Midnight Sunshine

Well its 1:30am n I was really going hard strumming my guitar ... just thought will give it a break. Dun wan the neighbors chasing me away or calling the cops!! Its been a tiring week. So was unwinding this late hour! Have been undergoing some department level certification sessions. Its tiring spending time working on things which are not technical. Been learning about the health care industry. Seems interesting , the health care industry. Wish there could be some programme here like the federal & state programmes in US. Although there might be some infrastructure in place I have no clue whether such programmes actually benefit the needy in India.

Private health care is also costly here but not as much like in US n other countries. We can survive even if we don't have insurance. I for one didn't have until this year. I could manage medicines n stuff by paying directly. Now I've taken 2 different policies, one that my company offers and one from a private insurer. But they don't cover any pharmacy needs as such. One good thing about this department certification situation is that I have been reading some stuff about insurance. I hadn't even read my policy documents , just believed the telecom agent who had called and bragged about the policy. Funny thing is although I had told them about DM & ONA , they haven't specified it in the pre existing conditions in the policy!!! The one that my company offers is a group policy, so it didn't ask much about the employee details.

Its high time I looked at my diet. There is something really wrong with my liver/stomach. Everytime I eat something fried or heavy stuff I feel severe discomfort. My family doctor said it was no cause for worry. But its really uncool to miss all that yummy stuff ! :( Just the other day couldn't help taking a bite at burger & fries at McD. I'd gone shopping for a digital cam for my dad's birthday. Also have to exercise a bit, since my exercise routine has gone out of the window for some reason!

Coming back to my strumming adventures. Planning to learn to play the Blues. Its not goin to be easy but have learnt few tunes (or licks in g'r limbo) Really gotta practise more, but find it difficult to play after coming home. Need lot of patience. Planning to cutdown on late nights some day soon maybe that will improve the fatigue a bit !!


Its finally raining AGAIN here.


Ciao n Peace.

Some changes ...

It's been a long time since my last post. A lot has changed last couple of months , other than my health which is a constant factor. I'd gone on a trek where we planted trees , had some tense moments at work & finally summoned up the courage to take up guitar lessons!

Starting on the health front ... with my elevated liver enzyme levels I was really troubled since last september as it had seriously affected my digestive system. Although I am never the kind of person who compromises on food & drinks I've found that avoiding fried food, non vegetarian food goes a long way in keeping me healthy. Also have stopped the occasional beer (not even once a month now!) I was really turning into a couch potato, but some timely intervention has helped me somewhat. So much for taking meds all these years. I am sure the liver enzymes will be lil less next time on. CPK however was in the high range 700 n something. Still clueless trying to find answers. Biggest problem was that I have lost my medical history file. Its a complete disaster I know. It contains all the 3-4 diagnoses I had before being diagnosed with DM & also all the optic nerve atrophy details. It must have happened around last september or so. After the pre medical test at my last employer I was so dejected I never took a look at my health records for sometime and then I had gone away to my hometown (for training@current job) for couple of months. It was only when I was going to take a second opinion from another rheumy I realised it. I really dunno what I'm gonna do without it. Prolly might go to the hospital where I consulted my rheumy previously till he retired.

On the job front, it looked really bleak. I spent some tense months here, knowing well my potential and the kind of work I was doing I really felt depressed. Funny thing is I'm working on a healthcare project!! I guess I should have been more thrilled to work in an area that has affected my life so closely. Yet the quality of work really makes me feel sad. Although I have a pretty long commitment which I had to make this friday, about my current project... dunno where its goin to land me. With the financial crisis going on, keeping a job is itself a challenge so changing jobs specially with my past history of pre med tests is a definite no no. So still hanging in there, but sometimes it really p!$$3S me off.

However I am really active in the social service volunteering group in my organisation. My manager asked me if I could organise a tree plantation event. I hardly ever say no to anyone who makes a request , so declining wasn't really an option. Organising the event was pretty easy, we car pooled and a NGO took care of the plantation activity. The tough part was actually planting those saplings. We had to climb a hilly region and plant the saplings on the hill !! After climbing up for half n hour I almost felt like I was gonna faint! Luckily nothing like that happened. I fell once but didn't really hurt. But was bit scary. My family n friends who know about my situation did give me an earful later when I told them about my weekend adventure. Last week we had entries for the Mumbai marathon in Jan'10. Luckily no one asked me if I would like to participate!! I really cant run for even the dream run which is 7kms. I really wish I could. Maybe I have to train myself and set sights on 2011 marathon, hopefully!

Finally the biggest change was that I took up guitar lessons since last month. I never dared to learn a music instrument since I felt my eyesight & stiff hands would never allow me to do so. But they have started guitar lessons before and after office hours once a week at our workplace. So couldn't resist. I swear I joined it to maybe strum up to sing Wonderwall or summer of'69 someday. But I am a long long way from there. I am finding playing chords really difficult 1) because I really cant stretch my hands a lot 2) my hands have been this stiff since last 12 years!! 3) it was a stupid idea in the first place to learn this late!! But neverthe less learnt couple of songs to play. I even taught my sister n her husband to play couple of tunes !! :D Although my parents complained during the weekend!! I have also found a work around for my stiff hands , really hope it works. Dreaming on to play cool original music someday.

All this has really left no time for me to go on any road trips of late. Haven't really been along with my best buds since a long time. Just the occasional weekend outing for movie n dinner. There was a time when we used to hang out everyday , if not atleast for an hour or so. Those were the good times! Some of them are out of town n even country!! I guess the whole bunch would be together only by august or maybe december. However planning on a trip in the monsoon for sure. One more interesting thing is that just across my office (which is built in hilly area) we have a small natural waterfall!!! Nothing huge, but that stream has got water 24*7 and that too with so much force, would have posted a snap but my new data cable ain't detecting my fone!! However coming back to the place it has become a haven for all smokers (aplenty at work), so bit of a turn off.

Heavy rains have been a nuisance for me since couple of days. I really find it difficult to drive when its raining this heavy. Although I love the weather its really difficult to enjoy the drive with so much stress on eyes. Also have to pay my eye doc a visit sometime this month.

Well enough said, hoping for some cool moments this week. Really gets frustrating by friday at work , hope there is some interesting challenges this week !
PS: "The Hangover" was hilarious :)


Ciao n Peace.