Test Drive for Free

Initial-D is fun. Aside from being a relatively pricey game (Php22 per game; 3 minutes per game), you get to beat the crap out of wannabes, get kicked by veterans, and get to learn how to think-drive faster.

Oh, and you get to show off, too.

Right now, I'm sporting a 600k-point Tune A Lancer Evo IV. It's got a 55% winning ratio against humans, and a 100% win ratio against the computer.

But earlier, I got to talk to a relative newbie who sported a 700k-point Tune A '86 Trueno. He's a fan of the Initial-D anime, and got that car because it's the one used by the main character.

After losing to him twice (since his car was quicker in Akina than mine...), I told him he had a better car for that track. Eventually, we got into a conversation where I got to share what I learned from the internet (http://www.initial-d.com).

Eventually, after coaching the guy how to drive, he allowed me to test drive his Trueno. He said he wanted to see how the car goes on more skilled hands.

Cool! I got to play for free! 22 pesos din yun!

Compared to my Evos and Kat's Integra, the Corolla Trueno was FAST. Plus, it had a feather-light steering wheel. Sadly, it tends to oversteer, and it's not stable like the Evos or the Integra, which means more countersteer-with-tedious-gas-pumping-action.

Top speed of my Evos is 203 km/h. Kat's Integra only went 198 km/h last time I drove it. The Trueno ran 208 km/h when I held it. Nice.

Sad thing is I didn't get his name, nor he got mine. Oh well... another racer in Timezone.

Hope of the Unemployed

A few hours from now, I'll be calling up the HRD of RamCar. Right now, I'm still crossing my fingers.

Come to think of it, I did well in the test... well... at least I think I did. I was honest about the management and personality tests, and I was able to double-check my answers in the english apprehension test.

The one test I'm worried about is the Mental Ability Test. Think of it as a fill-in-the-asterisks IQ test based on english and math pattern recognition. There were 40 items and had 45 minutes to answer. I had answers to all but 5 hard ones.

Here's a sample question for you: BOOT TO READ DE EARS **. Try it out. You have a minute.

Oh... and that's one of the easiest in the test.

How about this one: 1 3 7 15 **. Again, one minute. Very easy.

Try this one out. No calculators, please. 244 18 202 15 118 9 ** *. One minute.

Fun, isn't it?

Oh well... hope I get to be a SAP programmer/analyst soon...

Dinner at Eight

A few hours from now, I'll be taking a test for RamCar to determine whether I'm qualified for being a SAP programmer/analyst. Hope I get through. It's just three jeeps away from home, and Katrina's house is two jeeps away (hmm... since when did I measure distance by jeeps?).

But yesterday was splendid. After going to the Quezon Avenue MRT Station, I went to Hi-Top to but ingredients for a pasta dinner for Katrina and her family. Yep, my treat! I bought chicken breast fillets, San Remo spiral pasta (para cute), Del Monte tomato sauce, and Cadbury Time Outs (pasalubong kay darling).

Afterwards, I went to Angelicum to meet up with Katrina and to get my transcript; however, the registrar said they won't be able to give me a copy until the 2nd or 3rd week of April. Oh well... so I paid up P50 for my request.

We then went home and prepared a very nice dinner meal. While Crumpy the dog chewed on my jeans and socks, I cooked Spiral Pasta with Chicken Garlic Tomato Sauce. Kat cooked up Chicken Fingers (since I bought way too many chicken breast fillets). Eventually, upon finding pita bread in the freezer, the Chicken Fingers evolved into Chicken Caesar Go-Go's!

When dinner time came, the folks at their house were delighted with the food; something that really warms up the heart. Pwede na raw pang-restaurant! Magtayo kaya kami ni Kat. Hehe...

What's fun about is that, after a tedious preparation, I get to enjoy the food with Kat and her family. At the same time, it forms a nice bond around.

Next time, I just hope the dog won't eat my pants...

Do You Want A Ford Festiva?

Do you want a car that can average 16.93 kilometers per liter of gasoline?
Do you want a car that has 60-70 horsepower?
Do you want a car that can easily seat five?
Do you want a car that can either be a 3-door or a 5-door?
Do you want a car that weighs around 800 kg, more than 200 kg lighter than the average sedan?
Do you want a car that can kick ass by replacing its engine with a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder turbocharged engine from a Mazda Miata?
Do you want a car that is carnap-proof?
Do you want a car that is so cheap, it can be bought from a junkyard with a case of beer?

