Air Travel During the H1N1 Season

-
It's the holidays!
Since it's the holidays, there will be unquestionably more people travelling on planes, buses, boats, taxies, trains as well as spaceships.

Just like it was today when I took a ride on the bus back home to Kuching.
The Air Bus station was full of domestic & international travellers who (just like me) can't wait to get the hell out of this H1N1 sharing heaven!


adapted from here

Being the well-read highly-educated quality citizen I am...
actually, it's because I am kia-si (takut mati / scared of death) la ok...
I read up on the precautions I should take before I embark on this brave journey through virus land.
Besides referring to the website of the Malaysian Ministry of Health, I studied other websites on H1N1. For example, websites from the CDC & Wikipedia.
I wanted a more complete picture of what to do & what not to do during my adventure.

As I was waiting impatiently for the far from punctual Airasia plane to unload, be cleaned & refuel, I noticed that there were many doctors & nurses waiting in line.
Was there some kind of emergency?
Oh, wait! They're not doctors! Oh, hahahahaha!
How silly of me!

I just smiled as I saw Uncle, Auntie, Ah Tong, Ahmad, Apu, Ah Lian & Asmah putting on surgical masks as if their lives depended on it.
Well, whatever gives them peace of mind...
Because that's all that they're going to get.
Putting on masks does nothing more to protect you from H1N1 than me trying to pinch my nose to protect my dinner when someone farts in the room.

Face masks only provide a placebo effect.
(BANG! Big word right there! I bet many of you need to refer to a dictionary!)
Only respirators can completely shield & protect you.
Face masks will not be able to keep the micro aerosols which contain H1N1 from getting into your respiratory system if you are actually exposed to it.
I suddenly feel sorry for all those fools who bought 20 cent face masks at 1 ringgit each!

Learn from this Chinaman. Work smart. Save money.
See what I do. You do oso, ma! Okay?
Good!

The #1 thing I reminded myself constantly was do NOT touch anything.
If I don't have to touch it, I won't!
I didn't touch any chairs or doorknobs or windows. Not even the hot air-hostess that's giving me the eye!
Gosh, I wouldn't even touch myself!
Especially not my eyes, nose, mouth or face!

I also washed my hands as often as I could.
I would pop into the toilet before I got on the plane & after I got off the plane.
I don't have hairy or sweaty hands, my hands are actually quite supple & soft.
I don't have H1N1 neither & washing my hands will prevent any of those little buggers, that got onto my hands from something that I touched, from getting into my body.

This is a video from the CDC on proper hand-washing.
When you wash your hands, wash it like your life depends on it.
It does.
Wash it thoroughly. Wet your hands. Rub with soap for at least 20 seconds.
Finally, dry with a paper towel or blow dryer.

REMEMBER DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!!!!

Once you get home, shower & put all the clothes you were wearing into the washing machine.
After that, you can finally satisfy that itch you've been having to dig that waxy stuff out of your nose.

Now, if you don't mind...
I'm going to quarantine myself from work for 1 week.
Happy Holidays!!

Popular posts from this blog

What To Do When Your Unifi Service Suddenly Drops

-
Image
After finally putting my kid to sleep, I was about to settle into the couch with my wife & stream a movie, when my Unifi fiber optic internet connection suddenly dropped. When it didn't come back after 1 hour, I realized that I had to do something. Considering that I pay my bills promptly every month, it must be a technical issue. Here's what I did to fix the problem. It look me less than 20 minutes. 1. First, I checked my modem (the white machine). I checked the lights on the modem. When the modem is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, PON, LAN1 & TEL1. If the red light for LOS lights up, call 100 to resolve the issue. Also, I made sure that all the wire connections were tight. 2. Next, I checked my router (the black machine). Again, I checked the lights. When the router is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, GLOBE, WIFI, LAN1. My POWER light was blinking, so that means that there was no internet connection. Again, I made sure th
Open Full Post »

Understanding The New SPM (2021) English 1119 Paper Format

-
Image
This outline & those of other SPM language papers were made publicly available on the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia (LPM) website . I'm sure you've seen the above being circulated on the internet. But, what does it mean? How does this paper compare to the current SPM paper for English? Do we have to change our testing practices in Form 4? At this moment, information is sparse despite great public interest. As the head of the English panel at my school, my Form 4 colleagues will come to me for what to do & parents will ask me what this is about. Until we have very specific instructions from the ministry, this is what I will be telling my colleagues & parents based on the limited amount of information available to me from my intimate experience with the current SPM paper & second-hand information about the PT3 English paper. Let me know if I got anything wrong or if you have more detailed information.
Open Full Post »

How To Fix Logitech Options Not Loading

-
Image
I use a Logitech K380 bluetooth keyboard at home & love it to bits. Very quiet & the tactile response is just perfect. Also, it's super small so easy to put away when I need to pile exam papers on my desk. Still, there's one small problem though... It is a compact keyboard so the multimedia buttons double as function keys. I use the function keys A LOT & it's really cumbersome for me to have to hold the "fn" button every time I want to use them. I.e., try pressing alt+fn+f4 with one hand. Thankfully, with the Logitech Options software, I can default to the function keys. A few months ago, I was chagrined to learn that my keyboard had spontaneously returned to factory settings. "No problem", I thought. "I'll just change the settings in Logitech Options." Only to find that the app wouldn't load on my Windows 10 machine, resulting in the blank window you see screen-captured above. "Let me try reinstalling." Uni
Open Full Post »

A Review of Mosquito Coils In The Market

-
Image
Mosquito coils = The first line of defence against savage jungle mosquitoes. Remember when there was completely no electricity at my school ? It happened during the dry season so the nights were really really warm & hard to sleep with the windows closed. Why close the windows you ask? Because if you don't close the windows, the savages from the jungle will climb in & suck your blood! Literally! I'm talking about swarms of mosquitoes gang-banging your skin & leaving you with clusters of chickenpox-like bumps on your skin in the morning! These guys even bite through clothing!! The itchiness that ensues will practically ensure that you never have a good night sleep. In order to keep those monsters at bay, I had to go really low-tech. I eventually experimented with mosquito coils. There are so many in the market & I thought that all of them worked the same since they had the same basic ingredients. I was wrong. They had different effects on the mosquitoes &am
Open Full Post »

Exotic Fruit: Buah Isu

-
Image
I've been teaching in the Iban motherland for more than 1 year now & I have tasted many exotic fruits exclusively available only within these quiet secluded timber forests. Now, don't you smirk at me! You perverted baskets I call friends are thinking about a different 'fruit'! There are no innuendos here. The exotic fruits that I'm talking about are REAL fruits. First, let me introduce you to the cousin of the king of fruits... Buah Isu Buah Isu resembles it's cousin, the Durian , but I was told that it is NOT in the Durian family. The spikes are longer & they are sharper. They are also very much smaller than the Durians. It's about the size of a man's palm. It has a pleasantly sweet fragrance which is not pungent like the Durian's. Because of it's size, it is easily opened with a cleaver. After opening my first Isu, I couldn't help but bounce off the walls in gay laughter. It was all too amusing to me! I though
Open Full Post »