Plying my favorite bargirls at Alaska Club with chocolate and ladydrinks. I quaffed a fair amount of SM Zero beer myself. How much does that kind of fun cost me? A little less than $40! Only in the Philippines!
Up earlier than normal this morning so I decided to take advantage of the relatively cooler hours and do an elongated hike.
Just under 14K. Took me 3.5 hours, but I move slow going up and down the mountains.Spent some time on the beach……but mostly I was above the beach…The majority of the trek was along the mountain ridge line. Which I guess technically put me closer to the sun…And the sun was a pretty bitch today. I don’t recall seeing that rainbow effect before.
I didn’t really expect I’d be out so long and didn’t bring enough water. I took my last swallow as I started my descent from the mountaintop and once I reached the bottom I was on Rizal Extension. I popped into one of the ubiquitous sari-sari stores and asked for a bottle of water.
I didn’t take this photo, but this is the typical look for these small markets. As Wikipedia describes them: “A sari-sari store, or neighborhood sundry store, is a convenience store found in the Philippines. The word sari-sari is Tagalog meaning “variety” or “sundry”. Such stores form an important economic and social location in a Filipino community and is ubiquitous in neighborhoods and streets.Wikipedia “
Anyway, this one didn’t have any water available but the owner vaguely pointed across the street and said something in Tagalog. I was pretty thirsty at this point so I walked over and asked an older gentleman sitting there if he had water for sale. There were several empty bottles of Red Horse (a powerful local beer) sitting on the table in front of him so I think he was halfway drunk. But he hopped up and went inside then came back out carrying some chunks of ice in his unwashed hands. He said the water wasn’t cold and I said that’s fine, I don’t mind warm water. He waved me off, then proceeded to smash the ice against the dirty wall until the pieces were small enough to fit into a container sitting on the table. Then he filled the container with water from a dispenser he had sitting on the porch. He smiled and said “just wait, it will chill”.
Hmm. Well, I would have preferred the water direct from the dispenser, but what are you gonna do? He asked me how old I was, I told him 63. He smiled and said that he and his friend (who was sitting at the other end of the porch) were both 55. So, we all shook hands. Then I poured the water from his container into my empty water bottle. I offered him some money for his trouble and he refused it saying “we are neighbors”. So I thanked him again and was on my way.
And there you have a good example of Filipino friendliness. I’ll let you know if I develop a case of diarrhea. Yes, I did quench my thirst with the gifted water. I also bought a bottle of Gatorade at the next sari-sari store I came across.
Anyway, I finished my hike with a jaunt over a portion of My Bitch without further incident. Well, I was accosted by a pack of dogs, but I was prepared for those bastards since they always seem to lay in wait of an ambush at the end of that trail. I had my walking stick and a handful of rocks at the ready and challenged them with a hearty “come and get it motherfuckers!”. The keep barking but back off a respectable distance from the crazy guy. I learned that the best course of action is being aggressive with aggressive dogs from my days as a mailman.
And that was the end of today’s adventure. So far.
It’s not having what you want It’s wanting what you’ve got
I’m gonna soak up the sun I’m gonna tell everyone To lighten up (I’m gonna tell ’em that) I’ve got no one to blame For every time I feel lame I’m looking up I’m gonna soak up the sun
I refrain from engaging in politics much these days, but that doesn’t mean I’m not observing the ever escalating bullshit emanating from the Democrat presidential wannabes. And now Joe Biden has entered the fray by recycling the whopper that Trump said some of the neo-Nazis at Charlottesville were “fine” people. Which as anyone with half a brain knows is a complete fabrication. As Althouse notes:
I can only hope the vast majority of Americans are tuned in enough to utterly reject this kind of bullshit. Well, I guess with the economy humming along, lies are all the Democrats have to run on.
Nope!
Meanwhile, here in the real world (at least the one I live in) things continue pretty much as the always do.
Beers and sunsets on the Blue Rock floating bar…Morning walks……and afternoon walks…With views like this along the way.
Summer is upon us now so I find it best to be off the streets by 10:00 a.m. and pick up again after 3:00 p.m. Two shorter walks as opposed to one long hot one. We’ll see if I can maintain that kind of motivation.
I continue to self-medicate my bout of the blues.