Look no further... we have an Asian version.

Kia Pride.

Broke

These are one of the days that you'll just hate. You got nothing to do, got nothing to keep yourself busy with, and got no cash.

I'm broke. I'm bored. Perfect.

How I want to catch a movie with my hunniekins... but I'm broke. Makes me wish I were one of those filthy rich kids with wallets overflowing with cash and credit cards. Kaso, mid-class lang po ako.

Makes me wish I got a job, too, so instead of sulking around, I'd be burning productive time in exchange for cash. Not a bad thought... problem is I'm still unemployed.

I knew I should've applied for my professional license sooner. Then, I'll establish the John Reynoso Basics Driving School. Para may raket naman ako kahit paano.

Oh well... I'm broke... I'm jobless...

A Date and 50 First Dates

My day started at around 9:00 in the morning. At first, I thought I'll be late 'coz I'll be meeting my darling by ten. So, for starters, I rushed in the shower, used Nizoral shampoo (thanks to a weird dream where I filled up a basin with dandruff), got dressed, and rushed to get a jeep.

A few minutes before 10:00 in the morning, I was at the doorstep of Kat's house. Apparently, she was still enjoying her sleep... so... let her be. Thank goodness Andre, her youngest sibling (of three siblings), was there to open the door. By the time I got in, I was playing with their pet dog Crumpy (or Snoopy or... er... whatever that ends in -py).

Fifteen before eleven o'clock, I saw her descending the flight of stairs with a wide smile on her face, the kind of smile that says "sorry" and "wow, you're here". Can't help but feel good.

Then we spent a lot of time talking on the couch. It's one of those talks that we haven't had for quite some time. For one thing, the last time we had a nice, lightening talk like that was before that crap thesis came about. In fact, it was so nice, I lost track of time!

After a while, we went to Glorietta, arrived there quarter before two. We then got tickets to 50 First Dates, as well as some delicious snacks (I was hungry, and she wanted to chow lots, so we got Oliver's Mediterranean Basil Chicken, popcorn and nachos from Taters, and... that's it).

The movie is sweet, hilarious, with a pinch of drama (typical romantic comedy recipe). It's very funny, and is highly recommended. Actually, it kind of made me think if I got amnesia and I had to repeat every day all over again. Sana kaya ako pagpasensyahan (o pagtiyagaan) ni Kat... *Smiles, certain John will get a good answer.*

After the movie, we went to Timezone and played a bunch of games. Since Initial-D was crowded with losers (harharhar!), we went around playing other games... games we also found hilarious. One game that really got our ticklebones was Hyper Bishi-Bashi Champ. It's totally funny, you'd definitely have to try it (just try to understand the visual instructions and ignore the Korean)!

Afterwards, we went home, all smiles and laughter. It made me think that for every single sorrow, there will always be laughter... and when the laughter and the happiness comes, I feel that it was all worth it.

I love you, Katrina May! And I always will...

My Resume

John Benedict Pamintuan Reynoso
54 Ubay Street
Sta. Mesa Heights, Bgy. Siena, Quezon City
Residence No. (02)7491115
Cell Phone No. (0917)8172605
blankwhitewall@yahoo.com

CAREER OBJECTIVE

An IT position in a company where high-speed programming and deep analytical skills are required.

SUMMARY

A job hunter specializing in database design and programming. Proven to be exceptionally fast in creating programs in familiar programming environments. Enthusiastic, responsive, and energetic in computer-related work. Skilled at analyzing problems, troubleshooting, and creating appropriate solutions. Projects friendly aura towards co-workers. Possesses a drive for excellence and a competitive attitude.

