Time to relax

After 3 weeks of stress, what with working on all my papers for school and my lectures for my class i finally get to relax.  Phew!  School is out for grad school and in Benilde the next few weeks are for consultation by my students.  I can finally catch up on my sleep.

I look back at the sem that was and I can honestly say, I enjoyed going back to school as a student.  Fulfilling requirements was difficult, for sure, but not insurmountable.  I am optimistic about getting a good grade from my professors.  My only worry, if any, would be with my org. culture class because our professor in that subject was more distant with the students than the other professors.

For our ICT class we had to organize a seminar for our final requirement and submit a book report.  The last sounds very high school, I know, but that is what Dr. Garcia asked for.

For our Research Seminar 1 class Sir Dodi had us write three chapters of a research paper.  At the beginning of the semester he told me to write a qualitative research paper so I had to think of a topic that would require qualitative research.  Thankfully I was able to think of something fairly early and had time to work on it and submit on time.

For our Org. Culture class Sir Don's final requirement was a case study analysis and a communication plan.   Yes, in essence TWO papers.  We had only 10 days to work on it.  Thankfully I was able to submit on Day 9.

With all that paperwork ahead of me, I decided to start working on them as early as I can.  Good thing I did!  I still needed time to work on my lectures for my WebDev1 class.  Part of what I do to prepare for class is to create a "for dummies" instruction sheet on how to execute and use different webdev tricks on Dreamweaver for my kids.

I get about two weeks of rest and it is back to school and work for me.  Hello, summer class!

Buried in work

Stress, we meet again, old friend. It's been a while since you've been on my back.

I won't deny it, I find you exhilirating and motivating on one end, yet tiring at the same time.

And you had to bring your friend, Writer's Block, with you, didn't you? Just to make it more challenging for me? So here I am writing you a letter instead of working, just to de-stress for a tiny bit.

I'm glad I was able to finish that research paper for Research Seminar 1 (under Sir Dodi Dizon) with days to spare. And that I had time to study for the final exam. I also finished my book review on Inventing The Internet for my Information and Communication Technology class (under Dr. Malou Garcia) with more than a week to submission. So now I have only 10 days left to work on the case study analysis and the communication plan for my Org. Culture class (under Sir Don Bernarte). I'm doing my best not to freak out! I know that if I keep calm I will be able to do it.

I still need to work on my lecture for this Thursday at Benilde. My topics are DIVs, rollover, and spry. I haven't done CSS code in a while so I need to refresh soon and fast!

Ok, Stress, you are starting to get to me again. Here's the deal, I'll acknowledge you are there, you push me to do well and complete my work on time, and I promise not to go and do something crazy. Deal?

While we are at it, could you please tell your friend, Writer's Block, that I need to work now, so to please leave me? Thank you.

He almost made a century

My mom and I were just laughing and chatting. I went upstairs to do some work but left my door open. Next thing I knew I heard my mom talking to someone on the phone and she sniffed and said in Ilonggo "papa is gone". This was at 6:30pm. I rushed downstairs ... I wasn't sure I heard her right. After my mom put the phone down I asked her about it and she told me that Lolo Caloy passed away.

Lolo Caloy turned 96 last Sept. 13, 2009. He had his first heart attack in 2009. He did not have any illness such as asthma or an ulcer or a heart condition. He had poor eyesight and poor hearing, but both can be blamed on his advanced age.

Before he passed away he acquired pneumonia and was getting much weaker. My uncle says that he was saying goodbye the day before and was pointing at people only he could see around him in his room. He went to sleep and didn't wake up.

Lolo Caloy lived longer than most people I know. We used to tease him that he must be aspiring to hit a hundred. Of his siblings he was the last surviving member. When he would ask us why Jesus would not get him yet we would joke with him and say either "only the good die young" or "ang masamang damo nga naman". Long and short ... lolo had a checkered past, hehehe

My mom is leaving for Davao tomorrow. I believe her other siblings will also be there by then. My sisters and I will be following on Saturday.

Lolo Caloy is at peace now. The funeral is set for Sunday afternoon. I will know all the details when we arrive in Davao on Saturday night.

Supergirl moment, an accident report

I've thought about flying but not like this.

