Comments Posted By Kevin Kim
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I imagine that beer being “in your genes” is your saving grace. The docs seem to detect no connection between what few health problems you have and your drinking, so as incredible as it seems to me, you appear to be all good.
An expensive October 8, but I guess that was the weekly grocery run. $1200 a month (i.e., four October 8s) still seems at least twice as expensive as it needs to be. Where can you cut costs with groceries? What are necessities and what aren’t?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 10/October/2024 @ 9:26 am
Different strokes for different folks. Purple is the long trail, green is the short version, and blue is my way.
Quite a short cut!
The Hares did a nice job, even if I only did a portion of the trail they so diligently marked.
Do Hares ever get offended when someone skips parts of their trail? How big is the skipping problem? And why bother tracing out a trail if a portion of the people are going to ignore it, anyway? Just set the starting and ending points.
This damn thing reminded me of those streets in San Francisco
Yeah, when such roads go on and on, they’re tiring. And then you discover that you’d walked only a few hundred meters, not the millions of kilometers you thought you’d walked.
I’ve lost my sense of smell, but I still enjoy the flowers
I think we’ve talked about this before, but usually, if you can’t smell, you also can’t taste. So you’ll be down to a toothpick, soon, ja?
“The Best Ladie’s In Town
Spot the… you know, the thing!
Those big-ticket items are pretty much one-offs. The student I sponsor in Bohol needed money for his monthly transport to school while his mother is working in Cebu, so I wired the requested 2700 pesos. My peanut vendor friend Emmanuel has been ill and unable to work recently. He messaged me that there was no food for his family and asked if I could help him.
Excuses, excuses. But for a good cause, right?
I understand it makes it hard to swallow
Never use hyphens in place of colons.
I will if I write about them here!
“I will if I [remember to] write about them here!” Fixed it for you.
Alcohol: who says happy and stupid can’t mix? Problem is, it’s hard to remember the happiness afterward.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 08/October/2024 @ 6:13 pm
I’ve been doing my best to hold off on correcting mistakes I see unless they impede my reading, so it’s up to others, now, to point things like “wheel barrel” out. (Probably a “spelling phonetically” mistake. And as a fan of Lord of the Rings, you surely remember the Barrow-wights from the books. See barrow2 here.)
Be like Luke Skywalker. Put aside the computer—which is often stupid when it comes to grammar—reach back into your memories of everything your English teachers had tried to teach you, and use the Force. Fight the ignorance and the apathy. Learn.
Retirement strikes me as a constant battle between being content (which gets easier with age as laziness sinks in) and being curious (which gets harder with age as comfortable routines take over and calcify). Stay curious. And not just about what’s inside the ladies’ panties. Curious to the end.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 08/October/2024 @ 4:41 pm
Learn the rules and stop trusting the computer. I keep saying this, and you keep stubbornly, lazily not doing it. Ignorant and apathetic, right? It’s never too late to make an effort.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 08/October/2024 @ 9:32 am
Maybe I need to buy a bigger backpack.
I think you’ve mentioned that the ambient heat doesn’t seem to melt the chocolates and other sweets, but is that also true for backpacks and other things held against the body? No body heat gets conducted into the candies?
Maybe you’re both undead.
It groves on you
Is she usually that far ahead?
The river swimmers besieged Swan, and this is where the day’s supply of candy ran out.
Are these people normally a part of the rounds?
I was craving me some pulled pork. John’s is still the best in town.
Looks good!
Swan went with the chicken chow mien and said it was good.
chow mein
I hope today’s Hash went well.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 07/October/2024 @ 4:35 pm
I’ve long found it humorously ironic that you went from screaming liberal to conservative in terms of your political views, but you never quite left the government in terms of your work life, and you’re benefitting from that choice with a nice, fat pension from Uncle Sam. Hey, bleed him dry!
I have a conservative friend in New Zealand, another dude named John, who ran his own education business for years before retiring at the top of his game, then joining the NZ government. The Machine. There are, I guess, a lot of righties out there in the world who see no contradiction in working for the entity they supposedly hate. Human beings are paradoxical.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 07/October/2024 @ 2:19 pm
Was candy distribution along the same route, or was this a totally different route with totally different kids?