SKILLS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Received a recommendation letter from the Information Management Department of St. Luke’s Medical Center after two months as a trainee (for school practicum).
• Can browse through Windows, UNIX, and MS-DOS Operating Systems.
• Can program in Visual Basic, SAP R/3, Prolog, Microsoft Access, C++, Pascal, HTML, and COBOL.
• Can quickly learn programming languages as required.
• Has experience using Microsoft Office (Word, Access, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.), CorelDraw, printers and scanners.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City, Trainee – IMD, March 2003 – May 2003

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

TERTIARY
BS Computer Science
Angelicum College Quezon City
112 M.J. Cuenco St., Quezon City, 2000-2004
BS Physics with Computer Engineering
Ateneo de Manila University
Katipunan Ave., Quezon City, 1999-2000
SECONDARY
Ateneo de Manila University
Katipunan Ave., Quezon City, 1995-1999
ELEMENTARY
Ateneo de Manila University
Katipunan Ave., Quezon City, 1987-1995

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

• Overall Coordinator of TeleBenta: A Telemarketing Seminar-Job Fair held at Angelicum College, 28 February 2004.
• Treasurer of the Angelicum College Student Council from SY 2000-2002.
• DOMNET Representative of Angelicum College, SY 2000-2001.
• Official Class Representative of Section H of the Ateneo de Manila High School from SY 1997-1999.

Graduated!!!

As I write this article, I'm shoving up all the files from school and placing them in a folder named "ZZZ -- Old Files from Ange". Finally, I cleaned up my desktop. Good riddance!

But there's a part of me telling me that... well... it's memorabilia for all the works done in school. I could've just pressed the delete button, click 'yes', and watch it all disappear as I laugh wickedly.

Okay... so now I got a cleaner desktop. What next?

Find a job.

It's time to mold up the future. You know... earn cash, later on buy a house of my own, then a car, then a business, who knows. But it'll be much more fun now, since I'll be reaping from the fields of education gotten riper.

I need a job. I'll post my resume soon. By the way, feel free to refer to it.

The Tragedy of the Local Entertainment Industry

I happened to stumble upon Morning Girls this morning. Apparently, the show was all about promoting this new macho boy band.

Frankly, they suck.

Sadly, they're almost brain-dead. Here's a sample dialog from a waiter-demo:

HOST: Anong ire-recommend mong drink?

DUMB: Bale (name of drink) na lang, para ma-cool kayo.

"Ma-cool"? Stupid.

Okay... maybe they'll earn a little more cash than I would on a gig, but... puta naman... what will happen to the audience - mostly the C to E classes?

Take a good, hard look at the local music industry. What's the moral lesson of Spaghetti and Otso-otso? They claim it's for the sake of fun and entertainment.

You know what I think? It's subliminally telling people that it's okay to be dumb.

Now I heard some dumb guy sing AWFULLY, and get an applause. SABLAY TALAGA!!! If I were a judge, I'd give ALL of them the boot. I wanted to play Simon for a moment.

Fine, they're buff and have physical aesthetic appeal, just like your ideal labandero. Therefore, I think the group should be called "Labanderos".

Kaya humihirap ang Pilipinas, dahil pinababayaan nilang maging bobo ang mamamayan.

But the industry is smart, rather cunning, no doubt. Get more dumb people, and you get a bigger audience, which in effect gets higher revenues.

One other thing I've noticed... you don't see smarter pinoy music on the racks nowadays. It's plain pop... dumb pop. So smart music comes from overseas. Patay na naman tayo.

Some guy was able to dance. I don't care. They're all dumb.

How I wish I can control the industry... it's plain ugly.

Dream Car (Part Two)

When I read the April '04 issue of Sport Compact Car (http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com), I read an article about a 1971 Datsun 510 having a SR20DET under its hood. The SR20DET is a 2-liter engine found in 1991-and-later US-spec Nissan 180SXs and Silvias.

The good thing about it is that I can swap a new intercooled-turbocharged engine in an old can on wheels. Since the Datsun 510 is rear-wheel drive, and the SR20DET's donor car is also rear-wheel drive, the swap can be made with minimal modification.

However, Mitsubishi designed all their cars to be either front- or all-wheel drive by the late 1980s, meaning that the newer engines are transverse (runs from left to right, or vice versa). The problem is that the 1973-1979 Lancer is designed for longitudinal (runs from front to rear) engines and has a rear-wheel drivetrain.

So what now of my dream car? Well... it will undergo extensive modification to fit either the 4G92 or the intercooled-turbocharged 4G63.

