My Ideal Family Car

That would be the Toyota Echo Verso. Yes, the relatively bigger one that was previously released here in the Philippines.

Why that car? Why not. It can seat four adults of my size (and I AM big) comfortably, it still has decent "trunk" space, plus you can fold the rear seats and increase cargo capacity immensely. It has a decent 1.5L engine that more than suits my driving style.

I've ridden one a couple of times already. It was a joy to ride in. Like I said, it's spacious, it's cozy, it was agile enough in traffic. Just a perfect family city car, if you ask me.

But of course, there is always negatives. The dashboard is center mounted. I find this annoying because rather than looking down and seeing all the info you need, you need to look right. Plus the turn indicators and other warning lights are all center mounted (not like in the Hyundai Matrix where the warning lights are mounted where the console "should" be even though the instrument panel is center mounted). Another problem I have with the Echo Verso is the fact that Toyota only released manual versions of that car here in the Philippines. Which is such a shame. I'm guessing I can still get the hang of driving a manual car, but I'd rather not.

Now supposing I did get an Echo Verso (which I doubt since I have no spare cash for a car), I'd give it a few modifications. Starting with improved headlights and fog lamps. Better night vision for me. Then I'd improve the sound system, give it an iPod ready stereo and maybe a new set of speakers. No woofers though, that would eat up space. Then I'd change the rims to a sportier and bigger kind. Replace the air filter with a more free-flowing variety, and change to steel-lined brake hoses.

And that's it.

Out.

Random Stuff

First off, I’ve been married for a little over a month now. As I said before, it’s full of ups and downs. I’m still going through a major adjustment period, since I’m now living with someone. I’d gotten used to getting everything only for myself (seeing as how I’m an only child) and thinking of someone other than myself is indeed an adjustment.

I can’t believe you’d even be shocked that I’m a pretty selfish guy. I actually am, and I’ve been fighting myself about that since I became aware how much of an asshole I can be. I’m estimating this has been going on for a good ten or twelve years of my life, and yes, I can see some differences. It just hasn’t progressed as fast as some of you might expect.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way...

I cannot believe that our laundry woman (labandera) of how many years actually managed to steal a huge amount of money from one of our trusted maids and our driver. To make things worse, she even degraded our maid by being surprised that our maid could actually count (since she was no read no write). Plus, when my grandmother died in 2006 she even almost got to get one of our old maids to try and steal whatever money was left inside my grandmother’s purse. That maid is no longer with us either, thank goodness. What a bitch. Sadly her karma has been going bad, which I think serves her right. Not only is she taking care of her vegetable father, but she’s out of one or two sources of income. I feel no pity on someone who would do shiftless things just to get ahead of others. I don’t care how “pitiful” her situation is (low income, too many kids to feed, sick parents, squatting) because I know there are people of similar or even worse situations who can get by honestly. Those are the poeple I hope can rise above everything, because they honestly deserve it.

And that’s it. First post of February.

Out.