Finally, no more blood-taking in the wee hours of the morning! It was 7am and the nurse was going around taking parameters, blood pressure and of course, pricking fingers. Rinsed my mouth with mouthwash. How I wished my toothbrush were here. The nurse asked if I would like to brush my teeth with the free toothbrush. Ah, might as well.
Dear phone was still by my side.
Still felt like I didn't have enough sleep. The time I sleep doesn't matter; what matters is that I get up after 11am.
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Friday, October 07, 2011
Moving Time
A bed at the normal ward was finally available. But before I could move, I had to pass a few tests :\
Thursday, October 06, 2011
The HD Resident
Makan
Got oats for breakfast. I don't fancy oats; in fact, they are on my banned list due to continuous forced-feeding for 6 years every morning more than a decade ago. But the hospital didn't give me a choice. Ah well, a hungry sotong eats anything. Didn't taste too bad initially. It was the sweet type with condensed milk. Not much oats in it, quite watery. As my stomach filled up, the oats got grosser. That's enough. Half a bowl gone, quite a feat.
Got oats for breakfast. I don't fancy oats; in fact, they are on my banned list due to continuous forced-feeding for 6 years every morning more than a decade ago. But the hospital didn't give me a choice. Ah well, a hungry sotong eats anything. Didn't taste too bad initially. It was the sweet type with condensed milk. Not much oats in it, quite watery. As my stomach filled up, the oats got grosser. That's enough. Half a bowl gone, quite a feat.
'Tis The Season to Spend Money
...哗啦啦啦啦 啦啦 啦啦... *sound of money flowing*
Father had also been telling me about a discounted reclining bed from Rehab Mart. He even had took a video of the bed in action. If I were to require help to sit up in future, it would be useful and more back-friendly for my carers as well. I wasn't sure of the usefulness, but he sounded like he already wanted to buy it.
I was fine with it lor, since I was supposed to buy a new bed frame anyway. I'm still unsure of whether I would need the reclining functionality as I obviously wouldn't plan to sit bed all day unless forced to. Hence it was too early to invest in such a bed. But if a regular bed frame costs about the same (I have no idea), this might be a good deal?
Somebody has to test out the mattress first. And make sure the bed frame doesn't creak. Father wanted to buy a bed without even sleeping on it!!! He reasoned that from the video, we could see it's the thick type, therefore it must be good. And it's a reclining bed that actually doesn't look like a hospital bed. Normal people buy such beds so they could do stuff like read or watch tv in it and it costs a bomb outside. My ex-boss, Ms L has one too.
But weird ley, in the video, when nobody was lying on it, the mattress remained straight as the backrest's inclination was increased. To prove that the mattress could actually bend, the salesman jumped onto it. Actually even if Father tried, I didn't think I would trust his feedback anyway haha. My mother didn't want to waste time going to try it. For me, no try no buy, simple!
As with all promotions, they pressurize potential customers with short promotional periods. So Father managed to drag Mother down to try the mattress, despite her complaints that she had to go to the market, cook 2 meals and travel to and fro hospital twice a day. He bought the bed. No headboard, as I saw no need to pay so much for that. I'm sure I can find somewhere to hang stuff!
System 9 single bed with bluetooth remote control. Memory foam mattress, free memory foam pillow, for $1640.
I requested the nurse to contact the TLSO's vendor as I was still feeling uncomfortable wearing it. This time, a lady came. Not the same black-faced one who measured me. My complaint was that the TLSO was giving me a headache. The answer was that I didn't need to strap the neck brace so rightly. And the foam neck brace was flipping up my earlobes. No need to take it back to the workshop - just cut with scissors! As for the brace still cutting into my legs, the solution was to sit on a firm, flat seat. So the TLSO was here to stay.
I asked her for advice on caring for it. She passed me a booklet of instructions. Wipe with damp cloth, basically. Ok hope it can last for 2yrs.
And DON'T get fat.
Father had also been telling me about a discounted reclining bed from Rehab Mart. He even had took a video of the bed in action. If I were to require help to sit up in future, it would be useful and more back-friendly for my carers as well. I wasn't sure of the usefulness, but he sounded like he already wanted to buy it.
I was fine with it lor, since I was supposed to buy a new bed frame anyway. I'm still unsure of whether I would need the reclining functionality as I obviously wouldn't plan to sit bed all day unless forced to. Hence it was too early to invest in such a bed. But if a regular bed frame costs about the same (I have no idea), this might be a good deal?
Somebody has to test out the mattress first. And make sure the bed frame doesn't creak. Father wanted to buy a bed without even sleeping on it!!! He reasoned that from the video, we could see it's the thick type, therefore it must be good. And it's a reclining bed that actually doesn't look like a hospital bed. Normal people buy such beds so they could do stuff like read or watch tv in it and it costs a bomb outside. My ex-boss, Ms L has one too.
But weird ley, in the video, when nobody was lying on it, the mattress remained straight as the backrest's inclination was increased. To prove that the mattress could actually bend, the salesman jumped onto it. Actually even if Father tried, I didn't think I would trust his feedback anyway haha. My mother didn't want to waste time going to try it. For me, no try no buy, simple!
As with all promotions, they pressurize potential customers with short promotional periods. So Father managed to drag Mother down to try the mattress, despite her complaints that she had to go to the market, cook 2 meals and travel to and fro hospital twice a day. He bought the bed. No headboard, as I saw no need to pay so much for that. I'm sure I can find somewhere to hang stuff!
System 9 single bed with bluetooth remote control. Memory foam mattress, free memory foam pillow, for $1640.
I requested the nurse to contact the TLSO's vendor as I was still feeling uncomfortable wearing it. This time, a lady came. Not the same black-faced one who measured me. My complaint was that the TLSO was giving me a headache. The answer was that I didn't need to strap the neck brace so rightly. And the foam neck brace was flipping up my earlobes. No need to take it back to the workshop - just cut with scissors! As for the brace still cutting into my legs, the solution was to sit on a firm, flat seat. So the TLSO was here to stay.
I asked her for advice on caring for it. She passed me a booklet of instructions. Wipe with damp cloth, basically. Ok hope it can last for 2yrs.
And DON'T get fat.
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
The Masterpiece
It has been 1 week since the surgery. I have finally graduated to soft diet! Zero puking yay! Or just that I'm not predisposed to puking because last time I also never puke.
Yesterday, when my mother heard about it, she was excitedly thinking about what she could cook me. For once, I was excited too. No confidence in hospital soft diet mah.
Breakfast was fish porridge, fed by a nurse. It's very starchy watery, rice grains not as visible as Teochew porridge, yet not as smooth as congee. It's the same kind of fish fillet, minced, sparse. So little fish can never flavor the porridge sufficiently, so some artificial flavoring must have been used. However, for a person who has not eaten anything for 1 week, it's heavenly.
Yesterday, when my mother heard about it, she was excitedly thinking about what she could cook me. For once, I was excited too. No confidence in hospital soft diet mah.
Breakfast was fish porridge, fed by a nurse. It's very starchy watery, rice grains not as visible as Teochew porridge, yet not as smooth as congee. It's the same kind of fish fillet, minced, sparse. So little fish can never flavor the porridge sufficiently, so some artificial flavoring must have been used. However, for a person who has not eaten anything for 1 week, it's heavenly.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
在HD的日子
So late in the afternoon, about 5pm. Hope the hospital never charge me extra day for ICU!
Hello Ward 27! Still a single-bed room (yay!) with glass doors. But this time I could see other patients in their rooms as well as staff at work outside. A blood pressure cuff was wrapped around my right arm and a finger slotted into a rubber thimble for measuring SpO2. ECG leads stuck on my chest. All permanently :\ Aircon in this room was super super very cold! The blanket was so thin despite it being so heavy and holey that I needed 3. End result was I was further immobilized under the weight.
I was given the patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and shown where the call bell was. No point fighting the painkillers and nothing to do staying awake, so I just zzz.
Hello Ward 27! Still a single-bed room (yay!) with glass doors. But this time I could see other patients in their rooms as well as staff at work outside. A blood pressure cuff was wrapped around my right arm and a finger slotted into a rubber thimble for measuring SpO2. ECG leads stuck on my chest. All permanently :\ Aircon in this room was super super very cold! The blanket was so thin despite it being so heavy and holey that I needed 3. End result was I was further immobilized under the weight.
I was given the patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) and shown where the call bell was. No point fighting the painkillers and nothing to do staying awake, so I just zzz.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
One Night In Bei... No, ICU!
I awoke to nurses fussing over me. No idea what they were up to. It just felt like they were moving me around and setting up stuff. So op was over? This must be the ICU I supposed?
A nurse removed the huge breathing apparatus from my mouth that was so bloody big that it was pushing my teeth out (o no I'm gonna have buck teeth) and I wondered how the doctors managed to fit it in in the first place.
Then she stuck a suction tube down my throat to suck up the mucus. Super UNCOMFORTABLE, but the suction provided relief.
An oxygen mask was strapped to my face.
Air was blowing continuously into my nose and mouth. Sweet, sweet air. It made breathing so effortless that I felt I didn't need it at all.
I was told that I was having a fever, so they would not cover me with the blanket, to which I managed to muster a "mm", but whether she heard it was another thing.
After everybody was done and gone, I finally could get back to sleep.
Zzz...
A nurse removed the huge breathing apparatus from my mouth that was so bloody big that it was pushing my teeth out (o no I'm gonna have buck teeth) and I wondered how the doctors managed to fit it in in the first place.
Then she stuck a suction tube down my throat to suck up the mucus. Super UNCOMFORTABLE, but the suction provided relief.
An oxygen mask was strapped to my face.
I was told that I was having a fever, so they would not cover me with the blanket, to which I managed to muster a "mm", but whether she heard it was another thing.
After everybody was done and gone, I finally could get back to sleep.
Zzz...
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
D-Day
Got woken up super early, like before 6am, to bathe. Despite telling the nurse that my mother would assist me, she still insisted on following me into the bathroom. The reason being she wanted to ensure that I didn't wash off the markings made yesterday (Mother almost did, despite the nurse telling her not to rub so hard) and that I had to use their super strong smelling, drying and artificially pink anti-bacterial soap to wash. She should have mentioned earlier, so that I wouldn't wash with my own soap! Double soaping = super duper dry skin! Even my hair had to be washed with it! Luckily she didn't insist that I wash my face with that too hah.
Then it was back to traction. So strict on it. Seriously! Apart from being annoying, it didn't seem to serve any purpose!
The rest of the family came. Had to try very hard to keep quiet so early in the morning... noisy patient! Of course, our efforts, if any, were futile, because we still got to pack our stuff. Couldn't expect to return to the same bed later, right? I looked like I had been here for a week :X
Dr L and his group of students came to add on to the noise. He said that during the surgery, I would be lifted from anaesthesia briefly and called by name to move my arms and legs to check my nerve functions. I stared at him in disbelief. Not worried about pain. I had heard of this, but would I really be able to respond? Later never respond then jialat. What name I respond to? A wide variety since a lot of people mispronounce my name! So anything that sounds like it :P Which also implies that I responded mistakenly many times...
And it was waiting until 8.20am. I was wheeled out on the bed, with the traction and all. That's how serious they were about it. All the way to the operating theatre! The waiting area was bustling with activity. So many patients having surgery huh. Why did the place have to be so freaking cold? The cold air was penetrating my holey blanket with ease.
The operating theatre was actually warmer than outside lor. Everybody inside was doing something. I was expecting some students to stand around hah. I'm such a fine piece of exhibit wor~ Dr L greeted me before saying he was going to plan the surgery. Which made me worried for a second. Planning now only ah... ~_~
I was finally released from traction and got to play with the Patslide.
It dramatically reduces friction, making the transfer off my bed so easy. Just that it's very hard, hurting my shoulder blades.
Somebody swabbed my wrist with alcohol. I thought they were going to give me an injection, but I turned and saw them getting this thing with super thick and long needle and stuck it into my wrist! A tube was connected to it and I watched a clear, fluid travel through it into my wrist. So cool...
...
Then it was back to traction. So strict on it. Seriously! Apart from being annoying, it didn't seem to serve any purpose!
The rest of the family came. Had to try very hard to keep quiet so early in the morning... noisy patient! Of course, our efforts, if any, were futile, because we still got to pack our stuff. Couldn't expect to return to the same bed later, right? I looked like I had been here for a week :X
Dr L and his group of students came to add on to the noise. He said that during the surgery, I would be lifted from anaesthesia briefly and called by name to move my arms and legs to check my nerve functions. I stared at him in disbelief. Not worried about pain. I had heard of this, but would I really be able to respond? Later never respond then jialat. What name I respond to? A wide variety since a lot of people mispronounce my name! So anything that sounds like it :P Which also implies that I responded mistakenly many times...
And it was waiting until 8.20am. I was wheeled out on the bed, with the traction and all. That's how serious they were about it. All the way to the operating theatre! The waiting area was bustling with activity. So many patients having surgery huh. Why did the place have to be so freaking cold? The cold air was penetrating my holey blanket with ease.
The operating theatre was actually warmer than outside lor. Everybody inside was doing something. I was expecting some students to stand around hah. I'm such a fine piece of exhibit wor~ Dr L greeted me before saying he was going to plan the surgery. Which made me worried for a second. Planning now only ah... ~_~
I was finally released from traction and got to play with the Patslide.
Somebody swabbed my wrist with alcohol. I thought they were going to give me an injection, but I turned and saw them getting this thing with super thick and long needle and stuck it into my wrist! A tube was connected to it and I watched a clear, fluid travel through it into my wrist. So cool...
...
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Last Day of Freedom
Despite being strapped up the whole night, I still didn't feel any discomfort this morning. Can I get rid of it since it didn't seem to be working?
The finger pricking spell continued. Sianz.
I could only recall the breakfast being very unappetizing. Of course Sister didn't want to share it with me when I myself didn't like it.
