Perusing The Presidio In Santa Barbara

Well, I set out my long trip to Solvang a day before Thanksgiving Day and before heading there I decided to pass by at Santa Barbara since it is in the way to my destination. I planned to see the so called Presidio del Santa Barbara which depicted the life of early Californians during the discovery of the New World by the Spaniards.

The Presidio is a Spanish settlement outpost set during the 1700s era. It's main purpose is to house military personnel during the Spanish period. It's were the Spanish soldiers were living together with their families. It is like a fortress where they do their military drills and kept their fire arms. It is a small community completely equipped with a church, houses, barns, gardens, lecture rooms, offices, etc.

Right now a portion of it was been preserved because the rest of the structures were damaged by many Californian earthquakes and were already abolished and highly occupied by the booming residential and commercial places. The preserved areas were now managed by the California State Parks and is one of the property of the State of California which depicted the state's cultures, ways, customs, diversity, and the various life of old California.

When I arrived to Santa Barbara I have a hard time looking for a legal parking because the Presidio was been located at the crowded heart and busy area of the downtown and the streets there were all one ways. Luckily I spotted a guy getting inside his topped down yellow Mustang so I waited for a little while until he left and then viola I have a decent parking after looking and roaming around the area for ten minutes looking for a parking.

I parked my car legally and got out from it, then I gradually walked for a half block towards the Presidio. I then crossed the street towards the main portion of the Presidio on the other side of the street which consisted of the small church or chapel and the main offices and a museum. I then started to click my camera and took a lot of pictures for my online blog and album.

I also started to peruse and searched the place responsibly following the arrows that gave directions and instructions where to go to the visitors like me. I stopped first at the museum and asked a little bit of the history of the place and the docent who was present there was very helpful. After talking intimately to the docent who helped me for everything that I needed to know about the Presidio I started to roam around and amusingly checked each and every structures which also had some little exhibits inside.

The little church was an adobe structure and the walls was been painted in white. The front clay courtyard had a flagpole and the American flag was been swaying gaily and was being played by the tease of the warm afternoon wind. The adjacent rooms spanned horizontally from both sides of the church forming a wall structure that resembles to a garrison or a fortification to guard the community and I followed the rooms from the church going eastward and made a right turn towards the back lot which was converted into an orange grove courtyard.

I checked also some structures at the back lot which was converted as offices for the volunteers and from there I can see the other toppled walls and rugged fortifications of the entire structure which they still preserved for the visitors and strollers to see how big the area really is. I also saw an outdoor domed oven near the priest's quarters and then I went towards the back of the church which was the old barn now was converted as the administration office of the California State Parks and Services.

At the left side of the church facing north were the soldiers quarters and flanked with it was the mess hall and the commandant's quarters. There were replicas of various items during the Spanish period inside each rooms like the wooden cabinets and slatted bunk beds and also some wooden tables and benches at the mess hall can be found. There were also playgrounds where the soldiers play and a small garden with a minute fountain at the center.

Across the street was another structure which looks like a domesticated housing structures for the soldier's families. There were children's bedroom in there and a family room. At the backyard were grapevines and vegetable gardens and there were also haystacks and a looming machine in one of the rooms. It was fascinating to see how the Spaniards thrive in the Presidio as depicted in what I have seen there.

In that structure there was also a small museum which showcased the firearms as well as different cutting instruments like knives, swords, and bolos as well as spears and spitting tubes with various needles and also an array of bows and arrows depicting primitive military gadgets. There were also gardening tools in that museum like hoes, trowels, spades, wheelbarrows, scythes, hammers, etc. There were also barrels of gunpowders stacked in the armory and many more war related equipments like portable canons circa 1700's.

