Cold can cause back pain!

So I've been having a slightly sore back for a while, maybe a week. I didn't think much of it because it was at the most annoying and it wouldn't bother me that much so I just ignored it. I was thinking it was probably my awfully soft bed (though most comfortable!) but probably not too good for the spine...possibly.
Then yesterday afternoon I went to the gym and all of a sudden it became more than just a nuisance and was becoming really a hindrance to my workout and posture, I had a slight problem straightening my body! But it was still manageable so I finished my workout and then met a friend for drinks, I had an ice-blended drink - big mistake! And it was also raining heavily so the weather wasn't helping. I started having runny nose and next thing I know I have a cold and awful back pain!
My question is, whether the sore back a few days before was a sign or was it just a coincidence? But it was no coincidence that it suddenly became really painful when I had full blown flu. So I looked it up on the net and guess what? Tons of people had the same symptoms! A lot of people apparently have lower back pain when they have a cold! Some too panadol and others painkillers but generally they seem to not work that well, a few suggested having a hot water bottle pressed against the area to alleviate the pain and it worked for me...while the water bottle was hot, but this morning when I woke up the pain was still there, though after stretching a bit and loosening my back up it's slightly better but I still can't make sudden movements. It's amazing how fragile our bodies are if you think about it, it feels like I've suddenly aged 40 years!

Trucks of death..

I can never understand how in the movies, trucks can just come out of nowhere without a sound to hit someone or someone's car. I mean yeah it is a very effective technique to shock people but actually it doesn't make sense at all. And the more times I see it in movies the more I find it preposterous that there are directors or writers still employing this old and tired movie trick for a cheap shot at scaring people (perhaps waking them up from being bored to death by the movie?) I think they should dig deeper to find more original and creative ways rather than resort to such a cliched by-the-book trick..

Superstition and tradition...irrational?

I wonder what is it about tradition that motivates people to follow it. It's Chinese New Year right now as I write this and there's all sorts of chinese beliefs and superstition such as not cleaning house during this season because one might sweep away one's luck, and one should cut his or her hair before the celebration (I forgot the reason for this) to the tradition of buying and wearing new clothes because it's supposed to be a 'new' year. You would think these are such antiquated practices but I was surprised to learn that a lot of people still practice it..maybe out of fear in case the superstitions turned out to be true? I guess in this day and age of science, people have not changed much in their thinking and dare I say..rationality?

Licking the knife..

My friend and I were talking, as usual, about guys...and we got to talking about turnoffs for us. We're by no means perfect but everyone has some pet peeves and annoyances, and beyond that just 'crimes' that simply offend our sensibilities on a personal level so greatly that it may even cause us to rule out a potential mate..

For him it was 'licking the knife', apparently some very uncouth and uncultured people have to idea how to use cutlery properly and end up sticking the whole knife in the mouth when eating. The thought of it is hilarious and while to me it would be considered a minor offence, to him it was a deal-breaker and he simply decided he would rule out the guy.

For me it is burping. I hate indiscriminate burping and while I do find it so offensive, I'm a (very :) understanding guy generally and wouldn't consider it a deal-breaker, however if it happens often (which it probably would) then it would seriously affect my 'long term enjoyment' of the person's company!

Whatever it is, we all have things we can't stand, and while I always advocate compromising for the sake of 'bridging the gap', sometimes licking the knife just won't do!

Please save Malaysia!

I know I haven't written here in a while and while there are tons of reasons why I should continue (like not wanting to deprive the world of my rantings lol) I thought I should talk about this, I mean it's such an important issue; countries and governments have risen and toppled due to this and it is the VOICE OF THE PEOPLE.

I just attended a political rally for the opposition on Sunday and there were some damn passionate speakers ther. There were people of different races, gender (sexual preference too!) and all were united in speaking out against the injustices of the ruling government that has been in power for far too long (nearly six decades!) resulting in large scale corruption without fear of reprise and that is just wrong!

No government is above the law and hopefully the people of Malaysia will be united in taking down the present government that have dragged Malaysia through the mud along with its citizens. Vote the Opposition! Save Malaysia!

Unscrupulous people

The tactics people resort to nowadays to close a sale..I was approached by a 'representative' from EON Bank (for those of you not from Malaysia it's one of the local banks here) and he wanted me to sign up for their credit card, telling me that there is a 50% on every movie ticket that I buy. Now the movie buff in me of course is going 'what?! Yipee! Now I can watch movies for half the price all the time!' Then the rational part of me sets in and wonders what's the catch, so I ask the guy and he said there's no catch, 50% for tickets and 10% for dining at the Cafe there.

