40 Degrees

I had fever shock (and dengue scare) for the past five days, and just returned to work today.
Why "fever shock"? Because the fever subsided and just when I thought I was well again, it came back at full force, worse than before.

I am still in the recovering state now, no longer feverish, but am not taking any chances. I shall have to be more careful about what I eat, don't drive myself too hard, drink lots of water and have ample rest.

Last Wednesday:
I woke up with a bit of a sore throat, feeling a slight headache, but I went to work and even a game of badminton after work.On hindsight, I should have just gone home after work. I don't know if that
escalated the fever, but it certainly is silly to exercise when you are sick. After the game, I was pretty sick, and after I got home and bathed, I took panadol and slept early, hoping the fever would go away.

Last Thursday:
It was my off day, and I stayed at home because I was not feeling well. I took my temperature. 37.6 degrees, but luckily it's not too high. By evening time, my temperature went up to 37.9 degrees, my head felt heavy and horrible. I cancelled an original appointment to meet a renovator, and went to see the doctor who gave me medicine for viral fever and medical leave for the next day.

Last Friday:
I woke up still with a slight fever. I took medicine and by noon, my temperature had gone down to 37.2 degrees, almost normal! Great. I am looking forward to the weekend to meet the renovators, shop for furniture, try my wedding gown etc. But by 3pm, I could feel something is not right. My temperature kept going up, from 38 all the way to 39.7! My father took me to the doctor again. This time, he took my temperature, and gosh! It's 40 degrees! He asked me if I wanted to do a blood test there (results will only be known by Sunday) or go to A&E. He suspected dengue because of the high temperature. But because I do not have rashes or other symptoms, he felt it should only be viral
fever and gave me a stronger medication to try. He said if my temperature did not drop by next morning, I would have to go to the hospital straight away. I was quite worried, so were my parents and sister. Once I got home, they quickly placed cold towels on my forehead and changed them every few minutes all the way till midnight. Finally my temperature dropped to 37.5 degrees. And everyone went to sleep, tired but relieved.

Last Saturday:
I still feel a bit weak (and cancelled my appointment with the bridal studio) but other than that, everything seemed okie, I stayed at home for the most part of the day to recuperate.

Yesterday:
I went out to meet renovators, the weather was very hot. Just before I went to sleep, I started to feel a bit unwell. I woke up at 1am because it was too hot. I quickly drank water and took my temperature. 38.6. Oh dear! I then took medicine and went back to sleep, hopefully everything will be fine.

Today:
Oh yes, the fever is gone (please don't come back again!). I hope I get well soon.

Low EQ photographer

This is the worst day I have had since I started wedding preparations.

The person who got me so angry is none other than the wedding photographer, with the super low EQ. I wanted to to tell all brides-to-be not to engage him, but I guess some people may have an amazing level of tolerance to deal with someone with such low EQ. I will caution my friends though.

It is going to be a rather long story, but such a maddening day certainly deserves some record.

It's been a long time since I was so pissed off with someone, and I hate to use the P word, but no other word seemed to be able to describe how I feel.

I had made arrangements to collect my house keys tonight, and meet the photographer to collect ROM photos on Friday night. My weekends are already packed with other arrangements.

This morning, the housing agent informed that she had made a mistake while arranging for the handover date. It turned out that the handover was on Friday, not Thursday.

This meant that photographs collection had to be either shifted forward to Thursday, or be postponed to next week.

I reckon it would be too rushed to change the appointment last minute, but I still smsed the photographer to give it a try. He could not make it.

I then asked if we were to stick to the original plan (Friday), could we change the meeting place from Cityhall to Paya Lebar or Marine Parade (which is nearer to Xiangrong's workplace)?
His reply was, "I will not be in that area", with no further explanation.

I understand he may already have made other plans, and he really could not make it, but can't he say it in a nicer manner? "I will not be in that area" sounds like he does not even want to try. Is that the service he should be providing for the rate he is charging? It sounds like a big joke. If he had told me nicely that he is unfortunately unable to make it, then I'll just postpone the meeting to next week.

Perhaps I have over-reacted, but I am not making a fuss for nothing, and this is not the first time he has displayed how inflexible and how low EQed he is. The day when he took my ROM photos, my sister quietly said to me, "I hope you did not engage him as your actual day photographer." I did, and I have already paid a deposit. My mother-in-law told me to change him, and my mother said the same thing. Some friends also shook their heads. That's another long story to tell, but in short, even though nobody has seen the photographs he took, nobody gave the thumbs up for his performance that day.

So today, when he sent such an sms, I got a bit upset and I frankly texted him, "Ok. I seriously think you should be more service oriented, and brush up your skills in that aspect. That's the reason why I wanted to meet up and give you feedback rather than just collect the photos. We’ll make arrangements again next week."

I had no qualms about showing my displeasure. I had really planned to feedback to him how unhappy my family was with him during ROM. You might think I should have been a bit kinder to the poor fellow who might genuinely have reasons for not being able to accommodate to my schedule, but wait till you see his reply (in its full context).