My visit at the Presidio was very interesting, informative, and educational. Albeit, I can see the religious aspect of it also because of the presence of the very intricate altar of the church. The chapel's ceiling were lined with intricate rows of reed straws and the altar was very very simple yet pretty and meticulous. There were no chairs reminiscent of that era because the chairs that were there at that moment were all leathered chairs. There was a painting of the Guadalupe on one wall and also a painting of the Assumption on the opposite wall.

Roaming around there I can feel the culture and the practices of the Spanish people. It was very nice to have done it and harmonize with the past. I am glad I decided to pass by there while on my way to Solvang. Have I not done it I probably haven't had any idea that this preserved structure was still existing. I am proud that I did it because I get to know the cultures of the Californians living in the 1700s. The collision of the Spanish and Mexican cultures coupled with the culture of the indigenous Californian Indians were been revitalized in that amazing structure and came into terms during that period.

It was nice for the State of California to have took the responsibility of taking care of the old structures and have preserved it for the visitors, tourists, revelers, strollers, and locals to know and educate about the cultures of the different people who had lived there as well as preserved a part of the history of California which depicted a lot of Californian ways and lives.

It was a very fruitful trip and the stroll around the Presidio was enjoyable and luckily I took a lot of pictures of it for my online albums. Every step I made there depicted a lot of California history. I was very keen in reading everything I saw because I am very interested in learning a lot about the Presidio itself as well as the patterns of life that had evolved in that fascinating place. So far, it was very entertaining and informative as well. I did not regret coming there even though I wasted my time there before heading to Solvang but it was worth the stroll.

Yes, I was very happy and ecstatic I did it and I was smiling jovially and extremely joyful when I left there because I knew it had given me another knowledge and perspective about the rich cultural history and intriguing place of Santa Barbara and California in general. My trips had always given me a lot of notable facts and tangible visual artifacts and I love doing it all the time. I never been happier after I did that long stroll around the Presidio, thank God.

Solvang: Wandering In A Fairy Tale

Last Thursday, I went to Solvang, California; one of the beautiful and flourishing Danish village or settlement north of Santa Barbara, which is a four hour drive from Los Angeles. I actually left Los Angeles last Wednesday at noon and stayed at Buellton, California where my hotel was located. Buellton is only like five miles drive to Solvang.

The reason I stayed in Buellton is because the hotel rate was reasonably cheaper compared than staying in Solvang and is only a short drive to Solvang. Buellton is where the split pea soup was originated. It is a tiny town but a little progresing. They have a lot of hotels along the Highway 101 and I stayed at Days Inn Hotel which has also a windmill office. So cute!

I arrived at Buellton on Wednesday afternoon beating the afternoon traffic in Santa Barbara and nearby places. I immediately roamed around a little bit at Solvang when I arrived at 1530H heading especially at the Old Mission Santa Ines. The rectory was open as well as the gift shop but the church was already closed so I didn't have the glimpse of the altar where the beautiful patron Saint Agnes was found. Good thing I went there right away on that day because they told me from the gift shop that they will gonna be close the next day on Thanksgiving Day. Waaah!

The mission was a sprawling cream colored adobe structure which is nicely painted. It never depicted a good old structure hailing from the 1700s but a very powerful and proud edifice. The church was close at that time because when I got there it was almost closing time and close to dusk. I took the time of taking pictures of the facade and the surrounding lush and beautiful rose garden and the "Via Cruces" promenade.

It was already dark when I left the mission church and convent so I decided to go back the next day to explore the whole downtown area of Solvang. I went back to Buellton and passed by the country restaurant called AJ Spurs which is about to open at that time of the afternoon. It was a very sleek country or Cowboy inspired restaurant equipped with a lot of Western decors and stuffed live animals.

The food was very fresh and taste great. I've ordered a 100% USDA approved 14 oz. ribeye steak which was the most tastiest and yummy ribeye steak I have ever tasted. It was a very huge portion smothered with sauteed white onions and accompanied with a delicious scoop of mashed potato and assorted sauteed long beans. The steak was very soft, chewy, and impecably delicious. It just magically melt inside my mouth. I was in limbo when I first took a bite and tasted it. I happily savored every moment of it until I got full. The portion was huge and when I left there I was greatly stuffed.