On my way to (grad) school this morning I road a 26 seater (12 on each side and 2 in front beside driver) Cubao-Divisoria jeep with license plate number TXC106. BIG MISTAKE! It was one of those tricked out jeeps with (usually) loud music playing, but not today.

There were only 7 of us seated at the back of this king-sized jeep. I started to feel apprehensive when the driver started weaving through light traffic at top speed, swerving left and right every few feet. I didn't think too much of it, though, because, well ... we all know how reckless these jeepney drivers are, right? I was seated at the end of the jeep on the right side near the exit with one hand holding the bar on my left (by the exit) and my feet braced against the floor. My right arm was wrapped around my backpack holding it secure.

With no warning the driver suddenly swerved to the left then braked HARD! One moment I was sitting braced at the end of the jeep next thing I knew I was sliding across the seat, my feet could get no traction, my hand got wrenched from the bar and I was flying across the jeep. I got thrown forward to my knees then I turned to my left to protect my bag (my netbook was inside) and I landed hard on my left hip and thigh. I finally stopped sliding when my head slammed into the back of the driver's chair and my face smashed into the speakers. And to put icing on the cake, all the other passengers (6 men and women of different sizes) all fell on top of me.

I (and the other passengers) complained at the driver for his driving and even mentioned our injuries. You know what he said in reply? He said that he was just avoiding a taxi that suddenly stopped in front of him. If he hadn't done that we would have been in a worse situation. Hello! In the first place, if he had not been driving so fast we would not be in that situation at all! If he weren't driving so fast there would not have been any need to brake so hard. If he weren't driving like a maniac and had not been tailgating the taxi, he would have had ample time to brake. No one would have been injured, and we would all have just complained about the reckless TAXI driver, not the reckless JEEP driver.

Since I was almost at school I decided to just continue on. I texted my classmate, Mark, to find out if he was already in school and he told me that he was at Chowking having breakfast with Andrea and Rean. So, shaking and all, I got off the jeep at Pureza to meet my classmates. I won't deny it, after I entered, greeted my friends, and sat down, I started crying quietly. In the jeep my fellow passengers told me the left side of my face was swollen so when I greeted my friends it was just a few minutes from the accident.

After I'd calmed down I went to the grad school building to attend my class. Yes, I actually decided to still go to school! I asked my classmates in that class if they knew where the clinic was so that I could get checked out. I told the doctor and nurse what happened and they told me that it is a medico-legal issue and I should get x-rays if I plan to file a case against the driver. Unfortunately, I was not able to get the driver's name and driver's license number, but since I was able to get the plate number of the jeep, it would be easy to trace the operator, at least.

Inventory of injuries:

• big bump on my head but my skin was not broken
• numbness on the entire left side of my head
• numbness on the entire left side of my face
• my teeth on the left side are sore
• my neck (left side) is sore but it seems to radiate to the other side as well
• my left shoulder is sore
• left side of my back is sore, lower back abraded
• left hip and butt cheek are sore, abraded and swollen
• both knees are abraded and bruised

I decided not to pursue the medico-legal case anymore, as the procedure is more of a headache than the bump on my head. But that doesn't mean I won't tell MMDA to watch out for him anyway. It pays to know someone who can do something about it. And, of course, blogging about it also helps. If only so I could blow off steam.

I got sent home early from school. Even though I was sore I went to see my professors to let them know I why I had to leave. I opted not to get the x-rays but went to our family doctor instead accompanied by my mom. He said I did not need them anymore since I had no nausea, I could walk and talk straight, and I could move my arm. I was just told to go home and rest. The doctor in the school clinic told me not to sleep immediately in case I had a concussion. I seem to be ok so I finally got to sleep at around 4pm and woke up at 7pm. Our family doctor prescribed expensive painkillers (ouch!) worth P50.50 a pop. It is supposed to be an anti-inflammatory, too.

The school doctor told me to take it easy and observe my injuries for 48 hours. Our family doctor told me to take it easy for 3 to 5 days. Good thing I swapped class schedules with a co-faculty at Benilde so I don't have to go to school until Thursday night.

Just had dinner and now I think I have to sleep again. The medicine they gave me is sedating, but it helps with the soreness and bruising.

For those of you who travel the Cubao-Divisoria route, DO NOT RIDE A CUBAO-DIVISORIA JEEP WITH LICENSE PLATE NUMBER TXC106. The driver will put your life at risk and won't even apologize about it.