Just shy of 5K on a warm morning
The route on that map looks hand-drawn. Is this my first time noticing that?
re: loud anti-Trump guy
No point in arguing with the insane.
called “The El Padre” on the menu
Looks good and meatalicious.
re: your costs
You’re spending over $100 per day, aren’t you. Times 30, that’s over $3000 a month. Must be nice to be rich, but it makes little sense to be a conservative on the government teat.
Your buddy John’s another insane one. No use in trying to talk with him reasonably.
re: age gap
You’ve seen the “creepiness factor” formula: divide your age by 2 and add 7, and that’s the minimum age you should be dating. So for you, that’s (69/2) + 7, or 41.5 years old. That’s your non-creepy minimum, not 18.
I hope dinner at John’s went well. Pics?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 07/October/2024 @ 3:25 am
Gen was okay? (I assume she pronounces it “Jenn,” not “Ghenn.”)
Congrats on the new bridge Does it help you in any way with walking? Or anything else?
re: superstitions
Koreans can be pretty old-school superstitious, but Americans may have them beat, throwing away traditional religion in favor of crystals, tarot, the occult, and irrational belief in trans superpowers like “biological men can gestate and have babies.”
I’ve heard several painful versions of that S-car-go joke multiple times. Kill me.
How do you feel about your expenses thus far? Reasonable? Extravagant? Just about right? Which expense do you think needs the most work? Which surprises you the most? Why?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 05/October/2024 @ 8:29 pm
John,.
I’d never accuse you of acting as if you owned the place.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 05/October/2024 @ 10:13 am
The last time we were here, the inflatable island had been deflated and beached. Now, it’s back once more in all its view-disrupting glory.
The same inflatable island that’s always appearing on your maps?
re: Koreans vs. the PI
There’s plenty of East Asian arrogance to explain the attitude. It’s this side of the world’s version of the “ugly American”—loud, insisting on speaking only in English, generally uninterested in local customs and thinking, looking only to find islands of his own native culture, and acting as if he owns the place.
re: the dead dawg
Good riddance. Can’t say I have any sympathy even if the dog did come from a bad household. Would’ve been better to put it down much earlier than to let it terrorize people for as long as it did. And there’s still another, isn’t there?
Good luck getting rid of all that candy.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 04/October/2024 @ 6:29 pm
Was lean meat a complaint, or was it praise?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 04/October/2024 @ 6:12 pm
During the dog walk, I challenged this guy to race me to the curb. It was a photo finish, but I won!
“How will you die, Joan Wilder? Slow, like… a snail? Or fast, like a shooting star?!”
Swan, Sheryl, Gary, and Michael were my fellow adventurers
Gary’s gonna have to watch out for those Tim Walz jokes! Not his fault, of course, but it’s even funnier if he’s not American.
At the end of La Union Street, we headed up through a shanty neighborhood
Jesus, that looks slippery and dangerous.
Climbed some steps, then hit the grassy trail
I hope the mossy stairs weren’t too slippery. I doubt I’d ever have become a distance walker had I lived in the PI. Too many hazards.
A brief pause to catch our breath, then on up we went
Okay, from the side, Gary looks nothing like Tim Walz. Gary’s better-looking.
A Barretto view
I’m reminded of all the bay/inlet communities I went through during my walk down South Korea’s east coast.
Where’s Michael? He was just right in front of me. (Look closely, and you might see the white of his shirt)
And nobody’s got a machete?
Cookies for the wilderness dwellers.
Funny how all the mud is colored like red clay. Ever thought about packing any down and making sculptures?
No pics of the burgers???
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 04/October/2024 @ 1:21 am
Total October 1 expenditures: 92,000 pesos
So, somewhere in the neighborhood of $1600 for a single day? Yikes. I’ll be curious to see what the whole month adds up to. And where the $$$ goes.
However, it occurs to me that, if you can access your bank records (and why couldn’t you?), you can look at your expenditures from January 1 to September 30 of this year and arrive at a monthly average. The expenditures, as seen in your records, might not be itemized as precisely as you’d like, but you ought to be able to recognize items that are always in ballpark-similar amounts: feedings, groceries, rent, etc. You might not have to go through this daily calculation. The answers might already lie hidden in your receipts.
All my transactions done via my Korean debit card (i.e., most of them) are recorded and accessible online. I might not know what specific groceries I’d bought, but I can always see how much I’d spent on groceries in general.
“If I can’t have her, no one will.”
