Merry Christmas

Yay! It's nearly Christmas. It's the best season of the year. The carols. The cold weather. Celebrations. Me likey.

I like Everything about Christmas except one thing: Santa Clause.

Yes.

He's evil. Here are my reasons why i hate him:

both wear red and live in extreme climates

both are in competition with Jesus

they both inspire greed

Both are always watching!! ALWAYS!!

They see you when you're sleeping...

They both have minions

there both the same person! there names are anagrams for each other

They both punish you if you're bad.

Well, merry Christmas!

Rough Day

Did you ever experience you give all you got but people just keep raining on your parade? I do. A lot of times.

"Is this the only job you have? follow up one piece of paper?' One Project Manager shouted those words to me. I was shocked. Surprised that I didn't know what to do but shook my head and headed upstairs. I got offended. A bit. And quite embarrassed, too since a lot of people heard that. I only wanted his signature as per our ISO auditing.

Strike One.

During lunchtime, I said something unlikely to my officemate and up until now, she's giving me a cold shoulder. If there's one thing I hate is that one of my officemates will never speak to me and then spread rumors about me doing nothing inside the office which in fact, I did many. That's why I'm hired, right? So, maybe tomorrow, I'll expect another cold treatment from my officemate which happens to be my desk mate which I share my lunch and coffee breaks with. Sigh. Tear dropping.

Strike Two.

My boss. You know her. I think I mentioned her a lot of times already in my blog. I like her as a boss. But I think she doesn't like me. She knows everything except one thing - my job. I AM A NURSE. Our office boy is sick today so as a quote, "company nurse," end quote, I need to take care of him. Fine. I'll do that. AND STILL, SHE KEEPS ON RAVING ABOUT MY NURSING INTERVENTIONS - take his medications, take his temperature, do this, do that, OF COURSE I KNOW THAT! YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME THAT. I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING AND I'M A LICENSED NURSE. At least I kept cool and comfortable and walked out of the office. Thank God for toilets, they're my sanctuary. I can weep there. I can pray there. I can even call my mom there. Total Seclusion.

Strike Three.

My boss interviewed a girl in the office hours ago. The girl's good. Too good. She speaks well. Fluent. Eloquent. And she's got poise in answering all questions my boss threw at her. I knew it. She will be the new HR Coordinator. She will replace me.

Im out.

Slurp Day 1: The Awakening

So I've been very excited about my new protein shake and going to the gym every other day. That's the reason why I bought a magazine about having great abs. It's called The Truth about Six Pack Abs.

Actually, I just downloaded it somewhere. I didn't buy them. However, I bought an aerobic ball as one of the gym equipment mentioned in the magazine.

As for the Protein shake, I opened it and it really tasted like caramel toffee. Sweet. Unfortunately, I don't know what kind of water to use - cold or warm. I also don't know when to drink it. There's only one person who can answer that.

Mr. Google.

I searched the internet fast enough not to get caught on the CCTV. By the way, the camera is just above me. Talk about openness, no privacy. Nevertheless, I got my answer. Before exercise and after exercise. But since I just ate today, I will probably drink it after I'm done sweating out.

The gym closes at 11 o' clock and it's still 8 so I will be there at 10. I assume there will be lots of people there desperately trying to grow a six-pack,too. I hope I won't doze off.

Desperate me,

Paul

Slurp

Whenever I am alone (or feel to be alone), I imagine stuff. Imagining stuff is fun, especially if it won't come true. Like for example, when I was sitting on the toilet this morning, I imagine myself having this six-pack abs and carrying those big guns on my shoulders. However, I think to myself, I can't do that.

Wait. I think I can.

Steroids? Too risky.

Gym? Too expensive.

Home Gym. Too lazy.

See. It's better to imagine than do it. But as I noticed my bulging tummy hanging around my waist. I need to act fast. I don't want to be fat. Period. I don't have any issues on fat people because some of my friends are fat. My dad's has a big tummy. :)

What if I have a perfect body to die for, I imagined again. When I do have one, I probably would go to the beach everyday and take my shirt off and, you got the point.

So I acted fast. I really, really, acted fast.

After office hours, I went immediately to a shop selling Whey Proteins. Goodness, I want one of them big bottles babies since I was 10. As stupid as I am, I asked the seller if it will make my body bigger. He told me he's selling supplements, not steroids. Good answer.

24 grams of protein awesomeness!

So I need to exercise AND drink those protein shakes after all. Sigh.

Too late to remorse, I already bought one BIG (as in) bottle of a Whey Protein with Coffee Caramel flavor. Sweet. I have to open it tomorrow though because I went to the gym yesterday. I need to have 3 sessions per week so that I can obtain those wash-board abs. (what's a wash board abs, by the way?)

Yumminess Paul. :)

Qatar Dream

Okay, you all now know that Qatar won the 2022 FIFA world Cup Bid. The dream they keep on dreaming since I was uncircumcised. They finally got it.

For them: Hooray. For me: meh.

Congratulations, by the way Qatar for winning.

I just don't care anyway. :)

It's because I don't like sports and I don't have a sport.

Lens

Yay!

Purchased an underwater camera last night and boy it was so cool! I haven't tried it underwater though since I'm in a desert Country. Darn it. That's why they had it on sale. Nevertheless, I managed to test it in the bath tub which I had a little doubt about the product thinking it will get soaked and ruin the warranty and it will die out. Silly me.

I tested it and the photos were not really as good as my SLR (duh!). But it's handy and portable and I like the colors. They have 6 colors but I only got the yellow/gold one. I like the green one which the last piece was sold to a Qatari.

The best thing about the sale was it included a photo printer! it was so awesome that I peed my pants a bit when I printed my chauvinistic pose image and it came out great. It comes with a 4-gig SD card and a lot of Photo Papers as well.

When I get back to the Philippines, I have to try this baby. Beaches, here I come.

handy,right?

Passport

We are almost 200 employees in the company and roughly 120 passports are currently in the HR Department for safekeeping. Yes, they can take their passports out because it's illegal to take passports from employees but it's their preference to let us keep them. I have my passport in my room. :)

It's kinda cool because I see a lot of passports from other nationalities like from the Philippines, Jordan, Nepal and even from the United States. It's fun to see their travel history and the number of passports they have since some of the employees, due to the fact that they are working for 15 years now, have 2 or 3 passports in our vault.

