After the storm

It looks like it’s gonna be a better day today than yesterday. Then again, today is Friday the 13th so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Ulysses has come and gone now but the bastard won’t soon be forgotten.

I rode the storm out the best as I was able, mostly confined at home with no electricity for EIGHTEEN fucking hours! I ventured out during what I thought was a lull in the rain to walk the dog. Ulysses was just yanking my chain though. Once I got to the point furthest from the house he unleashed a new wave of wind and pounding rain upon my helpless head. I noticed the same pattern of on-again/off-again action throughout the morning and early afternoon but didn’t get caught in that web of deceit again until late in the day.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post about some water seepage. This was caused by the wind driving the rain sideways through some heretofore unnoticed gaps between the windows and the walls. I did experience some wind damage on my upstairs balcony, however:

Shit happens.

During my abbreviated dog walk, I noticed at least one tree down in the neighborhood:

At least it didn’t take out any powerlines. Not that it would have mattered at that point.

I don’t mean to make light of my good fortune though. I live in an elevated community. Down in Barretto, a friend was dealing with this:

Outside the house…
…and inside.

Everything is relative I suppose. South of us in Metro Manila things got scary bad:

I just can’t imagine being trapped on my roof for hours and hours in the driving rain.

Anyway, I stayed home all day, and finally around 4:00 the boredom seemed worse than the storm. Besides, I needed to go out to find mama and give her some food money. I waited for a lull in the storm and made a dash for Barretto. Barely got out of the neighborhood before the deluge began again. I had my umbrella but it proved pretty much worthless with the windblown rain soaking everything but my head. I did find mama taking shelter under the awning of a closed bar, so mission accomplished!

Seeing as how I was already out and about, I popped into Mango’s for a couple of beers. The beach had some souvenirs left by Ulysses.

Beachcombers had already begun the salvage operations.
Plenty more where that came from.

I messaged my helper to see if the power was back on at my house and was informed that it was not. Briefly thought about booking a room but decided without a change of clothes or my computer it was pointless. But since I couldn’t cook in the dark at home I ordered me up some dinner.

Roast chicken and coleslaw. I couldn’t eat all that though so brought some back home for the hired help to enjoy.

I was going to visit Queen Victoria for a nightcap but they were already closed (it was only 6 p.m.). So I caught a trike for the ride back to Alta Vista. As we traveled I noted that lights were burning brightly everywhere so I took that as a good sign. Well, everywhere but Alta Vista. I asked the gate guard what was going on and he assured me Zameco (the power company) was “on the way”. Hmm, okay then. It is no fun going home to a dark house, that’s for sure.

Still, you just have to make the best of it. I had a little battery left in the laptop and my wifi hotspot connection so I wasn’t alone.

The battery finally gave out and so did I. I went upstairs to bed at 7 p.m. When the fan kicked on it woke me at just a bit past 10. Power had finally been restored! I went back to sleep as best as I was able and finally knew I’d had enough by 0330. Did all my usual internet stuff and finished well before my dog walk time of 0700. Nothing left to do but write this post.

Yeah, you can blame Ulysses for that too!

10 thoughts on “After the storm

  1. Those’re some incredible, and depressing, pics of extreme flooding. As I said earlier, drainage is serious business (levees, too!). Glad you’re safe, but sorry to read about your being without power for eighteen hours.

    You planning to buy an ATV? I see one on your computer screen.

  2. Yeah, for a country that has a rainy season half the year you’d think they’d have mastered the art of drainage. But nope, like just about everything else they take a half-assed “that’ll do” approach. It’s a good thing the women are so hot here. Just sayin’.

    No ATV in my future. That was just some random post on Facebook when I pulled the camera out…

  3. At a guess, the women stay hot and healthy by constantly running away from a neverending series of natural disasters that also depress the economy and keep people from overeating.

  4. Glad that, all things considered, you came out pretty unscathed.

    (At least until the next one).

    Remind me, what is the typical rainy season in your neck of the woods?

  5. Ulysses, how dare they name a storm after a Civil War General. That’s what the Libtards in the Staes would say. Their was talk of renaming some of the Army posts named after Civil War Generals. Then the Indians(no, not the ones who own half the gas stations and convenience stores and hotels in America) got on board. They were offended by the names of Army helicopters.(Named after Indian Tribes, Chinook, Apache and others). To me that’s an honor. Yeah, you are one lucky dude living in some third-world country where there may not be electricity but a least there’s some sanity. I disagree with you McCrarey on one thing. The asian Hotties are definitely in Korea.Peace Out!

  6. Kev, well a large (growing?) number of women here are becoming obese–too much junk food I reckon.

    Brian, normally rainy season is from early September through November. Usually a couple of typhoon type storms during that time. This year was actually quite dry up until the past couple of weeks. But then again, there ain’t much “normal” about the Philippines.

    Soju, I hear you! It’s so Orwellian to want to alter history to suit the current political climate. Don’t despair though, I think that ordinary people get it. I know when there was all that clamor to change the name of the Redskins football team most native Americans surveyed didn’t find it offensive. I always took the helicopter names as honoring the tribes, I expect the natives do as well.

  7. Oh, and Soju–Korean gals are definitely the prettiest in Asia on the OUTSIDE. Filipinas are much sweeter (or at least pretend to be) which makes them beautiful to me…

  8. “Filipinas are much sweeter”

    Yeah, that parenthetical (“pretend to be”) is a necessary modifier, given what I’ve learned about Filipinas from your blog, and from the lengthening trail of relationship wreckage behind you. Those Pinay chicks seem to be about as cold and as calculating as the Korean women you’ve known. But as I’ve said, you meet a certain quality of woman when you frequent a certain type of place. Upgrade your haunts, and you’ll upgrade your women. (Unless you likes ’em skanky, which I kinda suspect you do!)

  9. “(Unless you likes ’em skanky, which I kinda suspect you do!)”

    Okay, now that cracked me up. What can I say, like attracts like. I’d actually never heard of the Madonna-whore complex you linked. Fascinating! Felt almost like looking in a mirror. I jest, I don’t think I’m quite THAT bad!

  10. Before I read the Wikipedia explanation, I had taken the Madonna-whore complex to refer men’s desire for women who are a combination of virginal/pure and utterly slutty. This would explain men’s attraction to younger, doe-eyed women who look innocent, but who might be ready to do (insert, munch, lick, suck, etc.) anything in the bedroom.

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