Lessons Learned From Typhoon Ondoy

Our car at the service center. It will stay there for a while. From the outside, everything seems to be fine.

Dirt from floodwater accumulated in some parts of the interior.

That red thing in the middle is the airbag indicator. It shouldn't light up when the engine is on.

I can't scoop all the water out. Thanks to Jollibee for the bucket, comes free when you order six pieces of fried chicken.

When it rains, it pours. That's probably yesterday's biggest lesson from Typhoon Ondoy. To be honest, everything would have been fine for me yesterday, if not for the "bright" idea of parking the car outside our building. It was already raining when I brought our car there, I didn't expect it would end up in catastrophe. I wish life is like a computer, where you can hit Ctrl+Z (or ⌘+Z for Mac guys) whenever you make mistakes.

Is it really my fault? Lots of car owners were as shocked as I was yesterday, some long time residents even said it's the first time that it flooded there. But I guess what ticks me off is that I could have done something sooner.

Now our car is with Honda Makati, prior to going there I passed by a gas station to check how much it usually costs to have my interiors detailed. I wasn't too happy with the price they quoted me, so I guess I should prepare for some expenses to come.

Yesterday I had an earful from my mom, and it really brought my day down. But at least today I got a little appreciation for doing the right thing, which is to have the car checked as soon as possible. I guess having an old car means being worried while driving, while having a new one entails worries while it is parked.

I hope I didn't sound self-centered with this blog post. I just want to share my experiences, and why it's such a pain when your car is flooded. I know a lot of my fellowmen are in distress right now, my prayers are with them and the speedy recovery of our nation. I'm thankful that I'm still fortunate that what I experienced this weekend is just the tip of the iceberg compared to what others are going through.