Trying to Be Hopeful

Today was the day I was interviewed at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center for a full-time night shift Emergency Room position. So far it went well and I am still hopeful I will get the job.

After I resigned at California Hospital Medical Center last April I tried to apply into several hospitals in Los Angeles and Long Beach. It's been two months that I've been waiting for a response from those applications I have tendered online, finally I got a positive response from Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.

But it took me two weeks to get hold of the clinical recruiter because everytime he called me I am in my clinical class and I only got a message that he left on my voicemail. I almost lost hope until I decided to use up all my resources.

I decided to call on my cousin who worked at cath lab then my other cousin who worked as the accountant manager in operating room who called the recruiter to set me up the interview today. Had I not done this I don't know what will happen to my application. May it will go to the trash had I not done this very drastic decision. I just knew that this type of familiarity complex also exist here in the states. I almost ran out of confidence and trust to myself.

So far, the interview today had went well. The recruiter interviewed me about decision making and teamwork. I confidently answered him as much as I could and I know I did it well. He then accompanied me to the Emergency Room and met with the manager for an on-the-spot interview.

The interview with the ER Manager also went well. She also interviewed me about teamwork, decision-making, and personal experiences. We exchanged questions to questions and it took us a long time to finish. I also told her about my expectations and she told me about a little history of the hospital's ER and how they evolved to be the best in Los Angeles county and the nation.

After the interview she told me that she will forward my application to Human Resources for the schedule of my physical and drug screen. It happened so fast and I was so happy about the outcome. I didn't expect it to happen that fast but at least I am happy about it. Thank God!

For the meantime, while waiting for the orientation to start I am still continuing my registry work until I get absorbed at the hospital. I also still want to continue doing my teaching job as well. I might probably do it part-time while I am adjusting for the hospital routines.

The reason I wanted to accept this hospital job because I just want to get some affordable health insurance. My current COBRA plan is so expensive that I couldn't really afford to maintain it and besides it will expire after 18 months so I am obliged to find an employeer who can help me out for it. And this hospital application will really help me get a benefits I could enjoy.

So for now, I am hopeful that this application at Long Beach Meorial Medical Center will be the right decision I made. And I know God is always with me all the time even though I made the wrong decisions. Anyway, there's always a time to make ammends for our mistakes and learned from it.

Whatever had happened to me in the past I really learned a lot from it. It was a long journey for me and I am so thankful that I didn't gave up. I still maintained myself grounded and I learned a lot from my mistakes. I am not bitter with those people who put me down. To me, this day is the beginning to start my life anew and learn from my past and forget all those bitter memories but consider them as a lesson to ponder.

Hope is the guiding light for me to be better and losing hope will be a bad example to gave up about life. I have to inspire and challenge my life more so that I will become stronger in dealing with things that hinder me to succeed. I have to have a drive to keep going on and make life interesting and fun. C'est la vie!

Redondo Beach Pier

After meeting my French lesson instructor and did our first lecture I headed at Homestead Schools, Inc. to make copies for my clinical case study lecture for next week so that I can be prepared with what I will be tackling with the students.

After making the copies, I decided to find for a place to go where I can eat fresh seafoods. I was craving at that time. I started to look for the place at my GPS and I decided to pick the Redondo Beach Pier. I never been to the area so I decided to give it a try. And besides the place is just near Hawthorne area where the school is.

I followed all along Pacific Coast Highway until I reached Torrance Boulevard so I followed what the GPS says to make a left turn going down the beach's pier.

I looked for the parking area and then walked towards the pier area. There were a lot of people going back and forth the place. The place is a quiet place and very cool. There were a lot of people casting their fishing rods to fish and probably get amused.

I roamed around the pier area and observed people do their own things while at the pier. There were a lot of restaurants around like French, Italian, Mexican, Korean, Asian, and everything you can think of.

There were a wide array of people coming to this place. Tourist, children, people young and old with the goal of seeing and watching the sea or the ocean. Unlike me I went there to quench my cravings for seafoods.

I saw this place managed by a Korean family which served the best crabs I think. I think this place was so famous in the area. So far the dunganees crab that I ordered was the best and delicious I ever tasted. I also ordered a half dozen fresh oysters which is also so good.

It was so embarassing but I sipped and sucked each part of the dunganees crab until it was left so clean. That proves that it was very delicious, tasty, and yummy. I never mind what other people think. To me I really enjoyed the food and appreciate how good it was.

I left the pier with all smiles because finally I indeed quenched my hunger for seafoods. It was a good day for me and I finally got the chance to enjoy every moment of it. Thank God!

