Spurring a Dyslexic onwards and upwards

We've been on the receiving end of Jon's grumblings and complains about wanting to stop his swimming training recently.   He was selected to take part in a swimming meet coming up in the first week of July so his coach has been pushing him hard to better his timing.  All these while they've only been correcting his strokes and kicks and not pushing for fast times. 

We've also gotten him a pair of brand new training flippers which is leaving a blister on his left ankle.  Somehow, all the brand new plasters that we bought doesn't stay on beyond the first plunge!  I'm contemplating getting him an ankle brace but I'm afraid that it would hinder his kicking or worse make him get used to a stiffer ankle movement and slow him down during the meet.

He's also not showing any interest in practicing his piano nor animation skills even after going for courses.  We are at our wits' end trying to spark some interest in him for other things besides playing online games.  He can sit in front of the PC playing this online game for hours on end but doesn't want to spend more than 10 minutes practicing his piano.

He plays his PSP till the battery dies, same goes for his gameboy too.  Jay, on the other hand, can put these electronic toys aside when he gets tired or bored with the games. 

I was told that Sam (Soon) needed absolute quiet so that she can read and remember while normally she'd be the one creating the noise in the house.  I wonder if all dyslexics are like this.   I have yet to see Jon read a book without pictures though I have reminded him many times before to start reading.

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Showdown 2010

Took the kids out last night to our first live Dance competition at KL Live Center, Jalan Sultan Ismail.  It was organized by 8TV and was telecast Live too.  

Entry Tickets were courtesy of Sam Soon (thanks, Sam for the free tickets.  The advantage of being home-schooled....you get to stay up late n win free stuff off the TV!).

We (Sam's parents and us) were probably the oldest audience there besides the producers and security.

The dance was Hip-hop and Break-dance (modern dancing) and there were 7 group vying for the title.  It's still in elimination rounds so no winner yet. 

We left the house at about half past 7, drove to Jalan Sultan Ismail, joined the queue there and promptly missed the entrance to the center!  Then I had to drive all the way down Sultan Ismail to go round the back along Jalan Perak and join in the queue there.

After arriving at the Center, we took a short break at the mamak stall downstairs.  The organizers were warning up the crowd at the front entrance then.

Well, I think Jon and Jay enjoyed themselves last night though they had to stand through out the entire show.  It started at 930pm sharp (Live telecast cannot delay one you know?).  No complains until near the end.  As far as I can tell, if Jon decides that dancing (Hip-hop n so on) is to be his calling, well..I'll let him do it as long as he doesn't give up the moment things get tough like his swimming training now.  He's been chosen to participate in a swim meet next month so he's under going some rather intensive (compared to his earlier swimming training anyway) training.  I've been sending him to the pool 1/2 an hour early so that he can warm up n stretch with the rest of the team but he's been complaining that he wants to quit swimming or he'd rather wait for mum to send him. 

Now mum only reach home by 7pm n have her dinner by 730 while I'd usually rush home like a mad man to reach home by 630-645pm, have an early dinner and we'd be out of the house by 730pm.

We had several talks with him about him quitting swimming before the competition and we highlighted several points to him: 1) we had invested money in his gears, 2) the chief coach has faith in him and so do the other coaches, 3) if he quits now, what is there to stop him from quitting every time gets tough? 

Not sure whether this got through to him or not, only time will tell.

Jay now wants to learn guitar but not going for lessons, he wants to learn on his own.  A child-sized guitar costs between RM170 to RM500 (depending on brand).  Though I've had lessons before (like 3 decades or more ago),  I really need to spend time to pick it up again.  Now with my pay constantly being late (like nearly 1 month late), my budgeting efforts have all gone to waste! And my pay's being done by an ISO-9001 company to make things worse.  Looks like the ISO certification has entrenched the wrong attitude and work-processes!

Back to work

1st day of work after the long MC...brain's already fried by 10am :(  Jay's down with viral fever and Jon's at home without internet access nor PSP or Gameboy. Boy is he going to tear up the house!