Except for this one last, delicious meal.
Enjoy yet more drinking.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 02/October/2024 @ 6:06 pm
In the best of all possible worlds
RIP, Kris.
So, the only test performed was another echocardiogram. I’m not sure what’s up with that. I got the impression my cardiologist didn’t trust the results of my first test. This one did seem to take longer to perform, so perhaps it was more thorough. I was expecting a stress test but was told, “Not yet.” Hmm. The results will be emailed to me in three days.
By “results,” do they mean images you can show your local doc?
I also got a “later” when I asked about getting a stress test. I’m not sure, though, what further info a stress test gives that an echocardiogram or an EKG/ECG doesn’t. Hm. Let’s look at what the major heart tests show.
EKG/ECG:
• How fast your heart is beating
• Whether the rhythm of your heartbeat is steady or irregular
• The strength & timing of electrical signals passing through each part of your heart
Used for:
– Arrhythmia
– Cardiomyopathy
– Coronary-artery disease
– Heart attack
– Heart failure
– Heart-valve diseases
– Congenital heart defectsEchocardiogram (only the most relevant types):
• Transthoracic echocardiogram, also called a TTE. This is a standard echocardiogram. It’s also called a heart ultrasound. It’s a noninvasive way to look at blood flow through the heart and heart valves. A TTE creates pictures of the heart from outside the body.
• Stress echocardiogram. A stress echocardiogram is done right before and after you exercise at a medical office. It checks how the heart responds to physical activity or stress. Your health care provider may order this test if they think you have coronary artery disease. If you can’t exercise, you may be given medicine to make your heart work harder.
Used for:
An echocardiogram is done to look for heart problems. The test shows how blood moves through the heart chambers and heart valves. Your health-care provider may order this test if you have chest pain or shortness of breath.My membership will expire later this month, so I wanted to cash in one last time.
No plans to renew, I gather, especially with the poor selection.
Hasher Tung N’ Gruve’s place
Have I seen this name spelled in different ways?
some pumpkin pie from Myleen’s
Thanksgiving’s not that far off!
And now, here we are in October. I’ve decided to track my expenses this month to get a handle on where it all goes.
I’m betting it’s mostly beer and shit for women who aren’t your girlfriend (lady drinks, food for the feedings, etc.). Maybe candy for the kids, too.
In my do-over afterlife fantasy
Ever wonder whether you’re living that fantasy right now, doing over a previous life?
My landlord came up from Manila, and I’ve signed a new one-year lease.
Well, congrats. No major problems with the domicile, I hope.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 02/October/2024 @ 2:49 am
I was sure I’d left a comment here. Must have forgotten to hit “send.”
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 01/October/2024 @ 12:50 pm
Commenter Brian suggested I consider taking Swan on a visit to Korea. I think that would be fun.
October is perfect. Fall and spring in Korea are both beautiful, as you know. November might be too cool for Swan’s taste. Or try around April next year.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 30/September/2024 @ 5:42 am
Have you heard back from Facebook?
I agree: what a shame they can’t see the difference between local color and actual salaciousness.
Or were they finally after the SOB pics?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 29/September/2024 @ 2:25 am
the ECG result showing mild to moderate aortic synopsis
I assume you mean stenosis, not synopsis…?
And that’s where things stand with me and my broken heart.
It’s incredible that not a single medical professional ever brings up drinking. I guess you really are wired to drink.
(my country music playlist)
As I’ve said before, I’m fine with Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson, and all the other non-twangers, but get every twanger the fuck outta my face. Rodney Crowell, by contrast, sounds good. Not a twanger, not nasal. Nasal + twang = worse than Chinese opera. Hey—you do you. Just keep it to yourself.
I do believe I enjoy watching sunsets more than dancing girls. Go figure.
Really nice shot. Award-winning lighting.
Maybe that explains it.
Yes, I think that’s about the size of it.
Well, congrats, I guess, on your heart session. Good luck with the upcoming stress test and the reevaluation of blockages.
May the odds be ever in your favor.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 27/September/2024 @ 7:45 pm
re: that face
Frightening. Fake smile? More like a lunatic’s grimace.
And the first of two graveyards we walked past. This gal lived fourteen years longer than I have.
She was born a year before my dad.
I’m still digesting what the cardiologist said today, but I’ll make a full report on that tomorrow. Some additional tests are in my future, and she also modified my daily prescription medication intake. Let’s see how long she can keep me alive!