After the dinner I headed to the hotel and checked in. The lady at the reception was very friendly and extremely loquacious. I chatted with her about Solvang and she gave me some idea where to go and have fun during my stay there. She was very helpful in my search for fun in Solvang. I thanked her for giving me some information on where to explore around the place.

The next day I woke up at 0800H and took a shower then left the room and checked out after partaking the continental breakfast courtesy of the hotel. I left after that because I still have to go find the Nojoqui Falls. The falls is easy to locate because the direction given to me by the receptionist last night was still embedded at the back of my head. Nojoqui Falls is awesome and I have already blogged about it prior to this. Please refer to the blog. Thanks!

After I went to Nojoqui Falls I drove back to Buellton to gas up and then headed to Solvang proper. At the mouth of the city, I stopped by at the Kronberg Hotel because I have to take a picture of the windmill in front of the hotel to document on my online album. In the downtown there were a lot of windmills also and a lot of tourists there also enjoying the whole beautiful village which is famous all over the country.

Roaming around Solvang feels great because I felt like I was strolling in a fairy tale place but literally I am not. I was so excited knowing and exploring the magical place fully well especially the downtown area full of odd houses and business establishments. As I ambled along the cobblestoned streets I just can't help taking pictures of all the nooks and crannies of the entire downtown area. I may have probably circumnavigated it several times as well as took a lot of pictures and I am extremely satisfied with what I saw.

The establishments and edifices around there were like patterned to the houses in Denmark and some business establishments have also Dutch names I couldn't even read and pronounced. The atmosphere in the area were very calm and serene and the people were very very polite and markedly approachable.

I saw a lot of foreigners there mostly consisted of Europeans, Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans. I also ate at a Danish restaurant that served the famous Danish Aebleskiver which is a spherical pancake stuffed with sliced apples inside and drenched with a thick strawberry or cherry syrup. I also tried eating some Danish sausage and Danish meatballs which were very very delicious when coupled with a purple saurkraut.

I strolled around the downtown area alone and had observed various people and places I passed by. I felt like a lunatic wandering and imagining that I'm in a fairy tale land appreciating the wonderful things and beautiful scenic magical spots as well as the uniquely strange shaped and colorful buildings around me especially the odd buildings and houses scattered all over the area. I was in awe of everything that I saw and I forgot my direction already.

I also went in some Danish pastry shops and bought some Danish goodies for myself as well as sipped a hot creamed coffee while I was lonesomely strolling on the busy tiled streets. There were huge windmills I saw everywhere and it had really amazed me how beautiful they were just like the favorite places that I admired which are the lighhouses.

I kept ambling aimlessly around the area like a crazy person greatly and extremely appreciating everything I saw around me. I kind of believing now and is used to an idea that I am in a fairy tale land currently. It was so beautiful and what a unique experience. I really love it there!

There were signs already posted along the streets about the incoming Julefest Festival early next month. And I noticed that each business establishments had already an undecorated Christmas pine trees outside their businesses in preparation for the Julefest Festival wherein they will decorate it during that festival to be held sometime in the first week of December.

There were also a lot of famous and not-so-famous wineries lined up around the downtown area but apparently right at that moment some were closed in celebration of the Thanksgiving Day. Damn.... I am so unlucky whenever I decided to see a special place, to expore and unwind, because of the Thanksgiving Day it was an extremely bad timing to do wine tasting. It was pretty much nice to stroll around there though.

Being there in this fascinating and fabulous community was a huge and lucky opportunity for me. Solvang is a very very progressive place and I was really awestrucked with it's alluring beauty. The buildings were very beautiful, strong, and strangely nice to look at. It seems that I was just in Europe at that moment traveling around Denmark and enjoying the beauty it has to offer, but technically I am not. Actually, I am in Solvang, California and it is no difference than the ones in Denmark because it is an exact replica of it as what people say.

