My Consoling Asylum

Tomorrow will be our case study presentation, and I am really kind of nervous because this is not like presenting to our clinical instructors. This time, it will be with the headnurses and some doctors at Davao Regional Hospital.

I have done my part on the preparation and I really hope my groupmates will do their part best tomorrow so to make the presentation good enough to impress the judges and the audience. I cannot afford to be in shame just because of having a very simple case. Well, we had no other choice but to take up that one: Ruptured Tubal Pregnancy! Hahaha....

I hope all will go well, tomorrow. And tomorrow morning supposedly I have to go on my duty, but I won't, as I will still have to do some things in preparation for the case presentation.

Pray for us, folks!

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I always look forward for the weekends, as it is the time where I get to rest and have a break from a five-day, exhausting hospital training as a nurse, without the compensation. Although I do enjoy my training, I still enjoy more having all the time to relax and do just what I want.

On weekends, I take my time to sleep long enough, and that means waking up very late in the morning, so late I'd have brunch for meal. If without any appointments and meetings, I just while away my time watching all afternoon, till night if with good shows. As I am more of a nocturnal online crawler, I blog at nighttime.

My weekend life seem to be also a routine just like my weekdays, although I'd like to try other things to occupy me too. Perhaps, if I we're richer and braver to bet, I would have gone to casinos and play my time praying for some big wins. But since I am still not earning from a regular job, I am left with doing all those things I just mentioned. Add spending five to six hours listening to my favorite songs in my phone too...

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I'm officially saying goodbye to my nonage, and it is time I embraced 22. It is kind of sad to know that you get older everyday, but it is much more of a blessing to have been blessed with this life and the years that go with it.

Birthdays are something someone looks forward to, because it is his special day. And I too looked forward to my birthday, not because of the foods that comes with it or the party that will be set up, nor the gifts I will be receiving but the mere fact that I have attained that age. And why don't I look forward to the foods, the party or the gifts? It's because I was accustomed to having sad, uncelebrated birthdays.

Perhaps the only birthdays where my parents bothered to celebrate was when I was one, and that's as evident as the pictures in my photo album. Since I had gained consciousness, I can never recall any birthday celebrated since that. How sad. That's why you could just melt in envy when you see those classmates of yours in your elementary and high school days celebrating their birthdays, if you were in my shoes.

Continue reading in my new blog...

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In the Philippines, several new words have been coined, words that have gained national attention and usage, and most of these slangs are formulated by gays no less. The typical Filipino gays are primarily those who rampantly do neologisms, fabricating words that do not only entertain by the comical tone or sound of them but also to serve as word codes, esoteric to their advantage, so to conceal the words that may be so offensive or disgusting to the other listeners, as Filipino gays, the typical ones, tend to be very vulgar and uninhibited.

Pilar Pilapil for pills…

Karmi Martin for karma…

jombag for punch…

tsugi for dead…

echosera, an interjection…

and char, a yet another trivial interjection…

Continue reading in my new blog...

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Tomorrow, May 5, commences my hospital training at Davao Regional Hospital, and I must admit I am kind of unprepared. I fear I have lost what little knowledge left of me since my college days, or the skills that I had then. It is more like back to zero.

The training will be for three months, and I really thought it’s all about hospital duty, duty and duty. But no, there are still those case presentations and some requirements. What can I do? I entered this endeavor so I must face all what’s there that’s going to try to knock me off. I guess it is also time I jumpstart my career as a registered nurse, to be responsible, to stand at my own feet (without the clinical instructors anymore!).

What’s nice about the training though is that we won’t be assigned in any graveyard shift, which is really my concern when I thought of going into a call center, and the weekends are all for us to enjoy. Yahoo! (Google! MSN! what else?) Ha ha ha. But this training I know will largely affect my blogging endeavor though: if I am on a morning duty for the next day then I have to sleep early, meaning no blogging business at all. I really have to sleep early as I am kind of a lazybone and it takes sometimes to get me out of the bed. And if I will be assigned on the 3-11 shift, then most probably I am too drained from my duty to blog into the remaining hours of the night. Arggh.. This is just crazy. How can I earn money from my blog with this? I can no longer check PayPerPost every time. Good thing the other blog-to-paid sites are not like PPP. Hmm, but the sponsored posting opportunities these days are rather few. Pity.

