Fixers Fix Everything

“Perhaps, it’s more than humor. It may also be viewed as tenacity, perseverance or the gambler’s mentality. It may even be the scammer’s mentality.“
-Connie Veneracion

The line was meant to describe the Filipino’s amazing gift of deception.

Updating what I have written here, the review center has finally realized the need to talk to us about what happened and about us not taking the Nursing Board Exam on June 1 and 2. They sent two representatives, a Lecturer and a Nurse assistant from one of their branches, this afternoon.

Unfortunately, a lady named Daisy, posed as a PRC representative or something, met with one of the real, real owners of the review center. She told her, according to them, that she can help the review center to file our documents to the PRC. And since this is the Philippines where fixers fix everything, the owner of the review center gullibly believed her. Instead of queuing at the PRC, the management instructed us to file our documents to them so we can conveniently focus on the review. Since we TRUSTED them we sent them our PRC requirements and sat conveniently reviewing for the board exam. And the rest was a history. Daisy did not file our documents for the board exam and fled away with all cash. One of the co-owners, named Vivian (not the real real owner, just a co-owner), is now also missing.

According to them they filed a request to the DOLE and PRC to extend the date of filing of application for the Nursing Board Exam. But now I lose all the hopes of ever taking the exam this June. Some of the girls were already crying as the dialogue was going on. It is really disheartening. We couldn’t focus on our review anymore, not that it really matters now. I just feel bad really. I thought I had the worst of my ordeal when my father suddenly changed his mind and ordered (ORDERED) me to enroll in this review center. Yun pala, it was just the beginning. All the plans, all the enthusiasm, all gone. I am in the lowest of my spirit and I hate every minute of it.

PS Prinsesa Musang’s mother was there this afternoon and she was really cool. I decided not to attend the lecture this afternoon.

First there was Bargaining, then the Depression then…. we can all just die and Be Happy

Kübler-Ross describes the process by which people deal with grief and tragedy through her Five Stages of Grief. According to her, a person battles through five different stages of coping in time of crisis in order to psychologically cope with a loss, these stages are; Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression then Acceptance. Since I was already aware of my sister’s heart condion, I think I managed to skip the Denial and Anger stages of grieving when my sister planned to undergo the Heart Operation. Nevertheless I think I was successful with the Bargaining stage.

In bargaining stage a person usually makes a negotiation to alter the crisis. In my case, last March, I prayed to God to just let my sister live in exchange for my Board Examination result. And I guess I prayed too hard.

Passing the requirements for Board Examination in Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) is a really tedious job, so when the review center, where I enrolled, offered an assistance in passing our requirements, I wholeheartedly trust them my papers.

It seems that the Review Center paid a certain person to process all our documents in the PRC. I don’t really know the whole story but what I comprehend have had happened was that the guy hands with them with the promise to process our papers, then he flew away with all the money(that we paid for the processing fee) AND OUR DOCUMENTS, gone and never to be seen again. Now we are left here hanging, waiting for a drop of miracle to fall down from the sky. I know the Review Center really mean well, but, WHAT THE HECK WERE THEY THINKING TRUSTING A FIXER?!!! Now I don’t know if I’ll be able to take the board exam on June.

SIGH….

Whenever I think of the idea of me taking the test on November, I feel compelled to pull someone else’s tongue and have him chew it himself like the ones usually seen in psychopath killer movies.  How can I possibly take the exam on November? What will I do with the rest of my year? God knows how much I want to pass the board this year and work.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Updates on my Existence Part 3

I was really down during the first three weeks of April. It was because the night after my graduation, my father and I had a really huge shouting match. I planned to leave the house and spend the whole summer reviewing with Neil and his girlfriend [as i partly mentioned here]. I already paid the house and the reservation in a review center as early as late February. But for no reason, my father retracted his decision. I didn’t have anything against the review center here, I just felt bad because I have already laid a two months worth of plan in my mind and his abrupt change of heart really frustrated me.

I didn’t have a reservation in the Review Center nearby, so when I enrolled, they put me in section two. I know some of the people there but I wasn’t really close to any of them. It was really difficult for me. Everyday was a torture until the time came when I was already doubting my self. Thoughts of boycotting the review and even the June board exam visited me everyday. My heart was so heavy, and even though the lecturer was really good I decided to cut the class last April 18.

They say that sex is the best stress reliever, but since that cannot be arrange at the moment, I settled for a second Plan. Last April 19, I decided not to attend my class anymore, the next day [April 20] I dropped by the section 1’s building and asked the administration if I can be a regular student there. Some of my friends are there. Angelo, Hanzel, Lallaine, PrinsesaMusang, Asase, and even some of my classmates way back in Freshman attend the class. I felt so relieved.