I bet you’re the picture of health.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 26/September/2024 @ 7:36 pm
I’ve always wondered about the wintry motifs on the Christmas products in a snowless furnace like the PI. Dreams of snow die hard, I guess, even among the hot, sweaty natives.
re: Kirk/Spock gayness
Long the topic of so-called “slash fiction,” i.e., gay/lesbian sex-fantasy fan fiction.
Yeah, my life revolves around routines, and as regular readers of LTG are painfully aware, there isn’t much new or exciting going on in the final chapters of the story of my life. But it occurs to me that’s okay.
If you’re happy and not harming anyone, there you go. Just get off your ass and get curious once in a while instead of being ruled by your ever-shrinking attention span. It always saddens me to see the incurious, the ones who don’t even know there are more questions to be asked, more rabbit holes to go down.
re: ice cream
A pint of Häagen-Dazs is around W13,000 here in Seoul (almost $10). A pint! Ice cream is cheaper, though, if you stick to the cheap, crappy, no-name brands.
(Ignore the onions, Kevin)
How can I ignore them when they seem to be looking right at me like a menacing, multiocular angel with bloodshot eyes??
And the woman I’m sharing it with
That’s another thing to like about Swan/Cums Alone: she doesn’t seem to be an immature, spoiled drama queen. You write only rarely about conflicts with her, and in 2 out of 3 cases, those conflicts turn out to be the result of misunderstandings, easily resolved through simple communication. That’s healthy. It’s how relationships are supposed to work. Either that, or you’re hiding some terrible truth about how she straps you to your bed, ball-gags you, then works you into a sexual lather until you’re unable to breathe. Which is just a prelude to the whips and hog-tying thongs. This darker Swan probably has a tee shirt that says, “Never leave bruises. Never.”
If not, I’ll make her one. Lemme know.
Dinner is served. Grilled pork chops, our favorite.
Every time I look at the pineapple, I see it as shrimp. It’s almost gray.
Lesson learned
Did she tell you to apply the smiley face?
I’ve been feeling well and breathing better, so I want to make sure I can keep it that way.
Enjoy your lucky genes. Fucker. I’ll be lucky to make it to 60.
Keep on keeping on.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 26/September/2024 @ 3:17 pm
Hooray! We no longer have to call her Swan! You did it: she’s one of the hive mind now. Get that girl a Hasher shirt!
Your normal resting heart rate is in the 50s? See what I mean about how there’s no justice? You can drink, eat carbs, have years-long COPD, and still have a low heart rate and (I assume) no arterial blockages. Curse my defective genes. Can’t tell you how much I despise this body.
I should send that food-rating image to my friend Sam. He’s leaving the PI tomorrow.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 24/September/2024 @ 5:19 pm
Looks to have been a good candy run. Good luck with today’s Hash.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 23/September/2024 @ 3:35 pm
There’s a whole world of steak out there, and it doesn’t have to be eaten as huge slabs of meat. Slice it up thin for fajitas, for example (skirt, flatiron, hanger). Grind and make burgers (Salisbury, hamburger, etc.). Or grind and use in various pasta dishes, burritos, etc. (No electric grinder? Get a cheap crank grinder!) This barely scratches the surface. Have Swan apply her skills to the variety of steaks out there. Look up rib-eye cap, a.k.a. spinalis.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 23/September/2024 @ 8:57 am
re: meat delivery
Have Swan get you a Chateaubriand cut of a filet mignon. Sous-vide that puppy after cutting it into steak, then sear at the end and have good dipping sauces ready. Sides can be whatever you want.
Sous vide without fancy, expensive equipment is possible. There’s a cooler technique, for example.
I haven’t seen any Haitian refugees around, so maybe the kitty will be found.
Five months old? Not enough time to have developed a sense of loyalty unless the kitten imprinted strongly on his owners.
Death comes for us all, it seems. It looks like the frog was enjoying a smoke when he got squished.
Looks to have been a big fucker when it was alive. I see a lot of amphibian/reptilian splatter here in Korea. Especially snakes, but also tiny and huge frogs.
It’s always nice to have some company along for the stroll.
