Ringing in 2010

In just a few hours, it'll officially be the year 2010. Can you believe it? It's no lie that the older you are, the faster time seems to fly. I remember thinking my summer breaks were ions and school would never come. Now, entire years are flashing right before my eyes.

I don't usually make resolutions for the new year. Why willingly create a situation where I'll disappoint myself? LOL If anything, I'll try to get back on track with my Bucket List. I've let it slip these past few months as life just seemed to overwhelm me. I'll work harder at achieving some of these goals.

Anyone make any resolutions for 2010? Be creative. We all know we could all stand to lose a few pounds or eat healthier. What about something off-the-wall? Climb Mount Everest? Surf a gigantic wavce? Eat Rocky Mountain oysters?

Look Back On Life

Driving home today I saw this young, teen couple walking down the street. They must've been around 18 years old and looked so happy and in love. I remember being that age and this time of year would've been the first winter break of my freshman year in college. I laughed to myself because I remember that first semester was pretty turbulent in terms of school, life and love. Some days I'd swear I was about to die of unhappiness. Other days were the best times of my life. It's weird how emotional you are when you're young.

Back in the day I remember crying a lot more than I do now. I remember feeling like I was so in love but that my heart was broken into a million pieces. I remember thinking no one's ever felt this way before and that if it hurt this bad it must be love. Real original, right? LOL

I remember telling myself that awful saying, "If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, it's yours forever. If it dosen't, then it was never meant to be." I constantly told this to myself because I thought I was being the bigger person. I thought this was what you did when you truly loved someone - you let them be who they were meant to be even if, in the end, their life didn't include you.

But looking back on it now, I think I was just scared. I was scared to really love someone, to lose control and let fate take its course. I told myself it was better for him if I let him go because our paths never seemed to match each others. It always seemed as if I were a minute too slow or he was a few steps behind. I was unwilling to get off my path and try his for a while and vice versa. So, I told myself that maybe some day we'd sync up and it'd work out but today just wasn't the day. So in the end I let him go.

Several years after college I actually found his profile on one of those social media networks. I wasn't purposely looking for him. (I'm not that insane.) I was just clicking on friends of friends of friends and came across a familiar handle. He would always use very peculiar and unique nicknames and this one caught my eye.

After clicking on the profile, a photo confirmed that it was indeed him. He looked the same as I remembered, except older and more muscular. I was so shocked to see him (sort of) after all this time, I just about had a panic attack. His profile summary said he was married, but this wasn't too surprising. We were, after all, in our early 20s by then. It was also about this time that I was reconnecting with other friends via this social media network so I sent a quick note to see how he was doing.

After several notes back and forth he called me from Iraq, where he was currently stationed. This was around Thanksgiving and his birthday, and it was just really weird to hear his voice after so long. I can't say that I actually recognized it, but it did feel familiar to me somehow. Even though we were just catching up with each other's lives, it felt as though we'd never lost contact. It was interesting in a Twilight Zone kind of way.

We talked a bit about the old days and stuff that had happened. It did my ego good to hear that he'd never forgotten about me and had even tried to locate me a couple years after we lost touch. We said we'd definitely keep in touch this time and contact each other if we were ever in the area. He said he'd call me when he got back to the States. But, of course, this never happened and we simply slipped away from each other again. (This entire thing is terribly romantic in that British, Jane Austen/Emily Bronte kind of way, isn't it?) Anyway, thinking about it now, these couple of phone calls were probably a good way to close that chapter of my life.

All of this seems like an entire lifetime ago. Back then I used to obsess about it. Now it rarely comes to my mind. At times like these when I do think about him, I wonder what he's up to and hope he's doing well. I guess there's something to be said about that awful saying after all. If it doesn't come back, it's not meant to be. And at this point in my life, I can honestly say that I'm content with that.

Vision Update

I went for a follow up last Tuesday to check out the pressure in my left eye. Apparently it's finally about normal. After some testing and whatnot, the doc said that my vision is off by only one diopter for each eye. They both are also plagued with slight astigmatism.

The good news is that this will not require Lasik to fix and can be done in the office. He said for me to come back in a month and re-check my eyes. If everything is stable and consistent, we'll go ahead and do the procedure that same day. Upon healing, it should clear up the last bit of nearsightedness that I have. I can't wait.

This is great news! However, I suppose this means that I'll have to put off the shark dive I was planning to do with a friend in January. Hopefully she understands. Maybe we'll go sometime in the spring? My eyes should've healed by then, right?

Christ, Another Cold!

I'm sick again and don't want to talk about it. Every time I alter my sleep schedule, I somehow get sick within the next couple of days. That's a horrible immune system I have. I've got the stuffy nose and sneezing going on. I'm also getting chills off and on. I really hope it's not the flu. I didn't get a flu shot.

. . . And I'm Back

Just returned home from my Vegas jaunt this morning - 3:30 a.m. this morning to be exact. I was supposed to arrive at 12:15 p.m. yesterday, but our plane had some kind of mechanical failure light pop on. We were midway down the runway when the pilot put on the breaks. Thought it'd only take an hour to check out, but they ended up sending us back to a hotel to wait it out. Because of this, I'd say there are about 200 people tired out of their minds today.

While many people would love an extra day in Vegas, it'd be a lot better if they'd known ahead of time. Many of the people, who must've been older than God, pulled all-nighters on Wednesday since we had a 5 a.m. call time. This turned out bad since we were stuck in vegas for another 12 hours or so.

At the hotel, we were given meal vouchers so at least the food was free. But how many times can you really eat a buffet? The flight home was long and made longer when we didn't lift off till about an hour after scheduled. This time, in the new plane, a door light wouldn't come on. They had to call in the maintenance people to fix it.

Despite this, I had a nice time in Vegas. I got to go shopping and see Jersey Boys at the Palazzo. We tried to see the Platters, Coasters and Marvelettes, but the show got canceled. This is the second time I've been in Vegas and haven't gotten to see this show. It must be a sign. I ate at Olive Garden (yum!) and saw some hotels. I got in some gambling time and wouldn't have lost so much if we left on time. But since we were delayed 12 hours, I ended up putting a bunch of money back into the slots. Damn it!

The weather was a nippy 30-40 degrees the entire time we were there. I think after the first day we became immune to the cold. After a while it just felt nice and not OMG freezing. We were able to walk around in capris and a long-sleeved shirt with a light jacket. A positive thing about arriving in Honolulu at 2 a.m. is that the temperature was 74 degrees. If we'd arrived at noon as scheduled, we probably would've fainted from the 80-degree heat.

Pack It Up, Pack It In

Well, not exactly House of Pain, but I'm packed and ready for Vegas. Megabucks, here I come! I think I've definitely overpacked though. The weather in Vegas is supposed to range from the 30s to 50s so compared to Hawaii, this is freezing! I packed a gazillion sweaters and jackets, tights and pants. I'm only in Vegas for about 4 days but I have about a week or more worth of clothes. I don't know if the weather will be super cold so I also have some thinner pieces, in case layering is enough. I don't know how mainland folks can live this way. Must be nice for shoppers.

Vegas Vacation

Is it sad that all I care about is not being at work? The count down to vacation isn't about the traveling. It's simply about not having to work. With that in mind, I only have one more day before I can relax into my vacation.

I don't fly out till Sunday and still have to do some laundry and pack. It's going to be freezing up there - probably in the 50s during the day and 30s at night. Good thing I picked up a thick jacket in preparation for Japan. At least if I don't get into JET, I'll still have made use of the thing.

I've got a tentative itinerary for the trip that is packed with shows and tours. The first night my BFF and I plan on going to the Plaza Hotel & Casino, which is just around the corner from where we're staying at the Cal. Depending on how fast we can get there from the airport, we wanted to catch Rat Pack is Back. Yes, we'll be the youngest ones there but who cares? It's the faux Rat Pack! Who could pass that up?

On Monday night, my sister and nieces fly in and we're planning to do a Haunted Vegas Tour that includes a seance. The reviews I read were mostly positive. I don't know if my younger niece will be down with the seance though. It might just freak her out.

Tuesday is Jersey Boys night for me and my BFF. My sister will be at a work function and my nieces will be on their own. Afterwards, the plan is to go clubbing. Know of any good spots we should hit up? We wanted to check out Minus 5 Ice Lounge at Mandalay.

On Wednesday, my sister and nieces are going to Criss Angel. I'm skipping that and will have a free couple of hours. Wonder if I can hit the Megabucks during that time? It only takes a minute, right?

