Religion

"It's strange that the both of you are together" a friend remarked the other week about John and I.

"Really? How so?" I asked.

"Protestants and Catholics don't usually date each other" came the reply.

That response stunned me somewhat. First off, this is in no way a criticism of my friend who is one of the best people you could hope to meet.

It baffles me that there should be a perceived animosity between the different branches of Christianity in this day and age. If my grandparents who were Buddhist and Catholic respectively could put aside their religious differences, surely it is not such a big ask for Christians to do the same.

So we have different ways of worshipping. But does that really matter? Essentially we worship the same God.

I suppose the only issue that might arise is in deciding whose church to attend when John and I eventually start a family. He is not comfortable in Praise & Worship and I find Mass intimidating.

Forays in gardening

Remember how I was talking about my potato and shallot plants? This is how they look now. :) The small solitary shoot in the front is garlic.



Considered planting herbs like coriander and mint but apparently they are not very hardy.

Ramble ramble

My cousin and I were wandering around the supermarket after dinner yesterday.. and in the meat section, came across a tub of.. duck fat. O.o Scary, right?

On a totally unrelated note, I worked out a system that has made week day dinner preparation easier. I figure that if I prepare and marinate the meat for the following week's meals on the weekend, not only saves time but makes the food taste better. :) Talk about a win-win situation.

I'm also learning to use the slowcooker more. I prepare the meat and veg the night before and then in the morning just before I leave for work, I put everything into the slowcooker with a bit of water and switch the setting to "low". It is so easy. Coming home to the smell of cooking is the best. :)

The weather has been relatively cold. I woke up this morning to the sound of the wind howling and rattling at the windowpane so I decided to sleep in till 11 in the morning. Spent the rest of the day doing laundry, washing dishes and mopping the floor while my bro cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed the carpet and did the groceries.

H1N1

Apparently two thirds of Australia's flu cases are swine flu.

While quite a number of countries are in panic about the H1N1 virus, I think Australia has been very lax about it. I can count the number of people I have seen in public with masks on.

Two.

And they were both Asians. Maybe Australia's tidak apa attitude is the reason the flu spread so rapidly over here.

The only main worry about this flu thing is the risk that the virus might mutate into something that present medicine cannot treat. Other than that, swine flu is nothing compared to SARS.

Close encounter

My boss has swine flu.

He came in to work today and at around 10am, suddenly said that he had to leave. His doctor had called to say that he tested positive for the virus.

After he left, the rest of us looked at each other with expressions that said a collective "Oh-crap-we-have-been-exposed-to-swine-flu".

I have made it my mission to disinfect the things we touch the most in the office. Door knobs, the photocopy machine, the printer, the fax machine etc etc. You get the picture. I also arranged for hand sanitizing foam to be sent to us as soon as possible.

Apart from my boss, three of my colleagues are sick. I don't know if they have swine flu. Hopefully they are well enough to come to work next week because we already run a tight ship as it is.

I have been a bit under the weather too though I think taking vitamins and dressing warmly has helped keep me relatively healthy.

Anyway, the fact is I may or may not be carrying the virus right now. Symptoms take a few days to show. If I develop a high temperature, I'll be off to the doctor. Not overly worried about the whole thing but it has somewhat put a halt to my plans for the weekend. Probably best that I stay at home in the meantime rather than risk infecting the rest of Melbourne.