aggiepie's tabulas

Disclaimer: I got this from my roommate. I have only tried dialing 112 on a locked keypad; I'm still convincing a friend to try the mobile remote control thing (Tip #2). But, and at the expense of sounding like one of those chain letters, though I have yet to prove myself that this isn't a hoax or what, my roommate--and Phoneyworld--swear that they work.

Very Useful Mobile Tips

Emergency number. The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you. Interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even while the keypad is locked.

Locked the keys in the car? Good reason to own a cell phone, as it may come handy for such situations as this. If you locked your keys in the car and the spare keys are home, call them on your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the other person at home press the unlock button, holding it near the phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote key" for your car, you can unlock the doors, or the trunk.

Hidden Battery power. Imagine your cell battery is very low, you are expecting an important call and you don't have a charger. Nokia phones *allegedly* come with a reserve battery. To activate, press the keys *3370# *#4720#. Your cellphone will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell next time.

"Mahilig ka sa gulay!" my blockmate remarked when she saw my lunch of chicken curry and ginisang upo. Funny. It was one of the things I least expected to hear from someone, anyone, about my diet. You see, for the longest time (preschool up to early part of medschool was a very long time), I had this aversion for the edible members of the Kingdom Plantae. When I was a kid, I picked them out of my dish. My mom had to resort to all sorts of tricks to get me to eat, including telling a story about a boy who disliked veggies, which I didn't really buy. (Once upon a time there was a little boy who didn't eat vegetables. One day, he was so hungry but there wasn't any meat around; there were only vegetables. But since he was very hungry, he decided to eat the vegetables. He was about to put them into his mouth when the vegetables grew eyes and a mouth and talked and said: "Since you don't like us. We don't like you too." And they flew out of the window, leaving the veggie-hating little boy very hungry. The End.) The only times I ate my veggies was when my scary spinster of an aunt came over for a visit. I was so scared of her that I ate my vegetables, even if I had to cry and spew them out after.

As I got older, I tolerated them being in my burgers and pizza, since their flavors were generally masked by the meat or the sauce. But I still didn't like them as a stand-alone dish. My friends would say"Taga-Baguio ka, hindi ka mahilig sa gulay." (same reaction with strawberries, but that's another story). db gave me a gift for my 18th birthday, a t-shirt with glow-in-the-sun vegetable cartoons and a letter which explained his chocie of present; it read like: "...to remind you that vegetables are in fact very good for you." And once, while dining at Kenny's, Dawn remarked, "I'm so proud of you." at my choice of steamed vegetables for a side dish.

It was only last year that I started eating vegetables for their sake. I try to include a vegetable dish, in addition to the meat dish I buy from the hospital coop. store. I've had adobong kangkong, and sitaw, and ginisang toge, upo, and ampalaya. I tried their steamed okra and eggplant, but I didn't like them. And I still don't like pinakbet. But I am now more appreciative of vegetables and their healthy value.

I guess I'm growing up.

* * * * *
This is a very superficial post.

A couple of people texted me that they saw me on the news last night, although they weren't sure coz I was wearing a mask. I was on duty at the ER the other night, and there was a meningococcemia *scare*, which had the media swarming to the hospital.

* * * * *
Was on TV last week too. When the media were doing the rounds of the hospitals preparing for the New Year and its revelry-related injuries. Was on duty that day again, and I think I looked rather *sabog* for my TV appearance.

"After graduating, it hurts me most that we're all growing apart. It was really great when we were in school. We used to see each other everyday. Now there's not much to talk about even when we do get together."
- Bae Doo Na in "Take Care of My Cat"

Last day in Pediatrics. Had our shifting exam this morning, and it was good. I know I'll pass. I *think* I might even get a high score.

