Bangkok, Thailand
Friday 17th January 2025
The first cool month seems keeping me busy.
Bangkok today continues enjoying nice fresh air with 23 degree C early this morning. This kind of weather doesn't happen often though. We Bangkokians normally have to endure hot and very hot season all year round. However, since the past New Year holiday, Bangkokians and most people in other provinces have delightfully experienced cool or freezing air especially on the mountain tops in the North and Northeast. I saw from TV news that many campers and travelers flocked up there to view icy drew and to feel freezing air themselves. Good for them though I prefer just nice fresh breeze in my cozy and tiny apartment here in town. Besides, we are now facing the heavy PM2.5dusty air that presently returns to suffer people in Thailand, especially in Bangkok and vicinity and northern provinces.
When I look back since the new year arrived, my daily life hasn't come into its full pace yet in terms of my work. My work schedule still has some gaps to be filled up. That's not good for my mind and, of course, my bills. My mind tends to move too fast and in all un-necessary and not-so-positive directions when having too much free time. Yet, that free time is beneficial in some ways--that is for my mom and my cats.
When having more free time, I can visit my mom at her place more often and take her to see doctor for her hypertension treatment. A few months before the end of last year, I registered for Mom to get treatment at a clinic near her house instead of taking her to the major hospital far away from her place. Last week I took her to see the doc at this community clinic for the first time and we spent only two hours for the whole trip and meeting. This was much different when I had taken Mom to hospital.
Then I had to get up before dawn and catch taxi to pick up my mom at her place before heading to the hospital together very early in the morning. We needed to wait in long queue for hours for registration and then waited another long queue for more hours to get her blood examination and to see the doctor. Those processes usually finished in mid or late afternoon, while we had just 10-15 minutes talking with the doc. Later, we had to wait another long queue for prescribed medicine, for around one more hour, before I would take her home later. Yes, it often took me one whole day to take my mom to hospital each time. At the end of those hospital trip days, I almost had no energy left for dragging my feet back to my place.
As for my cats, within the first month of this new year, I took Miss Garlic my 9 years old black and white cat for treatment at the hospital 4 times already, and with two more appointments before this month ends. She has got chronic eye problem since she was a stray kitty and that causes her to receive continuous eye check-ups and treatment. Currently, she has got infectious cold and additionally developed allergy to dirt and cool air. My poor Garlic. Fortunately, my other cat 5 years old ticked tabby Siamzee is healthier. Different from Garlic, little Siamzee quickly recovered from a cold after 10 days of medication in last December. I thank for her strength and good health.
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| Garlic |
As I am recalling what I did over the past weeks, time seems flying fast. It's now almost 5 PM and Miss Garlic already left her corner, now staring at me quietly but clearly with the message "my meal" in her unspoken language. All right, I stare at her, returning her my message, also with no need of any words. We seem to understand each other well enough after almost ten years of living together.
Happy Friday everyone.
Gigi
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