trying to find new cafes to explore and enjoy. But, after googling till my fingers hurt for cafe reviews, I found there were no sites dedicated to them! The closest thing to a cafe review I found was mixed in with various restaurants. No site went into details about the things one looks for purely in a cafe, that are not also found in restaurants–they critiqued the cafes as if they were restaurants! This site will be dedicated purely to cafes from around the globe. We will recruit other cafe lovers with writing skills to write, based on our guidelines, about the cafes they visit.
Secondly, I created The Cafe Connoisseurs because, as a photographer who studies human behavior, I’ve found cafes play an integral role in daily life, much more so than your typical restaurant. Cafes are places people go to for a myriad of reasons! People use cafes to conduct business, to get to know someone one-on-one, to meet friends, or to be alone, while slowly enjoying a perfectly brewed cup of tea or coffee, or (if you are like me) creamy iced-blended chocolate.
I strongly feel cafes are an epicenter of humanity, were every type of person, with distinct reasons for being there, coexist. I’m writing this at one of my favorite cafes. If you were here, you’d see the wallflower girl sitting quietly in the corner with her book, the geek with his MacBook on the other side, a few people with a table covered in business papers in the middle, a girl and boy talking quietly with body language that says “I think I like this person”.
*~ Which am I? The Geek. LoL ~*
We will rate essentials that make or break one’s cafe experience, such as atmosphere, the quality and selection choices of foods and drinks, music, and quality of service.
The Cafe Connoisseur’s articles will also delve into less thought of topics, such as laptop-friendliness (avaliable power plugs, free WiFi?–these things are important) and bathroom cleasnsiness. Readers will also be able to write personal-experience comments and rate the cafes mentioned!
Believe me, after visiting dozens of cafes in 8 countries, I’ve learned all toilets are not created equal! Some of the nicest looking cafes have the most horrid bathrooms, and vice versa!
The site is registered and live, but with no reviews yet. Princess Blackstar, The Evil Twin’s sister, made a wonderful banner logo for the site, but she originally misspelled “connoisseur” (French words can be confusing at times hahaha). The spelling has been fixed, but I think I need to save the banner as “medium” quality, as it takes maybe 15 seconds for the banner to load (If you visit the site, wait 20 sec! hahaha). While the site colors and design are fine, overall, I can’t help but feel the overall theme is somewhat static and ordinary. I’m thinking a more “organic” style site is needed. So, I’m rolling up my sleeves and tapping my tech wizardry creative powers to creating a new design from scratch.
For now, The Evil Twin and I will continue to use the standard theme for that site. We hope to officially launch it soon, and register it with various search engines. Of course, we need some reviews to post, which lead to…
Personal Project #3: Cafe Exploration
It’s Ramadan, the fasting month. As Indonesia is mostly a Muslims, all food/drink places are virtually abandoned between 4:30AM and 6 PM (the hours of fasting). I want to visit cafes first in the day time (as it’s easier to find the addresses) then at night, to get a complete view of the places. I’ve a list of 17 cafes to explore, just in Jakarta alone. So, after Ramadan is over, I will go with various friends to new cafes. I can’t wait, because I really love new cafes!