There may be no more nocturnal blogging business for me now but I will try my very best to post on this blog some important writings, still on a regular basis if possible, though not in the dead of the night, which is really my blogging time. It’s now time to let the owl in me bid goodbye and just invite him again once the time or the circumstances warrant.

God bless me with my training…

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Kids these days have become super talented, and they tend to learn fast too. In the blogosphere, accounts of those who can be called “super kids” have been told, like these two sheer examples: Monaco’s niece became a substitute to do his blogging routine while sick with flu, and JoanJoyce’s daughter has now a blog of her own.

Clarisse Ann, a cousin of mine, is barely two years old and yet she knows perfectly how to show her charm when fronted with a camera, and in the case of no cameras at all, we’ll she would actually act her fond indication that she wants to be taken a picture or two, the indication being the tilting down of her head to the left and click-click her fingers in an eye (either left or right), as though it were the camera’s flash. Wise, girl! And who am I not to grant this little girl’s wish? She may become a model someday. That we don’t know, but we can only guess. It’s best to train her while young, and who knows, one day she’ll owe it all to me for being her eager trainer.

Here are some more of her model-ish poses. Yes she knows when to smile and when just to stay composed and look fabulous in the cam. Just click on the pictures to enlarge. Enjoy! (Wordpress says, maximum limit reached so I can’t upload any more pics of her in this post, so sad… First three photos (including above taken with Nokia N93i; last picture taken with Panasonic Lumix DMZ-L3.)

Click here for the pictures.

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As registered nurses, we have to earn continuing professional education units required by our profession. That’s 60 units for three years, or 20 units a year. And I think this ought to be a must. Oh well, I am not quite sure as I haven’t known any case in which a registered nurse who had not complied with this was de-licensed or what. Or maybe I may have just been unaware. Whatever!

My former classmate informed us about a seminar about Total Parenteral Nutrition in Davao Medical Center, and that it would credit us 8 continuing professional education units. And so with no hesitations I signed up, woke up early that seminar day to travel from my city, Tagum, to Davao City. That’s just an hour drive if without heavy traffic.

Turned out, it was a bad seminar, I daresay. It started late, and before the seminar proper began, we were presented with a video as to how to prepare parenteral tubings and whatnots, with an audio that was oh so choppy you wouldn’t understand what it was talking unless you stick your ears to the very sluggish playback.

Continue reading...

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You may have thought that I, Zang, the one who owns this unfortunate blog, may be already dead, at least in the blogosphere, but I am not. As what this post title says, I am just sick. Sigh...

Yes, literally I am sick. Three days back I felt that my throat was scratchy and the night of that day it worsen, leading into an increased temperature of this body of mine. And in the proceeding days, it has resulted to nasal congestion and some cough; I had (and still have a bit, though now recovering, of) influenza. Grr. I hate this. It makes me more oblivious and ignorant to my blogs.

And that's just the story of the literal "sickness".

But figuratively, I was also sick of thinking what really should I do with my life. The call center which I applied for called me last week (after over a month of waiting) and said that out of 20 male applicants, there were only two of us who passed. Sounds good, but it didn't sound any better to me that time. I was tired waiting for over a month, when they say I have to wait for only 2 to 3 weeks only. I don't know what's wrong with their agency though why they have a stringent screening to male applicants. On the call the caller asked me whether I'd be pursuing that career and with no pauses I said "I'm not sure anymore," and then she began to speak about their company as the best agency in the city, that I'd be getting good salary, blah blah. As a reply, I calmly said, "I have already decided to work in another agency, but not a call center agency." So then she said she will just call me back after two days to check for my final decision, and sadly, she didn't do. She must have already been discouraged. Not that I regret it...

So there I was, inquiring about how to become a medical transcriptionist. But during the orientation, I was rather dismayed. Enrolling is never a problem to me, but when she said I will be under training for four months, in my mind I said "no, I am not taking this one. I need something that will help me earn salary as soon as possible and if that I am going to take this, I'd rather have my training as a nurse. It is just three months and I will only pay 3,000 pesos, rather than this--25,000 for 4 months with no salary until absorbed? That was totally crazy.

I am registered nurse and it is just but right I will take the training in the hospital, although at first I didn't approve of this. But watch out, one of these days you might be getting updates as my being a "NURSE" here in this blog or in my other blog.

God bless me... and sorry for kind of neglecting my blogs these days...