* * * * *
Watched "Take Care of My Cat" in the pm. Phoebe called somewhere in the middle of the movie, so I took a break from the movie to talk to my friend. We talked mostly about hallyu stuff, some chismis, both showbiz and real; she ranted on her cheating classmates, I vented out my frustrations on the scums of the earth. And our talk--my break--lasted 7 hours! (Our record though is 9 hrs, from 8pm-5am... and that is for landline, as our record for mobile is 3-4 hours. Longest phone convo amongst my friends though was between Phoebe and Lexi, lasting some 12 hours I think.) It was nice... as always.  She is one of the very few I get to talk to on a semi-regular basis, in this day and age where everybody is busy and caught up in their own everyday frenzy. I know I have someone I can leave "my cat" with.

* * * * *
"Take Care of My Cat" is a coming-of-age movie about 5 girls who were the best of friends in high school. After graduation, they went on to pursue their dreams and lead separate lives, even as they struggle to keep their friendship together and take care of their communal cat.

Lee Yo Won is the ambitious and self-centered brat, Hae Joo, who leaves their little province of Incheon for the progressive city of Seoul. A move both literal and metaphorical as with the decision to leave Incheon is also to leave behind her old life, including past relationships. At one point in the movie, she says that her closeness with Ji Young is all in the past and what matters more to her in the present, are clothes and doing her nails and cosmetic surgery.

Ok Ji Young is shy and sensitive and a very gifted artist. Perhaps it is because of her financial situation that she often keeps to herself, opening up only to Tae Hee. She pours out most of her energies into her drawings, something which her friends rarely appreciate. She was the one who found the cat and gave it to Hae Joo as a birthday present, which the latter returned.

Bae Doo Na is the nice and sensible Tae Hee. She is the first of Ji Young's friends to visit her ramshackled house. She lends money to Ji Young even as Hae Joo points out that Ji Young was too poor to ever pay her. She is wise enough to acknowledge that their friendship is changing, and suggests that they should have "monthly meetings to stay in touch. Or else it hurts our friendship." The group's peacekeeper, she has the ability to reach out to both haughty Hae Joo and timid Ji Young, who are on opposite ends of the spectrum. She is very likable, especially by South Asian boys. (I thought Bae Doo Na looked familiar. Apparently, I have seen her before in "Funny Wild Girl", the local release of "A Country Princess", with Kang Dong Won. But I didn't know them *then*.)

Hae Joo, Ji Young and Tae Hee form the core triumvirate of the story. And then there are the twins Biryu and Ohnjo (Lee Eun Shil and Lee Eun Joo), who complete the group. I guess in every barkada there are always primadonnas and peacekeepers, and there are those who are never really in the middle of things, but never left out either. (Yay! NOT me definitely! I am the star of this barkada show entitled "Flummoxed".  As Phoebe pointed out at the height of the D***-M**** thing: "Ngayon lang nagka-issue ang barkadang ito na hindi ka kasali." Salamat ha!  Hindi nga?!. To my fellow Flummoxed-ers who are reading this, if you can give me any other barkada "issue" of which I didn't play a major part... Text me na lang! )

Haha! At may bigla akong naisip na sagot sa sarili kong katanungan. But I digress. Miane.

The director utilizes a couple of smart tricks in the movie--onscreen texts that appear to emphasize the text messages that the girls send to one another (also seen in B Namchin when LDG and HJH send text messages to each other), and a screen split into 4 columns to show the girls conference-ing over their phones.

Can I just say that the camera focused on this big banner that read: "Seaman's Center" and underneath it were the words "Bahay ng Pinoy"?! Phoebe swears that the seamen were speaking in Filipino, but I couldn't recognize the words (unlike in "A Bittersweet Life" where I understood the goons to be shouting "Patay ka na!"  ) And on the bulletin board of that Seamen's Center: Bahay ng Pinoy, I spotted a poster of Metrobank.

