Fan down, fAn down...

We have a black fan down!

A sorry state of affairs. Around madaling araw the fan stopped working.

ma-da-ling a-raw (aw as in ouch)
time after midnight and before sunrise.

I didn't realize this until I woke up and the bedsheets were saturated. Perhaps that's an exaggeration, damp would be a better description. The humidity caused by the incessant rain overnight felt like I had spent a considerable time in a sauna.

I was coated in sweat and even glistening in a Twilight-ish way. A quick inspection of the fan showed that it was still plugged in and turned on but the blade wasn't moving. So I turned the thing off, unplugged it and had a cold shower.

It reminded me of the summers in Australia. After a training session down the beach, I'd have a cold shower and a colder beer. I tried to look on the bright side, back home the temperature was closer to zero and I would probably want to be sweating rather than covered up in 5 layers of clothing.

I prepared breakfast in a much better mood. However, it was a rushed job as I wanted to tinker with the fan before A woke up, so I cracked open a couple of cans of corned beef, fried some eggs and cooked some rice. Done in a few minutes.

Luckily, I had brought my set of tools with me and was able to disassemble the fan with no difficulty. I didn't have a clue what I was looking at or what I was looking for and even with the help of Google I was left to figure things out on my own.

I plugged it back in and tried to turn it on but all I got was a low mechanical thrum and zero movement. I don't understand electrical things so well but to me there was something wrong with the motor. It looked like a visit to the fan man. I'm sure I saw a place near the palengke that had an assortment of second hand fans. Perhaps they could fix it or if not have a cheap replacement.

It was around that time that A woke up so I laid the pieces aside and began A's morning routine. Toilet time, wash face, tv on, feed, play. I figured that during her play period I could return to the fan. It wasn't to be. She wanted me to explain why that Explorer girl was helping the cow. After that it was to sympathise with the helpless duckling, wawa daw siya. The morning was filled with questions and statements regarding the programs. She also wanted this toy from this fastfood place and that she wanted a dress like that character's.

Essentially it left me with zero time to look at the fan. And I still had to prepare lunch and then give her a wash and then send her to sleep. Even with her asleep I couldn't leave her alone. I was up the proverbial creek.

After lunch and a wash, she slept mid way through a chapter from Paths of Glory. Seeing as I couldn't leave A, I thought that I may as well join her. So I, too, napped.

A light slap on my cheek woke me from my slumber. "Weewee weewee" was what I first heard. I moved quickly, knowing that tardiness in this matter would mean more work for me. So I bolted upright, shook my head to clear my senses and followed her to the bathroom.

Afterwards, her afternoon routine began. Sit down in front of the tv, have a snack and drink and play. She had her regular 'bread cheese', two slices of bread with a slice of cheese in between, cut in quarters. Her 'apple-o', a decored apple sliced horizontally to achieve an 'O' appearance. Finished off with her juice, either apple juice or a milk yoghurt variant. Sometimes its vaw-ter or tubig. With all that in front of her she's set for the remainder of the afternoon. 

The rain had flooded the street downstairs, a new phenomenon to me. I had taken for granted the sewerage system back home. A trip to the palengke with or without A would be tricky. Do the alligators come out when the streets are flooded? Looking out the window I was sure the water level was close to knee-height. Plus I didn't want leptowhatchamacallit. that disease from rat waste.

I gave up any hope of getting the fan fixed. I figured that I'd ask Sir J to get it fixed the next day. Instead I relaxed by fielding difficult questions from A. Why is it purple? Why did that pink starfish grow a nose? What's for dinner?

As for the night that lay ahead, well, I figured that I needed to lose a few more kilos anyway.


PJ out.