We fly out on an 8 a.m. flight on Thursday. Because of this, we'll probably pull an all-nighter and just gamble or hang out. No sense sleeping for a couple hours when we need to be up early anyway. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep on the plane ride home.

777

I cannot wait to go to Vegas for an extended Girl's Night Out. I'm going with my sister, BFF and nieces. We leave in only one week. Thank goodness.

Despite the Thanksgiving holiday, I still feel quite disgruntled about work. In the past, this has indicated that it is time for me to search for new opportunities in the job market. However, since I've applied for JET all I can do is wait. And the wait is killing me.

Other JET applicants are probably stressing about getting into JET. I'm not really feeling that stress. My anxiety is just waiting to hear back either way so I know if I should start looking for another job or not. I can't very well apply to other places at this point because it'll screw things up if I get into JET.

Thus, my eagerness for a trip to Vegas is really just a diversion of the inevitable waiting. I can only hope to win millions of dollars, which would allow me to quit my job. What a dream that would be.

The Cash Register Monster

I don't think of myself as a dumb person. In fact, I think I come in above average in the smarts department. But for some reason, I cannot, for the life of me, remember how to use the cash register at the JCCH. It's like the thing turns into a monster whenever I come face to face with it.

Honestly, there are so many buttons I feel about 80 years old and unable to cope with technology. But, even that's not true because some of the other volunteers probably are 80 and can work the thing just fine.

I blame it on the instant gratification generation from which I come. When someone shows me how to do it, I can do it just fine. But when I come back a week later, I have completely forgotten how to work it. It doesn't help that I only volunteer once a week and sometimes do not even have any customers to help. Then, when I do have to ring someone up there ends up being a line of people who want to cash out at the same time. Jesus!

This is why I never, ever worked a retail job in my life. This is ridiculous. At least the JCCH customers usually aren't demanding. They're mostly old people so they have all the time in the world. If I had to work at a mall, especially during the holidays, I might just give myself a heart attack from the stress.

I used to think my greatest fear was public speaking. Right about now, I would gladly stand up in front of 100 people and talk about global warming rather than use the darn cash register again.

Black Cloud Friday

Where was I this Black Friday? If your first guess is standing in line, holding my pee and waiting for the Best Buy people to pass out numbers to get in . . . you're wrong. If your second guess is sitting in a lawn chair sipping on a Jamba Juice outside of some handbag store . . . you're still wrong, but I truly wish you were right. So where the hell was I? Ah, but of course. I was at work. Thus begins what I will now being calling Black Cloud Friday.

Is it seriously necessary to be in the office the day after Thanksgiving unless you work a retail job? I think not. I mean, unless you're in the heart of all the madness, there's no reason you need to be at work. Instead, you should be up to your neck in deals and cursing that you only have one body with which to stand in line.

So in order to silently protest my dissatisfaction with the system, I browsed the web all day and refrained from doing too much work. I mean, seriously . . . it so was not necessary to come in today.

I can only hope to hit the effin' Megabucks when I go to Vegas in two weeks. If I do, I'm never coming back to work again. Take that puppy as a lump sum and don't look back.

Technology Makes People Stupid

The following conversation occurred at Ward Theatre last night at a showing of Planet 51. This is why technology is making people stupid.

Stars of this performance: group of about eight 7-year-old girls, a mother and a father.

Mom: "Okay, so we have two Sprites . . . one fruit punch . . ."
Girl 1: "I want a Sprite too!"
Mom: "Girl 1, I counted you already."
Girl 2: "Me too."
Mom: "Girl 2, you want a Sprite or a fruit punch?"
Girl 2: "Sprite."

- More of the same -
- Dad waiting for orders -

Mom: "So, we've got three Sprites, two fruit punches. Girl 7, you said you wanted a fruit punch?"
Girl 7: "No, I wanted water."
Mom: "Ok you can have a water."
Girl 4: "I want water too."

- More of the same -
- Dad only hears a high-pitched buzzing -

Mom: "Alright, raise your hand if you want Sprite?"

- Pause while counting -

Mom: "Who wants water?"

- Pause while counting -

Mom: "And what about fruit punch?"

- Pause while counting -

Mom: "Dad, can you get four Sprites, three waters and a fruit punch?"

- Dad shakes himself awake -

Dad: "Sure, four Sprites, three waters and a fruit punch?"

Mom: "Yes."

- Dad walks down stairs -
- Dad turns back to Mom -

Dad: "Four Sprites, three waters and a fruit punch, right?"

Mom: "Yeah, do you want me to text it?"

Dad: "Yeah, text me."

- Dad continues down stairs -

Community Service - Meals On Wheels

I just got back from our company's community service project. We volunteered to deliver healthy meals to seniors in Lanakila Pacific's Meals On Wheels program and had a great turnout of staff and their family. We covered 16 routes, which enabled all regular volunteers to take the day off. Like most events it was quite stressful especially in the morning. However, overall I think we did well and made a good showing.

One let down was that we discovered one of our routes was done incorrectly. This really rained on our parade, not to mention left seniors without vital nutrition. The seniors were not given the appropriate amounts of food and drink because this particular group did not follow the delivery guidelines established by Lanakila and reinforced by the community service project committee.

Why must there always be that one person in a group who tends to ignore all rules and do things his/her own way. It's such a shame, especially when people painstakingly plan things out to make the event run smoothly. I'm not really sure what causes these people to be this way? It's probably just the American upbringing in general that establishes independence and an almost overwhelming self-confidence. Unfortunately, this actually inhibits group work because it results in too many leaders.

To successfully orchestrate an event, it takes time and organization. When you have a loose cannon in your midst, it's difficult to keep things on a steady course. People should realize that there's a time and place to set your mark as an individual and that this trait is not always beneficial. Sometimes being a little humble and more docile generates better results.

Waiting Game

I've been so busy this week that I forgot to check whether or not my JET application made it to D.C. Finally got around to checking tonight and it arrived safely on Monday afternoon. Priority Mail was apparently enough to get it there in time. I was not going to pay a minimum of $17.50 to go Express Mail. If that were the case, I could've done FedEx or UPS. Crazy!

Anyway, I guess at this point there's nothing more to do but wait. I am hoping the time between now and the interviews will go fairly quickly. I am really getting fed up with work and am looking forward to a vacation soon. I dream of leaving for some European jaunt and never coming back. I may just need to settle for a quick trip to Vegas with my sis. I waiting to hear whether or not my BFF can go with us.

Baby Steps

Yesterday I met with my student for our first tutoring session. Apparently, she was under the impression that we were to meet at 4 p.m. We were really supposed to meet between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. It was a bit awkward but not too bad.

My student was accompanied by her friend and her friend's son. I think that was completely distracting but will let it go for the first several sessions. I want to see how she reacts to studying and learning first before I start implementing rules and regulations.

During the session, my student was easily distracted by her surroundings. However, it seemed like she was determined to learn so that's definitely a good sign. She seems to know and be capable of reading more than she lets on. I think this is because her friend is with her. She is too dependent on this friend to really take charge of her life. I guess this is something we'll need to work on.

For the first session, I think it went quite well. I am still not sure what kinds of disabilities my student possesses. It's hard to tell at this point . . . not that I'm qualified to diagnose any. One thing that is obvious is her ADHD. I think she might have some other disabilities as well that will probably become more obvious the more I get to know her. For now we're taking baby steps, and that's all that I can ask of her.

End of Scene Unseen Podcast

My favorite movie podcast just announced that they'll be wrapping up their show and will only be doing the blog. I don't even read their blog! It's not the same as hearing them on the podcast. The podcast I'm referring to is called Scene Unseen with Chris and Jimmy. WTF?!?! I'm at a loss for words.

These guys are hilarious and totally on it when it comes to the film world. I've watched a ton of great movies because of the DVD pick part of their show. I'm so sad to hear that they're quitting. Damn it! Every time I get into a tv show or whatever it ends up getting canceled. This really sucks.

Thanks, But No Thanks

I finally got a reply to my manuscript submission. Unfortunately, it was a TNT letter - thanks but no thanks. Well, I guess that should really be TBNT, but we called it a TNT letter at my old job. It looks like a form letter but at least the editor signed it herself and didn't just say from "the editor." It says that the manuscript was well written. However, due to the economy the publisher is being extremely selective with what they print. I guess you can pretty much use the economy as a reason for anything these days.

Oh well. I guess it was worth a try. I didn't feel confident in this plot anyway. It's not as smooth as my last one. Speaking of my last manuscript, I haven't heard anything about when it'll get published or what the status is on this. I wonder if they're just holding on it because of "the economy too?" I mean, I already signed the contract for that one . . . twice. It's kind of irritating actually. But what can you do? I have other things to deal with at the moment so it'll just sit there till it gets the green light.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

I did it. I dropped my JET application in the mail today. It should make it to DC next week. That's plenty of time to make the Nov. 24 deadline.

