Black Monday

I know that I shouldn't be making assumptions and whatnot (and I'm not) while investigations are being carried out on the recent fire at the Villagio Mall in Doha, Qatar but hey, I can't help thinking about it. It did kill 19 people including 13 children after all. According to some media reports, the water sprinklers and fire alarm systems were not working, and the floor planning made it a Herculean task for help to reach the nursery on the first floor. Also killed were some teachers and fire department personnels. 

Pix from here 

I was watching some videos of this incident on YouTube. Endless clouds of black smoke spiralled wildly over the mall's roof and there were some clips on rescuers carrying out children who seemed lifeless. What a tragedy. Imagine finding your kid dead in a diaper just hours after you've fed and sent him to a nursery. I've walked in that mall so many times before, and every time I did, I've always silently wondered about fire exits and water sprinklers for some reason. Maybe it's just me, but I'm vary of fire exits at the places I go to.  


Think about it. If only regular checks and maintenance were carried out and everything was in proper working order, there shouldn't be a need for the black incident to occur. It was a fire in a mall, not a tsunami on a desert. You can't even blame god for this. 

Office Theft

ON Facebook last week, a friend had expressed her disappointment and devastation over a theft in her office. Someone had actually stolen her laptop. I mean, who steals a colleague's laptop, right ? It's not like grabbing a pen or a stapler from someone's desk on the way back from the loo (although if anyone steals my Mont Blanc, I'll be sure to unleash one of my favourite spells.  In this case, I'd hope for the thief, assuming it's a man, to have a permanent erection).

She had a valid reason to be upset alright. For some reason, I was upset too, especially over a reaction by one of her friends to her status update. This guy came on, laughed out loud and said nothing nice at all to a friend who's lost her work and frantically trying to meet her deadlines. Seriously. What do you do with your lappy when you step out of your cubicle for a little break ? It's not like she is working in a makeshift office at the back of a dodgy rubber processing factory for any random person to walk in and steal her machine, containing work stuff. You wouldn't expect that in a decent corporate office, located in a nice part of the city (although I agree the odds are always ever present). 

I can't say that I've lost anything of importance at my work place. Sure, there's the occasional, "did you see my mug" from me. Then again, that's just me. Chances are I'd misplaced it on someone else's desk while I went on my evening PR rounds. Or the mug had been lying dormant somewhere in the pantry I hadn't even noticed it because I'd been drinking out of bottles for far too long (I drink mostly just water and I like drinking out of clear bottles). However, some colleagues haven't been that lucky. They have lost tokens of appreciation sent to them. Nothing fancy but what's up with these people who go snooping around other people's desks and then, pick up little things they fancy. Of course, nothing beats a laptop with work stuff in it. 


So, there were some passive-aggressive comments between the friend who'd lost her laptop and her insensitive 'friend'. You know how we silently wait around and watch when things like this happen on Facebook timeline, right ? I learnt from my friend that the guy had actually 'unfriended' her the next day. Hah! 

Spring Of Youth

I don't know about you but I tend to curl up into this pathetic ball of self pity when I'm really ill (which is rare). This is when I indulge in thinking like a close family of mine, by which I mean this is the only time I could verify the genetic connection I have with this person who perpetually thinks that the world is against his good self 24/7. Urgh. So yeah. I'm feeling like the world owes me everything right now that I am ill! Oops, I don't rant but this seems just like a start of one! Big sorry. 


Well, there isn't much that I can do apart from slurping my dad's chicken broth quite grumpily. I can't talk much to anyone although I'm surrounded by people I like. Talking does literally take my breath away at this point. However, I do find the daily nebuliser treatments blissful as long as they last even if they cut my appetite for food. I'm also pretty much drugged up every waking moment that I'm shaking even as I'm typing this out. Then I sleep in a dreamy state, waking up feeling dazed every now and then, yet the cyber slut in me craves to creep up on here every evening. 

So I'm feeding my new interest in learning more about foot health. Yeah. How I Got My Wiggle Back by Anthony Field (yes, the blue Wiggles guy) was given to me by a doctor I met last month, Dr James Stoxen. Do check him out, I think he makes a lot of sense and there are so many things to learn about the foundation of your health - your feet! 

Dr Stoxen came up with the Human Spring Approach where he says that the human feet have a natural spring suspension system, engineered to sustain itself without the cushiony footwear that we pamper them with. Footwears are comparable to mothers who smother. You know, you have all good intention of protecting and giving your feet the best care, but what you're actually doing is smother those feet by binding them in that cushion so much that they lose their natural sustainability, which is the Human Spring. 

With that, Dr Stoxen naturally advocates barefoot walking/ running. I know, right ? It may sound a little extreme in today's world where many who are vertically-challenged like me derive some sort of confidence from standing and walking on top of five-inch heels all day. But as you read and think about it, it makes a lot of sense to kick those heels off . We take about 10,000 steps a day. Now, imagine taking all those steps with a locked spring. It is literally bang and twist leading to stress, strain, wear and tear, and later, silent inflammation and more painful inflammations over time. Thus, accelerating the aging process. 

“Talking to women about ditching stylish heels is like talking to the wall, unless, they want to run a marathon than meet a man. Or unless, they have a screaming sciatica and are facing life-changing surgery,” he said to me in a recent conversation.

I think it's brilliant to meet a man while running a marathon rather than catching him at a glamorous social event. At least, he'd know your real height and might even find you somewhat sexy in all that sweat and non-existant make-up. No, no. I'm not totally ditching all of my lovely five-inch investments, but I'm definitely giving this approach some thought and action. You'll read more about this spring of youth :)