The trailer of the latest extension of probably the longest running car movie franchise has been aired on Super Bowl… and online. Another dose of high octane car action and, of course, Gal Gadot!
Samsung LCD TV Repairs
Around two weeks ago, the display of the TV started becoming washed out and eventually became negative. I did some research and learned it could be the expensive inverter board. I called Samsung service and they scheduled a visit. They diagnosed the problem as the timing control (TCON) board. That was a huge relief to me. But the board still had to be ordered so they scheduled another visit. Today, the technician arrived with a new board and quickly installed it. Voila, TV fixed. And Jeanne was glad she finally got her big screen back and not settling on the 7.9″ iPad mini. Sometimes bigger is better.
LTE Day
Today, iOS 6.1 was released. Aside from a bunch of hoohum fixes, it brought along the activation of Long Term Evolution (LTE). I truly hope Smart and Globe would simply just bump up everyone’s data connection up to LTE if you have a data plan and a compatible devices. Globe has indicated that it will do so. But Smart so far has only offered it free till March 30.
UPDATE: Smart will be offering it as an add-on (with corresponding add-on charges) to existing data plan subscribers. Sad sad sad.
Useless Gun Ban
In a span of two days robbers staged a jewelry heist at a mall and a businessman was shot dead after withdrawing money from a bank. A few days before a mayor was shot dead. This during a gun ban in preparation for the election period. Supposedly this was put in place to lower the incidence of election-related crimes (including extra-legal “fund-raising” activities by nefarious politicians). Unfortunately, only law abiding citizens follow the gun ban. For criminals, it’s business as usual. Or, it seems, better than usual.
Excitement at Mega Mall
Last night, Michelle, Jeanne, and I were having dinner at Gumbo, SM Mega Mall, when I heard what sounded like falling water or breaking sheet glass, I looked and saw people running, stopping, then looking back at the source of the sound, then running again. I figured there was some huge pipe leak or someone going amok or even a pet gone wild. We stayed on our seats but I watched out just in case the situation gets worse.
Then more people passed by running and I heard the word “shootout”. Michelle grabbed our stuff and we quickly moved back deeper into the restaurant along with the other diners. Images of Newtown in my head, I stayed close to the entry hall to block entry and looked for something to use as a weapon just in case the shit hits the fan. I don’t have even just a folder and all I could see was this huge rolling pin on the kitchen counter. Yeah, funny now when I think about it. Someone grabbed a fire extinguisher.
After quite a while, things sort of quieted down so I sat down. The manager asked us if we still want our order. I asked how things are going and he said it’s still ongoing. After some thought, we decided to just stay and eat. We had oysters and jambalaya. Either we didn’t have the appetite or the cooks we’re cooking under stress or it was really the food. Whatever the case, it didn’t taste good.
After eating, paying and a few more minutes of waiting, the manager informed us tentatively that it’s clear and that they were closing shop. We and the other customers filed out of the store and out a nearby fire exit.
Outside, we saw a spectating crowd. We moved away as fast as possible, a panicked stampeding crowd is often more deadly than the cause of the panic, and headed to the parking. Good thing we were parked outside. We quickly got in the car and drove home.
Back home, we learned that robbers had struck at the jewelry section of the department store, fired a few shots to start a panic, and escaped along with the running crowd. It had been all over in the first few minutes.