Here I am in my birthday suit..

I never expected that I’d ever be buying a new suit.  But a new job and new requirements conspired to make such a purchase inevitable.  I’ve learned the hard way not to talk about work here on this humble blog, but I guess it is safe to say I attended a meeting with the U.S. ambassador, to Korea, Mark Lippert, today.

You may recall that Mr. Lippert was attacked by a razor blade wielding assailant last year. As fate would have it, one of the attendees at today’s meeting was also present on the day Mr. Lippert was slashed.  According to this gentlemen, he was the third person to restrain the attacker.  By his account it was his foot that was placed on the throat of the slasher. You can see a video recreation at the link above if you so desire.

Anyway, no violence at today’s meeting thankfully.  Mr. Lippert was *ahem* very diplomatic during the meeting and there were really no surprises, which is the best possible outcome in affairs of this nature.  So I left pleased.

Rode over to the embassy with a 2-star general in one of those fancy cars, so that was a treat I suppose.  One thing I learned is that I need to get me some business cards made. It seems so 20th century but it was awkward during the introductions when I didn’t have a card to share.  Aw well, I’ve had worse occasions of a faux pas I suppose.  Next time I’ll be better prepared.

Here’s a random shot from my birthday that I rather like:

My Commie friend Choonae (right front) treated me, my drinking buddy Hae Young (left front) and my yoja chingu to a birthday shot. Yes, I’m lucky. Get over it.

Tomorrow I fly to the Philippines.  I guess I should say we, because I’m bringing “sand to the beach”.  What the hell.  Might as well find out if Eun Oke can handle the lifestyle.

Anyway, it’s all good.  That’s what I keep telling myself anyway.

…gets domesticated.

Picking up where I left off:

Saturday night it was back in Itaewon. Had some samgyeopsal with the nephew and girlfriend then went to East and West, the rock and roll bar above Grand Ole Opry.

Speaking of Eun Oke, it was interesting how we met.  Basically she saw me on a friends Facebook and told him she was interested.  He conveyed that message to me and this being the 21st century and all, I looked her up on her Facebook page and liked what I saw. So maybe not a traditional blind date, but we have hit it off amazingly well.  She’s certainly not like any other Korean female I have known attitude-wise.  It’s early, I know.  But I’m looking forward to seeing her again.

Sunday morning breakfast for two,,,

This week it was chili in the crockpot.

I’d missed my Saturday tradition of climbing Namsan because I got a better offer.  Hey, exercise is exercise. Ahem.  Anyway, after saying a sad goodbye to Eun Oke I set about getting it done.

I hit the wall and kept on going…

You’re going down! Er, technically I was going up. Those fucking stairs…

Got back down the mountain, took a shower, then took an ass whuppin’ in darts.

Today I took the long way home from work…just about 2 hours on the Han riverside….

I’ll let Kevin Kim tell you about how damn hot it’s been…and I’ve got the sweat soaked shirt to prove it!

Changed out of my wet clothes and did the dishes…

…the laundry…

…and hung it up to dry.

Having worked up an appetite, I threw some brats on the grill. They were delicious thank you very much. Two for dinner, two for tomorrow’s lunch, and one for a co-worker who craves my brats..

Yes, yes I know.  Don’t hate me because I live such a damned exciting life.  It’s what I do.

This song actually came up on my youtube playlist while I walked at lunch.  My daddy used to sing it to me…

What counts as a good night for me.

I invited Eun Oke to my place for dinner. It was great to finally have someone to cook for…

The ingredients. Chocolate, shrimp, ribeye steak, baby back ribs, baked potato, mixed vegetables, banana pudding, and of course ice cold beer.,

Eun Oke seemed pleased with the effort.

Afterwards I suggested an old-fashioned pub crawl–one drink in each bar until we could go no further…

First stop–Scrooge Pub.

Bar number 2–Dolce Vita.

Then on to my bar home Shenanigans.

Our fourth stop was Dillingers…

The we moved on down the highway to Route 66.

By the time we got to our sixth bar, Sin Bin, things were getting a little blurry…

We finished up at our 7th venue, Debut Bar. At least one of us was still on their feet…

I’ve got to hand it to Eun Oke, she’s a real trooper. I insisted we walk back to my place which in hindsight might not have been my best idea of the night. But we made it. Poor girl is still passed out on the bed. And no, I won’t share the picture I took of that!

To top it all off, Fitbit even awarded me a new badge!

