Comments Posted By John McCrarey
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Kevin, there is nothing wrong with maintaining some skepticism regarding Musk, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is more trustworthy than just about anyone in the current regime. So, let’s see what he can do to make things better for us all and trust Trump to rein him in as needed.
My RSL shirt does indeed say Returned & Services League. It seems like a strange way to say those who served, but I don’t speak Australian, so what do I know? I’m an associate member, and it appeared to me that there are more Yanks in this Chapter than Aussies. RSL does a lot of charity projects and outreach efforts, so I’m happy to contribute to a good cause. Conversely, the VFW, which has a similar mission at its core, does not allow non-vets to participate. To each his own.
“Well, if you keep the secretary long enough, her tits will sag so low that they can sweep the floor, and she can become your cleaner as well.”
Spoken like a true HR professional! Well done!
» Posted By John McCrarey On 08/January/2025 @ 5:06 am
Brian, if people want to drive electric vehicles, more power to them. They are gonna need it! California is the perfect example of state overreach. Mandating all EVs by something like 2035. Meanwhile, the state cannot generate enough power to meet current demands. Tearing down dams, shuttering nuclear power facilities, and relying on unreliable solar as replacement sources isn’t going to work. Meanwhile, manufacturing all those lithium batteries isn’t good for the environment either.
Meanwhile, China continues to build coal-fired plants. They double their carbon emissions as we foolishly try and pretend we are going green. We are willingly being played for suckers.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 08/January/2025 @ 4:51 am
Kev, Regarding the abandoned houses, that one I posted yesterday is, or was, a good example. When I first saw it years ago, it looked almost livable. It’s huge, and I wondered why the owner just walked away from it. Or maybe they died. Over time, it has become the shell you see now. There is a sad story there, but I guess we’ll never know what happened.
As for the grumpy old man, I won’t resort to violence because even without CCTV, the foreigner is always wrong when there is an aggressive encounter, no matter who starts it. Swan and I had a brief exchange of words over the incident because I thought she was wrong to just walk away without defending herself or completing the candy delivery. I was up ahead and didn’t see or hear what was happening, or I definitely would have told the asshole to fuck off.
Thank you for taking the time to offer suggestions for future blogging topics. I’ll see what I can do with some of them. As for the HR lessons, damn, I’ve been out of the business for almost seven years now, and I might have a hard time remembering anything worthwhile. I’ll think about it and see what I might come up with.
It’s interesting to see cooking on the list. I was just thinking the other day how, since I’ve met Swan, I almost never cook. That thought occurred to me when I saw my crockpot sitting forlornly unused for months out of reach on the top shelf in the kitchen. We’ll see if I can get motivated to climb up and get it.
The travel suggestion is one I can and will tackle. I have a once-a-month goal for 2025.
Does the world really need another vlogger? I will think about some of the ideas you suggest, but since I have the perfect face for radio, it may be in writing. Then again, since I’m losing my grip on the keyboard, maybe video is my future. (You think what I publish is bad? You wouldn’t believe the quantity and nature of the typos and fuck-ups that I manage to catch.)
Anyhow, I’ll see what I can do to liven things up a tad here at LTG. Thanks again for the input!
» Posted By John McCrarey On 07/January/2025 @ 7:49 am
Brian, The beggars being almost polite is one of the things I noticed during my visit to Bangkok. They’d sit silently on the sidewalk with a cup in front of them and sometimes bow their heads as you passed. If you are going to beg, that’s the way to do it.
Well now, I DID get out of town for the New Year’s welcome! Totally on a whim, too. But yeah, I do tend to get comfortable and set in my routines these days. Swan and I just talked about doing an out-of-town adventure at least once a month this year. And she said our San Narciso trip counted for December, so we’ve got to come up with something for January. I’m also going to get off my lazy ass and plan that trip to Bohol that’s been at the top of my list of places to see in the PI.
Thanks for the encouragement!
