Pinoy Blog Machine (Beta)

No, I'm not getting that old yet. But simply put, within the past two weeks, I got sick. My arrogant self just won't let me take it as that. I still went to school with a fever capping out at 38.5 degrees. Not too bad right?

It all really goes downhill from there. I was able to attend my first class without much difficulty. But after that, with a peak temperature of 39.5, I decided to go take a rest. My usual sleeping place wasn't available although I would have preferred that since that person is easier to talk to. But I had to settle for the clinic. Definitely not comfortable, the mattress was thin enough that it felt like I was sleeping directly on the plywood. But at least it was a 'bed'. Anyway, I slept for about 4 hours before I decided to eat lunch. That's when it happened. The peak temperature of 40.4! Hehe. Needless to say, only a few people know. Aside from my big brother, my multi-disciplinary instructor/sensei/mentor and the people with me at the time, I don't think anyone else knew.

All that aside, I still went to school the next day, and the day after that. Talk about stubborn. Hehehe

I would have put my Baby’s photo here. But since he doesn’t consider me as his baby anymore…well, then I can’t put it here.

LEAVE YOUR LINKS AND COMMENTS!

Tags: saturday photo hunt sweet, kittens, sweet kittens

Completing a commission from Cheez-It brand crakers, Troy Landwehr puts the finishing touches on a sculpture of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, carved from a block of cheddar cheese weighing more than 600 pounds, Friday, June 29, 2007, in Little Chute, Wis. (AP Photo/The Post-Crescent, Michael P. King)

— I want to have a bit of that (I love cheese!) but… how did he carve it anyway? Did he have to touch it with his hands? I don’t want to put that cheese in my mouth if he mushed it with his hands. Haha.

Read the complete story here.

Ugh~ There are small scratches on the screen of my Creative ZEN V Plus. Fuckshit. I would buy a casing for this if there was even one in the country. I think there were some people selling it over eBay, but the price is too much for wallet. I told my brother to buy me one in the US, but he didn’t because he said it’s expensive and I should just search for it here. Aah, fuck.

Belated Happy Birthday to Kara Hehe~ You were busy last night, so I couldn’t message you.

Dementia, I will do the meme tonight and Rozeh, I have a question to ask regarding Paypal.

Image Source: TechFresh June 29, 2007 is the official day when Apple's much anticipated iPhone has been released. I wonder if it is already available locally in the Philippines. Some features of the iPhone: -A 3.5 inch touch screen so you touch icons instead of a keypad -Has EDGE and GPRS features, however no 3G which came in to a big surprise to the public and even to mobile phone leader,

Our Dear Nanay finally joined our Father in Heaven last June 26 (Tuesday) at 7:30 PM. We will always remember her... She who was a blessing to all of us and will always be. God bless you, Nanay!

And it’s because I’ve been tagged by Makoy with a meme that focuses the spotlight on the one being tagged.  This meme is called “In the Spotlight“, as created by Christy of Christy’s Coffee Break.

Come to think of it…every blogger wanted some attention focused on them.  Otherwise, why would they blog?  Just to keep an online journal of what they do and of their thoughts everyday?  Of course, not.  If it’s the only reason, then they should have kept a traditional journal, instead.

Every blogger needs and wants to be heard.  And so, I think this meme will serve all bloggers well.

The rules are:

1. If you’re tagged, make it clear in your post that the title of the meme is “In The Spotlight”.
2. Link back, of course!
3. Do not cut and paste the rules!  Explanations are at Christy’s blog.
4. Among the given questions, choose those which you would like to answer.
5. When you’re done, tag 5 people you know to do this meme.

And the questions:

About Blogging…

• What makes your blog unique?  There are many medical blogs in the blogosphere and many doctors who blog.  What I think is unique about my blog is that I bring the more personal aspect of the medical profession to the “non-medical” people so that they may understand that doctors, too, are just like them.
• When did you start blogging?  I started blogging (not just making websites) May 18, 2005 at the old Blogger.
• What do you hope to accomplish with your blog?  I wish to let my readers know how it is like to live being a doctor.
• What are your feelings on the “blog popularity” issue?  Of course, every blogger wants to be popular…but popular with the “desirable” people or the target audience.  It helps that a blog is popular based on numbers because it makes those who are newbies to your blog think that you’re being read by many people.  Interest would be piqued if one sees that a particular blog has many readers or are linked by many people.  Natural reaction would be that this blog, which has many readers or links, are read because the content is good.  Of course, this may be false.  However, you still get to attract many new readers this way.  Just think of the blog rankings as upping your chances of having your visitors stay for a while.  It’s up to you and your blog’s content to make them stay a while longer and to have them coming back for more.
• Do your moral values affect the way that you blog, and if yes, how? Morality isn’t just a religious thing.  I’d like to think of morality as the way we think and process everyday occurrences.  And so, yes, I think moral values affect blogging.  You wouldn’t be blogging positively about things you find “immoral”.  Unless, of course, you blog about it so that people may know why you find it immoral.

