Hurray!

I am actually rejoicing for several good reasons:
1. I got a clearance from our house doctor that I am no longer contgious and already fit to work.
Oh well, I always feel better the whole time I was sick. I am so thankful that my shingles was not that bad and it did not give me a rough time. Although I was really paranoid of spreading the virus to my family so during the day that I was on sick leave, I was out. I was attending classes. I knew that nurses there are immune to nosocomial infections (hospital acquired diseases). heehee
2. I got my new laptop. It's not the Macbook Air that everyone is getting crazy about about but it's a sure better replcament to my dying desktop that by the way became flat line yesterday (as in literally the screen became flatline as if it was zapped by a nuclear explosion.
I always knew that my broadband connection is fast but due to my dysfunctional desktop, connection was just a bit above the dial up connection. Now I am really enjoyingthe fast connection.
I am just adjusting to the following:
a. softer keyboard. I need to type gently
b. getting used to scroll pad (is that what you call it?)
c. typing numbers (there are no calculator type digits y'know)

3. Someone has cleaned my room today and changed my linens

I am feeling a bit happy now. Maybe being away from the office for a while is a good stress buster. I did not even feel bad at all losing the chance of becoming part time trainer in the office.
I am brewing something and I hope that good vibes will continue to stick with me for the rest of the year.
I know that it's immature to tell yet, but 2008 will be one of the best years of my life.

Invest or save?

I have mentioned here once that our company has launched a financial stewardship campaign in order to assist the employees not just in saving but also in investing.Apart from the franchising, I have learned that one of the most brilliant ideas is gold investing not just in pieces of jewelry but the real gold in bullions, ingots and coins.You could actually have American Eagle gold coins which are legal tender in the USA having a $50 value. These coins weigh 10 ounces and are available for personally delivery only so you could be assured that they will be handed to you safely.
Investments in precious metals will surely hype up your savings as time goes by.

I am contagious

Yeah you read it right. My short-lived elation has vanished.

I have shingles.

I first consulted our house doctor on Tuesday. I noticed these clustered vesicles on my left lower back and my anterior left thigh last Saturday and I suspected shingles already. There was no clinic on weekends and I was on leave last Monday ergo, I had the chance to consult on Tuesday. The physician gave me antiviral agents good until I could report back for work on Friday (Tuesday and Wednesdays are my restdays for the week) and consult the specialist who’ll be on duty then.

Also on Tuesday, I got a very short notice from my team leader that I was tapped to be an on call trainer for our program and that on Wednesday I, along with the lot of team leaders in our program and a few agents will be making a demo before the company trainers. The trainers will be choosing only nine out of I dunno.

In short I was also in the office on Wednesday.

I thought that the presentation just went well but I did not impress the trainers so I went home right after and then went straight to the church.

When I got home, I got a gazillion missed calls and a text from my team leader that I got into the program and my training will start Thursday, which is also my restday.

I was in the office before 9:00 a.m. and I was able to join the training but there’s something in me that told me to check if the dermatologist was in. So I went to the clinic after lunch and she was there. She sent me home immediately giving me a 7-day sick leave.

I told the trainer about my condition and the doctor’s order.

In short, I am already cut off the program. I know they felt bad but honestly, I just felt a little bad. For one, I went on with the demo just to get it over with because this was my second time I was recommended to other departments. The first one I declined. But for the record, I felt good that I was considered in the Train the Trainer program.

So seven good days of being free from office work. I don’t have to call in sick because my schedule for the next seven days has been blocked. I am free! Physically, I don’t feel bad although there are occasional discomforts caused by the affected nerve pathways. But generally I am A-ok.

Thing is I can’t stay at home. I have a niece who has not gotten a chicken pox vaccine yet and my sister is pregnant. Although she’s in the latter part of her pregnancy past the organogenesis (vital organ forming stage) the virus might still cross the placental barrier and who knows what might be the effect.

In short again, I need to be out of the house during the day.