But it's not just fun but you have to be responsible for it. You will be accountable for lost passports and they will kill you by slicing your head off and feed them to cats outside the sheik's caste. Kidding.

Bad News

My classmate and dear friend Henri already gave up from his almost everyday visits to the doctors and tons of medicines to be injected at him and fortunately(spiritually) he died today. It was really a sad thing because I knew he really fought for it and I know that he still wants to live. After all, he is too young to die - he's still 23 years old.

Then I realized that death is unavoidable. If God wants you to be dead right this very minute, he can do that. He can turn your 'style' of death to become horrible and painful or a sweet just-lying-on-the-bed kind. Either way, he still is the one responsible for death to occur. You can't choose when and where to die. You also can't choose what type of 'killing method' will be used upon you so you might as well be ready at all times.

Sometimes, I'm scared of death. Scared in which I don't know what to do if I'm being told by the doctor that I only have 2 days to live. Scared that there's a time limit for me to surpass this cruel world after two days. What will happen to my friends and family after I die? Will a lot of people come to my funeral? Will they cry? Will they remember me even if I'm dead after 10,20,30 years? I don't care. I'm not there anymore to witness.

However, I'm not afraid of talking about death. Some people do. I just don't know why. They say I'm morbid. Morbidly stupid to talk about death and how will I face them and what if I die today and all those thoughts. People hearing those things I say usually punch me and tell me to shut up because it's not a good topic. But why? Death is unavoidable. We all go to that process, except for Rapture when God will take us which is the best thing but why say it's a bad topic? Maybe because, they aren't ready to die yet. They don't want to talk about it because they don't know what to do with themselves when their hour is near.

Well, the thing is, I'm ready to die. And hoping also Henri.

Rest in Peace, Henri.

Paul

Dear Mom,

I miss you so much. I miss you so much that I want you to come here to Doha to see me. To see your son all grown up physically but still acts childishly.

I miss the times when we go to dinner always. May it be a fancy restaurant or a simple fast food chain, I'd still enjoy your company. Nonsense talks and boisterous laughter were always one of our highlights when we were eating together.

I miss the times when you scold me whenever I've done something bad. You scold me whenever I arrived late at home, texting on the wee hours of the morning and you always scold me when I talked back at you and dad. I wish I could be there so that I can still hear your voice even though you're mad at me. I can't hear them anymore as of now because I'm still here.

I miss the times when we go to church together. Serving the Lord with you could never been so good.

I miss you.

Paul

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Teach her to be strong

Teach her to control herself

Teach her not to shout to others especially me

Teach her to not accuse anybody and turns out she made the mistake

Teach her to accept us no matter how grave the situation we were in

Give her strength to endure the hardships of the office work

Give her a soft heart to be sensitive of the feelings for the others

Give her more love for his officemates and her family

I think Lord, she can do this all if you give him a boyfriend. :)

Partly kidding,

Paul.

Alone

No, I'm not singing Celine Dion's song but that's what I am feeling right now. Alone.

By the way, my dad just went back home to the Philippines yesterday leaving me alone here inside the villa. Well, not really alone, I'm with his officemates. Talk about being an opportunistic parasite. He'll stay there for about I think 21 days and that's a good thing since he'll be spending time with my mom who just got back from a minor surgery. I'd be happy for him to be there.

One thing I don't like when my dad won't be here is that no one will cook dinner for us. He normally is scheduled to cook dinner for the gang living inside the villa so since he's not here, I will be the one to cook dinner on behalf of him. Well, if fried and boiled eggs are considered as dinner so I'm good with that. :)

Another thing is that the transportation. Our villa is located outside Doha and there are no transportation going to Doha unless you have your own personal car. That is why I'm being carpooled by my dad's driver. So I need to get up early and should never be late since the car is not ours, it's issued from the company and we're not the only ones who will use it. Since my dad ain't here, I kinda get embarrassed using the carpool. I phoned my dad awhile ago that maybe for a month, i need to stay close to our office which means I have to rent a bedroom with a whopping price of QR 1300 to not disturb the other passengers on the car. But he told me NO. What can I do?

Lastly, I need to save. Since my dad isn't here, I will be the one to take care of the groceries, the bills(maybe not) and all monetary stuff going on around the house. And the worse part is I'm beginning to get broke. So renting a bedroom part will be a failure. :)

I hope he gets here fast. I miss you,dad.

Say hi to mom for me,

Paul

Who?

I miss him.

I really miss him.

I miss the cheerful and loud noises he makes when entering the hospitals' hallway.

I miss how he smiles for every patient he meets and how he interacts with them.

I miss how he handle his friends and co workers and how he cheers them up when they are bored.

I miss him wearing wearing his nursing outfit with dignity and sophistication.

I miss him. So much.

I miss ME being a nurse. :(

Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be back again to normal.

Normal Working hours.

Normal rants of the boss.

Normal rants of the bigger boss.

Normal typing in the computer.

Normal.

When will my day be abnormal?

Maybe I'll consider it abnormal when I'll be going home this May. I've been counting the days for May to come. I'm sure it will be soon. I wanna go home. I miss home. I miss my family and most of all, I miss being a nurse.

Maybe tomorrow will be abnormal. Maybe someone will die. Maybe someone will get stabbed. Maybe that will be me.

Seeking the light,

Paul

Boys Day Out

This was unplanned but it turned out great.

Finally, an all boys outing. Or maybe no girl will ever join us because we didn't go to the luxurious beach resort in one of the beaches here in Qatar. In fact, we were there, but on the outside. Nevertheless, we had fun.

The 4:00 AM meeting was bonkers when they came to our accommodation at 5:30 in the morning. Already late. Plus we have to travel more than half an hour towards the beach. Super late. And by super late Imean the sun is already too freakin' hot and there will be a high chance of encountering sandstorms.

Fifteen of us were there. All co Filipinos with different job positions and salary wages. With only 2 pick ups that could only accommodate 5 people each, one truck must go back to fetch the others. Good thing I don't own a car. hehe. I think we arrived there at 6:30 in the morning and there were still a lot of people who were having their overnight stay on the beach. Plastic bottles, can litters and cellophanes were scattered throughout the beach. But it doesn't stop us from taking a dip in the crystal clear beach welcoming us.