I got released because I had to go do a gait analysis. Yippee! The lady technician told me the purpose was to compare my gait before and after surgery, meaning I would have to repeat the test once I could walk. I was thinking to myself that could be years later at the earliest, or never... For the first time in my life, I wore a bikini haha. Look more like tube top with straps and boy shorts lah. She stuck some reflective balls all over my body, whose reflected light would be captured by the several cameras as I walked. I had to get up from a chair and walk about 5m, taking care to step on 2 tiles along the way as they were for measuring the force of my step. Shaky tiles lor, dangerous! Of course, I had to be helped out of the chair... walk with the wrong kind of garments (nowhere to grip)... walk after sitting for a long time (nearly 2 days)... deliberately step on something shaky... with cold air-con blowing at me... a few times... it's a miracle that I didn't fall over at all. So damn glad when it was all over man.
I declined the nurse's offer to bathe me as I preferred my sister. I must have hogged the bathroom for the longest time hehe. Because somebody had come to take my urine sample and were waiting for me for possibly the longest time. Well, it would have been easier if they had built a toilet bowl in the bathroom too!
When I returned, I realized a doctor was waiting to draw lines on me and draw blood :X
I was supposed to be back on traction immediately, but since I had to go for an X-ray and the nurses were too lazy to keep redoing the whole thing, they told me they would strap me back after that. No problem! :D Just that I was waiting indefinitely for the X-ray. No idea what they were up to.
Today's lunch was vegetarian horfun Mother bought from some vegetarian stall. She described it as ultra popular, need to queue up blah blah. Whatever. She's the one who wanted me to go vegetarian before the surgery. I would be happy with just fried beehoon. It didn't taste bad. Normal lor. Maybe it's impressive for achieving some taste without using meat?
Time for X-ray after lunch. Since I was in the hospital pyjamas, I didn't need to change into the gown. Difficult poses again. Only at the last picture did I realize that I still had that bloody amulet on me. It obscured something but still to an acceptable degree, fortunately. What kind of luck was it bringing me if I had to redo the whole batch of X-rays? From now on, such unnecessary burdens were banned from me. I don't want to expose myself to more radiation when I already had a lot this year. Or be responsible should I change clothes with or without my knowledge and lose that thing in the process.
A lady came to conduct a bleeding time test on me. She produced something that looked like the blood glucose test finger pricker, except that it stapled a hole like 1mm wide and 1mm deep in my arm!!! WTF need to be so deep or not? Then she pumped up the sphygmomanometer and we watched as blood oozed out of my wound. When the blood formed a nice little sphere, she soaked it up with filter paper. And this would go until the bleeding stopped. If it didn't stop then it meant I would bleed to death in the surgery, which in turn meant... hmm... go home lor? Well anyway of course the bleeding stopped. The lady removed her gloves before cleaning up, coming into contact with my blood in the process. Eww... she should remove her gloves lastly what.
The dietician came too.
The anaesthesia specialist came to tell me what to expect tomorrow. Nothing new. Just uh ya ok all the way. O it's an Indian doctor from India again. Was the whole anaesthesia department from India or something?
An old lady who just returned from surgery was vomiting non-stop. O no o no I don't want to be like her >+< J told me she also threw up after anaesthesia. Nooooo...
Found out that the yellow plastic bag was a trash bag. Cool! Can throw my tissue paper inside.
Dinner time! I'm not eating the hospital food, but I'm happy to be released. Shhh! Checked out the food today.
Same lor, only the 瓜 was different.
Yesterday's rice was too dry. Today's? Outside looked ok...
Walau inside wet like ketupat! I concluded that they made the rice very wet so hopefully it would come out normal after steaming inside the food trolley for goodness knows how long.
W and E came to see me! J couldn't make it as she had flu, very potent baby virus. Visiting hours were till 8pm, but we shamelessly chatted till 9+ when everybody were long asleep. Noisy patient! Then W asked why the nurses were giving me dirty looks and I told her that they were supposed to put me back on traction, which would require the labor of several nurses. Haha they'd better be off!
Finally time to be back on the traction. This time, the weights were increased to 8 lbs (3.6kg) on each of my calves and 5 lbs (2.8kg) for my head. Still tolerated it well. In fact, not much difference. What for man...
Mother's turn to spend the night with me. The call bell was going off every few minutes, she wouldn't be able to sleep like that! I asked the nurse for a solution. She said they provided earplugs due to the construction around. Really! Should have asked for them the first time round!
No more food and water from midnight onwards. Surprised that I didn't have to fast earlier. No problem, I don't drink before sleeping anyway.
I had to wake up super early to bathe tomorrow morning, but how could someone who chronically never slept before 1am, fall asleep so early? Heck care, I would be sleeping the whole of tomorrow anyway.
The finger pricking spell continued. Sianz.
I could only recall the breakfast being very unappetizing. Of course Sister didn't want to share it with me when I myself didn't like it.
I got released because I had to go do a gait analysis. Yippee! The lady technician told me the purpose was to compare my gait before and after surgery, meaning I would have to repeat the test once I could walk. I was thinking to myself that could be years later at the earliest, or never... For the first time in my life, I wore a bikini haha. Look more like tube top with straps and boy shorts lah. She stuck some reflective balls all over my body, whose reflected light would be captured by the several cameras as I walked. I had to get up from a chair and walk about 5m, taking care to step on 2 tiles along the way as they were for measuring the force of my step. Shaky tiles lor, dangerous! Of course, I had to be helped out of the chair... walk with the wrong kind of garments (nowhere to grip)... walk after sitting for a long time (nearly 2 days)... deliberately step on something shaky... with cold air-con blowing at me... a few times... it's a miracle that I didn't fall over at all. So damn glad when it was all over man.
I declined the nurse's offer to bathe me as I preferred my sister. I must have hogged the bathroom for the longest time hehe. Because somebody had come to take my urine sample and were waiting for me for possibly the longest time. Well, it would have been easier if they had built a toilet bowl in the bathroom too!
When I returned, I realized a doctor was waiting to draw lines on me and draw blood :X
I was supposed to be back on traction immediately, but since I had to go for an X-ray and the nurses were too lazy to keep redoing the whole thing, they told me they would strap me back after that. No problem! :D Just that I was waiting indefinitely for the X-ray. No idea what they were up to.
Today's lunch was vegetarian horfun Mother bought from some vegetarian stall. She described it as ultra popular, need to queue up blah blah. Whatever. She's the one who wanted me to go vegetarian before the surgery. I would be happy with just fried beehoon. It didn't taste bad. Normal lor. Maybe it's impressive for achieving some taste without using meat?
Time for X-ray after lunch. Since I was in the hospital pyjamas, I didn't need to change into the gown. Difficult poses again. Only at the last picture did I realize that I still had that bloody amulet on me. It obscured something but still to an acceptable degree, fortunately. What kind of luck was it bringing me if I had to redo the whole batch of X-rays? From now on, such unnecessary burdens were banned from me. I don't want to expose myself to more radiation when I already had a lot this year. Or be responsible should I change clothes with or without my knowledge and lose that thing in the process.
A lady came to conduct a bleeding time test on me. She produced something that looked like the blood glucose test finger pricker, except that it stapled a hole like 1mm wide and 1mm deep in my arm!!! WTF need to be so deep or not? Then she pumped up the sphygmomanometer and we watched as blood oozed out of my wound. When the blood formed a nice little sphere, she soaked it up with filter paper. And this would go until the bleeding stopped. If it didn't stop then it meant I would bleed to death in the surgery, which in turn meant... hmm... go home lor? Well anyway of course the bleeding stopped. The lady removed her gloves before cleaning up, coming into contact with my blood in the process. Eww... she should remove her gloves lastly what.
The dietician came too.
The anaesthesia specialist came to tell me what to expect tomorrow. Nothing new. Just uh ya ok all the way. O it's an Indian doctor from India again. Was the whole anaesthesia department from India or something?
An old lady who just returned from surgery was vomiting non-stop. O no o no I don't want to be like her >+< J told me she also threw up after anaesthesia. Nooooo...
Found out that the yellow plastic bag was a trash bag. Cool! Can throw my tissue paper inside.
Dinner time! I'm not eating the hospital food, but I'm happy to be released. Shhh! Checked out the food today.
Yesterday's rice was too dry. Today's? Outside looked ok...
W and E came to see me! J couldn't make it as she had flu, very potent baby virus. Visiting hours were till 8pm, but we shamelessly chatted till 9+ when everybody were long asleep. Noisy patient! Then W asked why the nurses were giving me dirty looks and I told her that they were supposed to put me back on traction, which would require the labor of several nurses. Haha they'd better be off!
Finally time to be back on the traction. This time, the weights were increased to 8 lbs (3.6kg) on each of my calves and 5 lbs (2.8kg) for my head. Still tolerated it well. In fact, not much difference. What for man...
Mother's turn to spend the night with me. The call bell was going off every few minutes, she wouldn't be able to sleep like that! I asked the nurse for a solution. She said they provided earplugs due to the construction around. Really! Should have asked for them the first time round!
No more food and water from midnight onwards. Surprised that I didn't have to fast earlier. No problem, I don't drink before sleeping anyway.
I had to wake up super early to bathe tomorrow morning, but how could someone who chronically never slept before 1am, fall asleep so early? Heck care, I would be sleeping the whole of tomorrow anyway.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sotong.Bored
Got to sleep till about 8am and I had to wake up because everybody else was up -_-. Brushed up and breakfast was served. Breakfast in bed, envy me! Ya right.
Dr L had instructed the nurse to monitor my blood glucose, so they were going to prick my finger before and after each meal. First prick, didn't think much of it. Wasn't THAT painful... My levels should be ok since the nurses didn't say anything.
3 pieces of bread, margarine (I thought that's like the worst lot of the fats?), jam, scrambled eggs, forgot if there was ham, and of course Milo. Diluted Milo. That's a lot for breakfast. I let Mother have the bread. The remainder was more than enough for me.
I was told to stop eating my own calcium tablets since the hospital would supply me. Er ok, I hope I didn't have to pay for it!
After breakfast, the nurse asked if I wanted to shower. Later! Will DIY. Pricked finger again. A bit itchy after that.
Nothing to do liao. Surf net lor. I had nearly forgotten what I was here for until the nurse reminded me. They were going to put me on traction after lunch. As such, I would be confined to bed. Sounded bad.
The physiotherapist came to do her rounds. She's an angmoh who looked like Nicole Kidman.
Very tall too. She's here to see what I could do and also to teach me some exercises I could do after the surgery. Like how to cough (hmm) and some limb exercises.
Prick!
Lunch was rice with a slice of fish fillet with a few strands of vegetables. The fish and vegetables were decent, but the rice cannot make it. Too dry! The soup was the worst, just water with a hint of salt. Fruits were salted - biggest booboo. So depressing! But it was all mitigated when Brother dropped by with something nice... couldn't remember what though!
While going to the toilet at the end of the ward, I noticed that there were actually beds of other classes further down. I spotted a single bed in a room. The room looked quite lok kok like the rest of the ward. So, apart from having a big room to yourself, you are sharing the nurses too? So much for class A. Save the money man.
Prick!
Dr L told me that he was going to give me a BMP to aid in bone healing. The trouble was it was approved by FDA but not yet in Singapore (?), hence not subsidized. It would set me back by $8000 (?) per pop and due to the long length of spine to be operated on, I might need 3 doses.
WHAT! Stunned. What kind of bone promoter was that? For consuming or injecting? Then I read somewhere that it has an extremely short half-life of a few minutes, so I guessed it's probably going to be implanted.
A young doctor came to interview me. O well, the usual stuff. Your brief history of time, testing your strength. Fine with that. Public hospital what.
A group of nurses came with lots of gadgets and bandages. Uh oh time for the traction thing! Of course, most of the nurses were trainees. Specimen-time again. My calves and head were strapped up and rendered immobile, with weights dangling from the ends. Oh, I even got a u-squeeze to aid in blood circulation. Well it's some calf wrap that you connect to an air pump. They even setup an overhead grab bar for me to lift myself up when I needed to use the bedpan. Ya... not allowed to go toilet also lor. Not that I had the ability to utilize it, but since they brought it all the way here, just let them setup lah. My only reprieve would be during meals, where my head would be released. Got to sleep in it too.
So the nurses were done and gone. Me? Ok ley, no excruciating discomfort as forewarned. I didn't feel stretched at all. Although I looked like a multiple fractures patient. I had imagined it to be some 满清酷刑, pulled in all directions like 五马分尸, but now I just felt like I was lying flatter than usual on the bed. Did they attach enough weights? I can take more. Seriously. Arms still free to use tablet, yay.
G came to visit me in the evening. Haven't seen her in 10 years I think? So nice to see her again. We were wondering what that yellow plastic bag stuck on my side rail was for.
Another doctor came to interview me. Same few questions. This time, I was dissed. I don't mind helping, but not before I gave this poor, innocent doctor a piece of my mind, nicely of course. Why must they come one by one? Cannot come together is it? I don't want to repeat the same thing over and over again. Ok now you can proceed. Haha poor thing, still double confirm if I was really ok.
There might be some secret student rivalry going on. The kiasu doctor would come and disturb patients to get ahead of their peers.
Prick! 5th time today and my finger was crumpled already! Shall ask them to change finger next time.
Dinner.
Prick! What a prick that blood glucose test was! Very normal lah, can stop already!
Sister's turn to camp tonight. Before Mother left, she made me wear an amulet that would supposedly protect me from evils in an infested area such as a hospital. And it's so precious and holy that I had to take extreme care of it. Wtf.
Dr L had instructed the nurse to monitor my blood glucose, so they were going to prick my finger before and after each meal. First prick, didn't think much of it. Wasn't THAT painful... My levels should be ok since the nurses didn't say anything.
3 pieces of bread, margarine (I thought that's like the worst lot of the fats?), jam, scrambled eggs, forgot if there was ham, and of course Milo. Diluted Milo. That's a lot for breakfast. I let Mother have the bread. The remainder was more than enough for me.
I was told to stop eating my own calcium tablets since the hospital would supply me. Er ok, I hope I didn't have to pay for it!
After breakfast, the nurse asked if I wanted to shower. Later! Will DIY. Pricked finger again. A bit itchy after that.