» Posted By John McCrarey On 07/January/2025 @ 7:15 am
Terry, Kevin and I met in Korea years ago through our blogs. That was before I developed an interest in hiking. Kevin is a foodie, so our first meet-ups in person were in restaurants around Itaewon that I liked. Kevin doesn’t drink, but I did get him up to my Shenanigans hang-out once. After I became a walker, we did a couple of hikes together. I showed him some paths I used to climb Namsan, and he took me on an 18-kilometer ass-kicker river walk out near where he lives. Good times and nice memories!
» Posted By John McCrarey On 07/January/2025 @ 7:00 am
Kev, I pretty much agree with your assessment of the vlogger’s motivations. I certainly wouldn’t be happy in the environment he’s chosen. I recall looking at housing on the old Navy base, just like a place back home. But I wanted to live in the Philippines! Granted, I’ve taken a middle-of-the-road approach–chose an English-speaking country so I wouldn’t have to learn the language, live in an upscale neighborhood but be able to walk to the “real” world in five minutes, and have a large expat community to hang with. I think my biggest failure has been not making many Filipino friends (other than the female variety), but now I’m part of Swan’s family, so that’s a new aspect. When it comes to food, I like what I like, and almost every restaurant in my town offers lots of options besides the Filipino favorites. So, I tend to stick with what I know. Hell, even after all those years in Korea, I never acquired a taste for rice.
As for the cost of living, yeah, a Western lifestyle and imported goodies will come at a premium price. I could pay a lot less than $750. a month for rent, but I’m willing to pay for the comfort. You’ve seen my grocery bill at Royal every week. Still, I can live the lifestyle I’ve chosen cheaper here than I could in South Carolina (or Korea).
At the end of the day, I have few regrets about this life I’m living in the Philippines.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 06/January/2025 @ 10:03 am
Brian, Well, he learned that the hard way. I’ve got to give him credit, though. He kept pushing on despite his obvious discomfort. Not a lot of other options in that situation, but still…
» Posted By John McCrarey On 05/January/2025 @ 8:22 am
Kev, He was exhausted, so it must have been low TIRED pressure. He said his blood pressure was under 100 when he woke up that morning.
The wire on top of fences is a pretty standard security feature around here. That fence in the photo must belong to the neighbor because this house didn’t have a wall in the front. I looked at a house here as a potential rental with eight-foot-high walls and concertina wire on top. From inside, it felt like I was in prison. I couldn’t live that way.
The spelling and pronunciation of her name don’t really jibe. It sounds like “Shay” to me.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 05/January/2025 @ 8:16 am
Is this the “wooden-horse-race derby”?
You know, I never heard the name of the game, but that sounds spot-on. I thought it was cool how the horses were “handicapped” based on the frequency with which their number is commonly rolled (for example, horse #7 needs several more hits to reach the finish line than #3 does). Fun game!
Here’s some background on James Kavanaugh, a poet whose work I’ve always enjoyed. Nothing in there about his future wife having been kidnapped. I went and double-checked to make sure I hadn’t messed up when I transcribed his poem, and nope, he left out that comma. And then I came across this article about the Top Ten Authors Who Ignored The Basic Rules Of Punctuation, and Kavanaugh didn’t make the list. You might also enjoy this one about punctuation marks loved and hated by famous writers.
It is good to know I’m not the only fuck-up out there!
» Posted By John McCrarey On 04/January/2025 @ 7:52 am
Kev, Yeah, my crazy fantasy has become more of a goal now. I’m going to start working on gaining some distance and using the rest at 10K method to see if that works at increasing my endurance.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 05/January/2025 @ 8:20 am
Kev, on my comparatively short group hikes, I rarely sit down when others take a break to avoid stiffening up. I wake up every morning with stiffness in my legs, but I’m fine by the end of the dog walk. I’m going to try the rest break thing at 10K the next time I attempt a long trek.
