Nial Djuliarso (Reminiscence about the past)

It's really been sometime since our last meeting in North East US back in 2002. We were invited by Nial Djuliarso for his gig show in downtown Nashua. So three of us (Kayla, my first, was still a couple of months old) went to his show in a local pub. It was quite an enjoyable evening since we all like to listen to jazz music. Kayla was particularly joyful.

Nial moved to Boston to study music at Berklee. He was accommodated by my hubby who was doing his study at MIT and happened to live in Berklee neighborhood on Hemenway St.

I remember, at one point, my hubby drove me around this apartment area just to show me where he used to live for many years. He told me how Nial is not only talented in music but also tennis. Despite his many years of intensive training, he could not beat Nial only to find out later that Nial actually played in tournaments :). And here we go, in the twist of time, we get reconnected again in some way. To make the story short, please just enjoy it from the clip.

Ohh, that beautiful reminiscence, it makes our heart blooming ...

Epidural Anesthesi

Satu hari sebelom ngelahirin Kayla, dengan perut gede karena hamil sembilan bulan lebih beberapa hari, ternyata aku masih mampu nyetir sejauh 75 miles –kira-kira jarak Jakarta-Bandung- untuk jemput suamiku di kantornya karena kami akan berangkat bersama-sama ke Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre of Boston. Niatnya sih mo check up kandunganku yang udah overdue satu minggu dari jadwal perkiraan kelahiran.

Yup, aku emang agak kurang kerjaan karena memilih dr.Mimi R.Yum sebagai dokter kandunganku sehingga konsekuensinya adalah tiap kali check up aku harus rela nyetir sekitar satu setengah jam –all the way- dari apartemenku untuk bisa sampai ke rumah sakit tersebut.

Btw, satu setengah jam itu dengan kondisi highway di Route 93 loh, ya. Jadi kalo diukur pake kondisi jalan tol di Indonesia, yah… mungkin kira-kira aku bolak-balik Bandung-Cirebon hanya untuk periksa rutin kehamilan yang berlangsung ‘cuma’ sekitar 10-15 menit itu.

So, keputusanku untuk ngelahirin di Boston –khususnya di Beth Israel Medical Centre- lebih karena disebabkan oleh reputasi sang hospital yang notabene merupakan teaching hospital Harvard Medical School dan punya gelar ‘The Best Hospital’ kah?

Ato karena aku lebih nyaman diperiksa ama dokter kandungan cewek (!) dan berdarah Asia –dr.Yum keturunan Korea- yang ternyata susah aku dapetin di Manchester ato Concord?

… well, kalo mo tau alasan sesungguhnya sebenarnya simple aja.

Karena dari semua dokter yang aku telponin –berdasarkan panduan dari buku Blue Cross Blue Shield, asuransi kesehatan yang kami pakai- ternyata cuma Mimi Yum satu-satunya dokter yang saat itu bisa menerima aku sebagai pasien barunya.

Sementara dokter kandungan laennya –yang berpraktek di Boston- rata-rata udah fully booked -sampai dua tahun ke depan- jadi udah nggak nerima pasien lagi.

Sempet bete juga, sih. Tapi ya udah lah, gak pa pa.
Toh ternyata aku cocok juga ama dr.Yum yang baek itu ...

Ceritaku sampe mana tadi?
Sampe ke bagian aku nyetir sendiri dengan perut gede, kayaknya …
Nah, kira-kira kalo aku hamil di Indo, bakalan bisa ‘bebas’ kayak gitu nggak, ya?

Kayaknya nggak mungkin, deh.
Karena para 'sesepuh' pasti bakalan ribut dan khawatir.

Tapi nyatanya, saat itu aku baek-baek aja, tuh.

Buktinya, aku selamat sampai di hospital dan disarankan untuk rawat inap dan harus diinduksi biar bayinya keluar.
"Takut si bayi keracunan kalo kelamaan di perut", kata si dokter.

I know, Doc! , batinku geli.
Soalnya aku emang nggak ngaku kalo Dokter.

Trus, pas masuk pembukaan 4 aku udah mulai panggil-panggil Suster Anne minta dicariin anesthesiologist untuk ngelakuin epidural anesthesi. Soalnya biar gak sakit klo pas kontraksi ..
huhuhu, rada curang, memang!