Nothing to do liao. Surf net lor. I had nearly forgotten what I was here for until the nurse reminded me. They were going to put me on traction after lunch. As such, I would be confined to bed. Sounded bad.
The physiotherapist came to do her rounds. She's an angmoh who looked like Nicole Kidman.
Prick!
Lunch was rice with a slice of fish fillet with a few strands of vegetables. The fish and vegetables were decent, but the rice cannot make it. Too dry! The soup was the worst, just water with a hint of salt. Fruits were salted - biggest booboo. So depressing! But it was all mitigated when Brother dropped by with something nice... couldn't remember what though!
While going to the toilet at the end of the ward, I noticed that there were actually beds of other classes further down. I spotted a single bed in a room. The room looked quite lok kok like the rest of the ward. So, apart from having a big room to yourself, you are sharing the nurses too? So much for class A. Save the money man.
Prick!
Dr L told me that he was going to give me a BMP to aid in bone healing. The trouble was it was approved by FDA but not yet in Singapore (?), hence not subsidized. It would set me back by $8000 (?) per pop and due to the long length of spine to be operated on, I might need 3 doses.
WHAT! Stunned. What kind of bone promoter was that? For consuming or injecting? Then I read somewhere that it has an extremely short half-life of a few minutes, so I guessed it's probably going to be implanted.
A young doctor came to interview me. O well, the usual stuff. Your brief history of time, testing your strength. Fine with that. Public hospital what.
A group of nurses came with lots of gadgets and bandages. Uh oh time for the traction thing! Of course, most of the nurses were trainees. Specimen-time again. My calves and head were strapped up and rendered immobile, with weights dangling from the ends. Oh, I even got a u-squeeze to aid in blood circulation. Well it's some calf wrap that you connect to an air pump. They even setup an overhead grab bar for me to lift myself up when I needed to use the bedpan. Ya... not allowed to go toilet also lor. Not that I had the ability to utilize it, but since they brought it all the way here, just let them setup lah. My only reprieve would be during meals, where my head would be released. Got to sleep in it too.
So the nurses were done and gone. Me? Ok ley, no excruciating discomfort as forewarned. I didn't feel stretched at all. Although I looked like a multiple fractures patient. I had imagined it to be some 满清酷刑, pulled in all directions like 五马分尸, but now I just felt like I was lying flatter than usual on the bed. Did they attach enough weights? I can take more. Seriously. Arms still free to use tablet, yay.
G came to visit me in the evening. Haven't seen her in 10 years I think? So nice to see her again. We were wondering what that yellow plastic bag stuck on my side rail was for.
Another doctor came to interview me. Same few questions. This time, I was dissed. I don't mind helping, but not before I gave this poor, innocent doctor a piece of my mind, nicely of course. Why must they come one by one? Cannot come together is it? I don't want to repeat the same thing over and over again. Ok now you can proceed. Haha poor thing, still double confirm if I was really ok.
There might be some secret student rivalry going on. The kiasu doctor would come and disturb patients to get ahead of their peers.
Prick! 5th time today and my finger was crumpled already! Shall ask them to change finger next time.
Dinner.
Prick! What a prick that blood glucose test was! Very normal lah, can stop already!
Sister's turn to camp tonight. Before Mother left, she made me wear an amulet that would supposedly protect me from evils in an infested area such as a hospital. And it's so precious and holy that I had to take extreme care of it. Wtf.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Third Last Day of Freedom
The day has come. I was supposed to admit at 3pm, but at noon, the hospital called me to tell me not to come yet as they were out of beds. They would inform me when they have secured one. Uh ok... by today right? I wouldn't mind if they couldn't.
I got a call telling me I could admit by 6pm. :(
Reached there, requested to pay $6000 deposit instead. Because I got a Manhattan credit card too, can get rebates on just about everything! If only I could pay by installments later, can earn even more rebates lor. The admission procedure was simple and quick.
I was shown to my bed at Ward 51, Bed 4. No air-con, what I had signed up for. I had a window-side bed, except the windows were sealed due to construction outside.
That resulted in the area feeling very stuffy. I could even smell the difference from the corridor.
The ward was strangely spacious... 6 beds? Counted wrongly? I thought I was supposed to be in a C-class ward with 8 beds? Went online to check. Hey, this was a B2 ward! Free upgrade! :D Hey... maybe if I came in on Monday instead, I could pay for 1 day less AND get an even higher class?
My neighbors were all elderly women who were having problem with their bones. Fractures? So many old people get hurt huh.
And I realized that I forgot to bring the X-ray.
I had to wear the patient's tag on my wrist. Boohoo tagged now. So ugly. It has both QR and bar code. So kiasu.
Dinner time. I don't have. Not as if I would be eating that. Went downstairs to Kopitiam instead. Mum said something about abstaining from spicy food, but heck lah, the food there looked so boring lor. I wanted something strong-tasting before being trapped in a boring diet for the next 103 days. Tomyam ban mian again lor. Last time it was quite good, but don't know why this time it's so bleah. Quite bland apart from the spiciness. Sigh really should have gone outside to eat. Last meal also so sad.
Nothing to do now. Tour the hospital. Nothing to see lor, all closed. Not enough shops for shopping too. Boring... Ended up enjoying air-con at Can Rigged Win. No public Wifi at all. What happened to Wireless@Sg? Noticed their secured Wifi is all named after birds.
When I went back to my ward at 10pm, the door to the ward was locked lor -_-;; Every patient was asleep already. I must be the most happening patient around. Mum came even later to sleep over with me. The call bell kept going off every few minutes and it's the ancient type that went "BAIRRRR!". Sigh got to learn to filter it from my ears, I still have 2 more nights to go.
I got a call telling me I could admit by 6pm. :(
Reached there, requested to pay $6000 deposit instead. Because I got a Manhattan credit card too, can get rebates on just about everything! If only I could pay by installments later, can earn even more rebates lor. The admission procedure was simple and quick.
I was shown to my bed at Ward 51, Bed 4. No air-con, what I had signed up for. I had a window-side bed, except the windows were sealed due to construction outside.
The ward was strangely spacious... 6 beds? Counted wrongly? I thought I was supposed to be in a C-class ward with 8 beds? Went online to check. Hey, this was a B2 ward! Free upgrade! :D Hey... maybe if I came in on Monday instead, I could pay for 1 day less AND get an even higher class?
My neighbors were all elderly women who were having problem with their bones. Fractures? So many old people get hurt huh.
And I realized that I forgot to bring the X-ray.
I had to wear the patient's tag on my wrist. Boohoo tagged now. So ugly. It has both QR and bar code. So kiasu.
Dinner time. I don't have. Not as if I would be eating that. Went downstairs to Kopitiam instead. Mum said something about abstaining from spicy food, but heck lah, the food there looked so boring lor. I wanted something strong-tasting before being trapped in a boring diet for the next 103 days. Tomyam ban mian again lor. Last time it was quite good, but don't know why this time it's so bleah. Quite bland apart from the spiciness. Sigh really should have gone outside to eat. Last meal also so sad.
Nothing to do now. Tour the hospital. Nothing to see lor, all closed. Not enough shops for shopping too. Boring... Ended up enjoying air-con at Can Rigged Win. No public Wifi at all. What happened to Wireless@Sg? Noticed their secured Wifi is all named after birds.
When I went back to my ward at 10pm, the door to the ward was locked lor -_-;; Every patient was asleep already. I must be the most happening patient around. Mum came even later to sleep over with me. The call bell kept going off every few minutes and it's the ancient type that went "BAIRRRR!". Sigh got to learn to filter it from my ears, I still have 2 more nights to go.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
The Annual Stay Away From Home - The Day Before
No holiday this year, but I'm still gonna be away from home for a while. It will be the most expensive stay ever, but nobody will be envious of me.
And it shall be life-changing. It will sweep me off my feet. Whether I can get back up will be entirely up to me. One thing for sure is that I will be back taller and straighter.
No, it's not a motivational camp duh.
Before my life turned topsy turvy, today's mission was to eat and play like it's the last day I could do so.
Because it could be.
Whatever. Just enjoy!
And it shall be life-changing. It will sweep me off my feet. Whether I can get back up will be entirely up to me. One thing for sure is that I will be back taller and straighter.
No, it's not a motivational camp duh.
Before my life turned topsy turvy, today's mission was to eat and play like it's the last day I could do so.
Because it could be.
Whatever. Just enjoy!
Friday, September 23, 2011
Farewell
Last workday of the year.
I'm not leaving the team lah. A colleague was going back to country C at the end of the month, so we had a farewell lunch. Might as well, we haven't had a get-together for a long time!
We gathered at the meeting room outside. Yeah meeting room shhh! Menu was the usual Old Chang Kee, Pizza Hut and 933 Golden Pillow. Very uncreative hor haha. Same organizer mah, what to do.
Lots of loose ends to tie, but I'm glad I managed to finish all my outstanding tasks. Lots of stuff to bring home. Handed over my laptop, keyboard and mousepad to my colleagues. I resisted pasting a note saying no dirty hands on my stuff. Hope they won't be sticky when I return.
I'm not leaving the team lah. A colleague was going back to country C at the end of the month, so we had a farewell lunch. Might as well, we haven't had a get-together for a long time!
We gathered at the meeting room outside. Yeah meeting room shhh! Menu was the usual Old Chang Kee, Pizza Hut and 933 Golden Pillow. Very uncreative hor haha. Same organizer mah, what to do.
Lots of loose ends to tie, but I'm glad I managed to finish all my outstanding tasks. Lots of stuff to bring home. Handed over my laptop, keyboard and mousepad to my colleagues. I resisted pasting a note saying no dirty hands on my stuff. Hope they won't be sticky when I return.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Meeting Up With JC Friends
This has to be the most successful class gathering of the year. The biggest turn up apart from wedding dinners. What a great time catching up. And that distance is no longer such a big problem with so many car owners among us.
DIY popiah is quite fun. You people should try that out for gatherings too. Check out Kway Guan Huat Joo Chiat Original Popiah & Kueh Pie Tie.
Sad to say, we only meet up once or twice a year, apart from wedding dinners. When weddings dry up, does that mean we might not even meet for years?
And booking people way in advance does not work. It's safe to assume that everybody owns a smartphone with organizer capabilities. When people claim to have forgotten, or not free (as if you asked at the last minute) e.t.c, it says a lot.
DIY popiah is quite fun. You people should try that out for gatherings too. Check out Kway Guan Huat Joo Chiat Original Popiah & Kueh Pie Tie.
Sad to say, we only meet up once or twice a year, apart from wedding dinners. When weddings dry up, does that mean we might not even meet for years?
And booking people way in advance does not work. It's safe to assume that everybody owns a smartphone with organizer capabilities. When people claim to have forgotten, or not free (as if you asked at the last minute) e.t.c, it says a lot.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Last Proper Haircut of The Year
After my NNI and PT appointment in the afternoon, I went for a last haircut at Act Point Salon at Singapore Shopping Centre. I asked for a very short cut as I didn't know when I could come again T_T Think it's back to my mother's boring haircuts again ba.
Nice hair for the next 1 month yay.
Nice hair for the next 1 month yay.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Mid-Autumn Fatten-up Festival
The time of the year for exotic mooncakes! We went to the mooncake fair at Ngee Ann City again, because it's the only one available when we wanted to go. Bear with the crowd.
Mooncakes were generally more expensive this year. There was a new brand that was pretty impressive, but too expensive. Like >$50 for 4?
Tasted the TWG mooncakes. Seriously, they should stick to tea. I didn't detect any hint of tea in their mooncakes. They just reeked of artificial flavoring. Reminded me of how an ex-colleague told me not to drink TWG because it's flavored tea.
Probably tasted the most mooncakes this year haha. We amassed a pile of pamphlets, which would be used to determine the purchase. Brother left for work (yeah... on a Saturday evening) while Sister and I went to the foodcourt for dinner. I was not hungry at all, but eat first lor, before we bought any mooncake. Tried the mixed beef pho from Pho Hoa at the food court. Ok lah. Really not hungry. It might taste better if I were.
Bought baked skin chestnut mooncake $27.
It's chestnut season in Japan again haha. Inspired. Not too sweet, not bad!
Father bought the original 大中国 mooncake. Brother bought the "fake" 大中国 Hainanese mooncake. Our snowskin fix was our favorite Fairmont Sze Chuan Court mixed flavors, consisting of Dark Rocher Chocolate, Rum & Raisin Chocolate Truffle, Champagne Truffle & Chocolate Ganache and Baileys Chocolate. All the better with Brother's 30% staff discount = $39.69!
*Looks at tummy*
Mooncakes were generally more expensive this year. There was a new brand that was pretty impressive, but too expensive. Like >$50 for 4?
Tasted the TWG mooncakes. Seriously, they should stick to tea. I didn't detect any hint of tea in their mooncakes. They just reeked of artificial flavoring. Reminded me of how an ex-colleague told me not to drink TWG because it's flavored tea.
Probably tasted the most mooncakes this year haha. We amassed a pile of pamphlets, which would be used to determine the purchase. Brother left for work (yeah... on a Saturday evening) while Sister and I went to the foodcourt for dinner. I was not hungry at all, but eat first lor, before we bought any mooncake. Tried the mixed beef pho from Pho Hoa at the food court. Ok lah. Really not hungry. It might taste better if I were.
Bought baked skin chestnut mooncake $27.
Father bought the original 大中国 mooncake. Brother bought the "fake" 大中国 Hainanese mooncake. Our snowskin fix was our favorite Fairmont Sze Chuan Court mixed flavors, consisting of Dark Rocher Chocolate, Rum & Raisin Chocolate Truffle, Champagne Truffle & Chocolate Ganache and Baileys Chocolate. All the better with Brother's 30% staff discount = $39.69!
*Looks at tummy*
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Friends
N made a new friend, D in the washroom and started inviting her to join us for lunch. D is from another project. Like N, she is from India and married with a kid too. This spelt b-o-r-e-d-o-m for me because all they ever talk about are husband, kid, India and they break into Hindi sometimes. I felt so extra.
