WHEN TIME FLIES ...

Do you know that with technology, the world is revolving faster? Technically, that is. Just think of hand phones. Skeptics would have rebuked the idea of hand phones becoming a necessity, say, 20 years ago. But just look around today and you’ll find that almost everyone owns/uses a mobile phone, except for my dad, who has one but refuse to utilize it personally but would relegate my mom to do so when the need arises. Even my dad in law who is a staunch proponent of living without a hand phone has converted albeit using it for kebun randezvous emergencies only.

Why the contradiction? That people can do without hand phones just merely 20 years ago and today, they would act like a fish out of water if they don’t own one? It’s simply because once communication becomes easy and fast, you’ll be left behind if you don’t get in the confusion bandwagon. If you need to settle a business transaction outside you make an instant mobile phone call. You need to see someone, you call them immediately without the need to get back indoors. You need to make a crucial decision, you call those who are concerned a.s.a.p.

Imagine years ago when hand phones were still luxury items. A business deal might take days as you keep on missing to get the important person online at the needed moment. A person who is late for an appointment can’t redeem himself by making an impromptu phone call telling them of his tardiness as he weaves through the traffic. By the time he arrives, the people whom he was supposed to meet must already be seething with angst. By then, it’ll be too late for even a basketful of apologies or a thousand kow tows.

Thus, an item which was deemed a luxury and of no desirable need, whatsoever or even perhaps considered as an evil tool, is now taken as a plain necessity, ranking near your clothing obligations. Nowadays, the first thing you check as you enter the car is your dear hand phones, making sure you haven’t left them perched on the table in the house, ringing relentlessly as others try to get hold of you.

With the advent of telecommunication technology, computers, handsets, wireless, etc, things are done manifolds faster and easier. It’s no wonder you find time flies at a ridiculous rate today. I feel as though I just celebrated Syawal yesterday, and now Ramadhan is nearing!

It’s as though we are slowly entering into a new dimension, perhaps a different realm, where time takes hold a different meaning and concept. So Einstein was correct eh?

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'Btw, my daughter Sarah just graduated last Friday. ALhamdulillah.

THE AWESOME FIREFLIES OF YAH YAH

Sundays are supposed to be my rest day, right? Wrong. In essence, Sundays can be one of my busiest days compared to my working days. Take yesterday for instance, I was literally up and about on my feet on a non-stop phase. That is despite the fact that I am down with pharyngitis and rhinorrhea.

From the word go, I was timing my schedule to prevent my chores from overlapping. After managing the laundry, feeding the cats which are exploding in population, I had a quick breakfast with Maman outside. Sent him back and rushed for an overdue appointment at the bali spa for a much, much needed full body massage.

After 1 and half hours of body kneading and untying of knotted muscles, I rushed to a staff’s wedding in Balok, stag, as Maman refused to go and Long was at work. I gobbled up a small portion of white rice with some acar and beef curry in a jiffy, albeit in a polite manner of course. After small talks with the host, I left the function, making it one of my record wedding attendance, approximately 15 minutes at the most.

Zoomed back home, prayed zohor and started out with Maman to Kerteh to fetch Long. Also making it an opportunity for a family outing on the last leg of maman’s ending school hols. Traffic was heavy as everyone was probably like us, trying to make best of the last day of the school vacation, i.e. galavanting out

Waited for Long who still had several patients to wrap up plus one chap who had chest discomfort, walking comfortably in not at all looking like someone with angina whatsoever. He even made a passing statement that it was just dyspepsia but demanded an ECG anyway. By the way Maman was sleeping through out in the car, an after effect of 3 days skulking till the wee hours of morning with his friends in his room!
Despite telling Long that I have a skype conference Aqidah class at 8pm, he planned an impromptu detour to Ibuk to see the fireflies, assuring me that I will be in time for the online class. After maghrib prayers in Ibuk, we drove further to the said place by a bridge, near a river. A place with a name that tickled us pink: Yah Yah (kelip kelip). Initially, we couldn’t discern any fireflies in the vicinity. Disappointed, we almost headed out but Long made a last effort by turning back to the other side of the bridge.

Squinting hard in the pitch dark, Maman noted some blinking objects darting about in the trees. After a while, we started to appreciate hundreds of them roaming like fairies transforming the whole bakau area into an after dark fairyland or something. One tree looked like an ornamented Christmas tree, only this tree is not a fir tree and the season is so hot to be reckoned with santa and his rein deers at all!

While Long and Maman grappled with difficulty to snap the breathtaking sight of glittering flying bugs, I was back in the car, assembling my laptop and wifi, praying hard that my ‘berukband’ can pick up some signals there in Yah Yah (kelip kelip). It was almost 8 pm and Ustadha will be calling everyone soon! I was praying hard that I won’t miss the class this time. Oh ‘berukband’ please give me some signal, even a teeny weeny bit so that I can hear ustadha’s soothing voice, please.
Anyway, to cut the story short, the berukband had failed me again. What do I expect?? If it can’t even give me good signals in town, should I expect even a tinkle in Yah Yah?? Fat hope! All the way to Kemaman, I tried frantically to connect to Skype but nothing. Even sister Fazila Hanis who is in the class too was unSkypeable. Once in the middle of Kemaman, Long stopped the car and left me to catch up with half hour left of the class. Alhamdulillah

My vow: do not agree to go anywhere if I am scheduled for a class. Not even for the gorgeous fireflies of Yah Yah!!!

AntiHypertensive Drugs As Supplements???

May 28, 2009 — Blood-pressure-lowering drugs should be offered to everyone, regardless of their blood pressure level, as a safeguard against coronary heart disease and stroke, researchers who conducted a meta-analysis of 147 randomized trials (comprising 958,000 people) conclude in the May 19 issue of BMJ [1].

Imagine the avalanche after this!! Drug companies will start making more antihypertensive drugs and pushing us to start prescribing them like vitamins!

Looking back, prescribing drugs in modern medicine has been a dynamic process through the years, especially the past few decades to be exact. For example at one time it was wrong to give patients with congestive cardiac failure, beta-blockers, as the negative inotropic effect will worsen the pump failure. However nowadays, beta-blockers are routinely given for ischemic heart disease patients even though their heart may already be in a state of failure.

Decades ago, many physicians would have raised their eye-brows should they hear of how we routinely prescribe anti-clotting drugs like aspirin to all moderate to high-risk patients with hypertension /diabetes. Today, the more aggressive physicians are starting anti-clotting or anti-platelets even much earlier in even low risk patients. They would even start on 2 or 3 anti-hypertensive drugs straight away to bring the blood pressure down to 130/80 and below. All these in the aim of preventing cardiovascular events namely ischemic heart attacks and stroke.

But starting a normotensive person with antihypertensive medication?? That would be a great paradigm shift in medicine. I doubt it will ever take place but in decades to come when life becomes more complicated and fast, taking antihypertensive drugs would probably be the norm. Allahu’alam.