Monday, November 05, 2007

flu, fall and all

So I've got the flu. Sort of knew it was coming, given it's the flu season, plus I haven't been taking care of myself given work commitments and all.

Woke up this morning, (quite early) with flu symptoms at it's best, a pounding headache, sore throat, congestion - the works. Unable to crawl off my bed, reached for the blackberry send a short note to my admin, am not going to make to work today.

Lay in bed thru noon. Feeling (slightly) better, dragged myself to the washroom, brushed & washed up, threw on my rob for some warmth, made some coffee, switched on some light music, walked over to my bedroom window, pulled aside the curtains for some sunlight and view.

The sun was bright, skies were quite blue, beautiful fall breeze, fall colours on trees, grass so very green - almost a perfect fall day. It sort of hit me then, that given my daily rush for the bus or train to work, the many (similar) pretty days I've missed over the past several days & weeks - and now, I had almost missed the fall colours, the beautiful sky and sunlight, and everything else, which makes days quite beautiful & worth looking forward to and life, that extra more pleasant.

Never thought I'd say this - am kinda glad, I've got the flu, at least I've got a chance to see daylight, nature's colours and appreciate simple things in life which matter.

A few casual pics from my bedroom window.



35 comments:

Al Sinjab said...

Hope you feel better soon dude :)

Anonymous said...

Roshy.. get tested for HIV please!
LOL

rosh said...

Thanks Sinjab - would you recommend, I rent "Lagaan" to feel better :)

IYM - you know I won't ever have that.....but I was hoping you'd throw in a free prescription for the flu :)

Am going to my doc's this afternoon, too weak to drive now, what I wouldn't give to be with my mom, her home cooking, her medications and all that TLC.

Anonymous said...

Hey Roshy.. I was just teasing you.. :)
Advil 400 mg orally every 8 Hours + Claritine 10 mg orally once a day should do for now. If you have a very high fever then add Antibiotics: Zithromax 500 mg orally once a day for 3 days.
Feel well soon :)

Anonymous said...

Hope you feel better Rosh.
its flu season here in Jeddah too.. I got it once I came back from Italy.. and its getting worse.. I might think of what IYM suggestion The Z pack.. it usually does the trick if I get too sick.

rosh said...

IYM, it's pleasant to hear you talk like that, all super confident & certain - many shukrans for the prescription doc :)

Jovial - yup, it sucks man, the whole flu. It's like I have no control over my body. Anyhoooo I am back at work, my boss feels, the firm shall end up in bankruptcy if I take off a few more days from work. Wish he showed that amount of confidence in my paycheck hahahaha :) OK, I shouldn't complain, he does treat me quite well.

Keep well Jovial, regards to KSA.

Anonymous said...

:)
:)
:)
:)

BuJ said...

Lovely pictures, especially of the Audi!

Hope you feel better amigo.. remember sipping the orange juice helps.. not the crap stuff, but the fresh squeeze.

IYM... 3eib to tease him about the hiv.. wallah haram!

BuJ said...

Obviously no doctor-patient confidentiality with this prescription! pffffft!

Anonymous said...

What confidentiality BuJ ? It's just cold medications.. it's not like I'm prescribing Viagra or something..

rosh said...

Shukrans BuJ - there is no Audi, though?

Well with IYM, I know we can trust her abilities, the woman does it with a passion.

Hang on, do people need a prescription for viagra? Not that I am interested or anything - just assumed it's an over the counter thingy? A colleague (who moved from the UK to NY about 3 months back) - often, tells me one hardly sees an advert in the media for medical products in the EU or UK, is this true? Here in North America all sorts of medical products are advertised sort of in your face 24/7.

BuJ said...

lol you don't need confidentiality when ordering Viagra! I guess you don't know guys.. we like to brag about these things.. lolll

yeah right.

glad you mentioned that it's a cold ya IYM not a flu.. so many ppl confuse the two.. and use flu coz it sounds more serious.

lol ya Rosh.. about the way you mention the blue pill.. i think the day we actually need this drug we won't be talking about it like this.. either we'll deny we use it or we'll talk about it the way we talk about salad dressing :)

Al Sinjab said...