I'm not sure if they'll consider me. I think my essay came out okay, especially after I got some help with it. I wonder how many applicants there'll be from Hawaii? I guess that's hard to predict. I'd anticipate there'd be more this year because of the way things are going in the economy.

I don't have my hopes up. I can pretty much take it or leave it. I guess that's not a good thing to say but it's true. I have a stable job so even if I don't get in I'll still have something to fall back on. It's different for recent college grads without jobs. Still, I'd love the opportunity to go to Japan. It would be a killer experience.

I plan to still do some research on the country and get more acquainted with it just in case I do get selected. I'm definitely not looking forward to the interview, but I'm sure no one is. We'll see how it goes I guess.

You Learn Something New Every Day

After speaking with the volunteer coordinator at Hawaii Literacy, I decided to request for another student. Since I would really like to begin tutoring and do not really appreciate being stood up for the past two sessions, I decided to give up on my first student. He apparently doesn't want to devote the time to learn to read. This is fine with me.

I was given a new student and met her today for the first time. This should be interesting. She seems very enthusiastic about learning but has a short attention span. She's easily distracted and zones out a lot. I suppose this will be good training for JET as kids are probably very similiar.

We arranged to meet up once a week since we don't live near each other. I hope we're able to have a longer meeting since it's only once a week. However, we'll have to test out her ADHD thing. Maybe she won't be able to focus that long. I'm not sure exactly what's going on with her as far as any learning disabilities. She has a difficult time pronouncing words and even forming thoughts sometimes. I don't know if she was in any kind of accident previously or if this is just biological. We'll see how it goes.

Visian ICL - Update

I went in for another of many follow-up visits today, and because it's been about a month since I posted an update, I figured I should say something.

I've been going in about every two weeks to get my eyes checked. The pressure in my left eye is apparently still higher than my doctor would like. Every time I go in, it's pretty much the same story. I don't see 20/20 and my pressure is slightly high. At this point, I'm only using eye drops in the left eye. The right eye is normal I guess.

Two weeks ago, the doctor took some scans and measurements of my eyes so he could take it up to a conference. He was going to show his buds and get their opinion. Today he told me that his friend from Phoenix, who has won some kind of award for doing over 1,000 Visian ICL surgeries, said that he's only had one case like me in his 1,000 patients. This is good and bad news. It's good because at least I'm not the first to experience these weird pressure problems. It's bad because, hey, I wanted to be special LOL

The plan of action after talking with other doctors is to let the eye settle itself down on its own (The other option would be to remove the lens and try a size down). I've got another appointment scheduled in six weeks to reassess things.

Interestingly enough, my doctor told me that some of his colleagues (or perhaps the Staar people who make the Visian ICL lens) said he should talk to me because of what I'm saying on this blog. Wow, who knew I had lurkers on this blog!! Maybe I should start tracking visitors and things? Anyway, the point is that it was surprising that a large company like Staar would even give a second thought to a lil' ol' blog like this. I guess that's one of the real benefits/dangers of the internet, right? People have instant access to it whenever they want it. Ah, the beauty of it all.

He Ain't Got No Respect

I just got back from what was supposed to be a tutoring lesson. My student didn't show up . . . again! He didn't even call to cancel.

To this I say, EFF THIS!

Shortly after I post this update I will be emailing the volunteer coordinator to let her know I would like to take her up on the offer to get a new student. Obviously this jerk off doesn't give a rat's ass about anything but himself.

Sure, there are tons of people in the world that are like this you might say. The true irony is that this guy is supposed to be a minister/reverend/man of faith. Psh, anyway. Apparently that doesn't make a difference.

Oh, and I just wanted to add that a less secure person would take this as a slight against them. However, I figure it's his loss and not mine. You can only help someone who wants to be helped.

Being an Educator Sucks

I'm getting a bit disenchanted with this whole tutoring business. I've met my student once in a get-to-know-you sit down and once for an official "tutoring" sesssion. You can't even consider it tutoring because of how he wants to learn. It's basically memorization on his part and human dictionary on mine.

The last three scheduled sessions didn't happen at all, and I'm about to end this relationship if nothing changes. The first time he skipped out was because he got a job for the day. This is an acceptable excuse in my opinion.

The next time he missed our tutoring day was because he had to help his cousin. I have no clue what they were doing and didn't ask. This was a less acceptable but still legit excuse for missing the session.

The most recent time he failed to even call to let me know he couldn't make it. I waited at our meeting location for about half an hour before giving up. I called and left him a message informing him I was leaving and to call and confirm if he would make the following session.

Shortly thereafter, he called me and mumbled something. I have no idea what he said and asked him to repeat it. On the second go-round, I think I caught something about marital problems. Before I could process it, the line went dead. I called back thinking we just got cut off, but he didn't answer. WTF?!?!

I expressed my concerns today when I spoke to the volunteer cooridnator. She said to give it one more try and report back to her whether or not he showed. She also encouraged me to tell him to use the workbook rather than just memorizing his material. If he didn't want to use the workbook, she thought it was of no use for him to be in the program. Should he decide not to use the book, she would probably need to talk to him again. She said she would also try to find another student for me as it is not fulfilling on my end if all I am was a human dictionary.

I'm supposed to meet him tonight so we'll see if he even shows up. The coordinator talked to him and he said he was supposed to meet me tonight. At least he knows the schedule.

YouTubing the Night Away

Why am I up at 1:15 a.m. when I have to go to work in several hours? Well, at first it started out as well-intentioned research for JET. I was watching videos made by a girl (intro2the1) who has been in Japan on JET for over a year now. She's got a channel called Dear Life Japan, and it's pretty insightful stuff about basic things in Japan. I like that it's not only about her school life. She also covers issues in real life, cultural differences and even societal topics like abortion and suicide. It's really good stuff.

Now, for about the past hour or so, I've been listening to David Choi's videos. The boy can sing man. Gotta support the Asian talents out there, right? I came across this video he made of his grandparents and uncle singing a Korean folk song. I have no clue what they're saying, but they sound good to me. They are so cute, especially his grandmother. Here's the video:

Halloween 2009 in Waikiki

I just got back from cruisin' the streets of Waikiki to get a glimpse at cool Halloween costumes. I'm sad to report that there wasn't a lot of originality out there. Most of the stuff I saw was store-bought crap that wasn't very original.

This year there seemed to be some very popular costumes. Must've been on sale somewhere yeah? The costumes seen most frequently for 2009 are:
1. Mickey and/or Minnie Mouse
2. Sexy fairies
3. Prisoners
4. Guys in drag

There were also a lot of bees and pirates too, so I guess they get honorable mention.

The cutest costume goes to this little kid in a cop outfit (Click on the photos to enlarge). His parents were dressed up as his prisoners. Now ain't that the truth? LOL



A really cool costume was of the Egyptian god Anubis. I'm pretty sure it was bought and not made though. Awesome costume either way.



I also saw a vacationing Jack, a vengeful Ronald and a box of fries enjoying a night on the town.







Another theme tonight was matching couples. Not the most original idea in the world but still popular. Here's Mario and Luigi, Mario and the Princess and Superman and Wonder Woman. Yes, Superman is definitely checking out Wonder Woman's rack.







In addition to all the general chaos that is Halloween in Waiks, the street performers and religious freaks were out in force. There was a guy who made a glass ball float with some kind of Criss Angel-ish action, a group of Hare Krishna-like folks singing and banging on drums and the Jesus freaks spouting off about the damnation of the world. Pretty typical for a Halloween night.







One of the funniest costumes I came across was two guys wearing a Saturday Night Live "Dick in a Box" costume. I've seen this done before, but it's still a good laugh. Here's the SNL video and below it is the Halloween picture. What makes this funnier is that there's a guy who cut in front of me while I was trying to take the photo. It looks like he's checking out the packages, if you know what I mean LOL




Overall, this was a very eventful night. Lots of fun was had. Lots of walking was done. Good times people, good times.

Back To School Blues

I feel like I'm back in college and have a paper to write that's due in the morning but continue to put it off. I promised myself that I'd work on my statement of purpose for my JET application today. However, I didn't get started till about 10:30 p.m. tonight, and I'm still working it out as I type this.

While procrastination was a motivating factor, it's not like I was a complete slacker today. I did work on the JET application itself and updated some of the information. Some of the questions are tricky and I'm not sure where certain information should be entered. I'll still need to review it before turning it in.

