Comments Posted By John McCrarey
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Kev, it is hard to get a handle on what is going on with John’s place. We go once a week (Sunday at 5) and almost always are the only customers. That said, I see a lot of Grab takeout being picked up for delivery, and I know the restaurant has a solid fan base within the expat community. I haven’t seen any deterioration in the food quality.
Yes, I long for the days when I can complain about the heat again.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 29/July/2025 @ 9:00 am
Kev, exceeding 10K is a rare event, and I don’t think I’ve ever done it in wet shoes. I do get a rash on my upper thighs sometimes when walking in wet shorts.
Yeah, I’ve picked up on that prison vibe when we feed the kids behind that fence. There’s about a dozen of them.
Vernon Wells does look like Freddie Mercury in that clip. Another film I’ve not seen.
I see what you mean about the speech balloons being confusing. I read it as coming from the girl, but as you say, it works both ways.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 28/July/2025 @ 9:55 am
Gary, I just prefer shoes because I find them better suited to walking, and I like to walk!
I don’t follow UFC and had to look up Petr Yan to see who you were talking about. I guess he has a better shot at the title than me caring, either way.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 28/July/2025 @ 9:45 am
Kev, Yep, the end of the world can’t happen if the spelling is wrong!
Yeah, that video was poorly done, although I think it was humor he was going for. Mispronouncing common Tagalog words like “Ate” (should be ah-tae) ruined his credibility, too.
It’s funny, I sing that Lennox song sometimes when I’m walking and the rain starts to fall.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 27/July/2025 @ 1:07 pm
Kev, it’s funny how even when you tell yourself you are free from your religious upbringing, the indoctrination has left its scars. I can see what you mean how tainted my thinking is when it comes to matters of faith.
The ‘do-over life’ concept is admittedly just a fantasy that arose when I tried to imagine what my ideal heaven might be. An eternal life of exploring all those paths I didn’t take and avoiding the ones I should have. So, I need to bring those lessons learned from this life with me. I don’t expect the almighty will fulfill those dreams.
Thanks for the tips on Sikhs and Greeks! Maybe I can study up and flesh out some more realistic parameters for my afterlife fantasies.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 28/July/2025 @ 1:23 pm
Kev, I appreciate your insights on religious values. I now see the distinction about Buddhism in practice being about an individual’s journey rather than adhering to the “rules” that must be followed according to the dictates of Christian dogma. That’s a huge difference and one that would appeal to me if I weren’t a lost soul beyond redemption.
Being raised in the Four Square/Assembly of God wing of the Protestant faith probably closed my mind to other potentialities. As a teen, I rejected the basic tenets of the church, no longer believing Mary was a virgin or that Jesus rose from the dead. I wouldn’t call myself an atheist, I have a sense there is some greater power out there, but the jealous Biblical God isn’t it. Of course, the teachings of the pedophile Mohammed are even more fucked up.
I guess I’ll find out sooner or later what eternity may bring. Odds are good it will be dust for me, but I’m still lobbying hard for that do-over life, or more precisely, lives.
Again, I really enjoy reading your thoughts on aspects of religious beliefs I was never exposed to before. Thank you for taking the time to broaden my perspectives.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 27/July/2025 @ 1:27 pm
Kev, the fish chunks, albeit small, were thicker than a cracker at least.
As I understand it, we had a convergence of three tropical depressions that kept feeding each other. After six days of stormy weather, it appears they have moved on. Now it is just back to “normal” rainy season. The main difference is the intensity. And yes, it does cool things off. There has even been a day or two when I didn’t need my bedroom fan.
Thanks for the insights on the interplay of religious beliefs and the languages that they use. As a non-believer in any of the doctrines, it strikes me as an intellectual surrender to indoctrination. But what do I know? (Just in case I’m wrong, forgive me, Jesus, for I have sinned.)
» Posted By John McCrarey On 26/July/2025 @ 1:04 pm
Kev, I followed your instructions to the letter and everything happened just the way you said it would. Thanks for the lesson! Now, I’ll wait for the opportunity to experiment. Oddly enough, it stopped raining now. What is nature trying to hide from my camera?
» Posted By John McCrarey On 25/July/2025 @ 5:34 pm
Kev, as I understand it, the compound is now lakeside living. The water has invaded one of the residences, and Swan invited those relatives to take refuge in our basement today.
I know most of the local streets that can’t handle a heavy rain. But seeing St. James underwater on the Wednesday Walk was a surprise.