A few beers do seem to change my outlook. At least temporarily…
Honestly speaking I’ve got no room to complain and what I do complain about are things pretty much within my control to change. Sometimes it’s just easier to go along to get along. And sometimes it isn’t. I’m kind of in a transition between the two at the moment I think. But rest assured a bad day here is better than a lot of the so-called good days I’ve lived in the past.
I’ve just got to stop giving people the power to hurt me. Heh, you’d think after 63 years on this planet I’d have figured that out by now.
You stand in the line just to hit a new low You’re faking a smile with the coffee to go You tell me your life’s been way off line You’re falling to pieces every time And I don’t need no carryin’ on
‘Cause you had a bad day You’re taking one down You sing a sad song just to turn it around You say you don’t know You tell me don’t lie You work at a smile and you go for a ride You had a bad day The camera don’t lie You’re coming back down and you really don’t mind You had a bad day
Yeah, one of those wallowing in self pity kind of days.
A two hour hike in the mountains and on the beach (heh, bitch and beach) took some of the edge off.
Anyway, I’ll get over it. Soon I hope.
In the meantime, I decorated my dart board up some with souvenirs from my glory days, such as they were.
Pins and medals…
All the love I’m getting these days is of the canine variety.
Lucky ain’t got a care in the world.
And this gave me a chuckle:
I’m old school…PB&J.
That’s all I got today folks. I’m off to the orphanage for my monthly pizza party with the kids this afternoon. That ought to cheer me up. Or at least snap me out of this feeling sorry for myself bullshit. We’ll see.
To think that only yesterday I was cheerful, bright and gay Looking forward to, well, who wouldn’t do The role I was about to play
But as if to knock me down Reality came around And without so much as a mere touch Cut me into little pieces
Leaving me to doubt Talk about God in His mercy Who, if He really does exist Why did He desert me?
And in my hour of need I truly am, indeed Alone again, naturally
The worst thing about being retired is that you never get a day off. To hell with that, I took one yesterday anyway. Of course, since I don’t do much anyway it’s hard to tell the difference. In this case, the difference was that I just completely blew off walking. Other than walking to the bars I mean. I’m not crazy!
That’s my feet after Monday’s climb/hike. It was dirty work. Maybe I just needed some recovery time.
Speaking of the hike, thanks to Kevin Kim for the shout out on his blog. As I told him in the comments I am unworthy of such high praise. But I appreciate the support!
We can all use a little encouragement after all:
Motivation!
And oh yeah, I stole this one from Kev’s blog too:
Ain’t it a shame?
What else? Well, we had a little aftershock at 0200 which I happened to be awake for because I was doing one of my coughing jags. Not sure what is going on with the lungs but I’m periodically hocking up gobs of phlegm and experiencing shortness of breath. Not as bad as it was a couple of years ago, but not as good as I had been doing a couple of months ago. Maybe it’s just the heat or a touch of bronchitis. I plan on getting a complete physical exam when I visit Korea next month.
Also, deafness is getting to be quite a problem for me lately. I never thought I’d hear myself say that. *ahem*
Speaking of the earthquake situation, there was another largish quake yesterday on the next island over. The Philippines sits on the infamous “ring of fire” so I guess this is nothing to get all shook up about.
Enjoying my beers at Cheap Charlies last night and observed what may or may not have been damage from the recent quake. The bargirl I was drinking with says it was preexisting damage, but my story is much more exciting!
Alright, well time for me to get off my lazy ass and walk the dogs. But not before leaving you some gratuitous proud dog owner photos.
Here you see Lucky and Buddy learning to obey the “stay!” command in the face of temptation! And here they are utterly failing in that endeavor…But I love them anyway of course!
Happy trails to you!
Please don’t ask me what’s on my mind I’m a little mixed up, but I’m feelin’ fine When I’m near that girl that I love best My heart beats so it scares me to death!
She touched my hand what a chill I got Her lips are like a volcano that’s hot I’m proud to say she’s my buttercup I’m in love I’m all shook up Mm mm oh, oh, yeah, yeah!
Quite an adventure yesterday climbing the rocks on Easter mountain and once we got back down, the rocks began to roll. But bottom line up front, I made it to the top.