Getting back to the statement of purpose . . . It's only a two-page essay about why you want to do JET, what you bring to the table and why they should pick you. You'd think it'd be simple, but it's not. On one hand, I feel like I don't have enough space to write all the things I need to write. On the other hand, I feel like I'm rambling on and on about things that don't really connect with each other. Definitely need to work on the transitions.

I have to get through at least draft one of this thing because time is ticking down. I'm still waiting for one letter of reference to come in, so I have a bit of time. I'd like to get through with this as soon as possible and move on with my life. There's no use stressing over this application, you know? Just submit it and see what happens.

Bucket List - Week 28 Update

Yup, I admit I've been slacking on this Bucket List. Here's my update:

Bucket List #1
Hopefully no news means good news.

Bucket List #26
I just might do this (but in a negative way). It will probably invovle a world of hurt for someone else. See the latest post about the new girl.

Bucket List #32
Found two pennies bringing me $999.83 closer to my goal. LOL!

Bucket List #55
I have no idea how many books I need to read to catch up on this one, but I've just had no time. The whole tutoring and volunteering thing is consuming my life. I'm even falling behind on my movie blog. It's a tough life I lead. Haha! I'll get back on this at some point.

Bucket List #59
I'll try this in Japan, should I be fortunate enough to go there via JET.

Bucket List #89
Tried this during of my tutoring classes. It's hard. I'll need to practice a lot.

The New Girl - Part 2

I've been working with the new girl and slowly trying to transition some of my job duties to her. However, it is clear at this point that this will definitely be a challenge. I hope it isn't insurmountable, but I'm not even sure what the odds are at this point.

Is it a generation gap or just a personality flaw? The newbie is unable to focus on simple things, and in my opinion, has some form of ADHD. Either that or I have a walking, talking Valley girl on my hands. Thought that was just a Hollywood stereotype, did ya? So did I. The newbie just loves to talk and talk about all kinds of random crap. This is what a fricken liberal arts education does to people. They know a lot of useless facts but are uncapable of dealing in a work environment. Suuuure, they bullshit with the best of them but are completely incapable of getting work done . . . correctly I might add. Done correctly.

I never knew before today just how great and awesome traits like efficiency and common sense are. I've never really worked with anyone lacking these traits and don't really know how to deal with it. Sure, the new girl is a recent college graduate with limited work experience, but seriously? Seriously? How much brain power does it take to count a bunch of things and put them nicely back into a box? It would seem self-explanatory to me that if you're doing inventory you'd want to keep things nice and tidy for when you need to pull the items out in a pinch. What's the sense of counting thousands of items when you're just going to dump them back in a box and not keep track of them?

Another example of the idiocy I have to deal with ( just so you don't think I'm being unbelievably harsh) is the fact that it doesn't even dawn on her that when you're placing address labels onto an envelope, the labels should probably be straight and not tilted in a 45 degree angle. I mean, must something like this be part of the instructions given to her? "Attach one label to the envelope by placing it in the exact center of the envelope. Make sure it is parallel with the bottom edge of the envelope. Then insert a newsletter into the envelope and stack them all nicely in a box so you can take it to the mailroom." Is this the intelligence coming out of colleges these days? Seriously?

I had to talk to our manager today and bring up these and many other issues. The guy himself is a fool so I'm not sure how he is going to approach this. I plan on being very direct with the new girl from now on. I don't care if I come across as condescending. You need to prove to me that you're not an idiot before I talk to you as an adult and use words with more than two syllables.

Having to deal with this girl on a daily basis as well as our big, fat dummy of a boss might just be my undoing. I better concentrate and do this JET application to the best of my abilities. I don't think I can handle much more of anything in the current work environment.

Tutoring Update - Face-to-Face with Student

I met my student tonight at Liliha McDonald's. He was running late because of the bus and called several times to let me know. I appreciated that a lot.

Prior to meeting him, I was a little anxious and intimidated especially since he is an ex-con (according to the Hawaii Literacy people). When we did meet, I have to admit that he does look a little indimidating. As with all stereotypes of ex-cons, he's got tattoos on his arms and is pretty built. In my over-active imagination I could picture him snapping someone in two. However, he is also a reverend, which I am sure is not a stereotype of people who have been in jail. Giving in to my suspicious and cynical nature, I just Googled him and found him in a picture on the website of a church. Apparently he really is an ex-con preacher.

Anyway, I also learned that this guy is a former boxer. He said he is a former state champ and now trains other people. He is currently training a 16-year-old girl, who is really good. It's hard to picture a minister and a boxer in the same person, but apprantly they do exist.

We talked for a little over an hour and agreed to meet Mondays and Fridays at 6:30 p.m. He wants to learn to read his minister's manual so he can perform his baptisms, weddings and funerals better. I'm not quite sure how one becomes a minster without being able to read well. But, I suppose God has his chosen people or whatever. I was happy that he didn't go all preachy on me. I think it's enough to be reading his manual. I really don't need to be converted too.

This Sunday is my last tutor class. We're supposed to discuss our meeting with our student. I wonder who other people were assigned. I'm not sure how I feel about tutoring my dude yet. We'll see how things go. On one hand, you can't really hold someone's prior actions or physical appearance against him/her. On the other, it takes a lot for people to change their lives and turn them around. All I can say is, we'll see.

Three Rivers & NCIS: L.A. Review

So I remember seeing the commericals for this new Alex O'Loughlin show called Three Rivers, but I have only been able to check it out tonight by watching it online. The appeal, of course, is O'Loughlin. He's definitely still hot and sexy despite his previous show Moonlight being canceled. Still, I think he was hotter as a vampire. It must've been all that pale skin and dark clothing.

In his current show, he's a transplant doctor named Andy. I'm halfway through the first episode now and find that it's difficult to relate to the characters. I'm not sure I can get onboard with another hospital drama, despite O'Loughlin's hotness. There seems to be less medical stuff than Grey's. He also doesn't really act like a doctor because his bedside manner is so soft. There's not a lot of medical stuff and more hand holding.

I've also watched the first three episodes of the new NCIS: Los Angeles. I can't really say I'm a big fan of the show, even with the studly help of LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell. It just doesn't vibe as well with me as the original NCIS does.

Maybe the characters aren't quirky enough? Maybe they're just not interesting? Even the missions they go on do not seem as exciting. There isn't a lot of medical stuff in this show either. The original show features Ducky, the M.E., in every show. You see the morgue with a body on the metal table in every show. There was perhaps one body on the slab in L.A. They don't really do autopsies, which I find weird, but they do psycho-analyze because the have a shrink on staff.

Both new shows do one thing right, which is to definitely play up the advanced technology. They both have that cool touchscreen action going on. Throwing images from one screen to the next is awesome. They project images on glass walls and are still able to interact with the data. It's all pretty cool.

I'll give each of these series a couple more viewings, but I have a feeling this is it for Three Rivers and NCIS: Los Angeles. Gotta go with the tried and true.

Tutoring Update - Contacted the Student

I contacted my student today, who was assigned to me by Hawaii Literacy. We agreed to meet at McDonalds on Thursday night to get to know each other. We'll see how it goes. The student is an older guy so I'm not sure how he'll react to a younger person tutoring him. I'm not sure this is a right fit, but I'll go in with an open mind and see what happens.

While I'm not at liberty to discuss him at length, I have to admit that I don't really know much about him at this point. I was told that he is an ordained minister and is interested in learning to read the Bible. I'm not sure how he can be a minister and not know how to read. I'll have to ask him about it. He has had some drug issues in the past so I hope they are resolved. I was also told that he has other health problems.

I'm a little intimidated about meeting him, but I guess it should be okay. I don't really feel confident about being a tutor after only four days of training. It all seems so unprofessional. How can you let an untrained person take control of someone else's education? I know we're just helping them to read, but it still seems pretty weird that we're not trained.

JET Orientation

For weeks now I've been mumbling about this JET Programme thing and haven't really explained it much. Since I just went to this Q&A session tonight, I figured I might as well get into it now.

JET is basically a government-sponsored program that recruits English-speaking people to teach English in Japan. They connect applicants with schools, boards of education or prefectures that are looking to hire an assistant language teacher to help their English language teachers in the classroom. The contract is usually a year and you're able to renew up to about five years.

The application process is pretty extensive and used as a way to weed people out. After tonight's orientation, this fact has been confirmed. The essay portion is also an important part used to get through the masses. At the Q&A session, we had a brief intro to the program and watched a video with testimony as to how great the program and experience is.