Fine so I sign up and then later on when I was expecting my card, I was informed by a friend that he got duped because there was a $60 limit on the discounts, meaning about 10 tickets after I would no longer have the discount! By that time it was too late and the bank had already approved and issued the card and it was en route for my collection. So I tried to cancel it but they said I would still have to pay the $50 compulsory fee by the government! I told them that's not fair as I was tricked into signing up but they just would not hear it.

So I had no choice but to activate the card and now have to use it 3 times a month in order to have the $50 deducted. What pisses me off the most is that these unscrupulous salespeople think they can get away with this kind of nonsense. I made an official complaint and after a week the guy called me and didn't even apologize or sound humble and just continued to argue with me! Needless to say I gave him a big piece of my mind and wished him ill because people like that deserve it for treating people like fools. It's just terrible that people are so unethical nowadays. And worse is I suspect the bank may even be aware of this and not doing anything about it!

In or out?

I'm not sure what to make of America's penchant for airing their dirty laundry in public. Is it as therapeutic as they think or more damaging to the self esteem in the long run? I saw a woman who was an alcoholic talking about her experience 2 years ago when she was a drunk and misbehaving and it was all taped for the Oprah show and shown on national tv. Today she is not an alcoholic anymore, but she's lost her whole family after the show and I'm sure faced a lot of stigma. Was it all worth it? She got better, probably due to social pressure...but at what cost? I suppose the road to recovery very often comes at a price...

People are weird

If you know them they don't want to have sex with you cause it's weird, if you don't know them they don't want to have sex with you cause it's too fast.
You think you know someone until one day they totally disappoint you, you think you didn't know someone but you eventually find out they are typical jerks.
You think life sucks until someone comes to comfort you and makes you feel better, you think life is great when family and friends treat you well and make you happy and meaningful until they disappoint you.
People are weird.

Susceptibility and time frame in illness due to aging

We actually live very long on this earth. Of the many creatures, especially mammals of the world we are one of the few that live the longest and not necessarily due to evolution or genetics but the advent of technology and advancement in the field of health care. Of course that has its downside too with modern industrialisation spewing forth an endless amount of pollution that ultimately effects our health too..so are we actually living a better quality of life even though we're living longer? The proponents of modernisation and health care and have us think so.

But What I am more interested in is the fact that why is there a compromise to the quality of life and this concept of aging? Why can we not be young forever, and even if we could why must we eventually fall victim to disease and illness? Yes we are limited by genetics but is nature so intent on killing us off so early and viciously? If there were unlimited resources in the world then would it be necessary for us to die and could we then by default live forever? All these questions are swirling in my head and may never be answered but what is certain is that I would not want to live to a so-called 'ripe' old age if I'm going to be sick and useless..

Ikea furniture sucks!

People say 'Ikea furniture is nice' and 'Ikea furniture is cheap'. Well, I don't think so, because now as I am moving house I find that it is the Ikea furniture that is all falling apart! I'm serious, the shelves on the bookcase are bent and warped, when we tried to move a 'solid' looking clothes cabinet to a neighbour's unit the whole thing fell apart in the lift! We had to tilt it to get it into the lift of course but one would expect that shouldn't cause the whole thing to collapse! I felt so embarrassed with my neighbours..And today the painter came to paint the ceiling and he tried to shift a jewellery or display cabinet and the legs just totally came off! It's like as if Ikea furniture as an expiry date and is meant to fall apart after few years. They just don't make furniture like they used to, those that last forever..so to me Ikea is selling inferior quality furniture and is quite expensive considering they only last a while..

Matured?!

I've had it with this 'matured' look thing that people always give me. I don't want to look 'matured' because that equals 'old'. No doubt some may actually mean it but I have a sneaky feeling that some may just be trying to be polite..I want to look young. fullstop. period.

Water

I wonder..we're all drinking and using water all the time that we assume to be safe, but who really knows whether the water is being treated properly? Especially in a country like Malaysia where the attitude is reprehensible, who knows if the technicians are shirking their responsibility and not changing the treatment equipment as often as they should or at all? I suppose if they don't after a while we would taste the difference in water but what about the other stuff like chlorine and other chemicals that supposedly is bad for your health if there's too much but yet untraceable in the water? Do they constantly monitor and measure? You would think that responsible scientists are doing all this but I wouldn't be surprised if bumbling operators are left to monitor or make sure that everything works properly cause as we know..good help is hard to find! And this doesn't just apply to the municipal water supply, what about the private water companies that purportedly use sophisticated methods and stringent measurements to purify their water? Is it really all that?