Forget Lagaan - I'm recommending "Om Shanti Om" to help you feel better again. It's cricketless, it's a return to classic Bollywood, and has "happies ending." Just the thing for the flu! (It does poke fun at Hrithik mind you!)

Anonymous said...

;) 'Manly' conversation again..
I withdraw myself.. red cheeks; red cheeks ..

BuJ said...

lol nothing manly being discussed here.. bil3aks.. it's all jokey kinda talk :)

will make it more neutral for our doc!

BuJ said...

i wonder where Rosh is. must be talking to his new dubai-gf :P

rosh said...

Howdgya know about my friend in UAE? See now am convinced you are A'jad :)

BuJ said...

when a very chatty man goes all silent, it means he's upto something. and usually it's personal. :)

rosh said...

"Chatty man" - what's that some sorta new metrosexual term?

Nope wallah, nothing of that sort.....just dealing with some issues, need sometime for self, that's all :)

Anonymous said...

What you mean “manly conversations“????? And I thought that men take these special drugs primarily to give women a better time? (Not that I would know from personal experience, of course!)
In other words, a health risk for female pleasure!

Rosh, it is a prescription drug, but in the developing world (e.g. UAE) you can get it over the counter – of course the poor driver will need to do the job!

BuJ, I guess it will me more like “the way we talk about salad dressing :)” and what makes you think that it is a question of the future? What if you will have this demanding girlfriend that wants it five times per 24 hours??? They exist, just that you will be aware of this! :P - :- ))) So there will be two options, opt for Cialis or equivalent or loose this untamable tigress.

BuJ said...

nothing metro ya rosh.. just ur a very open and warm guy. yalla.. as long as ur happy that the first and only thing.

as for you dear seven summits.. ur a devil's advocate! i would probably sacrifice a bit of my health for the persuit of happiness but only for a short time then there is no negotiation.. and yes i know such females exist, but they are of the @look but don't touch@ category.. and touch can include talking as well.. i am just not interested to be honest.

rosh said...

7S - in Germany and EU do you have medical products advertised, similar to in the North America?

Anonymous said...

I don't think men use Viagra to please a girl.. it's all about proving they're good enough or 'manly' enough.. ego business again..
Girls don't need much to be pleased; a warm touch..attention and soft words will do. They don't need a 2-meter snake with a single eye to be fed.. it will just scare the hill out of her !

Al Sinjab said...

Maybe it's just because I'll never find myself in the situation of needing viagra, but is there anything wrong with having your cake and eating it too? I can understanding wanting to keep the bedsheets warm in old age. It's kind of romantic to think of two old folks still sharing that bond.

Anonymous said...

Ha, I am just having my breakfast and oh ... blush! What happened here?
Rosh, let me start with you to cool down: Yes, medical products are advertised in all types of media, however general consumption of meds is much less than in the States. As you could already tell from Nick’s response, people have a strong tendency to look for healthy homeopathic alternatives. I noticed the antibiotic thing and to me that always reminds me of a typical “third world” prescripition.  For a German doctor to precribe antibiotics you would have to be half dead – no on a serious note “for a common cold” – never! Last time I got some antibiotics was for a bacterial pneumonia (souvenir of my work!) For flu we have vaccinations for little kids and very senior citizens (75plus), everybody else will live through it. The only meds I have in my house are in my med kit, which I use for my missions and when I go mountaineering of course. The contents is pretty deadly (obviously for emergency situations, with no medical personel within reach for days), so my doctor takes care of the content on a regular basis, since it obviously varies according to the regions that I will go to. Apart from that I only have something against migraine (especially on very long flights) and that drug is only available in the States and ouch illegal to take to Kuwait. (no clue about the UAE) to be cont.