Thai Massage

Last night I had this amazing experience about Thai massage. It was a very satisfying and soothing feeling to have experienced it. I am glad I decided to have one last night. Now I felt so relieved of my back and neck pain. It was a temporary panacea indeed.

I was in so much pain lately especially of my lower back. It seems that the muscles around it were stiff and tender all the time. Everytime I twisted my whole body it started to ache and I felt a sudden pricking pain around my lower back. It was really painful and I have to stop moving immediately to abate the painful sensations.

My neck was also bothering me all the time. The muscles around it and the shoulders were so tense that turning sometimes aggravated it. Everytime I woke up after sleeping for so long, I felt they're always stiff and it took me some few hot showers to get rid of it. This always happens all the time and it really bothers me a lot.

Last night the back pain was very intense so I decided to get some quick massage. I went to the nearby Thai massage salon few blocks away from my apartment. I had a Thai massage experience before (long long time ago) so I opted to have one again last night.

I prefer Thai massage better compared to Sweddish massage because it is a deep massage and I can feel the attendants deep pressure on the area that's being squeezed and massaged.

It was so intense and I sensed that they counted the squeezes per area. If I am not mistaken they divide the body into two planes which are the front (anterior) and back (posterior) then subdivided each planes into six areas starting from the head and neck, the two upper extremities (arms), the chest and abdomen (anteriorly) and back (posteriorly), and the two lower extremities (the legs).

Each area requires twelve squeezes or deep pressure massages and then they mixed it with hand/elbow rubs, squeezes, stretches, and hand jabs.They also popped each joints which feels so good. And it was so amazing that each time they do it the timing is always right. They always have to stay and concentrate not more or less than five to ten minutes on each part. And they finish on time and exactly in one hour.

After the soothing massage I felt so good, relieved of tensions, although there's still little pain. It's not really a guarantee that the pain (backache) will go away. But at least it helped minimized it after those few and relieving stretches.

As we age, our body has no means of circulating the lymphatic system which gets rid of the body's toxic products and substance aside from exercise and constant activity but through squeezes and stretches done through a very deep pressure massages.

So in order to help our body sustain at least a normal cycle of getting rid of these toxic substances a regular massage of at least every two weeks is always necessary.

But sometimes people neglect to do this because of a very hectic schedule or a very pampered lifestyle. I myself is one of this and it is a shame that I abused my body all the time. I am totally guilty of indulging my body to a very tense and stressful life.

Last night was a wake up call for me and I realized that I am not getting any younger anymore. So with this, I am planning to at least get a regular schedule of a two-week massage or at least a once-a-month schedule of Thai massage. In that, I can help my body regulate the lymphatic system's excretory functions regularly.

It was an amazing experience and I can't really trade it by doing a very strenuous exercise although exercise is also good and beneficial. At least I got rid of the clogs in my lymphatic system, some nagging aches and pains, and at the same time the tight and tender tensions in my neck, back, and shoulder muscles.

A Thai massage experience last night was quite a different experience I had compared to a regular massage I can get from my close friends and families. Although I had experienced it before still it was a really satisfying feeling after I got out of that salon.

I am glad I did it last night and I swear to God I have to do it again in two weeks time. Thank God for this amazing Thai massage, now I can move normally without any limitations. I really dreaded to get old and I constantly deny I am old, but it's a reality I could not help to stop.

Hmm.... I don't know if I can ever accept it but who knows. Hahaha. Yet I am glad it all happened last night at least I know that my life clock is ticking normally and I hope I am ready when the time to accept it will come.

Thanks to Thai massage..... if not through it I never knew that my life is really at a brink of extinction. There I know that I have to slow down and that I have only one body to take care of because if my body will give up later on I will be the one to suffer and the people who were close to me.

Yeah..... I was hit so hard upon realizing that my body suffered a lot because of my negligence, uptightness, and may be greediness (you know)because of my unregarding attitude to it.

It was really a wake up call and I am so guilty about it, honestly. Thai massage you are a miracle! Waaaaaah....

Meeting a College Classmate

Yesterday, I had a chance to meet one of my college classmate. We were so close during our college days wherein we always hang-out together with the whole gang during our brainstorming days for our comprehensive exams.

After nineteen years of not seeing each other, our last reunion had happened just after graduation and after that we never saw each other again. We were so eager to see each other that we couldn't help giggling and screaming at each other the moment we met.

After my clinicals with Batch 12-B at Marlinda Care Center I immediately went home to change my contaminated scrubs with a comfortable white checkered shorts and orange polo shirt. I then readied myself for a long drive going to Woodland Hills where I will pick-up Rose, my college friend.

