The Dengue Misadventure - Telemetry

telemetry  [tuh-lem-i-tree], noun
a portable device that continuously monitors patient ECG, respiratory rate and/or oxygen saturations while automatically transmitting information to a central monitor.

We were quite relieved that Irene's platelet count started to go up. Painfully slow as it is, it was still a positive sign. On our 3rd night, platelet count was up to 37. Things were looking good. Or so it seemed.

The Dengue Misadventure - Hospital First-timers

On our first night at the hospital, Irene's platelet count went down to 15, from the initial 21 upon admission. Something has to be done. We looked for A+ blood type donors but none was available on such short notice. A cousin, who was a doctor, luckily secured 4 units from Red Cross Intramuros. But upon checking with the hospital, 1 unit would cost us around Php5,000 for transportation and re-screening. We didn't mind the cost at that time, Irene's health is more important.

Fresh Frozen Plasma

The Dengue Misadventure - A Tale of Two Hospitals

Five days after Irene started having fever, we called up to check with the hospital if there's an available room. None. The hospital asked us to call again after lunch to check. We decided to run to a different hospital expecting better treatment. Irene would've ran out of blood had we waited for a room at that miserable hospital.

On the wall

The Dengue Misadventure - Paranaque's Dysfunctional Hospital

We were at the fourth floor of the nearest hospital from our house. We went to the emergency room earlier but our case was deemed as not an emergency. So now here we are, fever for three days and fourth on the list. Irene was having a difficult time managing her chills but we still had to wait. Everyone had to. A woman I saw at the emergency room was ahead of us, also waiting. When asked to step on a weighing scale, she walked but started to vomit. The weighing scale had to wait. In this hospital, their definition of an emergency is still a mystery to me.

Photo from Google Maps

The Dengue Misadventure

I was on my last post, chronicling our New York escape when tragedy struck. A single bite changed what's supposed to be a routine weekend to a start of something no person deserves to endure.

Telemetry

HTC One V: One Very bad experience Part II

Outside the HTC Service Center

After dropping off my dead HTC One V at the HTC service center, I was informed that I would receive a text message telling me if my phone is fixed and ready for pick-up. I waited a week and called them only to be told their still fixing the phone. A week after I called them again expecting another line from the call center agent telling me my phone's not yet fixed but to my surprise, he told me my phone is fixed and is ready to be picked-up. Wait, where's my notification?

It took them 12 days to fix my phone and they had to replace the mainboard of the phone. Which means what now? I'm just relieved that I got my phone back, the one I paid for brand new just to die in less than a week.

HTC One V: One Very bad experience

I'm well too aware of the limitations of my Samsung Galaxy Y. It's a great entry phone but after saving a few bucks, I felt the need to upgrade. I've been searching the net, looking for a sub 15k smartphone that packs a punch. The first phone that caught my attention was the Samsung Galaxy Ace. But after reading some negative comments, I turned my attention to its latest version, the Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus. Again, negative reviews. I looked to other brands and finally, one phone that's sexy enough to tickle my fancy, the HTC One V. Little did I know that this curved-chin looker would be such a tease.

and I'm still waiting

The looks, the specs, the ice cream sandwich android version, and of course the price point were my buying points. Recently launched mid last month, I had to wait a couple of weeks for the One V to pop up on outlet shelves. When it did, I immediately purchased but was immediately turned off. The phone had no "factory charge" and I had to stand there waiting for the phone to power on. I got bored so I cancelled the transaction. Only after an hour that we realized, my sister left her sim card inside the phone. We went back to the shop and the One V was now booting up. I resumed the transaction but was again disappointed after finding some adhesive stuff just below the screen. The shop didn't have extra stocks and asked me to return the next day only to find out they don't have new stocks yet.

The Driver's Triennial Duty

License Renewal Form

Every driver in the Philippines have a duty every three years, to renew their driver license. The expiration date on one's license is conveniently dated on his birthday 3 years beyond. Drivers may renew their licenses within 2 months of the expiry date or pay a penalty if they renew past it.

I forgot to renew my license before my birthday. The LTO and the License renewal centers are closed during weekends meaning a typical working man had to file for a leave just to renew his license. Fortunately, LTO DLRCs (Land Transportation Office Driver's License Renewal Centers) have been popping up like mushrooms everywhere, spreading out the number of license renewers rather than piling-up in the few LTO offices. Now licenses are renewed in less than an hour.

Moving In

We've moved!

After weeks of  sweating the idea of having my own domain name, I finally did it. I am now the proud owner of www.roni-g.com digitally delivered today via Google. I have always thought that having your own dot com address is pricey but I spent less than Php500 (10USD to be exact) for a year's registration. That's even cheaper than buying a McSavers Cheeseburger every month. A ".ph" however, is much more expensive, offering their domains at 3 times the price of a ".com." I'll stick with the ".com" for now.

The process wasn't easy though. The hardest part was coming up with a name that is unique as you and luckily not registered yet. I was surprised that names that I thought was uniquely me were already taken. Thanks to decades of the internet's existence, many domain names are already registered and if sometimes available are still up for grabs costing more than double the normal rate. Who would've thought there was already a www.ron2ron.com? It's also disappointing that some of the addresses you wished available were left for dead, updated centuries ago with empty promise of adding more content in the future. Better get yours now!