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I know I should have posted this a long time ago, one week ago to be specific (and that's already "long time ago" to me), but there just have been many things that I was rather busy of doing. And one of them pertains to this post's title.

I am not quite certain whether it was the need to earn a little more or plainly the curiosity about being a freelance writer but when I dropped by a site with a link to his "recommended sites" I clicked on one of them and I was taken to this site that offers a lot of freelance jobs.

SEO, web design, flash templates, PHP, mySQL and a lot more are what mainly the jobs about at GetAFreelancer or GAF, as they call it, but what I was into are their copywriting job opportunities. I signed up and bid for those particular opportunities with copywriting tasks. I got several replies, and although I didn't have a resume to submit to them that will prove my being a copywriter, I just sent them a link to this blog. It was flattering to hear back their comments about how I write my posts, but as a first-timer in their site, I had to only approve of one job offered to me (although you can have many if you want) lest that I won't be able to meet the deadline for each and every writing task given to me.

I had to copywrite 20 articles about Tax Relief, as my "boss" that time works in an accounting firm. I had to admit that that is not my field but he put his trust on me. As agreed, I sent him the first three articles first to check how I comply with the job, and he was satisfied. I had around 4 days more or so to complete the task, but I was rather relaxing for the rest of the days that the remaining 17 articles were made in a hurry, for 15 hours! I had to meet the deadline. My golly, it's really torture! I tortured myself, and I said to myself "I will never accept these kinds of tasks anymore..."

And what did I get? $60 for the 20 articles ($3 for each 275-word article), minus the $6 charged by GAF, and another deduction of $1 when I transferred my remaining balance to my PayPal account. You do the math!... Freelance tasks online is not what I suggest you do. Stick to your sponsored posts, as they pay much better...

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PayPerPost is perhaps the most sought about paid-to-review site, and although many PPP Posties have been slapped by the gargantuan Google by downgrading their PageRanks, these bloggers still pursue on PPP. Who wouldn't, if you get good amount of money just for making a review post? That's extra income, plus traffic too. And, mind, it also gives self-satisfaction when you've finished a good article for someone other than you...

What do you get as email notification when you've just completed a review for them? The email subject is usually "Your Post Has Been Approved" with the content that is usually like this:

Hello *your name*,

This is a notification letting you know that your PayPerPost post, *your post title*, has been approved. Tell your friends how quick and easy that was!

Thank you,

The PayPerPost Team

I guess it was last week when I completed a review opportunity in PayPerPost that I noticed something new, but not unusual or weird: the moment I submitted my completed review, I instantly got an email from PPP that my post had been auto-approved. I even thought that time that it may be a new feature for featured posts (those ones in light green), until last night when I yet again submitted a review at that site and got the notification.

It was only last night that I completely checked the email content of PPP notifications with the subject "Your Post Has Been Auto-Approved". Aside from the usual content as quoted above, below those notification emails for me were these words.

Hello Caesar Balatero,

Congratulations!! Your PayPerPost post, Whose heart wouldn't frolick?, has been automatically approved based on your high quality performance as a PPP Postie!

Please note: We will still do a manual check of posts against the opportunity and PPP criteria as a verification of this approval. Should your post not meet requirements, you may get a rejection notice at a later date.

Final payment is dependent upon your post meeting all criteria set both in the advertiser's opportunity, and in the PPP ToS. If your post is rejected during manual review, and you are not able to update and resubmit, payment will not be made on this post.

Congrats again on being an outstanding PPP Postie!! And watch for more auto approvals!!

Thank you,

The PayPerPost Team

Note the emboldened words. I am so flattered. I never thought my posts for them will be actually appreciated, valued and honor, and also rated. Outstanding? Good gracious...

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I thought moving on in love is the only move that is hard to do. But now I realized that moving on to a new site is as difficult as that stupid love's moving on.

I acquired my new site with its own domain My Online Asylum through Hyperwebenable. Yes, they offer not only free domain registration but also web hosting. You just have to fill an online form what it is that you want, whether it's a blog, forum, content management (CMS), ImageGalleries, Wiki, classifieds, polls and surveys and whatnots, just name it and they will reply to you via email, as technical support is entirely by email and they're good at it.

Sounds too good be true, all free blogging?

It was actually around two months ago when I happened to pass by a blog that spoke of Hyperwebenable, about how he got his own domain for free, how he's moved on from his own Blogger (blogspot) blog, how it was easy to import the posts, and a lot more. It was really enticing, and so I signed up myself.

