It's all about the money, money. money

Recently I have been facing a lot of money issues and I have to admit, I am not a good financial planner.
I spent every single cent I earn and was nearly broke at the end of the month. I started working in May this year and have been ticking off a few items from my wish list. My Bobbi Brown foundation, Laneige eye cream, Long Champ bag, my cravings for Sushi Tei and Starbucks... I've been spending a lot and recently I've just signed up for a Fitness package.

As I work in a mall, my usual meals are Manhattan Fish Market, Ichiban Sushi, Ajisen Ramen, Fish n Co, Lerk Thai and lots of other restaurants. Plus my coffee addiction has made me a loyal customer of Toast Box. Occasionally I'll go to the food court but even food in certain food court is expensive.

Of course I did realise that I should save for a rainy day, so last Saturday morning (while it was still raining), I went to POSB to open an additional account for savings purposes only. I told the teller not to issue me the atm card or any debit cards with this account.

Ok now the not-so-good part, I signed up for 2 credit cards, 1 of them is for paying the monthly fitness package installment. Money in, money out, but more money in than out I hope. So far, I have only saved about 1 month's pay after working for 5 months... TT

FRUSTRATING (Thank God for creating blogs!)

I really feel useless when I think back on what I have done in the last 2 months.

1. This morning, went to work 1.5 hours earlier than usual to daze for half an hour and help people identify their gender and fill up their date of birth for the next 3 hours.

2. Tomorrow morning, suppose to go for a 4 hour service campaign at 7.45 am and work till 10pm in my store. That is about 14 hours of work (without OT pay or whatsoever). I think we will be singing the DIGI's "i will follow you" song  with all the hand movements (i feel like i'm in kindy again, not as the teacher, but the student)

3. For the last 2 months, I have been doing the job of a dispenser...talk about moving out from the role of a mere dispenser, in the retail sector, its bs.

Scenario A: Dispensing based on color.
CUSTOMER (not PATIENT): Gimme yellow tablet for flu, green tablet for stomach and the purple color cough syrup.
ME: (Pick, pick, pick and pass to customer) Cashier over there (point to cashier).

Scenario B: Dispensing based on price .
CUSTOMER: I want the 8.95 cream for footrot and the 2.70 cream for itch.
ME: May I check who is using these medications?
CUSTOMER: Use before, just want to spare.

Scenario C: Dispensing based on customer's finger's angle.
CUSTOMER: (Point) This one one, that one one, that one two.
ME: one one?? one one?? one two?? WHAT?

4. If i go on, i think i wont be able to sleep tonight....One word sums it all up, FRUSTRATED!

Headache again...

After having a massive headache 2 weeks ago, I have headache again! I seriously think this is getting more and more serious. I used to get relief after popping some panadol and rest, but now, after taking strong NSAIDs, my headache still persist. Maybe that's because I can't really rest, or in other words, I don't get to rest.

Last Saturday, the sky was blue, I went to work. It was suppose to be 12 hours of work (pls don't ask why I have to work 12 hours on a Saturday). In the morning, I was feeling great. But when it was about 12 noon, I start to feel heavy in my head, and even in my jaw. I tried to continue working, took a cup of coffee just in case its due to caffeine withdrawal, and just "tahan" and hopefully I can bear it till 10pm. But the pain became worse so I had to leave to see a doctor.

After I visited the clinic, popped Anarex, went home and my boss called me. This was how it went:

B: I heard you took MC. Why did u take MC?
C: Because I have headache.
B: Why you always have headache on Saturdays? (Is he accusing me of faking headaches?)
C: (How the hell would I know?) ... I dunno...
B: Do you think it is a great concern?
C: Umm... for my health, yes...
B: No! For work!!!
C: I am having a headache now. I need to rest. Can we discuss later?
B: Do you think this is a great concern?? No organisation can...
C: Sorry, I am really having a headache and I need to rest. The doctor says I need to rest. Can we discuss this later?
B: Okay, but i want you to think about it.
(My boss was talking so loudly and the background noise was so loud and I was having headache. I think that phone call just exacerbated everything)

If you are my boss, will you call me, right after knowing that I am taking MC to talk about how this is affecting my work? Do you think that it is the right time to talk when your employee is having a headache? Seriously?!

