Fixing a dislocated Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 Tripod Leg

I was ready to shoot the sunrise in Panglao Island in Bohol, Philippines.  But.. when I was about to setup my Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 Carbon Fiber tripod, the tripod legs broke into several pieces...  Arrgghh... instead of shooting the rising sun, i had to spend some time figuring out what happened, and picking up pieces of my tripod, and luckily I was still able to find the tiny parts of my broken tripod on the beach sand... (imagine looking for parts that I don't even know existed just using a tiny flash light because it was still dark... I just saw them and thought that they were part of my tripod and picked them up... Wheww...) Anyway, it looks like the plastic part in the figure below, but much tinier on the sand...  anyway, now you know that the 190CXPRO3 has this part, it should be a bit easier for you, in case the same accident happens to you.

Now that I found the broken parts, I had to assemble them together in order to use them, I had to figure it out quickly, but after I assembled them, I noticed that I didn't put them back the way it should be... Ouch!

The screw holding the sections of the tripod leg needed a hex type screw driver... Oh Boy... To cut it short, my tripod leg had misaligned joints for almost 2 months.  (ok, I was too lazy to look for and bring it back to the store where I bought it since I bought during a trade show)

I was about to give up, and I suddenly thought of giving my Swiss Knife's Flat (Slotted) Head screw driver a try and it Work! It fits perfectly into the screw driver slot and allowed me to loosen the screw and get the job done.  This is just an idea of how to work with a Hex type screw, you could use another Flat head screwdriver that fits the slot of the screw.

Putting back the legs into place is easy once you know what should go where, here are some tips...

The plastic part above is called "R190,616" by Manfrotto (you can find the190CXPRO3 Part List here), it is used for locking the leg and preventing it from totally slipping through when you extend it.  Therefore it goes on top of the leg, fit it into the hole on the side of the leg, see Fig. A and Fig. B.

Insert the lower tube(leg) into the upper tube(leg), See Fig. D.  Take note that there is a protruding line inside the tube, see Fig. C.  Insert the lower leg with the slot formed by the two plastic locking mechanism, see Fig. B, using the protruding line as a guide.

Before tightening the screws, make sure that the locking latches shown below are aligned with each other.

That's it, I hope this tutorial on how to fix a Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 Tripod helps.

A Visual Tour around Fort Santiago

Fort Santiago Park

Old Canon

Old Anchors

I think this is another Prison cell

Footsteps of Dr. Jose Rizal on his execution day towards Bagumbayan or Luneta

Dr. Jose Rizal's Prison Cell

Prison Cell

Rows of Prison Cells

Another View of a Prison Cell

Marker for all Filipinos and Armericans who died in Fort Santiago

Replica of Dr. Jose Rizal on his way out towards Bagumbayan

Replica of the Footsteps of Dr. Jose Rizal

Replica of Guardia Sibil

Replica of Guardia Sibil

Modern View outside of Fort Santiago

Walkway on the walls of Fort Santiago

Calesa Tour around Fort Santiago

Ikrans and Toruks of AVATAR

I think Ikrans in the film Avatar represents the Fear that we all have in us.  Fear chooses it's master as the Ikrans do and will try to kill us if we let it do so, but once we learn to face our fears and learn to control it, we can now use it to our advantage as the Navi's control and use Ikrans to soar high and attack their challengers.

Toruks are humongous and fierce which I think represents the big responsibilities and tremendous challenges that a great leader faces, in spite of this when one surrenders and decides to take on the responsibility one will find ways to overcome the challenge as did Jake Sully did when he embraced his great responsibility and finally realized the simplest way of attacking the Toruk is by leaping from his Ikran into the back of the Toruk, where Toruk roughly means "Last Shadow" where its preferred method of attack is from above, therefore the last thing the prey sees is the shadow of its predator.

Being able to control our Ikrans and Toruks will allows us to achieve our Goals and Dreams!

Our prayers are answered

As suggested by Coach Jopet Pedroso, I bought my Executive Organizer for 2010 from National Bookstore to organize my time and be able to plan ahead. I found a quote for the week of January 4, 2010.  "Our prayers are answered not when we are given what we ask, but when we are challenged to be what we can be".

Reading this quote made me think of the opportunities presented to me now and in the past.  I have been asking for help and guidance, and now I realize the answers are already in front of me, I just have to act on them and get what I want.

Shaw Boulevard vs General Kalentong

I was going to a meeting in Chowking Edsa Central a few weeks ago.  From Quezon City I decided to go to Shaw Boulevard from Areneta Ave., then F. Blumentritt in San Juan.  My adventure started when I was on the Shaw Boulevard and General Kalentong intersection.  The arrow on the street sign was pointing UP beside Shaw Boulevard and pointing Right beside General Kalentong.  Since I trusted the arrow sign, I believed that Shaw Boulevard is still down the road.  In short, I missed my turn and reached Pasig River which quite a long time and I started to suspect that I missed my turn.

I hope the government agency who is responsible for the street signs would be more Excellent and Responsible in making their street signs so motorist like me won't get lost because of these simple but important mistakes.

Traffic mistake on Christmas

We were driving toward Roxas Boulevard from NAIA Road, when we suddenly noticed that Roxas Boulevard is already in front of us. After realizing this, I decided to shift to the right lane when all the cars on our right are gone so I can make a right turn. That was when we saw the MMDA or Policeman (forgot what he actually is) waiving us to pull over. He asked for my license and is about to issue me a ticket, and I started to negotiate, he resisted to let us go, and when I told him that we just settle in on the spot, he told us that it can't be done because the apprehending officer has a quota and needs to dispose their tickets. He also mentioned that the apprehending officer is supposed to receive 50% of the fine charge to the traffic violator which is supposed to be paid through the bank. I asked about the amount of the fine, and he mentioned that I have to pay 650 pesos for my violation. My cousin who is beside me gave me 50 pesos to give to the police to urge him to settle it on the spot. I continued to urge him to settle the case right there and then and pass on the money to him and said Merry Christmas, eventually he gave in and let us go.

I wish they could make the Street signs much BIGGER and put it much earlier, so first time motorist who are passing would have enough time to decide how to proceed.

Sharing our Blessing with Baby Ethan

Hoping to find my colleague for my carpool on YM, instead my High School Classmate Philip Chan PMed me on YM, and we exchanged holiday greetings.  He also shared that he is helping his friend to raise money, and so happened this friend is baby Ethan's Father, and they are asking for support to raise for funds to help Ethan get a Liver Transplant.  Ethan is now around 8 months old and was diagnosed to have Biliary Atresia, a serious but rare disease of the liver that affects newborn infants. The liver damage incurred from biliary atresia is caused by injury and loss of the bile ducts that are responsible for draining bile from the liver. The loss of bile ducts causes bile to remain in the liver. When bile builds up, it can damage the liver, causing scarring and loss of liver tissue. Eventually the liver will not be able to function properly and cirrhosis will occur. Once the liver fails, a liver transplant becomes necessary within the first one to two years of the baby's life.

To find out more on how to support Baby Ethan and his parents please visit http://www.ethansfriends.com/