As of now, I can't forget my first trip here in this wonderful place on earth. I actually never regretted coming here either. Hoping to be back again here soon if God is willing. It seems that I never wanted to open my closed eyes and stop dreaming because if I do I will surely lost sight of Solvang which had captured my heart, my soul, and my imagination. It was just like magic to be there. It was just like a greatest dream come true. For sure, I will be back again here and enjoy it the second time around. What a great day indeed in this fairy tale Danish community village called Solvang.

Solvang you have etched something special into my heart and I will never ever forget you as long as I live. Ciao and see you someday again, hopefully.

The Trail To Nojoqui Falls

A day before Thanksgiving Day I set out myself for an out of town adventure. I went to a Dutch settlement called Solvang to see the beautiful place. It's been a long time that I am planning to go there and after several planning and musings I finally decided to drive there by myself.

I've been meaning to plan to go to Solvang for several months but it seems that my very hectic and messed-up schedule could not accommodate my plans and unpredictably this week I finally realized the plan that I was been keeping to myself for several months. Yay!

I've got a five days off this week because of the Thanksgiving Day holiday and plus there were no school because the students were on vacation for four days also for the whole week because of the Thanksgiving Day. I got bored at home so I decided to pursue my half cooked old plans and now I had it realized.

Along this trip I am planning to enjoy the beauty of mother nature so I've included the trip to Nojoqui Falls which I saw in Google from the Tripadvisor site. I don't know if there will be water falling down the deep ravine or the creek has water flowing in it because at the website it did not specify what time of the year the fall is abundant with water but I am trying my luck right.

I woke up in the morning at the Days Inn Hotel in Buellton, CA preparing for the day's activities which include a hike going to Nojoqui Falls. I just can't contain my excitement because I've been planning this for a long long time and now I have to do it. I am very very ecstatic about it already.

From the hotel I merge to Highway 101 going south then drove for six miles and made a left on a farm road going to Nojoqui park where I parked my car. I alighted from the car and tried to look for any signs that will lead me to the falls but apparently there was not.

I saw a lady walking with a camera on hand so I asked her where's the way going to Nojoqui Falls and she pointed me the right way. From the car I ambled towards the depth of the forest then I saw a trail and a sign there going to the trail and I had followed it.

Along the way there were tall lush green trees enveloping the forest looking like rigid soldiers standing and encapsulating the roof of the forest giving way to an ample slither rays of the rising morning sun which is very fascinating to the eyes at that moment. I just can't resist looking at it so I took some pictures of it for my online documentation.

I kept ambling inside the forest going to the northwest portion of the forest as what my compass was pointing while following the signs of the trail. I saw some big boulders which were very huge and also a dry creek which made me deduce that the falls has no water. I crossed the small bridge which connects both banks of the small creek then continued ambling towards the innards of the forest.

The trail was a ten minute walk and climb which is not even very tiring to do. The trail ended towards the wall of a cliff where the falls is being found and there inside the depths of the jungle lies the majestic waterfall which has stood there waterless with only a trickle of water at the base. It was still beautiful even though there was no water and I was thinking how much more when there is water. The moss on the wall of the cliff had grew lushly making it more greenish to look at.

I stayed there for fifteen minutes trying to imbibe myself of the positive energies that the forest has brought on me thereby clearing up some of the things that had bothered me lately. It was very relaxing and a more calm feel was been emanating within the surrounding areas.

I never regretted going there even though it entails a lot of driving, climbing, and walking. Arriving there not seeing a lot of water falling down from the steep ravine was another shocker but at least I've tried my luck. I still took a lot of pictures for my own safekeeping.

