Baler, Aurora

It's my second time in Baler, Aurora. Last year that I've been there was not so fun because we were sort of "lured" and "kidnapped" by a religious group who wants to "evangelize" us and be one of them. Sounds like a cult huh. We felt betrayed at the time, but I don't want to talk about it here. Maybe some other time.

The road going to Aurora (formerly part of the Quezon province) is narrow, rough, steep, and uncemented. You need a SUV, bus or trucks to ensure a safe and anti-vomit trip.

The road is a work-in-progress since last year:

A little progress in every 10 kilometers with only half of the road cemented:

The Sierra Madre mountain range in the morning--takes my breath away!

We stayed in Bay's Inn in Sabang, Baler--the favorite and common surfing spot in Aurora

Bay's Inn has WiFi, good accommodation with affordable rates

The good surfers are the locals:

This dude is so cool! Parang nakatayo lang sa waves o!

The pa-cute guys/gals just lie on their surfboards:

Next year if I go back here, I will try to brave the waves to surf. The surfing lesson with instructor is Php300.

Bye-bye Amang Rodriguez

I backed out from my orientation in Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center last Thursday in lieu of De Los Santos Medical Center. Too bad I wasn't able to serve in a government hospital. I passed my application in Amang in December last year and got a call from them only two weeks ago. I called the Nursing Office and asked if I could join in the next batch. The personnel said the next batch is already filled up and the next application period will be next year.

So bye-bye to Amang.

De Los Santos is accepting applicants for staff nurses. Just go the HR office at the basement near the parking lot and the back of the hospital and give your requirements to the guard on duty.

By the way, I'm off to Baler, Aurora in a few minutes. Looking forward to surfing (if I could brave the waves and if I could afford it).

Ciao!

4th Day

This is my fourth day in DLS as a trainee. It's not fun-filled dahil walang makukulit sa group. Lecture days until May 5. We already had exams yesterday on dosage calculations and a 100-item enumeration/fill-in-the-blanks exam on nursing procedures/skills (funda kung funda talaga!).

Just to review, here are some questions from the super enumeration-filled exam. I've provided the surest answers I got:

> complications of giving otic meds in its extreme condition=vertigo, dizziness ...

> things you should avoid in choosing intramuscular injection site=mole, birthmark, scar tissue,

> subcutaneous injection sites=lateral upper arms and thighs, fat pads on abdomen, upper hips

> reasons why you should rotate injection sites in giving insulin

> stock dose of potassium chloride = 40mL/20mL

> the best injection site for emaciated and elderly patients

> the best injection site for 7 months old and above = ventrogluteal

> the best position when instilling nasal meds

> indications for nasogastric tube insertion

> indications for indwelling catheter

> examples of meds for treating glaucoma = beta blockers and NSAIDS

> reasons for doing tracheostomy care

> reasons for doing suctioning

I find this one question so mind-boggling: give 6 reasons why you have to fill the urinary catheter balloon with 10mL of PNSS... I mean, why does it have to be 6 reasons? I can only give 2 sensible answers, 4 are just wild guess. In the book, there are only 2 reasons. Maybe I should ask Mr. JP about it. If only we're allowed to save the presentation in our personal USB's.

Hamburger Speaker

Presenting the mighty hamburger speaker! It's actually a dupe of the X-mini speakers. I got this generic because it's way cheaper than the X-mini (P1,600 vs. 600). I'll just use it for personal purposes like watching movies in my laptop, anyway. It has a quaint bass sound, pwede na rin. I had it replaced with a new one because the previous unit that I got was defective. Mabait naman yung pinagbilhan ko sa Virra Mall, pinalitan kahit walang receipt (note to self: always DEMAND a receipt!).

I'm currently downloading via torrenthound Twilight series and Coco before Chanel movie. I just finished downloading Empire Records after watching it from JackTV. Wala lang, trip ko lang kase yung soundtrack and ang cute ni Rene Zelweger and Liv Tyler in their mini-skirts sa movie. Hanap nga ko sa ukay-ukay ng skirt na ganun.

UPCAT

Ron and I went to UP Manila this afternoon to get the UPCAT form for my cousin who is in Isabela province, but to no avail. Sabi ng guard sa entrance in front of Robinson's Manila, sa May pa daw available. So tumawid na lang kami sa mall para mag-stroll. We sat and chat at a coffee shop and had vanilla frap and chocolate moist cake. So-so ang cake, pero the coffee was superb.

Then, we strolled around and hit the toys 'r us to look for Iron Man War Machine (ang bagong trip na i-collect ni Ron-ron). He wanted the 6-inch version pero wala pa rin stocks. Kahit sa greenhills at cubao wala nito. Saan kaya meron? Sa Quiapo? Divisoria? Addict kase si Ron sa mga action figures. Anyways, it's a good investment because a lot of guys out there are always looking around for these stuff and actually buying and collecting them.

My Digicam's Busted

My digicam's twisting lcd is acting up. The image that's supposed to be seen in the LCD suddenly switches to the viewfinder (the eyepiece) once I twist and press the lcd against the camera's body. It's hard to sort or view pictures from the viewfinder, I have to squint my eye kasi ang liit!

This problem started after my brother borrowed it. There are really some people na hindi kasundo ng mga gadgets. Ultimo digital watch nasisira sa kanya. Hahaha! Idaan na lang sa tawa. I can't afford to have it repaired because I've read that repairs are expensive. On the other hand, I'm thinking of having it checked at Canon Service Center in Chino Roces, Makati baka minor lang naman like there may be some loose connections lang that need tinkering.

Photo taken from letsgodigital.org

Good day!

After long weeks of waiting, here at last is the text message from Delos Santos-STI Medical Center:

Now I'm ready for it! I'll say good bye to Plants vs. Zombies once duty starts (sacrifice). I won't be late or absent until I'm a regular employee (hehe! joke!). I will be good (even if others are not).

I need to thank God for this long-awaited opportunity. At long last, after 2 years of being a jobless nurse, here it is. I know that He directed me to be a part of this hospital because He knows that it is the best one for me (after so many failures in SLMC --2nd priority in Global, and failed in the 2nd exam in QC).