"That's y I set up my studio for me to meet my couples properly. I cant run all over spore. If couples hv prob meetin e time, I can offer to meet em elsewhr in town, whc we'v fixed. I'm hvg dnr 4 mum's day this evening n if we cant fix an agreeable time, its nt my fault. Each of us hv our own schedule!"

What the...?!?!

Firstly, my final suggestion was to meet on Friday evening (which is tomorrow, and not today), so what has his mother's day celebration got to do with me? If he cannot understand proper English, then it is his problem.

Secondly, I don't care why he set up his studio, that's his own business. I am only concerned with collecting my photos. And he makes it sound like he is making a big sacrifice to "offer" to meet elsewhere. For goodness sake, he gets paid for his service!

Thirdly, by saying that it is not his fault when we can't fix an agreeable time, is he implying it is my fault? I certainly don't think he means it is nobody's fault, otherwise why mention it at all? And you can tell he does not think he has a problem, the problem is with me!

I almost could not believe my eyes when I saw his sms. Why did I pay such a big sum of money for such rotten service?!?!

Any idiot can tell that this is certainly not the way to do business. And further more, he is a wedding photographer, and communication and interaction in this line is extremely important.

He tried to call me after sending this outrageous sms but I ignored him. You think I would subject myself to anymore unreasonable treatment after this? Fat hope. And what does he want to say after sending such a message? Give the-oh-so-petty-bride a dressing down in his oh-so-super-low-EQ voice? I am not interested to find out. After I deliberately missed his call twice, he sent me another sms. This time in a milder tone.

"My schedule's determined by my couples. I'v an appt tmr b4 u in my studio n aft u in town. Tt's y I cant go dwn to e east. I dun drive also. I wish I can accommodate u. I welcome ur feedback"

Hello mister, I don't drive too, but haven't you heard of the term "taxi"?

According to the SMRT travel times as listed on the website, to travel from the MRT station nearest his studio to Paya Lebar takes about 18 minutes, from that same station to Cityhall takes about 8 minutes. Oh, so he wanted to save that precious 10 minutes of his time. To get from Paya Lebar to town requires about 15 minutes, from Cityhall, it's about 5 minutes. That 10 minutes to him also makes a big difference. (This is only based on the MRT travel times, I can't possibly estimate how fast or slow that fellow walks.)

So you see, it is not that he cannot accomodate, but for his own convenience, he does not even want to try. He does not want to make life tiring and difficult for himself, and he is not willing to take a cab should he need to rush. And he says he welcomes my feedback. What a nice way of putting it. What does he expect me to say? Apologize or compliment him for his professional unyielding attitude?

I will probably calm down and forgive that fellow in a few days (because Xiangrong says we should be nice and forgive and forget), but for now, I don't want to deal with him, and I've thrown this difficult task to poor Xiangrong, who unfortunately has no choice to endure him (Sorry!). But I think he has a slightly higher tolerance level in dealing with such low EQ people.

Quarter-Life Crisis?

Recently, I borrowed a book from the National Library. It was the title of the book (or rather three big words) that attracted me.

TWENTY SOMETHING
THE QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS OF JACK LANCESTER
By Iain Hollingshead

The book cover reads "Funny, rude and entertaining...will strike a chord with anyone who is, was or will be a twenty something".

I have not read much of the book, but the words "Quarter-life crisis" makes me want to find out more. After all, at 25, I am in danger of facing this crisis.

Lately, the term "Quarter-life crisis" (QLC) has popped up a few times in conversations with my peers.

I have friends who changed jobs to seek a different career, some are not happy where they are, some wished they could achieve more, a few want to further their studies, others feel they should be getting more recognition for what they have accomplished.

All these feelings may not be directly linked to the so-called QLC, but it may have played a part one way or another.

I think for a lot of people who are twenty something would at some point or another have a certain uncertain feeling about the path ahead.

It is at this mid twenties point in time when we realised we are approaching the big 3 and we no longer have so much youth to "squander". It is also at this time when you start to look at life a bit more seriously. All sorts of questions fill your mind. Is your life working out the way you want? Is this the life you want? Are you doing what you like?

A high-achiever friend lamented that she does not seem to be accomplishing as much as she wants to, and she actually wants to do a lot more than she is doing now. A sense of dis-satisfaction fills her, and somehow she feels unhappy, even though she appears to be doing well.

I think it is good for one in his or her twenties to do a report card for oneself. It gives an idea of what one has done and also make careful considerations if the right path has been chosen at this juncture.

It would not be true to say "youth is running out" at twenty something, but it is certain that one is no longer a child, and life has to be taken more seriously from now on.

Quarter-life crisis has not really caught on me yet, but for those who are feeling bothered, there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is good because if you feel a sense of uneasiness, it shows you have indeed matured.

To deal with QLC, I only have one suggestion, ask yourself, are you happy with your current state of life, and what do you think will make you happy?

Once you are happy from deep within, I believe QLC will vanish by itself.