Anonymous said...

Now to the rest of you …
BuJ – hmmmm – me “shaytan/shaytana” ??? Never!!!
Now wait a second …. You cannot tell how much sex a female requires from just looking at her! Looks may be very deceiving and we have a saying in German, which will translate into “Still waters run deep” – so maybe the shy girl in the shadow may just be needing a lot of what you do not expect and the flashy vamp might be satisfied with a once a week encounter. You can never, never tell!!!– that is, why in my opinion, it is so important that two people will match in this respect. (Without sacrificing your health! :- )))) ) And just because she wants it five times from you, doesn’t mean that she will ever want it from someone else – maybe it is simply love and her need for lots of intimacy from you?!

IYM – heeeelp – what type of men did you meet? We urgently need to correct this picture, please! OK, fine there are some selfish bastards hanging around – we are all aware of this, but in general the biggest pleasure for a man is a satisfied woman. [and BTW that is her right in Islam, not so? Well for both – I suppose?! Didn’t I read a story about Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) allowing a woman to divorce, because her husband did not satisfy her???]

This is true for every culture as far as I know! I worked with men in very remote African villages in respect to female genital mutilation (FGM) (it was a Public Health Project) and it was very interesting to find out that these horrible traditions are only kept alive by women, while men after sometimes marrying further wives that were not circumcised found out that “it is just a lot more fun with a woman that is having feelings and enjoying sex”. Do you have any idea about how insecure most men are in respect to their sexuality? Everywhere!!??? From Latin America to Asia! I always feel like “Sex Wikipedia” when I work, because somehow to many of these guys out there, I am the first and only person that they dare to ask all those taboo questions. “My wife does this or that, what am I doing wrong, etc.” You should make an experiment and just give a book about the female anatomy to a group of men somewhere on this earth, where they do not have access to this type of information. (e.g. remote areas in Saudi Arabia or Burkina Faso) They will devour the information, in fact there will be nothing left of your book when you come back – that is how interesting it is to them. You really think that they do not care?

And now the other way around – some women may be satisfied with only a little cuddling. (BTW so are my two cats – not my dogs though – they want some rough outdoor fun) In general, I suppose that everyone would like attention, apreciation, a loving touch and gentle words – male and female. But most women want a little more and the older they get the more they want! (At least until 50 or somewhere about that …) Well at least in the West – don’t know about those with 5 kids or more – really no idea! Why do you think that an almost equal amount of women cheat and why is there a thriving female sex tourism? What about those “toy boys” and male sex workers? Shops and catalogues full of vibrators and with an increasing market share, if nobody is using these items, than who is buying them? Ah yes and why are they usually XXL? Why are there Lebanese, Egyptian, etc. men available for bored Saudi women in Ryiadh at a certain meeting point?

Conclusion: The best way of making sure that your hubby/boyfriend will cheat on you, is by not showing him how much you want him physically. Maybe he will endure that for some years, but when he finds a woman that is dying to be with him, there he goes … Unfortunately – men need to be appeciated and they like to see (or hear!!!) the proof that they are good!

Al sinjab – no Viagra for women yet – ehhh :-) You know that sometimes, it does not even have somethng to do with age. Stress, smoking, alcohol, fear of failure, etc. can cause even young man to have ED and that is where such pills will really help – a loving old couple will probably take things according to their physical ability (but it is odd to imagine, I know!) and besides there is so much more to having mutual fun. Not so? :-)

Anonymous said...

Nothing is wrong with sharing a warm bed Al Sinjab.. my point was not to over-emphasize the physical part of it on the expense of emotional bondage..
Interested myself in becoming a sex-therapist one day; I find that both aspects are vital: body and mind alike !
BTW, Viagra works well for women as well !

rosh said...

OOOOO debate about healthy sex practices eh! Thanks for all that quite insightful views 7S - very knowledgeable!

