Dan's Musings

13 October 2022   Bailey, our aged dog passed on between 3pm - 8pm today. The past two nights around midnight, he sort of whined for about a minute. I checked on him and all was fine. He also lost his appetite the past 2 or 3 days. I had my usual foreboding feeling the past 2 days but he was very strong and lively whenever we brought him out of his cage. So, I dismissed my feeling. Today, the foreboding feeling came back stronger and I checked on him about 3pm but he was fine. He won't wake up when I tried to coax him awake to eat. I thought he was simply very sleepy. When Charmaine went to check on him at 8pm, he was gone. After I covered him with a towel and closed his cage, Whiskey walked around his cage twice, sniffing him. What an interesting sight. I remember Bailey's love for car rides and the rain. He loved barking too. Bailey also enjoyed birds. When he was younger, he would catch and eat birds. When we tried to save the birds, he would quickly swallow them. Later, kno...

Bailey is 15 years old (in human years). In dog years, he's very old. He's a beagle-mix. He has cataract on both eyes and is most probably blind. His hearing is still good but he will only comply if he feels like it. His sense of smell is very good. He has arthritis on both hind legs. So, movement is a challenge for him but he loves to walk around in the compound. He has dementia. He sometimes, walks in circles or sits down and stares at the wall or tree. When I want to feed him, I've to let him sniff my hand and gently lead him to the feeding area. Feeding him is different from before. When he was younger, he would gobble his food before I could even remove my hand. Now, I would have to coax him to eat and have to be with him while he eats to continue coaxing him. And he is very picky with his food. Previously, he would gobble anything we put on his food plate. Now, he would eat what he likes and leave the rest. He totally refuses to eat vegetables now. Previously, he love...

 This is a work of fiction. Events, names or species are purely fictional. This is the copyright of Danny Ong. Duplication without prior written permission by Danny Ong is strictly prohibited.  ******************************** In a kingdom called Aisyalam, there lived different tribes who just wanted to live in peace and harmony. But, they were ruled by an inept and manipulative amphibian, Prince Berak who overthrew the king and sent the king and some trusted councilors into exile.   Prince Berak surrounded his court with amphibian jesters who were even more inept than himself so that no one could overthrow him. Well, whenever the prince went to the toilet (which was often), many of his jesters sharpened their knives secretly. The humanoid people in the kingdom of Aisyalam were generally a happy lot. They went about their lives earning a living and trying to keep whatever balance left after paying the taxes for their old age. The people in the court were even happier. The...

Cases have been increasing daily since I started monitoring it on April 12, 2021. Tourism industry is calling for the opening of inter-state and international travels. I understand that the tourism industry is suffering greatly. But, how safe is it to open up inter-state and international travels?  Currently, we have cases which are asymptomatic. No matter how many times you do the temperature scan, Covid will not be detected. Reason, there are NO symptoms. But, that does not mean that the person cannot infect others. Asymptomatic people CAN infect others. And this is scary part. You are sitting at the table sipping your coffee or having a meal with a friend who looks healthy, that friend might infect you. I think it might be better to impose the "no eating at the stalls" policy. It should not affect the shops' business. People are just buying the food back to eat instead of sitting down to eat.

 Go ahead, meet your friends for a nice meal or drinks. You haven't met up with them for so long. Afterall, there's the temperature scanner in every establishment. We all have to wear masks unless we are eating or drinking. And the government says we can go out for nice meals. All those months of cooking at home is so tedious. We need to socialise with other people. What if your friends are asymptomatic (infected but with no symptoms)? And when you eat or drink, all of you take off your masks. Red Alert! Shields down. Don't get me wrong, your friends don't have any intention to infect you. They just don't know that they are infected. As far as they are aware, they are in perfect health. After you are infected, you will infect your family and friends. You are not aware because you believe that you are in perfect health. That's how dangerous the asymptomatic variant is. It can spread so easily before anyone knows. What To Expect The following will be both my exper...