I now blog here

http://myrnblog.tumblr.com

These are some of the messages I received after passing the board exam; note- some of the messages may not be that significant for you but for me they are like diamonds falling down from heaven.

“TAE”

-text from PM last Thursday night when I told her that I’ll turn off my cellphone and I won’t go online since I thought I failed.

“May result na yung board! www.pinoybsn.blogspot.com now na.! Waah!”

-text from Uta, which prompted me to check http://nursingcrib.com

“ACOSTA, RICHMOND QUERUBIN!!!! NAME MO YUN DI BA?!!! MONMON, PUMASA KA!!! AAAHHH!”

-call from Erika. She was the first one to congratulate me. The list was still downloading when she called me that I passed.

“Richmond. Nakapasa ka sa board. Congrats. Querubin surname mo di ba? Mario to. Dito ka magtext- pasend naman kay Richmond. hehe.wala number nya dito sa Smart ko. Congratz monmon.”

-text from Mario which he sent to Uta  who relayed it to me since he was using a different sim card. And nope, Querubin is not my surname, it’s my middle name.

“Wahhh grabe sobrang tuwa ko. Parang ako yung pumasa! Congrats talaga Rich, I’m so happy for you. RN KA NA!”

-Erika, pahabol na text.

“djhgdroighroi;thw4′;tiwerth04yiw49ethwietu;4tu24otujerwithsdkfhw”

-congratulatory call from my sisters. We couldn’t  understand each other much. What is important is that I heard their voices… and their happy and proud. Acosta ngarud!

“Congratulations RN na kayo! Yehey! Ate to ni Lallaine, si Ate j-An. “

-text from Lallaine’s sister, which really surprised me since we’ve only met once.

“Richmond I’m so proud of you! Pinagmamalaki kita dito sa office! Hahaha. Yung diploma ko ha.”

-text from Gem Imee Acosta, my sister.

” Grabe, ang tatahimik ng mga kasama ko dito. Nagvovolunteer kasi ako sa Rotary.”

-text from John Lery, the only one who passed among the volunteers. He couldn’t celebrate so he just sent me all his happiness through text.

“yok adik ka.”

-text from Yani when I said I don’t know her real name.

“haha. Adik ka.”

- text reply from Yani when I said sorry because I couldn’t find her name since I don’t know her surname. Apparently,she already took and passed the board last June.

“Ayaw lumabas”

-text from Yani. “Ayaw lumabas” Hindi nung result ng board yun pala… natate pala sya

“Congratz satin. Mga unemployed nurses na tau.Pede na tau magrally. Dahil alang trabaho sa pinas.Haha”

-friendster testimonial from Hanzel.

I have more that 110 [and still counting] text messages in my inbox. It would take me weeks maybe before I decide to delete them HAAAYY! Ang saya!

WOOHOO! I PASSED!!! And I thank God. It was lucky, I guess.

I didn’t expect to pass. I made a vow that I will never post a comment in any blog (heck, I even made my blog private), since I don’t want to embarrass myself in my own blog. In fact last night when I received a text that the result is to be published today, I decided to turn off my cellphone so I can prevent people from calling me those stupid “im-sorry-you-failed” kind of messages. But now. AAAAAARRGH!!!

THANK GOD! THANK GOD!!

I had diarrhea. I fell asleep. And I died during the test!!!!!!!!!

BUT I MADE IT!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

WOOOHOOO!!

Thanks to my sisters for ALL… for EVERYTHING!!! Thanks to Lallaine Abracia for giving me tutorials when I cannot attend in any review center anymore. THANK YOU TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO PRAYED (especially to Dona Pia who even climbed Mount Samat just to pray for me and her sister)!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO US- NEW REGISTERED NURSES!!! WOOHOO!!!
I AM HAPPY! SUPER HAPPY!

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

The state of being bum and jobless has finally started to nag in a form of a text message. It was really difficult knowing that people actually expect that I’d get a job immediately. I refuse to apply in any industry that has nothing to do with Health. But since the result of the board exam has not yet been revealed, the chance of finding a decent job in any hospital is anything but easy. Nevertheless I still took my chance and invited a friend to pass resumes to different hospitals and other places that might need a nurse.

I had a classmate in college who had been raving about a Korean clinic that specializes in alternative medicine that rents a space in their building. It has been a year ago since I thought of applying for a job their so I was clueless if they are still open for hiring- besides I don’t really know exactly what they do in there. Still, I took my chance and entered the building.

A continuous, incomprehensible, ultra-amplified, woman’s voice reverberates around the building as I went inside. It was funny and creepy in a sense but my instincts told me that I just need to follow the sound to see the place.

The floor where the clinic is located is hot and very humid. A dozen old people,mostly grandmothers , sat in rows of plastic, monobloc chairs as a woman of our age stood in front on an elevated platform as she gave her lecture in an overly jolly tone- making the whole place appear like a cross between a horribly made variety show and a busy bus terminal. The host’s scripted jovial disposition and corny jokes repulsed us. Leslie, my companion, stepped backward and refused to send her resume. I thought of running away too but it was too late, a guy saw us. He saw our resumes so we reluctantly passed them. He asked us if we wanted to see the place. So we did. He gave us number tags which we clipped on our chests. The host saw us and invited us to proceed in front- to introduce us.

The host made joke to us. She told us the Korean terms and greetings they used inside the place. It was exactly what I thought- a badly made variety show . I wasn’t embarrassed since the audience were mostly old women until she mentioned a dance title. She asked us if we can dance, I need not to say “yes“ or “no,” she just need to ask that since she was already playing a disc in her DVD. Then with a loud,booming voice she commannded the whole crowd to clap their hands because apparently we have become dancers. I don’t know how to dance and it freaked me out big time. We had another round of applause after our exhilarating number before we were finally beckoned to our seats. The guy who approached us first told us that we mights as well try out their service, automatic-massaging beds.