We were also able to ask three former JETs about their experiences in Japan. Two were stationed in Okinawa and the other one was in Sendai. They didn't really enlighten me much as I've already done some initial research online. They were mostly positive about everything and encouraged us to apply. I guess you wouldn't really want anyone but cheerleaders talking to potential applicants though, right?

Some interesting facts I learned tonight: There were 81 complete applications from Hawaii to be an assistant langauge teacher (ALT). This position makes up over 90 percent of all applicants. There is another position called coordinator for international relations (CIR), but you really need to know your Japanese as you'll be working within the government. Of the 81 people, 48 were interviewed and 22 were selected to go to Japan. That's pretty stiff odds. About 60 percent of the total applicants got to the interview section and about 27 percent actually went.

At this point I'm neither encouraged nor discouraged to apply. I think I'll go ahead with it and see what happens. I really need to work on my essay since I haven't even started yet. I also need to update my resume so I can send it over to the people I have asked to write my letters of reference. You need two of those. I also need to research Japan a bit more and get a better feel of locations and where I'd like to be placed. The location request may or may not be given to you.

The New Girl

We've finally hired a third person for our department at work. Yesterday was her first official day, but today was her first official day with us. She's a recent college grad who went to school on the mainland and has returned home. She went to a small East coast school and majored in poli sci. Interesting.

My first impression of her is that she's quite outspoken and enthusiastic about the job, which is good. Hopefully she'll bring a bit of much needed balance to our department. Her youthful zeal will hopefully allay the growing tension between us and our boss. She seems to be very bright, but I'm not sure how much longevity she'll have in this position. She has also applied at various other jobs, which in my opinion are a lot more free and fun than ours. She's applied for and declined a teaching position in Taiwan. She's also getting ready to take some kind of foreign service test. Both of those are definitely more fun than our job. We'll see how it goes.

Eye Pressure Normal - For Now

I went in today for a follow-up visit after the drama and trauma that was yesterday. I'm happy to report that my eye pressure is normal. I'm to continue various eye drops but have been instructed to slowly cut them off after the next couple of days. I have another follow-up appointment next week to see how things are.

While not 20/20, my vision is better than it was yesterday. My left eye is definitely in better shape despite still being a little red. Both eyes feel normal - or as normal as they have been since the surgery. I'm hoping over the next few weeks they'll heal up and kick it up to 20/20.

The doctor said that apparently I'm a special case. While all these things could happen, they've never happened to him before and I'm the first. Wow, lucky me. I asked him whether my vision would get better as they healed. He said this was possible, but it's hard to predict since my pressure keeps going up and down. Normally these little anomalies wouldn't bother other people so much. However, I seem to react very quickly to inconsistencies like the little flap of epithelials closing the iridotomy. He said we'll have to wait and see how my eyes heal up before determining what to do next.

All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not blind! It felt like touch and go for a while there, especially looking at my left eye in the mirror yesterday morning. Spooky man! I hope my eyes heal better than they have been in the next several weeks. How am I ever to go shark diving if my eyes don't heal?

Visian ICL Update

Man, last week was pretty bad in terms of post-Visian surgery. I was experiencing minor headaches on the left side of my head as well as seeing stars in my left eye whenever I'd stand up from a seated position or sit up from a prone position. I found it difficult to look at the computer or read paperwork for long periods of time. My vision would become blurry.

On Friday I called up the doctor's office and asked to move my appointment up from Oct. 2. They scheduled me for Sept. 30. After work, my vision got really bad and it seemed like a gauzy curtain had fallen over my left eye. I could still see but things were obscured by this whiteness. However, when I woke up on Saturday things were fine.

Yesterday after my Hawaii Literacy class, I got home to the same situation. At this point I was pretty freaked out, and of course, started to think about the worst. My headache was back and my eye felt like it was going to pop out. I immediately went to sleep thinking it might be strained somehow and just needed rest. As the night progressed, I decided I'd call the doctor in the morning and see if he could look at it. When I woke up around 5 a.m. though, I saw that my eye was extremely red and the cloudiness was worse!

I panicked and called my dad to see if he could drive me to the hospital since I couldn't really see out of my left eye. I then called the doctor's office, which of course was closed. I called the physician's exchange number, which is an answering service. The rep called me back and told me the doctor said to come in when the office opened at 9 a.m. What the eff man?!?!

So my dad and I waited till about 8:30 a.m. and went into the office. After explaining what happened to the technician, she checked my vision and eye pressure. Next the doctor came in and looked at my eye. He said that because the iris has many layers of cells, he thinks one layer was not cleared out thoroughly and was flapping to and fro blocking the iridotomy (a hole on the outer edge of the iris that allows fluid to flow between the different parts of the eye). When I read, it seems like the flap would close up, causing a build up in pressure. This led to seeing stars and headaches.

After numbing my eye, the doctor tried to clear the pathway with a needle (I assume. I didn't actually see it coming to my eye). I suppose that didn't work well enough for him so we went over to the Surgical Suites and he used a machine to redo the iridotomy. It was basically one of those machines where you stick your chin on the platform and forehead against the bar, then look straight ahead. He aligned the laser, which I could see was a red grid-like thing, and zapped. The zap was really quick but I did feel it. He said afterward that it probably wasn't the laser I was feeling. It was probably the release of all the pressure in my eye.

We went back to his office and he checked out my eye again. He got another needle and made sure the laser got all the extra cells. He upped the number of times I need to do my drops, then retested my eye pressure and vision. I could immediately start to feel my eye getting better. He said the pressure dropped pretty dramatically since it was taken several minutes before. I could also see more of the eye chart after the zap.

Now, about four hours after coming home, my vision is definitely back to normal and clear. My eye aches a little when I move it around but I guess that's from the laser zap. The white part of my eye is still red from the stress I suppose. He said it'd go away eventually. I felt a little nauseated when I got home so I haven't eaten anything. I should be starving as I only had lunch and a Jamba Juice on Sunday and a third of a bagel this morning, but somehow I don't have an appetite. Yes, very odd indeed.

Hopefully this is the last of my adventures with this Visian thing. I didn't go to work today but will probably go in tomorrow. I have a follow-up appointment at 9:45 a.m. It's a wonder that of all the people out there, I'd be the one to experience these issues with Visian. While it's theoretically possible, why does it have to be me?

Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii Orientation

Last Saturday I went over to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii and had a brief interview and tour. The girl I met with basically asked questions about my background, interests and motives for volunteering. Then she showed me around the gallery and the behind-the-scenes areas. I start volunteering this Saturday and opted to stay the entire day.

When I first faxed my volunteer application form to them, I was surprised because they called back within minutes. Perhaps that's not all too surprising in this economy though. Another interesting thing is that they asked me to bring my resume for their records. I found that very strange - like it was an interview for a real job or something. Are volunteer requests always handled this way?

I'm curious to see what kind of work they give me. On my form, I checked off numerous departments in which I'd like to help. One of the categories was to be a docent at their exhibit. I gotta say that I'm not really keen on doing that. However, I figured it was the best way for me to learn the historical and cultural aspects quickly and thoroughly. If I'm expected to regurgitate this info to visitors, I've gotta know my stuff.

My main reason for wanting to volunteer at JCCH is to learn about the historical and cultural part of the Japanese American experience in Hawaii. I want to apply to teach English in Japan through the JET Programme, and it'd be interesting to compare local Japanese customs to traditional Japanese customs. I'm sure there are many things that are similar but a lot more things that are different.

Bucket List - Week 24 Update

I've been so preoccupied about the Visian surgery that I failed to post some updates on my Bucket List. Here's a real quickie.

Bucket List #10
A friend invited me to go shark diving with her out of Haleiwa. While those sharks aren't great whites, I'm sure it'll be just as fun. I need to wait for my eyes to heal up a bit before exposing them to the underwater pressure of going diving. Oh, and the diving will be within a cage so it shouldn't be too bad.

Bucket List #16
I can officially cross this one off as I'm actually volunteering at two places. The first one is Hawaii Literacy. The second one, which I still need to post my thoughts about, is Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.

Bucket List #55
I'm WAY behind on this one. I think I still need to read a book for August and September. I blame it on the eye surgeries. LOL

Shaolin Warriors, Blaisdell Concert Hall

I just got back from the opening night of the Shaolin Warriors performance at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. The show started at 7:30 p.m. and ran till about 9:30 p.m. There was a 15 minute intermission at about the halfway point.

Overall, I thought the show as interesting but not terribly original. If you've seen a kung fu-like performance by Chinese acrobats before, it'll probably be okay if you skip this show. While there were moments that were extremely jaw-dropping, those moments were few and far between. There was a lot of focus on the technical elements and not enough tricks.