Or I could go for a Ford Festiva. *Laughs real damn hard*

A Blogger's Plea For Help

Uhmm... could someone please teach me how to do the following:

1. Create links. It's nice to create links to other blogs and web sites.

2. Create comments. So I'd know feedback from the readers.

Please e-mail me at blankwhitewall@yahoo.com if you have the answer. I'll give you a full thank you.

Suck, Squish, Bang, Blow

Horsepower. Torque. Top speed. Acceleration. Where do they come from?

The engine.

A common part of modern-day, petrol- or diesel-powered transportation is the four-stroke engine. Thanks to the four strokes, we have power turning the wheels of cars, jeeps, buses, and every other vehicle.

So first of all, some basics. In the internal combustion engine, a piston is contained in a cylinder. Think of it as a can (piston) in a tube (cylinder).

The piston is then linked to the crankshaft. The crankshaft is a vital component that transfers the power from the pistons to the wheels. While the pistons go in an up-and-down motion, the crankshaft is spun.

Sealing the top of the cylinder are the valves. Think of the valves as your nose; you breathe in air, then exhale carbon dioxide. The valves, on the other hand, make the engine "inhale" a gas-air mixture through the intake valves, and "exhale" exhaust gases produced by burning the mixture through the exhaust valves.

To put all these things in motion, we will remember only four words: suck, squish, bang, and blow.

So here it goes:

1. Suck (Intake Stroke) - The intake valves open to take into the cylinder a mixture of air and gas from the fuel system. The piston is pulled down by the crankshaft, effectively "sucking" the air-gas mix.

2. Squish (Compression Stroke) - All valves are sealed, and the crankshaft pushes the piston up, compressing the air-gas mix.

3. Bang (Power Stroke) - With the valves closed, either through a spark from the spark plug (petrol engines) or through sheer compression (diesel engines), the air-gas mix is burned. The burning converts the air-gas mix into exhaust gases. As a result of the burn, gases expand in the cylinder, which in turn pushes the piston down and turns the crankshaft.

4. Blow (Exhaust Stroke) - With the exhaust valves are opened and the crankshaft pushing the piston upward, the exhaust gases are pushed out of the cylinder, readying the system to "suck" again.

So that is how power is generated through internal combustion engines.

There will be a quiz.

Schizophrenic

"You are everything and anything I love and hate in a man."

I'm aware I'm not a perfect man. Perhaps I never will be.

I make you smile, I make you cry.
I give you sunshine, I give you rain.
You find me there, you find me nowhere.
You fall in love, you sink in hate.
I make you believe, then make you doubt.
You find relief, then want to shout.
I am your one and seventy-one,
both your love and not-to-love.

But heed me now, for I will not lie.
I will love you 'til the day I die.

I'm aware I'm not a perfect man, but I will try to be.

Evo 8 Beats STi and Murcielago -- Performance-Wise

Saw TopGear this afternoon (5pm, Sundays, Studio 23) and was plain delighted to see the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 FQ-300 go up against the Subaru WRX STi. The two cars are the most highly acclaimed rally-bred sedans in the automotive world.

Although the STi had a more "macho" appeal according to the people at TopGear, they described the Evo as "an F-16 fighter jet" compared to the STi as "an F-15 fighter-bomber". They also mentioned that the Evo performed better as well.

And better it did. The Evo 8 outdid the STi. While the STi exhibited understeer, the Evo was pure precision. As a matter of fact, the Evo was even quicker around their test track compared to a Lamborghini Murcielago, a full-blown, V12 supercar!

But guess what TopGear said... they'd rather get the STi. Why? Because it was more "manly", especially with the hood scoop built to cool the top-mount intercooler. That's way more macho than escape slots on the Evo's hood, since its intercooler was front-mount.

Fine. I won't argue with their preference. Kanya-kanyang trip lang 'yan. I also won't argue with the Murcielago drivers out there looking for sex.

Sport Compact Car Magazine, on the other hand, had performance in mind. Last February, they featured the Evo 8 as their Car of the Year. An article last January also mentioned that a garage sold its WRX in favor of the Evo because it was faster.

If you'd ask me, it's hands down. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII.

