The Day Has Come - My Trusty CRV Won't Start

Three or four weeks ago, I have been preparing for this day. To compound it, I did not drive it over the last weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

Yep, this morning I was on my way down to work from home with wife to the MSCP (Multi-Storey Car Park). I parked the car next to the RC column on the driver side. Carrying some foodstuffs intended for my Parents-in-laws from the Hungry Ghost Festival brought back by me and wife, I activated the remote control on the car key to open the door. I have to enter from the front passenger side as I parked it close to the RC column. Once I moved to the driver's seat, my wife followed and board the car. I inserted the key into the ignition and gave it a crank. My God! The engine turned ever so slowly and immediately told wife that the day of reckoning had arrived.

I tried again to turn the key to start the engine but it got worse until the engine refused to turn. Ok, that's it. I am starting to perspire. And got wife to ask if she have Orix Ashokan's hp. No, she didn't have it with her and have to call her office to find out. I finally got his number from wife's boss' wife. (Quite confusing do you find it) ;-)

I called Ashokan and asked if he still remember me.
"I am Puan."
"Yes sir, after hearing your voice, I remember you. How can I help you sir?"
"Alamak, same problem as the last time I called you back in November 2005." "Car can't start again. I think battery is flat already."
"Is it your Cefiro sir?"
"No lah! Cefiro is history."
"You changed car already sir?"
"Yes, changed to SUV. Now already 2 years plus."
"What car is it sir? RAV4?"
"No, Honda CRV."

He next asked for my location and hp number. I gave him the information and asked him how long will it take for his mechanic to arrive. You see, this workshop is just 1km from my home. The service provided by Orix is reasonably good. The only reason why I did not go back to them (Orix) for car servicing is purely because my car is still under the 3 years warranty and I do not want anything untoward to happen to it should I send it for servicing to an unauthorised workshop (Orix is not authorised by Kah Motor who is the agent for Honda Cars). By the way, Orix is a subsidiary of Tan Chong Motors of whom is the authorised agent for Nissan Cars.

"Sir, the mechanic just arrived. Can you wait for about 10 minutes? Which floor is your car parked?"
"No problem. It's parked at the upper level. Car park only have 2 levels."

True to his words, the van came in 10 minutes. I waved to the mechanic and pointed to him where my car was.

"I thought it's RAV4?"
"No, it's a CRV. I told Ashokan it's a CRV when he asked if it's a RAV4. Never mind then. Important thing is the battery you brought is suitable for my car."
"Ya, it's suitable."
"How much is the battery by the way?"
"I won't be charging you for before or after working hours (He got to be joking, I called him after 8.30am) and no transportation fees. Normally, there would be a surcharge for such service." (I must be eternally grateful to him for that and I am beginning to suspect that this is not an honest guy but what to do?)
"Ya, thanks for coming and also for not charging me the extras. I have known Ashokan for many years already so I can trust him on the recommendations. And what is the battery cost again?"
Doing a somewhat puzzling calculation, he put forth a figure I find a bit on the high side.
"Er, $149.80 GST absorbed (included he meant but absorbed seems like a discount. Anyway, if GST is absorbed, how come there is this odd $9.80. I gave him the benefit of the most doubts.)
"Eh, battery prices went up quite a lot already?"
"Ya, by about 20-30% but what to do we cannot anyhow charge higher price because of competition."
"Last time when I change my Cefiro's battery in 2005, it costs me about $105.00" (That battery is definitely much bigger than this puny one. And with 30% increase it should be about $136.50 for the big one not this smaller one but never mind. He did his best and was here right on time and within 10 minutes.)

The battery he brought along seems a bit smaller than the one in my car. So naturally I asked him if this battery is suitable for my car.

"No problem. It's the correct one, except that the connecting terminals are a bit smaller than normal."
"You need an adapter to make it thicker so that the terminals can be tightened, right?"
"Yes, wah! you know a bit about cars do you?"
"A little bit but not too much because I have seen these stuffs before in tyre shops. Can you also check if the battery is no longer charging or is it still ok?" (Don't have the heart to tell him I know more than a bit about cars as I have driving for more than 32 years now and if I had been riding, it would have been 34 years. Sometimes in life we have to act stupid so people are more willing to help you. It boosts their ego and pride when you compliment them and they in turn will offer a better service.)