Because of D, we no longer went for early lunch. It's either 12.30pm, when all tables are taken up, or 1pm, when I would be long famished. Most of the time, D could only go at 12.30pm and I would flatly refuse to go. N would try to talk me into going, by promising that there would be seats, which was very irritating. Seats will NOT appear just because you said so! I go also eat quietly one what, go for what? Surfing net over lunch is really more enjoyable.
N really didn't have to try so hard to get me to join them. I have told her very truthfully before that I really didn't mind eating on my own (short of admitting that I LOVE it actually). I couldn't tell if N was truly apologetic about making me lunch alone, because if she were, couldn't MY timing take priority? It's not just me, but everybody else has to take a backseat when it came to deciding when to go for lunch. D is and always has been the deciding factor and the rest doesn't matter at all, does N herself realize at all? Why try so hard to get a consensus?
I'm not jealous of D. It's just irritating seeing N struggle with the same issue everyday when I already know what is going to happen.
Something good that came out of it? Sometimes D wanted to go to the coffeeshop for a change, so I got to eat the fishball tanghoon. With lots of 冬菜.
I guess N and S will never speak again. I rarely talked to S too. Not that I'm a N supporter, but we really didn't have much to talk about.
N was visibly very upset one day. She and S met at the corridor outside. S stared at her, sped up and left the scene. Why couldn't S even stand seeing her now? Or has it always been like that? So many months later, N still had no idea what she has done wrong. I don't know either. I only have a speculation. So I just said maybe it's something she has done that offended S, but S allowed it to pent up until she finally exploded.
N disappeared frequently that day. Confirm 诉苦ing to her numerous friends. Might as well. She sit here also not working one, just fiddling on her mobile (probably 诉苦ing on sms) and sighing.
On a brighter note, I will be away from all these nonsense pretty soon.
Because of D, we no longer went for early lunch. It's either 12.30pm, when all tables are taken up, or 1pm, when I would be long famished. Most of the time, D could only go at 12.30pm and I would flatly refuse to go. N would try to talk me into going, by promising that there would be seats, which was very irritating. Seats will NOT appear just because you said so! I go also eat quietly one what, go for what? Surfing net over lunch is really more enjoyable.
N really didn't have to try so hard to get me to join them. I have told her very truthfully before that I really didn't mind eating on my own (short of admitting that I LOVE it actually). I couldn't tell if N was truly apologetic about making me lunch alone, because if she were, couldn't MY timing take priority? It's not just me, but everybody else has to take a backseat when it came to deciding when to go for lunch. D is and always has been the deciding factor and the rest doesn't matter at all, does N herself realize at all? Why try so hard to get a consensus?
I'm not jealous of D. It's just irritating seeing N struggle with the same issue everyday when I already know what is going to happen.
Something good that came out of it? Sometimes D wanted to go to the coffeeshop for a change, so I got to eat the fishball tanghoon. With lots of 冬菜.
I guess N and S will never speak again. I rarely talked to S too. Not that I'm a N supporter, but we really didn't have much to talk about.
N was visibly very upset one day. She and S met at the corridor outside. S stared at her, sped up and left the scene. Why couldn't S even stand seeing her now? Or has it always been like that? So many months later, N still had no idea what she has done wrong. I don't know either. I only have a speculation. So I just said maybe it's something she has done that offended S, but S allowed it to pent up until she finally exploded.
N disappeared frequently that day. Confirm 诉苦ing to her numerous friends. Might as well. She sit here also not working one, just fiddling on her mobile (probably 诉苦ing on sms) and sighing.
On a brighter note, I will be away from all these nonsense pretty soon.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Straighten-A-Sotong Part XIV
Damn. No Use Hospital Business Office called with bad news. After reviewing my financial situation, I was required to pay the full deposit upon admission. Hey! How could they expect me to cough up that sum within such short notice? Not that I couldn't, but it's still a shock! (Actually not so shocked lah, I was already mentally prepared to do so the moment I decided to consider the surgery) And they had already promised that I could pay a lower deposit :\
So in the end, they stuck to their promise, but I still had to pay the balance upon discharge. That's just postponing the shock by 1 week... so STUPID!
Should have gone for another holiday first and spend all my money! GAH!!!
So in the end, they stuck to their promise, but I still had to pay the balance upon discharge. That's just postponing the shock by 1 week... so STUPID!
Should have gone for another holiday first and spend all my money! GAH!!!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Straighten-A-Sotong Part XIII
Arranged to meet my RO during lunch time. In the morning, I told N about it. Coz it will be weird if the person next to you doesn't know? I asked her not to tell anybody as I didn't want the vineyard to get to my RO before me. Actually by telling N, I'm prepared for word to get out already lah haha.
My RO only found time after lunch. I made N go away so I didn't have to find a room :P Well, I'm very heartened to know that my RO's first reaction was to show concern for me instead of for work. Feel so 小人 now *guilty* I told her that I might be back in 3 months, but might extend depending on my condition.
Now to get in touch with HR to find out if I'm eligible for the extended medical leave and what to do before I leave.
My RO only found time after lunch. I made N go away so I didn't have to find a room :P Well, I'm very heartened to know that my RO's first reaction was to show concern for me instead of for work. Feel so 小人 now *guilty* I told her that I might be back in 3 months, but might extend depending on my condition.
Now to get in touch with HR to find out if I'm eligible for the extended medical leave and what to do before I leave.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Straighten-A-Sotong Part XII
The final consultation before the admission. I had to first take an X-ray, so I went straight to the Diagnostic Imaging. However, the staff there "checked" and said that I had to see the doctor first. Huh? Ok whatever. When I got to the Ortho clinic, they asked me if I had taken my X-ray. See, I told them! Pissed! And I was sent back to take X-ray. Now, I could never be in time for the doctor's appointment at 11.30am so now I would definitely have to spend lunchtime here. Waste of time! The food sucks somemore!
I think the radiographers all recognize me already lor. All those 高难度 and weird poses. I was supposed to stay and wait for the films, but it didn't register when they told me, so Father had to go back to get them. Had lunch at the Can Rigged Win's Kopitiam. Aiyah still tasted the same lor.
Dr L has gone to the spine clinic at Can Rigged Win. Nicer waiting area, gentler lighting. Got free coffee and tea at the water dispenser somemore. And its own toilet! But it was a ridiculously long wait. Easily 2hrs long. Finished so many stages of Angry Birds that I was worrying that I could run out of stages. It's not that he was putting all other patients before me. I think there were only 2 people before me, including the person who was already in there when I arrived? 1 hr per patient!
Finally, I was called in, but Dr L asked me to wait and went out to another room, where I overheard him trying to talk a patient into having surgery. Angry Birds again for me lor. Shit man, I really hated this wheelchair. Butt damn pain and the push handles were in my bones.
O yeah my turn for real now. Dr L commented that from my MRI, I was really straight when lying down, so hopefully, we wouldn't have to break so many bones. Yay! But means still got to break lah? I wonder what he meant by breaking bones *shivers*
Q&A time.
That's not the point, but nevermind.
I think I can live with not being able to pick things up.
And I will need to wear a back brace for 2 years.
And have to bring the X-rays for admission.
Dr L asked again for the surgeries I have had before.
I still remember how that doctor looked like, although I might not be able to recognize him now 10 years down the road. But I sure do still remember the pain. I still blame him for that.
The very busy Dr L has another appointment that he's already late for, so he offered a handshake (weird? I think we were more like superior-subordinate kind of relationship than a cooperative equal. You don't shake hands with your boss, do you? Unless he's your boss-to-be at the interview stage), said bye and left the clinic, leaving the MO handle the rest of the nitty gritty. The MO suggested that I come in on Sunday instead, as there might be no bed should I admit on Monday. What? Make me pay for 1 more day when they should reserve one for me? Ah ok whatever.
He received a call on his mobile. I think the nurse from A&E was calling him.
Gosh! A&E sounded like a dangerous place with HOs who didn't know what they were doing! FYI, HO a.k.a. the scary fresh grads that people speak of. Of course, not all HOs are like that, but this one really CMI. Good luck to that patient at A&E. I think my MO should really be there soon.
But he must be done with me first. I signed the consent, he did his part, gave me my MC and sent me to pre-admission counseling next door.
Today was really a day of waiting. Counseling also must wait. A lady entered, very slowly logged into the system and started fiddling around in such a way that you can tell she didn't know how to use it. She appeared to be looking for a certain functionality and when she found it, I think she didn't know how to work it. Keyed in some figures, went "eh?", started over... I almost wanted to volunteer my help just to make things go faster. Fortunately, she recognized that she needed help and went out to get it. Things went pretty smoothly afterwards. Got my new bill estimate, which, curiously, was still not far off the previous one despite the stay being 8 days shorter at 10 days. Just about $3000 less.
When I passed by the entrance of the clinic, I caught a glimpse of their list of specialists. Right on, or near the top was Dr J H.
O.
HEAD lor. Dr L's boss lor. Luckily I never complain about him hahaha.
I went to the Business Office to discuss the deposit. The same lady recognized me hohoho. Must be the horrendous bill size.
Good news! I could still pay $5000 deposit upon admission.
She noticed that the Medishield estimate was missing, so she advised me to go back to the clinic and inform the staff that Medishield estimates are mandatory now. Har... still must go back and pass message. My words got power meh? She should call the clinic for me. &*#*$(#
Went back to the clinic, waited somemore, passed the message and got a new printout. Finally I could go home.
Googled traction, but still didn't have a clear idea of what it is. What pull my head! Sounds like I will be hanged! Painful somemore! Help!
Tomorrow, time for the inevitable... hope things will go well.
I think the radiographers all recognize me already lor. All those 高难度 and weird poses. I was supposed to stay and wait for the films, but it didn't register when they told me, so Father had to go back to get them. Had lunch at the Can Rigged Win's Kopitiam. Aiyah still tasted the same lor.
Dr L has gone to the spine clinic at Can Rigged Win. Nicer waiting area, gentler lighting. Got free coffee and tea at the water dispenser somemore. And its own toilet! But it was a ridiculously long wait. Easily 2hrs long. Finished so many stages of Angry Birds that I was worrying that I could run out of stages. It's not that he was putting all other patients before me. I think there were only 2 people before me, including the person who was already in there when I arrived? 1 hr per patient!
Finally, I was called in, but Dr L asked me to wait and went out to another room, where I overheard him trying to talk a patient into having surgery. Angry Birds again for me lor. Shit man, I really hated this wheelchair. Butt damn pain and the push handles were in my bones.
O yeah my turn for real now. Dr L commented that from my MRI, I was really straight when lying down, so hopefully, we wouldn't have to break so many bones. Yay! But means still got to break lah? I wonder what he meant by breaking bones *shivers*
Q&A time.
Sotong: For about how days will I be in hospital?
Dr L: When did I ask you to come in?
Sotong: 1 week before.
Dr L: 1 week before? So many days? (you mean you don't remember??)
Sotong: Yeah! I was going to ask you if we really need 1 week. What are we going to do that is going to take 7 days?
Dr L: No need lah, I think you just come 3 days before.
Sotong: Great! (less boring!) And what would I be doing before the surgery?
Dr L: We will put you in traction, something that will pull your neck and feet and stretch your body, which some people find quite painful. We will see how well you tolerate it.
Sotong: :O
Sotong: :O
Sotong: About how long is my downtime? (can't believe I said *downtime*)
Dr L: Depends. (so 废) How many days of hospitalization leave do you have.
Sotong: About 60 days.
Dr L: You can take it all!
That's not the point, but nevermind.
Sotong: What exactly would be done during the surgery?
Dr L: From below the neck to (points a few vertebrae down) xxxyyyyzzz, from here to here, aaabbbbccc. (something about inserting screws to FIX the spine)
Sotong: Would I be able to bend my back after the surgery?
Dr L: Of course not. Your back has to be fixed to prevent further curvature.
Sotong: (shucks) So I will be all rigid?
Dr L: Yes, you will be very stiff.
Sotong: (sounds terrible lor!) Can I do this? This? (did a few movements)
Dr L: Yes you can still turn your head as only the bottom of the neck is affected. This is twisting of your trunk and doesn't require bending of the spine, so that is still possible. But bending to pick things from the floor cannot be done.
I think I can live with not being able to pick things up.
Dr L: From now till the surgery, do not take Chinese medicine.
Sotong: Huh? Ok...
And I will need to wear a back brace for 2 years.
And have to bring the X-rays for admission.
Dr L asked again for the surgeries I have had before.
Sotong: Scapulopexy.
Dr L: When was that?
Sotong: 10 over years ago... when I was 17... (Maths very poor, had to do a quick mental calculation) 12 years ago? (still not sure. Maths FAIL)
Dr L: By whom, do you remember?
Sotong: Er... J H I think.(Why do you need to know this?)
Dr L: Ok...
Dr L: When was that?
Sotong: 10 over years ago... when I was 17... (Maths very poor, had to do a quick mental calculation) 12 years ago? (still not sure. Maths FAIL)
Dr L: By whom, do you remember?
Sotong: Er... J H I think.(Why do you need to know this?)
Dr L: Ok...
I still remember how that doctor looked like, although I might not be able to recognize him now 10 years down the road. But I sure do still remember the pain. I still blame him for that.
The very busy Dr L has another appointment that he's already late for, so he offered a handshake (weird? I think we were more like superior-subordinate kind of relationship than a cooperative equal. You don't shake hands with your boss, do you? Unless he's your boss-to-be at the interview stage), said bye and left the clinic, leaving the MO handle the rest of the nitty gritty. The MO suggested that I come in on Sunday instead, as there might be no bed should I admit on Monday. What? Make me pay for 1 more day when they should reserve one for me? Ah ok whatever.
He received a call on his mobile. I think the nurse from A&E was calling him.
