bye for now, lucky

Naririnig nyo ba ung music ng blog ko? Hehehe. Thanks to Mark for the help.

Parang ayokong iwanan si Lucky mag-isa. Baka madepress. Iwanan ko na lang ung feeder nya na puno ng food tas iwanan ko din ng madaming tubig. Ipagbibilin ko sya ke ate leonor (kapitabahay). Sana di magtampo ang pusa ko.

Christmas Morning

I heard two little voices coaxing each other to wake me up. It was about lunchtime when I opened an eye to find two kids beside my bed a little boy looking on and a little girl asking for her gift. My inaanak. I fergot to wrap it last night. I just pointed to where it was and she left shouting thank you at the door together with her brother. Kids. I went back to sleep.
I spent the day watching Smallville in my pajamas. I didn’t even bother to take a bath. Hehehe. I sent Monet (or Manet) to buy me a bus ticket and huraaaah!! She returned six hours later with my reservation for tomorrow’s 7pm trip. I’m going home! I wonder if I can update my blog from there.

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve. All buses and planes are booked and I’m stranded here at home. My sis and counsin left for the province two days ago. Manet (my katulong) is spending Christmas eve with her aunt. Lucky is curled up on the sofa waiting for me to finish with the computer before she heads off to bed with me. Every year at this time my asthma and rhinitis act up. I can’t find my steroids and all I have is my beta2 agonist and some Nafarin-A. I took two tabs a couple of hours ago which caused me to doze off. I had Mcdonalds for Christmas dinner and I bought myself KFC (1pc chix original, thigh) in case I wake up for the Noche Buena. I also bought myself a chicken burger, again from KFC, in case Manet (or was it monet? I swear I don’t know her real name) fails to show up for breakfast tomorrow. I have Ken Follet’s The Hammer of Eden to keep me company tonight. I’m fine by myself. Well it’s just another night. Somehow I think lucky feels lonely now that everyone has left. She follows me around the house and keeps close to my feet always. I woke up to find her sitting beside me in bed a while ago. Poor kitty.

Merry Christmas everyone. Eat to your hearts’ content and regret it later

Thanks abi, nat, doki, & hans for inviting me to spend Christmas with you.

Dibidi Dibidi!!

People have been asking me to buy DVDs in Quiapo, knowing that they are a lot cheaper there. A friend gave me a list of titles but as I started asking around for “Gone With the Wind”, people began to give me incredulous looks and I would be getting the what-the-heck looks from the vendors. I looked at the next title on my list…”Oliver”. I didn’t bother to ask. (cmon guys! Ung sikat naman na pelikula plis!!!)

A man approached me and asked if I wanted DVDs. I said yes, and he motioned me to follow him. So I made my way behind him through the thick mass of people. He then stepped into an alley. I followed. There were suspicious looking people there eyeing me up. Then he entered another door, turned left, then right. The air was stifling hot and without any circulation. I felt uneasy. Baka mahold-up ako. I was walking past people who looked like goons. There were groups of people sorting and packing illegal cds and as I passed by them, they sneered. If they were planning to murder me here, I wouldn’t stand a chance. I was in one of the dens on illegal operations in the heart of Quiapo. He finally entered another door and, tadaaaaa! Hundreds of porn dvds in front of me. Foreign, local, young girls, men, women, old women, animals (err), you name it, they’ve got it. He said, “pare, pili ka na, mura lang to”. I looked back at my list and replied, “e manong, Mary Poppins po hanap ko.”

Psst, di talga ako bumili. Pramis. Peksman.

Chichacorns

These people are the friends I have shared every single day of clerkship and internship with; who have seen me at my worst and best; whom I slacked with, slept with, cried with, did special punishments with; cursed with and cursed at; people who sometimes wanted to kill me, while I, likewise, plotted to take their lives when they were asleep. Friends who sympathized with me by hating the people I hated, and didn’t laugh while I was being slaughtered during rounds and conferences (while I did otherwise). Colleagues, who, when I wasn’t on duty, either took care or killed my patients, both of which worked to my advantage. Supporters, by which I would never have survived medicine.

Family.

First picture taken xmas 2003. Second picture, taken this year. A few pounds heavier and a whole lot smarter. Godbless us, doctors. Merry Christmas.

Sibs

i'm living on a tight budget. here's what i'm giving my parents this Christmas. I'l just have it printed at SM then buy an elegant looking frame. cheap noh?