I realize that the form and function of their martial art is a very important aspect of learning the artform. However, as a layperson, I found it to be quite boring. Give me the showmanship and the "wow" factor. It could just be that I'm from the YouTube generation, but I found myself thinking that I could be at home and have watched this entire performance condensed to a nine minute video and be perfectly happy. All the good stuff would've been captured in a video clip and the acrobatics would've been just as good . . . or maybe even better. Oh well, it was a good experience anyway.

Post Op - Eye 2, Day 3

It's been three days since I had surgery on my right eye and my vision is clearing up little by little. It's still blurry and is no where near 20/20. My left eye is now also getting blurry too. I'm not sure if that's to compensate for the right eye or not.

At my follow-up visit to the doc's on Thursday, he said to give it a while and see what happens. Swelling of the eye and residue left over from the surgery could be causing the lack of clarity. So far I don't think that's the problem.

While I can definitely see much better than pre-surgery, the clarity is not as good as I'd like. I'm not sure what else to do about it. I'm still putting in various eye drops three times a day. As far as physical pain or discomfort, there is none. Every once in a while I do feel like there's something in my eye (like dust or even like there's a contact in there) so I know my eyes are still healing. They said you'll feel this way for a while after surgery.

I really do hope that my eyes get better. At the follow up, my left eye's vision went from being 20/20 to about 20/30, which sucks. The high pressure in both eyes did return to normal though, however, I was seeing more clear with the pressure up in my left eye than I am now that it's normal. It's really bizarre. I'm not scheduled to go back in till Oct. 2, so hopefully thing will get better during the next two weeks.

Visian ICL Surgery - Eye 2

Today I went in to get my right eye done. It was basically the same procedure, except this time I had a better grasp of what was going on around me since I could see through my left eye. There weren't many patients today so I got done about 30-45 minutes early. I ended up going home to wait for my follow up appointment instead of staying at the office.

At the follow up, the doc said that the pressure in my right eye was a bit high. Same deal as my left eye. They also had me read from the screen and again my vision was at about 20/80. The only difference that I could tell between my right and left eyes post-op is that my right eyelid felt a bit fat. I'm not sure why it was swollen at all, but now it feels alright. I'm supposed to go back tomorrow at 10 a.m. so hopefully things are still going well.

After the check up, I came home and took a nap. Last time I didn't really feel tired, but this time I did. Could be old age LOL I slept for about three hours and would've tried for more except I could hear kids playing outside and I was hungry.

At this point, several hours post-op, I still can't see the words I'm typing out of my right eye. It seems that my left eye recovered faster than this. The doc said that it could be because my body's not pushing out the viscous fluid they need to use to insert the lens as quickly. Because there's still fluid in there, it could be causing the blurriness. We'll see how tonight goes though. My eye is still dilated and huge so I'm typing in the dark but the screen is still pretty bright. Other than that, things are going fine.

Post-Op Day 5

I went in to check up on my left eye since the pressure was up on Thursday. Apparently the pressure is still higher than normal, but we're proceeding with the surgery on my right eye on Wednesday. The doctor instructed me to stop doing the drops he gave me on Thursday and gave me a new one. He said the pressure could be affected by one of the original two drops I was given, but he's not ready to stop those yet. We'll see how things work out.

I don't feel any difference in that eye because of the pressure though. I still feel a little off-balanced. Maybe that's because of the pressure and not because of the clear vision? I tested at 20/20 again today so that's a good sign. Also, that blood clot thing above my iris seems to be fading. The redness is seems to be dissipating and it's not as bright or concentrated as it used to be. Other than that, I seem to be doing okay.

RIP Patrick

I just read about the death of Patrick Swayze. Such sad news, but I suppose he's in a better place (if you believe in that sort of thing). I can only assume living with pancreatic cancer for the past year or two was no walk in the park for him. At least there will be no more suffering. I'll need to go back and watch Dirty Dancing again in tribute. It's not my fave movie but it has its moments.

Clips from Dirty Dancing:

Hawaii Literacy Orientation

I went to the Hawaii Literacy orientation today, which was held at Barnes & Noble in Ala Moana. It was an informational session for prospective volunteers and is mandatory if you want to become a tutor. It was scheduled to be two hours long but was just a bit more than an hour. Everything was pretty interesting and I'll be contacting them to sign up for the tutor's training classes.

Before you can become a tutor, you have to take four four-hour long classes. I don't think it'll be that bad. Once that's done, they try to match you up with a student (all 18+ years old) who matches your criteria. You can request different things, such as that your student lives near you, your student's age or if you would like a male or female.

I'm also planning to contact Hawaii Literacy about their ESL program, which is separate from their adult literacy program. Maybe that'd be a good one to volunteer at too? The adult literacy program that I'm doing is just that - adults who cannot read or have trouble reading. They all speak English so it's not ESL. The ESL program will be able to expose me to what it is like to teach someone who is not from the US and who may speak only a little English. This will definitely help prep for teaching in Japan if I make it into the JET program (Yes, I realize I keep mentioning this but have yet to really write a post explaining it. I promise to do this soon).

Post-Op Day 4

My vision seems to be getting better with each passing day. However, I do have a small spot of blood above my iris behind my eyelid. When I went in last Thursday, the doctor said not to worry about it and gave me another bottle of eye drops to use. I suppose this spot is due to the fact that I'm a bleeder as he calls me.

Other than that though, it seems to be going fine. Today I began the antibiotic drops in my right eye to prep for the Wednesday surgery. I've got so many bottles now but at least they're all on the same schedule.

When comparing my left and right eye for vision, it seems like my left is now more sharp than my right. So, I guess the analogy of HDTV and analog that was given to me by the coordinator is pretty accurate. It's not that my right eye is bad with the contact on. It's just that my left eye post-surgery is very, very clear. I wonder if it's better than 20/20 at this point? The doctor said it could get better as it heals.

Because of the sharpness of one eye, I still feel a little off - as if my balance or depth perception isn't right. I suppose once they do my right eye, things will balance out. Right now it feels like when you get a new prescription and things are extra sharp so you feel a little disoriented or maybe even spacey. It's not too bad though and hasn't prevented me from driving or caused any illness (dizzy spells or nausea).

Post-Op Day 1-2: Seeing 20/20

Yesterday I went in for a follow up visit to the eye doctor. It took longer to get into the exam room and to wait for him than to actually get checked. Isn't that usually the case?

When I finally saw him, he checked my left eye and told me that the pressure was a little high. He said this could be due to some of the gunk they put in pre-op and during the surgery not being flushed out. He gave me yet another bottle of drops to use - one drop twice a day. I added it to my collection of bottles. I also had to schedule another visit for Monday so he could check on it prior to working on my right eye.

When the tech checked my vision, it turns out I can see 20/20! Amazing if you ask me. The letters are still blurry and not completely crisp, but the fact that I could see them is just crazy. They told me that prior to surgery I couldn't even see the big E on the chart. That's how bad my vision was.

Overall, the only weird thing is that I feel a little disoriented because my eyes don't seem to be on the same page. What I mean is that I have a floating sensation like I don't have good depth perception. It's not too bad though. When I described it to my friend Elle, she said that she recently got a new monitor at work that had been cranked up so that everything was super crisp and clear. It made her feel dizzy. That's the best description for what I'm feeling now. Hopefully when my right eye gets fixed everything will balance out. It's like one eye is HDTV and one eye is analog.

Last night I wore my racquet ball goggle to sleep and didn't have a problem with it. It's not uncomfortable so it's ok. Also, I suppose subconsciously I know that I just had surgery and don't roll around too much in my sleep.

Today I have one last day at work before the weekend. Yesterday wasn't bad though. I just need to bring my bag of eye drops and keep on schedule.

Visian ICL Surgery

Today was the big day. My dad picked me up at home and dropped me off at the doctor's office around 9:45 a.m. The pre-op staff of nurses quickly had me sign some forms, then ushered me into a room. They had me change into a hospital gown, but I got to keep my pants on at least so there was no mooning going on. They took my temperature, blood pressure and measured my oxygen intake. They also stuck a sticker on my forehead, above the eye that was getting operated on. That's a good thing because you don't want them messing with the wrong eye. Once that was over, they took me back to the waiting room.

They had magazines on the table (lots actually), but hello, most people aren't able to read them. They're there for eye surgery you know? Luckily for me I brought my iPod with me so I listened to '50s and '60s doo wop tunes. Around me sat numerous old people and their spouses. I swear I was the only one under 70 in the room. Then again, I was also blind as a bat without my glasses so I could be wrong.