I feel like my fantasy walk from San Narciso has become a challenge. I mentioned it to one of the group hikers yesterday, and he wants to join in if and when I do it.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 04/January/2025 @ 8:05 am
Wow, Brian, I’m impressed. I didn’t know you were also a distance walker. A hilly 35K trek is quite the accomplishment.
I was sore yesterday after my 14K jaunt, but walked it off during the group hike. I think next time I do a long one, I’m going to try the rest break at 10K thing and see how that works out for me. Thanks for the advice!
» Posted By John McCrarey On 04/January/2025 @ 7:57 am
Kev, Thanks for the YouTube link; I’ll check it out.
It had a wooden fence, as did most everywhere else we saw. It seems to me it could be easily breached, but not having it would make you a target for sure.
Lucky is the worst dog I’ve ever owned. Stupid and disobedient, with no sense of loyalty whatsoever. Buddy is the complete opposite, and he still has his balls, too. Buddy didn’t back down when attacked and gave every bit as much as he got. Lucky’s new life as the downstairs yard dog is still better than the one I rescued him from originally.
If I attempt that 29K San Narciso walk, I’ll likely walk home from there. If I need to wuss out halfway, I can grab a Jeepney on the highway. We’ll see. I’m a tad stiff and sore this morning from yesterday, but I plan to walk it off this morning.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 03/January/2025 @ 8:02 am
The problem is when I stop mid-hike to rest, I tend to stiffen up. I’ll test stopping and resting next time I do a long hike and see if I get re-invigorated. An advantage of walking home from San Narciso is that I can take a Jeepney back to Barretto if I get exhausted and a rest break doesn’t work.
I was younger and lighter when we did that 18K hike. I can’t remember; did we stop and rest on that one?
» Posted By John McCrarey On 03/January/2025 @ 8:08 am
Oddly enough, I hadn’t even noticed the octopus until you mentioned it. If that place ever reopens, I’ll get a close-up shot for you.
Yeah, maybe that shack isn’t ideal, but what do you really need? I spend 75% of my home time at my desk. It wouldn’t be hard for me to downsize.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 02/January/2025 @ 7:23 am
The Mope Resort is 29 kilometers from my house door-to-door. I measured the distance because I have a dream of walking it someday. Imagining that as we drove home yesterday had me thinking, “you must be crazy!”
» Posted By John McCrarey On 02/January/2025 @ 7:16 am
Just how many tiny cunts does Tiny Cunts have?
Let me apostrophe and get back to you on that! Yep, Tiny Cunt’s the only one. (I’m ending the year sloppy and stupid).
Yeah, it is just surprising how many partially finished houses we encounter out and about. Not to mention all the abandoned ones. I bet some of the background stories about what happened would be fascinating. And sad.
You’re a funny guy.
Except when I’m trying to be!
All the best to you in the New Year, Kevin!
» Posted By John McCrarey On 01/January/2025 @ 8:41 am
Over 7,000 islands (2000 inhabited) in the Philippines is impressive enough for me! More is not always better. We have a lot of Swedish expats here.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 31/December/2024 @ 6:23 am
Kev, that portion of the trail got dropped because we needed to shorten the trail length for the Hash run. Our Santa was barely able to complete the shorter version.
John’s place has two floors–a second-floor dining area and a third-floor open-air rooftop bar area. We prefer the third-floor views. There is no staff on the top level, so our practice is to give the waitress our drink order as we arrive to save her a trip up the stairs. She brings a menu with the drinks, and we order our meal. When she never showed up this time, we went back downstairs and discovered she had forgotten about us. Shit happens, but yeah, I had the same thought as you; this is the first sign that John’s absence is leading to the deterioration of the high standards he maintained.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 31/December/2024 @ 6:20 am
Yes, that’s always been an issue, especially with firecrackers and other explosives. Anything that makes noise here is popular and the skyrockets are ubiquitous. I’m not sure the reasons behind the ban, but I assume it is the potential for injuries and fires.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 30/December/2024 @ 7:46 am
Kev, yes, that’s her legal name. She uses her middle name, Miel, most of the time. Her nickname is “Tin,” which I assume derives from ChrisTINe.