Smiles

Don’t you just envy kids? Why can’t we be like them?

Krystala!!

Christening of kyran’s baby girl, yana. Yups, she’s a cutie (and I mean it). I didn’t need to pinch her behind and I volunteered to carry her. I didn’t wake up in time for the actual christening, though, but I caught up with them during the celebration, err..four hours into the celebration, to be exact. As usual without a gift. Pagpasensyahan nyo na muna ang ninong nyo at wala syang pera. Ky, your little tyke and your princess are adorable. Take care of my inaanak, kitoy (parang pangalan ata ng aso). Krystala!

Tiangge

Tiangge. Naghahanap ako ng mabibiling ilaw at extension cord. Tsk tsk tsk…tama nga ang sabi nila… kung kumikita ka na, pag-iisipan mong mabuti kung saan mo gagastusin ang pera mo. Kung allowance ko pa din siguro to na galling sa tatay ko eh malamang nakapag-uwi na ako ng mga damit at sapatos ko. Tatlong oras kaming naglibot. Wala akong nabili.

Danigurl

Palagi naming iniisip dati kung cute nga ba talaga ang pamangkin namin o sadyang bulag ka talaga pag kamag-anak ka at ipagduldulan mong cute ang pamangkin mo kahit hinde. Kse madami dyan na nagpupumilit na cute ang anak nila tas mapipilitan kang sabihin “ay ang kyot naman” kahit na nandidiri ka sa totoo lang at ayaw mo man lang hawakan. Pero anong magagawa mo, kebigan mo ung magulang, kaya sige, konting pisil pisil sa pisngi. Malala pa pag pinabuhat sayo kse naniwala silang sincere ka sa sinabi mong kyot ung bubwit. Ang ginagawa ko pagpinakarga saken ung panget na bata ay kukurutin ko nang palihim tas iiyak ung bata saka ko sasabihin, “ay ayaw saken”, sabay balik sa nanay.
Pero sa ayaw nyo’t sa gusto, kyot kyot ng pamangkin ko. Period. At kung sana andito pa sya sa pinas, ay ipapabuhat ko din sya senyo kahit na ayaw nyo.

Of Lanterns, balls, and dongs

It’s official. I am sharing my bed with lucky. I woke up to find her spread out beside my legs without a care in the world.


Every 16th of December, a number of naked guys run through the AS bldg. in their birthday suits. The Oblation Run, they call it. And it’s a big event. The halls become too crowded hours before the actual run, even with students from other universities flocking with their cameras to catch a glimpse of some bouncing balls and dangling, tiny peckers. In my 5-year stay in the university (yes, I overdid it) I don’t remember ever going to watch the Oblation Run. Chemistry papers kept on getting in the way, or I didn’t wake up on time for it (as usual) or I just forgot the date. Every year I resolved to watch it but I never got to. Why would I want to watch such spectacle? Hmm. To compare, perhaps? Hehehehe.


But I would always be there for the Lantern Parade (well actually, my sked would be for the oblation run but I would arrive for the Lantern Parade, hehehe). I remember our futile attempts at building a lantern for the biology department. We tried to make it look like a dissected frog but as we were parading it, we would hear comments such as “ano yun?”, or “psst, ano yang lantern nyo”, or people would just shush, looking forward to the next lantern. Until a little girl shouted, “Kerokeropi!!”. Hurraaaaah!!! She recognized our frog! I would’ve kissed that little girl had she not been madungis. Hemingway, that made our day.

I didn’t attend today’s parade. I didn’t wake up.
Ei abs, I heard u made libre dinner. Saying, I wasn’t there.

Bye, Bye, FPJ

I woke up at 5:30pm again today. Lucky was sleeping across the lower half of my bed in a position wherein I couldn’t stretch myself the whole length of the cot so that I was crouched in the upper half of the mattress the whole time. She’s getting the hang of this. Next thing I know I might be sleeping on the floor with her taking over my bed.



Da King passed away yesterday at 65, after a massive stroke over the weekend. Kewl, another strategy to scare my patients! He will be one example they can relate to. I’m starting to see his death in a different light.

This is really kewl. Movie stars ang fans are flocking to his wake at the Sto. Domingo church to view his remains! Movie stars!! Sheez, a friend texted me earlier saying Carmina Villaroel was there earlier as she heard it on the news. Hmm, I think I should go and pretend to be a mourning fan to catch a glimpse of them.


