A new season cometh..

Well now, it seems like the NBA and their players have reached an agreement about how to share the oodles of money they make each year, with a (possible) start of a new but shortened season slated on Christmas Day,

Whoop-Dee-Do! But then again, I don't really care anymore.. :|

As I had mentioned in a previous post, I have grown sick of this long labor impasse that has prevented the NBA from starting on time. All the anticipation is gone, and I've moved on to other things and realized that the NBA isn't really worth waiting for anymore.

Seeing as this wasn't the first time that the NBA went through a lockout in recent history, both sides could have taken steps much earlier to avoid this repeated incident which in the past hurt the league in so many ways: Among them, the quality of basketball suffered because of the scheduling, and casual fans were turned off and many have not returned since then.

Factor in my gripes about the league, and you have one disgruntled casual fan who will take his ball someplace else. Sure, I'll probably scan the league standings every once in a while just to see what sort of madness has been happening, but I don't think I'll even bother watching the playoffs and finals this time around.

Hay naku..

Saw this status message on a friend's Facebook wall..

"If you ask yourself why doctors charge so much for consults. It's because we don't get paid vacation, we don't get paid sick days, we don't get bonuses for outstanding performances nor for Christmas. We don't have insurance plans nor do we qualify for unemployment. We sacrifice our family on special days so that we can bring treatment to others. Illness or personal affairs are not excuses for a misdiagnosis or mismanagement. Next time you ask, remember that doctors are doctors because of the love of life, but that love doesn't pay debts. Re-post if you're in a medical field."

Fair enough, but I think it doesn't necessarily justify the high costs of consults. I guess defending the need for doctors to actually charge for consults would be more appropriate. Sadly there are many people who are jexpecting to get a free ride "just because" it's a noble profession, charity first, you're not a good doctor if you charge the ailing patient, yada yada yada.. That's bullshit! Doctors have to eat and pay bills just like everyone else too, you know!!

Bad gloves? Bad trip

I just want to gripe..

A few months back, when I began going to the gym in earnest, I bought myself a new pair of workout gloves since the older pair I had been using was already worse for wear.

I checked the sporting goods stores. The more prominent LP brand cost about 600+Php which was definitely over my budget, what more those bigger brand names like Nike.

I was able to spy a lesser-known brand called Outdoor Avenue which was selling for around 350Php. Good enough I thought, and the price was reasonable enough. It was better than nothing, and I also thought that its just a pair of gloves with velcro. What could go wrong?

 I was a little apprehensive when I saw the velcro strip. I mean, look at that thing! It wasn't as rough as the usual velcro we usually see. It stuck well, and i tried different wrist movements to see if it would give, but didn't. So I bought it, failing to take into account what sweat could do the the velcro.

The gloves sucked from workout day one. After working up a sweat (or even before sweating), the glove flaps would prove difficult to keep together. Every once in a while, I would have to refasten the the flaps so that the gloves would not flop around as I went around the gym.

Luckily, the gloves were still usable for lifting weights even in that sorry state, but sometimes you just can't help but be bothered by the fact that you're using a faulty piece of equipment designed supposedly to keep you safe and comfortable during a workout. There's also the nagging thouht that everyone at the gym is probably secretly calling you "floppy gloves man" who needs to adjust his gloves every so often like a crazed madman. :P

I still use these gloves to this day due to monetary constraints, and the fact that apart from the faulty "sticking" of the velcro, the gloves are still in workable condition. Guess I'll just have to wait until these gloves fall apart on me and I have enough extra cash to replace them.

Bespectacled

Last week, I finally decided to have my eyes checked out (well, it was the second time really, but I feel that the first consult doesn't count. More on that later)

I had actually been suffering from blurred vision in my left eye for some time now, but I guess it was only lately that it became pronounced enough to will me to finally do something about it. Come to think of it, my eyes have been getting easily fatigued lately, resulting in less productive nocturnal study sessions.

Since my first ophtha consult didn't go very well, I texted one of my former CSMC interns (who is now a 1st year Ophtha resident. Hi Maui!) for a good recommendation.

After being pointed in the right direction, I set off to go back to the hospital I had at one time considered home. I had a bit of time to kill, so I met up with some former IM batchmates and a few of my former clerks (who are now interns) to catch up on the latest news. Oh yeah congratulations to the CSMC IM team who won at the recently concluded PCP quiz! I'm proud of you guys, especially since I heard you really kicked the ass of a particular team. ;)

Going back to the initial story.. I waited patiently at the clinic of DR. FRANCISCO GOMEZ (Thanks doc!), luckily I had arrived early and only had a couple of patients ahead of me.

After an exhaustive ophthalmologic examination, the good doctor told me that I really had hyperopia of the L eye and it was no wonder that previous examiners told me that my L eye was "lazy". I had once thought of wearing an eyepatch over it (as I had seen in Peanuts comics), but common sense got in the way. :P

Needless to say, the doc wrote me off a prescription for corrective lenses, and seeing how much my vision had improved as he was trying lenses on me, I was pretty excited to get myself a pair.