MO: I'm busy right now, I can't come over. What is wrong with the patient? (pause) Can you ask the HO to do it? (pause) What do you mean he don't know how to do it? Ok, what is the patient having? (pause) Low blood pressure? What, patient said? Does he know the symptoms of low blood pressure or not? (pause) Put him on the phone please. (pause) Do you know the symptoms of low blood pressure? (pause) I know the patient said so, but do you know the symptoms? (long pause) You know or not? (pause) Yes... yes... no... ok ok I will come over later.
Gosh! A&E sounded like a dangerous place with HOs who didn't know what they were doing! FYI, HO a.k.a. the scary fresh grads that people speak of. Of course, not all HOs are like that, but this one really CMI. Good luck to that patient at A&E. I think my MO should really be there soon.
But he must be done with me first. I signed the consent, he did his part, gave me my MC and sent me to pre-admission counseling next door.
Today was really a day of waiting. Counseling also must wait. A lady entered, very slowly logged into the system and started fiddling around in such a way that you can tell she didn't know how to use it. She appeared to be looking for a certain functionality and when she found it, I think she didn't know how to work it. Keyed in some figures, went "eh?", started over... I almost wanted to volunteer my help just to make things go faster. Fortunately, she recognized that she needed help and went out to get it. Things went pretty smoothly afterwards. Got my new bill estimate, which, curiously, was still not far off the previous one despite the stay being 8 days shorter at 10 days. Just about $3000 less.
When I passed by the entrance of the clinic, I caught a glimpse of their list of specialists. Right on, or near the top was Dr J H.
O.
HEAD lor. Dr L's boss lor. Luckily I never complain about him hahaha.
I went to the Business Office to discuss the deposit. The same lady recognized me hohoho. Must be the horrendous bill size.
Good news! I could still pay $5000 deposit upon admission.
She noticed that the Medishield estimate was missing, so she advised me to go back to the clinic and inform the staff that Medishield estimates are mandatory now. Har... still must go back and pass message. My words got power meh? She should call the clinic for me. &*#*$(#
Went back to the clinic, waited somemore, passed the message and got a new printout. Finally I could go home.
Today's damage:
Consultation Services (SC - RV) $68.00
X-ray
Chest (one view) $30.00
Spine Scoliosis (More than 2 V $165.00
Subsidy -$145.00
Out of pocket $118.00
Consultation Services (SC - RV) $68.00
X-ray
Chest (one view) $30.00
Spine Scoliosis (More than 2 V $165.00
Subsidy -$145.00
Out of pocket $118.00
Googled traction, but still didn't have a clear idea of what it is. What pull my head! Sounds like I will be hanged! Painful somemore! Help!
Tomorrow, time for the inevitable... hope things will go well.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Free Lion King?
L lent me her name for the Lion King tickets, but so far the company has not charged us yet. It's already her last day today, so it's... free? :D
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
National Day
Sotong is so patriotic this year! Shall celebrate National Day this year, after a 2-year hiatus I think.
Of course, being a grown-up, instead of waving plastic flags and singing national songs, I have new ways of showing my appreciation for my dear homeland.
First, lunch at Auntie Kim's Korean Restaurant. This restaurant is highly recommended by my sister, so I shall go try it out! Haven't had Korean BBQ for a long time. Not counting Seoul Garden, the last time was 2 years ago in Taiwan. Took a cab there and almost missed the entrance to the carpark. The skillful driver reversed in through the exit ^_^;; Missed then jialat liao, got to u-turn, dunno where! The restaurant is located at one of those shophouses along Upper Thomson Road, so you can expect it to have a handicapped-unfriendly entrance.
The restaurant looked rather small. Glad I made a reservation. Must emphasize you want the air-con seats! That day was so hot and humid that we could have died eating spicy food out there.
First up, the appetizers. They were all so yummy that I could get by just eating them. Free-flow mah. But the restaurant sure not happy one haha. Say, has anybody tried doing that before? The potato salad-like thing was awesome! The kimchi was on the salty side, but still nice. I love salt. Yum.
The waitress' English was so heavily-accented that I could hardly understand her. Think she's the boss' daughter.
The highly-raved ginseng chicken soup with just a hint of ginseng. The chicken meat tore off the bone easily. Lots of goodies in the soup.
We also got BBQ beef, which we asked the kitchen to cook for us instead of DIY. After the experience in Taiwan, I'm convinced I can't do it as well as the cook, so let them do it, don't destroy the meat, make it worth the $$. Apply some bean paste and wrap in the vegee to eat. Sister did it for me of course. *empress dowager*
The bimimbap! 1 bowl for the 3 of us, but I was still filled to the brim. Why was the egg cooked? :(
So so so full! Luckily I didn't order the pancake.
Still had time to spare, so we walked over to Thomson Plaza. Nothing much there as usual. Had teh at Hans. Western food restaurant selling teh, hmm... Bought a new cushion.
Overheard a cheapo woman walk into a shop and asked very directly, "你们有 National Day sale 吗?" when there was no sale sign seen anywhere. And when the sales assistant replied, she still want to confirm again!! "真的没有?" *faints* Walk next to her also paiseh!
Went shopping at NTUC for provisions to sustain ourselves later. Spotted Haagen Daz sale with flavors still available! But couldn't buy now lah. Saw the Pure gummy that I bought from Japan! Damn expensive, but I want! Then bought a sandwich from Subway, cleared ourselves out at the toilet, bought newspapers and left. As usual, there wasn't any cab at the queue when it was our turn zzz.
Dropped at MBS. Watched the fireworks here 2 years ago too. The place was full of foreign workers lor. The odor was more evident at the casino entrance :X Went Cold Storage to look for drinks... very hard to find cheap drinks in MBS. Saw the Milo van. but long queue as usual. When can I have a Milo from the van again? Nothing comes as close as it. They were distributing sachets of instant Milo that could dissolve in cold water to make up for it, just needed to find a water cooler though.
The area where I camped the last time was out of bounds.
Found ourselves a great spot! Only con was that the sun was in our faces.
Not a big deal. There's a white board used for covering the electrical box.
Whiled the time away reading newspapers.
The sun hid behind the buildings soon.
Action started!
People from the marching contingent streaming into the cordoned area. Wa... special fireworks spot for them lor.
And the fireworks began! Spectacular! There goes my taxes! And nobody blocking me! Don't leave yet, still got round 2 de.
Too late for dinner, anyway it's crowded everywhere, so we went home. The cab queue was long as expected, but there was no cabs. Abnormal! Shouldn't the supply be endless here? Jialat lor, call also no use de. We waited in the line that hardly moved. The security guard also never offered to let us jump queue. Die ah die ah how many hours will this wait be? People in front, you really should take public transport you know.
A cab came and stopped next to us, offering to take us first. Really? Yay on! But it took us a bloody long time to drive out of the pickup point alone. I thought it was due to the ambulance parked in front, but it was stuck like us. Took us like 15min to clear the pickup point...
Carpark sign spoil liao. Negative lots available!
Missed call alerts started coming in. Phone signal sucks in MBS, with all the crowd.
Reason for the gridlock was because the road towards Suntec City was closed, so everybody had to u-turn. By the time we cleared the u-turn, the fare was already $9.70. Cabs were already hailed from the roadside when they were driving towards MBS. No wonder the cab queue was empty.
Dinner was Geylang beef horfun. I thought I surely had to eat instant mee after fireworks, like 2 years ago.
First, lunch at Auntie Kim's Korean Restaurant. This restaurant is highly recommended by my sister, so I shall go try it out! Haven't had Korean BBQ for a long time. Not counting Seoul Garden, the last time was 2 years ago in Taiwan. Took a cab there and almost missed the entrance to the carpark. The skillful driver reversed in through the exit ^_^;; Missed then jialat liao, got to u-turn, dunno where! The restaurant is located at one of those shophouses along Upper Thomson Road, so you can expect it to have a handicapped-unfriendly entrance.
The restaurant looked rather small. Glad I made a reservation. Must emphasize you want the air-con seats! That day was so hot and humid that we could have died eating spicy food out there.
The waitress' English was so heavily-accented that I could hardly understand her. Think she's the boss' daughter.
We also got BBQ beef, which we asked the kitchen to cook for us instead of DIY. After the experience in Taiwan, I'm convinced I can't do it as well as the cook, so let them do it, don't destroy the meat, make it worth the $$. Apply some bean paste and wrap in the vegee to eat. Sister did it for me of course. *empress dowager*
So so so full! Luckily I didn't order the pancake.
Still had time to spare, so we walked over to Thomson Plaza. Nothing much there as usual. Had teh at Hans. Western food restaurant selling teh, hmm... Bought a new cushion.
Overheard a cheapo woman walk into a shop and asked very directly, "你们有 National Day sale 吗?" when there was no sale sign seen anywhere. And when the sales assistant replied, she still want to confirm again!! "真的没有?" *faints* Walk next to her also paiseh!
Went shopping at NTUC for provisions to sustain ourselves later. Spotted Haagen Daz sale with flavors still available! But couldn't buy now lah. Saw the Pure gummy that I bought from Japan! Damn expensive, but I want! Then bought a sandwich from Subway, cleared ourselves out at the toilet, bought newspapers and left. As usual, there wasn't any cab at the queue when it was our turn zzz.
Dropped at MBS. Watched the fireworks here 2 years ago too. The place was full of foreign workers lor. The odor was more evident at the casino entrance :X Went Cold Storage to look for drinks... very hard to find cheap drinks in MBS. Saw the Milo van. but long queue as usual. When can I have a Milo from the van again? Nothing comes as close as it. They were distributing sachets of instant Milo that could dissolve in cold water to make up for it, just needed to find a water cooler though.
Found ourselves a great spot! Only con was that the sun was in our faces.
Whiled the time away reading newspapers.
Action started!
And the fireworks began! Spectacular! There goes my taxes! And nobody blocking me! Don't leave yet, still got round 2 de.
Too late for dinner, anyway it's crowded everywhere, so we went home. The cab queue was long as expected, but there was no cabs. Abnormal! Shouldn't the supply be endless here? Jialat lor, call also no use de. We waited in the line that hardly moved. The security guard also never offered to let us jump queue. Die ah die ah how many hours will this wait be? People in front, you really should take public transport you know.
A cab came and stopped next to us, offering to take us first. Really? Yay on! But it took us a bloody long time to drive out of the pickup point alone. I thought it was due to the ambulance parked in front, but it was stuck like us. Took us like 15min to clear the pickup point...
Missed call alerts started coming in. Phone signal sucks in MBS, with all the crowd.
Reason for the gridlock was because the road towards Suntec City was closed, so everybody had to u-turn. By the time we cleared the u-turn, the fare was already $9.70. Cabs were already hailed from the roadside when they were driving towards MBS. No wonder the cab queue was empty.
Dinner was Geylang beef horfun. I thought I surely had to eat instant mee after fireworks, like 2 years ago.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Cow-selling Notes: In The (Mad) House, Yo!
On week 2 of April, Mr B, the user from Irritating Mad House sent an angry email about his Cow-selling Notes reports not generating. I didn't understand what he was talking about. Haven't even develop what, of course not generating lah. After clarification with the TL, I realized that there was an existing cow-selling report based on the old database table. Only Irritating Mad House has this report. After the new cow-selling notes went live, the data was no longer flowing to the old table. Hence no report was generated.
OOPS. This was undeniably our fault. Looked like existing reports were left out from the impact analysis of the specifications. At least for me, I didn't even know this report existed! And of all institutions, the screw-up had to happen to Irritating Mad House. Cham!
Actually, Irritating Mad House didn't want this CR at all. But all the others wanted it, and it was more difficult to exclude an institution than to apply for all, so Irritating Mad House had to accept it. For free. Not such a bad deal eh?
Since they didn't want it, no impact analysis was done for them. But it was also not highlighted that their report would cease to exist.
I don't know what to say.
Of course Mr B was not going to take ”no more old report anymore” for an answer. He threw a fit and demanded his report as he needed to give it to his boss. No, the new report was unacceptable.
What's wrong with the new report! More details what! What was the thing that couldn't be derived from the new report? This Mr B really got problem! And probably his boss too. Is there anybody at least marginally normal there?
No choice, TL and I had to write a query immediately to extract the data for him. Must fit into the format of the old report. In the end, it looked really crappy. I was sure Mr B was going to scream again.
Surprisingly, Mr B was placated. Got something to 交货 can already? That's so unlike him.
Something was up his sleeve. We knew it! He demanded we ”restore” his original report - with this new format he was proposing. For free. And he even provided the folder name to deposit the files in.
In short, Irritating Mad House first made things difficult by saying don't want don't want. The result - a free CR landed in their laps. Wait for us to make a mistake and 顺便 upgrade report. So 奸!
Well, we broke their report, didn't we? Lose liao lor.
Since I'm blogging about this, you must have guessed that I kena arrowed to do the report lor. Mr B provided the format he was expecting. Waa want to extract type X,Y but not Z, into 2 separate Excel files with different headers.... REALLY TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION.
Haiz.
Mr B's requirements were not perfect of course. They will result in permutation of data and I'm not sure if he would like that. I requested the AiHiss contact, T, to confirm with B, but T also scared haha. In the end, for things that were not too major, we made our own assumptions and hoped for the safety of our heads.
On a brighter note, Mr B's requirements didn't include columns with 1000 characters. I am not interested in finding out whether DTS packages have the same weird problems as SSIS. The good (and bad) thing about DTS is that there is no control over the formatting of each Excel cell (not that I know of), so I could get away with not fixing cosmetic issues. ”It's like that! Technical limitation!”
The UAT went smoothly. Phew~ Rolled out 2 months later.
Apart from production issues, we were done with cow-selling notes. It could be the longest CR I have ever done. Don't want to hear from it again!
OOPS. This was undeniably our fault. Looked like existing reports were left out from the impact analysis of the specifications. At least for me, I didn't even know this report existed! And of all institutions, the screw-up had to happen to Irritating Mad House. Cham!
Actually, Irritating Mad House didn't want this CR at all. But all the others wanted it, and it was more difficult to exclude an institution than to apply for all, so Irritating Mad House had to accept it. For free. Not such a bad deal eh?
Since they didn't want it, no impact analysis was done for them. But it was also not highlighted that their report would cease to exist.