Several reviews have explored the cat's symbolic role in their group, the girls' search for identity, their roles in society, the movie's technical aspects, etc. etc. I'll leave them to that. What I want to delve more on is the friendship of the five girls. Their adventures include the twins spotting Hae Joo's boyfriend with another girl and rounding up the rest of the gang in a mobile conference to make sumbong. The resident brat Hae Joo persuading all her friends to come over to Seoul for their next get-together, instead of her having to travel all the way to Incheon--and then being late for said get-together. The incessant teasing re one's embarrassing love life. Cracks at being old maids. Sleepovers. Etc. And these are experiences so real--anybody in a barkada can relate to them.

Yet people grow up and change. Some people grow apart. Some relationships are outgrown. The movie doesn't end on a "forever friends" tone (ey! that rhymes!  ). Hae Joo continues her struggle up the corporate ladder. Tae Hee and Ji Young leave to pursue their own dreams. And the cat is left with Biryu and Ohnjo who promised to take good care of it.

Meow! =^..^=

Winner Text Of The Day (some specifics had to be taken out)

From KC: Question lang po... bading ba sya? apparently *he's* setting off everyone's gaydar :p pati yung mga bading nila think he might be. They think gwapo sya :p

I'll be unreachable via sms for the next few days until I get myself a new unit and number. Some bluddy bastard stole my phone today.

I was at the OPD, charting one of the last two patients for the day. I knew I still had my phone with me then coz I used the calculator function to compute for my patient's BMI. I don't leave my phone lying around; either I hang it from my wrist or put it in my pocket. And I thought I placed it in my pocket, but now I'm not so sure. It was only after my patient left that I realized my phone was missing. I had my blockmates ring my phone. Marven dialed it and said it was ringing, but I couldn't hear it ringing in the vicinity. RV and Erwin tried ringing it too but they got the "subscriber cannot be reached" voice recording (f*ckin smart ass turned the phone off!).

I don't wanna sound prejudiced against our patients just because they belong to the lower economic class. But I couldn't think of anybody else who would have interest over a 2-year-and-7-day old Nokia 3100 (phone purchased January 4, 2003). After all, it was just me, my blockmates, a couple of residents and the two patients--one of which I strongly suspect to be the culprit. So damn you crook... to INFIRMITY (and beyond   )  ! I'm so friggin angry right now; I wish you ILL!

It's such a loss! Not just of the unit! But the phone numbers (I don't even know how many contacts I've lost!), the messages and the memories (Phoebe and Maffy's hallyu texts which when pooled make up >50% of my Inbox, Lexi's hilarious texts, Dawnie's thoughtful messages, Lauren's chika, Ate Grace's engagement announcement, etc.). Oh I wanna cry. But I'm supposed to be like mature about it.

And I thought I was gonna celebrate Son Ye Jin's birthday today.  But anywayz, "saengil chukahamnida" to my favorite K-actress!

* * * * *
Superstition: Leo said that he accidentally (ows?   )  deleted my number from his phonebook last week. And then I lost my phone this week.

And more superstition: I actually had a dream last night about someone stealing my stuff. But in my dream, I caught him red-handed and had the security guards give him a beating. 

Too bad, it didn't happen in real life.

A Nokia 6101!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

the latest from Tabulas. aren't they adorable? 

I'm treating myself to some happy food tonight to make up for not having lunch today.

It wasn't actually a bad duty day at the Ambu. We only had less than 20 patients... I think. Morning was free, and RV and I even had brunch of goto and arrozcaldo, which apparently turned out to be our *only* meal for the rest of the day. Around noontime, the patients started coming in. There were no clerks, and it was just RV and me, and Dr. Panganiban, but I'd say the 3 of us were pretty organized and systematic.

The patients came in trickles, not in droves! So even if I have to chart  one patient after the other, it was regularly paced, and I had ample time to interview and examine each and every patient. I prefer the continuous yet slow flux of patients, instead of being bombarded by 3 or 4 patients at one time, and then having to decide which among them to attend to *first*--the dyspneic patient hungry for air, the patient writhing in epigastric pain, or the psychiatric patient wreaking havoc all over the place?!?!!

