Arif Maftuhin

Cellphone has been part of our life and it goes wherever we go. Because of its small size, however, it is very likely going to be like a key for us. How many times you forget where you put your key? How many times have you ever lost your key? Cellphone, in this way, is like our keys. Becuase of the different purposes, I have been bringing two cellphones, a CDMA phone for my flexi 's number; and a gsm phone for my IM3's number. It is certainly not to show off. In Indonesia, we need to have those numbers to keep our communication budget low. Flexi is good to call landline numbers; while IM3 is cheap to do messaging. It is really economical way to have two cellphones. The risk of having two cellphones, however, is high. C'mon... I have never been able to keep all my pens if I have two. Usually I lose one of them. So, it happens to my cellphones, I lost one. Well. I will buy its replacement anyway.

Hari Sabtu kemarin, sehabis saya posting tulisan "keep on blogging" di warnet dekat rumah saya di kawasan Warungboto, saya tiba-tiba saja diserang panas tinggi, badan begitu menggigil, dan rasanya seperti mau pingsan. Saya tak tahu sebabnya dan juga tak tahu harus bagaimana. Setelah istri saya meminta adiknya untuk ke rumah, kami putuskan untuk pergi ke rumah sakit malam itu juga (pukul 22.30). Istri saya dulu pernah membawa anak saya yang panas hingga kejang-kejang ke Instalasi Rawat Darurat RS Hidayatullah yang hanya berjarak 1 KM dari rumah kami. Begitu sampai di sana, saya segera mendaftar dan dalam tempo kurang dari 5 menit saya sudah dipanggil untuk diperiksa. Setelah pemeriksaan selesai, saya diminta meng-klaim obat. Di apotik rumah sakit itu pun saya tak perlu antri. Cepat dan tanpa ba bi bu. Nah, yang paling mengejutkan adalah saat saya harus membayar. Tahu berapakah yang harus saya bayar untuk layanan cepat, ramah, dan memuaskan ini? Hanya 16.000 termasuk tiga jenis...

It has been more than three weeks that I have not written on this blog. It is necessary to know that I am still an active blogger; even though I did not post any writing on this blog; I do it for another blog: fiqh.maftuhin.net, the blog I created for a class I teach at the State Islamic University of Sunan Kalijaga. Furthermore, I got involved in some projects require my extra work. They include a research on Javanese Muslim in Jogja, a translation project, and a workshop. Needless to tell, the exhausting “project” I have never imagined before: taking care my children. You know, it is really exhausting as I have to drive them on daily basis. Every morning, I drive my first child to her school and then drive my second child to my university. At the late afternoon, I then pick-up the second child (the first one is picked by her mom). You know, I don’t even teach that much. Next week, I will get more job as I have to teach two more classes. You know what I don’t have a choice for this. A...