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