After I've enjoyed looking and watching at the falls I decided to leave the vicinity by taking the same trail back to the parking lot. I saw some beautiful colorful dried leaves along the way and I did not hesitate lying on it and playing with them just like a toddler. I also took pictures of it for my memento. I felt like I was regressing that time and I really had a blast. What a cool feeling though.

When I got to the car, I strolled a little bit around the park and enjoyed the scenery of the colorful tree foliage with their leaves falling one by one to the ground making a heap pile of those beautiful colorful leaves making the road more fascinating and beautiful to look at depicting the common neutral hue of fall. I really enjoyed watching it.

I left the park then headed back to Buellton and drove to Solvang for more adventures and fun. This was an unforgettable Thanksgiving Day experinece I've had so far and I never regretted doing it. Oh, I am glad I decided leaving Los Angeles just to set my adventure to this two awesome places on earth.

What A Stage The World Is

I am very frustrated about how things are being handled in school. It was a total chaos and I don't want to be a part of it. I am practically distancing myself from any troubles that had happened in school despite I made some effort to offer my help but I was just ignored by the administration.

I mean my loyalty in school was very apparent. I was teaching there for ten years now since the inception of it. I was considered a pioneer and a senior faculty since it was found. I never been proud to have stayed there but things lately had been changed because of the greediness of the administration to usurp or extort money from the students not giving back to the students what is worth for the exorbitant tuition they were paying. These students should be treated right.

I am a person who anticipates what is coming and lately my staffing coordinator who happens to be the administrative assistant to the administrator had scheduled me in one clinical rotation which I am not qualified. Two weeks prior to the said assignment I've texted the dean that I cannot be able to perform the assignment because of the necessary qualifications that I have not complied. I also emailed the staffing coordinator during that time about the problem and they both responded that they will take care of it.

I don't know but I have a gut feeling that there will be a commotion to happen and I am very apprehensive to just clear up myself in the future. I'm am always wary about this kind of circumstance not until I saw action in black and white. I don't want to irritate people especially the dean and the staffing coordinator but I have to just to free myself from the blame and responsibility in case there will be problems later on.

In my apprehension, I emailed again the staffing coordinator a week before the said assignment was scheduled and he was very condescending about his response telling me that he already knew about the dilemma and told me not to bother him again. I responded back to him that I just wanted to free myself of any blame in case something will happen in the future because I know the group that was supposed to be going in that clinical site. Well, he responded back that everything was been taken cared of so I stopped pestering him after that email which I think is enough proof to clear myself.

I also texted the dean from my phone after one week before the said schedule reminding her of the problem and assuming she got it she should have responded to me that it was been taken cared of. Hopefully, she did.

Now the said date came and I got a call from my best friend Doris whois supposed to cover for that date. She told me that she was also not informed and that they just called her that day but it was late already. I remember telling her that I already called the two bosses and that she also knows about the dilemma but wasn't aware that she was supposed to cover for me.

The students got angry at the dean and when they have spoke to her and the staffing coordinator she told the students that the reason I did not show up is because I have not procured a flu shot which is one of the requirement for the hospital before going there which is not true and an outright lie because I have texted her twice for the past two weeks about the incoming problems but she and the staff coordinator was been ignoring the problem.

And now that the problem had came up as what I have felt two weeks ago when I opened the schedule I was the one to blame. See how unprofessional this people are. They don't take responsibility of the actions they did and blame it on to others because they were the boss. What kind of authority is that? I lost my respect for them already.

It really shows that there are a lot of personalities around us. Some are good, some are passive, and some are bad. It just that if every body have the same attitude and personality maybe the environment will be monotonous and lack life. That's why there should be a catharsis to make the story more convincing and exciting.

Slow Day Today Huh! (100th Blog of 2012)

Well, I was literally off for two days and honestly I didn't or haven't accomplished anything basically. Today is a very very slow day actually. It seems technically that the precious time had been passing by so fast and so quickly.