Life has its ups and downs to be sure, but I’m still in the game!

I wanna glide down over Mulholland
I wanna write her name in the sky
I’m gonna free fall out into nothin’
Gonna leave this world for awhile

And I’m free, free fallin’
Yeah I’m free, free fallin’

Little by little I’m tearing down the old life and working towards finding a new future.  I’m struck by the fact that it seems like I’ve come full circle.  In 2010 I was in the job that I’ve recently re-acquired.  I was looking to retire in the Philippines in September of that year.  Then Jee Yeun convinced me that she was a better option.  I believed in her.  Turns out a life with me was not a happy one for her.  And so she turned her back on all I had worked to build for us.

Which has pretty much left me with nada y nada.  Nothing to do but move forward from here and try to get it right this time.  Those six years I invested in the woman who supposedly loved me can never be recouped though.  I say this tonight because I think I’m finally over it.  I’m back to where I was, and perhaps I’ll be smarter this go round.  We’ll see.

So, I am flying to Olongopo in the PI on 1 September.  I’m going to try and get a feel for whether that is someplace I could make home for myself and perhaps find some peace and satisfaction in whatever remains of my so-called life.  I wish I didn’t care but I can’t seem to help myself.  And so it goes.

(yes, I am blogging while drunk.  sue me.)

On Friday I called an “all hands” meeting and laid out my vision for the future and my expectations from the staff. Which is that they continue to be the amazing professionals that they are and make me look good in the process. As motivation, I bought them pizza and chicken. That’s my leadership style..

In all seriousness I am proud to be associated with these folks. My work family gives me a reason to get up and engage every morning. Otherwise I might just revert to my natural state of being a worthless drunk. Shuddup!

With rank comes privileges…

On Saturday I took these stairs to the top of Namsan. It was not a pleasant experience.

I feel worse than I look as improbable as that may seem…

But i got ‘er done!

This morning I prepared some Mississippi roast beef. Tweaked the recipe some and IMO got a juicier and more flavorful result.

And then I spent almost 4 hours on the river. Hardly got rained on at all.

You’d have to be crazy to date a guy like me.  But this weekend I met a gal who was willing to give it a go.  Friday went so well she came back for more on Saturday.  And it was nice to be reminded that maybe, just maybe, I’ll find my way back.  Thanks for that Eun Oke!

Mientras estás vivo hay esperanza

Went for my followup visit with the ophthalmologist today.  The blister is still there, albeit smaller.  It’s also pain free.  Doc suggested I continue with the eye drops and it should go away in another week or two.  That’s what I think too.

Also picked up my repaired Galaxy J7 phone today.  That walk in the rain only cost me W145,000.  So far.  I need to get a new screen protector installed as well.  And of course I lost all my apps.  Not a problem re-downloading but I hated to see all that walking history disappeared.  Oh well, the Fitbit will cover me from here on out I suppose.

I inexplicably awoke at 0300 this morning.  Tried to force some more sleep out of my body but finally gave up a little after four.  On the bright side I got my laundry out of the way, did the dishes, and fried up some eggs.  Then I hoofed it over to Soonchunhwang hospital for the above mentioned appointment.

I also awoke to a contract offer on the house.  Printed it out, signed it up, scanned it, and emailed it back to the realtor.  Here’s hoping the deal goes through.  To facilitate that I went to the legal office on base and got a power of attorney so the daughter could handle the closing ceremony on my behalf.

Oh, and I also managed to do some work at work.

Right now I am fixin’ to dive into these:

Table for one please. As usual.

Doctor, my eyes have seen the years
And the slow parade of fears without crying
Now I want to understand

I have done all that I could
To see the evil and the good without hiding
You must help me if you can

Doctor, my eyes
Tell me what is wrong
Was I unwise to leave them open for so long

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqFUmo8VVg0

Yesterday was my first day back in my new/old job.

My desk, just the way I left it over 6 years ago. Well, neater now but give me a little time…

The view from the desk. As Army offices go, I’d say mine is worthy…

And here I am hardly working.

In other news, the kids report a successful yard sale (defined as over $900 in purchases) which pretty much completes the sell-off of my broken dreams.  Whatever didn’t sell is going to charity.

And I got an offer on the house which I’m accepting.  Still losing my ass but not to the extent I expected.  I’d rather go for a quick sale than to pursue recouping more of my investment in a future that never came.

And that’s the way it is.