After the phone call, I couldn't really sleep tough the Anarex was making me drowsy. I could only hear his words repeating in my head. Took me an hour before I could fall asleep. After I woke up, headache still there, but the worst thing is, I was vomiting!

Whatever I ate for lunch came right out! I took some anti-emetics to stop the vomiting, but the medicine and water came out right after. In the evening, even my Milo and my gastric juice came out! The vomiting was massive. I should've collected the vomitus in a plastic bag and send it to my boss to prove that I AM NOT PRETENDING TO BE SICK!  Who likes to be sick?

SO, till today, I am still sick. Yesterday I had a hoarse voice, but I still went to work knowing it will only get worse. But I am afraid if I take MC again, my boss will shout at me! So I went to work with a sexy voice, force myself to talk to the patients...spreading my virus as I talk....and voila! I totally lost my voice today and MY THROAT FREAKING ACHES! EVEN DRINKING WATER HURTS! HOW CAN I GET BETTER IF ALL I DO IS WORK WORK WORK!  My roster for this week is Mon 10-10, Tues 10-10, Wed 10-10.....Am I a robot?

Anyways I'm glad I can just type and not talk. Giving silent treatment to myself =)

Headache...

Yesterday, which was a saturday, I was suppose to be working at Clementi Mall from 10am till 10pm. It so happened that for the whole week, I have been working either 11 hours a day or 12, so I woke up with a bad headache. I thought washing up may clear my head a bit and the headache will go off. However, seems like this time, it's pretty bad and I really had to take an MC. 

So, I called my boss and told him that I am having a headache and I couldn't work. As usual, the first word which came out was " Har?? Can you tahan?" instead of "Oh dear, I hope you'll get well soon". Being a pharmacist, we will always advise our patients with headache to have a good rest and not to work. But in this case, I was asked if I can just bear with it and go to work, yes its a full shift of 12 hours! 

So, I had to insist that I couldn't do it cos it'll be harmful to my patients if I were to continue giving out medicines though I am not well. This is so unethical, not acting in the best interest of our patients. 

So I took a tablet of Synflex, which is suppose to last for 8 hours. The pain was still there, just slight relief. 6 hours later, I took 2 more Ponstan (donated by my housemate, Pik Wei) and the pain was still there. It was about 3 in the afternoon and I had to crawl to the clinic before it closes at 4, cos it's a Saturday. 

Braving the heat of the day (instead of staying in bed), I walked to the MRT station under the sun, of course my headache worsen, and took the train to Yew Tee which was 2 stops away. That's the nearest board doctor from my place. The reason why I had to go to the doctor wasn't for consultation and medicine. I can diagnose myself and I have all the meds I need. BUT! I was there to get an MC. Ridiculous right? I only went in to the Dr's room, told him I was having headache, no relief from Synflex and Ponstan, and he took my BP and I got out. All in less than 2 minutes. Btw, he gave me Anarex. Then I had to go home, yes under the sun again, and finally I could rest. 

I remember my boss saying I always take MC on a weekend (cos there are fewer pharmacists working) but when I checked, this is only the 2nd time... Its really sad as a health care professional, we are the most unhealthy people. Long working hours, irregular eating time (eg lunch at 3pm), and the worst is when we're busy, we just have to ignore any "nature calls" and keep the urine and shit in our body. Damn unhealthy. Though we ask our patients to get lots of rest, we ourselves are denied of rest. 

