Smelling Cinnamon and other stories out of empiricy (what?)

The table next to me seats 4 people, a sweet old couple with what seems to be their daughter and son-in-law. They are having a "soft" conversation, smiling and chuckling at what apparently transpired on their out-of-town adventure lately. Then the server comes out with three cinnamon buns. Three, yes. Three buns for four people. I found it odd. Maybe there was a mistake, maybe another cinnamon bun was on its way. I was trying to find out the mystery of the missing bun through my peripheral when the son-in-law asked the server for a knife. Hmm... strange. Why would you need a knife for a bun? A few seconds after and the server comes out with the said butter knife and hands it to the son-in-law. The son-in-law then cuts a cinnamon bun in half, hands one part to his wife and then leaves the other half for himself.

My thoughts? Either this young couple's excessively sweet or really really cheap!

*****

A Pajero is parked in front of me. While it parked, already sounded funny to me. Something seems to be amiss. So the guy parks, his family steps out to the restrooms while he opens the hood and peers into the engine. He is obviously lost in the engine, trying to figure out what was wrong. He goes to the back, and returns with a flashlight in hand. He jiggles it around all over the engine and scratches his near-bald head with it. He goes around back into the driver's seat and starts the diesel. It starts alright, but then he tries to put it in drive (Obviously it was an automatic from Subic) and then I hear the gears try to tear themselves apart. The sound was terrible, but the guy still struggles with it. The engine stalls, the gears are probably stuck now. The family comes back and without any question goes back into the Pajero. The guy shakes his head, goes back out to close the hood and tries starting the engine anew. It starts, gurgles metal and stalls. He tries is again, I hear him putting the tranny in reverse and it seems to have done the trick. He backs out of the slot, and when he tries to put it in drive, it stalls again. He seems irritated now, and seems to have started it in drive. The Pajero jackrabbits to life and he sustains it, now they're running. Tsk tsk... hope he doesn't lose it on the expressway else traffic ensues and I'd be stuck behind it.

*****

One advantage that I do love about the holy week on the expressway is the notable absence of trucks plying the SLEX. Of course, with most businesses closed, they have no destination. Being a sort of "expert" on the SLEX, I have noticed that come 8:30pm, the trucks come barging in on the highway, making life miserable for the relatively tiny cars that are racing home to the metro. These trucks are bulky, bumbling disasters waiting to happen on the road and many a time have I found myself clutching to the steering wheel for dear life when these monsters come swerving by.

Of course, the realization that these things are essential to our daily lives gives me some sort of consolation. How do you think the goods at 168 get there anyway? I have also had some experience in the past stuffing the containers that these trucks lug around, so I can't really say that they're all evil and a nuisance.

Thank God scooters aren't allowed on the SLEX.