Comments Posted By Brian
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Looks like a “grand” opening. Hope things continue to do well.
(On a completely random side note – I am always impressed with how well cake decorators are able to write on cakes. And it is not like they can start over if they make a mistake. LOL)
» Posted By Brian On 29/August/2021 @ 4:55 am
John, Happy birthday and happy trails to you.
Here’s to many more!!!
» Posted By Brian On 29/August/2021 @ 4:49 am
Went down the rabbit hole about the case your friend Jeremy was involved in. Glad he is out of jail, but six years in a foreign jail would be no picnic.
No winners in that case. Sad for everyone involved.
» Posted By Brian On 26/August/2021 @ 11:53 am
Wow! Some pretty rough terrain. Kudos to you, shortcut or not, it still is worthy of the definition of “hike”.
» Posted By Brian On 26/August/2021 @ 11:38 am
An alternate version of Manic Monday done earlier this year by Susanna Hoff. She’s looking for good for a 60+ year old
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJuVQQmU9BU
» Posted By Brian On 24/August/2021 @ 8:01 am
* merci
LOL
(though I assume it was autocorrected to Marci)
» Posted By Brian On 24/August/2021 @ 7:58 am
Wow! Quite the hike up. Equivalent of 60 floors is alot.
Surprised that the “quality” of the steps seemed to get better the higher you went. LOL
» Posted By Brian On 22/August/2021 @ 3:39 am
Great pics and photo tour.
A lot more to Baloy Beach than I thought.
» Posted By Brian On 19/August/2021 @ 2:09 am
A week in the life: Wednesday Walkers
Like Kevin said, you are going to have to look outside your normal circles. However, that will most likely involve looking outside your normal locales.
There is an organization called meetup.com
They host (or rather facilitate the organization of) meetings on a wide variety of subjects. Went to couple in Thailand pre pandemic. You can find hiking groups (maybe similar to your hash group but probably different, as I am guessing a fair number of woman would feel uncomfortable with some of the innuendos of your particular hash), political discussion groups, astronomy, environment, sheet metal working, etc. etc etc. Just looked at the Manila list, and there are a shitload of things listed. Of course, that is Manila and I have no idea if anything similar exists in your neck of the woods.
Not saying that there are going to be beautiful, educated, single woman in all of these groups, but I am pretty certain that type of woman will not be found working in the bars of Baretto.
Like that country song by Johnny Lee, I think you are
“Looking for Love in all the wrong Places”
» Posted By Brian On 12/August/2021 @ 4:50 am
A week in the life: Monday Hash Hare
Hope that the has went well.
Who picks the “on home”? Is it the hares, or does the location rotate and you make the trail fit the end?
» Posted By Brian On 10/August/2021 @ 3:13 am
John, thanks for the tour. Enjoyed it!
Re: Living in a third world country. As an expat, I think it can be advantageous to be relatively “unaware” of what goes on compared to a native resident. Ignorance is bliss in this case. I am sure that there is a lot of day to day stuff that drives Filipinos mad (culturally, politically, economically, etc) but an expat is able to avoid it for the most part. Of course, that attitude means that you will always be an “outsider” and not quite fit in, no matter how long a person stays in country.
I suppose it is similar to when someone comes to the US. There is a lot of partisanship, etc., but if you float on the surface and dont do a deep dive, you are able to stay above that and everything looks great.
» Posted By Brian On 06/August/2021 @ 7:54 am
A sane and insane day at the Hash
Hopefully, the “newcomer” does not make a habit out of joining future hashes!
» Posted By Brian On 04/August/2021 @ 4:24 am
Yup, appreciate (and am enjoying) the pics of the neighborhood!
» Posted By Brian On 03/August/2021 @ 1:32 am
I also like that one house. Nice curb appeal.
But $475K seems pretty steep.
» Posted By Brian On 31/July/2021 @ 1:27 am
John, what transgression resulted in you spending time “on ice”?
» Posted By Brian On 29/July/2021 @ 5:32 am
There is a Theodore Roosevelt National park. On the western edge of North Dakota.
Very cool park. Spent about 5 days camping there a few years ago.
Enjoying the journey through your neighborhood.
» Posted By Brian On 29/July/2021 @ 5:28 am
Also enjoying the tour. Thanks!!
» Posted By Brian On 26/July/2021 @ 12:58 am
Yup, great pics as always.
Just curious, how big is your neighborhood? In terms of acres or number of houses?
One part of my mind envisions a cozy little “subdivision”, but the other half thinks it is quite large.