Yeah, that was my first thought when I saw the carnival rides: built to Philippines safety standards. No thank you!
What genius decided to build there?
Welcome to the Philippines. Sense isn’t common here.There’s been a lower than normal number of tourists this year, and most of the old fart expats aren’t willing to climb the three flights of stairs to get to BarCelona. I asked the building owner about putting in one of those small outside elevators. He said too expensive and unreliable.
New tricks with the camera are inconsistent with my status as an old dog.
I was never much of an Ozzie/Black Sabbath fan, but I’ll give him credit for being a pioneer and bucking 70s music trends to form his own heavy metal genre.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 25/July/2025 @ 10:16 am
Thanks for the suggestions, Gary. I’ll have a listen.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 24/July/2025 @ 10:04 am
Brian, She’s a local so I guess it seems normal to her. I wouldn’t enjoy doing walking through that muck. Surprisingly, it was mostly natural stuff like branches instead of the usual plastic bottles and other litter.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 24/July/2025 @ 10:04 am
Gary, I was never a big Black Sabbath fan. What’s your favorite song by them?
» Posted By John McCrarey On 23/July/2025 @ 6:29 pm
Welcome back, Brian! Well, my chili is like fastfood…canned ingredients and seasoning from McCormick. BF’s is the real deal. I’m not that keen on spicy, but he makes his the way most people prefer.
It’s just a Hash thing, every time you reach double digits, you get recognized. And part of that recognition is the way it ends…”…and what does she get? Not a fuckin’ thing.” We do give headbands for special occasions, like 50 and 100 hundreds. Oh, and a fun thing is done for 69 runs… 🙂
» Posted By John McCrarey On 23/July/2025 @ 10:08 am
Yes, I’m up high, and if it floods here, I’ll be meeting Noah…
» Posted By John McCrarey On 22/July/2025 @ 11:39 pm
He has not started building yet, and I’m too old to wait. I can wake up early at Mope Resort and hit the road from there. I just need to find where I left my motivation…
» Posted By John McCrarey On 22/July/2025 @ 8:32 am
Kev, yep, if you are going to cheat, do it in the PI where the gals are hot and young…
Heh, they are wet, too. At least this time of year. The storm was so loud last night it woke me up more than once.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 21/July/2025 @ 11:01 am
Ted, I see what you did there…
» Posted By John McCrarey On 21/July/2025 @ 11:00 am
Gary, I don’t tend to censor comments, preferring a free and open discussion. But personal attacks do not add value and I’ll exercise my discretion when I believe they’ve crossed the line.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 20/July/2025 @ 9:19 am
Greg, indeed, most of the houses in my neighborhood have elevated tanks that keep the water flowing. If these outages continue, I’ll definitely consider joining the crowd and installing one. As with the generator, it is not about the money, just the pain in the ass factor.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 20/July/2025 @ 9:16 am
Kev, no laws against water storage tanks, in fact, I’d wager that more houses have them than don’t here. I don’t drink the tap water here, so I have a good supply of bottled water. If these water shutdowns become a regular fact of life, I’ll look into the water tank.
At least I don’t have to worry about dehydration as long as there is beer in the fridge!
» Posted By John McCrarey On 20/July/2025 @ 9:13 am
Greg, I thought of getting a generator, and maybe someday I still will. An hour or two without power I can handle, an all day outage is too much. Of course, it gives me an excuse to get outta town for awhile. The water problem won’t be fixed by a generator anyway.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 19/July/2025 @ 6:08 pm
No worries, Gary. People can say what they want in the comments and I don’t take offense. Feedback is a gift, you don’t have to like the present.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 19/July/2025 @ 6:06 pm
It is not an issue these days. I have the few “charity” cases I give to on a monthly basis. Nothing else.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 19/July/2025 @ 12:51 pm
Kev, I didn’t talk to anyone at the credit union; I messaged through the website. I cleaned my ATM card, and it worked yesterday. This morning, I received a message from the CU stating that they had seen I made a withdrawal and inquired if I still wanted a new card. I asked again if they would mail it to the FPO address. We’ll see. I’m glad the card worked again, but it makes me nervous that it’s unreliable.
Yes, the steaks are high and small(er). Oh, well. Half the size and half the price of John’s place.
Swan cuts and serves me mango like that. I hadn’t made the connection to that look on the mashed taters.
Yeah, the lez gals are hot. I’d like to do them (if I were single) together. But then, I’m a lesbian trapped in a man’s body.