Normally, a person would be hassled by the need to wear glasses, but I guess my flawed eyesight was enough motivation to supersede any desire to be glasses-free.

I browsed through the frames available at his clinic and saw one I fancied. It was a "rimless" frame, and it cost 2000 Php! Bear in mind that this price was not yet inclusive of the lens itself, which ranged from 500Php for plain uncoated lenses, to about 4-5k for those fancy-ass "Transitions" lenses which darkened when exposed to bright light.

The secretary suggested that I go out and buy a frame of my own choosing then just come back to have the lenses done, which I did. I first looked around the malls to see what the optical shops had to offer. It was really annoying when all these optical shop personnel gang up on you and offer you their most expensive frames, only to apparently show a hint of disgust when you ask to see their "affordable" frames. (Ano ba naman ang gagawin ko sa 25K na eyeglass frame diba??)

With malls out of the picture, my dad suggested I accompany him downtown to check out those wholesalers to get a frame with a good price. He initially wanted me to get a frame similar to his, which cost only 100 Php! He had this great (and surprisingly feasible) idea of buying multiple identical frames so that all I have to do is move the lens when the old frame broke down.

It seemed like a good plan, until we got to the sellers. The really cheap frames were too small and thus hurt the sides of my face when I wore them. (I think those were for children). After an exhaustive search, we came upon this store which sold the one I have now. It was lightweight, and of the right fit! And it only cost 1K (A nearby optical store was selling a similar frame for 1.5K). Thus the deal was done. I hurried home and dropped off the frame at the doctor's office. The secretary told me to come back the following day (today) for pickup. I was actually quite surprised that it would be done that quickly. Nevertheless, here I am now, newly bespectacled and seeing much better than before (and without looking like a total nerd either) :D

Those old war stories..

This evening found me wandering aimlessly among my old blog posts when I was drawn to the stories from my Clerkship year, starting off with this one.

After reading all the way to the start of Internship, I was awestruck with the realization of what I had already been through in such a short span of time, and what I willingly put myself through to earn my MD..

Some of the stuff I wrote made me chuckle, especially those that said "I hope one day I'll just look back at this and laugh" when describing a particularly toxic rotation. :P

I remember the sleepless nights, staying up to monitor a critical patient closely; those days when you'd be so busy that you're only able to eat lunch at 11pm that evening; the nights when you're just going to bed when your groupmate bursts into the room shouting "Code! Code!" and you get up and rush out to try and resuscitate a patient whose heart had stopped beating...

Clerkship is really a mixed bag. You're supposed to learn and work at the same time, and it's not just simple on-the-job training for routine tasks.You monitor patients and scrub in for ORs one moment, you're attending a major lecture or conference the next.

It still boggles the mind how we were able to survive all that. Considering the workload thrust upon us with very little shut-eye during the duties (which were every other or every 3 days, depending om the rotation), it was a miracle that we were able to stay sharp and healthy enough to do the things that were expected of us..

To cope with the stress and fatigue, people come up with all sorts of creative ways to make oneself "happy" or maximize downtime. During clerkship, a lot of people were drawn to the casual games like Bejeweled and Diner Dash (casual gaming was just gaining a foothold back then).

We had to put up a brave front especially when we were seeing the patients. A lot of the things going on behind closed doors at the hospital is unknown to the public. Al the sacrifices, heartaches, and sob stories remain untold, often by choice.

But there were a lot of good things as well. Fascinating cases, incredible ORs, not to mention all the knowledge one would gain just by interacting with a patient as compared to just reading about cases in a book. 

In the end, it would still be all about the patients. People who came in hoping for relief from whatever malady they are afflicted with. I guess we took on that great responsibility as well, sometimes unknowingly, since we were just medical clerks at the time after all. I guess we could say that we gave it our best(in our own limited way) to make sure that our patients got the care that they deserved.

We were lucky to have our seniors (interns, residents) who have been there and done that, to help us in our goal of learning to treat the sick and give comfort to the afflicted.

We also learned a lot from each other, especially when different people would be lucky enough to handle different cases. Those little informal learning sessions with your groupmates/classmates served not only to increase our collective knowledge, but to tighten the bonds of camaraderie that only a common experience of hardship could forge.

After a year's worth of learning and hard work, it was time to move on. Groups split up as people went their separate ways after graduation. Most proceeded to their post-graduate internships at the different hospitals. Others, particularly those who came from the states, opted to forgo internship (and thus the local boards) and went straight home to take the US boards and eventually train there. 

Clerkship is a very memorable and life-changing experience, but certainly not one which I would ever want to go through again.. :P

Twit Twit!