There I was, filling up the online forms, and because I was skeptical about the site that time, I wisely chose a domain name which I am sure I would not regret if ever they will register it for me and then they'll claim it back. Well, in times like these you should be cautious about the freebies online... And they registered it for me right away after I confirmed that I really wanted that domain.

Even though they had put my own site already last January, I didn't move from here to there as yet. I know I still have a lot to learn and find my way in Wordpress, as I am not used to it, plus the skepticism still resided in me. Nonetheless, I recommended the site to my friend who now enjoys the benefits of Hyperwebenable with his site Mckhoii.

I want to move now to my new domain but some things are stopping. If I did, I'd go all the way back to zero, from my Alexa traffic rank, site construction, links, and a whole lot more. Although I was kind of discouraged by fellow bloggers about how unsafe it would be if I'd go for Hyperwebenable than going for 000webhost (offers free web hosting only, you need to have your own registered domain first, which is they say is good as you can transfer server anytime you want unlike Hyperwebenable in which they entirely own your domain), I have found a way to safeguard my blog and entries if they really would take the site away from me, and that is backing up all my posts...

I am now decided to move. The only problem is that I'll get all back to zero. How sad. I wanted to just buy my own domain here in Blogger but this platform is just not my type (especially the commenting area, it's more convenient for visitors to comment in Wordpress...).

All the more I am thanking Blogger for serving as my asylum. It is where I started blogging. It's where I learned how to blog effectively. It is the first platform where I was able to make money through blogging... I owe a lot to Blogger, and it's really hard to move on. Yet I have to, one of these days.

I love you Blogger...

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“I do not want to work as a nurse yet.”

This is what I always reply during interviews whenever I apply for work that is not Nursing-related. Heck, if you’re planning to work as a nurse in the Philippines you still need to undergo trainings, with which you’ll be the one to pay the hospital, instead of the hospital paying you. That sucks, doesn’t it? And even when you’re already a regular employee, you don’t get compensated very well.

That’s why my friends and I ventured into applying for some jobs. While most Filipinos perceive Nursing as a great escape from poverty to financial wealth by working abroad, we say “we’re not in a hurry.”

Even before the result for the December 2007 Nursing board exam was out, my friends and I applied in some agencies and companies that’s not necessarily related to our course. The first one that I applied for was in People Support, a call center agency, but I messed up during the final interview (I passed the initial interview and exam). Oh I guess they really don’t want nurses in their company lest they will just resign after a few months.

After passing another call center interview (and I already took their exam), we have also looked into the matter on medical transcriptionist. At least this is related to our course, and I enjoyed listening to a recorded doctor’s order and transcribing it. The sad thing is that we need to enroll first for 3 months. My golly, I thought we’d already be hired as we’re registered nurses already! And for that three-month schooling, we need to pay 17,500. I guess my pocket that time protested…

So now I am still officially unemployed, and I am quite confused what to take for a job. Following are the potential jobs for me in the country, their advantages and disadvantages, and after reading them through, perhaps, you can help me decide which one to take.

NURSE
Adv: my field of study
Disadv: tiresome, with insufficient compensation

CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE
Adv: enhances my speaking and listening skills to foreign language, a good training for the IELTS exam for nurses, pays good
Disadv: mostly graveyard shifts, very stressful, not course-related

MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST
Adv: course-related, enhances listening skills for doctor’s order, good training for IELTS, pays very good
Disadv: does not enhance my Nursing and caring skills, needs to study (school) first for three months

Err.. I am confused. So where to now, nurses? Where are we going? I’m bored of this unemployed life already…

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The lady banker who made to attend to me last time was already not there. How sad...

Last Monday I ranted about how irked I was for being misinformed by UnionBank's customer service, about how it is not in “union” with its company. I was so disappointed that I took the time to send them a long email about my concern.

The morning after, I got a call from a lady who at first I thought was someone from one of the agencies that I applied work for, only to know that she's from UnionBank's Customer Service. She calmly spoke to me about that particular banking concern, that of the replacement of my Eon card.

