Bangkok semi-Weekly....

Date: 7 May 2008, Wednesday
Time: 2:45pm after lunch... a very very big lunch...
Location: Client site, Rama III, Bangkok, Thailand

Phoa. Ate too much which is not so good in light of food poisoning. And low blood pressure.
Everyone's making jokes that it must be coz I miss the boyfriend. I actually do... But probably not enough to cause blood pressure to plummet...


Time: 10pm
Location: Italian restaurant on Soi 8
Feeling: hungry

Yes…. Decided that writing blog at work is possibly sub-optimal (I canNOT shake that word off. It keeps cropping up everywhere. In conversations about everything. It’s becoming annoying.) … Anyway.. .Picking up where I have left off…

Actually still not feeling well today. Have been feeling queasy – thought it was food poisoning but then yesterday my blood pressure (or at least that is what I think it was) plummeted when I got to work (after 12 hours of sleep!). I couldn’t keep my eyes open or stand properly really. I turned around and went home. Slept from 9am until 4pm and then again from 9pm till 7am. Feeling a bit better today but still not 100%. Maybe about 70%.... Plus I developed new symptoms like sore neck and headache. Which brings me to my next topic of today’s Bangkok semi-weekly…. Health care in Thailand…

So, somewhat concerned about the flight back to Australia tomorrow (my symptoms tend to amplify when I fly), I went for a check up. Went after work and after Thai lesson – so around 9pm. Just turned up at the hospital at 9pm and said I wasn’t feeling well. Immediately had blood pressure measured and then immediately went to see doctor who asked a bunch of questions and prodded me with instruments for a bit and then sent me down for an EKG down at the ER – just to make sure all was ok. How impressive is that? I’m impressed. I’ve never had an EKG before. And the whole thing cost me about $A40-50 (not even me really as it’s probably one for travel insurance). And the total includes meds he gave me (nothing fancy but I will get to those in a second…. Actually I wont’… I’d rather skip the diagnosis and say that there appeared to be no physical reason for my symptoms. Well… I may as well elaborate – he started asking about my personal life and work (which I said were “as per usual”) and then ended up prescribing me valium… !! What the…! Valium???! Do I look stressed? I can’t stop having naps. I have trouble staying awake. Anyway. Aside from unimpressive diagnosis, everything was great. His English though wasn’t sufficiently good for me to debate the finer points of what he was suggesting. My medical certificate currently says “anxiety, depression and chest discomfort” – what the hell is that good for?!?!

Anyway he called it as he saw it, I suppose….

Anyway… Flying back tomorrow.. Will spend the day in Syd – see IT people, HR people and my mentor. And maybe even have my appraisal delivered (eewwww – I will try to see if I can dodge that one. All it’s likely to produce is increased bitterness and raised blood pressure (which I admittedly could use…)).

Bangkok Weekly - 5th May, 2008

Time: 11:45am
Day: Monday
Location: My apartment on Sukhumvit Soi 8, Bangkok
Feeling: nauseous (no idea...), a bit down, somewhat confused, a quite a bit stressed

Let me expound on those a bit, tackling them one at a time:

Nauseous: appears to be some kind of motion sickness. It's possible that it is my body saying 'please, no more wine and cheese'. Of course, it's also possible that my body is confused due to it getting exercised for the first time in weeks. Could be a combination. Whatever the case, I'm trying to avoid moving my head.

A bit down: Work. I think I need to think about changing my job... Just gotta find a way of dealing with bus school fees...

Somewhat confused: Buzz left yesterday to go back to Melbourne. I don't think he is coming to London. That is the impression I get from the way he talks about work and stuff. He randomly mentions coming to London but I remain unconvinced. He is trying to get a promotion at work. He loves his job I think. Also, he has inertia in general, I think. It was a challenge just to get him to come for a visit in Thailand (and also took a really long time). I cannot imagine him actually making a move to London... I also don't know how it would work. We seem to have a lot of trouble living together. I resent spending so much time cleaning up. He resents that I just can't live with mess. He thinks I'm a snob. I think he is a slob. He doesn't like it when I'm right. I tend to be right a lot. Probably because I'm a realist (not that that's a good thing - they give me drugs for that). So yes, to summarise I have no idea what is happening or going to happen. To make it worse, I'm not sure what I want to happen. I think he is more or less the same. So we've been jointly ignoring the issue.

Stressed: A lot to organise for London. There's also the uncertainty around the office transfer. It could be that I end up god-knows-where before I know it... Meanwhile, I've done nothing - have no tickets, no visa, no research, no essays, no loan, no packing, no preparation, NOTHING. Have big plans for today in terms of getting organised and stuff. (It's a public holiday in Thailand).

So yes - quick snapshot of my life.