I'm really hoping with fingers crossed that the situation will get better in the NEAR FUTURE when we have more pharmacists. Btw, I did not plan for a headache. I'm really sorry towards my company who hired a weak person like me. And oops, I'll be taking another 1 or 2 weeks of MC for my wisdom teeth surgery!

Good News?!

Good news No.1
Causeway Point's XXX Pharmacy is opening today! and I'llbe working there tomorrow onwards! Finally there's a place to call my own, after travelling around the whole east area for 2 months. I will really love to settle down in a place and build my career.

Good News No.2
Recently I've just gotten a gentleman to pledge to quit smoking. It is really tough to shake off an addiction but somehow I knew he can do it because he was very determined. So I will be calling him weekly to check on how he is doing. You may be asking how is this a good news? Of course it is, helping someone quit is like saving his life from all the health hazards smoking impose on the smoker and everyone around him.

Good News No. 3
I'll be watching Lion King the Musical! This is the awesomest thing on my calendar for July. Really can't wait for it. Unfortunately I'm scheduled to work on that Sunday so I'm trying to work out some arrangements with my roster master.

Good News No. 4
I will be getting 2 of my wisdom teeth removed. Ok, this is not a good news but the nice part is the 2 weeks of MC which comes with it. Simply awesome. I think I will look horrible, with swollen gums and cheeks, and the worst thing is the PAIN! I'm just gonna maximise my painkiller regimen. Arcoxia plus tramadol plus paracetamol. Will I get intoxicated? I think I'll weigh 3kg less after the whole thing and another good thing is that I'm another step closer to getting my braces done.

After all these good news, there is a not so good news I wanna share. My uncle left this world on the 17th of this month. He had been very gracious to my family and I hope he will meet my aunty in heaven.

Retail pharmacist, anyone?!

After starting my job as an official community pharmacist, I haven't found the time to blog about it. Since I'm super free in my little counter now, instead of sitting on my little stool reading others' blogs, I might as well give a quick update on some of the things I discovered after being a pharmacist.

1. "Community pharmacist" is just a fancier term for "retail pharmacist" in my case. People do come to me for advice on makeup products and wet wipes. So far, I have yet to receive enquiries on diapers and nail polish.

2. Besides being a "promoter", I am also a telephone operator. I think I receive enquiries on prices and availability of promotional items (especially diapers and infant milk formulas). Often times, there will be phone calls looking specifically for the pharmacist, asking if we sell "a very good cream/supplement from Thailand" or "the skin supplement from Australia". How would I know which product it is if the description is so vague? If I couldn't answer them, I will get comments like " ARE YOU SURE YOU ARE THE PHARMACIST?!"

3. After picking up items they wanna purchase, my customers will put in on my counter and ask "How much?!" or "Can pay Nets ah?". " Please pay at the cashier right next to the entrance", I would say. "Here not cashier meh? You not cashier ah?". Firstly, do cashiers wear white coats? Do I look like a cashier? I am always amazed why people can't differentiate pharmacists from cashiers.

4. Patient:" Are you the pharmacist?"
Should I say yes or no. "No, I'm not a pharmist, I'm a pharmacist" or "Yes, but actually I should be referred to as a farmer?"

5. I meet very interesting people everyday. Its a challenging job, when its not quiet. There are people who will repeat the same straight-forward question for N times though I have clearly answered them. There are those who make my blocked nose clear just by standing in front of me. There are people who are amused when I tell them that I can't understand chinese very well.

There was this time, an aunty told me that we are in an era where it is important to be bilingual. I am bilingual, Malay and English.

6. Sometimes I am the information counter. People will purposely walk in, and up to my DISPENSARY to ask for the location of and the direction to the nearest specific bank, atm, public phone booth, etc. It is very frustrating when they ask me for the lot number. WHO THE HELL KNOWS THE LOT NUMBER?