Friday the 14th Misadventure

it was friday the 14th and it's our 19th 14 together. a dinner and movie date seems just about right for the occasion. we tried the kansi at inasal at iba pa and it was not bad at all. my girlfriend enjoyed the soup and ranked it third next to the one we had at boracay and another at taverna luna. needless to say she needed another cup of rice. the chicken was just your typical inasal chicken. the paa and pecho tastes like the ones served on bacolod chicken inasal or mang inasal less the chicken oil.

uncleared

on monday, training will be officially over and i'll be on probation. with that, i was asked to bring in an nbi clearance and other requirements for HR. i asked our trainer if i could work on it friday morning and report in the office after lunch. our president overheard the conversation and told me i could have the day off.

my body is still adjusting to work. i'm so used to being part of the unemployed and not of the philippine workforce. it's no surprise that i took a couple more hours of sleep before getting my clearance.

during my first few years in college, i was a witness to the long lines of people wanting to get an nbi clearance. almost everyday i walk down the stairs of the LRT and be faced with an obstacle course of sorts with people getting in the way on my walk to padre faura. a couple of years later, the lines disappeared. the nbi moved its clearance system to a new building in carriedo, fully computerized and apparently fast. "apparently" being the keyword.

dealing with charlie

after a month-long stint as a project coordinator for Rx Review Center, i found myself with a handful of job offers. difficult decisions led to procrastination. then suddenly i'm on the edge, faced with what could be the one of the most important decisions of my life. i turned down a tempting job offer from Rx Review Center, called-off my pursuit of a previous offer from Novartis, and accepted an offer from L. Meyerf Pharma, a company i had no idea existed.

things happened so fast that i'm still digesting the events. half a year of online applications made an impression that it would take months before you can be scheduled for an interview, and months more before they call again. oftentimes you'll wait for a call that will never actually come. this time was a surprise. 3 days after the click of the mouse, i was called in for an interview.

it was a friday. sporting a long-sleeved black shirt and a baby blue tie, i went to L. Meyerf's office in Makati and looked for a certain Mr. Marquez. after a few minutes of waiting, Mr. Charlie Marquez introduced himself, shook my hand, and the interview commenced.

close call

a december sunday shopping at divisoria was a bad idea. with my dad spreading some early christmas cash, we were off but even an early wake up call couldn't avoid the christmas crowd. i wasn't able to buy anything, not even a single string. so i decided to come back the next day, a monday, and i expect wide-open aisles.

i woke up late and went to SM north edsa for a quick stop to look for leather shoes. never saw a pair i liked. so off to divisoria then. i took a bus to monumento and then a jeepney. i was seated in front and never knew a simple choice between front and back could've been a choice between life and death...

long sleeves and cab talk

i was ready for my job interview but i was running late on schedule. it's a good thing that the heavens were smiling at me, the series of fortunate events kept me on track. first was catching an fx taxi in valenzuela, a rare occurrence since last year. then at monumento station, crowds were spilling from the platform on to the sidewalks. it's a good thing the fx route was up to 5th ave. there were long lines as well but there was an express lane for those who already have tickets. good thing i still have my stored-value ticket from last month. still running a bit late, i decided to take a taxi cab on buendia. the roads were full of taxi cabs but were all taken. but after a long long walk from taft avenue, i found one. i came in 10 minutes early.

the road to employment

jobstreet.com has become a friendster for the past couple of months; every time i'm online, i just have to log-in and check if anything's up. i applied for any pharmacist position that suits me and there isn't much. and after waiting for what seems like an eternity, i finally got a couple of calls from would-be employers. the dates were set and my journey has begun.

makati city is undoubtedly the business mecca of the philippines and being familiar with every street and every corner of the busy city is invaluable to a job hunter like me. and since makati is 2 hours away from valenzuela, i knew finding the right buildings would be tough. that was until the information superhighway offered some help. after searching for maps, i found the website kabeet.com, an interactive internet mapping system. a few more clicks and there it was. zoom in and zoom out, pan left and right, every building and every street is just a click a way. getting lost was an impossibility.

free

before anything else... Heart Evangelista fell down twice on the runway! you read it here first! details later...

an appointment in the morning seemed impossible since for the past weeks, i get up at around 12 noon from a 3 or 4 am sleep. surprisingly, i fell asleep early last night and woke up 5 am. then we were off to san fernando pampanga. after waiting for no one, we then went to hagonoy, bulacan. after delivering a few medical supplies to their hospital, next stop was malolos, bulacan. there i paid for a PTR, professional tax whatever, costing me 330 pesos for i don't know what. after lunch, i was ready to go home and sleep.

with some things to do in qc, they dropped me off at sm north edsa. i took the bus home and with the summer heat boasting on the rainy season, the "no curtain" effect of the bus was terrible. then a simple invitation would change the day drastically; two patron tickets for the penshoppe rockfest.

