The "casuality" of casual gaming

For the past few years, we have seen a new genre of gaming emerge from the screens of web surfers around the globe. The so-called "casual games" provide instant, easy-to-play, highly addictive, although at times repetitive, gaming. I guess this new form of computer gaming has it's roots from the Java programming language which enabled people to make programs that would run in your browser window while online. My own personal experience with this genre started when I tried the game Bookworm from Popcap games which I played at the LRU. Then came the flood of games that began probably began just before my clerkship year when I was exposed to a wide variety of titles like Runescape, Diner Dash, Zuma, Chuzzle, Text Twist, among many others.

I just recently figured out that Hangaroo was actually a casual game also. Since I encountered this game long ago during my MedTech internship, Im lead to think that this began much longer ago than I originally expected..

Dropout

I surprised myself today...

I did something I used to think was unthinkable as far as I was concerned..

I dropped out of pre-residency.

Yeah, I did.

I have my reasons, and I believe them to be valid. Looks like I'll be taking that much-needed rest break after all =), and I'll be able to go to Cedric's wedding next week as well.

Oh, and I just attended Edmund's wedding yesterday. It was great. They had this nice ceremony at Sanctuario de San Jose, followed by the reception at the hotel there adjacent to Robinson's Galleria (sorry, forgot the name).

I'd like to say thank you to the Neuropsych residents. Thanks for having me at the department, and for teaching me a whole lot during the short stint I had with you. And to the seniors, thank you for believing in me.. I'm sorry I wasn't prepared to take the challenge yet.. Maybe next year..

To my pre-res batchmates, I'm sorry I dropped out and left you guys behind. Thank you for respecting my decision. I'm sure they will get all of you. If ever I go back next year, turuan niyo ako ha? :D

To the interns, thanks so much for all the help. Study hard for the boards! After you pass it, the possibilities are endless!!

To the clerkies, study hard and try to learn as much as you can. You still have a LONG way to go..

Saddle up, lock and load plus a Tech Retrospective...

I spent the greater part of the day going all over the metro to complete the stuff I need for my "Neuro Bag" including the bag itself. :)

Just the other day, I bought a Welch-Allyn otoscope/ophthalmoscope set. something that I had been saving up for since internship which I intended to buy after I had passed the boards. And it was pretty lucky that I did! Turns out it was one of the things required for us to have at all times..

I'm getting a little anxious about pre-residency, but then again, who isn't? I just hope I can pull myself together in order to pull this off.

My lawyer's blog has been pretty silent lately. I wonder what's up with him?..

For the nth time, my life stops at a particular date (this time it's October 14, the last day of pre-residency), and the stakes are progressively getting higher and higher. It's just maddening..

Tomorrow, I'll be having my oathtaking as a newly licensed physician. Then the following day, we start pre-residency. It's kinda like saying "Congratulations, now get to work!!"

Though I may seem a bit apprehensive with what lies ahead, I'm also a bit excited because I'm finally going to be immersed in the specialty of my own choosing, unlike in clerkship and internship where you are required to rotate to all the different departments, like them or not.

I just hope my enthusiasm tides me over the next few weeks..

It never occurred to me that blogging could be relaxing.. I guess being a frustrated writer helps. :P

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Computer technology has evolved so quickly in the past 20 years, it just boggles the mind. I remember being a tech-savvy kid who worked well with DOS and understood (to some degree) the minute differemces between hardware models. However, its as though I just turned my back for one second when POW! An entire truckload of new tech has arrived and I haven't realy been able to catch up ever since.

