Does size really matter or is it all in your head? April 12, 2008

ARTICLE>>>PAIN from IV Cannula Insertion: Does Size Matter?

Twelve subjects found the 22-gauge catheter more painful, and the
remaining 13 found the 20-gauge catheter more painful, a nonsignificant
difference. There was no effect of which hand was used first or which
size catheter was inserted first.

A study stipulated that it was difficult to distinguish which was more painful, gauge 22 or gauge 20. It was a random study so it’s difficult to distinguish why.

Consider the sizes used, 20 and 22, the size range is a bit close. Perhaps they could conduct a study that offered a wider variance. One that constitutes big versus small.Not small versus not so small. I don’t know, maybe 18 versus 22 *_*. It would make a larger impact on the element of size and how it would affect patients undergoing IV cannula insertion.

The material the cannula was made out of? These questions may need further inquiry, but it makes an astonishing point that size may not matter.

Yeah I know ^_^ I got hung over IV Therapy Training X_X

summer anticipated or not March 19, 2008

Ah, Summer you elude my grasp
I beckon you to be in palm’s clasp
Come quickly now, leave me not
Else I crumple in fear I shall rot
**** yes crappy poem or rather set of phrases****

I remembered when I was in high school, when one of the most important parts of existence was the summer vacation. Whenever I was in school I would always spend some time longing for the summer. I’d gaze out the window, conjuring up what I would do with my spare time.

I think that I would long for summer because it represented freedom.

A freedom to be Lazy
A freedom to be Irresponsible
A freedom to do something else other than stare at a blackboard and be cooped up in a boring classroom with boring teachers
A freedom to prepare for something else other than quizzes
Or rather a freedom to prepare for nothing at all
A freedom to do nothing except what I want (for a change)
A freedom to escape the rules that the real world imposed (there’s an imaginary world? @_@ Yes there is, we all have one, don’t deny it +_+`)

(Doesn’t it sound just like suicide?  Yes. If you think like this every once in a while, you have suicidal ideation. Don’t worry its healthy…provided you do it once in a while. ^_^ )
Was it because I didn’t like the reality I had then? Perhaps.
But I was surer that it was because reality could get a little overwhelming sometimes.

Of course when I was in college, there were two breaks, October and 2 weeks or less from April and May. (We had summer classes! It was Mandatory ok! ~_~`)

March…I feel strange.

I don’t have that exhilarating sense of anticipation any more. I feel like something was stolen from me. I wonder if this is part of growing up. I wonder if it’s because I’ve come to accept reality.  Is this why adults don’t give much importance to summer. It’s just another month. ( I wonder if this is how it feels to be married to someone that you don’t find exciting anymore ERK! @_@` CRAP!)

March…I feel empty.

My unparalleled ANTICIPATION for summer has been replaced by a large heap of APATHY. (can’t stop whining about it…it’s MARCH its supposed to be an EXPECTED feeling)

Oh yeah and the irony is! I might start work in APRIL! Y_Y`

March…I wish I could have this feeling again. =_=`

borderline March 8, 2008

I just got the result of my secured exam. I’m not ecstatic about it. I have no one to blame but myself. My score was borderline -_-`. BORDERLLINE! I was expecting something higher. I’m disappointed, it just proves two things. I’m not capable of thinking above my emotions or the exam was really really hard.

EGO Defense Mechanism taking over: Rationalization @_@….

The day I took my secured exam, I was in emotional turmoil. I was having multiple panic attacks  @_@. It was getting hard to breathe, and then there was that eerie feeling, it wouldn’t leave me alone. It was the day I found out about the truth…

No mistakes this time…when I take NCLEX I cannot afford to be emotionally unstable, or this would be the result. (any moment now my eligibility will pop into the mail and +_+ …any moment now x.x…-_-)

My readiness test was a whole lot higher. CRAP -_-`

I prefer to focus on something, I can control (control freak +_+). So, if that’s the case then I can just study…study…study…and pray x 1000…and hope for the best ^_^. GOD HELP ME x_X

training March 3, 2008

Some things mar skin but a profound experience has happened. Those who have endured training at Red Cross know this. (If you want to find out I suggest you join ^_^ ). Don’t worry it’ll be worth your while. I promise that after training you can be proud of yourself and what you’ve achieved. The certificate you receive will no longer be a piece of paper to you. It will be like a badge. It will be a reminder of what your capable of.

royal family February 28, 2008

This was taken at the early part of the parade. So pretty reminds me of some Korean Teledrama before (T_T sniff)

rain on my parade February 25, 2008

A sound woke me up at 4am today. It was the sound of raindrops hitting the windows, and the roof. CRAP! Today’s the Annual Flower Festival Float parade and Drum and Bugle Competition. Someone please turn off the Sky faucet. What a way to rain on my parade. The drops started to thin so I was hopeful. It was still 4 am, a lot of things could happen in 4 hours (like the weather clearing up…I was hopeful)

I looked at the clock and it was 6 am. It was drizzling. Under normal circumstances I would’ve loved such weather. This is ‘Baguio Weather’.  It would give me the excuse to curl up in bed and never get up. Right now it was a damper.

