Hebrew Vowels

     If you’ve ever looked at Biblical Hebrew and wondered how anyone can read it without vowels, you’re not alone.

    Originally, Hebrew was written with only consonants, and the vowel marks we see today (called niqqud) were added centuries later by the Masoretes to preserve pronunciation.

    These tiny dots and dashes hold immense meaning. They show not just how to say a word, but often why a form changes when it enters a construct phrase or loses stress.

    To study Biblical Hebrew well, it helps to know the vowel hierarchy—from the longest and most stable sounds down to the briefest, almost whispered ones.

The Difference Between e.g. and i.e.?

A Simple Guide in understanding the differences between e.g. and i.e.

    The Latin abbreviations e.g. and i.e. are often used in English, but many people confuse their meanings or use them interchangeably. Knowing their proper usage not only improves clarity but also enhances your writing skills. Let’s explore their distinctions.

What Does e.g. Mean?

• e.g. stands for exempli gratia, meaning "for the sake of example."
• Use e.g. when providing examples or possibilities related to a topic.
• Tip: Associate e.g. with "example given" to remember its purpose.

Example:
    "I enjoy outdoor activities (e.g., hiking, cycling, and kayaking)."

What Does i.e. Mean?

• i.e. stands for id est, meaning "that is" or "in other words."
• Use i.e. to clarify, explain, or rephrase a statement.
• Tip: Think of i.e. as equivalent to "in essence."

Example:
    "I enjoy outdoor activities (i.e., anything that keeps me active and in nature)."

Key Usage Tips

1. Placement:

   • e.g. and i.e. can appear inside or outside parentheses. In formal writing, they are typically used within parentheses.
     Example:
   • Formal: "I enjoy tropical fruits (e.g., mangoes, pineapples)."
   • Informal: "I enjoy tropical fruits, e.g., mangoes, pineapples."

2. Format:

   • Always use lowercase letters (e.g., i.e.), even at the start of a sentence.
   • Include periods between the letters and follow the abbreviation with a comma.

    By mastering the difference between e.g. and i.e., you can write with greater precision and make your communication more effective. Next time you want to give examples or clarify a point, choose the right abbreviation and impress your readers!

Differences Between Graduate Nurses and Experienced Nurses

A Graduate Nurse throws up when the patient does.
An experienced nurse calls housekeeping when a patient throws up

A Graduate Nurse wears so many pins on their name badge you can´t read it.
An experienced nurse doesn´t wear a name badge for liability reasons

A Graduate Nurse charts too much.
An experienced nurse doesn´t chart enough.

A Graduate Nurse loves to run to codes.
An experienced nurse makes graduate nurses run to codes.

A Graduate Nurse wants everyone to know they are a nurse.
An experienced nurse doesn´t want anyone to know they are a nurse.

A Graduate Nurse keeps detailed notes on a pad.
An experienced nurse writes on the back of their hand, paper scraps, napkins, etc.

A Graduate Nurse will spend all day trying to reorient a patient.
An experienced nurse will chart the patient is disoriented and restrain them.

A Graduate Nurse can hear a beeping I-med at 50 yards.
An experienced nurse can´t hear any alarms at any distance.

A Graduate Nurse loves to hear abnormal heart and breath sounds.
An experienced nurse doesn´t want to know about them unless the patient is symptomatic.

A Graduate Nurse spends 2 hours giving a patient a bath.
An experienced nurse lets the CNA give the patient a bath.

A Graduate Nurse thinks people respect Nurses.
An experienced nurse knows everybody blames everything on the nurse.

A Graduate Nurse looks for blood on a bandage hoping they will get to change it.
An experienced nurse knows a little blood never hurt anybody.

A Graduate Nurse looks for a chance "to work with the family."
An experienced nurse avoids the family.

A Graduate Nurse expects meds and supplies to be delivered on time.
An experienced nurse expects them to never be delivered at all.

A Graduate Nurse will spend days bladder training an incontinent patient.
An experienced nurse will insert a Foley catheter.

