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.

My baby Maby is well again!

After spending a few days in the renovated Makati Medical Center, Mav is back on her feet and cured of her gastritis. Yay!

There are a few caveats though, the most notable being the short list of foods that she is permitted to eat for the next couple of weeks. Apparently everything else will just screw with her gastrointestinal tract and give her hyperacidity as well.

It's a small price to pay, I guess. At least she's graduated from that liquid diet the doctors first gave her...I know first-hand how fed up she was with plain old rice porridge.

Her illness did make for an interesting "date." I spent my Saturday in her hospital room, tending to her while I relieved her parents as they took the time to go home.

Thanks for your prayers guys! Mav sends her thanks.

Done and dusted

The CSTE exam is over.

True to form, at no point in my review and studying did I ever feel that I would ace the exam. There was always that possibility that I would flunk. It did not help that a fatigue-related headache struck me smack in the middle of the essay portion. No matter. I resist the urge to look at my materials again and look at what the correct answers might have been. What matters is I tried my best.

When I was about to leave, the testing center printed out a certificate thanking me for completing the exam. It said the results would be announced in four weeks. Considering when I took the exam, it's going to be a Christmas present I'd either dread or look forward to.

Glam rock and blues on the road

For this quarter's teambuilding event, my colleagues decided to try something new. Instead of going out to a restaurant to yet again eat our guts out, we tried going out of town to Tagaytay on a Saturday.

We went to hilly Picnic Grove to trek, Leslie's for lunch, Mushroomburger and Sonya's Kitchen to pick up snacks, and then headed to Caleruega's Veritas Hall for our activities. All the while, I had Beng, Paolo C. and Albert to keep me company while Queen, The Darkness and the Pinoy blues bands of "Blueskrieg" rocked out inside my car.

The changing-lanes-and-pop-up-barriers chaos of the SLEX didn't do me any favors, nor did the Sta. Rosa and Carmona traffic, nor the hideously huge rut that caught my poor Jazz out on the Sta. Rosa SLEX entry on the way back home. (Luckily, the damage was mostly cosmetic and concerned nothing vital.)

In the inclement conditions, however, the four of us had a grand time discussing the greatness of Queen, the merits of blues music, and Beng's advice for courting women. None of us fell asleep on the entire trip, even though we made it back 30 minutes after everyone else did.

Many thanks guys. If you decide to tag along on our summer outing I'd be honored to have all of you as my passengers once again.

Thank God for this particular Friday

I awaited with bated breath the result of the test.

I am glad to say I am still as unblemished as I was when I was born.

I realize just how stupid I was last year when I took my chances just to feel good. This is one of those things that sadly cannot be considered safe per se. You can only be safer.

Had it not been for you, I would never have given myself a damn. In times like these, I am so grateful that you are my girl best friend.

Thank you, Den.