Unfortunately, the beach was also crowded. Not with people. But with jellyfishes.

I then remember the Spongebob Squarepants Series where he and Patrick Starfish would get and net and try to catch them - Jelly Fishing. Weird. Because they are very dangerous creatures. They sting and it would really hurt once it touches you. Nevertheless, we still hit the beach with excitement and it's now getting hot so dipping the cold waters could replenish our skin.

Not.

The water was still hot. Boiling. Melting. I may be too exaggerated on the second and third verbs but it's not really refreshing. Oh, what the heck, this is what we came for, anyway. We were splashing water to everyone like stupid people. We also tease people there which could be a little dangerous since we pry on the other races. haha. And for the record, I was the only who didn't get sting by them jellyfishes.

It was 12:32 at noon when we decided to leave the premises since we now experienced hunger so we ate again on a restaurant going back to Doha. Fun times.

Eid Mubarak,

Paul

Eid Mubarak

It's now the end of Ramadan and I have some good stuffs and some bad stuffs.

The good ones:

1. We have a straight 4-day paid vacation. How cool is that. Well, the government has 10 days of vacation but as far as I know, our private company is the only office which has 4 days of vacation. Because tomorrow will be the start of Eid, and it falls on a Friday, what my Boss did was not to include the friday as one of the 3-day holidays stated on our contract since Friday is a normal holiday here. Work will resume on Tuesday.

2. My Filipino officemates and I are going to go to a beach near our house so it's like just getting out of the house and then the beach is just around the corner. It will be really fun hanging out with them and relaxing up a bit until we will resume work on Tuesday.

The bad stuff:

1. The normal office time will return. Meaning, our office hours will be 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM (which will probably extend until 6:00 PM).

2. More work will have to be done but you can do it in your own pace due to the fact that it's 8 hours. If you finish your job early, then your boss will let you do more and more work. Tip: Slow things down a bit. :)

So I'll be sleeping straight for 4 hours until Tuesday because I know when we come back in the office, it'll be hell again.

Eid Mubarak,

Sheik Paul :)

Funny Experience 1

Today at 10:45PM, my body really wanted me to go to the gym to run and lift weights. Tired, I lifted myself up from bed and get dressed to go to the gym. I went there at 10:55PM and went straight away to the treadmill.

Then, the lights were turned off. I ignored it thinking it was much nicer to have dim lights like the ones we had during our Iftar Dinner celebration. I was on my iPod when one security guard poked and told me that they're already closed.

I laughed with embarrassment since I just got here but I don't have a choice. I picked up my bottled water and turned off the treadmill.

I went back home with a little sweat on my forehead but before going out of the gym, I read a little sign there saying, 'Gym hours: 8am - 11pm.' :)

Eyes on the board,

Paul

Iftar

Iftar and Sahur. I never knew these words could be so tasty.

Iftar in arabic means breakfast. No, not our usual breakfast that we do in the morning but breaking the fast. It means after their last prayer they do after 6 in the evening. On the other hand, Sahur is a feast before taking the fast. They usually celebrate it before 3 am. That's what I eavesdropped from my officemates. I don't really ask them because I don't understand their explanations. :)

Anyway, awhile ago, my officemates and I celebrated Iftar in one Hotel here in Doha. I believe it was called Doha Seef Hotel. Please don't tell me what Seef means. Our manager, by the way, treated us for dinner today. Cool,huh? The meeting place was in the office at 5 o' clock in the afternoon so I was already there at 4:55 PM. I'm not Filipino so I'm really not into Filipino Time. Unfortunately, they were still not there. Moreover, our President was still there working even though our office hours ends at 2:30 pm. Running up the stairs, he caught a glimpse on me and asked why am I still here. I then told him I forgot something. Good thing he already went out. I was just there on my workplace waiting for them...

...for an hour. It was now 6 o' clock and still there was no sign of them even one. Finally, my boss appeared. Thank you because I'm already starving. It turns out that we still have to wait for one officemate. Darn! I am so hungry I could eat mutton which I really hate. A group of 4 were now already 6 since her son went tagging along plus one officemate. We went there and took pictures and went upstairs. Oh, I wasn't with them on the same elevator because I was too heavy and the lift beeped. So i had to ride another one. going to the...

...eleventh floor. Whoa. Dimmed yellow lights, folded napkins, waitresses and a buffet table met me when the doors of the elevator opened. Until now, I am really fascinated on how they fold their napkins into beautiful shapes and other sizes. So I took out my camera and went clicking away. The location and the architecture of the place left me breathless that by looking at it, my hunger was already satisfied. After that, the waitress then led us to the buffet table. We got our plates and they went to the main course while I went straight to desserts. Hello, diabetes.

We ate, talked, ate again, talked again but I still admired how they did with the napkins. My favorite meal was the sauteed potatoes which was really a good substitute for rice and the beef stew which was really very hard to bite but it was quite good. Over all, the the food was so-so but the location and the preparations were aesthetically beautiful...especially the folded napkins. :)

This will be my first and last Iftar. Thanks, Boss.

Paul

Natal Day

Yay! I'm already 23!

Let's Parteeeey!

Unfortunately, I am in the Middle East and I my birthday falls on the month of Ramadan so I didn't do pretty much on my favorite day.

Nothing much. Really. Seriously.

I woke up at 8:30 in the morning. Still groggy. My phone suddenly rang. My friends abroad greeted me via FaceTime! Isn't it cool? FaceTime is Apple's videochat on the iPhone 4 and soon to be released on the new iPod Touch 4th generation and...wait a minute, what am I blabbering about? it's my birthday, not Steve Jobs'!

Anyway, I celebrated my birthday very different back when I was in the Philippines. Usually, we go out on a dinner with my family and friends, long chats, boisterous laughing and all that. However, here, I can't. Here are some of the reasons why I can't do those stuff:

1. This is the middle east. Although it's an open country unlike KSA, I still can't chit chat with girls especially with my officemates since I am being warned not to talk to women. That came from my boss. Don't know why. Maybe she's jealous or anything. Kidding aside, that's number 1.

2. I don't have friends who have the same age group as I am. In the office, I am the youngest and the next to my age would be 25-26. And he has a family. So, I couldn't stay with them for a long time. They also have their priorities this day. Where's my friend yoyen, when you need her?