If I may add my two fils - I (strongly) feel, an aspect of getting it on with someone, has become more like a trip to the "loo" today, than, what a physical act of this nature should be i.e. too many people get physical for the fun of it, more lik "fast food" relief for sexual appetite.

Promiscuity (both men & women) exits in much larger scale, and I do believe in a way Viagra's and Cialis's add to that promiscuous growth.

I am an old fashioned guy (just born in the wrong decade) and do believe there is more to being with someone (and that includes keeping a warm bed) minus the need for Viagra/Cialis, for the most part. I've always believed, sincere physicality is more to do with meeting of minds, and that includes mutual respect/understanding between partners - most else, perhaps is just that 'fast food" appetite.

In NYC, amongst the hundreds of folks I know, a few practice absenteeism from sex, until they meet the right partner. Most amongst the others, get physical with multiple partners during the year (and in a few instances within a few weeks!). Sex has become undervalued today - it's become McDonald's and Viagra perhaps is the cherry on top it all :)

There, that's my two cents :)

Anonymous said...

Rosh, lots of OOOOOO - hmmm???

You know that I am extremely conservative as well and I totally agree with what you said about the casual playground scene. Viagra (and Co) may just be another input variable, just like all those other weird things that folks like us learn about on CSI and Law and Order SVU. Sometimes I just shake head in astonishment and only after further investigation find out that these things are real facts - makes me want to move to another planet. This will also explain why the highest consumption of those blue pills can be found in the 30something age range – somewhat strange isn’t it?
Of course it will add to promiscuity, because if women are getting their share of fun out of this “friends with extras” deal as well, it will obviously flourish. (after all it takes two to tango :-) )

I really believed in this waiting for the right partner thing as well – honestly – until I was 25! (lots of extreme sports for compensation) –only to figure out “what the hell am I waiting for, it is obviously not in my roadmap to settle down and get married!
So basically that was enough “effort” to stay on a righteous path – everything else would have been unhealthy!

Now, I often wondered what would I teach my kids, if I had some? Not an easy answer at all and if you look at the divorce rate of all those people that got married way too young only to have legitimate sex (and to find out that they do not match!) I honestly would not know. Even worse, what if I had a daughter? Probably employ 5 bodyguards 24/7 to keep all those suckers out there away from her, but wouldn’t that result in the above stated very naïve approach to life (and a huge disappointment thereafter????!) The daughter of an Emirati friend of mine told me that she is just getting married to have sex and will divorce the dude (a cousin) ASAP – ok she is 24, so I do not blame her for this attitude at all – but why on earth will society force her to go through with all this nonsense in the first place.

Of course there are all those inner values that we talked about before, but then it is called “friendship” not “intimate relationship”. Excellent intimacy grows with time and cannot even be compared to with those fast food stunts, but remember that it is after all those “natural instincts” that bond people together. If this does not work perfectly, the relationship never will! So 5 times a day in a fresh relationship may end up in a 5 times per months issue after the initial thing has cooled down, but what if that “fire” is not even there from the beginning? (not the fast food thing – the 5 star gourmet meal?”) And after all to find that special person it not so easy after all, because I would say that maybe out of 1000 potential partners, there will be only one where the physical and emotional part is working out for both of them.

Keep a warm bed??? I heard that couples in the UAE do not share a bedroom together (?????), so how will that bed me kept warm. Of course this is also the case in the majority of countries that I work in, so what will happen to the cuddling part? Five minutes on Thursday night? Now, if my two cats would go on strike, if confronted with that situation.

Al Sinjab said...

hehehe, one little comment about viagra and the conversation turns from the flu into the Sunday Night Sex Show! ;)

lol 7S, forget body guards for your daughter, I'd go all out with a chastity belt. With the ridiculous things men will do, I think it's the only way to make sure she's safe. Either that or a good brain :)

Al Sinjab said...

Nope, I've thought about it and a good brain isn't always enough. Better invest in the chastity belt I think.

rosh said...

