My Car ... Glorietta ... and Dumbledore? What a Weekend!
Quick updates ...
My car burned.
Literally.
I just had it fixed for what was supposedly a troublesome radiator fan, picked it up from the garage which has been handling its repairs for years ... drove off to pick up Arlene and then ...
It stopped. Literally, in the middle of a busy street a block or so from Arlene's office (and just across from her former office) ... I shut it down, tried to turn it on ... and security guards from a restaurant and Arlene's office were shouting at me to get out. I stepped out of the car, figuring to ask them to help me push the car - and only then noticed smoke literally coming out from the hood. I had enough time to pull out my knapsack (containing my laptop) and move off ...
The guards tried extinguishing it with their fire extinguishers, but they couldn't ... plus, it took the fire department quite a few minutes to get to the scene since it was on Jupiter street, close to Makati Avenue on a Friday at six p.m. ... which meant heavy traffic in the area.
They were able to put it out, but the car's motor was a total loss.
What was rather surprising is that it was only the front part of the car which burned ... luckily, the flames didn't hit the gas tank or there'd be all hell to pay - especially as, earlier that same afternoon, Glorietta (a major mall located in Makati) had something blow up, killing ten and injuring oer a hundred people.
(Police claim it was a terrorist attack, but I'm holding off on my opinions ... there are other things at play here in the Philippines which may have implications on the 'bombing')
You can imagine what people were thinking ... was this another terrorist attack? And it didn't help to see the 'driver' of the vehicle standing there in a t-shirt and slacks, sandals on his feet, unshaven chin and with a knapsack ... typical Al-Quaeda or JI terrorist, right? Good thing the security guards at my wife's former office all knew me ... there was no problem in 'identifying' me as the innocent driver of the car who was to be pitied more than to cast a suspicious eye on.
But the car's a write off, I think ... the motor's burned, wiring gone, front suspension weakened ... and the radiator's gone. I had to leave the car overnight in the MAPSA impounding lot ... when I showed up Saturday morning with a tow truck, the radiator had apparently been stolen. Of course, the people in the area knew nothing about it ... :rollseyes:
I wanted to post something that night (Friday) but Arlene was leaving for Singapore the following day, so we had to sleep early. I wanted to write about it yesterday but between informing the insurance people, the garage where I had the car repaired, getting the tow truck and hauling it off ... too many things happening.
:sigh:
In other news ...
The Glorietta Bombing
Having your car burn can take your mind off other things ... as I mentioned above, Glorietta shopping mall was bombed, with ten people dead and over a hundred injured. I find myself in a difficult bind ... wanting to *feel* something for those hurt and who lost loved ones in the bombing but I can't. Not only because of the personal impact of the car burning (after all, as a lot of people have told me, I'm still alive, walking - and was able to rescue my laptop. *That* is the most important thing - as I've said before, my laptop is the extension of my brain ... lose it and I may be worse off than an amnesiac because of everything contained in this.
But then again ... thanks to electronic media, someone has been able to articulate my feelings right now.
Patricia Evngelista's column in the Inquirer
And Finally ...
JK Rowling "outs" Dumbledore ...
Ho hum. The fandom has been speculating on that for a long time ... as amanuensis1 points out, Dumbledore-Grindelwald ships have been coming out since DH. But innermurk's comments mirror my own.
Especially this part:
"Books to me have always been more about the perspective that I get outof them, than what other people try to make me see. That is one reasonI've never enjoyed lit classes, because sometimes the symbolism theysay is there, just doesn't impact me that way. And seriously, how couldit? Everyone brings what they have to the table, and sometimes groupstudying is fun for that reason, but when everyone tries to force theothers to their pov, it becomes not fun, but dreadful and intolerantand frankly...boring. That's another reason why I hesitate to see movieadaptations of books, because it's basically the director's perspectiveforced upon me, and then everyone takes them as the absolute authorityin the matter. I'm not looking for an authority to tell me how toperceive my world. I'm looking for a story to perceive my reality.
Withthat knowledge, I'll say this is why I don't like the romance in HP. Isee the bickering, snobbish, childish, one sided relationships allaround me. I don't read to see what I see everyday. I read to see whatI HOPE to see around me. I read to find my ideal reality. So, I don'tsee why I should be licking the boots of the authority and lapping upwhat her perceived ideal is. No thanks."
Of course, I may not have felt exactly that way a few years ago (specifically before HBP and the interview) but time has a way of changing one's perspectives.
