General

Steering Pump Problem

By Jay Lagare on Thursday, September 16, 2010

The car’s power steering pump has been making groaning sounds for a few months already. Also the steering wheel would occasionally become harder to turn. Both were signs that the power steering pump was about to give up. And last Tuesday, night, as Michelle was parking the car, it started making a clatter. Steering was still functioning but the noise was unnerving so I decided to drive the car to Fusion R the next day.

Once I got there, we popped the hood, and the mechanic confirmed that the power steering pump was making the noise and must be replaced. Since the car was in for repairs anyway, I requested for a host of other things : change oil, change oil filter, change spark plug oil seals, change valve cover seal, change crankshaft oil seal, throttle body cleaning, idle motor cleaning, and tightening of belts.

It took till the next day because they had to remove the power steering pump and use it as a sample for matching with an appropriate replacement. It was a hit-and-miss affair: the first candidate had a faulty pulley and the second candidate wasn’t an exact fit. But, as they say, third time’s a charm, and they finally got it right.

When I got the car back, there was no more noise, steering was working perfectly, and there were no rpm dropping problems. Fusion R has worked their magic again!

(Car repairs by Fusion R, E. Rodriguez, Q.C. Call them at +632-724-3921 or +63922-853-2700 and ask for Jona)

General

Starting A Business

By Jay Lagare on Monday, September 13, 2010

I’ve always been interested about starting my own business. But for lack of certain things, it’s more daydreaming ;) than a real intent at this point. But out of curiosity, I’ve been trying to look for the procedure for starting a business. I’ve asked a few friends, read some articles, and today I stumbled on Doing Business which has, among other things, a ranking of the ease of doing business in various countries. The Philippines ranks a dismal 144 in the list of 183 countries!!!

The difference between the procedures to start at business in the Philippines and starting one in Singapore, which ranks 1, is telling. No wonder comparatively few attempt to start a business here and even fewer succeed. But I guess there’s a wicked Darwinian mechanism in place here: if you are persistent, determined, and I guess lucky enough to get through all the red tape then you have an excellent chance at succeeding with your business. That’s the government working for you!

General

Another Bus Tragedy

By Jay Lagare on Wednesday, September 1, 2010

It’s not just inter-island ferries that are sinking, buses are constantly crashing, too. Such is the sad state of transportation in this country. And whenever these happen, the government would say that this ship, this bus, doesn’t have a license to operate like it is the cause of the tragedy, like it would absolve them of the blame. It actually raises the question why they were allowed to operate at all? Where was the government before the tragedy?

General

Army of Two

By Jay Lagare on Monday, August 30, 2010

James and I finished Army of Two today. It is a co-op action game about adventures of two mercenaries or private military contractors (PMC) as they prefer to be called, across several years. During this time, they go from being idealistic green soldiers, to gung-ho PMCs, to outlaws who must clear their names.

General

Major Major Disaster

By Jay Lagare on Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Notwithstanding Venus Raj’s making the top 5 in the Miss Universe pageant, we have, to borrow from our almost Miss Universe, a major major disaster for the country. Yesterday, a bemedalled cop who was dismissed from service took a bus full of HK tourists hostage. Incompetent crisis management, incompetent hostage negotiation, and an agonizingly slow-motion rescue led to a tragic conclusion: several hostages dead, numerous others injured, some critically.

Repercussions were immediate: the HK government issued a travel alert telling their citizens NOT to go to the country and for those citizens already in the country to either leave or take precautions. For sure, other countries will follow suit. And even if they don’t, a lot of travel plans are definitely going to change. That’s not good for tourism and foreign investments. The decline in stocks today can partly be attributed to this.