As opposed to what I believed was her mistake, it turned out that every information she provided me through email was all correct and that the lady attendant in my UnionBank maintaining branch (Victoria Plaza – Davao City) was the one wrong. That lady from the customer service told me to hang up for a while to call my maintaining branch, and after what seemed like a minute and a half she called back that she already informed UnionBank in Victoria Plaza that there is no more Affidavit of Loss needed for the replacement of a lost card. I guess by that time I wanted to say sorry to her for blaming Customer Service for the inconvenience, but the words got in the way. After the call, she sent me a text message saying, “Look for Grace for the replacement. Thanks.” and I replied “Thank you for following it up.” Oh I hope she wasn't mad at me at all for being conclusive with my email to them.

The call was a relief, as I will no longer be paying for an Affidavit of Loss and I will no longer be hassling to get into a notary public lawyer. But it was a bit upsetting to think that my waiting days (5 – 7 days according to Customer Service) till my replacement card is finally available could have been shorter if on the first time I went there it was already queued for processing. Grr...

So there I was at the bank again yesterday. And what I noticed immediately was that the lady attendant at the desk who always attend to my banking needs was no longer there. There was only the other lady next to her seat (which I thought the one who's Grace). I don't know if it was her day-off or what, but I got me thinking that perhaps my complaint to the Customer Service may have kicked her out of her position...

I did not exactly kicked out a bank employee, as what the title of this post says, and did not intend to do it. Whether she's really kicked out or not, I just hope she learns her lesson. She's a good-looking lady after all, and she's so congenial...

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This Feedjit's Live Traffic Feed has done so many good to me and my blog; it is really a must-have widget for many reasons. First, for its primary and essential purpose—the traffic tracing. Second, it lets you know who may have been searching for your name online like someone did for my name, and third, it lets you check back to the referrer sites, whatever (or wherever) they are.

And when I checked back to my referrer tonight about the visitor who searched for a post about Manila Ocean Park, I got a smile at once on my face as I was taken to the Google's first SERP (1-10 results), although I have to click the 'next' button as by that time my post about Manila Ocean Park has been on the second page already (well that's really normal, as these results show swings, especially if your site's not really that SEO-ish).

But it alarmed and surprised me as immediately as I had that smile when on the bottom results of the second page, I found another Manila Ocean Park post with exactly the same title as mine, and with the opening words still exactly like mine. Verbatim--or word for word--even, when I visited the link at last.

Go open my Manila Ocean Park post and this girl's, Marita, post found here, or as pictured below. Now what say you?


Would you be flattered if this happened to you? I would if she did a link back, and had not claimed the article as her work by placing her name, but it's the other way around. She stole my content, all of it, verbatim! I tried leaving a comment at that particular post only to know that I need to sign up first at Multiply for my comment be posted.

Whoever the heck are you, Marita, please pay respect to the original author of what you post! At least if you claim it you could have just rephrased it, substituted the words with synonyms, altered the composition and added some content. You're not a responsible writer!

To the bloggers who read this post who also happens to be registered in Multiply already, I hope you can leave her a comment about her plagiarism.

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Good Day!

We have already tagged your card as lost effective today, 12:33PM.
To process the replacement of your ATM, please present 2 valid ids and fill up a notification of loss form which is available in your maintaining branch and our personnel will be glad to assist you. Kindly take note that a card replacement fee of P150.00 shall be charged to your account.

Should you have other concerns, please feel free to e-mail us.

Best Regards,
UnionBank Customer Service

To my dismay, it appeared that what they were informing me is partly true, because as I talked to the female attendant in the desk at UnionBank Victoria Branch (Davao), she said I only need to present an affidavit of loss and pay the 150-peso replacement fee. Now, look again at the email. What's right in it is only the 150-peso fee and the personal appearance. How could they have forgotten such a very important requirement as an Affidavit of Loss? So here's what I replied tonight to their email:

Hi,

I always appreciate UnionBank's customer service's prompt response to my queries, however, I am quite disappointed that what clearly was stated in one of your responses (shown below) does not mirror perfectly to the ones that are actually required to take action as for the replacement of a lost Eon card.

This afternoon I went to my maintaining branch only to know that only Affidavit of Loss plus the 150-peso replacement fee is what it takes to complete for the replacement process. I made mention to her, the lady attendant in the desk, that what I got in the email of the Customer Service did not at all mention an affidavit of loss but the two valid ID's, the personal appearance and the fee. She replied that those are only for first-time applicants, or for new accounts, and not exactly for the replacement of card.