* * * * *
There was a patient who had partial amnesia, and varying degrees of aphasia, alexia, agraphia and apraxia. A good Samaritan found him unconscious and badly beaten, and took him in. When the patient regained consciousness, he had no recollection whatsoever, save for his name... which is faithful to the diagnosis of amnesia. One of our professors once said--and contrary to how amnesia is depicted in television--the name is the last to go. (So when some amnesic soap character wakes up from her stupor and asks "Sino ako?" , my dear, that's called acting!)

The patient knows his name and can write it down, as well as other simple words, ie. "cat", "dog", etc, albeit with great difficulty. But when asked to read what he just wrote, he says a different word altogether; his speech is slurred and slow, and unintelligible when reading. He cannot *say* what year he was born, but he can write it down. He cannot name objects e.g. "pen", "fan", and describes them instead ie. "pangsulat", "para sa mainit". He has difficulty repeating words just spoken to him, much less follow commands, and requires several repetitions and prodding before he can understand the simple instruction. He draws a clock with all the numbers crammed at the 12 o'clock position. He has right-left confusion, and cannot even discern among the different parts of the body (when asked where is left hand is, he raises his right hand; when asked for the right hand, he points to his ear; when asked to point to his ear, he sticks out his tongue).

It's sad. Because these things are supposed to come automatically. We read, we write, we talk, we know. Though seemingly simple, each action is an elaborate process involving electrical impulses and neurotransmitters and precise coordination between the brain and the different parts of the body. The processing happens so fast, in a split second, and we are not even aware of it. We just go about reading, writing, talking, thinking, knowing... and more gerunds...

But when this intricate network is disrupted, even the simplest of tasks seem arduous and painstaking for the patient. (Check this out for other terms of cognitive, behavioral, neurological deficits.)

Isn't it amazing how the brain works?!!! And that is why why I find Neurology so interesting!

"Time pushes at our backs like a centrifuge, forcing us outward and away, until it nudges us into oblivion... It's a law of motion, a fact of physics, no different from the stages of white dwarfs and red giants. Like all things in the universe, we are destinged from birth to diverge. Time is simply the yardstick of our separation. If we are particles in a sea of distance, exploded from a whole, then there is a science to our solitude. We are lonely in proportion to our years."

--  "The Rule of Four" by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason

I've got a headache, heavy in character, over the fronto-parietal area and non-radiating. It isn't so painful, with only a score of 3/10 on the Visual Analogue Scale. But it bothers me!

Now in Community Medicine, our second to the last rotation in internship. We're leaving for Batangas early tomorrow morning. And I've barely packed!

Truth is, I'm stressing over what to bring, how to pack, that whatever excitement of going to the community--taking a respite from the dreary hospital, taking in the country fresh air, and having a blast with my blockmates--has been dampened. I don't wanna bring too much stuff (even if Grant and Jonas insist that we've got transpo anyway). But I'm afraid I might underpack. At the least I'll need:

• A change of clothes to last me the week, to include, but not limited to scrubs for the clinics, a jacket/sweater for the cold, nice decent clothes for gimiks, and a bathing suit(?) for when we go swimming
• Towel, slippers, a tough pair of rubber shoes for trekking/mountain-climbing(?)
• Toiletries and my trusty Salbutamol MDI
• Cellphone charger and earphones
• Stethoscope, penlight, diagnostic set (ugh!), medicine blue book
• Lippincott Biochem. I'm not understanding anything of Tadlock's Physiology, so I'm gonna shift to Biochem muna.

We're gonna be staying with foster families for the next 6 weeks. And we'll be helping with their barangay health projects. I'm not too keen on the details yet, but they include hypertension control, waste management and nutrition.

Goodluck to us!

Got this as a text message from Aureen. Very nice!  I hope I could keep it in mind, especially the last bit.

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person who was not supposed to let us down would probably will. You will have your heart broken, probably more than once, and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for the things the old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love.

So take many pictures. Laugh too much. Love like you've never been hurt. Because every 60 seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.