A Graduate Nurse always answers their phone.
An experienced nurse checks their caller ID before answering the phone.

A Graduate Nurse thinks psych patients are interesting.
An experienced nurse thinks psych patients are crazy.

A Graduate Nurse carries reference books in their bag.
An experienced nurse carries magazines, lunch, and some "cough syrup" in their bag.

A Graduate Nurse doesn´t find this funny.
An experienced nurse does.

Brief History of Days of the week...

Some may have said that our week days have been evolved from the Roman Gods. That is partly true we will learn why.
Jewish system of weekly days have been put in place way before the Romans set the standard in around the 4th Century C.E (Common Era) or A.D (Anno Domini). Basically God had place it in order in the time of the creation.

The Jewish daily system starts from dark (evening) and end at dark (evening). This is due to the believe that at first, the world was without form, dark, and void, and God created light during the first day. After the light, the next day starts with darkness and God created water and it ends in the evening again like the first day (read Genesis 1). Jewish daily system, which have been adopted by many languages also are numerical and they are as follow:
1st Day = Yom Ree-Shon
2nd Day = Yom She-Nee
3rd Day = Yom Shelee-She
4th Day = Yom Re-Ve-ee
5th Day = Yom Hah-Mee-Shee
6th Day = Yom Shee-Shee
7th Day = Yom Sha-Bat

The seven days concept of the Hebrews were then adopted by the Arabians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians and later the Greeks. Then numerical concept was transformed into astronomical by the Romans. In the Roman era, Pagans, who worships the sun, moon and the 5 known planets that were named after their gods, made a new names of the days of the week.

Here they are, in Latin:
1st Day = Dies solis - "Day of the sun (Roman god called Sol or Sol Indiges, which counterpart Helios god of Greece whos brother is Selene the moon god)"
2nd Day = Dies lunae - "Day of the moon (Roman's goddess of the moon called Luna, which counterpart Salene, Greeks god of the moon)"
3rd Day = Dies Martis - "Day of Mars (Roman's god of war and agriculture, second to Jupiter and father of Romulus and Remus. Mars counterpart the Greek god Ares)"
4th Day = Dies mercuri - "Day of Mercury (Roman's god of commerce, travel, and thievery. Mercury is a messenger of Jupiter and other gods. His counterpart is Hermes of Greece)"
5th Day = Dies Jovis - "Day of Joves (Roman's supreme god of Jove or Jupiter aka sky god, which counterpart Zeus the supreme god of Greece)"
6th Day = Dies Veneris - "Day of Venus (Roman's goddes of love, beauty, and vegetation, also the daughter of Jupiter counterparts Aphrodite of Greece)"
7th Day = Dies Saturni - "Day of Saturn (Roman's god of agriculture and vegetation, which counterpart Cronus of Greece)"

After the Romans, the Anglo-Saxon came into place. Here they are:
1st Day = Sunnan daeg - "God of the heat and light ball in the sky."
2nd Day = Monan daeg - "Mona - god of the light ball in the night sky, and tide maker."
3rd Day = Tiwes daeg - "Tiw lived on a high mountain and guided warriors who worshipped him. If a warrior died in battle Tiw would come down to Earth with his angels and take the dead warrior to heaven. Tiw's counterpart is Zeus of Greece."
4th Day = Wodens daeg - "Woden's day (King of the gods). Woden was the god that controlled all the other gods. His number-one mission was to gain all knowledge and wisdom. He visited all four corners of the world to gather information. Nothing could be hidden from him. In fact, he even wore out one of his eyes from seeing so much wisdom. To cover the rather messy dead eye, he wore a large floppy hat and compensated for his sightlessness with blackbird on each shoulder. These birds were his extra eyes and could fly off to spy on people, and then report back to Woden. In this way, Woden knew everything that was going on and people had to be very careful how they behaved in case Woden was watching. After all, as king of all gods, he could wreak havoc on dissenters in any way he chose."
5th Day = Thurs daeg - "Thor's day (god of thunder). Thunder was the sign that Thor was angrily throwing his large hammer across the sky."
6th Day = Frige daeg - "Freya's day (goddess of love). Frigg was a kind and beautiful Norse goddess and wife of Odin, the most powerful god. Their job was to oversee everything that happened in the world and Frigg's specialty was love and marriage."
7th Day = Satern daeg - "Seterne's day (god of agriculture). People believed that the god named Saturn controlled the weather and hence the success or failure of crops. Sacrificing a farm animal to Saturni would increase the chances of pleasing the god, resulting in favourable weather and a good crop."

