Allergies and red seats

Now I know the name of the condition that's afflicted me with sinusitis, altered vision, unworkable headaches and vertigo whenever I get a bad cold: allergic rhinitis. As it turns out, this doesn't have a cure and all I can do is manage it and try to avoid the allergic triggers. This month's bout of it has chopped away four days off my working month.
===

As my birthday gift to myself, I finally took the splurge on semi-bucket seats. I'm afraid the "Digo fund" never went toward the purchase of a Bride Digo seat, however. Instead, I got a pair of red Recaro SR3s from the original DC2 Honda Integra Type R and/or the EK9 Honda Civic Type R. For the price and the condition of the seats, I got them quite cheap.


Right now they're sitting on the floor of my room though, as I soldier on with Aibo's stock perches. Why? The SR3s didn't come with seat rails compatible with my GD1 Jazz. To make them link up with Aibo's bones, I ordered a set of Bride RO-type seat rails, which will interface flawlessly with the seats and Aibo's chassis. The only fly in the ointment is, they'll take a month at most before they make it here because the Japanese supplier doesn't have any of them in stock.

I can already hear my knees thanking me, though.

Jared is itching to help me with the DIY install of these babies. I can't wait either.

My baby Maby is well again!

After spending a few days in the renovated Makati Medical Center, Mav is back on her feet and cured of her gastritis. Yay!

There are a few caveats though, the most notable being the short list of foods that she is permitted to eat for the next couple of weeks. Apparently everything else will just screw with her gastrointestinal tract and give her hyperacidity as well.

It's a small price to pay, I guess. At least she's graduated from that liquid diet the doctors first gave her...I know first-hand how fed up she was with plain old rice porridge.

Her illness did make for an interesting "date." I spent my Saturday in her hospital room, tending to her while I relieved her parents as they took the time to go home.

Thanks for your prayers guys! Mav sends her thanks.

Bum gut gone too far...

My girlfriend Mav is quite seriously sick.

She's had a case of bum gut that has lasted much, much longer than it should. The doctors have diagnosed it as gastritis, and they've treated her for it, but for some reason her tummy's still busy doing painful cartwheels and making her puke. She's now been confined in Makati Medical Center for observation, at a most inopportune time---the hospital is in the middle of renovation and it's taking an eternity for her to get her own room.

Please pray for her, guys. I want nothing more than to have her healthy again.

The grim and the merry

A couple of my friends have been struck down with pretty serious illnesses.

Francis Javier of JACU has had a pre-existing heart condition, but following the January 2009 EB he reportedly collapsed and had to be brought to the ICU. His heart had been palpitating and beating very fast---I believe the condition's called tachycardia, which literally means "racing heart." It didn't help that his heart was enlarged and wounded from the inside.

He's now out of danger, but another friend, my ex-team lead Jenny Layugan, has been confined in Asian Hospital for a while now due to dengue. Apparently it was the more serious hemorrhagic variety, because this morning I got a number of text messages asking for type B-positive blood to help her make it through.

My prayers are with both of these people.

On a happier note, a belated happy birthday goes out to Dynee Balleza-Sheafor of Madison, Wisconsin.

Rediscovering TV

Thanks to that week-long bout of vertigo, I've basically stayed away from the home computer over the past couple of weeks. Initially it was for fear of having my head spin again, but now I can say it's because I've seen the shows I was missing the whole time I was drowning my time online.

In addition to "House" I'm now following "Chuck" and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." The first series is endearing and funny, while the product of James Cameron's imagination makes for pretty interesting television, too.

I'm discovering a few hidden gems, too. I've often looked down on the Ultraman series for being predictable, but "Ultraman Nexus" has changed that. For once, here's an Ultraman series that doesn't consider our familiar red-and-silver giant as an automatic ally. The TLT Night Raiders task force in "Nexus" considers the silver giant just as dangerous as the space beasts he fights against. There's an atmosphere of distrust, paranoia and conspiracy in "Nexus" that makes for very interesting watching. The Ultraman elements are there, but it's much less of a "monster-of-the-week" sort of thing and more resources are devoted to developing our characters and story over many episodes.

And, despite not watching the series, I found the "Sex and the City" movie well-written and entertaining enough to watch it in the cinema twice.

Wrapping up May

Since I recovered from my brush with prolonged vertigo and a massive head cold, I've been staying away from the home PC for fear of getting an undesirable relapse. With the overtime wick turned up at work, I strain my eyes and brain enough already.

For the longest time, using a computer was the one thing I could not do without bad consequences. It's funny how I could vegetate in bed watching TV and reading magazines without incident, or even drive around for two hours, but a week ago I could barely stand two hours of using an LCD-monitor-equipped PC.

Grace and I have patched things up. In the end, despite everything that's happened between us emotionally, I guess we're just really good friends after all. She was concerned about me when I was still struggling through my first couple of days back at work. She's asked me to watch "Sex and the City" along with her...perhaps one of these weekends.

My friend Mav was a big help too. All the while she was keeping me company over SMS, and I appreciated her company despite our differences.