Poe was "a good man, a worthy adversary in politics and a great Filipino," president GMA said in a statement. Yadayadayada.

Jackdaws

u wonder why I skipped 5 days. My computer just shut down and wouldn’t restart. So there..tv..pda..cellphone..computer, everything that keeps me busy, connived to stop working. I had nothing else to do. The lone happy creature was lucky. Now I had all my attention on her. She’d climb up my bed and I’d stroke her till she slept (parang panget pakinggan ah). And she’d sleep the whole afternoon beside me. Sweet thing.
I finished reading the Hornet Flight and Jackdaws (which was a better read by the way, go get yourself a copy).
Until a few minutes ago, a little bird called me up and suggested to remove my desktop’s battery and then put it back. Voila! I’m blogging again.

tv

I will be on national TV on December 21, 24 and 28. watch out for me in Unang Hirit, GMA7 early in the morning. It’s just a small segment really. Some herbal supplement sponsor of theirs. (doight, herbals). First they gave me an 83 year old woman with BP at 170/100, PMI at 5th ICS, parasternal border, rales on both lung fields, distended neck veins, enlarged liver, bipedal pitting edema grade II. What the hell?!!! Congestive heart failure and they insist on giving her these supplements!!! The next two patients were just simple cases and I just told them that if they think that these supplements made them feel better and they have the money for it, who am I to stop them from taking these pills? Duh. I hope when the edited version comes out, it won’t look like I’m endorsing their product. Nah, who am I kidding.

aarrgghh!!

My camera’s not working. My TV’s busted. My celfone’s mic is out of order. What else can go wrong??? Oh, my neighbor’s cat shits in front of my door every morning (I swear I’d kill that puss when I lay my hands on her).

On the brighter side (brighter eh?), Christian called today re a job offer. A new Japanese firm opening in Batangas needs two doctors who’ll be receiving 18k each a month. We’ll be dividing the week so we get 3 days each. Not bad no? So what’s the job all about? Well we’d just be waiting for construction injuries. Hehehe. They’re buying an ambulance this week, so I guess my job will just involve first aid and transferring patients to a larger hospital. Sweet.

MT

Another friend called re my interest in medical transcribing. They say it pays well. She offered to lend me her 3-port pedal (an instrument they use to forward or rewind voice recordings) so I can use it at home. Kewl. I’ll be working at home, my time, my pace. I think I’ll be making a career out of this.

What Now?

The call came today while I was in the clinic.
The chief resident said, “Hi. This is Dr. Cayetano, regarding your application. The consultants are excited to have you as a resident here.” (duh, they would have been excited for any fart
applying for residency, but again, it feeds my ego, hehehe *puff puff*).
“So, when are you available for your interview?” (huh? I thought they did the scheduling..har...har har!!! *puff puff* getting bigger…)
I said, “Uh, ma’am, I have clinic kse eh. But I’m free Wednesdays.”
She goes, “ Ok, save my number, I will be calling you one of these Wednesdays before Christmas. Three consultants will be interviewing you. Around what time ka available?Morning?” (*puff puff puff* getting bigger…this is kewl…)
And here goes the clincher… I say…”uh, ma’am, hapon na lang siguro. I might be asleep pa kse kung umaga“ (*puff puff* I’m ready to burst! Hehehe.)

But she insisted I wake up early na lang. Fart.




So it still doesn’t solve my dilemma. No one I know (‘cept for a little bird) wants me to do residency there. My mom openly says she wants me to train in a government hospital (as if I want more toxicity, duh). My sister and brother-in-law want me to take the USMLE, and are willing to spend for it (lucky me, huh?). Another friend tells me not to train in the hospital I applied in, “FOR MY OWN SAKE” (scary). And two chirping chuchubelles seconded. My dad, on the other hand, still doesn’t understand why I need to go into 3 more years of training when I already have my M.D. (he thinks the cash flows in once you’re an G.P.) but I’m pretty sure he’ll be supporting me (financing, included). My other sister and brother...well they couldn’t care less, they’ve got their own lives.

Maybe I’ll decide when she calls again.

BISET!!

Shit, my camera’s not working. I guess you’ll have to bear with my posts until I get it fixed. It might be longer than expected since I still need to save up for the repair. Naiinis ako. Biset, biset, bisett!!!

Hornet Flight

Due to lack of things to do, I started to read Ken Follet’s “The Hornet’s Flight”.

