A friend on facebook bought a Ford Escape. I haven’t told them that I bought a Porsche and haven’t used it until now. (Petron’s promo is heaven sent.)
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Shell this time is facing stiff competition as Petron has its own promo that will attract little boys in the backseat and will confuse dads like me on whether to fill up from the one gas station or the other.
Shell has been giving away Ferrari merchandise for years and this year has Ferrari Lego items that will be available only until November 30. Anyone with a P1500 receipt (one-time purchase or accumulated) can claim one of its six (6) Ferrari Lego collectibles or one of three (3) figures. Price range is P140-180 depending on the fuel (or oil product) variant that was availed. I already got the F1 model and has been in the hands of Marcus.
On the other hand, Petron has a cheaper deal. For just P1000 (also one-time purchase or accumulated), anyone can already get scale models of Porsche cars for only P180 each. What makes it more attractive is that their promo runs until January 31, 2013. I won’t be surprised therefore if Shell will either extend theirs or will sooner sell the Ferrari Legos at a marked down price just like what it did with their other Ferrari merchandise years ago.
I already got the Porsche Cayman but has kept it away from my son as I made a deal with him that he should improve on his writing subject or forget about getting another Ferrari or Porsche. (Shhh. It’s 1045 AM and he just woke up. Got to play.)
We have all heard it and will likely continue to hear about it: “We Filipinos are bad drivers…no, we are the worst.” “If you have driven in the Philippines, you can drive anywhere in the world.” These and similar other statements about driving in the Philippines have made us stereotype ourselves and in effect made most of us think that the rest of the world drive in an orderly fashion than we do. But wait, this could not be entirely true at all.
If the author Tom Vanderbilt is to be believed, there a lot others out there who are worse than us and our perennial bad traffic flow – and yes, believe it or not, perceived by many as where traffic laws are fully enforced, the US is included. According to his book Traffic, Why We Drive the Way We Do, bad drivers can be found allover the globe and continue to contribute to road congestion, road rage, and accidents, not to mention stress, just to name a few ill effects of the growing volume of cars and other vehicles that are present at one time in one place.
I got my copy of Tom’s book only after two years since the day I learned about its release and it was only because it was on sale in National Bookstore by half its original price. But sooner I realized that the P300 plus I paid for it is a real steal because the 400-page paperback has a lot more to offer than expected. As I progress from one page to another, it stomps out that know-it-all and I-drive-a-lot-better-than-you premise I have had and which I am sure that other drivers possess as well.
Aside from rich facts about relationship (or lack thereof) of man, machine, and the road, almost each chapter of the book contains information never been made known to common drivers. For example, are you aware that car designers, other than complex mathematical algorithms, also have to deal with factors such human psychology and pop culture to cope up with the growing demand for mobility, thus the need for cars, and its effect to traffic?
“Traffic has become a way of life. The expanding cup holder, which became fully realized standard equipment only in the 1980s, is now the vital enabler of dashboard dining…Fast-food restaurants now clock as much as 70 percent of their sales at drive-through windows…” (page 16)
How would you feel if someone presents to you the idea that road signs invite people to violate it more and that by removing these will improve drivers’ behavior?
“Do traffic signs work, and are they really needed at all? This question has been raised by Hans Monderman…How foolish are we in always telling people how to behave. When you treat people like idiots, they’ll behave like that.” (page 190)
And did you know that our balikbayan relatives could be actually lying every time they smirk in the backseat and follow it up with that famous cliché “walang ganito sa states….”? Why? Because Tom Vanderbilt also exposes the US as having its own share of jaywalkers (Why New Yorkers Jaywalk (and Why they Don’t in Copenhagen: Traffic as Culture); traffic light-beating drivers; and motorcycle riders who shun helmet laws.
Released in 2008, Traffic, Why We Drive the Way We Do, contains vast insights, supported by references and citations, about traffic and therefore makes it a must read book for all of us who continue to wonder what causes bad traffic and if there are indeed solutions to it or if there is none, at least change our own perspective of how we and others drive so that we co-exist better than we do today.
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Mood: 3/10 Honks! (We’ll be in Nuvali later. Driving with or without the low beam.)
The recently concluded F1 race in Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi was one for the books. Supposedly the third man on the grid after qualifying session, the young German driver, Sebastian Vettel, got disqualified and relegated to starting the race from the pits after allegedly failing to finish his run without the required amount of fuel for post-qualifying sample test. Despite this embarrassing snafu, whether by him or his team’s judgment, he charged his way from the back of the pack to reclaiming the 3rd spot in the podium. Just ahead by one spot, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was able to stay consistent as before by driving strategically with the goal of closing the points gap with the German who is also the top contender for the driver’s championship.