About Myself…

• What’s your favorite childhood memory?  I remember that, as a child (like 10 or 11 years old),  I was so inspired by the Sweet Valley Twins pocketbooks that I tried writing my own series, which I entitled, “The San Bernardino Twins”!  Hahaha.  Hey, I typed the first and only book of the “series” using an old fashioned typewriter, complete with a cover hand-drawn by me, of course!
• If you were stranded on a deserted island what three things would you want to have with you?  1)  A really big knife (you know for cutting things); 2) Some toiletries like shampoo, toothbrush, and toothpaste; and 3) cooking stuff (or if it’s too much to ask, maybe just a lighter?)
• Are you a spiritual person? I see myself as spiritual.  But I’d like to clarify that it’s different from being religious.
• What is the weirdest thing that ever happened to you? Can’t think of any, at this point.  Or maybe I’m used to too much weirdness that I don’t find things weird anymore…
• What is your worst quality?  I easily get disheartened by failures or if things don’t go the way I want it to but… (read the next question…)
• What is your best quality?  Whenever I stumble and fall, I always pick myself up to stand again.  I’m proud of my battle scars.
• Is this your first meme? Obviously, no.  I’ve been doing Thursday Thirteen, Friday’s Feast, and Saturday Photo Hunt, like…for ages?  Only that I haven’t been able to post much like I used to.

Okay, now I’m tagging:  Benj, Bluepanjeet, Yna, Ade, and Jon.

Tags: prudence and madness, prudence, in the spotlight meme, memes

test post for smileys

:-),

 

All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike — and yet it is the most precious thing we have.

—Albert Einstein

For the open-minded, the site Skeptic - Extraordinary Claims,  Revolutionary Ideas, and Promotion of Science is one of those websites worth your online reading time.

Web content includes features articles, reviews, or opinions on current events related to science and skepticism.  The Skeptic Reading Room also features debates like:

• Deepak Chopra vs. Michael Shermer on The AfterLife
• Jonathan Wells vs. Michael Shermer on Intelligent Design

In my particular interest is reading about creationism vs. evolution which have been the hot topic nowadays, with the noticeable increase in debates on the return of teaching creation based on the Bible as science in schools and the rise of creationist museums.

There are also, of course, a lot of articles that can introduce you to skepticism.

You can also subscribe to their mailing list, ESkeptic, and you’ll be sent their featured articles and reviews.  I don’t think their magazine, the Skeptic, is available in the Philippines.  However, you can subscribe to it online.

To know more, read “Discover Skepticism“.

 Sum Ergo Cogito —
I Am Therefore I Think.

Tags: skepticism, skeptic, open-mindedness, promotion of science, humans think, humans

Techie is a term, derivative of the word technology, for a person that displays a great, quite possibly even obsessive, interest in technology, as well as high-tech devices, particularly computers. Notably, techies express a disregard for any technology that could possibly be considered obsolete, even if the technology or process in question might only be considered obsolete within the techie community. Consequently, techies are also often early adopters.

From Wikipedia

Sometimes being a techie is such a complication in living an ordinary life.  Sometimes it can boost or pull your ego to a certain level.  It depends on the situation.  I have often been mistaken for some simple girl who doesn't even know how to compose an email or even as a company worker who doesn't even know that there is such a thing called social networking site.  Ah, well, its better to take them by surprise.. but there are other things...

Something to make you smile…

Mon Jun 25, 11:58 PM ET

Philippine police chased down an unfit thief on Tuesday after he ran out of breath and asked his pursuers for a “time out”.

“He was panting and gasping for air when we caught up with him after a 500 metre sprint,” Erwin Buenceso, one of the arresting officers, told local radio station dzBB.

Buenceso said the man and an accomplice broke into a house in the Philippine capital and stole two expensive mobile phones. Screams from the residence alerted a local police patrol, which gave chase.

The robber asked for a “time out” using hand signals.

After he regained his composure, police seized the two stolen phones and brought him to a station for questioning.(Yahoo! News)

Hmmm…too bad for the thief that he was probably chased down by younger police officers who perhaps have yet to develop the signature beer bellies of the policemen. Hehe.

I am simply dog-tired today but I'll leave after watching Cheche Lazaro's Media in Focus episode today, where today's winners of the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism and officers of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility are guests. Nice.

Congratulations to this year's winners. And thank you to all those who attended this year's ceremonies (More than 700 came--the biggest in JVOAEJ history!). Thank you and hope to see you guys again next year.

Inquirer, Star, Newsbreak and Philippine Graphic grab top JVOAEJ prizes
Source: Freedom Watch

For more information on the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ), please contact the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility at any of the following numbers: 894-1314/894-1326.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, Newsbreak, and Philippine Graphic won the top awards in the 18th Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism (JVOAEJ) for works published in 2006 during ceremonies held at the AIM Conference Center Manila on June 28. Since 1990, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has been the administrative and technical secretariat of the JVOAEJ.