21-June-2010*updateP

The tension headache's back...3 weeks of bliss n now it's back with a vengence!  I didn't have much of a weekend to speak off as I'd spent most of my time popping painkillers and trying to regain some sleep.  It's bad enough to wake me up in the middle of the night and the op just made it easier for me wake up!

Jon's 2nd public piece

Here's his 2nd piece for the day...all without notes too.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5EP4nBTMVE

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Jon's 1st public piano performance

Here's Jon's first public performance playing the piano http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvUgTY9O5bA.  It was during Amrita Soon's "Sing for my guitar 2" session held at KKBC, Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam on 25 April 2010.

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SA op week 3

Ever since I started to meditate on the pain three weeks ago I found that I can tolerate it better even though I still needed some pain relief to swallow food or drinks.  The food needed to be blended and cooled and the drinks cold.  This is a precaution against the hot stuff either irritating the scars or opening up the blood vessels before they can heal and seal properly.

 day 2 - 5 was a struggle as I still didn't have enough energy to move around.  I was discharged 5 days after the op n spent the next week on my butt sipping cold water instead of eating.  By the end of the 2nd week, I was completely fed up of blended food esp porridge so I got myself some ice-cream.  No joy either as the cold made my throat hurt more and nothing worse than cold Ice-cream up the nose n coming out the front courtesy of the snipped off portion of my back palate.

Didn't even have enough energy to get online much less answer my mobile.  Finally, gathered enough energy to stay online for a few hours but only for a day in week 2.  Now in week 3, much stronger as I can now take solids again.  Lost a fair bit of blubber especially around the belly area.  Hope to replace it with red meat aka muscles.

Had a scare in Penang over the Wesak weekend when I took a really refreshing hot shower after driving for nearly 5 hours straight.  The second after drying myself, my right nostril started to bleed all over the washroom.  managed to stop the bleeding after about 20 minutes of stuff my nose with toilet tissues.   20 minutes later started the whole bleeding nose thingy again when I bent down to unplug Jon's PSP charger so that he has to stop playing n go to sleep.  Next day after wesak, went to the nearest pharmacy which coincidentally is located opposite the nearest 24-clinic in Batu Ferringhi/Tanjung Bunga area and stocked up on cotton balls to stuff my nose with.  Also we got tooth brush for Jay and myself (left ours behind in the morning rush to leave before 11am the day before).

Well, now that we've gotten the paper work for Jon's 1 month leave from school done, we've got to plan how to send him to the learning center 3 times week starting next week.  He's also going to participant in a club level swim meet next month in Seremban, his first competitive meet. Hope it doesn't turn him off swimming, his only exercise now.

Sleep Apnea op - day 1

May 13th, 2010 -  A day of infamy to most Malaysians 40 and above.  5 decades ago, a genocidal conflict organized by the losers of a local city council 'erection' to 'win' back the erection.  Since then life has never been democratic.

But closer to home, I was scheduled to "shrink" the minor turbinates in my nasal cavity and the back portion of my tongue after lunch so I admitted myself in Pantai Indah, Ampang for the op. 

2 hours later, I woke up from GA in great pain, did a near-death bed conversion and got rejected half-s-second later by God!  I was in so much pain that I asked GOD to take me away.  No thoughts of living on for my children or family...just instant death.

Half a second later (aka the next immediate thought) I meditated (the "Buddhist" aka semi-Burmeses way) on the pain and wished it be well and happy.  I reflected that pain is the body's way of communicating to us that something is wrong with it.  That pain is part n parcel of having a body that is subjected to change (aka decay n death).

In other words, GOD replied " Suck up the pain n grow some balls, boy! I didn't make you a Buddhist so that you can "fall back" on ME just because you can' take the pain.  My plans for you is to remain a Buddhist n show the so-called 'born-again' followers of mine in your extended family that you can be a better human being without having to be one of them, 'sharing' the Truth their way!"

About the op =- what happened while I was under the GA was that the Doc found that I had a slightly bent soft bone in my nasal cavity, enlarged tonsils as well as an extra thick palate at the back of my mouth so since he's already in there, why not just 'repair' these in one go rather than reschedule for another op later on.

These were the cause of my pain.

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