Basketball Games and Employment Opportunities

A few hours after the Pirates of Banawe episode, I drove to Ayala Heights to meet up with my former high school classmates...

...to play basketball.

It was nice being able to meet them again after a quarter-year away due to projects and thesis. I was sure I'd play sloppy.

Upon meeting up with Patrick, Rylan, Rene, Inigo, Maynard, Ron, Warren, Calvin, plus two imports, we had three games. Happens I didn't lose too much, except I got tired real easy, thanks to added weight and lack of exercise.

What's nice about it is that, since most of them were employed, I got job opportunities, all in the IT-Computer field. Rylan told me that RamCar needed a SAP guy, and I'm glad 'coz I know the SAP system, thanks to two months of OJT in St. Luke's. Ron also told me that he had connections, through his dad, with car companies. I'm plain glad.

So what's my next move? Print resumes.

By the way, tell people that I'm looking for computer-IT-related work (minus encoding... I prefer competent work...). I'll send them my resume. They can also e-mail me at blankwhitewall@yahoo.com if necessary. Thanks!

The Pirates of Banawe

After burning P3k from my ever-loving mum, I've finally patched up my '89 Lancer. Finally, I can print a sign saying, "For Sale. '89 Lancer GLX. P105k, neg. (0917)8172605." I had the idler pulley adjusted to remove the squeak off the was-loose alternator belt (aww... Kat will surely miss the "chirping birds" in the engine...) and checked the tires up (found a screw, got it removed, then patched the hole up...).

Later on, I drove to Nodalo's at E. Rodriguez Avenue to fix the downpipe. All they did was weld the 4-2-1 headers to the exhaust pipe 'coz the connection broke there. Guess bringing the revs up to 5000 rpm really punishes the pipe. As a result, I had more torque out of the car; ergo, better and smoother acceleration.

And then I hunted for lights and mirrors. Prior to the search, my mirrors, front signal lamps, and fender lights were stolen. Upon hearing the fuming outrage of my parents (they need not shout, but you can feel it...), I've decided to get replacement parts from established shops.

Upon making the turn to Banawe, and even before it, pirate upon pirate swarmed upon my car, giving me offer upon offer for the stolen pieces. All that ran into my head was "F*** you, losers! Get outta my way!" Their offers were cheap, so cheap that I need not wonder how much they've invested on the spare parts.

I then got parking and canvassed the parts. First buys were the signal lamps. It's Taiwan-made, so it's cheap, even from the box. Unfortunately, the shop didn't have the other missing pieces.

The journey took me to another shop that I soon wouldn't forget. For one thing, I won't buy my parts there anymore, even though they claim the parts as "surplus", or parts ripped off from junked cars.

First I ordered mirrors and fender lights. The shop told me to wait a while 'coz they were still "retrieving" the parts.

I wonder where they "retrieved" it.

Ten or so minutes later, the guy I ordered from showed up with two other guys. The guy told me he had to outsource, then told the guys to attach the mirrors... and they were quick...

...and it came from their deep pockets. WTF?!? And it was an established shop.

Another ten or fifteen minutes later, I grew restless. The fender lights were not yet in. I thought that perhaps they're still trying to pinch a fresh one.

So I decided to look at the other shops. Shop after shop, they told me they were out of those and were hard to find.

Then I stumbled upon a shop. The clerk looked friendly somewhat. He told me they got stock of it. But when I told him I'll get it, he told me to wait a while, then he rushed out. I thought he had stock.

Then the guy from the previous shop showed up and told me he got the surplus lights. Upon close inspection, I spotted a minute crack, barely noticeable. I showed it to the guy and rejected it. But the guy insisted that I won't find mint parts anywhere else, aside from the Japan originals costing five to ten times more.

I went back to the other shop and met the clerk. He told me the it was a hard find, so he wanted to up the price. Upon inspection, not even close inspection, I saw a huge crack on one piece, and a hole on the other. Where the f*** do they get those parts?

Upon rejecting the clerk's shitty lights, I went back to the guy earlier, had his lights attached, and paid up. At least the car is nice right now.

Although the car is nice right now, the pirates of Banawe haunt me. Were the parts truly "surplus"? Or is my assumption, that those were stolen parts, correct?