It took me twenty-five minutes to get there because it was already rush hour that time and the traffic was very congested. When I got there, me and Rose were giggling and screaming at each other and was very delighted and happy to see each other. I get to meet her cousin, too, and her wonderful family.

It was already past 4 pm that time and we don't have enough time to roam around Los Angeles. We tried to evade the thick traffic but still we couldn't not really help going away from it, it was inevitable.

We took Freeway 405 South and we exited at Sunset Blvd not knowing where to start looking around Los Angeles. Since we're in Westwood area that time I decided to show Rose everything from that side of Los Angeles.

We toured around Belair and Beverly Hills and saw some plush and luxurious houses of the affluent people there. I also toured her at the UCLA campus and medical center. We drove around Rodeo Drive and showed her the Via Moda area and the site where Pretty Woman was shot.

After that we drove along the famous Santa Monica Blvd and Sunset Blvd and showed Rose some of the famous places found on both boulevards like the famous buildings and malls and also the famous party places and night clubs found in that area.

We also trekked the famous Hollywood Boulevard and Vermont Avenue to reach the top of the hills at the Griffith Park in order to go up at the famous and well-known Griffith Observatory to see the aerial view of the whole city of Los Angeles. We also took pictures from there.

After that we went to the famous Loz Feliz area to get some dinner. We stopped at the Figaro Restaurant and we had an enjoyable dinner there talking about our memories from college and laughing at them at the same time. Rose was a very vibrant person and I really loved her company a lot.

After the dinner it was almost dark so I decided to tour her at downtown Los Angeles showing her the theater district at Center Theater Group (CTG) pointing to her the famous buildings and structures like the Justice Building, the LA Capitol, Los Angeles Cathedral, the famous Fire Fountains at DWP Building, the new sulptural building like the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Ahmanson Theater, Chandler Pavillions, and Mark Taper Forum.

I also toured her around the downtown streets and showed her Staples Center where the current world series basketball Champion Los Angeles Lakers won the recently concluded NBA Finals. The famous Nokia Theater where the American Idol, Oscar Awards, Emmy Awards, and Grammy Awards were held. I also showed her the famous Los Angeles Convention Center were exhibits were always held.

I was still planning to show Rose the University District were the Olympic Stadium, Exposition Park, and University of Southern California were located but it was already late so Rose and I decided to go back to the valley and drop her back off.

So far it was a memorable reunion. At least we got to see each other after nineteen long years and enjoy each other's company. I really thanked this moment because I got to bond with not just my classmate from college but with one of my close friends during college, too.

It was a very very fruitful and productive reunion at least and I am glad we both made it and made it memorable. At least we had some pictures to prove it. Now, it is being kept at the back of our minds to be a part of our lasting memory.

I loved every bit of it and thank you Rose for making such a precious time available to you making it more interesting and unforgettable. Thanks a bunch honey!

Preoccupations

I have so much in my mind lately. I don't know what's bothering me. My head is in chaos. Everything is in disarray. It really bothers me a lot. I am in limbo.

With my current busy schedule I couldn't come up with something nor have done anything or accomplished something. Yes, I've been moving and acting like busy but it seems that things to be done were still piling up big time.

I may say I wanted to accomplish everything in just one time but I cannot do it. I am so preoccupied about things that are not really needed to be done.

For an instance, my room needs a makeover but I couldn't even fix it because of my hectic schedules in my two jobs. The paperworks at school were still piling up. Papers needed to be checked and requirements needed to be submitted.

Albeit, my hospital job demands me more work time. I can cope up with it but I felt so pressured. I'm so stressed out but I have to face the facts. I needed to work to pay up the bills and to support my sister and niece who are still in college right now.

Now I am juggling two languages to study and each lessons demands me to do some homeworks sometimes. I barely came up with it but I can't give it up because I already paid for it in advance. I really dipped myself into hot waters. I am so confused!

My body says I needed to do this but my mind says I am already tired. The problem with me is that I am full of ideas and I tend to accomplished them yet I felt so pressured.

Maybe I needed to slowdown and enjoy life slowly. That's what I needed! I needed to organize my priorities and gradually accomplish them without even putting pressure on myself.

The problem is, I get to challenge myself yet I don't complain. I wanted to do things at the same time then boom they gave a toll on me at the end. I am pretty much subjecting myself to a breaking down point and I don't want that to happen.