Chastity belt hahahahaha!!Are we, back in the medival ages again :)

Anonymous said...

Ha, ha, :-) LOL !!! Al Sinjab, you are quite correct that even the smartest brain will not be sufficient in today’s world. I believe that things were still much easier two decades ago when I had my “party years”. At least we had a solid double standard code roaming around – that clearly said “respect the innocent girls and mess around elsewhere”. Today, as far as my knowledge goes “moral values” don’t get this respect any more and that makes the situation even more difficult.

The closest I got to the “15 to 25 age group world” was when I used to work as a skiing instructor in my university breaks in Austria (and did my voluntary mountain rescue service) – wow – now that is a promiscuous partying scene. You would not believe how many young girls I collected out of the nightclubs and dropped them home to their parents, after they have been exposed either voluntary or sometimes involuntary to alcohol or drugs. (just a tiny solution in your Coke will get you into serious trouble and guys will unfortunately go to any length nowadays) I often wondered about those parents though!

However, I honestly don’t believe in locking anyone up and those few years of nightclubbing, music, dancing, fashion and fun are a must for anyone (and nightclubbing does not mean alcohol consumption!!!– I never drank any alcohol in my life (only in self test at home or above 2500 m), because that period is an important part of your life. A very important part actually! I have some colleagues that obviously missed out on that phase – they were reading books instead -*yawn* – and wow you can really tell, when you observe their intolerant social behavior. When I read what our princess has to say it reminds me how we used to be (trying anything to be cool – I don’t know if the term YUPPY still means something to you? A platinum AMEXCO card was the status symbol to have in those days!) and therefore I understand her totally and am fully aware that all those extravagances will disappear in the next decade.

Back to the daughter that I don’t have yet! Puuuh – that would really be a headache and I wouldn’t know what to do – thank God there will be at least 15 years to figure it out…. Most likely lots of love and understanding at home will solve a few things, but still if she would have those moral values that I would like to see, she would also have to go through a lot of pain. No “just holding hands boyfriends anymore”, meaning for her to always be alone, without love and maybe getting married with some ultra conservative dude for all the wrong reasons – is that what I would really want???? Rosh how about you? You have seen the life in NY and how are those folks trying to stay away from this, coping with it? Seriously???? You have seen teenage gang banging or drugs nightmares – what can one do to prevent a child from getting into these issues? Of course – I believe that I would do everything much better :- )))) – but if I look at others that have failed without any visible reasons, I find it sort of scary. As if excessive school fees will not already be enough to keep you from having children!

al-republican said...

I just revisited this thread and I just can't help laughing over this comment by IYM:

"They don't need a 2-meter snake with a single eye to be fed.. it will just scare the hill out of her !"

Hahaha!! Haven't laughed like this in a while :))

al-republican said...

It really freaks out all of us to have a daughter, doesn't it? As males, we know how filthy men can be and how easy it is for our daughters to end up becoming prey to such an animal. I am glad that people still have these ethics! Thank God!

I don't know about chastity belts, but there is a lot that needs to be done by mother especially. They need to have a very close relationship with their daughters (more towards friendship) so that their daughters can confide in them. This way she will discuss all her issues with her mother rather than asking around from kids who wouldn't know much better than herself.

This should be coupled with inculcating BOTH girls and boys with the fear of God and inculcating them with the principle of abstinence rather than "safe sex" as is being promoted by some societies. We as parents should also realize that our kids need to get married early and there is absolutely nothing wrong in marrying children off to someone they like.

There is no point in delaying their marriages and we should encourage it actually. I will put my neck in the guillotine and even say that I am more orthodox than any of you here and would recommend a complete overhauling of how society is these days.

7S, I actually have witnessed the opposite. I think people who go clubbing turn out more twisted after marriage. Somehow all of them promise to leave their past behind and "grow up", but getting rid of these habits are easier said than done. Although it is heartening to see that at least they admit that they are wrong!