Dammit... I hope they're plain surplus...

Steering Basics

One hundred pesos gone to Initial D again. Katrina played once in her Integra; I did four times in my Evo4.

My Evo4 right now has 225,000 points, still far from the 1,000,000-point mark. Guess it'll be boring just yakking about Initial D...

Just for fun, let's talk about one aspect of driving: steering. If you allow yourself to be part of the John Reynoso Driving School (it's free, don't worry...), I'll teach you all I know for now. I'm still planning to go to race driving school.

Let's recall our Physics lessons, shall we?

One of Newton's Laws states that a body will remain in motion on a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force. In out case, imagine the body of the car as the object travelling the straight line and the tires as the outside force.

The tires have the capacity of changing the motion of the car due to the friction it has with the ground; thus, the tires are capable of producing an outside force. So how do tires move the car, you ask? It pushes the ground backward so that the tire moves forward. It's synonymous to pushing your feet back to move forward when walking. The better the friction, the more force there is transmitted.

Now comes the steering wheel. It is connected to a rod which directs where the tire would face. Since the tire can only push back to move forward, the tire therefore grips the road and moves towards where it is pointing. This, in effect, causes the car to turn left or right, or wherever you turn the wheel.

Now you've learned the mechanical basics of steering. Give yourself a smile and a tap on the shoulder.

I'll talk about slip angles and drifting some other time. I need to sleep and fix the car six hours from now.

Jekylla and Hydea

As I write this article, I'm chowing on a mango float Katrina gave me this afternoon. It's yummy! Sweet niya, di ba? Ambait pa!

She is so sweet, you might not imagine her other side.

Just a few hours ago, on our way to Glorietta's midnight sale (she's fond of discounts...) with her cousin Jason (also likes discounts...), my '89 Lancer had cooling problems. Apparently, the worn-out alternator-and-water-pump belt broke. No engine water circulation, no engine cooling; which leads eventually to overheating and, if you're not smart enough, a broken engine. The car already got hot enough earlier to eat up the engine-to-radiator rubber hose!

So we went to Petron and parked the car there. Thankfully, they had a mechanic... but no spare parts. So I went out to get some parts, while Katrina and Jason ate at McDonalds.

After I got the parts, and on my way back, I got a text message that my car was blocking a jeep. I just texted back that I was on my way back and that the jeep can make it. Why did my car block the way? I didn't leave the keys at the gas station for security purposes, and yanked the handbrake hard as so not to make the car move even with ten people pushing it.

When I got back, I saw an already infuriated Katrina. She told me not to apologize to some lady with the jeep.

Apparently, the lady was forcing the doors of my car open without even asking my girl. I mean... the lady could have been smarter by asking my girlfriend, then asking a mechanic to open the lock (I saw how it's done, and it'll take less than a minute with just a stiff, thin stick).

And so I saw the jeep already getting out of its parked position without even the danger of ramming my car. That got Katrina even more furious.

What ensued afterwards was, well... B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! They went on to have a very entertaining debate. Just visit http://www.katrinachua.blogspot.com for details.

But I won't skip these lines... da best 'to, sobra...

ALE: *probinsyana accent* You shut up!

KAT: No, YOU shut the fuck up!

* ALE charges KAT, hand wound up to slap KAT, but JOHN walks in between ALE and KAT, faces ALE, prepared to counter-attack. ALE stops, starts cussing about again.

Later on...

ALE: Ah! Punyeta, punyeta, punyeta!

KAT: Eto sa 'yo! *flashes one finger salute*

After the jeep goes with the ale, and the car got fixed and watered (the radiator dried up), we were laughing about what transpired, and blamed everything on the guy who went with me to buy the parts (we got lost and almost got to Guadalupe).

Ain't Kittie the coolest?

Initial-D-ized

I thought I was done with Initial D, until a week ago. I got a new card.

A week later, I've spent roughly P600 on that damn card.

Okay... so what's Initial D? In a nutshell, it's a game made by Sega Rosso which is based on a popular car manga and anime.

The nice thing about the game is, aside from great graphics, simulation, and a selection of real cars from Mitsubishi, Mazda, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Subaru, and Suzuki, is that you can get a memory card and store data of your car there. Neat, isn't it?

