Sunday, January 30, 2011

BFF? Not...

BFF or Best Friends Forever is a very rare phenomenon. In many instances, friendship evolves. Many things can happen to a friendship that can dissolve or at least weaken the friendship. I have seen it happen to people I know and I have experienced it myself as well. For example, one party in a friendship may get married and change their priority that does not necessarily suite the other friend's priority anymore. A friend may find other new friends that he/she would rather spend time on. A friend may change religious views that could alienate the other friend. The list of possible circumstances goes on.

As for me and my good friend Bruno, it became apparent to me lately that our friendship is not what it was before. I suppose it was gradually changing but this past holiday gave me a wake up call that he obviously have other priorities in his life than me. For one, it was obvious that he would rather spend his time and effort to be with his other new friends celebrating New Year than to celebrate my birthday on January 1. Bruno does not go to facebook so he was not aware of my effort to celebrate my birthday on my Lunar calendar date rather than January 1. So as far as he is concern, my birthday is still January 1. What is the point of having a birthday on New Year's Day when your good friend even forget to greet you happy birthday? Why did Bruno forget? Because it was obvious his priority was celebrating new year with his new friends. That was very disappointing to me. To make matters worse, he blurted out on a January 2 gathering of friends at Kit Kat bar that it was my birthday yesterday. It was such an afterthought kind of announcement and made me feel so insignificant. And another sign that I am not so much in his mind anymore was the fact that he did not even get me a Christmas gift for the first time since we were friends for many years. (fyi, I got him and his BF a separate gift for Christmas). I grant that he has a chronic illness and a BF/partner that keeps him occupied mostly but he is obviously not sick or busy enough to party with his other friends. So I will just accept this fact that our friendship is not as close as it was. At least this way, I will not have any expectations from him and will not have disappointments should he fail to deliver. At least I know that I should not make efforts to celebrate his birthday or go around buying him christmas or birthday gift cause those acts are for close friends only. I am a very fair person and I give out what I receive. That applies to how I treat my friends. That is the only way to keep my sanity. That is how I cope with disappointing changes in friendship.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

The story that led to the Speech of a stuttering King

I saw the King's Speech not too long ago and I was totally impressed by the portrayal of Colin Firth as King George VI. In fact I was not surprise that he won the best actor award in the recent Golden Globe Awards. I feel he should win the Academy Awards best actor category as well. Along with Colin, this movie showcased a lot of the big names in British Cinema. Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Jennifer Ehle and Michael Gambon are also in this movie. Everybody acted their parts convincingly. The set, costumes and general atmostphere of the movie made me feel I was in that particular Era.

The story of course is about King George VI, who was a stutterrer, and his relationship with his speech therapist and friend, Lionel Logue. The movie dwelved into the unconventional methods of the therapist and the psyche of the relunctant monarch. How he became a stutterrer and what he needed to do to overcome this were explored with fluidity that did not make me feel bored at all. Some witty lines and heartfelt dramatic moments kept me riveted to the movie. The climax of the movie was when the stuttering King was able to deliver the speech that moved the British Empire during the World War II just when the nation truly needed to hear their King.

Just a great movie all in all that deserved another place in my collections of movie greats. Truly a 5 star movie!

two scary movie I wanna see!



Sunday, January 09, 2011

5 good things about Fox network.

In my opinion, there are only 5 things good about the Fox network. I normally do not like this network specially their news and political shows. The 5 good things about the fox network are the following.

1. Glee. By far the best thing that fox came up with it. And this is the only show that I consistently watch.

2. The Simpsons. I have loved this show since it first premiered. I still watch it if I catches it but do not consistently wait for it.

3. Family Guy. Another adult based animation that I enjoy watching once in a while.

4. American Idol. Entertaining and I have followed two of the older seasons. Not sure if I will get hooked this time.

5. The Chicago Code. Chicago based cop show that I honestly have not seen but something that I am curious about. Watching it for the Chicago setting could be interesting.

Thursday, January 06, 2011

Not the best interest of the patients.

There is this one physician at work who I shall call Dr. CP for anonymity. Most of us Physical Therapist hate working with his patients. It is because his orders are so very specific and it negates our clinical judgment. We are to follow his order/protocol to the letter and I feel like I am just a technician devoid of any clinical decision making that is best for the patient. The State of Illinois seems to disagree with that since we are licensed by the State to make clinical decision making within the scope of our practice and education. And the patient are there with us to receive physical therapy and NOT medical/surgical care. But I digress.

So one day I asked my colleague why Dr. CP would not just have all his patients work with the Physical Therapist in his clinic so he can control their Physical Therapy care exactly the way he wants it? My colleague said that he only sends the Medicaid/Public Aid patients to our hospital clinic. And if some of you are not aware, Public Aid/Medicaid insurance are poor payer of Physical Therapy care compared to Medicare and Private Insurance. I know this because I once worked at a Doctor owned clinic who do not accept Medicaid/Public Aid insurance because they hardly or do not make money from them. So Doctor CP keeps the good paying patients and dumps the poor paying patients to us.