FINALY friends, after wars, conflicts, and "unity", which is a little after 600 C.E or A.D, Old English came to play as the main language in the Northern part of Europe. During the 1100 to about 1500, Middle English was spoken and from 1500 to now Modern English has grown into the greatest spoken language in the world. So after learning the concept of the origins of the days of the week, we have the days in English:
1st Day = Sunday
2nd Day = Monday
3rd Day = Tuesday
4th Day = Wednesday
5th Day = Thursday
6th Day = Friday
7th Day = Saturday

Before conclusion, I forgot to mention one more newest language in the world and is used Internationally. ISO or International Organization for Standardization language especially the ISO-8601 (date and time notation language) was available since 1971 for a numeric representation of information regarding date and the time of day. It is based on the Gregorian calendar and it is used on almost every technology available in the world.

Here's what it has on the 7 days:
1st Day = Sunday = 7
2nd Day = Monday = 1
3rd Day = Tuesday = 2
4th Day = Wednesday = 3
5th Day = Thursday = 4
6th Day = Friday = 5
7th Day = Saturday = 6

So basically when others state that Sunday to Saturday are the days of the Pagan gods, they are right and yes, many will say that the 7th day is not Saturday but Sunday. However, as Christians and Adventists, we strongly believe in the Bible. And because the creation were thought based from the Bible, we do believe that the 7th day is the holy day of rest and yes, Yom Shabat or the "Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath." - Mark 2:27.

I hope learning a little bit of history can expand our mind and thought that this world have been greatly influenced by Satan and his works. Therefore, as Adventist Youths, we need to put on the whole armour of God. Because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world, and against wicked spirits in high places. - Ephesians 6:10-20.

God bless...

Things That Stresses Me Out... According to the most intense...

1. Nursing Program in General

• Clinical hours (ranges from 0500 to 1300)
• Clinical Case Studies / Prep-Sheet
• Clinical regulations et requirements
  
• Clinical instructor et their expectations
• Nursing theories / outlines
• Nursing assignments / projects
  
• Nursing quizes et tests
• Low grade on tests/quizes
  

2. Personal Problems

• Court in Los Angeles, CA on the 28th of October, which is my Clinical day
• Court in Castle Rock, CO on the 3rd of November, which is on my Unit Test day
• Court in Hugo, CO on the 25th of November, which is on my Baby Lab
• CNA certification. I have not yet received my certification even though I've taken and passed the test 2 months ago
• Unable to work. I'm waiting for my CNA certificate to be able to work
• Renewal of Driver License. I need to be reinstated to my insurance company to get my SR-22 to be able to get my driver license.
• Payments for the Insurance
• Payments for the courts' fine

3. Family Problems

• SIGH...

If anyone is reading, please do pray for me.

There, Stood One Lonesome Tree

        There on a hill, stood a one lonesome tree, miles parted from the distant asphalt street. It stood still showing its strength as the breeze blew its branches from left to right, stripped its leaves, leaving a sound of whisper. A whisper of silent words, silent confusion, that were unable to be told. The breeze turned to a cold chilling afternoon wind, which stroked its roots with thousands of needles, leaving it frozen to the unbearable cold winter night.

