"river" has crossed the border!

It was with a sad heart I read that "River" over at Baghdad Burning (http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/) had come to the decision that she and family were going to leave the country. That was in April. Then there was silence. No updates, no nothing. I'd check every once in a while - nothing. Then today, my blogroll indicated a new post there! She and family are safe in Syria. Go read about the departure, the journey, and the arrival. I wish "River" and family all the best in their new life.

another headline

... so THIS caught my eye yesterday:
Shorter doctor hours don't affect U.S. deaths

Heh. First and foremost, this whole exercise in supposedly limiting residents to working "... no more than 80 hours a week, with limits on consecutive days worked and on-call duties plus requirements for rest periods between shifts..."? Absolute bullsh*t. Kosh has to put in way more hours than that, and it's understood that he has to under-declare (i.e. LIE!) his hours all the frikkin time. He's had weeks go by without a proper day off, and when he brought it up, was told to just deal with it. So all these reforms? Yeah right. Maybe resident physicians are being worked less hard than previously, but that doesn't mean they are being worked in accordance to these new limits!

Bleah.

DUH-worthy

Just the headline made me want to scream "DUH!"

Study: Rock stars more likely to die early.

DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH!

Did we really need a study to tell us that?? Do we really need to quantify a first-five-years risk for people who finally hit the big time? Did time and money really need to be spent on a subject like this???

Reminds me of this other study that had me pitching a fit earlier this year!

*sigh!*

a random encounter - better than the toilet tale!

so two days ago, I had just entered the neighborhood grocery store, and was studying the 99c mangoes when someone passed by me and seemed to say something to me. I looked up to see this tall elderly Indian man smiling down at me. I smile back friendlyly, wondering if this is one of the many people I've met at some of my Yoga group's gatherings, and hoping desperately I'm not expected to remember his name or anything... then he asks "Are you ... filipina? Or mexican? ...." I'm like crap, no I *don't* know this guy, do I? I smile a forced smile and laughingly reply "No, none of the above," and return my attention to the mangoes, only to hear him continue, in a tone that I can only describe as "amazed": "... but, you're so beautiful!" [ I KID YOU NOT!!! ] I'm getting a bit uncomfortable at this stage, and am readying to thank him for the compliment as I walk away, when he continued "... can I talk to you sometime?" I give a half chuckle and smile widely as I reply "Thank you, but no thanks," and to my relief he doesn't insist, and walks off or something. I continue with my shopping, every once in a while smiling and shaking my head in disbelief at that entire interaction.

Whaddaya think, better than the toilet tale, right? :-)

= = = =

:( Can't believe it's already been 10 years since Diana's death :-(

= = = =

On a much lighter note: thought I'd share this very blogworthy joke, received courtesy of my f-i-l about a month ago:

MY NEXT LIFE

In my next life, I want to live it backwards; here's why:

You start out dead and get that out of the way.

Then you wake up in a nursing home feeling better every day.

Then you get kicked out for being too healthy.

You enjoy your retirement and collect your pension.

Then when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day.

You work 40 years until you're too young to work.

You get ready for High School: drink alcohol, party, and you're generally promiscuous.

Then you go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, and you have no responsibilities.

Then you become a baby, and then...

You spend your last 9 months floating peacefully in luxury, in spa-like conditions - central heating, room service on tap, and then...

You finish off as an orgasm.

I rest my case.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

bits and pieces

we arrived safely back in Chicago Tuesday afternoon.

... came back to a pee-saturated rug - thanks, crazy cat!

spent the whole day yesterday pretty much just recovering from the whole trip(s)

... today did laundry and will be heading out for some grocery shopping.

will do a bit more updating of the past month in a few days.

... in the meantime - Happy 50th Birthday to Malaysia! MERDEKA.

So last night we went to do this early check-in, a fantastic service available at Zurich Airport provided for quite a few airlines & destinations. Kosh and I have our borading passes already, and will be unencumbered by anything except our carry-on backpacks most of the morning today if we were to head out to Zurich town one last time before heading to the airport. No chocolate-laden bags to cart around...., until we get to ORD lah, heehee!

Poor Kosh has been quite the zombie these past few days, what with having had loads of nights on call prior to the aborted flight last Thursday. But yes, he managed to finagle replacement/earlier flight (as opposed to the same flight 24 hrs later), arriving with enough time for freshening up and to mark by brother's birthday before we left for the family reunion/gathering thingy. omg, *i* hardly recognized anyone, musta been a major blur for Kosh, poor thing! The following day was lunch with my aunt & her hubby - of course, Swiss meals being very much like the French gastronomical experience, all in all lunch was from 12:30 till almost 5pm, LoL! So what if it involved a bit of driving higher up the side of the mountain to get a better view of the lake and its surrounding areas while putting up with surly service that barely gets compensated by the view :p The *next* day, Kosh & I made our way back to Zurich (bro had gone back the day before, had to work mah!), back to bro's apartment, then up to a nearby mountain/viewpoint. The view was of course magnificent, but it wasn't a clear day, so we could only see hints of the Alps in the distance. My bro & s-i-l prepared a special farewell dinner which we consumed voraciously *late* after we'd done the early check-in thingy.

So now, it's a matter of slowly waking up, saying our farewells to bro (work) and s-i-l (either language class, or doctor's b/c she's not feeling too well), and figuring out whether we be lazy and take a bus straight to the airport, or we put a bit more "tourist time" and head into town. After all, Kosh hadn't got to see much of anything apart from restaurants/fields/trains/trams/busses... :p But he *did* get a BigMac for lunch yesterday, LoL!

Anyways... catch up properly in a few days' time. Ciao!

cancelled?!

aaarrggghhh, Kosh's flight to Zurich has been cancelled... seems that there's really crappy weather out there forcing delays and cancellations... dunno how the airline is going to scramble and replace/make up for the cancellation... bummer, eh? :( was sooo lookin forward to his arrival today too! :(