Though they are two subjects ahead of me, I was still able to cope. They were really supportive. Yesterday, since my father left for Manila to attend my sister’s open heart surgery on Monday in Philippine Heart Center, I went to Lallaine’s house and asked her to teach me. I was always among the top three in the exams in section 2, still, my scores are considerably miles away from Lallaine’s scores who is always in the second or first spots here in section 1 [my new section], and I am really happy that she said yes when I asked her to give me a tutorial. She joked that her tutorial fee is really expensive while feeding me with their own version of halo halo (halo halong fruit cocktail). She’s one of the nicest people on earth… really.

T’GSH

Writing this blog helped me a lot to cope with stress , though I really couldn’t say everything. Sometimes I just post screams as a form of catharsis and whatever burdens me inside miraculously vanishes and I’m back on track again. One thing that I really like about blogging is that I stop thinking about my problem the moment I click the publish button on my screen. Even the mere pleasure of reading other people’s blog has in some degree helped me in combating anxiety.

However, I find it harder now to ease my self just by writing. I mean it doesn’t work for me anymore.

CHANGE TOPIC

This morning, in a bus, I met an old classmate from Grade School. She was on her way for a job interview. We talked for a moment about some stuff until the subject change to my Board Exam Review. A guy who was sitting in front of her seat overheard us and joined our conversation. It didn’t take long until he was already talking about his own board examination. He just recently passed the December 2007 board exam. He started giving tips and inspiring words, then he said, “Kung gusto mo puntahan mo ko sa bahay ko, ” he gave me his address and told me that I can borrow his books gusto raw naman nya kasi akong pumasa talaga. Though we came from the same university it was the first time that I actually met him, I haven’t seen him in my four years of stay in college (kahit isang beses), so I observed his gestures if he was lying. He was constantly looking at his left side… in Psychology the Left and the Front sides of the head are the seat of logic, therefore there is a big chance that he was telling the truth (the Right and the back sides are the seat of imagination, therefore a person who is making up a story will probably look at his right side or nod his head backward).

I was already praying a thank you prayer to God for sending me this person. I was like, “Jesus,” I am more comfortable in calling God Jesus, “Did you send this guy to prove me that you won’t let go of me?” Hanep! So I asked him, “May book ka ba ng Pediatrics, wala kasi ako nun?” Then he was like, “yun na nga eh, marami kasi akong kaklase dati ang di nakapasa. Eh alam nila self-review lang ako. So marami ng nakapila sa books ko baka swerte daw.” That’s when I realized that this guy doesn’t really care if I pass or not. He just wanted to brag. I looked at his shirt, may logo ng UP tapos nakaprint, UP Tangway, an organization of Bataaenios in UP Diliman. Sa UP siguro sya nagtapos nung unang course nya… second courser kasi sya at kahit ilang taon na ang lumipas hindi pa ring sya makamove on.

XET TALAGA! Lumaki tuloy yung butas ng ilong ko. Hay ang daming mayabang sa mundo. Kaasar.

Sigh

Virgo (Aug 23 - Sep 22)[?]

The Bottom Line

Some minor setbacks in a project can be overcome if you rely on your warm charms.

In Detail

There could be one or two people today who cause you to have some minor setbacks in a project. If that happens, you can rely on your charm and empathy to nullify the negative effects. It will be possible to disarm problems and get these folks on your side if you see thing from their perspective. This is not a day to take ‘no’ for an answer. It’s a day to listen to someone’s arguments and then educate them about what you know to be a better way. Verbal communication will be your secret weapon.

My day started weird, now I am feeling weird.

I checked my horoscope and here what it says, “It’s a day to listen to someone’s arguments and then educate them about what you know to be a better way. Verbal communication will be your secret weapon.” This is wrong. Actually, it is the other way around, I should stop talking and start listening. I think Im in a big trouble now. HAAAAYYY… I wish I can tell you the whole story.

Updates on my Existence PART 2

hello.
musta ka na?
nu gngwa mo ngaung summer?

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What ’s up y’all!
I am very sorry for not keeping in touch.
Sana kilala mo pa ako…
I’m hoping to hear from you.
you can also contact me through my cellphone, here’s my number: 0922*******.

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how are you?

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kmusta na??

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Pinoy Big Brother Trivias

I will not be able to watch the whole TEEN EDITION of Pinoy Big Brother since I’ll be leaving my own house next, next week. As a tribute to my all time favorite show let me tell some amazing facts about PINOY BIG BROTHER.

