Committing crime in a small town is never a good idea. Regarding the burglar that broke into our house, Susan called my father-in-law (who is off fishing in Bohol) and said, "You know, he looked a lot like that what's-his-name back from when we used to live in so-and-so." My father-in-law just happened to know a chronic fuckup across town who looks quite a bit like what's-his-name (but not the same guy) and made some calls. It turns out the fuckup had tried to sell some phones and cameras around town recently.
By the time the police got there, he was gone to Bukidnon. I found this out as I went to the police station. "Are you going to arrest him?" "He's only 14 years old." "Are you going to bring him in for questioning?" "He's run off to Bukidnon." "I've got a 2,000 piso reward out for the person who brings that kid back to this police station." "OK. We'll do our best."
Still waiting.
Epril engaged in her tonsorial duties of matrimony today and rebraided my hair in the back. If you've never seen it, it's a long thin single braid. I don't know why I have it really. Well: When I shaved my head, I wanted some remnant of how long my hair used to be, I suppose. Puppy Tyson chews on it.
My Motorstar motorcycle developed an exhaust leak on the way home from Cagayan De Oro on Friday night. There was also a bushing on the rear suspension that occasionally develops a squeak that was acting up, and the new rear disc brake wasn't nearly as tight as I wanted it to be.
I took the bike around the block from my house to the motorcycle shop there, and within an hour they had those 3 problems fixed. A 70-year-old old mechanic named Boy with bad dentures did the work. Coming in with a new model and brand of motorcycle that he had never worked on before didn't faze him in the slightest.
I told him about the problem with the new lights, and how I've had 6 months of misery with the battery getting drained and the engine not generating enough electricity to keep all the lights and gadgets working. I told him of the various attempts Mechanic Jun had made in his 3 months with my motorcycle to try and fix it. I told Boy to see what he could do, and special order parts from Milan or Tokyo if he had to... 2 weeks or a month... whatever. I could wait.
He had the thing fixed and working in perfect order within an hour.
It turns out that in the circle of electrical flow on the motorcycle from battery to motor and back to battery, Old Mechanic Jun had hooked the new road lights up to the electricity flowing from the battery to the engine. New Mechanic Boy just switched the lights over to the electricity flowing from the engine to the battery.
Why this works, I do not know. It's not my area of expertise. However, it seems like such a simple thing... a kindergarten-level repair... that there is only one conclusion I can make: Old Mechanic Jun is gravely retarded when it comes to motorcycle electrical systems... or New Mechanic Boy is, and putting the lights on the motor's "outgoing electricity" wire is going to do untold damage to the motorcycle.
However, since the motorcycle's original two headlights were hooked up to the "outgoing electricity" already, and now all 4 headlights are lighting up beautifully, and the battery is holding a charge... I'll wait to see if anything bad happens, and then render my final judgement about Mechanic Jun's knowledge.
Of course, after I found a fantastic mechanic right around the corner from me, and I was all prepared to have him do all kinds of work, the old bugger charged me 1,000 pisos for his work. (To wit: He tightened a bushing, adjusted the brake, replaced a nut that had fallen off the exhaust header, and moved some wires from the positive to the negative lead of the battery.) If I go back to Mechanic Boy (which I may: he is the only/best in town), I'll definitely be negotiating prices with that guy before I have him do any more work next time, and not wait to ask the price after the work has been done. (In my defense, his was the shop that did work on my electric scooter when we broke something in the rear axle on a big bump... and the price wasn't that bad.)
I sat in bed and played Civilization on the laptop again tonight. It's rainy season here on Mindanao, and we are getting some very nice rain showers moving through a few times per day. But in between, there are wonderful clear blue skies.
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4 comments:
You got ripped off, Jil. 1,000 pesos for that kind of work is too much. My motorcycle mechanic Cocoy would charge me 250 at most (that's expensive already) for a work like that. And sometimes, he'd tell me "ikaw lang" (translation: give whatever you want to give me or you decide on the price).
Yes. I'm quite aware of what it should have cost. But I figure it is poor form to argue about the price after the work is done... although I would have done so if he had tried for more than 1,000. He won't get any more of my work. If locals here in Jasaan read my blog, perhaps they won't give him more work either. His loss.
It was bad planning and misplaced trust on my part: The last time I had that shop work on my other bike, they took the entire back wheel apart, replaced a broken piece, and charged me 350 pisos. I figured they wouldn't try to gull me on the second visit when the price of the first visit was reasonable.
Obviously that won't happen again.
Contrary to what most foreigners say, I have found Filipinos here in Misamis Oriental to be always honest in the prices they charge me, at least inasmuch as I can't tell that I'm being ripped off. (When I'm in Manila, the opposite is true, oddly enough.) This was obviously a glaring exception to my usual experience.
I was expecting to pay 500 pisos for the work. Less would have been nice. Obviously from now on, I'll get a price quoted to me beforehand.
...or you can haggle... you know, like ask for a "discount" politely just to make him feel that you know you are being overcharged. there are some out there who would take advantage of "rich-looking" people, especially foreigners (in their eyes, all foreigners are rich). if you don't make them realize that you know what they're charging you is unreasonable and you pay without questions, they'd think they have outsmarted you. believe me, these people do this even to Filipinos. but just don't tell them straight that you think they're overcharging because they'd get offended. what i do in situations like this is i ask for a discount because i'm a little short of cash. that way, they'd think that they're giving you a favor and that, my friend, will make them feel good. you will go home happy--and he will go home happy. hehehe...
Actually, after the fact, I had a thought along the lines of, "Shit, I let this guy get the 1,000 pisos he wanted, and now everybody in town is going to know that I can be suckered into over-paying."
With that thought, I regret having just paid what the guy wanted instead of insisting on less. But, I would have made the mistake you pointed out of getting into a pissing match about the price... and in front of 5 or 6 other guys standing around at the time. That might not necessarily have been an improvement. Your "negotiation" method would have been the right one, but to be honest, it didn't occur to me: I was of the "either fight or pay" mind; I didn't consider a "middle road".
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