TBK Tries- Old Dogs can learn new tricks

Exactly a year ago on 18 September 2021 I received an amazing gift from my friends Phil and Di in the UK for my 60th Birthday- A Kindle, loaded with 30 books. Like the new phone from Bapco, the Bike from Bapco and several watches from my grateful delegates and former colleagues, I stored it in my suitcase until I found out how to use it!

                            The hardback version is in the Philippines, still unread

My regular readers will know that I am not very Matalino ( smart) when it comes to new technology and had an aversion to smart phones that lasted 6 years. Likewise Kindles! I used to think that books should be made of paper and read. Until 2021 I still sent thank you cards, postcards, birthday cards and Christmas cards, and Calendars. These were all crafted by Chester at great cost ( 10 bd a calendar, 5 bd a card) and largely ignored by the recipients. One, my brother, even wrote repeatedly, to ask me not to send any more.

                                                  One of my calendars never got printed!

So as I turn 61 and come to the end of my "transition Period" ( I love that phrase Jane Harders) into a retiree in the Philippines, living with my young bright anaks, I decided it was time to change a few things.

Maybe an old dog can learn new tricks after all.

I mean Chester's mum learned how to edit her own vlogs on You Tube!'

So TJ has been teaching me Cuyunon - with words to learn like this:

Kasasanagen- Wee hours

 

Daraga – A teenager girl 

 

Kabatan-  A teenager Boy

 

Mag ambleg kaw permi- Take care always

 

Ing mamal/gui-guigman ta kaw- I love you

Then she sent me a test and she gives me marks out of ten!

TATAY NEIL 1^ST QUIZ

IN

Cuyunon – English

DIRECTION: TRANSLATE THE WORD

 

1.    Thank you so much

 

2.    God will bless you

 

3.    Matamang salamat

 

4.    Kumusta ka Ren Jan?

Chester has sent me step by step instructions on how to use an email template etc. - like this

He even sent me a set of questions to cover in a Blog when writing about a restaurant, hotel etc. like this:

and set out the format for a TBK recipe Vlog like this:

Corleen showed me how to use my new camera and lighting, tripods and microphones, how to set them up and take them down and now I can film my own recipe vlogs and upload them to Google drive for editing.

Corleen also showed me how to use my new mobile phone ( yes , after 6 years without I finally bought a Samsung Galaxy A6 and now use it to time cooking food, send my location on What's app, take photos and videos and much more !

Some changes in life we make slowly, others we are forced to make more quickly. Look at the way I mastered on line delivery with help from Evan for my ILM programmes just before I retired due to COV 19. Many years back an Oil platform in the freezing north sea caught fire, some of my older readers will remember Piper Alpha. The oil men had been taught never to go into the sea as it was too cold and they would perish. On that fateful day, July 6 1988, only those who were forced to jump into the sea by the burning platform, survived, and , tragically 167 men lost their lives . It is now used as a case study for safety and a film was made so that others could learn the lessons and the 106 recommendations from the resultant Cullen enquiry. Source : Piper Alpha Case study ( accessed 14.9.21)

For many years my brother, doctors, dieticians and friends have been telling me to loose weight. They said as I approached 61 and 121 Kg I was in danger of becoming Diabetic, with high blood sugar, high cholesterol etc. . I protested I liked food and hated exercise and then on Saturday 11 September I had my own burning platform moment. In my case the cause is unknown but the result was Bell's Palsy. As I unpacked at the Crown Plaza on Oman I looked in the mirror and had a shock when I realised the left side of my face was paralyzed. Over breakfast I filmed my face and sent it to a nurse friend in Bahrain . This is what he saw:

He told me to get to a hospital as the medication for this disease must start within 72 hours of onset and the clock was ticking, with 12 hours gone and 60 remaining. I saw the hotel receptionist, there was a taxi waiting outside the hotel and she told the driver where to take me. At the Aster Hospital in Al Raffah I was seen by a doctor and then a specialist. Like me she thought it might be a stroke due to my face drooping on one side. I had remembered from my first aid training that if someone has a stroke you need to act fast:

"What are the signs and symptoms of stroke?