Wordless

Digitally accurate

Imagine… instant access to essential diagnosis and treatment information using just one integrated application. This translates to more than 3,300 drugs, more than 1,200 diseases and hundreds of diagnostic tests. And all these will lead to prescribing safe and effective medications with just a few clicks on your PDA loaded with the PDA medical software . With this, medicine can now be a whole lot of fun because clinicians have easy access to information concerning drug safe and effective drug combinations even at patient’s bedside. Since accurate references are already compiled in software, rummaging in pile of books or search through a thousand of references online is now a thing of the past.

Digitally accurate. Digitally on the go.

This announcement was paid for by Epocrates

The Good Life

I joined my officemate (as her guest) in the gym today.
We went straight ahead to a gym in ABS CBN after office. Actually, it was my third time already to be there, as a guest. Seriously, I enjoy the workout, the facilities and amenities but I am not willing to shell out a hefty amount just to get physically fit.
Anyway, I was interviewed first by the receptionist and she tried persuading me to get a passport membership. I politely declined saying that I have to think about it first. Which I already have done a gazillion times.
After warming up and dong some mid-body workouts, we joined the body combat group exercise. It's like sparring with choreography. It was fun but sadly I had to stop after 15 minutes because my heart is pounding really fast.
Mind you, there were nearly-senior citizens in group exercise and they have lasted all through out the session. I was thinking, it might be they really have good stamina that n I have or they just want to show off or convince themselves that they can still do it.
Oh good luck with that! I don't know if they've got clearance from their physicians to do strenuous workouts. As for me, I don't want to push myself to the limit, I have mitral valve prolapse and i still want to live a little longer.
I just sat in the lounge and waited for my officemate to get done. I felt nauseous. Good thing soda is free flowing.
When she's done we just changed into casual clothes. Yeah, we did not hit the shower. I did not bring towel because I was thinking it will be provided for since the monthly gym fee is ceiling high. Well I was wrong. I just forgot that they were not really providing towels for the people there.
I was not able to talk my officemate into getting a body spa so I just went on alone. It was outside the gym.
The masseuse was very good although she did not talk much during the one hour session. She focused on my stress points especially on my back.
All the pain and some discomfort that I have been feeling since my last spa treatment in September last year just vanished.
It's really good to treat yourself once in a while and feel guiltless about it.

PhotoHunt - Emotion

Meet the poor man's Gollum.
Everyone who has seen him perform thought that he successfully channeled Gollum's emotions of greed, hatred and evilness in LOTR. He even volunteered to have his head shaved just to pullout Smigol's devious emotions for our play.
Are you feeling it yet?
He was full of emotions on stage and in photo ops.
Oh yeah, he had his 15 minutes of fame.

Being COOKiefied

Is it me or is it him?
There's a strangeness on the way DC delivered his lines on VH1's Best Week Ever. Unless it was intentional, I would say that he reminded me of Carson Kressley and again unless he's trying to channel him. I can completely say that he totally pulled it off!

I noticed something different the way he swayed his hips performing Shout to the Lord (the night before Idol Gives Back).
Confused.
Whatever.

A worthwhile hibernation

I was supposed to post this article prior to joining a meme after my week-long hiatus but I have to wait for all the pictures and videos to be shared in the office.Last week was our General Assembly (GA). It’s kind of big time and required presentation of the 7 programs in our department. It was a contest by the way. A huge contest with our group running on a tight budget.
Last year, our program came in second. I was not among the dancers then. Yey!
I don’t know if it was good or bad, but right after I joined our department’s song and dance group for the December 2007 company wide contest, my team leader kept on volunteering me to join any dance-ish activity.
First was the cheering squad. Okay, I stood them up there because I can’t bear the thought of wearing a short skirt in front of a huge crowd. I heart Bring it on and cheer dance competitions but I cannot pullout a Britney Allen or Claire Bennett.