I notice she’s ahead of you. How often do you really walk together? I had a Korean buddy who’d always want to go walking “together,” then during the actual walk, he’d always walk much faster than me, waiting for me only if he didn’t know the route and didn’t know which turn to take next. As an introvert, I was fine with essentially walking alone, but I often had to wonder whether he was just using me as an excuse to get himself into motion.
One side of the menu
Only one “premium” topping? I guess 95% of the time, it’s cheese. I’d go with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles, plus mayo and—if they had it—BBQ sauce. If not, good old ketchup will do.
And the other
This entire page looks good. I’d most likely go for the Fish-filet Sandwich Platter or Dinner, or the Premium Chicken-sandwich Platter. The cheese sticks (“pipes”?) also look tempting.
I hope John continues to recuperate.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/September/2024 @ 7:54 pm
I’ll see what I can find. My buddy’s mother, not a Filipina, used to make chicken adobo, which I love. So I do know that bit of cuisine. And lumpia appear in some form or other throughout most of East and Southeast Asia, so there’s that. I think I have, at least, a good start.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/September/2024 @ 1:04 pm
An old buddy of mine is in the PI right now. His dad died a few days ago. My buddy doesn’t like the local food, either, despite being half-Filipino himself. He leaves in a couple of days.
Enjoy the nonstop rain!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/September/2024 @ 7:24 am
re: aortic stenosis
(from the Wikipedia article) Loss of consciousness typically occurs with standing or exercising.
I guess happy endings would fall under “exercise.”
I hope John gets released soon and is, in fact, in a condition to be released. More than that, I hope he gets better. The poor guy deserves a break.
The video on aortic stenosis notes that surgery, not meds, is the most probable/plausible option. Together with your other cited sources, the overall consensus seems to be that technology has come a long way, and surgery (where it’s available) isn’t hard to do.
Wikipedia:
Aortic stenosis is the most common valvular heart disease in the developed world. It affects about 2% of people who are over 65 years of age.
You’re from the developed world, and you’re part of the 2%! Don’t you feel privileged?! I sure hope so.
The Echocardiogram section of the Wikipedia article has a chart that grades severity. I’ll be morbidly curious to learn your score. It sounds to me, though, as if you’re only at the very beginning of the diagnostic process, with “severity” being only one thing that has to be measured/considered. You’ve got a pile of medical choices and options ahead of you once the basics are determined, and I guess we’ll be learning about AS as you write more about it. Thanks for providing the links you did, and good luck as you determine where the best place to get treatment is (I assume you’re already considering reliable places outside of the PI).
I trust things’ll work out, and many sunsets remain to you.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 20/September/2024 @ 10:03 pm
Where Teddy Bears go when they die
It seems somehow more horrible that you can’t quite see the teddy’s face.
Sounds like a crappy relationship (and there is no toilet paper)
Then we know what his calling is.
Sorry to hear that they didn’t have the wine Swan wanted.
Another rainy walk. Hey, as long as it never gets old…
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/September/2024 @ 5:31 pm
How can you mend a broken heart?
But what do you call a woman who only wants you for your good looks?
In an ideal world, I’d call her superficial (because character ought to trump looks), but realistically, we’re all programmed to go after the better-looking ones. The “realistic ideal,” if there is such a thing, would be good-looking plus good character. That works both ways. And if you or she can’t catch that, well… go for good character, and hope that the partner’s below-par looks grow on you. Or her.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/September/2024 @ 2:55 pm
«« Back To Stats PageHere’s hoping you get a clear explanation of what going on. In my case, earlier this year, I was diagnosed with “severe left-ventricular systolic dysfunction,” a species of heart failure. The left ventricle (lower-left chamber of the heart) is the most powerful muscle for pumping, so when it craps out, you’re fucked. A few months after that hospital visit came the angina and breathing issues, followed by the heart attack on 8/10. Fundamentally, metabolic issues like insulin resistance lie at the heart (groan) of my problem, and as I’m coming to realize, my body is especially intolerant of carbs. Hopefully, you don’t have heart failure or severe insulin resistance.
What will you do if the docs tell you to lay off the booze to prolong your life? You’ve expressed desires that tend in both directions: stay alive as long as possible, but enjoy life while it lasts. If you had to choose, which path would you take?
If a woman wants you only for your money, she’s a parasite. Swan often insists on doing things herself and paying for things herself, which makes her a much higher-quality person, in my opinion. You finally chose well.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/September/2024 @ 6:18 pm