There were so many dishes, and only things like the roast chicken looked familiar. Once it was on my plate, it didn’t matter. There was nothing that I hated.
Regarding the video, I didn’t really think about it. I had just read your email guidance and spontaneously grabbed my phone, turned on the camera, and recorded the poem off the top of my head. I doubt I’ll be doing enough videos to warrant buying quality equipment, though. Yeah, Styx-style works for me!
» Posted By John McCrarey On 30/December/2024 @ 7:40 am
Kev, I swear I’m getting sloppier and sloppier in my writing. I’m not just talking about the long-standing grammatical issues; now I’m fraught with typos and using the wrong word (i.e., velocity instead of voltage). The scary thing is that even when I proofread (I swear I re-read before posting), I still miss this type of shit. I fear I’m well on my way to dementia.
Yes, there are neighborhoods around that have a reputation for drug-addicted residents, but nothing like what you see in the USA. However, these rural villages where native Aetas reside are just poor communities where the people do their best to get by and keep food on the table. That’s why it feels so good to help them out with an event like this one. I really don’t have a basis for comparison with stateside poor folks. I’m not aware of blatant discrimination against Aeta people, but I also don’t see them integrated into Filipino society. They tend to stick to themselves in their own spaces. I think the primary cause of poverty for them is a lack of opportunity to better themselves.
Regarding the lost glove, I don’t think I’ll share your addiction to spotting them. I have so many other interesting litter options to choose from here. I’ll share a photo of what I mean in today’s post.
We don’t often hike through villages like Alibang and Iram, but we are usually remembered when we do. The people we encounter are naturally friendly and grateful for our kindness to them.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 29/December/2024 @ 8:01 am
Ginger, I am a lover of poetry, and to be fully appreciated, a poem should be read out loud. Some of my earliest memories are of my father sitting in his easy chair after work and reading his favorites to us kids.
I’ve been complimented on my deep voice over the years, but alas, I don’t have a clue how to record myself and post it here. I couldn’t even figure out how to post the video from the charity event on the blog, hence the link to Facebook. If I figure something out, I’ll post one just for you! 🙂
» Posted By John McCrarey On 29/December/2024 @ 7:41 am
Kev, oops! I’ve got to hand it to you. Sometimes I feel like a blind man missing the obvious. I’m tempted to turn my Grammarly app back on just to catch some of the dumb shit I miss. It’s fixed now.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 29/December/2024 @ 7:30 am
Kev, yep, video killed the radio star…
» Posted By John McCrarey On 29/December/2024 @ 7:26 am
Friendly and kind. It’s the Filipino way.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 28/December/2024 @ 9:22 pm
No, Kevin, I was talking about me. I named my rooftop “The Rite Spot” after a hamburger joint my dad managed when I was a kid. So, using “Right” in that context was very wrong indeed. The sad thing is that I wrote it in the wrong form and then didn’t see the mistake during my proofreading. Maybe I should hire you as a proofreader…
» Posted By John McCrarey On 27/December/2024 @ 7:55 am
Will they outlive their dog?
I wondered the same thing. The dog looks better fed than they do.
It is so wrong when you misspell “Rite.” I feel like the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz.
Thanks for the song link. I’m trying to bravely exercise my discretion on what and how much to eat.
» Posted By John McCrarey On 27/December/2024 @ 7:02 am
Terry, I don’t know all the details, but apparently she asked Swan to barfine her…
» Posted By John McCrarey On 27/December/2024 @ 6:54 am
«« Back To Stats PageUnburdened by what has been.
Now I feel dumber than usual.
Merry Christmas!
» Posted By John McCrarey On 25/December/2024 @ 6:29 am