Skyway scare

This morning I had a minor scare while driving along the Skyway. A loud bang emanated from underneath Aibo. Afterwards I had noticed every time I braked, I heard and felt something wiggle on the left front.

Pulling over at Makati Medical Center, I tried changing wheels and used my spare. The problem didn't go away, however. Dropping off Mav at her office, I drove to Pitworkz Hongly in Sucat.

There the problem became apparent. The lower control arm that I had them replace last Saturday wasn't as securely bolted on as it should have been, and had come loose. A once-over with an impact wrench later and it was back to normal. Without any trailing cars, I sped up and braked hard a few times along Sucat Road, and Aibo's surefooted braking stability was back.

Whew. I'm just grateful nothing worse happened.

Windows of opportunity

Apologies for not updating as often as I should. PLDT has basically given me the shoddiest DSL ever and it's become nigh-impossible to catch it working at home.

I am in a fascinating time. There are so many opportunities and activities opening up for me that I can't help but get excited at all the potential I'm smelling.

For three weeks now Mav and I have been jogging at Bonifacio High Street. We basically thought of turning to running as a way of keeping ourselves fit and maybe lose some weight, but so far we've been enjoying ourselves pounding away at the hard-packed concrete sidewalks. Mav is steadily getting better as she gets used to the demands of jogging.

Team Flat Out also invited me to Don Pastor's plan of making what they call a "gentlemen's racing series" - basically an open wheel-to-wheel racing class for daily driven cars and amateur drivers who have no racing licenses. If you can imagine what Keiichi Tsuchiya and his fellow race-driver co-hosts do on every episode of "Best Motoring" around Tsukuba Circuit, I reckon you wouldn't be far off.

Also when I try figuring out what I want to do with my life, it seems everything points to the direction of cars. Summit Media, that publishing giant with its offices just three floors down from mine, had a number of job vacancies, and Mav encouraged me to send in my application. Sadly there was no opening for "Top Gear Philippines" but maybe I could start elsewhere with that dream of being an automotive journalist in mind.

My only reservations revolve around leaving my comfort zone, I suppose. For better or worse I've adapted to my current situation pretty well, and there's a part of me that's fearful of leaving something that's already pretty secure. Then again I seem to have hit a wall and have stopped growing...perhaps because I've grown tired of my daily work grind.

So many opportunities, yet so many insecurities as well. It's an exciting time to be alive.

Fire sobers us all

No matter what sort of bullshit I encounter every day, certain sobering events come along to make me realize just how much of a lucky bastard I really am.

Today marks the week after my friend Paolo Jaucian's house in Pasay burned down. It started at 4 am last Friday morning. The blaze had started from an electrical fault in an adjoining house's wiring, setting the wooden house on fire and sparking an inferno that spread to six other houses. Six hours later, Jenny, Joel, Chielou and I were awestruck when PJ called us up at the office with the news. Apparently he and his pregnant wife Jasmine made it out okay, although they failed to salvage anything from their burnt home except important paperwork and clothes.

Without any further contact with PJ (his cellphone melted in the blaze), Chielou and I worried about him. The blaze happened at just about the worst time imaginable: PJ was restoring the house, Jasmine was pregnant, and they had a lot of bills to pay from their marriage last year.

Our hopes came back when PJ came back to the office yesterday afternoon, albeit in a shirt, denim jeans and slippers. He came to secure his share of fire contribution and settle a few things. Work in our cube literally stopped for 45 minutes as we all gathered around to welcome him and ask about the event.

It turns out PJ's house was an unnecessary casualty. Infuriatingly, the city firemen stationed nearby refused to put out the blazes as they ate at all adjoining property for almost two hours. Only the Chinese-Filipino volunteer firefighters, straight from relatively faraway Binondo, put in the effort to quell the fire. The city firemen did not raise a finger until the media came along to film the blazes! Had they sprung into action faster, PJ would most likely still have his house. What incredible bullshit! Only in the Philippines, folks...

Still, PJ was lucky he did not share the same fate of the father and his son who went back into the flames...and never came out alive. Their lives and bodies got snuffed out, leaving a horrid smell that only the overeager looters seem to be able to withstand.

PJ thanked me for visiting and surveying the damage the night after the fire. Me? I'm just thankful my good friend is still alive and well.

HCP: Do I know you?

Lately I'm beginning to regret ever having returned to Honda Club of the Philippines.

Or should I refer to them as the Honda CULT of the Philippines?

Well whatever. When a club is made out of people who are so easily indoctrinated into thinking whatever Honda makes is automatically the best ever, that's kind of scary. While I like Honda as a brand, I'll be the first to admit not everything associated with them is automatically great. I get the feeling that if I speak out against Honda or its cars in any way I'll get hostile responses from the "cult."

In the span of time I was gone, the people in HCP have really changed. It's as if I barely know any of them. I'm currently reviewing if there's any advantage at all in staying active---the only thing that comes to mind are the wonderfully accommodating Audio people.

The insomniac hypochondriac hits rock bottom.

The insomniac hypochondriac hits rock bottom.

Chalk another one up on the "rediscovering sleep" column.

I got myself horrified last Monday when, after lunch in Makati, I gingerly picked up my fork and watched my fingers and right hand tremble and shiver. My hands felt ridiculously weak. Great. Just when I took the day off, this thing had to happen.

The rest of the week I wasn't much better. I even came down with a slight fever and a persistent head cold by the time Thursday rolled along. Whenever I was well, I registered a strangely lower-than-normal body temperature of 36.5 degrees Celsius.

The doctor at work told me the most serious it could be was a thyroid problem. Yikes.

I'm glad that might not be the case, however. I took naps over the weekend and really slept in today, and the right-hand tremors have mostly gone. My regular grip force has returned too.

I was never a fan of sleep, but I can't deny now that I need a lot of it.

Now that's not something you see everyday.

Now that's not something you see everyday.

On my way to work, driving along C5, I was close to passing the Shell gas station when I noticed something odd on the opposite oncoming lane. I saw this white Mitsubishi L300 van teetering on its two left wheels.

Despite my speed and direction, I was around long enough to watch it finally tip over and land on its side. All along, all I could say was a singsong "Oh my God," as I saw the cars behind it hit the brakes before I drove past the whole scene.

I don't even understand how the thing could have tipped over. L300s are underpowered, heavy and slow. My only logical guess is the driver yanked at the steering wheel so hard that instead of straightening it out, it rolled over.

Scary stuff, indeed. Let's leave the unusual Russel Swift driving tactics to...erm, Russel Swift.