Moving...

July 2009

" I don't have a lot of stuff. most of the tuff here are my sister's and a lot have been damaged by the hurricane."

"Ok, so let's list them so i can give you an estimate."

"One full sized bed, a wooden dining table with 4 chairs, i also have another dining table with 6 chairs and a sectional sofa with a big ottoman and a large single swivel couch, all of which are still in the furniture store. Need to be picked up on moving day."

" ok. how about appliances? TV? Fridge?"

" I don't have any but I'm moving my car too."

" Boxes? Do you need us to pack for you?"

" No worries. I already have them in plastic rubbermaid boxes. i have 10 boxes full of clothes and a couple full of books."

" That's it?"

" yup, how much?"

"(punching computer keys) that brings us to $3,400.00."

" Ok. Thank you."

****

So there, Everything taken care of.

****

I thought everything was alright until my Mom and Dad arrived from the Philippines and started to help me pack.

Mom: Ay, di mo ito dadalhin? Sayang anak, dalhin natin. Eto? dalhin natin. Ay ito pa, Dad! pakilagay sa box eto...

Dad: Gusto ko to, iuwi ko sa Pilipinas, dalhin natin ito. Pede ipamigay. Ilagay sa box. madaming nangangailangan...

blah blah blah blah.

_______________

"(talkin to the moving lady on the phone)...How many boxes did i tell you i was moving? Ten? oh, scrap that...make that 27 boxes. with a flat screen TV and a large microwave oven."

_______________

haaay. nasaan ang simpleng buhay?

Life Changing Decisions

Dilemma #1. To go to fellowship or start working.

DUH! Tinatanong pa ba yun? Aba, bahala na sila magpakatalino! Gusto ko na kumita ng totoong pera! Now na!

***

Dilemma #2.To stay or to go.

The agreement was to go back to my beloved country and serve for two years...

or... the waiver,

be a physician in an underserved area the United States for three years...

The ingrate that i am, i chose the latter. You can't blame me, well, actually you can. But please, don't.

Don't worry, mahal ko pa din kayong mga kababayan ko. Except si boy abunda.

***

Dillemma #3. Easy life with big moolah or hard life with bigger moolah or hardest life with biggest moolah!

As soon as recruiters knew i was about to finish training, i would get at least 10 phone calls a day. My email was also full of offers that i had to put some of them in the spam folder.

4 day work week, strictly out patient, no calls, no pagers, no hospital duties. Enough moolah. Panalo.

***

So last December, i flew in to this place, and told them, I'll think about it. Pakipot.

March, i was on vacation in California when they sent me the contract which was approved by my lawyer (nux! may lawyer lawyer pang nalalaman. parang tutuo. feelingero.)

I signed.

Contract signing by Fedex. Picture taken by good friend, Mrs. Eya Dee. buwahaha.

*****

Life changing decisions. I hate doing them.

More to come.

Leaving Residency

June 30, 2009

I have been hanging around the department for the past few days, going there in the pretense of me finishing my final paperwork, charts, faxes, etc. Although it's true that i have all those things to do, the real reason for my being visible there and sticking my head in every open office door, and making small talk with everybody, is that...i 'm gonna miss them all.

I bug Linda once last time for something sweet (she's diabetic but her office is full of chocolate/candies if you know where to find them). She gives me a pack of candies and shoos me out of her office because she has yet to finish the schedule for the next month.

I go to Becky's desk and ask her to teach me to work her fax machine even tho i knew how to do it. I go to Louis' office and, as usual he threatens me to " go empty your mailbox or else blah blah", as he usually does. i tell him i already did and he finally is happy (they know i check my mailbox once a year, during spring cleaning).

Next i pass by Ron's office and tell him i've completed all my online requirements, just for the heck of telling him. i don't want to argue with him this last day.

I drop by my adviser's office and spend a few minutes ranting and complaining about stuff, just like a regular day. But we both know i'm not ranting today because it is a regular day. I'm ranting because it is my way of saying goodbye. She gives me a tight hug, and it is enough to silence me.

It is 6pm. everybody else has left the building. I walk down the hallway one last time and take a picture of the place, which, in the past 3 years, i called home.