We lied on the bed. A woman interviewed me as I was having my massage. The interview was nothing formal but I think it went well with the massage.

After our therapy, Leslie swore that she wouldn’t accept the job no matter what.But a part of me seemed to have enjoyed the weirdness of the place. I don’t know…. ^_^

I was listening, I guess last week, on a Radio Show when a Nurse called. The topic was about kissing and the Nurse relates how she not so in the hype with torrid kissing. She was like, “I imagine all the germs that can be transferred with kissing.” And I guess that’s what happens when you know too much. As with me, after I went to college, I never let a beggar or a street child touch me, I never touch the railings on escalators and stairs, I never hold the door knobs in public restrooms, and I even get irritated sometimes when I have to lean on buses’ windows. One time I even rushed myself to the hospital to undergo an appendectomy only to be laughed at by some mediocre midwives since according to them I didn’t even “pain enough.”

Last Friday night, I had to go out just a few steps away from our doorstep. I was in a hurry so I went on barefooted. After like three or four stride I was pricked by something sharp under my big toe. The wound was almost a millimeter wide; I checked if it was deep it wasn’t, there was a little speck of blood (the wound was so tiny that a drop will not even form) on it. I immediately ran to the bathroom and scrubbed my sole with soap and water. Call me hypochondriac. Call me paranoid. I instantly thought of Tetanus.

Clostridium tetani, the microorganism that causes Tetanus or Lockjaw, is a microorganism that thrives in oxygen depleted soil. C. tetani belongs in the same family as Clostridium botulinum, which causes food poisoning.

The next morning I planned to have a shot of Anti Tetanus Serum (ATS). Tetanus Toxoids which are given to pregnant woment are just for preventive measures, ATS however, are use to treat C. tetani infection that has not yet produce any significant signs and symptoms (like lock jaw and paralysis). For the longest time, I haven’t got any allowance and I used up all my savings for my transportation and food whenever I attend a duty at the blood bank, so I borrowed 7oo pesos from my younger sister.

I did not plan to see a doctor. All I had to do was to go to a hospital’s pharmacy and buy the ATS. Before I proceed to the hospital I detoured to a laboratory where I had my Thyroid exam months ago. I talked with the nurse and I got some really great tips from her. At the hospital’s pharmacy, I was shocked when I learned that the cheapest unit of ATS is worth 1,500 pesos. I returned home and decided to just beg my father to send me to the hospital. When my father finally came home from work, I told him that I think I was sick but he got infuriated and didn’t believe that I could get the disease with a small wound like that even after I argued that the old lady, three streets away, who died because of Tetanus, was actually pricked by a fishbone. And I was pricked by a bone.

That night I felt like I had a slight fever and I just couldn’t sleep. I kept on thinking about dying- with a titanic smile- GOD THAT MUST BE A REALLY HORRIBLE WAY OF DYING.

The next day, my sister and I planned to nick two thousand pesos from my father, but my father stayed in our house. He normally works even on weekends so we were really disappointed. That night I had another bout of fever and I felt my sternocleidomastoid muscle losing its strengths.

Believing that my father wouldn’t lend me any amount, I decided to have a deep conversation with my self. I was like, “when I was young I had cuts whenever I fall on the ground and I didn’t get infected with tetanus. My wounds were even bigger at that time. I am probably alright.” I talked with my self like than until I fell asleep. The next day I decided to just let what will happen to happen. I WAS MISERABLE.

The symptoms usually come out after five to ten days. And when that happens, the disease is said to be irreversible and 100% fatal. So I guess let us count my days, if nothing happens within that period I am safe, if something happened, you know I’d be at the morgue- smiling the disease’s signature smile.

The person who supposedly compiled the original posts used the penname Nakano Hitori ( meaning "one of them") had a cameo in the book as one of the site's editor.

The first reference I had about the Train Man (Densha Otoko) was when it was mentioned in one movie review of the Korean film My Sassy Girl. I made a mental note that I have to watch the film. That time I didn’t know that the movie was just an adaptation of a book with the same title so I was stunned when I saw the book by accident at a bookstore last November. I planned to read it all throughout the Holidays last December but I didn’t have the chance to do so.

The story is about a geeky guy, Train Man, who posted an anonymous online thread when he saved a group of women from a drunkard in the subway. His first motive was just to narrate his bizarre confidence during the incident but after he received a gift, a pair of Hermes Teacups, from the lady (who was later on called as Lady Miss Hermes) beside him in the train car, who he confessed he fancies, his fellow geeks got excited and pushed him to pursue the girl in a series of dinner dates. The incident immediately turned the monotonous online forum to raucous support site for the Train Man and his lady love.

Train Man is not your conventional novel or in a sense not your conventional type of prose. It is claimed that the book is a clip from a real

Pages from the book, Train Man. (Click to enlarge)

online site where the real Train Man supposedly posted his daily life. The book was written in such a way that it looks like it has been copied from the original online site, making it seems like a compilation of the threads. If you are a chatroom, Forum or blog aficionado, you’ll surely find the whole book remarkably interesting and familiar.

Though the story is not something extraordinary, the way the book was presented makes the whole reading experience uniquely appealing. The climax, when the Train Man and Lady Miss Hermes finally revealed their feelings for each other was so romantic. I am not a huge fan of romantic novels but I was so moved by Train Man’s narration.