Blister

I don’t know why I did it but 3 days ago (Monday) I used a pair of runners (an Adidas trail running model) which I have not used for a long time. It has a narrow fit and I never liked running in it. It gave me a blister just under the bottom of my left big toe. That I was pushing hard to get 9km in the 45 minutes I allowed myself didn’t help. I ignored it but after the run on Tuesday, the blister became sore and last night (I didn’t run yesterday) I put a band-aid on it and ran again this morning. I was in my more comfy NB so I pushed again, for the 9km-45min mark. By the time I went back to the locker room an hour later, I was distressed to see the mess when I removed my left shoe. The sock was blood stained all around the big toe/sole area and even the plaster had become pink. I removed it gently but the damage has been done. The sting it made (not the stink) when I hit the shower was a reminder to ditch that Adidas for good, no matter how cool it looked. The daggy NB is it for me from now on.

Citizenship

The ex-colleague I caught up with yesterday had the same sentiments as me, as far as citizenship matters go. He, like me, had no second thoughts about going for it, as soon as he qualifies. Apparently, the amendments to law would not be retrospective and the new 4-year wait would apply only for applicants who became residents after the amendments come into effect. That’s fairness for you. Dinky Di Aussie Fairness. I’ve had numerous discussions with friends, relatives and church people about this and sentiments apart, I can see no reason why someone who has lived here for years and has no intention of ever returning to Malaysia to live, would be so hesitant in giving up Malaysian citizenship. Why retain it? If sentiments are preventing me from giving myself a fairer go by being a citizenship of my new country, those sentiments should be ditched.

Dad

It is coming up to 5 months since my father left us. Tomorrow would have been his and mom’s 44th wedding anniversary. It would be the first time in all that time, that my mom would spend this day without him. I still think of him every day. Images of him at meal times, or him just sitting around in the living room. There was a picture of Boris Yeltsin in the papers this morning lying in state in an open casket. They had put the Perspex cover over my dad’s by the time we got to Klang. I regret that – not being there, not being able to speak to him before that, and generally, not spending enough time with him.