Wednesday, July 25, 2007 Transformation, The Sequel By Rene Lizada Papa's Table
SO THERE had to be another way, another way to fix our transformer car. The wiggles were getting worse everyday, the rattle was getting obvious and the gas consumption was becoming worrisome. And of course my arms were becoming like that Filipino delicacy called, pilipit.
So one day I went to our "suki" car repair shop. I told the mechanic the problem and he suggested that he look at the underside of the beast, I mean vehicle. So he drove the transformer into one of those you- can- take- a- look- under- the-car contraptions. He went under the car and started his thing. He peered at the wheels and the axle.
He asked for another mechanic and I thought uh oh this does not look good. He told his friend to move the front wheels which he faithfully did. Wiggle right front wheel, pause, look under.
Discuss and wiggle again, look again and discuss again. I was getting edgy watching this. Then they transferred to the other wheel. And the whole process of wiggling, pausing and discussing was repeated. This was getting to be stressful but after a few minutes they came up with the verdict.
"Sir, guba na ang imohang ball joints." For awhile I panicked because I heard something else. And so I asked the stupid obvious question, "kailangan bang palitan yan?" The mechanics looked like me as if my intelligence fell on the greasy cement floor.
One of them gently said:
"Sir, dapat na talaga palitan yang dalawa na ball joints sir."
"Dalawa?"
"Yes sir yung dalawa."
"Bakit yung dalawa?"
"With an almost exasperated look he says:
" Kasi sir, guba na lagi sir."
"Delikado na ba yan?"
"Yes sir, delikado na na."
"Ano pala pwede mangyari ?"
With a really exasperated look he says:
" Ang ligid nimo sir........." And he tells horror stories of what neglected ball joints can do.
He did not have to do his sale spiel long enough because I was already convinced of what was going to happen to the blender car. I was sold, I was convinced. Now I had two problems.
So I decided to face the first problem first, the problem of how much it would cost. With my heart at a supersonic rate I asked, "pila man?" He referred me to their boss and the boss with lightning speed whipped out a calculator and started doing figures.
I stared at the list which was getting longer and longer. After a few centuries, she gave me the figure. I stared at it. And while I was staring at it I was thinking of my second problem. How, how, how in the world will I explain this to you know who. But I had no choice in this matter and the only thing I could do was call my wife.
Our conversation went like this:
"Ma'am, dapat na talaga palitan yang dalawa na ball joints Ma'am."
"Dalawa?"
"Yes Ma'am yung dalawa."
"Bakit yung dalawa?"
"With an almost desperate voice I say:
" Kasi Ma'am, guba na lagi Ma'am."
"Delikado na ba yan?"
"Yes Ma'am, delikado na na."
"Ano pala pwede mangyari ?"
With a really desperate voice I say:
" Ang ligid nimo Ma'am........." And I tell horror stories of what neglected ball joints can do.
" Magkano lahat yan?"
I give her the price. The silence is deafening, it was like when Daffy Duck was introduced in that animated film starring Michael Jordan. And finally from somewhere in the eerie silence I hear the words that I did not want to hear.
"Mahal masyado yan. Maghanap ka ng iba." I wanted to argue but I knew it was useless so I said okay. I have a pathetic excuse and I left. So I went to this other car shop and went to the same process all over. Look under, wiggle, discuss, look under, wiggle and give quotation.
This time the quotation was much much higher that I almost shouted in glee because I had proved her wrong. So I called her up again and proudly announced the price. There was no silence, only an eruption of "ANO!!!"
So she asked that I go back to the "suki." And so with a triumphant spirit I went back to the "suki" who was waiting with a smile as if to say, babalik ka rin dito.
And so the car was fixed and the car is doing well now, well at least as of this writing. And oh by the way the name of my transformer car is Full Tank.
