November 26. 2009 by admin.

Well, I have now been living in Pi for almost 14 days now and thought I should do a little update.  This will mostly be just a random collection of my thoughts and observations over the last couple of weeks, that I think most of you will find interesting.

When you get into almost 99% of the Taxis here, you will notice that the gasoline tank is empty or extremely close to empty and the light is usually on.  As I noticed this more and more, I began to wonder why the heck these drivers are not more prepared and keep the tank closer to full.  Well, I got my answer…..  Most of the Taxis here actually run on LPG.  There is a tank in the trunk for LPG and the regular gas tank is only used to actually start the engine itself, then the motor will run only on the LPG.  Supposedly, the older Taxis can run on the LPG exclusively, so they don’t have any gasoline in the tank at all!

Most commonly, the Taxi drivers work 24 hour shifts, 3-4 days per week.  They will work for 24 hours straight, with a couple of 1 hour lunch/sleep breaks and then have the next 24 hours off.  Ugh…  The driver will “lease” the vehicle from the Taxi company for the 24 hour period at a cost of about P1,200 and then he also has to fill the LPG tank, which costs another P1,400 or so.  So, just to break even for the night; he needs to make P2,600.  Anything above that is his to keep.  Just to give you an idea, it costs about P200 for me to go from my Apt., to the City which is about 30-45 mins away depending on traffic, etc.  Tips are usually about P10 or P20……So, you can get an idea about how tough it can be for the driver to make the P2,600 back to break even, plus make any type of profit on top of that! 

Last night I went to one of the nicest & largest malls here in Cebu, called SM.  Among other things I needed was a new lock for the front door of my Apt., so I stopped at an ACE Hardware store. In America it’s common for the Landlord to change out the locks when new renters occupy the space.  But here in Pi, where every Peso counts, I was a little concerned about how many years have gone by since the Landlord changed the locks on the door.  So, I picked up the most heavy-duty deadbolt I could find.  It’s got a really cool little feature on it that allows you to “double” lock it from the inside, so even if somebody is outside WITH the key, it will still not open.  Works great for when you’re sleeping at night and you don’t want anybody coming in that isn’t already inside.  It’s a great idea if you must give a key to your landlord and you don’t want him or anybody that gets ahold of your spare key to make a surprise visit in the middle of the night.

Anyway, so during the purchase I quickly recalled that I have none of my DeWalt & Craftsman tools here.  Just a simple tool-kit from China with a couple of screwdrivers and a small hammer made by Mattell or Hasbro I think.  A conversation with the salesperson there proved to me beneficial.  Him and another employee there in the Doors Dept., could come out and install the lock for P600.  That’s about $12.  I figured that’s cheaper then me buying a drill, the bits, etc., etc.  So, later that night after their 10 hour shift, they came out to the Apt. and did a perfect job of installing it.  ACE Hardware does not get a cut of their money or anything.  It is just simply a “side job” that these guys do to help make extra money.  They had no reservations asking for some of the pizza that was sitting on the kitchen table after they were done….lol 

I went to a different mall also earlier last week and got some basic cabinets, etc.  There was no way these items would all fit in a Taxi, so we had to hire a driver there that drives a “MultiCab” (just do a Yahoo Image search to get an idea).  I knew we could load it all up and tie it down for just one trip, but the driver was convinced he would take two trips, thereby doubling his pay, as it cost P300 per delivery trip to the Apt., which was about 20 mins. away.  The salesmen at the store always help you to the parking lot with your items and I told them to load it all up and tie it down well.  The driver wasn’t very pleased with me, but……..I need to save money just as bad as he needs to make money, so……….life goes on.

That’s it for now!  Will post more soon.

JOHN

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November 5. 2009 by admin.

I am in the process of setting up my 1st Blog and I really have no idea what I am doing.  I’m going to keep playing with it and hopefully I will figure it out.

Anyway, I will start it off with this nice little story about my experience at Jiu Jitsu class today.  When I left the house and was driving to the Academy, I knew I was already tired from yesterdays class.  I told myself I would just take it easy today and try not to sweat……lol  But after our usual warm-up and instruction session, Fabio Santos (my Jiu Jitsu Professor) had us do some “Tournament Training”.  It would be 5 minute rounds with 30 seconds rest in between.  We did this for 25 mins. 

I don’t know what it was about today’s class, but it had me all revved up.  So much for not sweating.  I went as hard as I could for the entire session.  Usually, I am one of the gentlest persons to roll with at class and am rarely in a hurry to submit my training partner.  But today was different.  Brown Belts, Purple Belts, Blue Belts, and yes; even White Belts received no mercy today.  My goal with each partner was to finish him as many times as I could in the 5 minute round.  My heart was beating fast and I was pouring out the sweat, but it felt great.

After it was all over, Fabio asked somebody if they had some white tape and I noticed he was holding his finger.  I asked him, “Is your finger broken?”  He replied, “No, but your belt is and I am going to fix it for you”.  He proceeded to install four stripes on my Brown Belt bringing me ever closer to the coveted Black Belt.

A very good day indeed…….and a very welcome promotion before I leave for the Philippines.
 

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