Fuel prices have gotten fairly ridiculous in how quickly they've risen over the past year. I remember this time last year it was PhP38 per liter...now it's PhP52 and rising per week. I was lucky to have avoided a week at the pump, but ultimately my Honda has to fill up and I have to pay up to do so. I wonder when all the price increases will end?

At least tomorrow is another Friday though. A payday Friday. One I'm actually looking forward to, because I'm getting my just-desserts.

I, the jerk

Over the weekend I got sidetracked by a massive head cold and the kind of heavy headache that would normally point to me getting the flu. Fortunately I didn't get chills or fever, but I didn't want to take any chances either so I took today off.

I am disappointed with myself once again. It seems no matter how hard I try to make other people happy, I will just end up acting like an insensitive, manipulative jerk when all is said and done. Grace was looking for something I unfortunately could not give her, and in the end I became exactly the type of person she didn't want.

I begin to wonder when I can convince myself that I am truly ready for a relationship once again. It is funny how I've become the one actively resisting it, after falling over myself time and time again searching for it for the past God-knows-how-many years. Now that relationships aren't part of my itinerary, there the chances for it pop up. What kind of sick, cruel joke is this?

If Grace proved something, she proved I am not unlovable and I am grateful for that. But right now, I'm just not looking.

Much to look forward to...after rest

Overtime, lousy sleep and my colleagues' illnesses have finally done me in. Last Wednesday, while getting ready to take the morning shower, I felt horrible and feverish. I had a bad cough, a massive headache and none of my energy.

That set off a whole week off work. Most of the flu symptoms were gone by Friday, but my heavy, dizzy head absolutely refused to cooperate. A thirty-minute spell in front of the computer to check my email left me drained and dizzy.

Consequently, in those five days of sick leave I rediscovered the value of sleep. Oh, how I neglected that most despised of my physical needs. I slept abnormally frequently, especially in the afternoons. This is payback for the long nights and incessant hotel insomnia of my last project, I reckon. I don't enjoy sleep, but I had a lot of it and it did me a world of good. I gained weight, swilled my pills, lay in bed watching new cable channels and slept like a bum.

When I mustered the will to report back to work this morning, I was still quite weak. My eyes spun in their sockets after the morning drive to Mandaluyong and my forehead glistened with the sick pall of cold sweat. As the day went by, I gradually gained back my strength. While waiting my turn at the toll booth intersection tonight, close to home, I felt grateful to feel...normal.
===

I recovered just in time. This was almost a repeat of last year, when I got sick on the day of the Accenture Badminton Club (ABC) Cup tournament. I'm grateful I recovered with three days to go before this year's tourney.
===

My plane tickets to Leyte have just been booked. This takes the honor of my first-ever credit card transaction, and I did the booking and purchase online too. To my chagrin, the ticket price has gone up from last month, but I don't mind.

I'll be greeting my "best fwend" a happy happy birthday in person, after four years. I'm certainly looking forward to it, Cher.
===

Joy's also made our coffee date when she visits from the UK. The 16th of December it is.

A letter to my new friend in Houston

I have more or less recuperated, thanks. I managed to complete the week without having to dip into my stock of sick leaves. I am grateful I never got to the point where the sickness would leave me significantly weakened.

I paid a price for that, however. I was not able to chat you up on the evenings that I really wanted to.

Yes, you told me that I should not just sleep but rest---i.e. lie in bed and do nothing. Because of that, I have rediscovered the sheer fun of jumping between TV channels, looking for stuff to watch on a Friday night, after a prolonged hiatus away from the boob tube.

However that paled in comparison to the companionship you had given me these past couple of weeks. All told, we are still strangers. Yet this early, I am sure you and I have something quite special between us. You are unlike most of the friends I have made at work, with whom I still have some hesitation in conversing. An entire ocean and miles of land separate us, yet we can chat the hours away like the old friends I wish we'd become someday.

After the disappointment and heartbreak I have shared with you, I realize you were the panacea I was waiting for. I enjoy your company and your insights, and I genuinely know that you do the same with me.

As long as I have friends like you, I do not need romance. I do not need to gamble on relationships. Besides, you already know I think sex and prettiness are overrated.

Thank you, my friend. May the sun kiss your life all your days.

One of those times when I drink tea...

I am sick.

I've been feeling under the weather all week, but this is the worst yet. My eyes are spinning, there's a jackhammer in my head, I have sniffles and a cough, and my energy's pretty much drained. I'm nursing a very slight fever by now, but that's the least of my worries. I haven't had to resort to taking any sick leave yet, but I'm not so sure about maintaining the status quo any more.

To avoid exacerbating my present situation, I spend the days on autopilot and grab every chance I get to sleep. It has to be said, the sleep isn't helping much. I slept ten solid hours last night and I felt no better when I got up.

One of my personal quirks manifested itself lately: I drink tea when I'm sick.

I generally hate being sick because I get so damn bored when I am. I know it's a reminder to take it easy and that my body isn't as strong as others' but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.

Sigh. I am weak and tired. I should take a vacation and do nothing but sleep the day through. Anyway, the weekend is just around the corner; I have to last only one not-so-stressful day more.