Next the nurses started me on all kinds of drops. Every 10 minutes, they'd come by to drop more drops into my eye. I'm not sure what they all were. Sometimes they'd use two bottles. Sometimes there'd be four bottles. They weren't too bad though. There was even one that was supposed to burn a little, but I didn't really feel much.

When a seat opened up in the surgery lounge they moved me. There were about five La-Z-Boy-like chairs in this area. They gave me a blanket to keep me warm and some surgical booties to wear. I was wearing slippers so next time I'll be sure to wear shoes. It was a little hard to keep the booties on my feet. The nurses continued with the drops and also started the IV line.

I don't know about you, but I've never been to the hospital and rarely go to the doctors. I've only had blood taken from me a handful of times in my life. I was a little apprehensive about the IV needle. However, they did it right because one nurse worked on the IV and one continued with the drops. I kept as still as possible when the drops went in because I didn't want to get pricked by the needle. In the end, it wasn't that bad really.

I sat around a while longer and then it was my turn. I met the anesthesiologist who asked me a bunch of questions and then was led into the operating room. Again, because I was blind I have no clue what the drug doc looked like. I know he was Japanese because of his last name, which seems to have escaped me now. That's about it though.

Once in the room, they had me sit on a chair. They covered me with a heated blanket and reclined the back of the chair. I felt like one of those people who claim they've been abducted by aliens. There were about three or four pairs of hands around me. One lifted my arm to attach a blood pressure wrap. One hooked me up with drugs, I assume. I couldn't really see anything. One stuck that oxygen reader onto my finger. One taped my eyelashes back and covered me with one of those plastic operating sheets. Then a hole was cut around my eye so I could see out of it.

More drops went into my eyes. I assume they used some kind of plastic ring to hold my eyelids open and stabilize my eyeball. All I could really see were three bright lights above me. I could feel pressure on my eye but no pain. The doctor moved in and did some poking with the needle. Of course, I didn't feel anything at the time. I just visualized it from the vids I saw on YouTube. I couldn't feel anything when he inserted the lens. It seemed to take him a while to get it in place though. Every once in a while he would flush my eye out with saline or whatever. He said I'm a good bleeder, so apparently the blood vessels around my eye bled easily.

I gotta admit these were some tense minutes. I felt a little anxious but not too bad. I suppose it's just a natural response. It's not like there was any pain or discomfort during the process. It was probably all psychological - like I knew I was getting poked so my body tensed up. When everything was said and done, they taped a clear patch to my eye to prevent any contact. I'm supposed to wear it all day and night. Tomorrow I can take it off and only wear it when I sleep. I was wrong about it being a pirate patch though. It's more like half a racquet ball goggle.



The total procedure was about 15 minutes, maybe less. Afterward, they led me outside to a chair and offered me somethng to eat and drink. They had pb&j and juice or water. That was nice considering I hadn't eaten since midnight. They gave me brief instructions about what I could and couldn't do.

I got done around 12:15 p.m. and decided to wait for my 1 p.m. follow up appointment instead of going to lunch. I hung out at the doctor's office for my appointment but they were running late. They didn't see me till 1:20 p.m. or so and I was examined for about 10 minutes total. What a waste of time. I should've just worn the Terminator glasses they gave me and went out to eat lunch.



They tested my vision, which was still blurry at this point. My eye pressure seemed to be okay though. Apparently the vision is supposed to clear up as time passes. The doctor said I could start the antibiotics and anti-inflamatory drops today even though the instructions I got said to wait till tomorrow. I guess my eye seems to be doing okay and can handle the meds. Who knows?

Right now it's about three hours after surgery. My vision is still blurry but since the time I started writing this I've noticed that it's gotten a bit clearer. If I close my right eye (the good one with the contact in it), I can at least make out the letters on some lines that I type. When I started, it was all blurry.

I hope my vision clears up over the next 24 hours. It'd suck if after this surgery my vision didn't get any better. At this point I can't even tell if it's better or worse than before surgery. I think it's probably better but it's hard to tell with this patch on one side and the contact on the other.

Night Before Surgery

Tonight's the night before my Visian ICL surgery. I don't feel anxious, excited or nervous. I feel fine. I've felt fine since last week's pre-op check up. Hopefully this translates into a restful sleep tonight. To be honest, my mind has been stuck on researching the JET Programme more than the upcoming eyeball surgery. Ever since I decided I'm going to apply I've been a little obsessed with trying to get more information. However, I suppose that's a topic for another blog.

Getting back to the Visian prep, I've been instructed to drop antibiotics into the eye that will be operated on (left eye). This started on Sunday and I'm doing one drop three times a day. That's not too difficult if you time it out at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I started on Sunday and today's my last day. Tomorrow I'll probably resume the drops and add an anti-inflamatory drop after the surgery. I already received the two drops as well as a regular re-wetting drop when I went into my pre-op visit. I was also prescribed another bottle of antibiotic drops, which I picked up at Straub last week. I believe I'm supposed to be using it until all the drops run out. This will repeat next week when I do my other eye.

Prep for the surgery is almost non-existent. I was instructed not to eat or drink anything after midnight tonight and make sure I have a ride to pick me up after the surgery. Since I don't need to be at the doctor's office till 10 a.m. and they said I won't be able to leave until about noon, I figured I'd better eat up tonight. I went out with my brother and his fam to CPK at Ala Moana. We had the spinach and artichoke dip, Chinese chicken salad and the cheeseburger pizza. Everything was delish. Hopefully that'll last me until noon tomorrow.

Tomorrow I also have a post-op visit at 1 p.m. to check that everything is okay with my eye. They'll be checking the pressure in my eye. I suppose if it's too high, that'd be bad. Other than that, I think I'll just need to keep my pirate's patch on for the rest of the day and continue wearing it each night when I go to sleep. I don't have my pirate's patch yet but assume they'll give it to me before letting me walk out of surgery.

I hope this surgery works well and I come out of it seeing 20/20 or better. That would be wonderful. Having needed vision correction since the fourth grade and wearing contacts since the fifth grade, this will be a great relief and provide a certain amount of freedom. I'll definitely post an update tomorrow night with any news. Wish me luck!

The Baaa-Studs

This is effin' awesome!

Bucket List - Week 21 Update

Don't think I've made much progress on my Bucket List, but I guess an update is needed.

Bucket List #1
A work in progress

Bucket List #2-5
This might be on hold as I contemplate going to Japan for a year instead.

Bucket List #6
Maybe I should do this just to see what she says?

Bucket List #16
Contacted Hawaii Literacy and am signed up for their orientation on Sept. 13. Should be interesting.

Bucket List #32
Times must be tough as I haven't found any loose change on the ground in forever.

Bucket List #55
I am totally behind on this one. I need to read one for August and one for September. I couldn't get through Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur after all.

Bucket List #67
Going to the driving range again this weekend to practice. Hopefully I don't walk away all sore since it's been a few weeks since my last stint at the range.

Bucket List #70
Machine is still sitting in the box. I gotta clean up my house. Ugh!

Bucket List #93
Surprisingly (or not), my sister mentioned to me on Sunday that she wants to go skydiving. I told her I was in when and if she went.

Look Into My Eyes

I made it through the eye exam. It ended up only taking an hour and a half. I guess that's because the tech who was doing some of the tests was so quick. The guy I had before was too slow.

Anyway, I can't really see what I'm typing right now because my eyes have been dilated. The computer screen is too bright despite the fact that I have all my curtains closed and sit in a semi-dark room. It was a bitch trying to drive home through squinty eyes, but you do whatcha gotta do. At least I only live about 10 minutes away from work.

Here's a pix of my dilated eyes. You can just see the brown ring (iris) around the black center (pupil) starting to come back. Disregard the weird slanted angle and semi-cocked eye look I have. I had to use my laptop's camera to take the pix and wasn't sure where I was looking. I also had to balance the laptop in one hand and push my mouse button with the other to take the pix. I wasn't getting enough light with the laptop on my desk but couldn't really open the curtains.



So back to the exam. I came a few minutes early, and like last time, the receptionists were gossiping again. Unlike last time though, the waiting room was empty. I waited a few minutes and was taken in by the tech to run some tests. I don't exactly know what they all were for, but suffice it to say there were a lot. I assume they were checking my eyes for health, mapping them out electronically, measuring the pupil sizes and all that good stuff. Some of it they did at my pre-screening and some of it was new.