3. I don't party. Drinking booze, smoking, and getting laid is not my thing. Period.

Anyway, I woke up and found nothing on the dinner table as opposed to when I was back in the Philippines where during my birthday, my mom would cook me my favorite meals on my special day. Darn, I already forgot the taste of roasted pig. Downstairs, I cooked my own favorite food - Century Tuna Mechado. I never ran out of those preservative-devoured pieces of canned goods. I have a lot of them in the cupboard on the kitchen. Whenever there are times when there's like an emergency (or I just don't know how to cook), my tuna plus the microwave can do wonders to my appetite. I also ate strawberry ice cream which I really abhor but that was the only flavor left on the supermarket.

I went back upstairs and tinkered with my FaceTime. I also commented all the 250+ greetings from my friends on Facebook. Yes, I have a lot of friends. :)

Basically, that's what I did on my birthday. I may not have balloons and cakes and mascots (dude, you're 23,not 12), the fact that God gave me another year to correct the mistakes I made to my family and friends, work hard to help people and to live life to the fullest. That's what matters to me.

Speaking like a matured man,

Paul

Robbed

What a way to start September. Our house has been robbed. Good thing both my mom and my brother were not there. However, it turns out that a child was responsible for that act. It's one of the tactics now of thieves - getting a child do the dirty works because they know when he is caught, he can't go to jail since he's not yet above 18.

My mom was affected most. All of her prized possessions were taken away by the tiny thief. Especially all her dear watches which was given to her by dad and her sister, my aunt. There was also an attempt to steal our game consoles because the wires were being detached but I think the kid doesn't know how to do it so he just let it be. Good.

I was still very thankful because no one got hurt. Because sometimes, maybe all the times, thieves won't barge a house without carrying a weapon for their defense once they were caught. So it's a good thing no one was there. The house, according to our stay-out helper, was messed up. Sticky and murky mud were splattered all over the floor made by the rain on that night.

This might be a lesson to us. Brother and I always want our dogs to roam around our balcony at night. So when the thief comes in our house, they will be instant blood bath occurring outside our house. Rottweilers are our dogs, by the way.

Waiting for a piece of leg to find outside our house,

Paul

STUPIDITY

Yeah I know this was waaaaaay old but I want to blog this topic since I felt so ashamed of my countrymen.

Yes, the infamous Hostage of I-don't-know-what's-his-name of a bus full of Hong Kong Tourists.

It was morning when I am inside the office struggling to find coffee in the pantry since nothing was there except tea bags which I extremely abhor. I greeted one of my Nepali officemates with a big smile.

Me: Namaskar.

Durga: Hey, Paul. Have you seen the news? There was this hostage in the Philippines.

Me: Oh, yeah. I've heard that. Err... I have to go upstairs. See ya.

Panting going upstairs, I googled about it and lo and behold, it was true. The incident really happened. One ex-soldier hostage a bus full of Chinese citizens tourists. Finally, I knew that 7 were killed and a lot were injured. One main reason is that the Police are too slow in doing the rescue operation. I don't know what happened. They are supposed to be the protectors of the people from the evil deeds of villains (wow, kinda like the Justice League) but all they did was duck and hid behind their cars. Yes, it's a must to hide but not all the times. And I also saw one police threw a tear gas going inside the bus but it didn't go inside, so it returned to them and they were the ones who got inflicted by the putrid smell and taste of the gas.

Heroism? No. Stupidity? Totally.

I don't really know what happened during the entire incident but all I know for sure is that the police aren't really that prepared when it comes to events like those. I mean, there were a lot of casualties and it can be prevented with proper training and paraphernalia. What they wore were just plain caps and permeable shields and worn-out bulletproof vests. They couldn't even lie down on the floor very well because of their humongous stomachs. And worse of all, the president was nowhere to be found - no negotiations, no something - was done by him.

After I closed the article I read, I felt sorry for the families of the people who passed away. God bless them. I think until now, the Philippines is banned to travel in Hong Kong now. No Disneyland for Filipinos anymore.

Not proud,

Paul

Undertime

Cold drops of sweat running up my temples to my neck. Fists clenched. No, I'm not fighting with someone, I'm doing my "thing" in the bathroom. No, it's not constipation either. It's Diarrhea.

It started yesterday when my office mates and I ate some coconut macaroons I bought from the market. It was good. Really good that I ate a lot of it actually. Since they're still a lot, I managed to bring it home with me from work. I started eating like frenzy and never cared about anything and hit the sack immediately.

But I woke up late at night maybe at 10:00PM and I felt that there was something wrong with my stomach. I had the urged to defecate so I went inside the bathroom immediately. I went back again and slept. But it happened again at 10:30 PM, and 11:00 PM and then at 12:00MN. So basically, I defecated every 30 minutes which is too much for a twice-a-day usual schedule that I normally have. As I've learned in College that when you exceed 2-3 defecations per day, you might be suffering from diarrhea.

Diarrhea? Maybe. Amoebiasis? I hope not.

Last December 2009, I nearly cannot get out of the Hospital and celebrate New Year's Eve at home because I'm diagnosed with Amoebiasis - a disease caused by a Protozoa. It practically lives inside your body and once you have it, it will be there but dormant, waiting for you to get ill again. I've been admitted inside for 3 days and my stool is not very good according to the laboratory results. I am afraid my condition last time recurred today.

I woke up at 6:30 in the morning and went downstairs for breakfast. However, they all left leaving me alone with two sausages and a sunny-side-up egg on the table. I ate and get dressed before my uncle comes and pick me up to work. I managed to get ready early so I had ample of time to turn on the TV. Then, it happened again. THE URGE. But I didn't bother it. Then, I started to feel a discomfort inside my tummy on the way to work. I had doubts of telling my Uncle to go back home but alas, I was already outside the office so I don't have a choice. The discomfort then turned into pain which really makes me not to focus my work(still even when no pain, I still can't focus. just an excuse. hehe). I asked my office mates if they experienced gastric pain and all but they don't know the word gastric so I let them be.

At 10 today, I had the URGE again so I made it to the bathroom and did my thing again. At 12:00 noon, I had it again. I can't take it anymore so I filed a sick leave - undertime. Even though there were still a lot of things to do, I don't care doing it today. I hurriedly rushed towards the exit gate and hailed a taxi going back home. I went back home hoping rest will cure this. I hope it's not Amoebiasis.

