discovery about the viruses that caused the common colds

Today Dr Patricia Turner of the University of Maryland was interviewed on ABC about the discovery of the virus strains and which could lead to producing  effective medications in combating the problems faced by common cold sufferers. She said it might take 10 years for studies to be completed before medications could be manufactured. I sincerely hope something great will really come out of these researches.

As you know when we  suffer the common cold, we would not be prescribed with any medications by the doctors because they say that no medications can get rid of the viruses of the common colds. So you just suffer through for 3 to 4 days until your bodies are strong enough to fight the viruses. No antibiotics can do anything to the viruses.

I pray that God Will show the scientists the way to many more breakthroughs in our efforts to fight the common colds.

This was the car owned by my grandfather, Tok Muda Ibrahim bin Kesah, after the japanese occupation. I remember riding in the car driven by my grandfather in 1947 when we went to visit my eldest uncle, Datuk Abdullah bin Ibrahim, in Tapah. My uncle was working as an assisstant District officer in Tapah, Perak.

My Grandfather drove the car. My grandmother also came along, so also was my eldest cousin, Ismail. We travelled via the winding roads from Temerloh to Kuala Lumpur and then to Tapah. I cannot remember details of the journey, but I remember feeling so happy to be in the car which was brand new from the United Kingdom.

This car lasted for many years. My grandfather never changed his car. He used it until the cushions were all torn more or less in shreds. It was the only car in the whole village for a long time and one of the few cars in the whole town. The color was black. If you could see the front door knob was in the front of the door, so when you open the door, it would be very easy to slide in  to sit on the front seats. The plate number of the car was C995.

 Going about all over the country in the car were some of the happiest memories of my life. Those were the days.

One enterprising lady

Recently I got into talking with one lady of 65 years old. She was a very smart looking lady with stylish spectacles and a big handbag and pretty shoes and she had a very commanding voice. She was sitting next to me while we were both waiting for our medications at the dispensary of the hospital. Her first question was "are you a pensioner or are you still working?". That was one very diplomatic question which put me at ease immediately. She too admitted that she was a pensioner who used to work in the broadcasting services. No wonder her public image was good.

Before I could answer  her question as to what I was doing with my retirement time, she started telling me what she was doing with her time. I would have guessed that she would be doing some charity work of sort. I did not expect to hear what she said she was doing.

She works full time as a personal driver to a grand daughter of a couple who are both doctors. The grand daughter is just attending pre school at one Chinese school.  Besides driver the girl she also drives the couple to wherever they want to go outside of their office. She wakes up early morning to get ready early to avoid being late as well as the traffic jam. In the afternoon too she waits early for the girl. She works 5 days a week and sometimes on weekends she would drive the grand parents to shopping malls or wherever the destinations of their private visits. Its hard work she said, because she has to be alert and healthy. She only has one or two days of the weekends to do her own things.

During the school holidays she would go on holiday with her Buddhist society. Her last holiday was to India and Thailand and she was caught at the airport  in Bangkok when the protesters took over the airport. They were temporarily put at a hotel and left Thailand on an army flight in a hurry at a very short notice. She and her group really had an adventure of their life!

She was collecting a big bundle of medications from the pharmacy. She told me she had high cholesterol, high sugar level and high uric acid. She too had to take aspirins daily for her heart protection. 

What I admire about this lady is that with all her problems  she just does not just sit at home but work at something different from what she used to do. She was not asking anybody for help. She agreed to work because of a response to a need. Someone needs a lady to drive a small girl around for the sake of ensured security. In the process they developed a bonding and she feels like a member of the family. Someone else in her position would just sit at home nursing the unwellness of self. I like her spirit and her attitude towards life. Thats the way to live.