This morning, I went to Patients First Clinic located within Glorietta Mall – Ayala Center (the third floor of where the big Mercury in Glorietta is located) to have my ECG readings interpreted by a cardiologist. Once interpreted and the doc finds nothing wrong, I should be issued a medical clearance. The medical clearance will then pave way for my enrolment to the Maxicare HMO program.The medical consultation was supposed to be yesterday. I went to Makati Medical Center and was supposed to get my ECG interpreted but I backed out after finding out how much they would charge the consultation fee – freaking PHP 896.00! That’s Php 800 plus 12% VAT.
I made my excuses to the cardiologist’s secretary with promises of coming back but I already condemned the hospital even before I stepped out of the room.
That’s why I ended up at Patients First this morning. My bill? An acceptable PHP 550.
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The cardiologist who checked me up doesn’t believe I don’t drink and smoke. She thinks I’m a gimikero and that I consume liters upon liters of alcohol on a regular basis. She thinks I am a chain-smoker. She thinks I’m lying through my teeth when I said that the last time I had alcohol in me was last year and that I’ve never puffed a stick in my life.
Those who know me know well that I do not trouble myself with drunkenness or smokiness.
I guess because I’m stout, I’m already a lifestyle hazard. Just because I had rheumy eyes, she believed that I had a drinking hobby, if not a habit. Pardon me if my eyes were drooping, doc. I didn’t get a good night’s sleep hence the eyes. And just because I have yellowish teeth doesn’t mean I go through the day with a cigar perpetually on my lips. The yellow of my dentals are a result of an intimate affinity with caffeine.
In the course of our sparse conversation, aside from disbelief in my convictions of saintliness, the doc also said that what I had was a “disease of the lifestyle” and proceeded to put in her recommendation, “lifestyle change!” with the exclamation point.
WTF! What lifestyle change?! Make my rather sedentary life more sloth-like?
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My wife and I are still waiting for our baby girl to be born.
After her last check-up, my wife was prescribed medication that’s supposed to help relax her cervix to allow it to open and thereby causing a chain reaction that would result to a normal delivery (hopefully).
So far, our baby is still doing fine inside her mama’s tummy. Her movements are now more pronounced than ever. Last night, I placed my hand on top of Elvie’s tummy and I sensed the strong movements of our baby from within! She wants out already!
That’s why I don’t think I’ll be watching the Pacquiao-Morales Fight this Sunday. An event more earth-shattering and closer to my heart than that is to be expected by the whole Ragandan-Gumiter families.
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We applied for PLDT’s TeleSulit pre-paid phone service and are hoping to have the phone setup as early as last week. That’s because, that was the promise made to us by the agent who handled our account, and the news that I got from their customer service when I paid for the service a couple of weeks back.
It’s now been two weeks since and no phone line yet. I know it’s a mere Php 500 but come on, that’s still money paid for a service that has yet to materialize.
I just got off the phone with a PLDT tele-service agent and once again, we were asked, politely though, to just wait for the phone line to be installed. I tried to tell her that it’s been two weeks, blatantly more than their 3-days wait installation sales pitch but alas, the polite voice on the telephone receiver’s end said, “just wait”.
Hell.
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We now have a household help cum babysitter at our little apartment.
While her primary duties will be to focus her energies on the baby, she will still be all-around help in the chores.
That means lessened workload from me and my weekends will become more meaningful as somebody else now has to worry about the week’s worth of laundry sitting in the bin and awaiting the washing machine’s warm embrace. The house-help can do the laundry in bits and pieces during the week.
For three days now, we’ve been waking up and coming home from the office to an apartment that’s spic and span. Before, because my wife and I neither had time to really clean up the apartment, it was always in disarray and disorder and dust-covered. Now, everything’s arranged, the clothes are folded and tucked away in the cabinets, my magazines and books are stored in their proper hiding places, and the floor is always swept.
Last night, I came home and did nothing but eat and boot up my computer to do other stuff.
I can’t wait for my gaming time to increase!
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For want of a Starbucks 2007 planner, I am indulging myself with caffeine fix from the world-renowned coffee shop.
To acquire the Starbucks planner, you need to fill up a frequency card with stickers and once your card is complete with the requisite stickers, you can claim your planner. You get stickers every time you buy coffee.
There’s a hitch though.
To complete the card, you need to get 21 stickers. Of course, this means 21 coffees. However, 9 of the stickers demand you get Starbucks’ special Christmas coffee blends (hot, iced or frapped) – Gingerbread Latte, Toffee Nut Latte, Peppermint Mocha. The remaining can be any hot, iced or frapped blend.So far, I’ve got four stickers – 3 for the regular blends, and just 1 for the Christmas blend.