Deposit

I really don't know how to save money.

When I was a kid, every time I have them, I invest them on food. Now, every time I have them, I invest them on gadgets. From now on, I'll learn to save. I promise myself that I will just spend 500 riyals every month for anything I want.

Pissed!

I was so pissed this day that I don't want to talk about it. But, I can't live without talking and blabbering and since no one is here to talk to, I'll just blog it.

My partner wasn't there in the office today because he has some things to attend to. He has a car so it's much faster for him to do stuff outside the office so I am stuck inside. Now, do you have this feeling that instead you want to go to the bathroom, you can't because you might be called by your manager? That happened to me today. A lot of times. I never got to go inside the restroom to pee until my boss went outside to find a villa to be occupied by some rich employee. Good thing. So I relaxed a bit. There were still some paper works to do but I did it with a slow and steady pace.

After 20 minutes, she's back and started to give me some things to do. It's not that I complain. I can't complain because it's my job. I am being paid for it. It's just that when you're still not done with one project, you will be distracted when she will call you again for more work and tells you that this is urgent which in fact she told you a while ago that the one I did was also urgent. So you'll be confused and could not decide what to do first.

Another thing that happened was she blamed me because I didn't give one document to our PRO for transferring of Visa while in fact, she ONLY instructed me to give the Passport to the PRO which I did. I was so frustrated that I raised my voice to her (a bit) and told her I was just obeying orders. I was really furious that time. My face went red as hell. My officemates noticed my ears were also burning with rage.

I went home at 3:00 pm. Office time is up until 2:30 PM only. Knees wobbled. Legs tired.

See you tomorrow paperworks,

Paul

Glee Season Two

So I've heard that the second season of Glee will be on the 21st of September. And also Charice will be there as one of the main characters of Fox's Hit Series.

What?

Yes.

Charice will be one of the cast of Glee. I don't like her. Yeah, she can sing, but aren't Asians are now a little bit crowded on the Series? I don't have a thing about asians because I myself is one but they should consider other races,too.

Latin. They don't have Latino/a's yet. Santana, is a brunette American. I would suggest maybe Jennifer Lopez to be in the show. hehe.

Waiting for 2nd season,

Paul

Remorse

I miss being a clinical nurse.

I miss the smell of isopropyl alcohol and Dettol every day.

I miss the sight of blood gushing out of a person's body

I miss the syringes, the vials and the ampules

I miss being puked on, peed on, pooped on by patients.

I miss being attacked by psychotic patients.

I miss the doctors' ravings.

I miss the PCM, PRN, OD, UTZ of KUB acronyms.

I miss injecting patients and tell them it won't hurt but it really does.

9 more months to go, Paul. You'll get your dream soon.

Ramadan Kareem

It's the start of Ramadan last Wednesday. So excited since this is my first (and probably my last) Ramadan that I'm going to experience.

Good? Oh yes, considering that we only have 6 hours of duty for 1 month instead of 8. How freaking cool is that? I mean, we start work at 8:30 am (but still I'll be there in the office at 7:30 since I'm taking dad's carpool) and will end at 2:30 for one month! Pure bliss.

Fun? No.

Instead of going out to the mall after leaving the office, all malls are close and will open at 6 in the evening which in that time I am now in the house and our Villa is located in the middle of the desert so it's really useless. But that's okay, at least you can spend more time doing household chores like the one we did earlier. My dad and I did the laundry and cook for the rest of the gang.

Famished? Yes!!!!!

I was very early on the first day of Ramadan and usually I go straight to the kitchen to drink water but alas, I found no water on top of the dispenser PLUS the "blue and red things" that will make the water flow to your glass (wow, very illustrated,Paul) were also ransacked. Meaning, even us non-Muslims can't drink water! I can live without food for hours but without water, I'm like fish without the sea. I'm like the moon without the sky, I'm like the....you get the point.

So today, 3 days have already passed. So it means, 27 days to go. Sigh, oh well.

Ramadan Kareem,

Paul.

Returned

Ian's here!

"Welcome back, partner! I thought I'd never see you again! Okay, here's the work that I left idled knowing you would go back to work today. hehe. Just kidding."

After a month of vacation, thank God he's here. Now we can both share the HR/Admin tasks. He told me he didn't enjoy his vacation in the Philippines because it's raining there and all he did was to sweep the water out of their house caused by the storm. Nevertheless, he came here safe and sound...and a bit bigger. :)

We miss you, Ian!

HR Assistant,

Paul

Weekend

Finally, after 6 days of work, work and more work, it's the end of the week. This week was by far the worst week yet. Now I know Ian can't talk and chat with us because he has been bombarded with a lot of work to do - both by our Manager and the other ones.

This week was also the most tiring because I was the one who tabulated the laborers' salaries. It's a very hard task to do since there are no room for mistakes when inputting them salaries on the system. Once you encode a wrong data, it won't be erased and it will either increase or decrease the salary of that employee. I always hated Math since I started Grade school but I don't have a choice, I need to do this or else our salaries will not be released on the 27th of July because of me.

And also, I have to deal with legal documents and I MEAN passports, NOC's and Police Clearances. I sometimes tend to forget things easily because I'm ADHD undiagnosed (excuses,Paul). All things should be accountable for me if passports were lost so I was really careful not to lose any of them passports while sorting it by employee number.

Furthermore, this week was hell, literally. The A/C's were not working very well giving us a breeze in 'fan mode' which kind of resembles the outside air humidity. And summer is still coming.

Praying for rain to fall,

Paul

Breakfast

Since I am always late everyday for the carpool, my dad decided to fix me some breakfast. Since he also knows that I like sandwiches, he prepared some for me. He placed the bread in the oven together with the ham. Unfortunately, the bread began to get toasted and the cheese which is supposed to melt was stuck on the bread. Furthermore, the meat went charred and dried. Nevertheless, I eat them because he prepared that for me.

Thanks daddy!

Nikko.

Medical

I just had my medical examination. It is one of the requirements in obtaining an ID here in Qatar.