Second and the latest was this magical dance presentation. Cheesy!
After a series of pep talks, I finally caved in with the condition that I won’t be showing my face while doing the majority of the dance stuff. I turned down the elven role and went for the dark knight instead. Suits my personality eh?
And beside that, I joined not because of my team leader, good thing she does not read this but because of my friend who headed the project.
Rehearsals were so disorganized which kinda ticked me off because I was trying to stay late in the office after my duty and skipped class just to be with the group.
The pressure rose even higher when the team leaders and program manager saw us rehearse and we could sense dissatisfaction. The pack was not in sync up to the dry run a few hours before the contest.
We did not get the chance to rehearse even the blocking as scheduled early morning on the contest day because the teams ahead of us went over the allocated time. And to make things worst, the other group ganged up on us not letting us in of our supposedly shared dressing room.
I kept my cool, I told the team to just let it go because blessed are those who are oppressed. Huhuhuhu.
We were the last to perform and based on what we saw in other groups’ performances, our theme, LOTR is at par if and only if we would move in harmony.

A few minutes before our performance, our point persons told me and the other dark knight who would come from the audience to exaggerate our movements and scare the judges. D’ oh! I was assigned on the side were my friends from the other programs were sitting.
So when I walked by awaiting my cue, they were yelling and calling my name, by the way, I was wearing all black, a bonnet and a black cloak. Maybe they just sensed that there’s a piece of black cloth floating.
I did not mind them because the moment that I made an affirmation that it was me, the more that I would become more conscious.
On the other tables we I am closer, the mean guys from the other program are mocking me making stupid comments. So before they got into my nerve, I decided to walk a few tables away from them.
And my cue came, I moved as if no one was watching. Making exaggerated movements and when I finally reached the judges’ table, I am pretty sure I scared the hell out of them.
Right after the performance, everyone in our program especially the team leaders congratulated us because we delivered. And they were surprised about the instant change in our mood on stage as if we were possessed. We moved in unison, almost.
Everyone, I knew, did their part. The stunts became real. Gollum really jumped into Frodo, I slashed the sword on Sam’s back and it was a mistake because I can’t see rapid movements in a bonnet under a hood. Thankfully it was not sharp.
I felt good even if Sam kicked me on my lumbar really hard. I had bruises and I felt sore for a couple of days. I slipped because I was not able to remove the cloak in the happy song.
I felt inspired by Gollum watching him on stage (while waiting for my cue). He really gave justice to the role and he nailed it down. He did not have qualms wearing boxers and body paints. He even had his head shaved for the role. No one asked him to do it. He was the only team member who had a perfect attendance in our rehearsals. In fact, he memorized all the members’ routines.
He earned to be the instant celebrity that night having countless photo ops with other attendees even from other programs.
Did I mention we won? Yeah we did, and this meant I had to be kicked by Sam again since we had to show the audience again our winning form.

Sorry for the lengthy blab.
I just wanna share.

All natural all the time

Whenever I am craving for protein bars (I rarely eat animal meat), I have to swing by a grocery store near our office. I need to energize my body. Well, we do have a canteen and a vending machine but all they sell are unhealthy and junk foods.

I am into munching natural healthy snack and having organic choices would be a heaven, not only in office settings but more importantly in schools. Yeah, it’s back to school and children are often tempted to sink their teeth into sweets or other junk foods. Parents and guardians though prepare snacks for their kids they are still unsure if their kids are free from snack-swapping sprees.

I would say that it is about time that school and office administration consider putting up natural vending machine or organic vending machine. There should always be quick bites of good nutrition and a handful of alternative snacks for people who are always on the go.
It just dawned on me, since our department has launched a wellness program dubbed as iCONLites, I think it would be great if they will also include new healthy vending program that will offer healthy choices and provide good nutrition for everyone.

Wordless

Hectic week and DC's playlist

I might not join any meme this week.
I am swamped with so many work this week but I just want to share this.
I am obsessed. So what?
I stumbled upon David Cook on Nightline and this is his playlist:
1. One Sweet Day - Mariah Carey (I'll give him that thinking of Boyz II Men and DC's rendition)
2. The Thunder Rolls - Garth Brooks (I like contemporary country. I still have to check on this one)
3. Close - Nine Inch Nails (this too I have to research)
4. Innocent - Our Lady Peace (One of my favorites. The message just hits me)
5. The World I know - Collective Soul (Watching him sing this makes me want to cry. Full of emotion)
And finally, he chooses Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. I love IH. They have a couple of songs in The OC soundtracks which I all have.
I really want to kiss the cook!

Ciao for now!