Dan begitulah, alhasil sepanjang malam aku bisa tidur nyenyak meskipun kontraksi terus berlangsung sampe pembukaan 9.5! ...
Jadi waktu pembukaan lengkap, aku bener-bener harus patuh ama instruksi dokter dan suster kapan saatnya mengejan dan kapan saat ambil napas karena kontraksinya nggak berasa sama sekali. hohoho, ternyata asik juga ngelahirin tanpa rasa sakit, ya?

Foto. waktu hamil Kayla (2002)

Epidural Anesthesi

Satu hari sebelom ngelahirin Kayla, dengan perut gede karena hamil sembilan bulan lebih beberapa hari, ternyata aku masih mampu nyetir sejauh 75 miles –kira-kira jarak Jakarta-Bandung- untuk jemput suamiku di kantornya karena kami akan berangkat bersama-sama ke Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre of Boston. Niatnya sih mo check up kandunganku yang udah overdue satu minggu dari jadwal perkiraan kelahiran.

Yup, aku emang agak kurang kerjaan karena memilih dr.Mimi R.Yum sebagai dokter kandunganku sehingga konsekuensinya adalah tiap kali check up aku harus rela nyetir sekitar satu setengah jam –all the way- dari apartemenku untuk bisa sampai ke rumah sakit tersebut.

Btw, satu setengah jam itu dengan kondisi highway di Route 93 loh, ya. Jadi kalo diukur pake kondisi jalan tol di Indonesia, yah… mungkin kira-kira aku bolak-balik Bandung-Cirebon hanya untuk periksa rutin kehamilan yang berlangsung ‘cuma’ sekitar 10-15 menit itu.

So, keputusanku untuk ngelahirin di Boston –khususnya di Beth Israel Medical Centre- lebih karena disebabkan oleh reputasi sang hospital yang notabene merupakan teaching hospital Harvard Medical School dan punya gelar ‘The Best Hospital’ kah?

Ato karena aku lebih nyaman diperiksa ama dokter kandungan cewek (!) dan berdarah Asia –dr.Yum keturunan Korea- yang ternyata susah aku dapetin di Manchester ato Concord?

… well, kalo mo tau alasan sesungguhnya sebenarnya simple aja.

Karena dari semua dokter yang aku telponin –berdasarkan panduan dari buku Blue Cross Blue Shield, asuransi kesehatan yang kami pakai- ternyata cuma Mimi Yum satu-satunya dokter yang saat itu bisa menerima aku sebagai pasien barunya.

Sementara dokter kandungan laennya –yang berpraktek di Boston- rata-rata udah fully booked -sampai dua tahun ke depan- jadi udah nggak nerima pasien lagi.

Sempet bete juga, sih. Tapi ya udah lah, gak pa pa.
Toh ternyata aku cocok juga ama dr.Yum yang baek itu ...

Ceritaku sampe mana tadi?
Sampe ke bagian aku nyetir sendiri dengan perut gede, kayaknya …
Nah, kira-kira kalo aku hamil di Indo, bakalan bisa ‘bebas’ kayak gitu nggak, ya?

Kayaknya nggak mungkin, deh.
Karena para 'sesepuh' pasti bakalan ribut dan khawatir.

Tapi nyatanya, saat itu aku baek-baek aja, tuh.

Buktinya, aku selamat sampai di hospital dan disarankan untuk rawat inap dan harus diinduksi biar bayinya keluar.
"Takut si bayi keracunan kalo kelamaan di perut", kata si dokter.

I know, Doc! , batinku geli.
Soalnya aku emang nggak ngaku kalo Dokter.
Trus, pas masuk pembukaan 4 aku udah mulai panggil-panggil Suster Anne minta dicariin anesthesiologist untuk ngelakuin epidural anesthesi. Soalnya biar gak sakit klo pas kontraksi ..
huhuhu, rada curang, memang!

Dan begitulah, alhasil sepanjang malam aku bisa tidur nyenyak meskipun kontraksi terus berlangsung sampe pembukaan 9.5! ...
Jadi waktu pembukaan lengkap, aku bener-bener harus patuh ama instruksi dokter dan suster kapan saatnya mengejan dan kapan saat ambil napas karena kontraksinya nggak berasa sama sekali. hohoho, ternyata asik juga ngelahirin tanpa rasa sakit, ya?

Foto. waktu hamil Kayla (2002)

Aqiqah Kayla, Boston, Oktober 2002

Ini foto-foto saat aqiqah Kayla, lima tahun yang lalu –tepatnya 5 Oktober 2002- yang kami selenggarakan di Boston.