I don't know what to say.
Of course Mr B was not going to take ”no more old report anymore” for an answer. He threw a fit and demanded his report as he needed to give it to his boss. No, the new report was unacceptable.
What's wrong with the new report! More details what! What was the thing that couldn't be derived from the new report? This Mr B really got problem! And probably his boss too. Is there anybody at least marginally normal there?
No choice, TL and I had to write a query immediately to extract the data for him. Must fit into the format of the old report. In the end, it looked really crappy. I was sure Mr B was going to scream again.
Surprisingly, Mr B was placated. Got something to 交货 can already? That's so unlike him.
Something was up his sleeve. We knew it! He demanded we ”restore” his original report - with this new format he was proposing. For free. And he even provided the folder name to deposit the files in.
In short, Irritating Mad House first made things difficult by saying don't want don't want. The result - a free CR landed in their laps. Wait for us to make a mistake and 顺便 upgrade report. So 奸!
Well, we broke their report, didn't we? Lose liao lor.
Since I'm blogging about this, you must have guessed that I kena arrowed to do the report lor. Mr B provided the format he was expecting. Waa want to extract type X,Y but not Z, into 2 separate Excel files with different headers.... REALLY TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION.
Haiz.
Mr B's requirements were not perfect of course. They will result in permutation of data and I'm not sure if he would like that. I requested the AiHiss contact, T, to confirm with B, but T also scared haha. In the end, for things that were not too major, we made our own assumptions and hoped for the safety of our heads.
On a brighter note, Mr B's requirements didn't include columns with 1000 characters. I am not interested in finding out whether DTS packages have the same weird problems as SSIS. The good (and bad) thing about DTS is that there is no control over the formatting of each Excel cell (not that I know of), so I could get away with not fixing cosmetic issues. ”It's like that! Technical limitation!”
The UAT went smoothly. Phew~ Rolled out 2 months later.
Apart from production issues, we were done with cow-selling notes. It could be the longest CR I have ever done. Don't want to hear from it again!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Ready, Get Fat, GO!
Yeah yeah it's the month to get fat!
After artery-clogging crabs, 游油 rosemary chicken, rich Brotzeit and high blood pressure-inducing Santouka all in the space of 1 week, here's the finale - the precursor to diabetes - cake!
This year, I got a cake from Swissbake. Less atas haha!
A very humble oreo cheesecake. Why? Just felt like eating lor.
Cheap and good!
After artery-clogging crabs, 游油 rosemary chicken, rich Brotzeit and high blood pressure-inducing Santouka all in the space of 1 week, here's the finale - the precursor to diabetes - cake!
This year, I got a cake from Swissbake. Less atas haha!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Oily Rosemary Chicken
Colleague dapaoed lunch for me from the bistro. I thought they got me 油鸡 instead.
It's practically swimming in oil, appalling!
I tilted the box and let as much oil drain as possible before eating it. Left the salad and most of the fries alone as they were SOAKED.
I tilted the box and let as much oil drain as possible before eating it. Left the salad and most of the fries alone as they were SOAKED.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Movie Monday
Believe it or not, more than half the year has gone, but I haven't been to a single movie yet, with the last one being Avatar back in Jan 2010?! Which movie could do the honors of breaking the spell?
How about the upcoming latest installment of Transformers, Dark of the Moon? I had caught the previous 2 movies on my computer *cough cough* and felt this is a series justified on a large screen. Looked up the schedule for it. Wow there were more 3D screenings than normal 2D. Spoilt for choice! Even Mother was interested, so how about a birthday outing? Shall wait for the booking to open then.
Lately, there has been a lot of buzz about how wonderful Transformers would look in IMAX. Inspired! 2 of my friends were even taking leave to watch on a weekday :O
I checked out the schedule for IMAX in Lido. Ehh so few slots ah? Why did it look like they only had 1 theater and that single theater only has so few seats? Why only 1 screening daily? What were they up to for the rest of the day? And all weekend seats were already gone, up till the 9/10 Jul weekend?? And that's the one and only IMAX theater screening Transformers??? The other was Omni Theater, but can't expect them to screen Transformers right.
How about waiting for the 16/17 Jul weekend's schedule to release and chiong it? Luckily I saw the advertisement for Harry Potter on Lido's website (I subconsciously filter out internet advertisements)... if it were to be released on 14 Jul, this meant it would be taking over the IMAX theater... meaning no more Transformers once Harry Potter is released! So, if I want to watch IMAX, I must watch on a weekday, where seats were still aplenty. That's not a tough choice to make. Brother and Sister too, just that Mother couldn't make it. Too bad... :P (unfilial daughter!)
Let's make this a long weekend cum pre-birthday celebration. :D $19.25 each, ouch!
Slept till 饱饱, got dressed and went out with Father. First, lunch at Ngee Ann City's Crystal Jade Kitchen. No queue at all, abnormal! Ate the prawn horfun and dimsum. Tried 流沙包 for the first time. Delicious! But too bad my appetite wasn't in top form today. Then we went for a walk at Taka basement. They were having a Hokkaido fair with lots of yummy food! If we had known, we would have eaten here :( Bought instant ramen.
Then we walked over to Shaw House.
Empty Orchard on a quiet Monday afternoon.
The dumb thing was that it was really inconvenient for a wheelchair to to Shaw House. Had to walk down the side of Ion, cross over to Wheelock Place, down Wheelock Place and finally cross over to Shaw House. All under the hot sun. Irritating!
Then the next thing was, the lifts to the theater were different from the shopping lifts. There would be no problem if one could take the escalator lah, but I had to use the lifts at the back of the building. The lift brought us to the carpark, and the only way back to the aircon was by steps?? Fortunately a guy who knew the way around showed us a secret walkway where we emerged from a well-camouflaged wall in the box office. LATE!
And of course, got to climb stairs up to our seats, in the dark and people had to make way for us because we were sitting in the middle. Sorry peeps :X
Got to wear those humongous and heavy specs. I didn't experience the nauseousness reported by some. The new female lead was another 大花瓶. Smart one though, for she wore heels when she didn't need to run and carried with her an extra pair of flats to change into when she had to run through crashing buildings. Aiyah, if you would overlook the depth of the plot and just focus on this film's selling point (special effects!), then it's a really enjoyable treat for the eyeballs. IMAX looks so much better than 3D!
People exiting the theater at the end of the movie. I think the credits were 3D too.
There was a queue of cabs outside. Cool! We were going to have dinner at Mellben! I had made a reservation, but seriously, I shouldn't have bothered. Super empty at 6.30pm and we were given a table that would have seated 8 comfortably.
Got a drink each to quench our thirst since the movie. Butter crab was still good. Got 馒头 to mop up the gravy. Crab beehoon appeared to have dropped further in standard. The soup didn't taste sweet enough. Or I'm getting immuned. Crabs were still fleshy and sweet though. Deer meat was tough and just normal. Deep fried seafood tofu, still good. I think we ordered very little ley, the restaurant must be very disappointed in us haha. Total damage of $147.80.
Dinner kept getting interrupted by phone calls from work because it's production deployment tonight. Already told the guys to raise their questions last week liao, but dunno no questions or bo hiu me. Now then keep calling. Those were not even my files, still keep calling and expect me to pass messages to the author! Got sian and just ignored my phone. My crab beehoon soup all cold liao lor knn. Poor phone, must be so oily now. *sayang*
When we were leaving, the queue was long! So late already, those people not hungry meh?
And it was tough getting a cab.
How about the upcoming latest installment of Transformers, Dark of the Moon? I had caught the previous 2 movies on my computer *cough cough* and felt this is a series justified on a large screen. Looked up the schedule for it. Wow there were more 3D screenings than normal 2D. Spoilt for choice! Even Mother was interested, so how about a birthday outing? Shall wait for the booking to open then.
I checked out the schedule for IMAX in Lido. Ehh so few slots ah? Why did it look like they only had 1 theater and that single theater only has so few seats? Why only 1 screening daily? What were they up to for the rest of the day? And all weekend seats were already gone, up till the 9/10 Jul weekend?? And that's the one and only IMAX theater screening Transformers??? The other was Omni Theater, but can't expect them to screen Transformers right.
How about waiting for the 16/17 Jul weekend's schedule to release and chiong it? Luckily I saw the advertisement for Harry Potter on Lido's website (I subconsciously filter out internet advertisements)... if it were to be released on 14 Jul, this meant it would be taking over the IMAX theater... meaning no more Transformers once Harry Potter is released! So, if I want to watch IMAX, I must watch on a weekday, where seats were still aplenty. That's not a tough choice to make. Brother and Sister too, just that Mother couldn't make it. Too bad... :P (unfilial daughter!)
Let's make this a long weekend cum pre-birthday celebration. :D $19.25 each, ouch!
Slept till 饱饱, got dressed and went out with Father. First, lunch at Ngee Ann City's Crystal Jade Kitchen. No queue at all, abnormal! Ate the prawn horfun and dimsum. Tried 流沙包 for the first time. Delicious! But too bad my appetite wasn't in top form today. Then we went for a walk at Taka basement. They were having a Hokkaido fair with lots of yummy food! If we had known, we would have eaten here :( Bought instant ramen.
Then we walked over to Shaw House.
The dumb thing was that it was really inconvenient for a wheelchair to to Shaw House. Had to walk down the side of Ion, cross over to Wheelock Place, down Wheelock Place and finally cross over to Shaw House. All under the hot sun. Irritating!
Then the next thing was, the lifts to the theater were different from the shopping lifts. There would be no problem if one could take the escalator lah, but I had to use the lifts at the back of the building. The lift brought us to the carpark, and the only way back to the aircon was by steps?? Fortunately a guy who knew the way around showed us a secret walkway where we emerged from a well-camouflaged wall in the box office. LATE!
And of course, got to climb stairs up to our seats, in the dark and people had to make way for us because we were sitting in the middle. Sorry peeps :X
Got to wear those humongous and heavy specs. I didn't experience the nauseousness reported by some. The new female lead was another 大花瓶. Smart one though, for she wore heels when she didn't need to run and carried with her an extra pair of flats to change into when she had to run through crashing buildings. Aiyah, if you would overlook the depth of the plot and just focus on this film's selling point (special effects!), then it's a really enjoyable treat for the eyeballs. IMAX looks so much better than 3D!
There was a queue of cabs outside. Cool! We were going to have dinner at Mellben! I had made a reservation, but seriously, I shouldn't have bothered. Super empty at 6.30pm and we were given a table that would have seated 8 comfortably.
Dinner kept getting interrupted by phone calls from work because it's production deployment tonight. Already told the guys to raise their questions last week liao, but dunno no questions or bo hiu me. Now then keep calling. Those were not even my files, still keep calling and expect me to pass messages to the author! Got sian and just ignored my phone. My crab beehoon soup all cold liao lor knn. Poor phone, must be so oily now. *sayang*
When we were leaving, the queue was long! So late already, those people not hungry meh?
And it was tough getting a cab.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Cow-selling Notes: The Batch Job
There was still a batch job outstanding. S was pulled out to work on the next hot potato, so I was on my own.
It was a monthly batch job to extract data into Excel. Sounds simple. It could have been, if not for the usual complications and unexpected roadblocks.
Again, it was the slipshod specifications. Data from 3 tables were to be extracted into 3 separate Excel files. Looked at the sample files and shook head - the formatting of the headers were different for all 3 files. The design of the columns were unsuitable for certain types of data. I think it's a 5 min work. And obviously none of the users had bothered to open the sample files for a look. If I were to give this for UAT, sure kena firing squad.
But what if... that was what the users truly wanted? They siao siao one sometimes.
After consulting the TL, we were going to change the columns. However, I would leave the headers intact.
I had to use a tool that I had never used before - SQL Server 2005 Integration Services to create a SSIS package. I was not the first to do this, so I had a sample program for reference. Using VB scripting, it runs a query and writes the results line by line into Excel. Sounds simple.
But of course, how could the Sotong be let off lightly? No development phase can get through without a struggle.
I quickly realized that my batch job was going to be far more complex than the sample. The sample was full of hardcodes. If I didn't want to be writing and maintaining 7 different programs, I had better figure out how to use variables. Man, the development tool's UI could use some redesign. It was a struggle to pass variables. Not very intuitive! I had to scour the internet for a very detailed guide. The kind for dummies. Not a friendly learning curve.
I found that passing blank as an input parameter to the batch job wasn't allowed. That's deviating from the usual way we work. Potentially, it might pose a problem if somebody other than me were meddling with it. Which meant that I MUST write the monitoring guide to cover my backside already.
File exists check before generating the file... later, if I have the time! (usually means never)
When I found the Excel Connection Manager, I thought it was a totally cool idea. It could spool data directly into an Excel file. No need for VB script afterall!
I tested using the debug mode. Printed 1 line successfully! Ok continue!
But when I tried to run the proper way by using the SQL Server Agent, it didn't work :( Some cryptic Excel error. Don't know how to add more logs to help myself XD
Ok nevermind. Why don't I try fixing it on SIT instead?
WORSE. The moment Excel was launched, it asked for the installation CD. The prompt will go away if you click Cancel, but I couldn't be incorporating the click into my batch job?? Asked R for access to the CD, but the SIT server couldn't locate the file it wanted.
Great. So this batch job shall join the dll-based ones, cannot be run on SIT. I informed my TL that the batch job was going straight to UAT since there was no way we could test on SIT. He wanted me to ask for help to fix the problem as he didn't want his things to end up like the rest, but I refused flatly. I have tried already, and I didn't have time to try harder. The environment setup has been left hanging for don't know how long already, so I don't think I should even believe it will be fixed for me.
万事有 UAT environment~ Totally wrong, but bo bian. Actually, it saves time because it is almost the same as Production. If it works in UAT, chances are, it will work in Production. And that's all we wish for!
I ran into the same problem :( SHIT. Don't tell me our system cannot support and I got to redo the whole shit in some other way?
Googled the bloody cryptic error message again. There HAS to be a solution. This is not the time to get stuck!