       There, beside that lonesome tree, I stood in disbelief, seeing bellow the hill, the two of them, running, holding hands, like there was nothing else in the midst of this cruel world. He ran ahead of her, toward the middle of the pasture. Then turned around, opened his arms wide, wanting to have her in his arms. She too ran joyously toward him, with full of emotions that revealed and exposed her true side that she had never shown me before. She let him know that he was everything to her, as she plunged her body in his arms.

       Stood below the hill, they were filled with unmeasured love, ignoring the chilled wind that whispered by. My eyes could not bear seeing the two exchanged saliva under a crescent moon that is covered by the knifes-shaped clouds, hiding the moons luminescent in that cold night. I stood fully shattered, knowing where he and she stood, was once the time when she closed her eyes as I caressed her hair, and kissed her soft lips for the first time. Yes, the same grass, the same ground where she stood, recalled the first time that I uttered the three words… “I love you.”

       That February night, on the hill where I stood, the cold wind felt as if it squeezed every inch of my bone, shattering my mind and soul to small particles of nothingness. That same chilling wind gusts its thousand needles, raid my heart, and tore it into million pieces. As I remained still with no strength left on my hands, I dropped the rose on my right and the box of chocolate on my left hand, letting them plummet to the silent ground. On that same box of chocolate, attached a small valentine card that was written straight from my heart saying, “Even until death do us part, you will forever be my one and only valentine. I will love you… Always.”

       That few minutes of flashback felt and seemed like it was just yesterday. Felt like yesterday that my first love left me on that cold dark night. She left my heart and my soul. She tore my heart, leaving scars of unforgotten memories of the time when she and I spent swapping food from our plate, the time of she and I cuddled under the movie screen, and the time when we gave a quick kiss behind her respected father. Those moments of her and I are scarcely hidden in my mind, she left me like the lonesome tree in the dark cold night.

Written by, Assdhy Frengky Lolowang, based on a poem entitled Life Can End In An Instance, which was also written by Assdhy F. Lolowang. : )

First Football Game

       “Johnny, get over here”! A team captain called. “Stevie, come here”! The other team captain replied as we narrowed down to the last two. “Fine, I take Frankie and you get Jimmy.” Frankie is my nick name and yes, on December 12 of 2001, at sixteen hours of the chilly afternoon, stood twelve people creating two teams of six.

       On television I’ve watched professional football games and understood the basic rules. However, this was not a professional football game, and yet, the football field was not like the field behind my school. The ground has ditches filled with water, and on some shaded area, laid patches of ice from the snow of the night before.

       Once we broke to the different side of the field, one of the players from the opposite team yelled, “Are you ready”?! Some of us acknowledged. A few seconds after, a ball launched toward my direction for the first kickoff of my first football game. In a quick glance forward, I saw six enthusiastic guys ready to consume me alive. So I let the ball bounces while I looked helplessly at my teammate on my right, encouraging him to run with the ball. He looked at me and screamed, “What the heck are you doing! Get the ball”! With fear, I picked up the ball and started running forward. As I run, a few yards in front of me stood a guy twice my size. He grabbed me tight, lift me up on the air, throw me to the ground, and finally he pilled up on top of me with the rest of the players as I hear my bones crackled. With my amazement, the football was on my right hand, firmly in place.

       On offense, I played tight end, receiving the balls, and taking some yards along. On defense, I played the position of safety, running after streak, and slant plays of the trickery wide receiver. I remember catching the first ball as a tight end. I ran so fast on the right side of the shaded field, and being hit so hard causing my right arm to scrape and bled on the patches of ice. On defense, I remember chasing after a receiver, waiting until he caught the ball and hoping to give him my hardest hit. Instead, I found him left me on the dust in the end zone.

       I remember that afternoon when I played my first football game with the big guys. I left the field with blood on my hands, pants, and on my thorn shirt. Yes I left the field with pain and agony, but I sure showed them that in me laid strength of twelve men. In life, I told myself, many problems I will face. However, if I have the strength and the perseverance, nothing can stop me. As long as I keep getting up and running forward to the end zone, to the goal of my life.

Written by, Assdhy F. Lolowang, based on a personal experience.