I groggily woke up late this cold Autumn morning at around 0900H and I was practically planning to do my two week's worth of laundry but I intentionally tossed the planned idea aside because I have another agenda which is to actually meeting this new guy introduced to me by my student at his apartment in Franklin and La Brea near Hollywood.

I was so giddily excited because I've been meaning to plan seeing him for several times the previous week but it seems that there were a lot of untoward incidents and conflicts with our so-called hectic and messed up schedules. So we decided to meet at his apartment today as planned from our last week's conversation. His apartment was very high end and affluently posh. The security was very tight but I went through without any problems because he forewarned them the I was coming.

When I got to the elevator it was locked and it needed a tenant's key to have it opened. I texted him from there but there was no signal. I panicked totally and I cannot think of anything to do. I saw a phone just in front of the elevator so I grabbed the receiver and practically dialed the operator to open the elevator for me then viola it was opened just as what I asked her to do.

When I went in the elevator I punched the number seven button to lift me to the 7th floor then when I went out of the lift I started looking for apartment 709 and rang the doorbell after I found it. I wasn't so sure if it was the right apartment or not. I was nervous when I rang the doorbell and wary at the same time thinking it was a wrong apartment. When the door was opened it was him who opened the door. He was wearing a burgundy PJ and he is topless. My God he was tall and muscular possessing that chiseled smooth chocolate body and he smiled at me with his perfectly aligned white teeth.

He invited me to get in, brought me to the living room, and offered me to sit down. From there he sat down, started to struck a conversation, and we never stopped talking after that. He told me that he goes to UCLA where he is a football player for the Bruins team. No wonder he possessed that awesome muscular body with prominent abs to die for. I got intimidated initially.

We talked for more than an hour and we talked a lot of topics and issues basically to know one another. It was a pretty much decent conversation and we held on to it filially and with slight intimacy but in a friendly manner. We decided that we just wanted to be friends from there and it was okay for me. Honestly I never felt any special feelings with him initially so I thanked him for inviting me to come to his apartment and graciously accepted me there as a friend. We exchanged phone numbers hoping that we could hook up again sometime if our schedule permits.

I left his place smiling and thinking of the awkward moments I felt when I saw him opening the door wearing that burgundy PJs in topless form flaunting his much possessed six pack abs. Frankly, I just can't stop looking at his enormous bulge in front of him. I guess he's not wearing any briefs at all during that time. I was smiling to myself because I think he was ready for me but I was so tragically demure in front of him. That made the situation awkward for him. Silly me huh!

Well I guess if it's really meant to be it will really mean it but there was no spark or chemistry at all during the first meeting and I guess he felt the same way, too, but he was practically very decent and cautious not to show it in front of me which I actually noticed immediately. It was really awkward at first but he dealt it professionally and with manners and no attitude albeit all those topless welcome and those abs to die for. Not a usual welcome for an initial acquaintance. Aaahh..... I go gaga of what had happened.

From there I wanted to nurse my loneliness and frustrations so I decided to probably watch a movie to pass the time and to soothe myself from the fiasco. It was already 1400H so I decided to pass by the Studs Theater at Santa Monica Boulevard nearby and just hang out there until it is dark. I was so depress that time so I decided to just stay there till I recover temporarily.

I stayed there until 2030H meeting willing gay people for a talk and conversing with them until we get tired of each other. Sometimes I just sulk at the corner and fell asleep then woke up confused in the dark and just cruise around with no direction. I was just there to pass the time which I should be spending doing laundry by now but I am not apparently. I felt so pathetic and tragically grieving that time but I found a best way to ease and soothe the hurt feelings I felt the fastest way.

When I got out from the theater at 2030H I passed by my favorite Thai fusion resto called "Galanga" and ordered my usual order which is "Pad Wun Sen" which is composed of sauteed glass noodles with diced chicken, bean sprouts, cherry tomatoes, sliced carrots, bell peppers, etc. and a skewered Thai chicken satee with pickled sweet cucumber and matching yummy and creamy peanut sauce.