FOUND. Instead of using Integration Services package job step, I should use the command line job step to call the 64–bit version of dtexec.
DIAO!!
I wasn't interested in finding out why. As long as it's working!
Time for the next bomb. The extraction worked fine for narrow date ranges, but failed upon expansion to 1mth's data. Query wasn't slow... I soon discovered the ultimate, stupidest, mother of all limitations -
You cannot spool more than 255 characters into an Excel cell.
I mean, what era is this already??
I want to 跳楼 now.
Blame it on the technical analysis. The users should never have been allowed to enter more than 255 characters.
Ha. Ha. Over the users' dead bodies!
I know. I can truncate and hopes nobody finds out.
Yeah... Right...
Propose to give a flat file instead.
Ok, but only as a last resort.
There was absolutely no problem with spooling into a flat file, but I couldn't figure out how to convert the flat file into Excel. This transplantation is a very simple copy and paste function when performed manually.
You know you are going insane when you start thinking:
You know, I think I would rather do it manually than to go on struggling. It's only once a month.
Shout 救命 also no use. Nobody can help me. Not even Google.
The fucking 3G signal didn't cooperate during office hours. Or colleagues have a greater right to it because they were doing investigations. And I was multi-tasking.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. I could split long data into 255-characters long segments and spool into separate cells first, then concatenate them line by line using VB script. Sounds stupid and slow, but WHATEVER THAT WORKS!
Ok try out now! I struggled with the bloody syntax - it's similar to Excel macros but the summation button is the chimmest thing I can do on Excel >_< And it did work!!! Tried with lots of data, not slow also! Finally!!
Emboldened by my new bag of tricks, I threw in decoration for the headers. Just bold the header only lah. Something that wasn't mentioned in the specifications, but I knew the users would surely ask for.
Breezed through SIT by giving the files generated from UAT. Again, TL asked me to deploy to SIT, but I called it a waste of time. Attitude liao haha.
For UAT, I wanted to give the users the same files for them to verify, but they asked for the data from Production. Hey... that means I need to deploy to Production although we haven't passed UAT? Where got like that one? NO!! Block! Why was AiHiss supporting such a request anyway?
Actually, I was in favor of it lah, because I'm not so comfortable with the unconventional way the batch job was done. Testing with real-life data on the actual server will allow me to prevent failures upon rollout. We have been having issues for every release and I dread the day I'm responsible for one!
Also, the batch job would not affect anything else if deployed to production.
But the PM succumbed. O well... Now I had to deal with the DBA because I'm gonna mess with his server... and he didn't know SSIS as well as I did yet.
Surrrprise! Gargantuan volume of data for No Use Hospital, couldn't fit into 1 Excel worksheet at all! Each worksheet could only hold 216=65,536 rows but that was not even enough for 1 week's data.
See, never do impact analysis! How? Need to send out the files tonight already.
Don't care, I shall take the liberty to split into more Excel files. Got to do it manually since I needed time to figure out how to automate it. Actually, I'm not going to entrap myself by suggesting that. Splitting into different worksheets in the same file was a no-no too. Any form of splitting is bad! Probably shall propose increasing the job frequency or just spool into flat file (dream come true!).
Surrrprise #2! No other institution's data volume even came close. Only Took Their Savings Hospital might have a problem if they suddenly decide to increase their volume and of course they won't think they were obliged to warn us. How to convince them to accept my proposals above?
I don't know. The TL and PM can think about it. I'm going home, bye.
So in the end, No Use Hospital agreed to the flat file with the job frequency unchanged. because the user is savvy enough to import into his own database. But the rest of the pampered guys still wanted Excel, but job frequency increased to weekly.
Great, now I have more things to maintain!! ARGH!!! STAB ME PLS!!!
Since things were going to be kept within a single worksheet, we could merge all 3 files into 3 worksheets in a single file. Less clutter!
The batch job entered production officially. I had to manually generate April's files :( While doing so, I found that sometimes, the batch job simply refused to start, throwing some weird Excel error again. I found numerous Excel processes still running although there were no active applications. If I killed the processes, the batch job was back to normal. Odd... Shall see if it happened when it ran automatically.
Yeah... It happened. Luckily I anticipated it and was able to recover the files before the users found out XD
And so began the long and painful investigation and fixing. I swear I have .Close and .Quit each and every Excel object I created. Want to give up, but... :((
Can I just kill every Excel process I find?
Sure, if I'm quitting really soon, like, now!
As it I didn't have enough problems, my SQL Server Management Studio expired. Reinstalled, but now my Visual Studio Tools for Applications was unable to find my imports. Hey wtf, it was all ok just now! After fumbling through tonnes of websites and forums (many with why-are-you-asking-a-noob-question-pls-go-read-up kind of reply), I found that some system files have gone missing. No idea how it happened. Together with the DBA, we copied them from whereever they were found, to the GAC folder. And you can bet I have never heard of GAC till today.
The discovery - in the VB script, each time an Excel element is manipulated, an Excel process will be created. Each worksheet, row, column, blah blah, right down to the cell level. And they will linger until you release each them explicitly in the correct order.
OMFG why does something like this still exist?? 我要上吊!!
You drive me crazy!
FINE. I FIX. *grumbles*
And the batch job was finally running successfully on its own.
But it's not the end of the saga yet.
Disk space in the server was running out fast with this new report! I never developed for archival - I thought of it, but usually not part of the batch job mah, and basic requirements not done yet, so this can wait! Aiyah zipping is also a temporary solution only. Users want them in the shared drive mah, so the only true solution is to increase storage. Out of my hands!
Monitoring guide not done yet. LATER!!
Coming up next, more problems.
It was a monthly batch job to extract data into Excel. Sounds simple. It could have been, if not for the usual complications and unexpected roadblocks.
Again, it was the slipshod specifications. Data from 3 tables were to be extracted into 3 separate Excel files. Looked at the sample files and shook head - the formatting of the headers were different for all 3 files. The design of the columns were unsuitable for certain types of data. I think it's a 5 min work. And obviously none of the users had bothered to open the sample files for a look. If I were to give this for UAT, sure kena firing squad.
But what if... that was what the users truly wanted? They siao siao one sometimes.
After consulting the TL, we were going to change the columns. However, I would leave the headers intact.
I had to use a tool that I had never used before - SQL Server 2005 Integration Services to create a SSIS package. I was not the first to do this, so I had a sample program for reference. Using VB scripting, it runs a query and writes the results line by line into Excel. Sounds simple.
But of course, how could the Sotong be let off lightly? No development phase can get through without a struggle.
I quickly realized that my batch job was going to be far more complex than the sample. The sample was full of hardcodes. If I didn't want to be writing and maintaining 7 different programs, I had better figure out how to use variables. Man, the development tool's UI could use some redesign. It was a struggle to pass variables. Not very intuitive! I had to scour the internet for a very detailed guide. The kind for dummies. Not a friendly learning curve.
I found that passing blank as an input parameter to the batch job wasn't allowed. That's deviating from the usual way we work. Potentially, it might pose a problem if somebody other than me were meddling with it. Which meant that I MUST write the monitoring guide to cover my backside already.
File exists check before generating the file... later, if I have the time! (usually means never)
When I found the Excel Connection Manager, I thought it was a totally cool idea. It could spool data directly into an Excel file. No need for VB script afterall!
I tested using the debug mode. Printed 1 line successfully! Ok continue!
But when I tried to run the proper way by using the SQL Server Agent, it didn't work :( Some cryptic Excel error. Don't know how to add more logs to help myself XD
Ok nevermind. Why don't I try fixing it on SIT instead?
WORSE. The moment Excel was launched, it asked for the installation CD. The prompt will go away if you click Cancel, but I couldn't be incorporating the click into my batch job?? Asked R for access to the CD, but the SIT server couldn't locate the file it wanted.
Great. So this batch job shall join the dll-based ones, cannot be run on SIT. I informed my TL that the batch job was going straight to UAT since there was no way we could test on SIT. He wanted me to ask for help to fix the problem as he didn't want his things to end up like the rest, but I refused flatly. I have tried already, and I didn't have time to try harder. The environment setup has been left hanging for don't know how long already, so I don't think I should even believe it will be fixed for me.
万事有 UAT environment~ Totally wrong, but bo bian. Actually, it saves time because it is almost the same as Production. If it works in UAT, chances are, it will work in Production. And that's all we wish for!
I ran into the same problem :( SHIT. Don't tell me our system cannot support and I got to redo the whole shit in some other way?
Googled the bloody cryptic error message again. There HAS to be a solution. This is not the time to get stuck!
FOUND. Instead of using Integration Services package job step, I should use the command line job step to call the 64–bit version of dtexec.
DIAO!!
I wasn't interested in finding out why. As long as it's working!
Time for the next bomb. The extraction worked fine for narrow date ranges, but failed upon expansion to 1mth's data. Query wasn't slow... I soon discovered the ultimate, stupidest, mother of all limitations -
You cannot spool more than 255 characters into an Excel cell.
I mean, what era is this already??
I want to 跳楼 now.
Blame it on the technical analysis. The users should never have been allowed to enter more than 255 characters.
Ha. Ha. Over the users' dead bodies!
I know. I can truncate and hopes nobody finds out.
Yeah... Right...
Propose to give a flat file instead.
Ok, but only as a last resort.
There was absolutely no problem with spooling into a flat file, but I couldn't figure out how to convert the flat file into Excel. This transplantation is a very simple copy and paste function when performed manually.
You know you are going insane when you start thinking:
You know, I think I would rather do it manually than to go on struggling. It's only once a month.
Shout 救命 also no use. Nobody can help me. Not even Google.
The fucking 3G signal didn't cooperate during office hours. Or colleagues have a greater right to it because they were doing investigations. And I was multi-tasking.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. I could split long data into 255-characters long segments and spool into separate cells first, then concatenate them line by line using VB script. Sounds stupid and slow, but WHATEVER THAT WORKS!
Ok try out now! I struggled with the bloody syntax - it's similar to Excel macros but the summation button is the chimmest thing I can do on Excel >_< And it did work!!! Tried with lots of data, not slow also! Finally!!
Emboldened by my new bag of tricks, I threw in decoration for the headers. Just bold the header only lah. Something that wasn't mentioned in the specifications, but I knew the users would surely ask for.
Breezed through SIT by giving the files generated from UAT. Again, TL asked me to deploy to SIT, but I called it a waste of time. Attitude liao haha.
For UAT, I wanted to give the users the same files for them to verify, but they asked for the data from Production. Hey... that means I need to deploy to Production although we haven't passed UAT? Where got like that one? NO!! Block! Why was AiHiss supporting such a request anyway?
Actually, I was in favor of it lah, because I'm not so comfortable with the unconventional way the batch job was done. Testing with real-life data on the actual server will allow me to prevent failures upon rollout. We have been having issues for every release and I dread the day I'm responsible for one!
Also, the batch job would not affect anything else if deployed to production.
But the PM succumbed. O well... Now I had to deal with the DBA because I'm gonna mess with his server... and he didn't know SSIS as well as I did yet.
Surrrprise! Gargantuan volume of data for No Use Hospital, couldn't fit into 1 Excel worksheet at all! Each worksheet could only hold 216=65,536 rows but that was not even enough for 1 week's data.
See, never do impact analysis! How? Need to send out the files tonight already.
Don't care, I shall take the liberty to split into more Excel files. Got to do it manually since I needed time to figure out how to automate it. Actually, I'm not going to entrap myself by suggesting that. Splitting into different worksheets in the same file was a no-no too. Any form of splitting is bad! Probably shall propose increasing the job frequency or just spool into flat file (dream come true!).
Surrrprise #2! No other institution's data volume even came close. Only Took Their Savings Hospital might have a problem if they suddenly decide to increase their volume and of course they won't think they were obliged to warn us. How to convince them to accept my proposals above?
I don't know. The TL and PM can think about it. I'm going home, bye.
So in the end, No Use Hospital agreed to the flat file with the job frequency unchanged. because the user is savvy enough to import into his own database. But the rest of the pampered guys still wanted Excel, but job frequency increased to weekly.
Great, now I have more things to maintain!! ARGH!!! STAB ME PLS!!!
Since things were going to be kept within a single worksheet, we could merge all 3 files into 3 worksheets in a single file. Less clutter!
The batch job entered production officially. I had to manually generate April's files :( While doing so, I found that sometimes, the batch job simply refused to start, throwing some weird Excel error again. I found numerous Excel processes still running although there were no active applications. If I killed the processes, the batch job was back to normal. Odd... Shall see if it happened when it ran automatically.
Yeah... It happened. Luckily I anticipated it and was able to recover the files before the users found out XD
And so began the long and painful investigation and fixing. I swear I have .Close and .Quit each and every Excel object I created. Want to give up, but... :((
Can I just kill every Excel process I find?
Sure, if I'm quitting really soon, like, now!
As it I didn't have enough problems, my SQL Server Management Studio expired. Reinstalled, but now my Visual Studio Tools for Applications was unable to find my imports. Hey wtf, it was all ok just now! After fumbling through tonnes of websites and forums (many with why-are-you-asking-a-noob-question-pls-go-read-up kind of reply), I found that some system files have gone missing. No idea how it happened. Together with the DBA, we copied them from whereever they were found, to the GAC folder. And you can bet I have never heard of GAC till today.
The discovery - in the VB script, each time an Excel element is manipulated, an Excel process will be created. Each worksheet, row, column, blah blah, right down to the cell level. And they will linger until you release each them explicitly in the correct order.
OMFG why does something like this still exist?? 我要上吊!!
FINE. I FIX. *grumbles*
And the batch job was finally running successfully on its own.
But it's not the end of the saga yet.
Disk space in the server was running out fast with this new report! I never developed for archival - I thought of it, but usually not part of the batch job mah, and basic requirements not done yet, so this can wait! Aiyah zipping is also a temporary solution only. Users want them in the shared drive mah, so the only true solution is to increase storage. Out of my hands!
Monitoring guide not done yet. LATER!!
Coming up next, more problems.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Favorite Letter of the Year
It has to be the $$$ Bonus cum Increment $$$ letter!