The Kumars at No. 42

i saw an outrageously funny tv show at a friend's house today. it's called The Kumars at 42. check it out. wish my tv was fixed. doight. wish i had cable.

Insertions

Look at that pile. A friend asked me, pleaded, actually, to do an annual physical exam on male employees of a prestigious law firm in Makati. “For how much?” I asked. “P500.00.” she replied. I said “Sorry, the pay is too low and besides, there’s a storm raging outside.” She texted again a few hours later saying she couldn’t find a male doctor. She said she’s giving me P700.00 for the job but I’m to say to my fellow doctor that I was receiving the same amount originally stated. I said it’s still not worth it but because of her effort to convince me, I agreed. (feeding my ego will get you somewhere, hehehe). So woke up very early the next day, took one last look at the map (I don’t know Makati or Paseo de Roxas and I don’t have a car) and got my things ready. She said that I was to dress up well, in slacks preferably, as I was to examine lawyers. Duh. A doctor in jeans is the same deal as a doctor in a coat. But I complied.
I picked up my things and looked for an umbrella. Again, only the pink one was available. I decided to head to makati without one despite the super typhoon. Dumb idea. All classes and gov’t offices were suspended nationwide that day, but this was a private office. All time I prayed that it wouldn’t rain. But when I reached Cubao it just poured.



Good thing an old woman was selling umbrellas. Only, they were priced at P65.00 each when they could be bought at Divisoria for P20.00. But what could I do at this time? I got one before she ran out of stock. They were selling like hotcake. I then realized how many people as dumb as me thought they could get to their destination in this weather without getting wet.
Shucks, MRT operation was suspended. I was running late so I took the first bus I saw going to Ayala, an ordinary bus. I figured out, with this weather, I didn’t need to ride an airconditioned one. But I came to realize that airconditioned buses ran much faster than the ordinary ones. But I stuck to my bus.
I went down along Ayala and proceeded to strut under my new umbrella. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. Walk along Ayala avenue dressed as a yuppie, trying to look busy or in a rush for an appointment, along with other yuppies on their cellulars. You know, that kind of stuff you see on TV. But wait… there was no one walking with me! The avenue was deserted, save for one or two people scurrying trying to get out of the rain. Oh well, I didn’t want to spoil my day, so I proceeded. These tall buildings never fail to amaze me. I wanted to have an office in one, with a very good view of the metropolis. Well, I got a clinic in Quiapo, with a good view of the church and the bustling vendors and buyers three floors down. Not bad.
I reached the building. Got lost (I didn’t know not all elevators stopped on all floors). But finally found the office. It was posh. I especially liked the shelves. The team coordinator handed me some gloves. I asked what they were for? She said they were for my rectal examinations. Ugh!! I knew I shouldn’t have accepted the job. I thought there couldn’t be anything worse, but on my checklist, there was a space for hernia. Double UGH!! The office didn’t even provide me with a decent trash box so I just collected them on the floor. Can you count how many gloves I used?

Lights, Lights

Well at least I got to practice my skill in prostate examination and learned that a lot of lawyers have hemorrhoids. Must be the stress. After a long day, I couldn’t wait to go home. There were more people along the avenue now. And the Christmas lights were lit! I remember last year, when the avenue was brighter. Must be the cost-cutting due to the financial strain. But nevertheless, it still reminded people that Christmas is more than just gifts and bonuses, or parties and binges. Well don’t ask me what it’s all about. I wouldn’t know either. Friendships? Family? For me, this Christmas will be the first holiday I am not financially dependent on my parents. Freedom.

AM/PM

The ring of the phone woke me up. When I looked at the time, it was 5:30. I looked out of my window and saw that it was still dark. Funny, I thought, why would someone ring me up at this time... Sheez, it was 5:30PM! I practically slept the whole day again. The phone call was for an appointment tomorrow. Thank God I didn’t have one today. My fone was full of received txt msgs since this morning. I answered them one by one and apologized for replying so late. I got out of bed and ate an early dinner. Started my day with dinner, duh. Took a shit, then showered, then sat down in front of my computer to update my blog…tadaaaa!!!


The winds are howling outside. There isn’t much rain though. My TV is still busted so I’ve no idea of what was happening ‘cept for one txt message from my mom, reminding me not to go out today because there was a super typhoon. Oh, that made sense. The strong winds, the rain...so that’s why. Well I’m a good son, I followed her advice. *snickers*

here's a link to the news story from People's Journal.