Take a Break

I've decided to take a hiatus from blogging for a while in favor of a more traditional medium, plus some other stuff that would definitely leave me more preoccupied than usual..Its all a part of trying to pry myself away from the computer to go out and start living again. ;) See you around. :D

Outlet

I need an outlet.

Not the electrical kind, as the image above might lead one to believe, but an opportunity to make my thoughts and feeling heard.

Which is why I'm on multiply again after so long.

Actually, that's a part of my struggles.

As I have mentioned in an earlier post (which I won't be able to crosslink here because it's too far back to search), blogging is cathartic to me, and man, do I ever need catharsis now..

I've had a really rough year last 2011. I had hoped to put out a yearender blog entry following my usual tradition, but I never got around to doing it.. So to my readers, please bear with me.. I'll probably put one up in the coming days so as not to break tradition. I guess I was too preoccupied dealing with "stuff" that I was trying to take lightly but couldn't.. Looking back, I thought I was ok, but the reality proved otherwise.. I cannot really explain why I was unable to blog for such a long time, especially when I think I needed this activity the most..

Chalk it up to laziness, but I guess it goes a little deeper than that. I'm being intentionally vague right now as I contemplate if I will discuss certain things at length in future entries. Basically, this year has been about bad decisions, self-discovery, re-evaluation, feelings of betrayal and self-pity. It was also a struggle with depression, self-doubt, and finding purpose.

There was also a little big of light in the tunnel as well.. particularly the discovery of a certain something that may help me through rough spots when I'm feeling down..

Sigh.. I'm actually a bit afraid of what this new year might bring, but hey, when you've hit rock bottom, there's nowhere else to go but up, right?

I just hope I can find the rope to haul myself up out of this mess.. its really dark in here..

Fast Food Mano-A-Mano: Mang Inasal vs Chic-Boy

I have wanted to write this piece for the longest time ever since I was able to dine at both of the aforementioned establishments. However, this task was habitually forgotten, and I'm actually pretty lucky that I'm finally writing this stuff down now.. :P

vs

Filipinos are no stranger when it comes to roasted meat. Going around the metropolis, one would be hard pressed

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