After a bunch of "look at the red light," "look at the orange light," "open . . . okay and blink . . . and open . . .," "put your chin here" and "can you read that for me?" I was done. The eye doctor came in and took a reading of my refractive error (meaning, she basically got my prescription). Then the surgeon himself did some tests and readings. He shined a bright light into my eyes and measured my eyeballs with a caliper. That caliper thing isn't for the faint of heart as I'm pretty sure he was touching my eyes with the metal. However I can't be positive since my eyes were numbed and dilated at the time.

After a quick review of the surgery schedule, brief instructions about when and how many drops I needed to put into the first eye (my left by the way) and paying my bill, I was done. Again, I felt the tech, doctor and surgeon were nice. The receptionists were, I suppose, your stereotypical front office staff. They gossiped when the boss isn't around but got down to business when he walked in the door. They weren't really attentive to me at all. The coordinator was brisk, again, and it felt like she was rushing me, again. She definitely doesn't have a good rapport with patients . . . or at least this patient. But whatever, she's not doing my eyes so I can live with her.

Overall, the exam went fairly quickly. Looking forward to next week's surgery. So the plan is for me to start using these antibiotic drops three times a day beginning Sunday. I don't use any on the day of the surgery, which is Wednesday. I don't eat or drink anything from midnight on Wednesday morning. I show up at 10:00 a.m. for surgery and the whole thing takes a couple hours. I guess they need to re-check your eyes, dope you up and let you chill out before the surgery. The surgery itself only takes about 15 minutes. That's how long it took when I watched it. Then I get picked up at noon, grab some lunch and come back at 1:00 p.m. to check the pressure in my eye. I come back on Thursday for a post-op check up. If all goes well, I repeat this thing the following week for the right eye.

T Minus 90 Minutes

Well, I've almost made it through the four days worth of wearing glasses prior to my eye exam for the Visian ICL surgery. Wearing glasses completely sucks. I didn't realize how sucky this would be . . . well, because I haven't worn glasses 24/7 since I was 10. This is truly a slow torture.

My eye exam is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. today so I just have about an hour and a half before they start their tests. I think I can manage to hang in here at work for that long. But, I cannot wait to put in contacts tomorrow. Hallelujah!

Zoo Party for Kapiolani Medical Center

Today I headed over to the zoo for a free family day with my sister, sister-in-law and two nieces. Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children was celebrating its centennial celebration and was offering free admission by simply downloading a pass from the net.

We got there a little after 11 a.m., but it was difficult to find a place to park. Apparently there was a free shuttle to and from KCC but we didn't know it at the time. Luckily, my sister is renovating a studio in Waikiki so we used its parking structure.

On the way to the zoo, we stopped off at Rainbows for some burgers and plate lunches. Yummy! I haven't eaten there in forever. It was like coming home. I got the hamburger steak, my sister got their roast pork and we split it. Delish! When our stomachs were full, we went into the zoo.

I haven't been to the zoo in probably ten years or so and I have to admit that it has improved quite a bit. A lot of the enclosures are new and there's more food places. Today, there were tons of tents set up with activities for the kids. I think my nieces had a great time. We wandered through the zoo, and most of the animals were where I remembered them to be. I'm not sure if they're the same ones though. My friend the tortoise wasn't in his enclosure, but we did see him in a back area. God, he was there when I was a kid. Wonder just how old he is?

Despite the extreme heat, it was a good day. The place was packed full of kids of all ages. I think the event was quite a success for Kapiolani.

Opa!

Tonight I went to the Greek Festival with my friend Elle. It was held at McCoy Pavilion and was completely packed. It was $3.00 at the door to get in, and there were many booths - food, drinks, crafts and religious icons. There was also live music on a stage and dispersed around the pavilion in the form of single singers with guitars (or whatever the Greek equivalent is called).

The lines were ridiculously long when we got there at 7:00 p.m. I advise that you come earlier . . . either that, or don't go on an empty stomach. It was really hard to stand in line for 20 minutes when I was starving. Also, if you go too late they'll be no food. There's an area called Ethnic Foods where you can get a plate of diffent things for about $10.00-12.00. By the time we got around to it, they were saying there might not be any food left. The two girls in front of us were the official cut off. We might wait a half hour and walk away with nothing. Luckily, we were able to get a plate and have dinner, even though some of the entres were sold out already.

We stopped by the pastry section and picked some up to go. We tried the kataifi, which is like shredded wheat over a really sweet honey sauce. Too sweet for me. We also tried the kourambiedes (aka wedding cookies) because I had heard about them a lot. They were okay - not as sweet as the kataifi but nothing special either. They tasted like shortbread cookies covered in powdered sugar.

Overall, it was an okay night out. Nothing much happened and we didn't stick around too long. It was just too crowded and there really wasn't a lot of stuff to look at. It was also pretty dark in areas, even though there were lights strung up. This was my first and probably last time there. I'll wait for the real thing.

Visian ICL - Pre-Comprehensive Exam

Back in June I went in for some consultations on corrective eye surgery. I was able to watch both procedures live, which was pretty cool. The Lasik surgery was extremely fast and looked painless. The Visian seemed a little longer, although it was definitely less than 15 minutes.

I decided on the Visian ICL procedure over the Lasik because I feel more comfortable that it isn't permanent. Hopefully I'll never need to undo the surgery, but I like knowing that it can be done. With Lasik, once they blast your eye with the laser, the cells don't grow back. I mean, on the off chance that there's an eff up, you'd be screwed. With Visian, they can remove the implant and you can go back to how you were pre-op.

Anyway, my comprehensive eye exam is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. This is when they will do all the elaborate measurings and readings of my eyes. If I remember right, they said it'll take two hours. Once this is done, they can order the lenses. The surgeries are scheduled for the following two Wednesdays (only one eye at a time).

Because of the exam on Tuesday, I have to wear glasses from now till then. This is supposed to allow your eyes to return to their normal shape. I guess contacts of any kind reshape the surface of your eyes if you wear them for too long. I've had contacts since the fifth grade so I guess that's sufficiently long enough. On a positive note, I wear soft lenses so I only need to remove my lenses a few days prior to the exam. If you wear hard lenses, you have to take out your contacts for a couple weeks, I think.

If you're like me and never wear your glasses outside of your house, wearing them now is like a slow torture. I keep telling myself that I'll never have to wear glasses again, but the next four days will be a killer. Since I'm not used to wearing glasses more than a couple hours at a time, this should be a painful experience for me. Even now, after wearing them for only a couple hours, they feel extremely heavy. At least I only have to wear them for two days at work though.

Five Readers A Reality?

I just found out that hemajang, one of the (very few) readers of my other blog called Movie Addicts Club, suggested the blog to one of the Advertiser's bloggers. Is that the most confusing sentence or what? Anyway, he said she told him she'd be contacting me. We'll see what happens since they already have a movie blog among their ranks. It would be pretty awesome to have my own blog on the Advertiser. It'll make closing in on my goal of five regular readers a possibility and not just a dream! LOL! I'll keep you posted.

Bucket List - Week 20 Update

Don't think I've made much progress on my Bucket List, but I guess an update is needed.

Bucket List #1
Still working on this one. I haven't heard from my publisher in a while. I also haven't heard anything on the new submission I sent out. It's just a wait-and-see game right now.

Bucket List #2-5
Still haven't decided where we're going for our European jaunt in 2010. It'll probably be one of these places.

Bucket List #10
We're also considering Australia for 2010 so this might be a reality sooner than I thought. If not, a friend of mine actually won a chance to go cage diving with sharks out on the North Shore. No great whites, but I'm sure it's almost the same.

Bucket List #16
I think I found an interesting non-profit group at which I might want to volunteer. I need to check their website again and contact them for details. The group is Hawaii Literacy and they have an orientation coming up that I'm going to try to attend. Gotta double check the schedule because I'm getting my Visian ICL surgery done in September.

Bucket List #39
After the Visian, hopefully I'll be able to see like a child again. Darn these bad genes.

Bucket List #55
Right now I'm a few chapters into a book called Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur. So far, it's a little on the dry side. I'm hoping it picks up soon. Otherwise, I'm going to look for another book for August. At this rate, I might just need to do two for September.

Bucket List #67
I've been to the driving range two weekends in a row and seemed to be getting better. However work and illness got in the way two weekends in a row too. Now my dad's in Reno golfing with his buds so that'll take away another weekend. I'll eventually get back to it.

Bucket List #70
I've got the sewing machine still in the box it came in. I gotta clean up around here so I can have a nice little area where I can get down to business. How exactly do you sew? You got me.

Bucket List #72
Yes, I'm working on it.