When we were young, fairy tales were always great stories because they all have happy endings. The timeless phrase, "and they all lived happily ever after," is what makes a great fairy tale ending . I enjoy looking at my little seven year old daughter when I end a story with this phrase and I love that dreamy, happy-innocent look in her eyes as she tries to imagine that happy ending.
Of course as we grew older and got to experience the realities of life, we've somehow lost that child-like view of innocence on how events would turn out positively. Our hearts "get hardened," so to speak, after being at the painful end of a failed relationship; losing out on an opportunity; or losing friends or love ones.
And yet somehow the universe balances itself out. Life throws a curve ball that often times, makes all the hurt and pain more bearable or even surmountable. Sept 25 lives on in the memory of many people as a tragic day when typhoon Ondoy struck Manila. No one ever imagined that on this day, the lives of hundreds of people would forever be changed.
My parents were one of those who were badly affected by the heavy rains and resulting floods from Ondoy. Water was close to neck deep inside their home and practically ruined everything.
One of the things my Dad enjoys is listening to music on his audio gears. He invested quite a hefty sum to build up his bi-amp audio system which consist of the following:
- Aurora SET amp driving a pair of bookshelf Fanfare Acoustics Prelude which were manufactured by a Norwegian company and was highly rated at the time he purchased these
- Sansui BA303 power amp driving a pair of Kef B300b speakers serving as subwoofers in a CS9 cabinet enclosure
- GSI Transient Perfect electronic crossover network
- Acoustic Research XA turntable with Koetsu black cartridge
- Audio Research LS2 preamp
- RGR Model 4 preamp
- Philips CD950 cd player
-Sumo Charlie FM tuner
- Van del Hul cables/interconnects and Belden speaker wires
- HP 9100-4062 isolation transformer
- Yaden line conditioner
When the flood waters started to creep up the inclined driveway, Dad switched off the main power and started to pile up whatever he could up the highest closet areas and stacking some of these on top of the chairs which he had placed on top of the dining table.
Sadly, the KEF subs and the isolations transformer which were too big and heavy to move together with the AR turntable, were the major casualties. Dad was so frustrated and anguished with how the turntable (what remained) looked that he threw this together with the rest of junked furnishings.
Judging from the watermarks on the walls after the flood receded, it's possible that the other gears also got wet. Dad passed on the gears for me to dispose of. Here's how some of the gears looked like after they were recovered from the flood waters of Ondoy:
Of course as we grew older and got to experience the realities of life, we've somehow lost that child-like view of innocence on how events would turn out positively. Our hearts "get hardened," so to speak, after being at the painful end of a failed relationship; losing out on an opportunity; or losing friends or love ones.
And yet somehow the universe balances itself out. Life throws a curve ball that often times, makes all the hurt and pain more bearable or even surmountable. Sept 25 lives on in the memory of many people as a tragic day when typhoon Ondoy struck Manila. No one ever imagined that on this day, the lives of hundreds of people would forever be changed.
My parents were one of those who were badly affected by the heavy rains and resulting floods from Ondoy. Water was close to neck deep inside their home and practically ruined everything.
One of the things my Dad enjoys is listening to music on his audio gears. He invested quite a hefty sum to build up his bi-amp audio system which consist of the following:
- Aurora SET amp driving a pair of bookshelf Fanfare Acoustics Prelude which were manufactured by a Norwegian company and was highly rated at the time he purchased these
- Sansui BA303 power amp driving a pair of Kef B300b speakers serving as subwoofers in a CS9 cabinet enclosure
- GSI Transient Perfect electronic crossover network
- Acoustic Research XA turntable with Koetsu black cartridge
- Audio Research LS2 preamp
- RGR Model 4 preamp
- Philips CD950 cd player
-Sumo Charlie FM tuner
- Van del Hul cables/interconnects and Belden speaker wires
- HP 9100-4062 isolation transformer
- Yaden line conditioner
When the flood waters started to creep up the inclined driveway, Dad switched off the main power and started to pile up whatever he could up the highest closet areas and stacking some of these on top of the chairs which he had placed on top of the dining table.
Sadly, the KEF subs and the isolations transformer which were too big and heavy to move together with the AR turntable, were the major casualties. Dad was so frustrated and anguished with how the turntable (what remained) looked that he threw this together with the rest of junked furnishings.
Judging from the watermarks on the walls after the flood receded, it's possible that the other gears also got wet. Dad passed on the gears for me to dispose of. Here's how some of the gears looked like after they were recovered from the flood waters of Ondoy:
Sansui BA 303
Aurora SET amp
AR LS2
RGR Preamp
GSI Crossover
HP Isolation Transformer
Seeing his pride and joy all ruined, I silently made a committment to either get them repaired/restored or buy him a new set. (End of Part 1)