Together with my 6 office mates, we went there at four in the afternoon yesterday. It was scorching hot outside plus we don't know what to do there plus our Mandoop is not there to assist us! A Mandoop is an office staff tasked to take care of an employee's passport and working visa here in the country. That was my second time already since I went there on my 1st month of stay here in Qatar to renew my family visa. The current one was to transfer my visa to my company meaning my dad will not be responsible of me technically but still, he's my dad. :)

So only 2 exams are being done there - the blood extraction and the x-ray. Quite easy? NO. With a lot of people scheduled that day, we ended our medical exam at 9:00 in the evening. Then we went to KFC to eat because we were so famished. Some didn't take there lunch while some just ended their duty prior going there.

It was a fun experience for all of us since that was my first time to mingle with the other nationalities for a very long time.

Expecting his ID soon,

Paul

Rest in Peace, habibi

Last Tuesday, 14 July 2010 was the hottest climate Doha has experienced yet. Usually during summer, the temperature plays between 50-60 in August but last Tuesday, it reached up to 59 Celsius ! Some of the companies were giving black flags to the employees. Meaning, work should be canceled for that day due to hot and humid temperature. Furthermore, the Qatar Labor Law tells that during summer time, employees are restricted to work at 11am - 3pm where the sun is at its fullest glow.

Also, last Tuesday, one Filipino died of heat stress. He was working on site at 8:00pm and suddenly passed out. He was then found dead after a few minutes. He is still in autopsy now and I don't know anymore about the details.

As a corporate nurse, I, too have my responsibility to check on the laborers' health. Sometimes, the Qatar Labor Law is not being followed. It's sometimes because of stupid Project Managers that they need to have their work done even it's already noon and the weather is very hot. Selfish and greedy.

I felt sorry for my kabayan. I don't know if what will happen to his family. He went here to find work and went back to the Philippines in a coffin.


Prays for rain,

Paul

On Call

I like being on call. Your phone ringing endlessly because of office mates, Nepali helpers and laborers trying to contact you because they got sick and some are not feeling well. I like the idea that they know who I am and I also like the idea that they call me Doctor instead of a Nurse. :)

I like being on call. I get to tell them what to do when there is something wrong with their systems. I get to teach them proper hygiene and other clinical practices that they should follow to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I also educate them about what foods to eat. Because rice is a staple food just like in the Philippines, they tend to eat too much of it together with greasy and spicy foods, I teach them proper ways of eating and living healthy.

I like being on call because they follow all my health teachings and other medical inquiries that they ask. They listen very carefully as I speak about certain diseases, prevention, cure and rehabilitation. It means that they are really eager to learn and to prevent those illnesses to attack them.

Likes being a nurse,

Paul

Henry

I was busy tinkering my facebook because I couldn't see all the 300+ news feeds on my profile but I don't know how. I know there is a way, so I gave up and just manually scrolled down my friends' status messages and other fun stuffs to look at. Suddenly, I stopped and was surprised when I read one of my classmates' status message quoted:

"To all those concerns: I'm ok... Wala ko naadmit but I do have low platelet this past two months. The Doctor said I have Leukemia, still to be confirmed in two weeks. I'm hoping and praying that it would bring Good News to me. Thanks sa inyong prayers! God Bless you all."

I was shocked.

Dreadfully shocked.

I know Henry a lot because we were classmates for two years back then in college. He was better at sports, arts and math seeing that he's one of the guys who had the highest scores in Math and Physics - subjects that I nearly failed and failed respectively. He's the sporty type and he's very active but why does he have Leukemia?

Leukemia, as I've learned during college is an auto immune disease where the body produces immature blood cells and platelets from the bone marrow. Auto Immune = your body is the enemy = no cure because if you kill your body, you also kill yourself. It can affect anybody, too. From the sporty type to the gym buffs to the couch potatoes.

But it's not yet confirmed. He still have two weeks of constant praying and getting ready for his condition. Prayers actually have the biggest impact in changing the situation. God has the ability to make a sick person well and a well person to be sick with just a snap of a finger. All we need to do is believe in Him and trust Him and all will go well.

Praying for you Henry boi,

Paul

Scared.

Breathe, Paul.

I can do this.

Can I?

Of course.

I'm a fast learner, am I?


These thoughts came running back and forth my mind when Ian, my partner in the HR department got his exit permit and passport from the HR Manager.

He's taking his one month vacation in the Philippines.

Trouble. Big Trouble. It's still my 2nd month here and I am left with no one to ask what to do except my manager. He happily got his bonus check and went close to me.

"Good luck, Paul"

Saying that while chuckling his way down the stairs. Now I am left with a lot of paper works on my table which I don't know what to finish with. Firstly, I don't know where to start because I still have a lot to learn about being a Document Controller. That's not my job. And as I have observed it, Ian had to make a lot of calls to the suppliers, print visas, fixed assets and many more. While I am just there on my chair swiveling around and facing the computer waiting for "patients."

I need my other Admin Department friends to help me but they have their own tasks,too. I am so scared and tensed right now. What if they ask something and I don't know how to answer it? What if they need it urgently? What if I lost the papers they need? What if...

I already told Cristina and Rowena if it's okay to take an emergency leave for 3 weeks, that would be very good!

Please be back Ian, hahah

Paul

Co. Nurse Document Controller

Nepali languages!

So, it's already been two months since I joined the office and I made a lot of Nepali friends, from engineers to office boys to helpers and laborers. Whenever I'm with them, they usually teach me some basic nepali phrases.

So far, these are what I've learned (these are not the proper spelling btw, but that's how to pronounce them):

1. Namaskar/Namaste - Greetings!
2. Kit cha - How are you?
3. Tik cha - I'm fine; Tik chai na - Not good
4. Khani Khano bayo? - have you eaten already?
5. Malay bog lagyo - I am hungry
6. Malay tirkha lagyo - I am thirsty
7. (name) kahaanggo? - Where is (name)?
8. Timi molai mon fardina - I don't like you
9. Timi molai mon parsa - I like you.
10. Timi rimi ramri chow. - you are beautiful

To be Continued...


...because I'm already tired. :)

Office

Sweat dripping
I closed the door and went inside
The cool breeze from the air-con unit
splashes air into my face
like frigid damsels

Going up the stairs
with a cup of coffee on my hand
Sitting. Waiting. Writing.
Work time.

