BYE!

Hi everybody! I decided to close this blog since most of my friends prefer my other blog in friendster. So if you are interested in checking out the friendster counterpart of this blog, please go to http://nelsonbautista.blogs.friendster.com. THANKS!!!

Go Torres! Go Philippines!!

Ei pips! Let us help Marcos Antonio Torres be the first Filipino Olympic Torchbearer since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics! We can do that by voting for him! Just click the link http://www.pinoytorchbearer.com/. He is currently ranked in the 12th place and 2008 Beijing Olympics only needs 8. He needs some more votes. Let’s help our fellow Pinoy achieve this dream for our country! Go Torres! Go Philippines!!

My Blogging Dilemma

One week has passed since I started blogging, and up to know, I am still struggling with this silly idea of mine of writing!! Because of my limited computer knowledge, I am still at lost with the many computer jargons. I am still not sure where to set up my site. I am still considering the pros and cons of the different domains I tried. Let me give you of an overview of the three sites I sampled.

I initially put up my blog site at Google.com. The site gives you a lot of options to customize your page. You can even add music to your page!! Cool!! You can put lots of HTMLs if you like. And all of these add-ons are for free! The only problem I had was that my friends found it difficult to post comments because the site does not allow anonymous comments. Readers should log in with a username and password to be able to leave comments. This system is an annoyance especially if the reader does not have a google account. I myself, would no bother to create a new Google account just for me to be able to comment on an article.

And because of the Google hassles I encountered, I thought of putting up my blog in Friendster. Most of my friends have friendster accounts, and so it will be easy for them to post comments if they want to. It is also very accessible to everybody, and my friends are notified automatically by email when updates are made in the blog. The drawback here is that Friendster does not allow a lot of options to customize your page. If you want to make your page more artistic, you will need to pay a certain amount using your credit card. Whoah! I do not have intentions of doing that!

The last domain I tried was Wordpress.com. A friend of mine suggested this site because she was using this for her blog. I found her page interesting because the site provides a lot of choices for customization for free. The site also allows readers to post a comment even if they do not have Wordpress accounts. But unless I inform everybody about my site on this domain, nobody will ever read my posts. So why bother to write? Hehe…

I guess, the best choice for now is Friendster.com since the site allows more people to access my page. The purpose of blogging is to be able to connect to more people and Google and Wordpress has these limitations in accessibility and user-friendliness.

Check out the sites yourself by comparing the three blog spots I put up using the three domains I used:

http://digital-catharsis.blogspot.com/
http://digitalcatharsis.wordpress.com/
http://nelsonbautista.blogs.friendster.com/

Why do I want a wider audience for my blogs? It is not because I have something important to say. I think it is simply because I wanted to be heard…

Wishful thinking over yesterday's boxing telecast

Just like you, guys, I watched yesterday's boxing rematch of Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera. It was one hell of a fight! Pacquiao promised a war and what a war he gave! Our pambansang kamao was stronger and faster than ever. The baby-faced assassin, on the other hand, showed all the signs of an old fighter.

I have read lots of articles about yesterday's match. They all talk about Pacquiao's heroism. Para maiba naman, can I just comment on how GMA Channel 7 presented the much-awaited event? I have watched Pacquiao's matches when I was abroad and watching the whole event would take only less than an hour. I nearly got bored watching the delayed telecast yesterday, especially since I already knew from the internet who was going to win. The long parade of commercial advertisements after each national anthems and after each rounds was quite irritating. Nakakabawas ng excitement yung mahabang paghihintay ng palabas.

I knew about the paid viewing scheme in some restaurants and movie houses where one could watch the event with lesser interruptions. But of course, the masa would prefer to watch in the tv because it is free. And since they were not paying, they have to settle on how the tv network would present this momentous event to them. GMA7 would of course grab this golden opportunity to get all the advertisers for their own good. Where's the "Serbisyong Totoo" there? Business as usual.

I know that broadcasting networks thrive on paid advertisements. Pero sana lang, special events such as yesterday's match are presented in a more reasonable way - where the valued viewers are given more importance over the profit that they can get from the show. And that the quality of the viewing pleasure is an immense concern.

Haay, wishful thinking lang po!!

The Incredible Nurses of Ward 11

For some personal reasons, I recently resigned from my nursing job in a military hospital in Riyadh. Leaving the work place was quite difficult for me, not because of the place itself, but because of the wonderful people I worked with and I have to leave behind.

I worked in the neurosurgery unit (ward 11) of the hospital for five years. The nursing team I worked with was so amazing. My co-nurses work very fast and they act so quick. Our unit has a very busy surgical set up and I guess the staff just got acquainted with how things work in the unit. Everybody just got used to the fast-paced ward. We dealt mostly of comatose and bed-ridden patients who are acutely-ill, and that explains why we have a very demanding work place.. Add to that was the multi-cultural mix of the staff which in one way affects work relationships, and work itself. The challenges in our department were vast. I myself would not realize how quick the day would finish because I was working every minute of the shift.

But despite of the busy routine, my colleagues were still able to find time to reach out and go beyond what’s needed to be done for the day. In between lifting patients, turning bed-riddens, and answering phone calls from doctors, my co-nurses would ask each other how their families were doing, how their last shifts went, and what their plans were for the next off. There would still be time to share a smile. And for some good laugh.

It was also quite amazing that no matter how busy the unit was, everybody would still be ready to lend a helping hand if somebody needed one. I was impressed with one of my colleagues who would always go room-to-room to check all of her teammates for the shift, just to make sure everybody was doing okay, if anybody needed a lift. And that was despite her also being busy with her own patients. The other nurses, in return followed this splendid example. It was so nice to work when you know everybody was looking after each other. You feel as if you are always standing on a safe ground.

It was easy to have a bad day in the unit especially when you deal with arrogant doctors, complaining sitters, hectic diagnostic schedules. But how could you frown if there was somebody behind you, telling you to maintain your smile and to keep your sanity. By the end of the shift, everybody would be very tired, but were all still cheerful and in high spirits.

And since I have left that hospital for more than three months now, I can only wish to meet nurses as incredible as my nursing friends in Riyadh. To them I owe a great deal of knowledge. To them I owe my present attitude towards work.

sound check...

Ei guys! I can't believe I am creating my own blog spot! I wasn't interested in making my own page before coz I know I have very limited writing and computer skills. But it has been my frustration to be able to write. I guess I got inspired by some friends who are writing their own blogs. If others can, why can't I? Hehe!

I find it quite interesting to be able to share your ideas and thoughts. And that people will have that opportunity to react on your views and opinions. I am thinking of writing stuffs about family, friendship, food (yeheey!), music and my nursing profession. I hope I can write well as my friends do. I guess this blog will serve as a medium to harness my writing skills.

Testing lang to, huh! I am not sure how well I will be able to maintain this account... and how well people will accept my ideas (Oha-oha! may ganun pa... hehe!). But everybody is welcome on my page! Leave a comment if you want to... wala lang bastusan ha... Hehe!

Cheers!