An easy way to remember the most common signs of stroke and how to respond is with the acronym F.A.S.T.:

F = Face drooping: Ask the person to smile. Does one side droop?
A = Arm weakness: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
S = Speech difficulty: Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence. Are the words slurred?
T = Time to call 9-1-1: If the person shows any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately. Stroke treatment can begin in the ambulance."

Source : https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/facts_stroke.htm ( accessed 14.9.21)

The specialist, Dr Dalia , acted fast and within 10 minutes I had a CT scan and blood tests. Having identified it was not a stroke and that it was Bell's Palsy (https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/bells-palsy) and that I had high blood sugar she initially prescribed steroids and changed my diabetes medication ( as the steroids further increase the blood sugar). I returned to the hotel to start the medication and returned to the hospital as agreed 2 days later. The blood sugar was much higher and she wanted to admit me to the hospital to administer insulin and get the blood sugar down. She thought I should  have my condition monitored by the hour. However having already spent one birthday in hospital ( when I tripped in the Bapco car park and fractured my wrist) I really did not want to spend my 61st Birthday there as well . Another reason was that after all my hospital visits and medication and taxis my money was running low!. We struck a deal and I bought a Glucometer and she prescribed insulin . My amazing taxi driver ( whose mother is diabetic) showed me how to use them in the hotel lobby. Nurse Rachelle in Awali gave further advice on Facebook that night and I used you the web and the instruction booklet to check I was doing it right! ( How to use a Glucometer)'

On day 61 of my vacation , 5 days before I reached 61 years old the old dog learnt another new trick- checking his own blood sugar!!

After 30 minutes on a walking machine in the gym , and a salad dinner, I returned to You tube to check the procedure for injection the Insulin to remind me of what "Dr Khalid" my Omani Taxi driver, had taught me in the hotel lobby earlier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxjOVTKdZ9g

And so the old dog learnt another new trick

                                 

  My 61st Birthday present to myself- a Lantus Solo star for self injecting insulin

I was chatting on line with my friend Debbie, from my Chester days back in 1984 , and when I told her about my Bell's Palsy she said "It sounds like you had an "Oh Shit Moment!" 

The phrase was perfect. I remember talking with Dr Brett Garrett in Awali hospital before I had my hip operation. I was 120 kg and the Specialist said I needed to be 100 kg before he could operate. I asked:

"Shall I see a dietician, Brett?"

The ever tactful Brett reminded me I had seen all the hospital and refinery dieticians over 11 years at Bapco and I knew perfectly what I needed to do:

EAT LESS, EXERCISE MORE

Dr Khalid and my friend Mark in Oman reminded me on the way back from the hospital , and Rachelle reinforced it that night on Facebook:

Eat fish and fruit and salad, don't have Meryenda , no Coca cola, no rice 

Sleep less, exercise more ( walking, swimming)

The old dog finally got it and headed to the hotel gym , then had a salad for dinner , and continued taking his insulin and monitoring his blood sugar

The good news on 15 th September when I returned to see Dalia was that in spite of a misunderstanding about how much insulin to inject the blood sugar had gone down! I was a free man, no need for hospital admission. However I still have to go to the hospital every few days and now I am reducing my steroids day by day. My ex neighbor in Awali, Barbara, who was a Physio , tells me it will take 3 weeks or longer for my face to return to normal- so no selfies for a while!!

Having realised what all my younger friends were telling me was true- that you can learn anything on You Tube there was no stopping me! Next up was the unused kindle and I finally learnt how to use it with this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CLXA6tCMoI

I am pleased to report that I started to read my first book he day before I turned 61!

I have not finished yet- I have a long list of new things to learn when I finally reach the Philippines:

Zumba with TJ

Yoga

Flying a drone

Skimming

Surfing 

Kite surfing

PADI diving

So stay tuned to The British Kabayan Blog and Vlog to see how the 61 year old dog gets on with his new tricks!