I am from another city which does not have any UnionBank branch as of the moment, and I believe that is not my fault. All the more I have put my faith in UnionBank even when it is an hour and a half drive away from our city. Imagine what hassle could it have caused for someone who made effort to travel just so to comply with a banking business and only to find out that what he thought would be enough to get the replacement process initiated is sadly not enough.

Simply put, I am misinformed and I am quite confused why a very important thing as an Affidavit of Loss have been missed to inform a customer, when in fact this is Customer Service. I don't know if there hasn't been a strong "union" between the bank and those who run the Customer Service.

Nonetheless, I still have to pursue on this banking matter of mine as I need the account very much. It's just that I hope that this won't happen to any customer in the future and that any Customer Service should be in strong connection with its company so as not to lead customers into believing bluffs and whatnots.

Yours truly,
Caesar G. Balatero

So now that I'm f**ked off, I have to visit them again one day with the proper documents on. I know it could have been wiser if I called the branch first but who would have thought that the information given straight from the customer service would be oh so wrong? Dammit!

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Gratiturium – (noun, singular) an official list of the people that one wants to thank or extend gratitude to, especially during moments of success and joy. Gratituria, plural.

Go gather your Merriam-Webster or Oxford dictionaries and you might as well react that gratiturium is not a word. Well, it really is not! I just coined the word as I reckon no better words—not even acknowledgment or thanksgiving—than that can actually fit to the meaning to what I dearly feel as of the moment. The word acknowledgment isn't just enough; for me it only means acknowledging or determining, while thanksgiving is the act of giving thanks. I mean, is there any word that means “an official list of the people to be thanked for”? I guess there isn't. So I coined the word, and trust me, the word might be used by someone one of these days. I hope. (If some authors made it before, then why can't I?)

Anyway, this gratiturium is in lieu with my passing the December 2007 Philippine Nurse Licensure Exam yesterday. If not with these people, I wouldn't be a Registered Nurse now...

To my Papa, who, no matter how tired and challenging his job may be, still works just so to support me in school and during my reviews, that no matter how stressed he may get he pursues to work hard. The lines on your face may tell your age but your love for me knows no age.

To my Mama, whose prayers at night are very fervent, whose love for me is so deep no ocean can level and whose perseverance and sacrifice I have always depended (she washes my clothes, does many things to me more than any caring mothers do).

To my sister, Christina,who has been patient all the time and not complaining from all our parents' insufficiencies to her schooling because of my Nursing endeavor, who has been obedient with my pleas and requests, and who has been so industrious at doing the household chores every day. Don't worry sis, once I get a job I will be the one to support you to your studies all the way to your graduation. That's the best I can do.

To my brother, who strives to help Papa support me financially during my review. Our parents may be unfair for giving their attention more to my studies than yours and sister's but you (including sister) did not look at it that way. I will try my best to live up to all your expectations.

To my grandparents, whose faith in me during their living days did not at all falter, and instead have grown stronger with time. I offer you this success of mine, my ever wonderful ascendants. I promise I will make our clan honorable and proud.

To my uncle Edgar for informing me, five years ago, about the scholarship offered by the city government. If it weren't for that scholarship, I wouldn't have become a registered nurse now. And also to my aunt Nita, his wife, for accompanying me years back in smoothing my family's BIR tax exemption, which was a requirement for the scholarship.

To Alphie, a very generous friend of mine, for helping me out financially during the most crucial times on my review course and for being always there to give me support and love, for being such a good friend from the start. (Wow, I can never imagine how long we've been friends already; I know it's only online but it matters a lot to me.)

To my friends Joyce, Tessa, Mckhoii, Gretchen, Zyra, Alex, Lani, and Princess for the inspiration and happiness.You've been so great guys! I had wonderful times with you. They may not last physically for ever but the memories will.

To Papa Doods and Mama Daads (Aunt Eva) of St. Luke's Dormitory, for providing us every day sumptuous foods for our nourishment, for waking up very early during the licensure examination days so that we have something to bring to eat at our testing centers, and also for being our second parents while away from our families.

To St. Luke's Dormitory, for the warmth and coolness you provide us every day while away from our origin cities. We had so many experiences there.

To my school, St. Mary's College of Tagum City, and its administration and staff, especially the Nursing program, for honing me not only to become a nurse but as an integral person. My spirituality could not have been any stronger if not with the Marian community.

To my classmates, for all the times we shared—good or bad, in joys and sorrows.

