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At our age.. cars may be an investment for the wife.. but not for us.

I am an engineer, and I understand redundancy at the levels used in aircraft and nuclear plants.  so let me give you my opinion. The MARKET..  not PLDT..  provides redundancy in this case.  How do I know?  Because YOU are up and running again with " Magic Data from Smart / Sun" and because I am operating just fine wth [email protected]  Because we both have the good fortine that the TOWERS used by Smart and Globe were.. for us.. not knocked down.  Others are not so lucky as many towers ARE out. Before Odette.. PLDT was the darling of the market..   because they were delivering Internet speeds far above what others could deliver.  They did this with a network of fiber cable installed on vulnerable utility poles..  because here there is no other way.  And let me tell you.. out here in the province..  if there ARE no utility poles to get that cable to MY HOUSE..  the PLDT fiber will get draped over the branches of the most convenient trees to get it here to my house (same way as my Globe Landline was installed).  I know of mountain barangays out here that had PDPT where MUCH of the distance the cables needed to be hung on trees. But then the city was hit by an Act of God..  a force majeur..  so violent that it knocked all those vulerable posts over.  I watched a video speech by the Governor of Bohol in which he stated that 11,000 utility poles were knockd down there.  11,000..  Just imagine the cost and the labour required to reinstall all of that.  If they actually HAVE the poles.. like they would keep that many in inventory. Cebu is not so much better off. The reality is..  that Cebu is a developing market.  Aside from some specific areas.. like IT Park..  that "high speed capability" that everyone loves of PLDT had to be installed on vulnerable utility poles.. because they have no choice.  And you can be sure that redundancy DID exist for some customers..  as some of the BIGGEST internet customers (in IT park) did get back in operation quickly.  But for the little guy... you and me..  and most others who just don't have the budget for it..  No redundancy.  And no protection from Acts of God either..  Why?  Not enough money.. You, and I and the other guys..  just don't PAY ENOUGH.. The market just doesn't warrant it.  It's all about MONEY.  You get what you pay for. What do you think is going on at PLDT senior management right now..  Where they are faced with the unexpected COSTS of having to make these repairs.  Like most companies.. they don't just have money laying around ready to be sucked up..  and all those technicians need to get paid..  and new cable need to be purchased.  So.. where you think that money comes from?  Senior Management must approve it.. and you can be sure that LOTS of people will not pay their PLDT bill for January. IF I was in that PLDT senior mnaagement I would definatey have to ask myself just how MUCH of my network do I want to rebuild again..  because many of my customrs will switch to other alternatives before I can possibly get the network rebuilt..  and because now I must compete with 5G as well..  which was not a force when much of the PLDT cable was installed. In fact much of the PLDT network was installed in a rush to get ahead of 5G..  to drive a stake in the ground to TAKE as much of the market as possible. So.. bottom line..  PLDT was installed in a rush as well as could be done in a third world country..  and it WAS great while you had it.. then God decided to knock it down.  Now man.. with his $$$..  must decide IF and WHEN and HOW to rebuild it... and how much of it.  And since the initial installation took years.. i expect the reconstruction will take many months or more..  if they even do it.  Tough luck.. Send your complaints to God.. or the President of PLDT (along with your bill payment).

Price wise, about the same if you stick with common brands like toyota, honda and such. However, if you buy brand new they do throw loads of extras, e.g. 5 years of free service. The asia exclusive models like say the yota fortuner might appear cheap, but you get what you pay, a budget landcruiser. I don't see how a depreciating asset can be an investment though, the only thing I notice is that cars depreciate in value a lot slower in PH. And... if you scooped up the right models before the shortage hit, you could probably sell with a profit right now,  but those are not ordinary circumstances, and it's going on all over the world right now. During normal times though, cars lose value, fast.

They will send you a big check, tomorrow....

Speaking of Woolf,,,  He mentioned putting a whole house GFI type breaker on his VECO house here. That might be what you're looking for. It trips if there is a difference in current on the 2 hots. I believe he also stated where he bought it if you search the posts.