on the tribulations of walking

and commuting, i guess..

the car has been suffering from binding front brakes for a few weeks now. brought it to a banawe shop but they eventually threw up their hands and gave up. so i brought it to the much-recommended Kia Pasay auto dealership and service center.

it's been there since Wednesday!!! (it's Saturday evening now)

i'm really regretting sending it there. yeah, arguably they're the best place to have brought the car. but i could've done their speculation for them. they have so far done exactly the same things i was planning to do (check the calipers, replace the brake hoses). granted, i can't actually do those things myself, but i could've found some grease monkey to do them for me.

anyway lalai and i have had to commute to taguig every f*ing day since wednesday. and it's quite a trial, specially when it gets late and we have no choice but pay a "contract" fare to the taxicabs.

i'm never going to bad-mouth that car again! it may be a gas-guzzler, but it's made life so much easier these past two-plus years. and even though it demands repairs on a regular basis, that sure beats paying 10,000 to 20,000 each month to amortize a new car. oh well..

a month at my new job

i've been a month at my new job. and a month without any updates here. new environment has been quite a challenge. i often question what i'm doing there; i'm still grappling with my significantly reduced productivity and "value to the company," which i guess is normal when you're at a new job and just learning the ropes.

but it's a bit different because at my first job, i immediately was able to get to work on something important, of which i could see the immediate value to the company. here, i've been doing mostly R&D-related, speculative work. i'm sure it's (kinda) important too, but my ego has been taking a bit of a beating.

and there's quite a difference between the meetings i used to attend (management committee meetings) and the meetings i attend now. it's a whole different environment.

but this is really how it is. one can't go from management at a smaller company, and still expect to be in management at a new company. much less a larger company. i am considering this a necessary part of my being able to climb the corporate ladder.