Disaster

Before I went to my boss' abode to dress his wound, my other boss and a project manager had a discussion about an employee's vacation leave. I eavesdropped...I mean...overheard them talking about wrong calculations on his vacation leave sheet. At first it was just a soft discussion. Then the whole floor shook with their voices as loud as gunshots.

Both already raised their voices that all of the 1st floor employees heard their nuisance conversations. Neither party wanted to tone down their voices.

It was my first time I've experienced that kind of fight before - a real clash of the titans.

I want more.

*evil laugh*

Paul

The Bee is in the House!

ate tetay eating my fries! hmph
Yay!

Jollibee is finally in Qatar!

And it was quite a timing because our salary just arrived. So both of my close officemates were there but I was still in my boss' house taking care of him. I went there after.

Yay?

The line was very long and the seats were few. In order for you to take your lunch, you have to fall in line during breakfast! They didn't anticipate that many Filipinos like to eat Jollibee. Good thing, Rowena was there falling in line and almost near the cashier.

I ordered a lot since I got the biggest bill. Lubos-lubusin ko nalang ito. Here's what I ordered:

1 Halo halo - QR 12
1 Chickenjoy with rice and softdrinks - QR 16
1 Large Fries - QR 6
1 Jolly Burger - QR 4

Gluttony? No. It is a Filipino Restaurant so the sizes are for Filipinos, too - same sizes as the Philippines' Jollibee!

Jollibee Reviews:

Cristina and Rowena didn't like the spaghetti. Good thing, I didn't order it. The pasta was too thin unlike in the Philippines. They put too little sauce which made the spaghetti pale. The chickens we ordered were charred and some are small.

Overall review:

The foods were not really exceptional as per our country's jollibee but if you really miss home, eating at Jollibee will let you feel home (char).

Bida ang saya,

Paul

2nd month

Yay! I survived the 2nd month of working as a Corporate Nurse cum HR Coordinator!

Almost everyone in the office know me and I liked it. They respect me with what I tell them when it comes to health and prevention. My friends cum office mates in the HR/Admin Department told me I was good in the office. My HR manager told me I was getting better.

----

Plans for this month:

1. Send parcel to the Philippines to mom and my friends.
2. Buy an iMac
3. Church tithe
4. Obey dad's orders :)

Ailment

Yesterday was really hell. Literally.

It was freaking hot outside! It was 48 C and still going up during 11:00am - 3:00pm. I had to go to my boss to take care of him but my office mate didn't turn on his A/C because he had had his lengthy time-healing stiff neck. He told me that A/C can exacerbate his condition so as a nurse, I sacrificed the scorching heat of the sun and the hair blower-like air slapping my face on the open window.

It was so hot I think my sweat sweat.

My back was drenched with sweat. My Antonio Banderas Seduction Perfume was gone. Washed away and was replaced by a sticky, gooey and stinky smell of sweat. Thank God I brought my lab coat along with me to mask the wet parts of my polo shirt.

It was so hot I could feel my eggs are already cooked.

When my Arab office mate drove me back to the office, I keep wearing my doctor's (ambitious,am i?) coat because all parts of my back were deluged by the icky-smelling sweat.

Today, the temperature outside is 45 C. My temperature is 38.0 C. Curse you, work. :(


Nurses get sick too,

Paul

Stressed out

It's been 1 month since I haven't blogged! curse you, work! I so want to blog everyday but when I got back home, I feel sleepy and groggy from the papers to sign, people to assess and evaluate so I need to sleep asap.

Yesterday was hell. I got "awarded" by one of the project managers because I didn't follow his orders. I kept on telling him he's wrong by the way, but he couldn't understand my sophisticated English well so I just said sorry and went outside to eat. Thank God our office is in front of a supermarket. Also, one employee told me to stay away from the HR department. Duh! I am the HR Coordinator.

I was really pissed of yesterday. I was also tired. On the same day, I went to the bathroom and my nose bled like Niagara Falls. I couldn't stop it. I panicked. I nearly forgot that I am a nurse, so I just put pressure on it. I went out of the bathroom with a small toilet paper tucked inside my nostril. They laughed and so did I.

Next week, my partner Ian will be going back home to the Philippines for a ONE-MONTH VACATION. Nooooooooooooo!!! What will happen to me when he's gone! It's still my second month in the company and I still don't know about the process of being a Document Controller (he is one, by the way).

I really need more of God's help this month.


Nose bleeding,

Paul

Paul the Paparazzi Photographer

Nice swirl you got there, buddy!

Okay, so now I was now a "part" of the company. I have two Job titles: HR Coordinator and a Corporate Nurse. So, when there will be meetings, I should also be there. The meeting happened to be on a Friday, so no rest day for me that week.

I was about to get near the venue (which is in my boss' sister-in-law's house who happens to be dad's best friend who also made the arrangements for me to get inside the company. hehe), one of my office mates called that the 10:30 am meeting was pushed to 12:00nn! Darn. Our accommodation was very far so I might as well wait until 12:00nn outside because I don't want to be very early there.

So I stopped and went inside Subway. Because, I am an I-don't-like-veggie kind of guy, I
ordered a somewhat 'healthy' sub - ALL MEATS. I then happily devoured it.

Then the two(see above) entered. For sure I know the girl was a Filipino, but the guy I don't know. She wore a very tight...tights which really showed her ass like Beyonce dancing all the single ladies. I got confused. I thought Qatar is very strict on how women dress? They even impose a dress code for everybody - from locals to expatriates - for them to respect their culture. Oh, and her cleavage was also showing which made the waiters drool.

Sigh, Filipinos.


Proud to be (Filipino),

Paul

1st month

Finally, I survived a month long of being an office clerk..err.. corporate nurse in the office! My first stay was cool because I get to work with a lot of diverse cultured people and I always say 'sorry?' to them because I don't know what the hell are they talking about. Maybe it's just because they talk weird.

When I got my salary, I promised the church back at the Philippines to give them all of it. well...sort of. :) 70% of it made it to the Church bank and I was so happy. I guess I kinda like it here. Even though I am not in the hospital and not wearing white, I still enjoyed the company inside the company.


Blessed,

Paul

LSS

Do you know what that means? well, I don't, because technically, there's no such word! In an urban dictionary, it stands for last song syndrome. It means that you kinda like the song then you sing it all the time without forgetting it. cool? sometimes. I currently have a song that is LSS-ed in my brain right now.