He went about doing his stuffs. He placed the new battery on the floor nearest my car bonnet. Using the jump start cable, he asked me to start the car. I got into the car, cranked the engine and it immediately jump to life. Disconnecting the battery terminals, he told me that Live first followed by the Negative.

"Other mechanics would simply change the battery without going through the hassle I just did." (Had me wondering what hassle was he talking about? To me it's just a routine and he made it seems like a big deal.) "You see, other mechanics would not bother to jump start the car and would simply disconnect the faulty battery and replace the new one and all your electronics like radio and clock would have to be re-adjusted because after disconnecting the battery, there is no backup power to save the programmed radio channels and the clock."
"Orh, thank you for the trouble."
"This way, all your programmed radio channels and clock will still be as per originally installed."
"Could you check if the faulty is indeed faulty and how do you know if it is faulty?"

He whipped out a volt meter and connect the clip to the old battery and showed me how the meter works.

"You see the Green and Yellow bar on the meter. When I connect the clip to the faulty battery, it will stop at the Green bar but once I activate this button (which is to simulate the switching on of the electrical gadgets, the needle will drop to the Red bar indicating that it is not charging." (Hey, this battery wasn't even connected to the car, so how can it charge. But never mind, the battery is already more than 2 years old and is due for replacement.)
"You know, my previous record of using a battery was 4 years before it's replaced. That was in the mid to late 1970's to early 1980's. And I did not use battery water but rather rain water to top up." (Yes, I shocked him with that statement but it's nothing but the truth) "I only use rain water that did not come into contact with any metal and collected with plastic pail."

So the job is completed and I paid him the $150.00 in cash. He issued an official receipt with no revenue stamp and told me that this receipt will act as an official warranty for 6 months.

"If the battery is faulty after 6 months but within 1 year, the replacement cost would be 50% what I had paid. Please don't lose the receipt. Do you need an original receipt as in Invoice?"
"It's ok. I can live with this receipt."

He left in a jiffy. As for me, I got an errand to run. Send the Hungry Ghost prayer's stuff to my in-laws in Jurong East on my way to office.

Just as I moved off, I was winding up the electric window on the driver's side, I found that the window would not automatically wind up all the way. I have to hold on to the button to activate it. Ditto for winding down. I fiddled around with the A/C button and the automatic winding up and down button is working again. Phew! Next thing I knew was all the pre-programmed channels in the radio was lost and I have to start all over again. I managed to adjust the time but could not do the same for the radio channels. Now what was it that this mechanic said? That all the pre-programmed channels would remain intact. Maybe it was because I switch off the radio when I failed to get the car started and he didn't realise it and I forgot about it. Oh well.

Dreams - Escape from The Phillipines

This dream appeared on 7 August 2008 close to 5.30am.

I was walking along a somewhat dark and narrow lane somewhere in The Phillipines at night (Have no idea what the time was) when I came across a woman (seems to be about age 30) standing by the roadside at the cross junction looking a bit lost. As I approached her, I found her to be distressed and asked her what the problem was and if she needed any help. She didn't say anything except used my shoulder to cry on. The next thing I knew I was accompanying her home just to be sure she is safe. Now why would I want to do that. I don't even know her, she is not even related to me in any way. Probably it's just my nature of trying to protect the weaker sex and trying to do my part to help her in any way that I can.

Upon reaching her village, I was confronted by a 40+ years old man and was accused of taking sexual advantage of the woman. What? I don't even know her, I met her at the roadside of the junction, saw her in distress, offered my help, sent her home, and now I am accused of taking sexual advantage of her. What was about to happen next was unimaginable. He threatened to kill me unless I have sex with that woman just to prove that I had taken sexual advantage of her. Hey, it didn't sound logical. I didn't touch her, have no sexual desire on her, and now I am asked to perform a sex on her. Oh, come on. This is obviously a crazy country. However, under the death threat, I have no option but to comply.

Just as the woman stripped herself naked and exposed her vagina and I was about to proceed with performing the sexual intercourse when the face of the woman started to switch between the man who accused me of taking sexual advantage and the woman. Now that's starting to appear like BLACK MAGIC. I was terrified and wanted out of this village. As they were somewhat in a trance, I quickly make my escape and ran like there's no tomorrow.

