The shit i encounter here everyday is kinda getting to me. it's not good considering i'm prone to serious bouts of depression. but each day i wake up to something new happening in my flat. i've got two egytian roomies living here now and they are as dumb and filthy as dried up dog shit. somewhat like dumb and dumber. and i'm not being mean... it's just true. their named mohammed and mohammed. (i really wonder how the arabs choose a name for their child... "uhh, when we have a boy... what will we name him? i know... what about - mohammed! just like me and my father and grandfather, uncle, our neighbor, the grocery guy, falafel vendor, teacher, carpenter, doctor, lawyer, indian cheif!") in less than a month these fuckin' geniuses have managed to wreck the washing machine. the floor is always littered with crap and the dinning table has their growing collection of empty plastic water bottles. i am in OC hell!

Then at work my partner is a morocan named tareq. he'd be ok except for a few quirks.

he's loud, lazy and his freakin' feet smell to the high heavens! they reek! it fills up the whole fuckin' room! and he can't stand the a/c cranked-up so we have to keep it at an uncomfortable temp. imagine eating lunch while sweating and getting a whiff of his feet. man, sometimes i just wish he'd step barefoot in shit... i might be able to stand it more.

Some of the filipino colleagues aren't that much of a joy either. i really can't stand the social divide. these people are your typical trash that started earning a decent pay and now they think they have class. unfortunately shit is still shit... even behind the wheel of an ambulance. 'nuf said.

i hate traveling alone. anyone who knows me knows i don't like being alone even in a mall. what i hate more is packing... alone. i find it such a chore. my packing method involves propping up an open suitcase against my open cabinet and pulling everything down into my bag. then trying to zip it up. i think it's a great way to pack! too bad the airlines don't agree with me.

so now, after another year in doha, i'm finally heading home to manila for my vacation. ron drove me to the airport and was helping me unload my luggage outside the terminal when a nepalese porter (sherpa? maybe?!) appraoched us and loaded my suitcase and a big box onto the airport trolley. ron says i got to tip him something... and i do. then in the terminal they charge me for the sherpa! i mean porter service. shit!

"the flight
was uneventful
for the
first few hours.
then it happened..."

the flight was uneventful for the first few hours. then it happened... it started with slight turbulence... i could barely feel it. then it got moderately stronger but i wasn't worried... i've flown small planes before and that can get really rough. so i just sat back in my ailse seat enjoying the movie on my small monitor. then i felt it... something different. something i hate more than being alone or packing. something i feared more than anything else. this can't happen! not now! not in the plane! but i knew there was no escaping it. it's gonna happen here and now! i'll just have to grit my teeth and bear it. i will have to take a dump in the plane's lavatory! for crying the fuck out loud! and to make things more exciting - the turbulence! it really kicked in now! damn! and just while i'm bouncing up and down on the bowl pressing my hands on the walls with my arms stretched out (much like samson pushing the stone pillars...) the "return to your seat" sign just went on! what?! now?! they want me to go back now and buckle up?! at this point i had noticed something i've never given a thought to before... there's no fuckin' seatbelt for the throne!

date: 13 mar '08
time: 2:00am
responding from: alpha 1 location, umm salal police station
responding to: al khisa area
dispatcher: "alpha 1 you have a priority 1 call... proceed to al khisa area... coming from duhail bridge
                  going to al khisa petrol station on shamal road... rta... "

i'm flying home to manila for vacation on the 30th. unfortunately i still had one more duty on the 31st. i had to changed shift with ricky from team b so he could cover mine. i had been with his partner before... an easy guy to work with. the night was cool and quiet. while monitoring the radio we could hear the other units pretty busy with calls. i have to admit... i was getting impatient.

then it came... the call... an rta... we jump to our feet and run to the ambulance. i'm on the radio responding to dispatch even before i fire up the ambulance. we got there under the 8 minute response time. the scene was already secured by the police. we jump out pulling our gloves on and i reported10-10, on scene. medic 18 pulls in quickly. water just continously poured from a burst pipe in the middle of the expressway... inundating that area. we suspect that is the cause of the accident. there are two victims ejected from a small suv which rolled over and landed on the wide and muddy shoulder. in no time we got our stretcher out laden with all the gear. we run to the vic nearest us while medic 18 attended to the other. our patient was in a fetal position covered with blood and mud. my partner sees the brain out and says there is nothing we can do for him... he holds the head and slowly turns it upright... brain matter comes out of his mouth. i'm on the radio immediately informing control of the brain-out vic. the other patient is in serious condition... we help medic 18 immobilize him and load him into their rig. my partner jumps in to help them. medic 10 arrives on the scene at this time. three units are now on-scene... sierra 7 is nowhere in sight. up to this point in time i am the scene commander until sierra 7 arrives. medic 10 looks over the dead body now covered with a sheet. they will most likely take this one to the trauma room for the doctor to pronounce him.

finally sierra 7 arrives... he takes over the scene. we strap in the deceased patient and load him. but to my suprise sierra 7 instructs us to put the stretcher in my rig! i tell him i'm alone, i have no partner. he says that it's ok... patient is dead and it's now just a transport case. at 3:15am on a dark road with a dead body in the back of my ambulance!? it's not ok! but it's useless to argue. so now i'm 10-20 to a&e with a body. i keep looking at my rearview mirror just to make sure the bodybag is not moving. i got an uneasy feeling in my gut.

the other day while kickin' it at ron & mike's flat raul was talking about his father's condition and, eventually, being checked-in the ICU. you could tell he was worried. you could read it on his face. i sympathize with him... we all do. at the same time we don't really want to talk much about it. we don't want to think of our own situation. although for a brief moment it crossed our minds... family back home. we worry everyday about them. i myself told them not to inform me of any bad news. i know i won't be able to take it. i wonder how raul is holding out.

the next day came the heavy news. raul's dad has past away. we all felt bad for him. he now had to fly home earlier than planned. he had to rush filing all his papers. the supervisors at work were kind enough to lend a hand. meanwhile the tango boys took up a collection. in the ems we try to take care of our own. i'm always happy to pitch in for someone in that situation. i know it must be hard. a little bit from everyone really helps alot. but it's different when it's close to you... when it's one of "your own". raul stayed strong while he was here. at least in front of us. i don't know how he did it. i guess he's a better man than many of us. i admire him for that.