I went home at 2115H and decided to end the day for I will be having a clinical class tomorrow morning which really entails me to wake up early in the morning again. I hope it won't be that cold tomorrow compared to this morning which had probably made me lazy and procrastinate about my intended chores which should be done right now if I opted to stay at home.

Well, my day was extremely very slow and I never accomplished anything today except incurring a broken heart and also nursing my loneliness, frustration, and depression. Poor me, I'm always unfortunate when it comes to matters of the heart but oh well, it's not the end of the world yet and I am not that desperate either. I may be sour graping but to tell you honestly and frankly, I don't really give a damn. Hahaha!

Backing Off A Little Bit

Well, I've been noticing that I am easily provoked and get angry. I don't know why. May be it is pretty imminent that I am enetering the menopausal stage already. It seems that I get easily irritated right away. I've been to few altercations lately and I felt that it is not healthy anymore. It wasn't me anymore.

My two angry encounters involved my two bosses from both jobs and I am easily inclined to answer them back because of their unprofessional attitude towards me. I easily answered them back because I am a person who always proved to you that you are wrong if you are wrong. Instead of keeping myself silent I can't help answering them back to get their appropriate response for the attitude they're exhibiting.

I had a fight with my Administrative Officer at school because of the biased handling he does on our schedule as faculty. I wrote him a letter that he is biased and has favoritism among the faculty. I told him that he favored the new ones compared to us the senior ones. My aggressiveness to email him and telling him of his fault had backfired and he turned the situation around telling me that I am spineless and not grateful to him because he gave me a schedule at least. I was surprised at his answer so I held off my cool.

So now, I suffered the consequences of my assertiveness because he didn't schedule me for two weeks while the new ones was working back-to-back which is unfair. Well, what could I do if there are vindictive people out there. I didn't even mean ill things to him but was just citing the unfairness we got from him and then he retaliated and had made me suffer. May be he just wanted me to starve and be penniless. But it won't deter me for being honest. I'm sorry. I'm not scared of him.

Now he has problems about other instructors because some of them doesn't show up or was calling-in-sick because of the cold weather and he kept calling me at home to pick-up my times from those absences. I called and told him that no thanks, I have appointments set already (despite there was none). I balled out at the panic he felt because students will be left by themselves at the clinical site and that these students will complain to the board thereby making the school in trouble.

The second altercation was at the nursing home I am working. It was between me and the administrator. She wanted me to go to a patient's room and answer the call light in the middle of my admission. Instead of commanding me to do it she should have done it because she was there already. Her commanding authoritativeness was unprofessional. She told me in the first place to transfer beds for the admission because she did not know that the admission was an isolation. Then at the middle of the transfers she told me to go to a patient's room at the other end of the building.

I told her I will go there after the transfer but she was very insistent. I still went to do the transfer and when I was done I immediately went to the room she says. When I get there the patient wanted me to talk to her so I listened and it all came out it was a nonsense talk that had eaten up my time because of the administrator's insistence.

When I got out of the room she called me at her office abd told me that she was charging me an offense of insubordination. I blew up and shouted at her "Excuse me, can you repeat what you have just said? Do you realized what you're doing to us?" and without a face she still insist that she'll gonna write me up. "I told her go ahead make your day."

I was so furious about it which I did not held my cool. She irritated me a lot and I told her that do you know what insubodination means? I told her also that I went to finish the transfer first before answering that call. Anyway, the CNA and the charge nurse can answer it how you wanted me to answer it while I was in the middle of transfers. She just kept quiet and I left her office because I still have to do an admission that just came when I was just coming in.

I have realized that I am easily provoked lately and when I noticed I was at a right instance I easily got furious and answered the perpetrator immediately. May be I have to cool down myself and back it off a little bit because I felt the adrenaline rush when I am angry and provoked. It's not healthy for me. I know I will not settle if I am at the right side and it can cause me much if I follow my emotions.