What makes it neater is that when you win, you get points. When you get points, you get to upgrade your car. The more points, the faster your car gets. Now do you understand why it's addictive?

As of now, I got two Mitsubishi cards: a Blue Lancer Evo7 (worth P2000) and a Red Lancer Evo4 (worth P600). I also got Katrina a Yellow Honda Integra Type-R ('coz I want my girl to have the best car in the game with her fave color).

Right now, I'm focusing on my Red Evo4. Haven't lost against the computer, and have a 6-3 record against humans.

Damn... what is it with car games? I'm so addicted...

Must be the thrill of winning...

In The Name of Love

Just attended a seminar on Apple stuff. Saw the Mac OS X Jaguar... and it's a beauty. It made Windows XP look like crap. Yes... C-R-A-P. Graphics were stellar... compatibility is great... security is nice... oh well. I'm no computer geek, but it's a nice system.

Anyway, after the seminar, Katrina and I broke away from the rest of the folks 'coz her mom was going home. And I became her ever-loving escort. Eventually, we leave Katrina's mom's office and drive her mom to the station.

After a while, we went to the parking lot, and after a phone call, Katrina told me she would rush and meet her mom. Guess she changed her mind about staying in the mall.

So what's this got to do with life? Think of it... we do so many things in the name of love. For instance, my ever-loving girlfriend chased her mom because she didn't like the thought that she would leave her all alone.

All in the name of love.

Later on, I parked and went to Timezone G4. I HAD to play Initial D... yes... I HAD TO!!! A few minutes later, she sent me an SMS (I won't use the term "texted" 'coz it's politically incorrect...), then called her up, then found out that she and her mom went shopping, then she told me she needed help on groceries.

And so, even if I was close to swiping my card, I rushed to her rescue. I gave up Initial D (I'll tell you how ADDICTED I am in another blog date...) and brisk-walked from G4 to Landmark. I met her, carried two fairly heavy bags of groceries, waited for their ride, then left.

All in the name of love.

Eventually, I returned to Timezone, played Initial D, creamed a guy in a Skyline twice and a guy in an Integra in my Lancer Evo IV.

All in the name of love.

Dream Car

I have a dream car. Most folks got dream cars with labels such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Jaguar.

Me? Way too different.

Okay... dream car... don't laugh...

It's a 1973-1979 Mitsubishi Lancer Coupe. (A coupe is 2-door; a sedan is 4-door.)

"WHAT?!? You're kidding, right? That piece of $#it ain't gonna run! It sucks $#it!!!"

Well, for one thing, it's dirt cheap. P30K for a shell, P55K for a nicer one.

Second, it's light, about 100kg lighter than the newer cars. I've test-driven one that was 20+ years old, and it's still kicks! It runs even better than a 1989 Lancer, the latter being ten years newer. Probably due to the power-to-weight ratio difference of the two cars. The '79 Lancer has 80hp on a 850kg body, which translates to a power-to-weight ratio of (in the ratio 1hp:100kg) 9.411:1. On the other hand, the '89 Lancer has 83hp on a 945kg shell; thus, a power-to-weight ratio of 8.783:1. Ergo, there's a difference of 0.627:1. Ergo, I can go faster on the lighter shell.

Third, it conquered every rally of its era. It ate across every competitor in Australia, the Safari, and every endurance race of its time. Just reflects how good the car was.

So it's cheap, light, and a former champion. How about the legroom? A/C? Paint? Looks? Sounds? Smells? It sucks, I know...

But I'm a performance junkie. Besides, there's always room for improvement.

Where to start...?

0. Strip it. Repaint and rust-proof the body.

1. Rip off the engine. I can't race 150++hp SiR's on 80 horses. A good start would be a Mitsu 4G92, same engine running the '97-'02 Lancer GSR. At stock, it'll make 127hp. Just have to figure out how to connect the new engine with the old transmission.

2. Change the tires (and wheels, if necessary). I'll need more grip on the asphalt once the engine works.

3. Tidy up the interior. Of course! Sasakay diyan hunnie ko, tapos mukhang warzone. Di pwede yon!!! Change foam, carpet, seats (there are nice, but pricey, sport seats around), etc. For fun, I'll consider a Mickey-Minnie theme (Mickey seatbelts, Minnie cellphone holder... harharhar...).