Stereotypes

I don't understand why mainstream television still insists on portraying stereotypes like how straight guys are jocks and gay guys are girlish effeminate types, don't they know better by now that loads of gay guys are just like your average joe or even more masculine than a lot of straight guys out there? It's a travesty really how ignorant these scriptwriters are (I'm assuming they're not gay, or even worse they are but have decided to pander to corporate and mainstream sentiments) Whatever the case I think they should really get with the program, it's 2010 already for goodness sakes!

Un-reality tv..

I just watched this show on tv and it's about the life of a tv presenter and her husband, so basically cameras follow them around and chronicle their daily lives..In one of the scenes she's in a session with a psychiatrist and they eventually talk about so-called sensitive stuff and she asks her assistant to leave because of it. I'm thinking here you have the camera man still there and broadcasting for the whole world to see and you're worried about your personal assistant, who's supposed to be one of the people most privy to your personal schedules and activities, being there?! What a crack load of bullshit! That's the ultimate insult as a viewer and a testament to how fake 'reality' tv can be..

Why are gay people more creative?

I just had a discussion with a friend about this and we were trying to figure out why is it that gay people are normally more creative than their straight counterparts, one theory is that gay people have both male and female sensibilities which makes us more rounded and able to appreciate the beauty of life from more than one side or perspective..My theory is that gay people just had to grow up feeling like we were different and so felt that we had to be more creative to stand out and express ourselves, oh and we don't have to spend so much time and energy trying to raise a family so plenty of time to explore other finer things in life..

New home..

Just moved into the new place, finally! After more than a month of getting the place finally moved most of the stuff here and started living in but still takes some getting used to..been getting up really early, maybe cause can't get used to the bed or new place yet but loving it actually, definitely better than the old place cause now my room is bigger and with a new tv and cool beanie glass table and ample cabinets and closets most of all! Though there's still quite a few things to iron out, basically it's just wonderful!

2 deaths in 1 week..

My friend died..and then 2 weeks later my insurance agent died..sigh, people seem to be dropping like flies around me. Or is it because I'm growing older and therefore a higher chance of people I know are also older and possibly dropping dead? Hmm..whatever it is, it's really disheartening because it puts my own mortality into perspective..not that it's never been at the back of my mind but as time goes on and I age I find myself being more and more restless and willing to put up with less and less shit from people and things..sigh..But ultimately I know I will grow old like everyone else, only a matter of time. Fountain of youth anyone?

Artificial skin that lasts forever

We already have aritificial limbs, however it is not yet accessible to the mass market, but imagine if they ever invent artificial skin that can replace our natural skin seamlessly..and replace our failing organs before they fail..we could theoretically live forever and looking young and feeling healthy forever if we can replace everything in our body with viable synthetic alternatives..from blood to skin..the only thing that might not be replaceable would be our brains but who knows? maybe there is a way to migrate our memories to another brain-like vessel that can replace our brains that will last much longer? I should have been a scientist..it may sound more like science fiction than fact but I have hope, many of the things we considered science fiction has become a normal fixture in our lives, such as cars and cellphones, why not cyborgs and robots as well?

Oranges from China..

I'm wondering, with all the flak about food from China, should we be scared of ALL food from China, including fruits? I'm eating oranges from China right now and they taste really nice and sweet surprisingly. But what concerns me is that they don't look like any oranges I've ever had before..first of all the color is really strong, like fiery orange color, not the usual light orange that most oranges have, and the other thing is the shape, they look kind of like orange colored lemons actually so I don't know whether they were interbred or GM (Genetically Modified) oranges, or whether it has to do with the way they're grown. Regardless, they taste great but I'm just wondering whether they're safe to eat..

Name change..

I just don't understand how people can just change their names..Like on Facebook sometimes I want to look up someone that I haven't really been in contact for ages and suddenly I can't find the person, I thought maybe he or she deleted me from the friends list. No doubt that is sometimes the case but every once in awhile, I'll stumble upon the person but with a DIFFERENT name! Why would someone do that?! What could compel a person to change his or her name unless it was something so horrible for them to face that they had to resort to such exteme measures? Well, all I can say is, it would pay to be careful of these here-today-gone-tomorrow characters. Worse of all if they're your friend, are you supposed to call them by their old name or new name? Whatever!