I've been fooling around with Twitter lately. I initially signed up for an account a year ago just to make sure no one got my username. :P That being said, my Twitter lay dormant for the longest time, with me hardly adding anything nor tweeting a single character of text.

Then I met a friend who's totally into it. Having added him up (for lack of anything better to do), I began replying to some of his Tweets. Then I began looking at other people's Tweets. Then I started adding other people/personalites/organizations. Then I started reading the news via Twitter.

And just like that, I found myself hooked, though not to the point where I just sit around and sift through tweets all day. :P

My skepticism gave way to curiosity and genuine interest. This is actually a great social tool. Not as revealing as, say Facebook, yet it allows you to place your current thoughts out there in real time for all the world to see. The premise is so simple that it worked great!

Just when I thought I was going to get a whole lot more studying done.. :P

Hitting a Wall

Sorry for the rather graphic (but surprisingly neurological) image :P

 

After that previous article I had written the night before, I was supposed to be writing a whole bunch of articles now, given the plethora of material that I have to work with.

However, as luck would have it, I'm stuck again. I find myself in a situation that I'm rendered unable to put a good topic-specific post together. Hence I felt the need to write htis little piece down to get started again.

..or I could try using these. I hear they work great for cars.. :P

Oh the weather outside is frightful..

Well, not really at the moment, but we've been having a spate of strange weather patterns lately. 

It's finally November in Manila! We're already waist-deep into the "-ber" months and Christmas is supposedly in the air already. :P The days are getting shorter and the nights longer. There's also the cooler breeze in the air, best appreciated at night to early morning.. :P

(Image source here)

Going back to my opening statements, it puzzles me as to why we have scorching summer-type heat in the afternoons to early evening (with it being November and all), which is usually punctuated by a sudden downpour, and man, it would rain really HARD for a few minutes before ceasing as suddenly as it had began. A quick peek at the weather satellite image from my favorite weather site yields absolutely nothing.

In other news...

A couple of days back, I went to see the new "Puss in Boots" movie with a couple of friends. I watched it, and it was AWESOME! Ok maybe it wasn't as good as, say, Shrek, but the entertainment value was definitely there. Having Antonio Banderas play the feisty little cat with the spanish accent was just pure genius! :P I'm really glad they decided to do this spinoff movie!

Based on the articles I've read at NBA.com, the NBA lockout is at its 4th month already. As talks and negotiations between the NBA and the Players' Union continue to drag on, the NBA calendar has already suffered with the cancellation of all the November games. Now the basketball world awaits with bated breath whether or not the players will accept the (last best) proposal put on the table by the owners.

With all the drama surrounding the lockout, and the basic premise of "Millionaires vs Billionaires" battling each other for a larger share of the pie, with owners claming unprofitability and the players not wanting to give up all the money they have for their bling, it's enough to make a casual fan like me lose interest in the league altogether. Sure, I'm a basketball nut, but with the way things are playing out, its just so "nakakawalang-gana" and as such, I seem to have lost my taste for the supposedly best league in the world. I couldn't help myself, so here are a few points about this entire mess that sets me off: (these may or may not be about the lockout, but would concern the NBA in general)

• Players stubbornly clinging on to their disproportionately larger share of the profit pie. I'm sorry, but with the state of the world economy as it is now, forgive me for not sympathizing with your concerns of how to pay for your next sportscar/mansion/wild house party. It may be true that a player's carrer is definitely shorter than the average guy, but these guys make more money in a year than most people could ever dream of earning in a lifetime. Why don't they just use their money wisely so that they'll be set for life once they retire? Oh wait, that's right..

• NBA players are getting drafted without finishing college. I mean, what the hell? True, some guys want to be able to earn money as soon as possible, and that a career in the NBA would yield a lot more money than a degree, but I can't help but feel that its such a great waste. Besides the potential of graduating with a degree, a college senior gains a lot more experience which should make him a better all-around player in the pros with better basketball IQ and a firmer grasp of fundamentals (well, ideally that should be the case). My cousin who lives in the States says that a degree does not necessarily mean that it's going to be your job for life. It just shows xompanies that you are capable of learning (coz lets admit it, a lot of stuff people do at work are not taught in school, but are instead learned on the fly at work.

• All these flashy players running and gunning. Though it may look great on highlight reels and posters, I often yearn for the 80s basketball when Bird and Magic were at it. They may not have been overly fancy, but they got the job done. I think teamwork was a lot better back then as well, as you would see fantastic ball movement in almost every play.

• Players making their own superteams. Its one thing to be assembled together by a good management office with excellent foresight, but it becomes absurd when players start taking stuff into their own hands and recruit each other to play together. What about competitive balance? :P

I know I'm rambling, but these are things that have been bothering me about the league for quite some time now. With all the hubbub the lockout has created, I don't think I'll be following the NBA anymore, unless there was some compelling reason to do so otherwise.

Was supposed to talk about other stuff, but its getting late. Maybe tomorrow then.