Panting to catch my breath, I reached the waterfront of an unknown place. There were many boulders, each spaced about 2 metres apart in the sea. Without second thoughts, I leaped and jumped from boulders to boulders and managed to reach a high wall. In a fantasy dream, things happen pretty quickly. The wall was about 30 metres high. The wind was strong along the seaside. Black soots can be seen swirling round whenever the wind blows. Where the soot came from I am not sure. Black magic perhaps. There were boulders of varying sizes that reaches up to the top of the wall. I made my way up cautiously, with each step I took I look downed and man, it was pretty dangerous. One slip and I am a dead man in the sea.

I finally reached the top of the wall gasping for breath. I look down from the wall and there were people, civilised people in uniformed. The jump down from the wall is about 3 metres. That's not a problem, I can do it. I jumped and landed on the deck. Yes, you did not read it wrongly, it was a deck, a metal deck.

The next thing I knew, I saw policemen walking around the deck. I approached one of the police officer and asked where we were. He told me I am now on board a Hoovercraft and they are from the Singapore Marine Police and in Singapore. How did this happen? I thought I was in The Phillipines. I mean, you mean, you won't belief it do you? Well, neither did I. Officer, you mean I jumped from boulders to boulders all the way from The Phillipines to the Singapore shoreline. WOW!

I related my story to the officer and how I escape from the village in The Phillipines. He assured that I am now safely on home soil and in safe hands. The hoovercraft started and move towards inland.

Phew! That was close, even though it was only a dream. Talk about silly fantasy dreams. Now what was this dream try to tell me.

According to my dream book:
1) To escape from some danger implies a speedy recovery from what will threaten to
be a serious illness.
2) To dream of police is good luck.
3) To stop and ask a police officer for directions portends a visit to wealthy
friends.

Come to think of it, it may hold some truth in the first interpretation. Three or four days ago, my left arm and head were numb and had that on/off tingling feeling. I am not sure why but after this dream, the symtoms mysteriously disappeared. I told my wife about the dream but not the numbness and tingling feeling I experienced 3 or 4 days ago. Touch wood.

I am also unsure about the good luck part but I sure hope it's true.

Dreams - It's My Mother Again

It never cease to amaze me. Every year, without fail on nearing the month of the Hungry Ghost Festival, my mother would appear in my dreams. And I am the only one in the family who dream of my mother the most and can only make an educated guess that it's all because I spent the most time with her when she was around, from childhood (age 8 or 9 to 41) to the day she passed away. This year she appeared twice so far. I can't remember what was the first dream. Maybe because it's not that lucid but the dream on 31 July 2008 was a little lasting and I will try to recall to the best of my ability.

Now what was I doing lying in a 6'x3'x2' deep trench wrapped in blanket under the shelter of an attap hut. Shocking as it was, I do find comfort in the fact that as I woke up from my sleep (dream sleep not the real sleep), my mother was sitting right beside me (She passed away in 16 July 1996, I think) as if protecting me from the snake and making sure that it do not advance towards me. In a state of daze from waking up, the next thing I knew I came face to face with it, and a bright blue one at that. This snake just had its fill of a meal judging from the look of its bulging body. Maybe a small animal like a chicken or something that size. Surprisingly, I was not afraid and stared at the snake right in its face. Then I picked a small stick from the ground and broke it to about 5" length. I took the stick and usng my outstretched right leg to shield my face in case it decided to launch an attack at me. However, I do know for a fact that a well fed snake would be too lazy to even move a muscle to crawl away from its enemy or humans. I next thrust the stick up its upper jaws then the lower jaws (do snakes have jaws anyway, never mind). Now why would I want to do that. Nothing better to do, I guess. Just plain curious. Yes, you guessed it, I am trying to find out what was the meal it just ate. With its mouth now wide open (5"), I peer down its throat to catch a glimpse of its victim. Nope, can't see a thing and decided to let it go on its way.

I turned around and saw my 3rd sister walking towards us. Now just outside the hut was a somewhat dead tree that had 2' sunken earth around it. As 3rd sister was walking towards the tree, there were large bees flying around the tree. Well, bees were not that dangerous I guess. What I noticed were large hornets buzzing around at the base of the tree's sunken earth. I immediately signalled to 3rd sister and asked her to move away from the tree because of the potential danger from the hornets.

The next thing I knew, I woke up from my sleep to answer nature's call.