(ps.klo pengen tau keterangan foto2 tsb, mouse-nya bisa langsung ditaruh di atas foto!)

Saat itu kami memang stay di Amerika karena m’Agus masih bekerja di start up company spin off MIT.

Kayla lahir tanggal 5 September 2002 di Beth Israel Medical Centre, Boston.
Yang lucu, kelahiran Kayla dulu di-handle oleh seorang OBGYN yang seorang Korean-American. Namanya Mimi Yum, M.D.

Makanya nggak nyangka juga kalo sekarang calon adeknya Kayla bakal ditangani oleh seorang OBGYN yang bener-bener Korean ...

Rencana Tuhan memang benar-benar luar biasa.

Telemarketing Tips

There are so many ways to sell things.
We can use multimedia such as TV, radio, magazines and so on to promote our products or use direct system, says door to door salesman.

There is one system abroad which is popularly called telemarketing.

The way it works is that the company hired so many people to sit in front of the telephone all day and then they randomly call people who are on the list and try to sell the company products.

Well, in my opinion that marketing system is so annoying!
Frankly, I never like a telemarketer.

I just had enough with them back there in Boston.
I mean, how could you help it if every day in almost every hour somebody just call your number and then you realized that it’s only a telemarketer who offered something that you didn’t need.

If it’s not bad enough, imagine that in the middle of your nap suddenly the phone rings and doesn’t want to stop ringing until you pick it up and it turns out that the one who dialed your number is a telemarketer who offers a credit card or try to sell a cream for selulite?

And the worst part is that in Indonesia, especially in Bandung –the city where I live- now a days there are so many company which have a marketing system by using a telemarketer.

Yes, it is really really really annoying.



So, i just write down the tips that you can use if a telemarketer tries to bother you at home.

HOW TO GET RID OF ANNOYING TELEMARKETERS

1. If they want to offer you a loan, tell them you just filed for bankcruptcy and you could sure use some money.

2. If they start with, “ How are you today?” say, “Why do you want to know?”. Alternatively, you can tell them, “ I’m so glad you asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these problems; my arthritis is acting up, my eyelashes are sore, my cat just died ...”. When they try to get to the sell, just keep talking about your problems.

3. If they say they’re John Doe from XYZ Company, ask them to spell their name. Then ask them to spell the company name. Then ask them where it is located. Continue asking them personal questions or questions about their company for as long as necessary.

4. This works great if you are male: Telemarketer:”Hi, my name is Cindy and i’m with XYZ Company ...” You: wait for a second and with a real husky voice ask,” What are you wearing?”

5. Cry out in surprise, “ Cindy! Is that you? Oh, my God! Cindy, how have you been?” Hopefully, this will give Cindy a few brief moments of terror as she tries to figure out where the hell she could know you from.

6. Say,”No”, over and over. Be sure to vary the sound of each one, and keep a rhytmic tempo, even as they are trying to speak. This is most fun if you can do it until they hang up.

7. If the company cleans rugs, respond: “Can you get out blood? Can you get out GOAT blood? How about HUMAN blood?”

8. After the telemarketer gives their spiel, ask him/her to marry you. When they get all flustered, thel them that you could not just give your credit card number to a complete stranger.

9. Tell the telemarketer that yu work for the same company, they often can’t sell to employees.

10. Answer the phone. As soon as you realize it is a telemarketer, set the receiver down, shout or scream”Oh,my God!!!!” and then hang up.

11. Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment and ask them if they will give you their phone number so you can call them back. When the telemarketer explains that they cannot give out their home number, you say,”I guess you don’t want anyone bothering yuo at home, right?” The telemarketer will agree and yu osay,” now you know how I feel!” Hang up.

12. Ask them to repeat everything they say, several times.

13. Tell them it is dinner time, but ask if they would please hold. Put them on your speaker phone while you continue to eat at your leisure. Smack your food loudly and continue with your dinner conversation.

14. Tell the telemarketer yo are on ‘home incarceration’ and ask if they could bring you some beer.

15. Ask them to fax the information to you, and make up a number.

16. Tell the telemarketer, “ Okay, I will listen to you. But I should probably tell you,I’m not wearing any clothes.”

17. Insist that the caller is really your buddy Jake, playing a joke. “ Come on, Jake! Cut it out! Seriously, Jack, how’s your momma?”

18. Tell them you are hard of hearing and that they need to speak up ... louder ... louder ... louder ...

19. Tell them to talk VERY SLOWLY, because you want to write EVERY WORD DOWN.