To St. Jude Thaddeus, my generous patron, for being my intercessor, along with Mother Mary, so that my prayers to God were reinforced.

And last but not the least, to God Almighty, whose love is the greatest, deepest and sincerest. You love me for who I am and who I can't be. The glory is yours forever, and I will always offer you my every success and failure, for your greater glory...

(Picture courtesy of Srichinmoypoetry)

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There is always this one thing that I hate whenever I visit Davao City, and somehow, I wasn't the only one who has been noticing this: the strangers' heavy stare. I can't remember if ever I had this same experience when I was in other metros in the Philippines... but yes, I guess it is "common" in Davao City.

Yesterday I went to Davao to follow up on my Eon Cyberaccount, which had always given me a headache. I went to a rather old yet still functional mall in Davao, where UnionBank is on the ground floor.

The moment I entered the bank, I already noticed this guy of theirs--a helper, maintenance man, whoever he is--almost always looking at me, although sneakily. I tried not to look back, but still surveying him through peripheral vision. Well I hope I didn't look strange to him. Maybe he needs someone for a Valentine date? Not I...

I met my friend Trece after doing my business in the bank, and went to finally settle in that mall's Jollibee after changing our minds several times as to where shall we dine. And I must credit Jollibee for being more affordable than that of "real" foods in the food court... But there was again that bank guy and even though he was queuing he can't help look back at me at time, which I often ignore and act as if I didn't notice him.

Oh I thought he'd be the only one, but when I was already eating and talking with my friend about her business proposal, I couldn't help but notice one of Jollibee's male crew who kept throwing glances at me, which made me uncomfortable. And again, I kept ignoring it, although my peripheral vision did otherwise.

While I supposed those two guys' activity was all I can have for the day, after going to the mall's restroom and waiting for my friend to come out from the ladies', there's this another guy who just came in to the mall, with his teddy bear of a son or a daughter (can't remember) in his one hand. Our eyes met for a split second, as I averted my stare immediately (I always do this, I don't like to keep my stare longer than two seconds). I busied and diverted myself to facing a mirror in the center post, checking myself. That father of a man already had passed by me around ten to fifteen steps and I tried to investigate him at that, only to know that he looked back at me...

I shared all this to my friend, that this is not the first time it happened to me and that I am not the one who noticed that, but most "social" people in Davao have this peculiar behavior to be staring at strangers for so long that it makes you uneasy and think like "Am I a vision of beauty, did I steal a scene, do I have something funny in my face, or what?"

How odd, these Dabawenyos are...

Photo by Kool Skatkat.

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You may, especially my blog's frequenters, have noticed that there have been no new posts for the past two days, and that there seemingly are no new somethings on this blog. Let me tell you why...

This week had rather been a busy one for me. No matter how I wanted to do a post or two for each day I can't seem to take the action. I always end up doing my Entrecard dropping pursuit, although I don't get to the 300 drops per day. Oh I guess I am just lazy. Plus I have also occupied myself with some Photoshop jobs for this blog and my other upcoming blogs in Wordpress. That's why I am lagging behind in posting. There are also hesitations when I try to do a post, mainly caused by my thinking a lot and weighing things over as to buying my own domain/s.

So I thought I will not put any post here yet, as I may be moving all the post here to a new blog in Wordpress. I wanted to completely relocate, and leave this myconsolingasylum.blogspot.com. I have also listed the possible domains that I want to buy in Wordpress, each one focusing on one general topic. I have come up with zangcaesar.com, zangonline.com, some dot coms for gays like me, for nurses, and a little more. I planned of moving all My Consoling Asylum's post to ZangCaesar.com, but then one thing struck me: it entails starting all over again, except the posts. The Alexa traffic rank (let alone the number of visitors each day), Technorati authority, incoming links, blog directories and more will start again at zero.

While I did not like the idea of having My Consoling Asylum (MCA) stay here at the Blogger platform, I reconsidered going to buy MyConsolingAsylum.com at this platform, as Blogger domain purchasing is way cheaper than that of Wordpress. I also took into consideration that I don't know how to redirect MCA's readers to ZangCaesar, and that if I buy the MyConsolingAsylum.com here in Blogger, Google itself will redirect it. Plus, I owe Blogger for its free hosting that I had this blog, which gives me achievement, self-fulfillment, and also money.