2.9 months! Whee! Personal best!
No, don't talk to me about how much people working in banks get. Tsk.
Ya, back to the letter.
Increment of 6.5625%!
When there was no increment last year...
So, I can tell my boss about the bomb already, right?
Nah, I think I will tell her after I sign the consent... confirmed already then say. For what I know, I might chicken out of it?
2.9 months! Whee! Personal best!
No, don't talk to me about how much people working in banks get. Tsk.
Ya, back to the letter.
Increment of 6.5625%!
When there was no increment last year...
So, I can tell my boss about the bomb already, right?
Nah, I think I will tell her after I sign the consent... confirmed already then say. For what I know, I might chicken out of it?
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Sotong Captures the Lion Again
Due to the overwhelming response, SinkHell decided to offer discounted Lion King tickets again. Having missed it the last time round, N wanted to try for it this time. Yup, she didn't keep the tickets for herself quietly. Or she wasn't kiasu enough nor open enough about it to discuss strategies. Well anyway, I agreed to help her out. What to do, people always help me mah. 有 Sotong 在，confirm 拿到票!
The link to the booking site was to be released at 12 noon again, so we've gonna have a late lunch. I stood by with my laptop, ready to help herlaunch a DDoS attack perform the booking. This time, the link was sent on time. A National Cockup Schedules URL. On N's terminal, it was asking for OAID login, but on my laptop, it seemed to have automatically detected my identity and logged in as me. This would not do as I wasn't entitled to the show again. I didn't know how to logoff, so, sorry, couldn't help!
So, they have now upgraded the system by limiting it to staff! *Applause*
On her own terminal, N keyed in her credentials, but upon submitting, the system threw a cryptic error message. Retried, happened again. Could hear the others feeling confused too. No idea what the problem was. System didn't seem slow. Not ready? No idea :( PM was asking the TL if he knew the meaning, but he didn't.
I noticed the URL changing to a Sistic one for a split second before reverting to National Cockup Schedules upon submitting. Hmm. I tried to capture that Sistic URL by hitting Stop button and accessed the URL directly. Guess what, IT WORKED! N could now book her tickets. Everything was super smooth once we got past that stupid login screen!
Which brought me to the conclusion that Sistic must be very mad with us for causing slowness at their website the last time, so they made us put up this pseudo-login screen which was nothing but a... not even a load balancer ley, dunno what to call it, maybe Toto results generator lah, lucky can get in lor. So after you managed to access Sistic, everything was back to the usual Sistic workflow, where you needed a Sistic account at the end, without further verification of your identity. Dumb hor. What were they thinking?
After N has secured her booking, I broadcasted the trick to the people who I knew were trying, such as my PM. Too bad appraisal over already haha.
Don't mess with programmers! Even blur and lazy ones. Still good at useless things!
The link to the booking site was to be released at 12 noon again, so we've gonna have a late lunch. I stood by with my laptop, ready to help her
So, they have now upgraded the system by limiting it to staff! *Applause*
On her own terminal, N keyed in her credentials, but upon submitting, the system threw a cryptic error message. Retried, happened again. Could hear the others feeling confused too. No idea what the problem was. System didn't seem slow. Not ready? No idea :( PM was asking the TL if he knew the meaning, but he didn't.
I noticed the URL changing to a Sistic one for a split second before reverting to National Cockup Schedules upon submitting. Hmm. I tried to capture that Sistic URL by hitting Stop button and accessed the URL directly. Guess what, IT WORKED! N could now book her tickets. Everything was super smooth once we got past that stupid login screen!
Which brought me to the conclusion that Sistic must be very mad with us for causing slowness at their website the last time, so they made us put up this pseudo-login screen which was nothing but a... not even a load balancer ley, dunno what to call it, maybe Toto results generator lah, lucky can get in lor. So after you managed to access Sistic, everything was back to the usual Sistic workflow, where you needed a Sistic account at the end, without further verification of your identity. Dumb hor. What were they thinking?
After N has secured her booking, I broadcasted the trick to the people who I knew were trying, such as my PM. Too bad appraisal over already haha.
Don't mess with programmers! Even blur and lazy ones. Still good at useless things!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Saturday, June 04, 2011
Lion King - The Musical
I still couldn't believe how lucky I was to snag 3 tickets on a Saturday. Can sleep till whenever I wanted, go shopping, watch Lion King, get home late and still be in no hurry to sleep. Sadly, Brother had to work, so it's just Sister and me for the day programme.
Sister was thinking of eating Todai for lunchner (lunch + dinner), but I'm really not confident of eating buffets anymore :( 1.5hrs might not be enough for slow, adult eaters.
We dropped off at Suntec City. Wasn't really hungry, so lunch was just Soup Spoon's clam chowder (craving for MSG but stopping myself from eating ramen again) and some of Sister's doughnuts. Then we grabbed a cuppa from Joe & Dough, which was actually quite good. I think I'm outgrowing Starbucks and Coffee Bean already?
Window-shopped. Couldn't buy anything although it was GSS since I didn't know if I could still use it 4mths later...
Dinner was Thai Express at Esplanade because Sister had never tried it before. Don't ever eat at this outlet. The green curry laksa was way too salty. So salty that I couldn't bear drinking the soup and was actually straining it from the noodles. Bleah. Were they trying to cater to the tourists, which might have a higher proportion of people from country C? The tomyam seafood glass noodles' soup was souless. Plain sourish and spicy, no seafood taste. I didn't recall Bishan being that bad.
Run to MBS! Because Sister didn't realize that we had to enter 15min earlier and thought we still had a lot of time. Got to clear our bladders before the show, but the toilet was so so so full! Ran into Brother outside the toilet, what a coincidence!
Then we ran to the theatre. There, Sister parted from us as she had to go sit at the single seat at the Dress Circle. Brother carried me to our seats as it was all steps. The ushers made sure we settled down comfortably before leaving. A markedly better experience than the non-existent cinema ones. I'm not sure where the wheelchair-bound normally had to sit. Maybe special bay in front? But I didn't want to risk having to sit alone.
People streaming in slowly. Didn't see anybody familiar.
Ah neh couple in front of me! The smell was seriously strong XD As you can see, the woman's head was blocking my view :\
Before we could start, we had to bear with a speech from... forgot who.
And the show started! Impressive songs, music, dance and movement. It could get quite loud. Not suitable for babies. Everybody seemed to be engrossed in the musical, except for the lady next to me who seemed more interested in texting on her mobile. She left midway. Partying was probably more for her. Pity!
The view from my seat was surprisingly ok afterall, in spite of it being quite far back and off-centre.
I think I had watched too much motion pictures. Not able to catch very well the messages conveyed in a non-in-your-face way, such as in a stage setting. It took me quite a while to understand a particular scene was about lionesses hunting... and you might have guessed, it hit me only when the lionesses were happily mutilating the zebra. O... so that was what all the prancing was about...! It took me even longer to realize that the fat auntie with a huge board hanging on her ass was the baboon... S-L-O-W!
Intermission! Haha like so high-class hor, watching something with an intermission. Actually, I think it's just something to ensure the audience didn't get DVT.
Look at the crowd!
Look at the overpriced drinks! Toilet tap water for us then. Grr so thirsty after Thai Express!
I had seen the movie before, but I'm glad I had forgotten the story, thus enabling me to enjoy the musical in anticipation. Sure happy ending lah, but the process? The theatre burst into applause on curtains down. Wa cheapo SinkHell staff also can behave high-classly lor. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially when it cost only 20 bucks wahaha. It's amazing how many backgrounds can be accommodated on a single stage and the speed at it could be changed. How songs had to be perfect, acting had to be executed without NG. The cast did the same thing everyday, but considering how gymnasts can slip up during Olympics, *kowtow*
Now to get home. The taxi queue was being itself. Sent Sister to join the queue while Brother and I waited at the front. Observed how everybody would rather give the Chrysler a miss. In the end, an angmoh did. Rich tourist! I spotted a lady who had a makeover done by S. She looked like somebody who didn't need a makeover...
The guys managing the taxi queue gave us priority. Yay!
Sister was thinking of eating Todai for lunchner (lunch + dinner), but I'm really not confident of eating buffets anymore :( 1.5hrs might not be enough for slow, adult eaters.
We dropped off at Suntec City. Wasn't really hungry, so lunch was just Soup Spoon's clam chowder (craving for MSG but stopping myself from eating ramen again) and some of Sister's doughnuts. Then we grabbed a cuppa from Joe & Dough, which was actually quite good. I think I'm outgrowing Starbucks and Coffee Bean already?
Window-shopped. Couldn't buy anything although it was GSS since I didn't know if I could still use it 4mths later...
Dinner was Thai Express at Esplanade because Sister had never tried it before. Don't ever eat at this outlet. The green curry laksa was way too salty. So salty that I couldn't bear drinking the soup and was actually straining it from the noodles. Bleah. Were they trying to cater to the tourists, which might have a higher proportion of people from country C? The tomyam seafood glass noodles' soup was souless. Plain sourish and spicy, no seafood taste. I didn't recall Bishan being that bad.
Run to MBS! Because Sister didn't realize that we had to enter 15min earlier and thought we still had a lot of time. Got to clear our bladders before the show, but the toilet was so so so full! Ran into Brother outside the toilet, what a coincidence!
Then we ran to the theatre. There, Sister parted from us as she had to go sit at the single seat at the Dress Circle. Brother carried me to our seats as it was all steps. The ushers made sure we settled down comfortably before leaving. A markedly better experience than the non-existent cinema ones. I'm not sure where the wheelchair-bound normally had to sit. Maybe special bay in front? But I didn't want to risk having to sit alone.
People streaming in slowly. Didn't see anybody familiar.
And the show started! Impressive songs, music, dance and movement. It could get quite loud. Not suitable for babies. Everybody seemed to be engrossed in the musical, except for the lady next to me who seemed more interested in texting on her mobile. She left midway. Partying was probably more for her. Pity!
The view from my seat was surprisingly ok afterall, in spite of it being quite far back and off-centre.
I think I had watched too much motion pictures. Not able to catch very well the messages conveyed in a non-in-your-face way, such as in a stage setting. It took me quite a while to understand a particular scene was about lionesses hunting... and you might have guessed, it hit me only when the lionesses were happily mutilating the zebra. O... so that was what all the prancing was about...! It took me even longer to realize that the fat auntie with a huge board hanging on her ass was the baboon... S-L-O-W!
Intermission! Haha like so high-class hor, watching something with an intermission. Actually, I think it's just something to ensure the audience didn't get DVT.
I had seen the movie before, but I'm glad I had forgotten the story, thus enabling me to enjoy the musical in anticipation. Sure happy ending lah, but the process? The theatre burst into applause on curtains down. Wa cheapo SinkHell staff also can behave high-classly lor. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially when it cost only 20 bucks wahaha. It's amazing how many backgrounds can be accommodated on a single stage and the speed at it could be changed. How songs had to be perfect, acting had to be executed without NG. The cast did the same thing everyday, but considering how gymnasts can slip up during Olympics, *kowtow*
Now to get home. The taxi queue was being itself. Sent Sister to join the queue while Brother and I waited at the front. Observed how everybody would rather give the Chrysler a miss. In the end, an angmoh did. Rich tourist! I spotted a lady who had a makeover done by S. She looked like somebody who didn't need a makeover...
The guys managing the taxi queue gave us priority. Yay!
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Lion King, The Admin Nightmare
No thanks to the uncustomised Sistic website and creative but poor workers, I expected the people in charge of this Lion King promotion to have hell of a time. In a negative way, of course. I have no idea how they were going to verify the identities of each transaction. Let's see what they would do if he's a foreign particle, like my account, which actually bore my father's name. Fear not, tickets' in my hands already!
I was getting worried that the HR wouldn't accept country C's staff's name for the tickets. Better borrow another name... but WHO?
Eyes roaming the area...ah L! Why didn't I think of her sooner? She wasn't interested in Lion King and was willing to lend me her name. Yay! I will definitely pay you back when they dock your pay.
Parents were away in KL for the past weekend. When they returned, Father forwarded me a shock sms received on his phone - the HR had noticed that he wasn't a National Cockup Schedules staff, so if he didn't reply with his name and RO by 31st May, they would cancel the tickets.
Argh! Now then I know! Nononono I'll explain! Using my own phone, I replied the guy and volunteered the information about lending my father's account to another colleague. Please accept my explanation. And don't blur please. There must be a gazillion other cases like mine out there. *Crosses fingers*
Thankfully, he replied positively. *phew*
But it was still not the end. I think the poor guy was badly confused by the circus out there. He followed up with a couple of phone calls which I patiently (had to) explained the whole story. Yeah, my colleague didn't have a Sistic account mah, so I lent her mine lor. *teethy smile*
This should teach them to implement some sort of login procedure next time lah. Don't mess with employees, we get creative when it comes to non-work stuff!
I was getting worried that the HR wouldn't accept country C's staff's name for the tickets. Better borrow another name... but WHO?
Eyes roaming the area...ah L! Why didn't I think of her sooner? She wasn't interested in Lion King and was willing to lend me her name. Yay! I will definitely pay you back when they dock your pay.
Parents were away in KL for the past weekend. When they returned, Father forwarded me a shock sms received on his phone - the HR had noticed that he wasn't a National Cockup Schedules staff, so if he didn't reply with his name and RO by 31st May, they would cancel the tickets.
Argh! Now then I know! Nononono I'll explain! Using my own phone, I replied the guy and volunteered the information about lending my father's account to another colleague. Please accept my explanation. And don't blur please. There must be a gazillion other cases like mine out there. *Crosses fingers*
Thankfully, he replied positively. *phew*
But it was still not the end. I think the poor guy was badly confused by the circus out there. He followed up with a couple of phone calls which I patiently (had to) explained the whole story. Yeah, my colleague didn't have a Sistic account mah, so I lent her mine lor. *teethy smile*
This should teach them to implement some sort of login procedure next time lah. Don't mess with employees, we get creative when it comes to non-work stuff!
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