• Philippines and United Kingdom are the only Big Brother Houses that have Teen Editions, however, while Big Brother teen was a regular edition in Pinoy Big Brother, UK teen Edition was tagged as an experiment only, it was filmed beforehand on July and August of 2003, and was later on aired on October of the same year.
• Among the countries with Big Brother franchise, Pinoy Big Brother holds the record of most Housemates ejected by Big Brother himself, the last victim was Jon of Celebrity Big Brother 2, 2nd January 2008. The other house mates who were forced evicted were; Bob: Big Brother 1, 9th October 2005, Franzen: Big Brother 1, 19th November 2005, Mich: Celebrity Big Brother 1, 25th February 2006, Bam: Teen Big Brother 1, 6th May 2006, Maricris: Big Brother 2, 30th April 2007, Baron: Celebrity Big Brother 2, 27th December 2007.
• Jason [Big Brother 1], Cass [Big Brother 1], and Dionne [Big Brother 2] got the most numbers of nominations in the history of Pinoy Big Brother. Each got four nominations.
• All in all, 74 legitimate housemates have already entered and lived inside the Pinoy Big Brother House, add twelve on Sunday for the Teen Edition 2.
• Season 2 had the most number of housemates, 18 in all.
• Ruben was the first male Big Winner.

once again, allow me to do this

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Monmon on the Great Plunder

The Nursing Skills Lab used to be our classroom in our Nursing Jurisprudence and during our stay there in the past semester, the whole class used to take some small Nursing Paraphernalia in the unlocked glass cabinets that neatly line the wall. I used to take IV sets, IV cannulas or syringes and play with them at home. Sometimes I use them to replenish my items in my bag for duty. Most of the things that we stole during our stay were either too cheap or expired already so I didn’t feel any guilt whenever I pocket a couple of items. I guess what really hindered me from taking the bigger stuff was the fact that the more expensive things are put away in the locked cases at the back of the laboratory.

Now, one time while we were waiting for our Saturday Class lecturer to come after lunch my classmate asked me to go with her. While we were walking across the school, we saw the lab’s back door open. We went inside and checked on the more expensive stuff. There was a mob of Juniors outside and we knew that we were clearly seen through the glass doors and windows but we didn’t care since they didn’t have a CI with them. The sliding glass of the cabinet was locked so I pushed it upward then pulled it down so I was able to remove it entirely [I learned this technique from Alex]. I held the glass while my classmate ransacked the whole content of the glass cabinet. My hand became shaky and sweaty. The handle of the glass slipped through my palms and I almost broke it. The last time we tried to nick some stuff from it my classmate cut her hand so I was really worried. I nagged at her to get the sphygmos, the plasters, everything her hands can grab on. A CI or a staff might come by at any moment. She took all that she could and we ran out of the room really swiftly.

I wasn’t entirely guilty of what I did, in fact it was really such a thrill. But then as the lecture went on a student knocked on our classroom and said that the Fourth Year coordinator shall be talking to the whole class at the end of the session so that’s when I got really nervous. I was like, “What if the Juniors squeeled?” My classmnate didn’t think so and was pretty indifferent. “Hindi ka kasi sanay gumawa ng kalokohan.”

I was like “c’mon what does the Student Manual say about first offense stealing?”

“I dunno. Who reads that book anyway?”

“Well… me.”

She snorted and listened back to the lecturer. The lecturer was the best one we had and I hate myself because I couldn’t focus. I sweat with beaded perspiration and started to hyperventilate. Things came pushing in my mind like; what if I dropped the glass, what if I cut my hand, what if the third year squeeled? It was torture. My mind was like in a limbo and my classmate was so relaxed.

I told her that we got to get out of the classroom after the lecture.

“We can’t. We have to meet the Coordinator.”

“Exactly.”

“They wouldn’t allow us.”

“Make up a story then.”

She pulled her seatmate and told her I feel like pooping and I had to go to her house to use the bathroom. It didn’t take long until everyone in the line knew about this and they believed her; with my beaded sweats and agitations, who wouldn’t?

After the class I pulled her outside. I Said we’d just wait until they have finished talking with the Coordinator and just ask them what it was about. While waiting, she told me she wanted to go to the church so I asked her if she diesn’t even feel guilty or at least bad for what we did. I argued that it was bad especially the amount of things we stole, Alcohols, stethoscopes, plaster, sphygmomanometrs and even thermometers. She said that we own them since we paid for a laboratory fee in the enrolment. We argued for some time until I decided to go back to our room and ask a classmate. I said, “Hindi ka ba nakokonsensya?” We were running so I didn’t see the nuns who overheard us.

One of the nuns stopped me and said, “How come? You should go to church then.”

“Oh you don’t know the whole story.” My classmate sniggered.

What about the Legalization of Prostitution in the Philippines?

I had to transfer from one bus to another in commuting back and forth the Regional Health Unit where I had my most recent duty. As my first bus slowed down as it approached the terminal where I had to ride the next bus, I had a glimpse of a karaoke bar. It was one of the multitudes of Karaoke bars that line that street. Stood in front were more than a dozen girls in skimpy attire. A lady in her early forties was clearly visible as she talks with a mob of more or less than twenty Korean men. The age of the guys ranges from early forties to as young as early twenty years old. I saw the two youngest men exchanging conversation with uncertainty in their faces, which they passed into giggles.