But this morning as I was decided to buy the new domain in Blogger, I am saddened that Blogger does not allow payment through PayPal, but credit cards. It's so sad as what I use is debit card (Visa Electron) and that it is still not added in PayPal for some reasons (not until this Sunday, though, I hope).

So you see, I am really confused now what to do. What domains to buy, what to purchase first and where to buy them. Wordpress sure is the best blog provider online but you have to pay $15 for the domain registration and another $15 for the CSS customization (this was only $10 before!). So it's $30, and I can afford it, but with Blogger's super-low $10, it gets me thinking twice. I have also looked into GoDaddy.com but I do not know so well how it operates and how will I do with it. So I dumped it...

I'm not a pro in all these internet stuffs, that's why I am this confused, so confused. Maybe, someone can help me decide... Mayday!

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Whenever I see the TV commercial of BDO, it always reminds me of my plans of getting a loan, although as of now it seems obscure as I am a bummer at the moment and don't have a good amount of cash rolling in. But time will come that I will always come back to this plan: to get a loan to get my parents a new, more comfortable home, start a good business, and also perhaps get them a car. Well, to dream is free...

Business loans, car loans, personal loans... Ahh, they sound good to my ears. Since I ventured into blogging, I have known quite more clearly how loans operate, especially online. I am now acquainted of what Unsecured Loan means. Contrary to what I perceived it is, which by the name unsecured it meant for me that it is not reliable, I now understand that it means no collateral entailment. What's nice about applying online loans is that you can easily get approved for as short as 24 hours and 48 hours at maximum, with no application fees and hidden charges, and with low interest rates. Plus, there are about 8,500 lenders to choose from.

So I guess when I finally would be able to pay back any loan incurred, I will try applying online. Just wait till I have a stable job, and all my dreams and plans for me and family will soon be of reach. What I need as of the moment is more knowledge about this loan thingy, lest I am missing some essential aspects of it.

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I can't remember whether or not I was a superstar, a rock star perhaps, or had been a very influential person before. All I know is that I am living a completely private world devoid of sneaking paparazzi and the like. I also don't belong to a library, nor had at any time took home a book borrowed from one. But there was something that befell yesterday that made me think that, somehow, I may be famous. Or am I just being delusional?

Look, whenever I view my site, this site, I always check the Visitor Count column in the footer to see where the visitors come from, and if the page views are increasing favorably. But then there was this one link, which made me jumped on my feet (and that's figure of speech, baby). And more than jumping, it got me puzzled as much as I was with how long the mother chipmunks really care for their babies until they are good to go on their own.

Now look at the picture below, and if it's not clear click on it to enlarge. (Right click it and hit open in a new tab, so you won't be flown to another page, leaving this one.)


Look on the first or at the topmost link on the Visitor Count, as indicated by arrow. The visitor came from Google.com.ph, and to make it more specific, he (or she) is from Manila. What could he had been searching for that he was taken to my blog.

Now look at the status bar, as indicated with another arrow. He was searching for my name online, and he wrongly spelled as he keyed in my name: Caezar Balatero. It should be Caesar. Well, as I visited the link source myself, Google knows my name: it says "do you mean caesar balatero?" Bravo, Google!

But back to the issue, who could the seeker be? I don't know anyone who happens to be in Manila that knows me that much, or that wrongly much, as evidenced by the misspelled name, but my aunt who is, I think, in Pasay City. But it isn't likely she would search for my name online as she is not that techie and well-versed with all these computer stuffs, and she knows my name's spelling, for heaven's sake! I've been to Luzon only twice, too: the first time being in my last year at high school where we competed for the National Intel Philippines Science Fair at Diliman, Quezon City and the other one during my third year in college for the Ayala Young Leaders Congress. Other places we've visited during those times were Tagaytay City and Rizal.

So who could that eager seeker really be? I can only rely on my guesswork. But whatever that for, I hope it's a good sign, a very good sign, for something I have been so eagerly waiting for, something that would change my life. And I am not telling it until it's finally out...

Although sometimes (four times I think) I get reports on my live traffic feed widgets some Google search results of the query that spelled "my consoling asylum" (I don't know who could be searching the blog name on Google), this one is really puzzling, as it already involved my name.

He could be an admirer, a suitor, a stalker or what, but I'm praying he brings good news... And I will pray this post will call his attention, because I am shouting "WHO DARED SEARCH MY NAME? ANSWER ME!"

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