It's Bad Romance by Lady Gaga.

Yeah. I just don't know why I kinda like that song. Maybe it's because the Glee Cast sang it on last week's episode. But why that song? Well, Glee's a musical series right, so why did I choose Gaga? I don't know why. I really like the beat of the song even though I don't know the meaning. :)

I've been carrying Lady Gaga's song for 3 weeks now and I sing it everywhere - going to the bathroom, crossing the streets and taking a break. I wish I could find another song to replace my LSS.


Walk, walk fashion baby, work it move that thing kerazy,

Paul

No holds barred

This is final - I am going back to the Philippines to gain more experience and take up Master's in Nursing. I don't want my job here. Yes, the salary is attractive but the environment's not. I don't want to work in an office where I can't talk to women! That's my weakness. :)

My 3-month probationary period will end on July and my family visa will expire on August. what a coincidence! I thank God that He gave me a job even for a small period of time. Thank you, God.

I'm gonna miss my office mates especially to the Admin group. Ate Tetay and Ate Weng and Ian. Ingat kayo dyan. Yash and Peshal my good Nepali friends, I had fun. I'll come back here not wearing an office attire, but a scrub suit. :)


Thanking God,

Paul

...

I woke up at 3:30am today and turned on the music. I can't go back to sleep. I keep on remembering what my superior told me yesterday. Oh well, I have 2 months more to exit Qatar and go back to the Philippines.

I can't work in place where talking to people while working is prohibited. They might think that I am not working my job very well if I converse too much with people especially Filipinos. Stupid, right? I'm kind of sad because I still want to work there. However, with an environment like that I don't think I can survive not talking for a day! That would make me sick. Being silent is my weakness. :)

Let's just see what happens on the after my 3-month probationary period.


I am not sourgraping,

Paul

sizzling sisig, hot n spicy bbq, mr donut and hot choco fudge. who am i? :p

my official photographer buddy!!! hahaha.

Ask me anything

Surprised

It's seems that I will go back to the Philippines after all.

You see, the company I currently work doesn't have a visa to transfer my visa to their property. I will just have to be, maybe, be terminated at the end of my 3-month probationary period and they'll just gonna say that the company doesn't need me anymore which is the wrong reason. Unfair, isn't it?

Yes, it really is.

Good thing I eavesdropped this morning when my boss called some employees regarding their visa blah blah blah. I was really hurt and was really surprised of what I've heard. She holds employees in the Philippines because there are no more working visas left! I don't know. Let's just try to find out on July - the end of my probationary period.

But it really is unfair if this is true because I CAN find another jobs here and maybe they have plenty of visas to transfer mine, correct? Selfish, very selfish. I asked God some advices but He didn't reply yet and also my mom, maybe she's now asleep.


Hoping for the best to come in God's time,

Paul

House Visit

This morning, an employee got sick and one of my "job responsibilities" is to attend to their needs. I'm am not just a company nurse, but an HR coordinator and a nanny as well. So I packed my medical stuff, donned my stethoscope on my neck(so I look like a doctor) and wore my white coat and went immediately to the house of the said sick employee.

Based on my assessment(char!), he suffered from Mild dehydration-external/stress related. I got that from the internet. hehe. Or in nursing field, Fluid deficit related to inadequate fluid intake or replacement. See, I still have some nursing care plans left on my brain way back in college. NOT. I still researched that one on the internet.

I went inside complete with my accessories and coat(and not to mention the stethoscope hanging around my neck to look more doctor-ish), I inspected him by system. He's cold. Very cold. Temp was 35.9 C. He didn't turn on the A/C inside his room because he's frigid cold. I really sweated (yep, there is such a word as sweated - researched again) when I took his Blood Pressure and took his glucose. Both are normal. The only problem is that he sweats a lot and had a minor headache. I just gave him Qatar's wonder drug Panadol to alleviate his headache. I advised him to rest and increase his fluid intake and wear light clothing. I hastily went back to the office because I can't take the heat anymore. I researched(again) that Doha's temperature plays between 38-45 C today.

Dehydration can be very dangerous here in the Middle East and with summer fast approaching, people need to drink a lot of fluids to sustain themselves and their bodies.

And apply sunblock, too!


Researching,

Paul

Saddened

Okay so my work in the company is being the Human Resource Coordinator and a Company Nurse. cool,huh? Fundamentally and according to my job description, an HR Coordinator coordinates the resources of humans. wow, i like that term. it makes me feel so stupid and silly. Basically, I call applicants, look at their resumes, scheduled for an interview and make job offers. Easy.

NOT.

Here's what happened today:

Last Wednesday, the company urgently needed a secretary. Because of the location of the office(it is located near the border of Saudi Arabia), female secretaries are really not safe there so they need a male one. There I was, scanning the pages of the classified ads looking for someone who really is fit for the job. Found one, contacted and scheduled an interview immediately.

Zir, not his real name was good in all aspects. He writes well, speaks well, and he understands and follow orders immediately without any delays. And he's a male.

NOT.

He's gay.

I don't have any issues or hatred against them but maybe our boss does. Or he just doesn't want any of them in his office. This morning he came inside the office. His stubby curly and brown hair swayed to and fro against his forehead. Maybe because of the A/C. "Yash, dherai jaado," i told our Nepali office boy to minimize the coldness of the A/C. I then welcomed him and told him I was Paul who phone interviewed him and he replied with a smile.

He's good. The Filipino employees were impressed of how he handle his job neatly and orderly. He copied invoices, purchase order, and other office works swiftly and handed them to his boss. We were stunned of his remarkable secretarial skills.

It was 5 o' clock and the HR manager called him to come inside her office. We eavesdropped but didn't hear anything but only murmurs and some small laughter. After maybe 10 minutes, he went out and returned all the files to our desk and left.We found out that his boss didn't like him because he's gay. We were stunned. Petrified. He was good. Perfect. Tailored fit for the job but i don't know what had happened. I, too, was kind of upset because in the morning, he really thanked me a lot for calling him because he really needed the job. He also mentioned that as thanks, he will treat us to lunch tomorrow.

I guess we'll be spending our own lunch money tomorrow then.

Maybe he'll find a better job somewhere. I hope.


Seeking another male applicant,

Paul