The first JVOAEJ was launched in 1990 to honor the late Jaime V. Ongpin who was secretary of finance during the Aquino administration. A press freedom advocate, Ongpin was involved in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship and was instrumental in harnessing public support for the restoration of democracy.

As in the previous year, reports published by daily newspapers were judged separately from those published by non-dailies. There were thus two sets of first, second, and third prizes for the investigative and explanatory categories.

The first prize winners in the daily and non-daily division of the investigative and the explanatory category each received a cash prize of P70,000 and a plaque.

Read more here.

Author’s note:  I’m publishing this article online now, since the newspaper editor to whom I submitted this article seemed to be uninterested in publishing it and did not reply to my email.

*     *     *     *     *

Not too long ago, I wrote an article entitled, “M.D.’s on Strike: Why Doctors are Leaving and Why They Should Be Leaving”.  I posted it on my multiply blog and a mailing list I’m subscribed to.  Some received it positively, appreciating the risk to bring out an unpopular idea in the open (the only thing that perhaps hindered its offline publication is that I published it online first.  Also I have a sneaking suspicion that the newspaper opinion editor does not like bloggers).  I also got not so few violent reactions and was accused of neglect of my duties as citizen and abandoning my fellowmen.

I have a hunch that those who emailed or left me accusatory comments on my blogs meant to make me feel guilty of my “selfishness”.

But let me see, why do I need to be guilty thinking about myself?  It is in our nature to strive for self-preservation.  We are happy when we fulfill our basic needs and have work in keeping of our interests and joys.  By striving to work in another place which can provide for the needs of my family and I, I work for our survival.  By working on such place where my contributions to health care provision is better understood and appreciated, I work for my own happiness and personal growth.  Are these things evil?  Of course not.  And yet, people see my resolve to work abroad and to encourage others to do, too, if they can, as an indicator of selfishness.

According to these people who call me selfish, there’s already a dwindling number of health care professionals in the country so I should not be adding to the numbers who are already leaving.  They say I OUGHT to stay because it is my duty to my fellowmen to serve them.  They say I shouldn’t complain about being dirt poor because every doctor goes through that stage of being “dirt poor” anyway.  Note, however that those who told me to stay poor are those who are already on the other side of the globe, chilling in their parkas in the perpetual cold but can afford themselves laptops and a decent car to drive.

So, does it mean that I need to sacrifice myself for my fellowmen (when others clearly do not see the need to do the same and yet commanding others to do so) who do not seem to understand the value of such sacrifice and are not worthy of it?  Do I kill myself and my family to serve others who continually mistrust me despite obvious indications to the contrary because of their prejudice that all doctors are only out for their money?  Did they mean that I should just accept that I am poor and to do nothing about it when I can?

Do I need to feel guilty if I have referred to a patient as “miss” and not “madame” by mistake but just accept meekly if an ill-tempered patient or relative shouts at me in the emergency room in front of other people and the emergency room staff, calling me names that one may only hear from an uncivilized person pretending to be rich and sophisticated, just because they are “emotional”?  Do I need to feel guilty if I ask for the appropriate fee for my services but not to be offended if patients/relatives rudely scrutinize my treatment strategy and prescription?  Do I need to feel guilty if I have plans of working abroad?

When nurses, teachers, engineers, or domestic helpers leave, they are called heroes or martyrs.  But why is it when doctors leave, they are called selfish and unpatriotic?  It is because people do not see doctors as human too.  It is hard to remove from the minds of those with narrow viewpoints the image of the rich and comfortable doctor, driving in luxury cars and dining in fine restaurants.

What perhaps they fail (or refuse) to see is that doctors can get hungry, too, and have bills to pay.  Doctors are humans too who have to fulfill basic needs and want career satisfaction.  But unfortunately, it’s difficult to attain those in this country nowadays because of the growing mistrust of patients in their doctors brought about by the media hype on malpracticing doctors and hospitals (when most of these coverages by the media are blown-out-of-proportion versions of the story in an effort to sensationalize an otherwise benign incident) and the government’s apathy for the plight of the health care professionals because its focus rest on those who bring in the dollars that keep the economy afloat.  So, you want the dollars to come in?  We will leave.

Sorry, folks, there’s no guilt for selfishness in me.  I choose to live my life the way I deem it right for me and my family, not the way others say I OUGHT to.

Image source: iGMA.tv Yes, we got a Filipina as PGG's Hottie of the Moment... She is no other than Rhian Ramos, the beautiful young lady from McDonald's Jelly Trio and Coke Float Commercial. Image source: iGMA.tv Why do we like her? Only about 18 years old, she has already been in several ads and movie roles. She has been in GMA's Captain Barbell and now she's in Lupin. We could clearly see