One-arming it

August 4, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

The first two days were the worst. Now, it’s WIP. At various times, my long term ailments have felt debilitating, but not quite like this. This is a different kind of debilitation. A kind of forced limitation that hit home almost immediately. I couldn’t do the everyday stuff. The non-thinking, just get on and do […]

Pickleball tumble

July 28, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I’ve felt dizzy, nauseas and sweaty, before. Singularly and all at once, at various times. But not quite like the way I felt at pickleball the Sunday before. I was all three plus blurry eyed, unable to focus and in agony. My wrist throbbed. Everything spun. Sweat ran down my face. And I was shaking. […]

What to believe …

June 30, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I was told by a long-time friend that Christmas carols weren’t allowed to be sung during the Obama administration. This was just one of the many nuggets of information that was pronounced with conviction during our conversation which included events that have happened and are happening in the world. Serious stuff like war, beliefs, and […]

News detox

June 23, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

I had sort of a news detox without realising it. For about two weeks when sister number 3 visited, I didn’t listen to BFM, a local business radio station, from Monday to Friday. I didn’t do searches on YouTube for my regular dose of politics cum economics podcasts. I also didn’t watch the late night […]

Fingers, joints and bones

April 7, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

My fingers took the biggest hit. Neck, next. Ribs. Then, all my bones. I’m not sure which came first. Me waking up before the pain or the pain waking me up. Whichever. It was excruciating. I couldn’t bend my fingers. I couldn’t extend my fingers. Both actions were painful. It was dark so I knew […]

What do you do?

January 20, 2025.Reading time 6 minutes.

What do you do? The question threw me. A fellow condo-resident asked me that while we were in the lift. And, I babbled ‘this and that.’ What? Seriously. Not quick on my feet or wit. Body and brain inertia. Big sigh. What do I do? The question made me ponder. Why couldn’t I articulate what […]

Climbing medical premiums

December 9, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

I didn’t pay enough attention to my medical insurance policy. I wrongly assumed that my already high premium would not and could not increase much more than it already has. It did. Apparently, it can and very possibly will. Again. And, maybe again. It all depends. I know insurance premiums are not fixed. They increase, […]

Deepavali 2024

November 4, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

Last Thursday was Deepavali 2024. The first without my mum and brother number 1. There’s a photo of the two of them smiling whilst sitting on my mum’s blue sofa, taken last Deepavali. Each with an oxygen cannula attached for easier breathing. I never thought or didn’t let myself think that it would/could be my […]

Silent generation

September 9, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

My mum was 28 years old when she had me. A generation apart, based roughly on a 20-year time interval. She and I were from different generations, and we were different. But not so dissimilar that we didn’t see eye to eye and/or were embroiled in constant arguments. No, not at all. She was […]

Ulaanbaatar

July 8, 2024.Reading time 6 minutes.

The plan was to post this story on 20th May. It didn’t happen. I trashed it. Last week, I retrieved it from the ‘bin.’ Mongolia was the holiday my husband and I were looking forward to since March this year. We researched and identified tour companies, flights, and hotels. We finalised our bookings when sister […]