Yes, I am aware that this will lead me to destruction later on but I still keep doing it. I am a very patient and stoical guy and I just don't complain even though things may have hurt me passively. I know that it's happening to me yet I still continue doing it.

Now, I felt the comeuppance of my impulsive actions and decisions. It already gave a toll on my brain and body. It gave me stress, pressure, and unhealthy manifestations.

I felt this nagging headache sometimes that even gave me a hard time to decide and think. It gave me this backpain which really killing me a lot. It made me incur some sleepless nights even though I am very very tired already. It really bothers me so much.

In just a matter of time I may be having some breakdown moments and I dread that to happen. I know it will culminate to that situation and that's a scary situation to be in. I am a manic person who wanted to punish myself may be. It gave me chills thinking about those consequences.

Aaah..... that's why this contemplations I had right now made me aware and weigh things out. I took a day off to just relax and think how to remedy my unfavorable actions. Hopefully, I could come up with one or two. Good luck to me. Hahahahaha.

Joie de Vivre

Had not been blogging lately. Sorry about that! But anyways, life is just either or for me. Still the same and just trying to survive as usual. Hehehe.

My job in the school was been so loaded but I am not complaining. At least there's what you call a job because it's really hard to find a job lately. I am the one of the fortunates to enjoy that and I am thankful about that.

Life is always good I can say. I have three batches to handle in the clinical area and so far all three were doing good. I was so grateful to my supervisors for trusting me these batches.

I just have to keep an extra attention with Batch 16 because they're the ones who always struggles in their care planning. Batch 12-B and 14-A were now doing better. I really did a good job in encouraging and pushing them to come up with a care plan each time they know new disorders.

The last two batches I mentioned was also doing better with their computations in calculating medicines but they're still struggling in knowing their drugs confusing the brand names and generic names as well as the drug's actions and nursing implications.

Well, I can't blame them for that because technically there's a lot of medications to know and memorize. But I still encouraged them to at least memorize or know five drugs each day or each time they go to the clinicals.

That's why I wanted them to do at least five drug studies each time to come to the clinicals and they religiously complied to it. Very good job guys!

My main concern is Batch 16. This is a new batch and they're still a little hesitant in doing some procedures and bedside care. It only took them a little encouragement and motivation as well as constant guidance then they'll be as polished as a double-edged sword ready to be of use all the time.

My job as a clinical instructor is never an easy one actually. Imagine supervising at least 10 to 15 students at the same time. It so nerve-wracking actually.

I am not praying for it to happen but what if students will make a major error when they're still under my care.... then my license will be at stake. It's scary at times and I have to be really vigilant supervising them that's why I always reminded them to do procedures with me all the time.

So far things were at a very good pace and I am glad everybody seemed to picked up the trend. I can't complain anymore but to be thankful with such a good group that had landed on my care. I am still fortunate to be with them and helped them through their academic and clinical journeys.

Hopefully, they will end up as good and caring vocational nurses like me. I always get my inspiration form them eventhough I feel that I am not complete because I gave up my capacity to be productive in human terms and chose to be alone to carry on with life.

Eventhough I have to do things alone yet I am very happy with what I have achieved. I always have room for helping and guiding others to trek the right way. And that's I think is my accomplishment.

Life is indeed good and I can't complain no more. Teaching is my joie-de-vivre and I will always be ready to mentor someone as long as I am be of help to them.

Aye.... things has always to happen at the right places and time and whenever will be that for me I am always here ready to wait for it.

The Quest for Knowledge

It seems that I got bored of my life lately so I opted to take some language lessons as what I've explained on my previous blog.

Well, as an update they both went well despite juggling two jobs at the same time. My hunger for more knowledge didn't even disrupted my daily routines. In fact, I really benefited from it. I salute myself for the extra efforts and of course time in putting in for it. It was indeed a success.

To me, my urge to learn more language drove me to be more aware of the diversity of my surroundings. Living in Los Angeles really had given me the pressure and drive to learn Spanish and my travels in France lately had provoked me to learn French.

I think my insecurities and paranoia when somebody speaks in another language had influenced me to decide in taking those two languages and the drive still goes on and on and on until I got fed up of it.

I as a person has the tenacity to do things perfectly. Although I know that perfection is always impossible. There's always a flaw or flaws in everything we do, we act, and we perform. All these things are just in passing. They have an end per se.

But the experience I got from it couldn't be changed by anything.It will remain in our memories and will create lasting effect on us. For example, my drive to learn French and Spanish will become useful and handy in case I needed to use it someday.

And for sure, if I put it into constant practice I'll be more adept in speaking them and communicating with people in the right way.