Meanwhile, the winner of the race goes to the man who talks slow but drives fast – Kimi Raikkonen. The Finnish who drives for Lotus made history by bringing back pride to the team that has last seen first place victory way back in the late ‘80s. And not surprisingly, the sight of this heartthrob, who by the way returned to F1 just this year after a stint in the world of Rally racing, on topmost spot of the podium has made women screaming his name, and one of which I heard just a sofa apart from where I was seated. Yes, wifey was among his happy fans.
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Another fan who in spite of his young age and probably shallow understanding of what this F1 sport is all about also had a blast last Sunday. Our 4-year old son finally had the chance to get his hands busy in assembling his first F1 Ferrari Lego that we got from Shell. Marcus who has been engrossed since a couple of years ago to building blocks (especially Lego) has been kept occupied by his Duplo set but lately keeps on asking for the much smaller Lego bricks. And so thanks to the timely Shell promo (that will end on my birthday), at least he gets to have his starter kits.
His first F1 Ferrari Lego. Still complete. Sticker intact. For now.
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Mood: 3/10 Honks! (Back to school for Marcus after a 5-day off. Just back to reality for me and wifey.)
My recent weekends have been about trying to stay awake and staying late not to work but to interact with Marcus. I know that wifey at times have been sidelined but maybe this is one stage of marriage life and parenting that cannot be avoided — the kid comes first.
Having a very active kid also guarantees that sooner or later he will outrun his parents’ energy level or patience at the very least. This is the reality that we have to face especially for us who work night shifts, and without any helper, as the time when Marcus gets active is usually when we are just about to get a break or doze off. And this is when it gets stressful.
Lately, however, other than his antics, he has started doing something whenever he senses that we are about to blow our top: he sings ABC. Yes, the alphabet song. We don’t know where he learned that trick but it does make us smile and gives some kind of stress relief. Funny guy.
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Mood: 2/10 Honks! (Exchange of roles. Wifey’s in school with other parents and I’m at home with Marcus. Tomorrow’s UN day.)
Have you ever heard of KGOY or Kids Grow Older Younger? And do you know one of its causes? According to what the NYTimes.com article Why We Should Take Fewer Pictures of Our Children implies, the digital camera is to blame and I can’t help but agree. Shooting photos of kids has escalated from what was once just a fad to a regular sight. We see this almost every day, everywhere, any time: kids striking a pose in front of the camera whether in front of their parents or done on their own. It would have been fine if these are innocent poses but there are already those we see masquerading, unknowingly I hope, sensual or offensive gestures obviously influenced by what they see on TV or in print materials such as the glossy magazines.
Thanks (but not thanks) to the availability and affordability of gadgets, this addiction of kids to the camera in any form, whether through a mobile phone, a point-and-shoot, or an entry-level DSLR, became very irresistible. Plus the lure of social media, such as facebook and Twitter, or photo-sharing applications such Instagram and Flickr have made taking and posting pictures online a must-do activity for both parents and kids.
So is this frequent photoshoot of your kids destructive in the long run? Well, in my opinion, it depends – though for sure it’s annoying to some of your facebook friends if you keep on flooding their timeline especially with not so attractive pictures. For some, it’s one way of relieving the longing of their love ones who are away from them – like lolos and lolas. And for others, it could be another medium of boosting their child’s confidence. But whatever the reasons are, I acknowledge that it is about time we realize that we need to do everything in moderation including exposure of our kids to the camera. Let us make them live the moments without any worries if they appear good in the pictures of not. Let them be just kids, not little wannabee models.
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Our own kid is actually among these little models. I still remember the night when we passed by Roxas Boulevard in Manila and we noticed Marcus, who was just barely 2-year old then, staying still and smiling at every headlight, and even lamp posts, outside our taxi cab. We soon realized that it must be because he thinks these bright lights are camera flashes that he has gotten used to seeing as we have been pointing a camera at him since he was still a small baby. His fascination with these flashes continued until about a few months after that but nowadays it has stopped. He has, however, transitioned to doing the check-chin pose and some other weird facial expressions. Ti abi.
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Mood: 5/10 Honks! (Going to a car dealer to have our car’s headlight checked.)
Drive home this morning was eventful. Firstly, I arrived at the toll area with a truck that has just slammed into the opposite toll gate’s concrete barriers and its driver, who appears drunk or sleepy, still arguing with the authorities as if they’re the ones at fault. Then unknowingly I lined up behind someone who, according to the security guard, picked the wrong exit to enter (have you ever realized that either way, a toll gate is always called an EXIT?) and refuses to move out thus requiring me reverse back to transfer to another gate (I have this habit of not tailgating so I was out real quick) . And as if to share the misfortunes of the others, my headlights conked out while I was waiting my turn to cross an intersection — thankfully, dawn is already breaking that time. Ti abi. Not call center TGIF day.
“…and those who own BMWs.” (I was telling wifey about the three people in this world: the poor, the rich, and the contented when a shiny brand new bimmer passed by. Talk about distraction during a financial discussion.)
Marcus Can Blog 