» Posted By Brian On 20/July/2021 @ 2:11 am
John, this too shall pass. Yup, dont live your life with regrets. If there were mistakes made yesterday, own up to them. Apologies to be made, make them. But keep pushing forward.
The comment about being a dick to one of the ladies – I assume that was figurative and not literal? LOL
Like the saying goes:
Alcohol – because no great story ever started with someone eating a salad!!!!
» Posted By Brian On 13/July/2021 @ 12:44 am
So the beaches are considered private property? How far into the water does that extend?
I know alot of places where the property line extends to the high tide point (or something similar). Below that, it is public property.
» Posted By Brian On 11/July/2021 @ 2:59 am
“……….and plopped my lazy ass down on my favorite stool at Mango’s and watched the world go by.”
Hey, worse things in life than doing that!!!
» Posted By Brian On 10/July/2021 @ 2:40 am
Great pics as always John. Nice to vicariously follow along on your hikes.
And I agree with Kevin, the topography of the map makes it seems like the hike is much longer, but the elevation changes make up for that.
BTW, is “Mama” still around? Still happy to be living rough on the streets?
» Posted By Brian On 09/July/2021 @ 1:35 am
Ouch!! That does look painful (and infected). Hope the antibiotics (and alcohol) will cure it!
» Posted By Brian On 29/June/2021 @ 7:18 am
Yeah, MJ has a story that is been told and will continue to be told many times over. She is in a tough situation and it is hard not to have sympathy for her. As Kevin says, some is due to her own making, but in her defense, it does take two to tango.
There is a lot of naïveté in many of the girls when they are young. A westerner comes in, promises the world, and the girls have stars in their eyes. Guys tend to think with their dicks and girls tend to think with their hearts. And in a first world/third world relationship situation, it generally does not end well.
And then later, guys complain that many of the girls are mercenary. “Why can’t I meet a nice sweet innocent girl?” Well, those girls have probably been screwed over (both literally and figuratively) before, so hard to blame them for the way they act.
Anyway, you have a good heart John, and hope things work out for MJ.
» Posted By Brian On 27/June/2021 @ 2:29 am
From what I know of various Hash groups, they are pretty much social clubs. Rules are few and far between for the most part.
If someone is pissed because you did not follow the “official” trail, it seems to me that someone should probably either A) get a life or B) find a Hash group that is more in line with their thinking.
» Posted By Brian On 23/June/2021 @ 1:29 am
Kevin, I looked at your meal calendar. Holy crap – I give you credit. That certainly does not look like enough food to sustain life. LOL But good on ya’ for recognizing a problem and coming up with a (potential) solution.
John – great pics. Skies always look so nice after a rain.
» Posted By Brian On 15/June/2021 @ 5:48 am
It is amazing how the amount of crap expands to fit your available space. LOL Nature abhors a vacuum (or empty space) I guess!
While working in Taiwan, I spent almost two years in a company guesthouse in Taiwan, basically the size of a hotel room. When it came time to leave, I was like, “how in the hell did I fit all of this stuff in my room????”
I guess that is a good thing about periodically moving. It does allow you to purge stuff that you dont really need.
» Posted By Brian On 13/June/2021 @ 3:32 am
RE: Irregular steps – frustrates me to no end that in places like Taiwan and Thailand (and maybe PI), there is no rhyme or reason to the height of the sidewalk, especially in the big cities. It is almost as if each building owner has free rein to set the height of the landing in front of their business/residence to whatever they want. Aaargh.
It is amazing how the human body can be so accurate when it comes to repetitive stair steps. A difference of an inch or less from one step to teh next is enough to throw you off.
» Posted By Brian On 11/June/2021 @ 8:29 am
RE: living in another country. I have been fortunate enough to live/work in a number of countries, and as a non-native, I know that I am insulated from a lot/most of the crap that goes on in a particular country. I follow the local news wherever I am at, but I know I miss a lot and the stuff that I do know about just doesn’t have the same impact. Kind of just rolls off.
For example, in Thailand now, there is a lot of very very very passionate debate on the role of the monarchy in society (I would say somewhat similar to the culture wars going on in the US). For me however, I hear about it, shrug my shoulders and carry on with my life. Doesn’t move me too much one way or the other. If I were a native Thai on the other hand, I would probably be much more involved or interested. LOL
That may be how it is for a new immigrant to the US. All the stuff going on politically, culturally, etc. just doesn’t resonate with them the same way it does with a native.
In this case, I do think that ignorance is bliss.
» Posted By Brian On 08/June/2021 @ 1:03 am
«« Back To Stats PageLOL John – yep, don’t want to dip your pen in the company inkwell!
» Posted By Brian On 08/June/2021 @ 12:48 am