I myself doesn't really stop learning everyday because each day me met circumstances that shape us as what we are and we tend to pick up some lessons from it even in a little way.

I believe in the saying that "Knowledge is Power." And this is the only weapon we can be proud of in using when we deal with everyday challenges. If we don't have enough knowledge to remedy anything then we will be left of. And time is always of the essence here.

If we can do it right now why wait when everything will vanish. Life is too short. We always have to spice it up and make it more colorful and beautiful as well.

Aaahh.... I am glad I made this decision to take all these language lessons. Or else I don't know when to act appropriately if I haven't decided to take the lessons.

Yeah.... things always happen at the right time. But if it comes up in an inopportune time then the balance of life will be altered and it will become an overwhelming situation for us because we are not prepared for it to happen.

But we should know that things always has a reason why they will happen. And that situation will be handled well if we will be prepared and trained to face the challenges.

My decision of taking these language lessons is just a preparation for me to know things and be ready to put in into used once the right time is near. I am glad everything went well for me.

So guys, don't stop learning everyday because we always learn from our successes and mistakes. No matter how things will hit us up and put us down yet there is always some lesson or lessons learned. I bet that!

So, always don't forget that we internalize power from knowledge. And knowledge will be imminent if we feed our spirits, our souls, our selves with lessons, values, and virtues we saw, feel, observed, and possessed in our journey to quench our thirst for knowledge.

Keep it going and be safe on your journey everyday. Life is always good! And knowledge is our wealth and instrument to get to our ultimate goals in life. Good luck!

Language Lessons

It's June and it's still cold. I was thinking that Summer was already around the corner yet still the weather appears nippy in the evening. How odd!

Anyways, June had started very slow for me. Work was still not very imminent yet I had this teaching job to feed me and helped me pay my bills as well as send assistance to my little sister and my nephew's and niece's school tuition fees way back home.

In order to break the ice I decided to take two language lessons. In as much as I use Spanish a lot at work I decided to call this very nice middle-aged lady who charged fairly well for a one-and-a-half hour session per week. So far I progressed very quickly because I already knew how to speak broken Spanish. It only needed some gentle polishing on the common expressions and terms being used everyday.

Our first session was very interactive and I liked the way she taught me. I was late during our first session because I totally forgot about it and she also forgot to call me a day before to remind me about the planned class as what we have agreed. But so far it was very productive.

On the otherhand, I tried to learn French language because I liked the language very much when I went vacationing in France last month to visit my college best friend. I decided to go back there next year so it is appropriate for me to learn a little bit about French.

I contacted this very demure French woman, who's same age like me, who posted her very detailed ad in Craigslist.com and our first meeting was also good.

She taught me the basics of French and I was very satisfied with the way she mentored me. It was also a very productive session and I liked what I am doing right now.

Juggling all these language lessons in between my two regular jobs (that is teaching and following up students at the clinical site and doing registry nursing by filling up nursing shortages around Los Angeles hospitals) was very tough but at least had filled up my time and made me very busy and productive.

I am happy about my new ventures and I will treasure this decision in the near future. Who knows!

I started to listen to my Pimsleur CDs in the car trying to get used myself to basic conversations in Spanish. I bought this CD four years ago and now I am very glad that I had put it into use. It had helped me a lot.

I also ordered a French version of the CD and I can't wait to also put it into use. Hopefully these learning aids will help me shape up my knowledge about the two languages and once I am adept to both of them I will bring up myself to another level.

Just doing one step at a time is the right move right now and as for me I am taking it slowly in order to achieve maximum results. And so far things were getting there.

I just can't express my happiness and satisfaction about my unwarranted decisions although it had helped me more focused and determined to give it a shot.

Hopefully next time once I am fluent with both languages and ready to put it into use I might venture another language to learn upon. May it be Italian, German, Swedish, or Russian.... who knows. But I am taking it level by level for now.

I am not rushing everything and I am not being aggressive about it because I know my own limitations right now when it comes to my current situation: be it physiological, psychological, financial, social, environmental, emotional, and spiritual. God please help guide me with my unwarranted decisions.

Life is too short. So if we don't take this right now then it will be too late to do it later. Why wait if you can do it right now? That's always the mentality I am trying to avoid because I just don't want to waste my precious time dawdling and doing nothing.

They say I am a high achiever and I wanted to live to that expectation. I tend to like it myself actually. Hehehe.

Hopefully things will be in the right places and I am confident I can do it even what the odds are. If I ever fall down I will stand up and learn from it and steadfastly rise up to the occasion. Salud la vida!