Tidbits

The FLU

I was pretty badly knocked out by the flu last week. It took me 5 days to recover but I managed to do it without antibiotics. Also, I had to come to work on the last two days of my flu bout because of very urgent work items.

So urgent that my colleagues had to apologetically call me up and 'requested' me to check my mails and attend meetings and telecons because they're in a schedule crunch at that time.

Going back to my flu, Tuesday night was the worst. I was having very severe chills and body pains to the point of deliriousness. Gawd, I thought I was going to die that night.

And I lost 3 pounds. No exercise, 4 days of liquid+juice+gatorade diet, and 14+ hours of sleep per day. I've been absent from the gym for more than two weeks now, so I'm back to square one on my program.

But I learned some new tidbits regarding the flu:

1) You cannot take flu and cold medicine for more than 5 days. These meds have a high strain on the liver, and it can lead to liver damage.
2) You cannot have alcohol if you're frequently on paracetamol and ibuprofen. San Mig Light + Biogesic = liver damage.
3) Colds can cause symptoms of sore throat IF your nose is blocked. The mucus secretions for your colds have nowhere to go, hence they drip down to your throat (gross!). If you're on cold medicine for 5 days already, you can't take any cold meds further.
4) My doc recommended that I go to a sauna to unclog my nose. Hahaha. But having a nebulizer or looking over a pot of boiling water will have the same effect.


WEDDINGS

I attended Normann and Jenny's wedding two weekends ago. It's the biggest and most posh I've attended so far. Guest list is over 800 people! Congratulations Normann and Jenny.

Only a handful of the college friends were invited, so I'm pretty flattered when Normann called me up weeks earlier for his wedding. He even had my invitation delivered to me.

Back in college, Normann is one of the few guys who weren't bashful in asking for my help for reviewing in exams and going over their projects and thesis papers. I've always declined his (and his parents) offers of monetary compensation for my time. To show his gratitude (despite my protests), he'd usually take me to various country clubs and road trips (like the 'day-trip' to Baguio Country Club).

Pin's wedding is coming up next month. Advanced greetings, Pin!


OVER CUPS OF COFFEE

Ube was in town last week, and we had a long chat at Starbucks Batangas. Initially she was hoping for a scrabble game but we couldn't find two other players to play with. Anyway, it was really nice chatting with someone about anything in general who is not from my workplace.

We talked about my friends and her friends, and discussed in length about MJ. Hahaha. We also talked about when will my next trip to Cebu be (probably Sinulog?) and when will be her next time in Manila.

Last Saturday night, Chie joined me, Tin, Buddy, Chard and MJ for coffee at Starbucks Fort. Haven't seen Rhichie in a long time. All of us were perspiring heavily that night from all the laughing at Rhichie's remarks (mostly on MJ, haha). Too bad he had to leave at midnight because he's got a party to go to.

Chard was with Kat by the way. She's the latest addition to our group.

Oh, and according to them (a private joke that night), apparently a couple of gays were checking me and Rhichie out that night. Ngak.


XBOX-ing

Last night, I played online on XBOX Live (Splinter Cell Double Agent). I was simply awed with what Microsoft was able to do for the XBOX360.

I played about a 5 games last night. Hehehe... I teamed up with a guy from Korea and a girl from Australia. We went against 2 French guys and a German gamer.

We won 4 out of 5 games, haahahaha. Asians rule!

It's a good thing I got the headset for my XBOX last weekend. It was pretty intense gaming with me issuing out the orders to my squad, and them reverting back on what they're doing.

Later tonight I'm hosting the connections for some Pinoy XBOX gamers. Apparently I have one of the faster connections available.