What Dr. CP is doing is so wrong. Patient, whatever the insurance, should have the free will to go anywhere for Physical Therapy care. And I do not even agree that it is the patient's best interest to follow the PT protocol of Dr. CP since I have seen his protocols and it is far from similar to the protocols of many other physicians with the same practice. And the protocols of these other physicians are so similar to each other. So does that mean that all those other physicians are wrong and Dr. CP is right? I dare say the reverse.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Men tainted by association

Have you somewhat like a guy and then changed your mind when you found out who he liked or dated? For me and my friend, it has happened.

My friend somewhat liked this guy Jeff and Jeff did like my friend too. But when my friend found out that Jeff thought this one really muscular, but short and ugly, thai guy is really HOT, my friend lost interest in Jeff. Somehow, my friend's perception of Jeff's "poor" taste level made him less desirable for my friend.

Something similar happens to me. I was chatting with this guy online but when I found out who his "friends" are, I lost interest. And these "friends" are not just friends in the real context of the word but friends who this guys somewhat like. The kind of friends that one keep in hope of dating them someday.

Somehow the notion that these guys would be attracted to other guys that we thought are beneath our station made these guys less attractive to us. It is an unpalatable notion that he would like that type of guy and since he also liked us, by the fault we are clump together with the guys we consider ugly. They were truly tainted by association. A very elitist mentality but there you have it.

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Inconsiderate flyers



Some people are just plain inconsiderate when they fly. They fly with too many carry on items. Take that woman in the pics. Look at how many carry on items she has. She has 3 bags and a luggage plus the coat. Where is she going to stow all of those??? Jeez!

Even though the flight attendant repeatedly announces that overhead compartments should only be used for the big carry on item and smaller items should be stowed under the seat in front, many people who board early will still stow every carry on items they have, including their jackets, on the overhead bin. This creates a space shortage for those who board later and they sometimes end up stowing their bag on the overhead bin far behind their seat. And when it is time to deplane, their attempt to retrieve their bags far behind them creates a jam in the aisle making deplaning for those behind them very very slow.

First, the airline should enforce their carry on item rules strictly. So if a passenger has too many carry on, they should be forced to check in the bigger items. Second, the flight attendants should monitor the passengers and make sure that only the big carry on gets stowed in the over head bin until everybody has boarded. And third, if one ends up stowing their bag on the over head bin far behind their seats, they should wait till every body has deplaned before they attempt to retrieve their bags so as not to delay the other passengers.

That is just my take on it.

Monday, January 03, 2011

Israel Trip - Israel Museum

The trip to the Israel Museum was very educational for me. I do not know a lot about the history of Judaism so this trip was most welcomed. There was a big model of the second temple period of Jerusalem. Now the ruins we saw made better sense. We also got to see the Dead Sea scrolls that were discovered in the 40s and 50s. Very awe inspiring to be at the presence of such old and ancient documents.

Sunday, January 02, 2011

I know her so well.

My friend took Janet in when I was gone for a long weekend recently. My friend has taken Janet in before without many issues but this time around, Janet has been having bladder and bowel accidents inside their house.

In the past 6 months that I have owned Janet, I got to know her nuances and quirks. I know when she needs to piss or pooh when we walk. And I have learned that if I did not meet her bladder and bowel needs, she will have accidents inside the house. If I fed her the wrong food or too much, she will have accidents. If I did not walk her enough and give her a chance to do her toilet needs, she will have accidents inside the house.

First let me say that I am very grateful to my friend taking Janet in when I was gone. But with the issues she had this time, I feel my friend is labeling her as untrustworthy of not having accidents inside the house. My friend said that they have walked her enough times and she would not do her toileting and would end up doing it inside the house. And I believe they have indeed walk her long enough but I feel there were several circumstances that may have led to the accidents.

1. There was a lot of snow fall that weekend and the snow that were shoveled to the grass area of the sidewalks piled so high and it was even taller than Janet. So she was unable to climb the snow piles to get to the grassy area where she would normally piss or pooh. When I walked her that evening that I got her from my friend, I noticed that she was having a hard time looking for a place to piss or pooh. I saw the behavior she would exhibit when she needs to do her toileting. Finally she was able to climb a gap and went to the middle of the snow plateau and poohed. The snow was not around the first time they took Janet in over the summer so she was able to do her toileting easily. This time the snow complicated things.

2. Secondly since I know her personality better, I know exactly what it takes for her to piss or pooh. She needs some sniffing and walking around before she finally squats to piss. Unlike my friends male dog that just open his leg on a bush or a trunk and piss right away. Janet literally will beat around the bush before she piss. And since my friend does not know her as well as I do, they may not have given her enough time to sniff around and piss during those walks.

3. Third reason could be the fact that being with another dog to play and ran around that weekend at my friend's house may have over stimulated her to move her bladder and bowel more.

4. And lastly she may have developed some separation anxiety when my friend took her to their house to cause her to have accidents.