Anyway ... back to the music.
My car burned.
Literally.
I just had it fixed for what was supposedly a troublesome radiator fan, picked it up from the garage which has been handling its repairs for years ... drove off to pick up Arlene and then ...
It stopped. Literally, in the middle of a busy street a block or so from Arlene's office (and just across from her former office) ... I shut it down, tried to turn it on ... and security guards from a restaurant and Arlene's office were shouting at me to get out. I stepped out of the car, figuring to ask them to help me push the car - and only then noticed smoke literally coming out from the hood. I had enough time to pull out my knapsack (containing my laptop) and move off ...
The guards tried extinguishing it with their fire extinguishers, but they couldn't ... plus, it took the fire department quite a few minutes to get to the scene since it was on Jupiter street, close to Makati Avenue on a Friday at six p.m. ... which meant heavy traffic in the area.
They were able to put it out, but the car's motor was a total loss.
What was rather surprising is that it was only the front part of the car which burned ... luckily, the flames didn't hit the gas tank or there'd be all hell to pay - especially as, earlier that same afternoon, Glorietta (a major mall located in Makati) had something blow up, killing ten and injuring oer a hundred people.
(Police claim it was a terrorist attack, but I'm holding off on my opinions ... there are other things at play here in the Philippines which may have implications on the 'bombing')
You can imagine what people were thinking ... was this another terrorist attack? And it didn't help to see the 'driver' of the vehicle standing there in a t-shirt and slacks, sandals on his feet, unshaven chin and with a knapsack ... typical Al-Quaeda or JI terrorist, right? Good thing the security guards at my wife's former office all knew me ... there was no problem in 'identifying' me as the innocent driver of the car who was to be pitied more than to cast a suspicious eye on.
But the car's a write off, I think ... the motor's burned, wiring gone, front suspension weakened ... and the radiator's gone. I had to leave the car overnight in the MAPSA impounding lot ... when I showed up Saturday morning with a tow truck, the radiator had apparently been stolen. Of course, the people in the area knew nothing about it ... :rollseyes:
I wanted to post something that night (Friday) but Arlene was leaving for Singapore the following day, so we had to sleep early. I wanted to write about it yesterday but between informing the insurance people, the garage where I had the car repaired, getting the tow truck and hauling it off ... too many things happening.
:sigh:
In other news ...
The Glorietta Bombing
Having your car burn can take your mind off other things ... as I mentioned above, Glorietta shopping mall was bombed, with ten people dead and over a hundred injured. I find myself in a difficult bind ... wanting to *feel* something for those hurt and who lost loved ones in the bombing but I can't. Not only because of the personal impact of the car burning (after all, as a lot of people have told me, I'm still alive, walking - and was able to rescue my laptop. *That* is the most important thing - as I've said before, my laptop is the extension of my brain ... lose it and I may be worse off than an amnesiac because of everything contained in this.
But then again ... thanks to electronic media, someone has been able to articulate my feelings right now.
Patricia Evngelista's column in the Inquirer
And Finally ...
JK Rowling "outs" Dumbledore ...
Ho hum. The fandom has been speculating on that for a long time ... as amanuensis1 points out, Dumbledore-Grindelwald ships have been coming out since DH. But innermurk's comments mirror my own.
Especially this part:
"Books to me have always been more about the perspective that I get outof them, than what other people try to make me see. That is one reasonI've never enjoyed lit classes, because sometimes the symbolism theysay is there, just doesn't impact me that way. And seriously, how couldit? Everyone brings what they have to the table, and sometimes groupstudying is fun for that reason, but when everyone tries to force theothers to their pov, it becomes not fun, but dreadful and intolerantand frankly...boring. That's another reason why I hesitate to see movieadaptations of books, because it's basically the director's perspectiveforced upon me, and then everyone takes them as the absolute authorityin the matter. I'm not looking for an authority to tell me how toperceive my world. I'm looking for a story to perceive my reality.
Withthat knowledge, I'll say this is why I don't like the romance in HP. Isee the bickering, snobbish, childish, one sided relationships allaround me. I don't read to see what I see everyday. I read to see whatI HOPE to see around me. I read to find my ideal reality. So, I don'tsee why I should be licking the boots of the authority and lapping upwhat her perceived ideal is. No thanks."
Of course, I may not have felt exactly that way a few years ago (specifically before HBP and the interview) but time has a way of changing one's perspectives.
Anyway ... back to the music.