sms anonymous

for the last couple of weeks i was hounded by anonymous texts. it's funny how a text bearing no known sender could be interesting but at the same time, a nuisance.

once in a while you'll recieve something like "ei, dis is my new number." and that's cool and all but when you receive something like "can u b my txtm8?" that's a different story. now i must admit that during the first few months of owning a sms-capable phone, a "can u b my txtm8" message won't be much of a bother. a message like that might even be of interest. but that's like 6-7 years ago, now it's just a waste of time and money.

during the last 2 weeks, i've received 2 "new number" texts, then a couple more texts from friends whom i thought were sucked into a black hole, and lastly a message from a txtm8 wannabe. now the first 2 messages were ok, part of the routine. the next 2, were nice, catching up with old friends. but the last one, it was surprising to say the least.

the euromed-cavite experience: part 10

for the first time in our internship, we decided to take the fastlane and opt for the graveyard shift. the company stopped production on holy wednesday and resumed 2pm monday the following week. with 29 hours to go, we were to report from 2pm-6am, to slash a significant amount off of the remaining hours.

so there we were, folding boxes, handing-out package inserts, doing nothing spectacular. by 2am, my eyes were getting heavy and my head was starting to hurt. where's the insomniac when i need him? 4am, i called it quits, i need to sleep. sleep.

7am the next day, movements woke me up. my 3 roommates had already finished their 160 hours of internship and were packing, eager to go home early. i, on the other hand, only had 3 hours of sleep and still had 15 hours of internship to complete.

the plan was a 2pm-5am internship marathon to have time left to prepare for friday's graduation. the good Lord once again smiled at us and presented us another angel. ma'am jansen sent us home 5pm while the timecard reads 6am of the next day.

it was our last day at euro-med, it was my last day with the butterfly. she logged-in a few hours earlier than us and was doing intern stuff alone. she must be lonesome, she might need some company. there were a couple of instances wherein i could've helped her with her job or open up a conversation, but i forced myself not to. only once did i give in to my heart and talked to her, just to tell her the good news that we will be going home early.

the day was finally over, the 160 hours have been completed, nothing left to do but pack up and go home, my real home. but we decided to make the most out of our stay and chose to go home the next day. the butterfly on the other hand already have other plans and was due to go home that night, her brother was on his way to pick her up. i was trying to sleep in the other room but the howls and vehicle sounds kept me awake. i got up and went to the next room and she was gone. i did not notice, i was not notified. where was the goodbye?

The euro-med cavite experience: part 9

tuesday, april the 11th, one of the housemate's birthday and we're off to tagaytay. i woke up early, very early. my cooking skills were called again for a second tour of duty. 6am, the food was ready to go.

just a jeepney ride away from dasmarinas, tagaytay was some kind of escape from internship stuff. thanks to euro-med's angel, we arranged our picnic but still had 17 hours written on the timecard. 7:30am, we were ready to go.

tagaytay picnic grove was not in the jeepney's route but the driver was nice enough to drive us all the way there. he even offered to fetch us after we're done. the grove was a huge place with easily more than a hundred tables and cottages. and after a few minutes of walking, we finally settled for a table under a tree. 9am, we were ready to eat.

my early wake-up call was a blessing in disguise. only a couple of housemates were awake and i had the kitchen all to myself. no one's gonna mess with my dish this time. paper plates, plastic forks and my pasta. i'm ready for the verdict.

the deliciousness has landed. every mouthful generated some mmmmm's. the magic is back. and what perfect timing, the butterfly had her first taste of my cooking and loved it. my smile said it all. now i'm ready for her...

The euro-med cavite experience: part 8

back on my uncomfortable bed, i'm almost alone in the room. the door is open, one fixes up her things and the others are watching tv in the next room. i thought this day would be good but it slowly showed its ugly face as the day went on.

yesterday, i was home. and how sweet it is to be home. cable tv, internet, and everything i lost for a week, i had to savor in less than a day. i had to get up early this morning and go to cavite. i packed up everything i can in two sports bags. clothes, a dvd player, a water heater, some canned goods, a digicam, and anything i can take from my room. i was ready for my 2nd week in cavite.

the other day i was furious at one of the housemates. some of us decided to travel together this day and she was with us. on our way, i still have some words for her but i decided to forget about it and keep my thoughts to myself. little did i know that the truce will only last for a couple of hours.

doing intern stuff, the group was having fun. but my laughter abruptly turned into silence and an irate stare. strike 2. the same girl thought she was funny verbalizing words that hit a nerve. again, i decided to let it go and after roughly an hour of silence, the clown was back.

maybe one week together is not enough to know each other's limits. i'm an open book, and freely shared the tragedies of my love life. but one other housemate keeps rubbing it in my face thinking it was funny. she keeps on telling people how women turned me down. i think it's because i was over it good that she thought it's ok to blurt it out whenever she feels like it. i was ok with it at first, but it's a different thing when she broadcasts it in a public place 100 times in a day.

i want to go home now. this is not the place and the people that i thought they were. i think i'm even losing my connection with my butterfly. what a difference a day makes...