So I did what a mere mortal would do against the seismic power of Mother Nature, I brought an umbrella. It may not undermine Mother Nature as anyone would hope it would, but it was enough to keep me dry^_^. Apparently other people had a different scheme to undermine Mother Nature and that would be to stand vulnerable under her smite. Brave very Brave *_*`… Yeah they didn’t bother bringing any gear to protect themselves while it rained. Look a the bright side, it was a good business opportunity.

Lucky for us my Mama had a pile of umbrellas in the storage room. (And I do mean a pile) So we got the umbrellas, and brought them to the parade with us. We just climbed up the stairs when a lady read our advertisement (not telling you where I placed it!) And just like that we sold 2 umbrellas to them. (Wow! Haven’t even reached the parade and already we were selling umbrellas like hot dogs). Ok so they haggled a bit on the price. And after that they decided that they wanted to bargain for my outfit as well. Hehehhehe @_@?

When we got to the parade, we got out our ‘UMBRELLA’. It was the largest umbrella in the entire parade. (Yeah it was pretty huge =) People started to come near us for shelter because the umbrella hung like a canopy on top of our heads. I was able to take pictures without holding an umbrella (Maximized hand movement for taking shots). Umbrella sales were also good because the gigantic umbrella was attracting a lot of attention.

Score: Seismic Power of MOTHER NATURE = 0

          MERE MORTALS = 1

The parade still went on despite the rain. I really admire the street dancers who endured the entire parade. They had to go through all that rain, and mud (in the Athletic Bowl). Just like well-oiled machines when drenched in water, rust. That’s what happens to performers after countless rehearsals, then getting drenched. No! They are not going to rust! They get sick ~_~. Just hope that they get fair compensation.

The biggest challenge in taking pictures in the rain was evading the sea of umbrellas that threatened to engulf the floats and the performers. (Made you wish you had a longer arm to extend the camera for a better angle). They were all over the pictures I took like some virus. Well…imagine if the umbrellas were just one color…adorable +_+

Being mere mortals we were unsatisfied with just watching at the side of the street. We just had to go to the athletic bowl to watch the performance. It was ok I guess…should have been satisfied with our canopy at the side of the street. We could have stopped with the wall. No we just had to go over the wall. When it was time to go home we decided to take an alternate route( Yeah that wall was a one time experience only). We passed thru the large entrance aka large exit like normal people do and I got to feel what sardines feel like when they get canned. Squashed…compressed…near, flattened. (It’s not a lovely feeling, I assure you… the last time this happened was during the closing of the Panagbenga 2 or 3 years ago at BAMBOO’s concert…it was worth it ^u^…Yeah I wouldn’t mind getting squashed all over again just to hear them play). Should have went over the wall again.

In the end I guess it was a swell day even if :

• it rained…
  my shoes and jeans got all muddied because we had to climb a wall to get to the athletic bowl (sniff @_@`)
• people almost squished us, when we tried to get out of the athletic bowl (not to mention my shoes getting even more muddier to the point of turning brown)
• and after all that mud and discoloration…when we got home, the sun started to shine (sniff @_@*)
• Yeah it was a good day ^u^. I got home in one piece (other than a few minor cuts that’s good enough)

fairy line February 23, 2008

smile pa rin February 23, 2008

panagbenga parade..the redemption February 23, 2008

This year the Panagbenga street dance parade redeems itself. It’s truly been one heck of a ride.For me this has been one of the most enjoyable of the Panagbenga street parades yet.

It’s probably because:

• I didn’t have to wrestle my way through the crowd to get to my seat (Got up early but it was worth it)
• of the weather ( I wasn’t scorched by the heat this time =) 
  They started on time! (I think that this was one of the best parts about the parade *_*)’
• Most of the performers stopped right in front of our spot to dance (well its not like they we’re dancing just for me…didn’t mean it like that)
• The performers we’re really good! (you’d see that a lot of hard work was put into the costumes, street dance executions of some)
• A lot of performers we’re smiling while they danced!
  (when you smile you add charisma to the performance…I know its tiring to dance…on top of that, there isn’t a positive crowd response…it takes an extra effort to smile…there should be an award for the performers with the most smiles…and it isn’t Illegal to look at the camera and smile…I promise cameras don’t STEAL SOULS =)
• I had a good camera with me (wasn’t the best because it was a bit bulky and it kept saying “Card Full”..had to delete some stuff *T___________T or reduce the size of the images)
• I took pictures that I could be proud of
• I had a great lunch (sheer nectar… *u* )

The downside about this parade:

• Some of the crowd control people! (Seriously! You ask them politely to move a bit so you can enjoy the parade and they lash out at YOU! They tell you that they have ID’s and you the insignificant bystander o_o#  have no right to ask them to move! Yeah they talk like they’re the most important part of the parade…some of the crowd control people are like this)!@#@@!
• People who aren’t dancers who stand smack in the middle of the entire performance (Seriously you wrecked the view!)
• Time interval between the dancers was too long…(in a performance never leave the stage empty)

I’m hopeful next time:

I’ll get a better spot than the one I got this time (there were some angles that I wanted to capture and wasn’t able to T____T )

My Camera will have a larger capacity for memory and longer battery life.  (card memory full..low batt T________T)

The weather  will still be agreeable

There’ll be a larger announcement for the PANAGBENGA schedule of events and the Grand Street Parade will be included there.

And most of all…

               I hope I get to have a next time for this ~_~

smile on the globe February 23, 2008

We waved to this pretty girl on top of the dancers and she smiled at us.