the room was bathed in sunlight as the clouds moved away.  freshly poured rain engulfs the landscape and the sound of birds slowly came to life.  yet erie silence still was deafening as he lay still, only to be broken by the occasional blips of the monitors that are connected to him, monitoring his every condition.  he has been this way for over four months now with still no signs of improvement.  flowers, balloons, stuffed toys, and get-well gifts and cards from friends wishing for a miracle are scattered around as the nurse enters for her daily routine.  the sound of the opening door awakened her, slumped on his bedside.
 
“any changes during the night?” the nurse asked her as she slowly gathered herself.  “none,” was her waking reply.  the nurse smiled as she proceeded to him to check the instruments and get the usual readings–heart rate, blood pressure, pupil dilation–and other signs.  “i see the rain finally stopped,” she remarked as she noticed the warm sunlight going thorugh the droplet-stained window.  “yeah, it was raining non-stop the whole night,” the nurse replied.  she then observed her as the nurse went about her daily routine when she noticed one of his fingers on his left arm twitch.  although she has seen this before and is considered normal for someone in his condition, she somehow felt that this was different.

“he’s…  he’s…”  she stammered to get her words out to the nurse as she continued to see the twitch become successive in nature.  “i’ve told you before that that is normal,” the nurse replied without even paying attention to the movements.  then suddenly, the monitors started beeping long and loud as his vital stats started to deteriorate.  the nurse, startled by the turn of events, pressed the emergency button near the head board and called on the intercom.

“emergency on room 524, we need a doctor immediately!”  shouted the nurse as she started doing CPR on him.  teary eyed, she fell to her knees as the nurse frantically tried to revive him.  doctors and other nurses stormed into the room a few seconds later and surrounded him.  one of the other nurses checked for a pulse and a doctor asked the first nurse information about what happened.  the room was filled with a series of instructions, monitor noises, and frantic requests for more equipment.  “get the crash cart!” one doctor ordered.  “continue giving CPR,” said another.  “still no pulse,” one nurse reported.  amidst all the chaos, she was still on her knees, crying that this revival attempt may not end well and may be the last.  there have been similar instances before, but during those times, the doctors and nurses were able to bring him back, only to a more deteriorated state.

more medical personnel came rushing through the door with crash cart in tow.  it seemed like an eternity as it was hooked up and ready for a last ditch effort to save his life.  “still no pulse,” the nurse shouted as CPR was still being administered.  “get ready to charge the pads,” the doctor instructed.  the high-pitched sound of charging then filled the room.  “charge to 60,” was the first order.  “charged to 60,” the nurse reported back.  “okay, stand clear!”  the doctor yelled as he took the pads and placed them on his chest.  “clear!”  a shuddering thud was then heard, followed by the long beep of a flat line status.  “still flatline,” the nurse shouted.  “continue CPR and charge to 80,” said the doctor.  frantically, the nurse resumed CPR as the defibrillator was being charged.  “charged to 80.”  “clear!”  another thud was heard and another flat line tone.  “still flatline,” the nurse repeated.  “still no pulse either,” a second nurse said.  “continue CPR and charge to 100,” the doctor reordered.  at this point, the doctor was starting to be convinced that continued revival efforts may be futile.  “charged to 100.”  “clear!”  a third resounding thud followed, but still another flatline tone was heard.  “re-charge to 100.  this is it,” the doctor said as he prepared to get ready to shock him for one last time.  her cries now can be heard in the room amidst the flurry of activity.  “re-charged to 100.”  “clear!”  and a fourth and final thud was heard as the last revival effort came.

there was silence after administering the final attempt, then the familiar long tone of a flat line was heard again.  everyone in the room then became silent as the long tone overcame the air.  even her cries were silenced by the realization that it was all over.  the people around him had their heads bowed.  then suddenly a solitary blip was heard.  followed by another.  and another.  the nurse quickly held his wrist.  “got a pulse!”  she then shouted.  “heart rate and blood pressure stabilizing,” said another.  she slowly rose to her feet, not believing that this was happening.  she was still fixed on his face, as she then moved towards him.  his eyes then began showing signs of movement, which had everyone in the room in a collective gasp.  slowly, his dark brown eyes began to show themselves to everyone after a very long time.  she again cried, this time, with tears of joy as she then lunged at him with a warm embrace.  the long wait was over.  in the midst of celebration, he can only whisper two words to her as she held him tight,

“i’m back.”

what does manny pacquiao and “nicole” (a.k.a suzette nicolas) have in common?  well, for one both of them grabbed national attention–albiet one is infamous and the other one infamous (it’s up to you to tag which).  another one is that they’re now known as “flip-floppers” or going one way and then going back.  both of them are in the national (and maybe international) spotlight again with their actions.  first off with “nicole.”  but before i begin, i would like to re-post this link in order for everyone to have a clear understanding about my position in the whole incident labeled, “the subic rape case.”  you may want to read this one first before you may proceed to read about what i think of her now.