So by backing off I hope I will be more focused and not get angry anymore. Please help me God established presence of mind and compassion to my job. Thank you Lord for everything you're given and showered me. Thank you very much!

Post Election Self Evaluation

Yesterday, the whole world had witnessed the very close race of the presidential election in the United States. It was the hall mark of the people's freedom of suffrage. It was indeed a success and people had made their clear choice in the end.

All night people were glued on the television and had watched the tightly close race. And as the night gets deeper and the results were submitted and the electoral vote results as well as popular votes were rigidly tabulated people were just reeling and kept glued on their screens. It was a whole night spectacle full of drama and gritty scenarios. People were hanging at the edge of their seats.

Well, as we are facing the challenges of the just recently concluded presidential election and the results had just been decided, a newly reelected president of the United States of America was been magnanimously declared last night and there were new hopes for us to forge forward and pick up ourselves and this country's long lost reputation into pieces.

The newly reelected president had promised to make all his efforts to cooperate with other parties to work hand-in-hand for the people and for the country. I admire his tenacity to take responsibility despite of his political rivals' blatant attacks on his political performance for the past four years doubling our national debt and not providing jobs for the many.

Although I did not voted for him I still had an admiration for him as an elected president for I honestly accept what the people had decided. My ideologies may be different but I am with him in rebuilding this great nation. I am more favoured of the other rival because we have the same ideologies but too bad he did not appear victorious in the end.

I will not be bitter to the people about their choices because who am I to retaliate for their freedom of choice. They chose and their votes had just spoken. My vote is only one but at least I made my own voice heard. And believe me it was a tight and close race and it had given the other party reeling at the edge of their seat.

Four more years will be slacked for him and hope he will deliver this time. And if he does then he will earn my hard earned respect more and more. I hope our nation which is known great around the world will be restored from a dark abyss and that will become great again.

My emotions was been down when I was watching Romney's concession speech. It was an honest speech that came from the depths of his being. It was a speech full of emotions and careful rethinking. I admire his love for this country and his family and that made him great more and more to me. He is a good man but other people has no sympathy to him.

Last night, I can feel his sincerity and I know that a lot of people had felt it and was very empathic to him. Even though he lost the battle I know he will be greatly remembered. He fought the fight good and it was a very close fight. In the end there will be only one victor but sadly it was not him. I hope he will write a book about his life and I will be the first one in line to buy it.

On his speech I can feel how he got betrayed by the people of his own state and the people behind his party. But needless it happened his family was there to console him and myself who was crying for him. I am in great mourning and grief but it's only until there. It's not the end of the world yet. It was only an election and I hope people must understand.

I admire his speech about encouraging the politicians to set aside political bickering but instead work for the interest of the people and not for their selves and their party's interest. I admire him for encouraging teacher's to teach children the right path, preacher's and counselor's to work for the common good, and parents to guide their children. And most importantly I admire him saying to pray for this elected president in reversing the path and leading the country to greatness. To you sir, my hat's off and my hard earned respect I will give to you.

On the other hand, the victory party in Chicago was another scenario. Obama had made a promise to make every thing better for the people. And he made a promise to work hard to restore this country's greatness. He made a promise to pave a way for this country to rise again and that he warned the people present at that convention center that the best is yet to come for them. Hopefully, it will happen as what he promised and I hope this time he will deliver.

At this point in time, I agree with Romney for suggesting to set aside political bickering because it is a culprit for the unstable growth and progress of the country. I believe in the dissolution of partisanship and that all parties must unite and work for the welfare of the people they serve. I believe in the power of many working for the betterment of the economy and also for the welfare of everybody.

Now that the election is over, I hope we all will set aside our differences and honestly help out in picking the shattered pieces of our nation's reputation and build them into whole again. This we all can do if we unite as one great nation.