When I was a kid it was clear cut and simple. Processors were the XTs, ATs (286s), the different incarnations of the 386, 486, and the first Pentium (which at the time was so fast that it was rumored to burn itself right out, thus necessitating it's own cooling fan, a novel concept in itself). If you wanted sound, you'd have to shop around for something made by Sound Blaster, Roland, or those other small players like Covox which faded into obscurity. There was also the monitor (monochrome, CGA, EGA, VGA, XGA, sVGA) and it's accompanying video card (?). This I'm not too sure of, since I believe that dedicated video cards began to come out only with the advent of more demanding 3D-extensive games and programs. USBs were just barely carving a niche in the market, and CDs were only slowly being introduced as a new form of mass storage media. You see, when I was a kid, PCs didn't have hard drives yet. DOS was booted from the big floppy drive, and you had to run programs using their executables MANUALLY, There was no point and click, no double click, heck, the mouse was probably still under development during these early monochrome years.. Computer memory at the time was a mind-boggling 64 kilobytes!! I remember being struc with awe when my cousins bought a "highly advanced" 286 with an EGA (16 color) monitor, with their own hard drive whose capacity was a whopping 20MB!!! Whoa!! I was dumbstruck as I watched them install Hero's Quest 1 (all 10 floppies of it) on the HD and play seamlessly for hours without having to change the disk even once!!

Yea, those were good times indeed. Every new advancement shook the foundations of computer technology as we knew it, unlike the present age where the improvements are just a bit more of the same, and the changes in performance not nearly as drastic or groundbreaking as before. Sure, I acknowledge that the computer industry is still moving forward by leaps and bounds, but the joy of discovering something totally new and novel has long gone. We've taken technological advancement for granted that it's no longer fascinates us to see what new things the new hardware can do, as compared to how awestruck we used to be before..

Man, I sound like a techie granddad...

The battle lines have been drawn...

I just had my orientation for pre-residency which starts 2 days from now, and I am pretty hyped up about it. As I brace myself for what would probably be the toughest schedule that I have ever faced, my insides churn at the prospect of what lies ahead..

I guess I hit the nail right on the head when I told my folks that my life would be put on hold for this coming month.. Imagine having to go on-duty every other day, checking in at 630am and leaving for home 8pm the following day.. Damn...

And oh yeah, you're expected to be a good doctor during the time in between.. Remember, we will be 7 pre-residents fighting for only 4 slots..

I guess this will be one of the final posts that I'll be putting up in quite a while..

See you on the other side.

Turning Chinese

Gloria Maris
Mann Hann
Hap Chan
North Park
MXT (Maxim's Tea House)
Ling Nam
Superbowl of China


* I had the terrible experience of eating at Tong Yang (?) hotpot resto there in Megamall. The staff was very, very rude! They were outright rude from ordering to getting the bill. That was probably the most unpleasant lunch out we have ever had!! Vey poor service!!

Right on target

Got this from a co-intern's friendster profile...

An excerpt from Toto.. Doctors are often accused of callousness, venality and self-infatuation. But they remind us that they have sacrificed the springtime of their lives, completely lost the precious years between their 20's and 30's acquiring skills to benefit their fellowmen. Furthermore, they had suffered deprivations. Most of them had not had more than a dozen real nights of sleep in all this time. Many have sacrificed their marriages and have lost the unique opportunity to see their children grow. So when they argue that the world owes them some compensation in the form of wealth, respect, and social status, their demands are not entirely without a cause. Also, as the grim statistics show, they often suffer worse than any patient. For no one can repair a broken marriage or restore the children's damage by their father's ostensible neglect.

Sad, but very true...

Chibugan na

Hungry?

Kentucky Fried Chicken - 887-8888
McDonald's - 8-6236
Jolibee - 8-700
Pizza Hut - 911-1111
Domino's Pizza - 922-2222
North Park - 73737

Mmmm...

PRC madness

With the pre-residency period closing in, and the deadline for registration of new doctors drawing near, everyone is scambling to secure their requirements. The PRC compund is a virtual madhouse! People were just EVERYWHERE!!

I decided to make good use of my PRC time and renewed my MedTech license as well.

The whole process took about half a day, starting roughly at 830am up to 12nn. It was actually very straightforward when I looked back at it. There were really just too many people! Probably because those taking the Nursing boards were beginning to pile up. I'd dare say that about half the people in the PRC that day were Nurses, or were going to be taking the Nursing exams.

When I was down, I headed downtown to have lunch with my folks then spent the rest of the afternoon just lazing around with the laptop.