4. Swap the A/C. Since sasakay hunnie ko, dapat matino ang air-con. Gonna plug something from Mit-Air to fight the heat.

5. Modify the engine. Find a way to sneak in an intercooler in front of the radiator and a turbo. It'll take a miracle to make these come together... but it'll make 75 more horses. Also, I'd plug an replacement ECU, exhaust headers, a huge downpipe, and a nice-shiny muffler.

6. Modify the brakes. In order to go faster safely, one must be able to slow down as well. I'll get nice disc brakes... and BIG ones too!

7. Modify the suspension. This serves two purposes: first, it'll make the car handle better (especially at high speed turning), and second, it'll cushion hunnie's ride (yes... it is my emotional duty to pamper my baby...).

8. Rip off the engine again! I'll then figure out how to plug in a Mitsu 4G63... 1998 cubic centimeters of kapow! Power starts at 271 horses (it'll make a laugh out of any Honda).

9. Weight reduction and weight balancing. What's the logic of getting a light car? Physics. Newton's law of acceleration states that force is directly proportional to the product of mass and acceleration. Therefore, I'm gonna shave off more weight (off goes the rear seats...). Also, it'll be a good time to check car balance. It's scary to have too much oversteer or understeer as a result of weight imbalance.

Time to burst my happy bubble... WALA PA KONG PERA!!! As of the moment, the project car estimate would be close to a million pesos... even a lot more. Gonna study how to piece these things together first.

Right now, I need a job.

Klasrum

Just read the blogs of a couple of BC4A peeps. Nakakatuwa! Somehow, I managed to learn how the others thought about things. Made me also think how much more talent those guys possessed.

Obviously, it's not just the classroom that allows people to shine. Sometimes, I even think that the four walls of the room tend to even hinder us from finding our true selves.

On the other hand, it may, and MAY, show that talent people possess... but only to the extent of the lessons.

Basta, I'm going to graduate na. End of school... pero, ika nga ni Sir Henry sa IMD ng St. Luke's, "studying does not end in the classroom."

Sige... mag-aral na tayo habambuhay!!!

Will I miss BC4A? Will I miss "the classroom days"?

I don't know. For one thing, I have a forget-and-learn-and-move-on attitude. I tend to look at the present and future than look back.

But there were good times and bad times... experiences, lessons, anything and everything...

I'll find out in a week's time...

Kita-kits sa rampa, BC4A! Congrats!

I Can See The Light... and Beyond...

Thesis has just been submitted. Hope this'll be the LAST thing I'll ever pass to school. Somehow, I just wanna get out of school. I wanna work! I wanna work!

There's just this inner drive in me to create things... you know... things you can't make while you got stuff to do in school. All the more, most of the stuff you do in school is just... well... off-track from what you want to do. Tell me if this ain't true.

WHAT?!? Ain't true? Okay... e-mail me then at blankwhitewall@yahoo.com so I'll know your side.

So what do I wanna do? I wanna toy with a car company's database. Yep... somehow, I see DB programming as some sort of text-based video game. It'll be much more fun when I start getting paychecks out of fun. Ain't it just nice to get paid getting fun.

Then, perhaps when I get along with the company a lot better, I'll get to be a test driver too! Yes... I love driving... and driving fast... and faster... and faster... and... well... FASTER!!! All the more, the faster I drive, the better I get paid!!! Ain't this much more fun?

Later on, I'll get to be a rally driver. I get to race people, then get sponsors. The more sponsors, the more money! Maybe it'll be enough to build a pretty, cozy house, swimming pool and mini kart race track. By then, I wish I could build my dream car...

Guess I'm getting carried away, huh?

Hello, Blog!!!

Welcome to the BlogWorld!!! ...yeah, yeah, everybody's doing blogs... AND SO WILL I!!! =)

So what will I post here... hmmm... well... title will say it all. Dubbed it "Life in the Eyes of John", didn't I?

Why'd I make this? It'll be my graduation present to myself. Gonna walk the ramp on March 19, 2004.

Anyway, I'll tell you what will happen in life sooner or later...