7. The most ridiculous question I've got, "Where's the cigarette?...Cigarette...cigarette".

8. Other ridiculous questions:
Whats the difference? (clarinase once a day vs twice a day, TGC Glucosamine normal vs high strength)
Whats THE BEST product for condition xxx. If there is a best product, I think we don't have to sell other products. Just THE painkiller, THE flu medicine, THE cream, THE lozenge)
Do you sell top up cards for Singtel? M1? Starhub? IDD cards? Phone cards?
Can you sell it to me at a cheaper price? Maybe 7 dollars? (the prices are computerized)

9. Seems like some parents don't really care if their infants die from toxicity. There was this time when an INDIAN lady came to ask for medicine for her few months old baby. When I told her that she shouldn't self treat for 2 years and below, she said "then assume she is 2 years old"! WTF? This kind of mothers? Seriously?

10. My best-sellers: The small yellow flu tablet (which a lot of people are using as a sleeping aid), Zyrtec range, and anti-fungal creams (especially Bangla customers).

11. Medications/products pronounced wrongly or hilariously (correct spelling in brackets). Zaitek (Zyrtec), chlorophyll-amine (chlorpheniramine), eye remover (eye make-up remover), ear remover (ear-wax remover), Glucopak-exclusive to Indonesians (Glucophage), etc.

12. "Can I have Difflam for the flam (phlegm)?" "Uh sir, Difflam is for sore throat, not for phlegm"

13. I noticed that PRCs have difiiculties in understanding what I mean when I say that certain medications need prescription. Eg, antibiotics, VIAGRA (the most wanted), strong steroids cream. And a lot of Singaporeans thinhk that they can continuously buy their medicine for their whole life using ONE PIECE of prescription. C'mon. How can you see the doctor once and get VIAGRA (yes, the notorious V again) for life?

14. Since we're talking about Viagra, I've also noticed that men who needs sexual enhancement medications are more vague when giving information and more violent if you tell them to get a prescription or if there's no stocks. Desperates house-husbands?


Thats all for now. In the next post, I'll be giving more positive comments on being a community pharmacist. And more interesting stories to come!

What happened when I was having my 1 month break?

1. Worked in a kindergarten as an assistant for 2 full weeks with the most challenging kids I've ever met. There was Eizlan and his partner-in-crime, Elijah, and Vasan, the boy who dances WG's Nobody like an Indian dance, and lots of chatterboxes (mostly boys).

2. Visited Haad Yai. Did some shopping and had Mcdonalds there as the local food was just so so. Maybe the other hawkers were affected by the flood so there was really very little road side food. Bought 2 shirts, 1 dress and 1 bag. I think that was all for me.

3. Went cheng beng with mom in Jawi, Kedah then head over to grandma's place in Bukit Mertajam.

4. Went to KL to visit an uncle who just had bypass and some other surgeries. Hope he is recovering well. We were lost in KL due to the "fake" GPS on my phone. Should've gotten a real GPS machine.

5. Had a short vacation in Langkawi. Chocolates! I did not engage in any water sports (unless you count an attempt to swim as one of them....was attaced by jellyfish b4 the water could even reach my butt). The jellyfish only attacked me and my mom....while there were many other people swimming nearby.....UNFAIR! Bought lots of chocolates but mostly to be shared with others....Had great seafood there too.

6. Went for supper in Bukit Mertajam (the furthest I've went for supper in my whole life)....It was about an hour journey to this shop which sells Curry Mee and some side dishes. The stingray was good. Curry mee was just okay. We went to have Tom Yam Broth after that....oh the FROG! It was so good.

7. Watched RIO with mom, Yin Hooi and Jess. It was really funny and we laughed a lot, or rather, the whole cinema laughed a lot. I really like the feeling when everyone's laughing so loud...no one can hear that I actually laughed so unwomanly =)

Tomorrow, 1st of May, I'll be starting work in a drugstore. My first location, in Orchard! and subsequently at CCK. I'll be doing a stock take on my first week of work, so I don't know if I can be as calm as now.