True, I am guilty of “loaning” money, but I have an ulterior motive. By calling it a loan instead of a gift, I can deny future requests by saying, “You still haven’t paid me back from last time.”
» Posted By John McCrarey On 19/July/2025 @ 11:17 am
James, the funeral banners are hung on or near the residence of the recently deceased, so I do randomly encounter them on my walks around town. The disconcerting thing is that well more than half of the dead people I see died younger than me.
There is a new guy who has been buying up bars around Barretto. I believe he is up to four now (Whiskey Girl, Voodoo, Tryst, and the recently closed Oasis). Rumor has it he has a couple of other projects in mind as well. I’m not sure the bar/laundry idea is one of them, but you never know.
I fear the SOB is dying on the vine. Down to five bars and it is not even being promoted online anymore. The founder, Daddy Dave, is in failing health and his bars are up for sale. Changes to to Barretto bar scene are on the horizon.
Yep, need to keep walking as long as I am able.
The main reason I’m going through the blog archives is to tag worthy posts with “The Story of My Life.” Maybe I’ll even have those posts made into a book so the grands will know that mystery man who lived in Asia.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 19/July/2025 @ 11:06 am
Damn, I keep getting worse and worse. Maybe I need to take an interlude and see a grammar psych-ologist.
Yes, the Jeepney option is just for the comfort of knowing I can quit if needed. I think that will actually help me keep going when fatigue sets in.
It may not be biology; it could be the beer! 🙂
» Posted By John McCrarey On 19/July/2025 @ 11:25 am
Kev, I’ve always been an eat and then walk kinda guy. Never been a problem for me.
Regarding the walking together thing, that photo is misleading. I’m usually in the lead because Swan walks slower than I do. When I pause to take a picture, she’ll zoom by, but I catch up pretty quickly. About the only way we stay side-by-side is when I grab her hand.
I’m not sure why the distance measurement from San Narciso to my house changed. We didn’t take the bypass road, but I always assumed that was a longer route. Oh well, I’ll just have to psyche up for 30+K. I’m thinking 10K interludes with a rest break in between. The nice part of a highway walk is the ability to grab a Jeepney ride if I need to bail.
Well, I know my boy disapproves of my politics, and his wife doesn’t want my grandkids to discover my blog, probably because of the lifestyle things. But yeah, you hit the nail on the head. Barretto is my retirement community, full of bars and young women willing to lend a helping hand to the aged. A stateside old folks’ home would be a nightmare for someone like me. Imagine me living in a world with no bars!
I’m not sure why the distance measurement for San Narciso to my house changed. We didn’t take the bypass road, but I always assumed that was a longer route. Oh well, I’ll just have to psyche up for 30+K. I’m thinking 10K interludes with a rest break in between. The nice part of a highway walk is the ability to grab a Jeepney ride if I need to bail.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 18/July/2025 @ 10:16 am
James, thanks for following the blog and your comments. The AI comments are a relatively new phenomenon. I approved them at first, but some of my regular readers found them off-putting, so I discontinued doing so. I highlighted some excerpts of deleted comments I found hilarious in their stupidity (Artificial Intelligence, indeed) in a post, but that won’t be a regular feature here at LTG.
HaHa! The friend you mention is a fellow Hasher and hiker, so the AI would want to rehabilitate him as well.
The scheduled outages are for maintenance and repairs, once we have storms the power will go out unannounced. That sucks even more.
This year seems like one of the worst for tourist trade, and frankly, us expats aren’t enough to keep all the local businesses going. I expect unless something changes soon we will see a big shakeout coming.
Lately I’ve been in a same old, same old rut, but I’ve been thinking about taking one day a week to visit random bars I don’t normally patronize to keep my loyal readers like you informed. Stay tuned.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 18/July/2025 @ 9:56 am
Kev, I tracked it again on the way home yesterday and it came out 32K this time. It’s all paved and mostly on the National Highway. Not scenic, but mostly flat.
I guess I’m lucky that they at least announce these scheduled outages in advance, giving me the opportunity to escape. Still, you’d think there’d be a back-up system in place. Oh well, just gotta take the bad with the good.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 17/July/2025 @ 10:45 am
«« Back To Stats PageKev, When I moved to Korea I was impressed with the quality of the subways and train system. Much more efficient than what I was used to in DC. I also miss those river paths and hiking trails. You have to experience the real third world to fully appreciate the benefits of the first world.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 17/July/2025 @ 10:41 am