Sciatica

Sciatica is from hell! Trust me you would not want such a thingy but then again sometime it is a gift from nature which cannot be refused or rejected if you are the chosen one to receive it. When such a condition is at its prime one cannot sit, lie down, stand up, et cetra, et cetra without the feel of excruciating pain. The only solution is an injection of pain killer right in the cheek of the buttock for some decent relief.

It is not over after the injection, the pain will linger on for not the next couple of days but weeks. Sleeping is almost impossible and so is sitting down. Getting up from a lying down position is really a killer; the only way for a small relief is to walk around with a therapy of pain killer. A constant pain is felt at one of the buttock's cheek and therefore you will be bestowed with the title "Pain In The Ass"

Lot of rest is required and that is not at all an easy thing to do. You will know what I mean if you are one of the "lucky" one to receive this gift from nature. I was not able to do anything even I wanted to since I received this gift nine days ago. I am still suffering but a little less now. OUCH!!!

The Feast

Once a year we will have a feast and eat ourselves silly ....... maybe a couple of times in a year hee!!hee!! Most Chinese people call this particular get together to eat among family members during this time of the year particularly on the eve of the Chinese New Year a Reunion Dinner. We do not think it is necessary to have it on the eve or dinner time, just a time which is convenient for everyone and my mum was the only guest.

This year we had it a couple of days before Chinese New Year and as usual it was scrumptious. Just thinking about the dishes that we had makes my mouth water.....mmm yum! yum!

The first dish is of course the "Yee Sang - 鱼生". Traditionally this dish was only eaten on the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, nowadays it is eaten anytime just before and during the fifteen days of the Chinese New Year celebration. Chinese being Chinese will cease at any opportunity to make an additional dollar if it is viable. There are too many versions of stories to this dish but one thing for sure it is a damn good appetiser.

Braised sea cucumber with fish maw with pork in black sauce.....this is my favorite. The fish maws were collected over a period of time and the sea cucumbers were from our regular specialty Chinese food stuff supplier and Jusco. Those from Jusco were good to eat but those from our regular supplier were heavenly. Eating sea cucumber is not just for the taste but also the bite, it must not be overcooked but just right. My wife had mastered the art of cooking these heavenly delicious eating thingy.

Butter Prawns, a dish that Princess prepared which The Only Daughter learn how to do from her place of part time work. The pomfret, The Only Daughter favorite was steamed to perfection but coriander garnishing had to be a private affair. My mum and I were the only two persons who enjoy these very fragrant leaves. To the uninitiated it stinks!!

Soup of the day was dried scallop soup specially prepared by Princess and so were the fresh American scallops with broccoli in XO sauce.

Last but not least a two point something kilo roast duck Cantonese style by yours truly.

Indoor Rain

The water pressure to our home from the mains had dropped drastically over the past few years and the quality of water is horrible most of the time. The pressure is extremely low at peak hours and it is really a nuisance and irritant. For example if somebody is having a bath with the instant hot water shower which greatly depended on water pressure to operate and someone else turn on a tap to wash something the instant hot water shower will turn off ......... "Hey!!! Who turned on the tap?" is the usual response coming from the bathroom when the warm water becomes cold water.

Having a warm shower is quite a hassle sometimes but and getting the laundry done ....... have to ask the home minister. Normally it takes about an hour but with the ridiculously low pressure it had been extended to more than two hours. About two weeks ago with no major backache, I decided to proceed with some modification of the plumbing to increase the pressure to the washing machine to reduce the unnecessary waste of time and electricity. I had to make sure that my back was in sound condition because the working area is very cramp and I did not want to be immobilised in there. I have a weak back from an accident ages ago.

After inspecting the existing pipes and got some measurement I went to the friendly hardware shop down the road to get the supplies. I bought the thin walled Upvc pipes thinking that it would be more flexible as there was some minor bends required. I am making a changing the supply source to the washing machine from the mains to the storage tank.

After spending almost a whole afternoon working on the piping with most of the time in the cramped place of under the roof, I was really glad that it was done. Thank god my back did not give up on me.

The home minister usually does the laundry at night and tonight was no different from any other night. She started the machine just before having a bath and I would be relaxing in the family room by that time. "Ging-gong ging-gong ...... praaahhhhh" the sound of heavy dripping water came from the kitchen, the rain had started! Oh sh*#!!, I quickly ran upstairs and turned off the storage tank supply line to the new pipes I put in.

It was tough, really really tough to accept the fact of having to get into the roof to repair the broken piping. That night I did not sleep well thinking of the extra unnecessary work and was wondering what went wrong. Luckily my back was still OK.

Reluctantly the next morning I slide open the roof tiles and was surprise to see that the Upvc pipe actually broke because of stress and not because of a poor joining work. Having understood the whole scenario I decided to replaced all the piping with heavy duty type and reroute it for minimum stress.

It had been more than two weeks now and I guess it is now safe to say a job well done!