 

 

i hate to say i told you so, but “i-told-you-so!!”  the lady (i don’t know if “lady” is the right word to describe her) is an egotistical, selfish, crazy-ass lunatic who took almost everyone in the nation a roller-coaster ride in taking advantage of the philippine justice system!  as i’ve said in my previous entry about this, there was no rape that happened.  it was consensual sex!!  what’s more humiliating is that cause-oriented groups, women’s groups, activists, so-called “nationalistics,” are still defending her!  if you ask me, she should be the one imprisoned for sending an innocent man to jail for more than two years!  she claims that daniel smith, an american, raped her, and yet where does she go after the conviction?  to the united states of america!!  now what the hell does that mean?!  she should be extradited and sent back home to face the music.  if the entry i made after the one above made me feel vindicated, her recent actions just proved that the whole trial was just a waste of time.  consensual sex.  period.  that is meant to be enjoyed, not being used as a stepping stone to national (un)prominence.

 

now, on to manny pacquiao.  here’s the bottomline:  manny is a great boxer.  probably the greatest one the country has ever had.  but he’s not–and i mean NOT–a great person.  he has the audacity to call himself the “victim” in the “media-partner” brouhaha that he himself caused?!  this just shows you what kind of character he has.  but don’t get me wrong, i’m not just looking at this directly at manny pacquiao.  but with all the parties involved.  another one is solar sports and gma-7.  right after manny announced his “big switch” to abs-cbn two weeks ago, both solar sports and gma-7 issued threatening statements at manny’s camp for “breach of contract.”  just because their biggest cash cow decides to jump ship, they immediately threat legal action?  how can they file a case against a manny pacquiao who has brought glory and honor to the country through the sport of boxing?  they’ll be literally pitting themselves against almost the entire filipino people!  so what did they do instead?  the big brass of solar sports and gma-7 made haste and went to the US to privately “strong-arm” manny pacquiao into submission.  something his opponents in the ring could’nt do.  they had a private meeting which manny was presented all the legal hassles he’ll be facing if he decides to stick with his first decision.  and with manny’s character, he then recants his statements and calls abs-cbn the instigators of the switch.  how typical.  now, about abs-cbn.  talk or rumors of them offering manny full political support and coverage in his bid for congress in general santos city abound, but do they really need to do that?  let me make it clear that i’m not pro abs-cbn in this particular issue, but with careful analysis of the entire situation, it was them that showed the most class in handling the situation.  they didn’t threat any legal action against manny for going back to solar and gma, but they just wished him well in his endeavors.  a stark opposite of what solar and gma showed.  if i were them, i would’ve just let manny go.  money isn’t everything.  gma-7 has always been good in marketing themselves and is a consistent television programs topnotcher.  solar sports has a dominance in cable and free-tv sports coverages.  i’m sure they would’ve found ways to recoup their losses if manny stuck with his original decision.  now that he is back with them, you can see the smiles in the top brass as if a large pile of money is in front of them.  as with manny, well, he’ll still have my support.  in the boxing ring only.  when he comes back home, he’ll never be a person with class.  and didn’t i say that i abhor the “network war” we have here?

 

on to more cheerful news. earth hour last night was a blast.  all of us cousins were outside the house for more than two hours enjoying each other’s company in darkness.  and what did we have?  brandy and beer of course!!  drinking to earth hour even though not everyone on our street participated.  at least a few neighbors who did dropped by and had a little chit chat.  got myself tipsy and fell fast asleep after calling it a night.  i believe earth hour should happen at least twice a year.  we were talking about pushing it to have it once a month, but we then thought that might not sit well with business people.  so i guess twice a year would do.  help save mother earth, people.  it’s the only one we’ve got.

 

and lastly, i finally decided to retire my nokia N90.  though i was salivating for the htc tytn II, nokia upped the ante and introduced the E71.  and i immediately fell in love with it!  what’s more, it’s priced cheaper than when i got the N90.  with the ongoing installment madness happening, i decided to take advantage of it and bought my new baby this past friday night.  the color is black steel and it’s very, very beautiful!!  with a full qwerty keyboard, wi-fi capable, nokia maps, large 2GB micro-sd card, email ready, and a power plant-like battery among others, this was a good purchase.  the laptop will have to take a backseat.  i’m still getting myself accustomed to it, but so far, i have no difficulty using it.  now i’m not in the habit of naming my gadgets, but with this one, i think i’ll make an exception.  though i still have no idea what to name her.  some names that do stand out are veronica, lindsey, athena, and natalie.  got any good one in mind?  let me know.  female names only please.

 

anyways, there’s my rant and rave for the week.  summer is really here!  hope everyone enjoys the week ahead!  😀