Success was in question before I even got started. As we made our way to the drop off point in the Hashmobile I realized I must have left my walking stick back at Johannson’s. Shit! Well, I wasn’t sure I was going to attempt getting all the way up anyway, discretion being the better part of valor and all. But without my stick I knew I was fucked. I rely on it for balance going up and more importantly, as a brake on the way back down. So upon arrival I get out of the truck and I’m contemplating my next move when a fellow Hasher hands me my stick and says you left this inside. So, it seemed fated that I was going to at least attempt to climb the mountain.
And indeed it was more of a climb than a hike. Getting up required the use of hands as well as feet, which is unusual. I knew from observing the mountain from a distance that the last 1/3 of the trail would be the steepest and toughest and I was not disappointed in that regard. There were a couple of times the voice in my head was saying “fuck this!” but my response was always “too late to turn back now!” And as I mentioned at the outset, in the end I persevered.
Coming back down presented its own challenges, primarily gravity and forward momentum. But with the aid of my trusty walking stick I maintained balance and kept me feet on the ground where they belong.
So, when it was all said and done I’m glad I made the climb and will look forward to doing it again next year. Maybe.
Once back on flat ground we were awaiting the arrival of the stragglers. And then I heard a low, rolling, rumble. And suddenly there was a whole lotta shakin’ going on. Yep, an earthquake was upon us. I grew up in SoCal so it wasn’t new to me, but that feeling of helplessness in the face of Mother Nature doing her thing is something you never get used to. Some reports put the epicenter at just a few kilometers from where I stood. And at 6.1 on the Richter scale, it was quite a ride. Only lasted about 15 seconds which is a good thing given the general lack of quality in construction methods and materials in these parts. That said, news reports say 8 died and several buildings were damaged, including the terminal at Clark airport in Angeles.
Quite the day! Let’s go to the pictures:
The trail. The runners ran back to Barretto and on-home at Hot Zone. The rest of us rode the truck back.The Hashmobile was packed as usual.Let’s roll!Our destination.Last minute instructions from the Hare.And we are off on our quest for the summit.So far so good.Steeper as she goes…Yours truly movin’ on up! Damn, too bad I’m not a mountain goat. You can see a guy at the top if you look closely.Now this actually proved quite tricky. Had I weighed 10 pounds more I would have been screwed. It was a tight squeeze as it was.I finally made it to the top and these Harriettes were chillaxin’ and taking in the view.And what a view! Looking North…East…South…And West.A shrine to the Virgin Mary was up top…And of course the Cross. Would it be “Easter” mountain without one?Filipina Rock Candy. Yum!Some reports say the epicenter was in Castejillos, just a couple of KMs away. I hiked out that way recently. It would have been real freaky if the quake had struck 30 minutes earlier when I was on top of the mountain. I likely would have shit my pants!So, at the end of the day I wasn’t a turkey after all. I came, I saw, I conquered. Why did I climb Easter mountain? Because it was there! You can quote me on that!In addition to the quake, there was an odd phenomenon in the sky. Looks almost like a blue tornado. Without the wind and destruction–just a light show.And finally, here’s a useful tip: Don’t wear new shoes to the Hash. Otherwise you’ll be drinking beer out of them. Just one of our rituals…
It was a day full of challenges and excitement. Just what I needed!
Nothing much happening around here. Early to bed last night and of course early to rise as well. That did enable me to get my morning steps in by 0930, thereby beating some of the heat. I’ve been chillin’ and nappin’ since then, but now it’s time to go out and Hash.
I’ve mentioned before that I just don’t watch much TV, online or otherwise. But since it’s too damn hot and I’m stuck indoors I figured what the hell, let’s see what’s on. I canceled my Netflix a while back and as much as I’d like to catch up on Game of Thrones I’m not sure I want to commit to an HBO subscription. Then I recalled that I’m paying for an Amazon Prime membership and that includes a pretty good lineup of online programming. The first series I clicked on “wasn’t available in my area” so I tried a series billed as original Prime programming. It’s called “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”. Here’s the trailer:
Now, back in the day I read some of Clancy’s books featuring the Ryan character and they were pretty good. John Krasinski as Ryan took some suspension of the memory of his role in The Office, but he’s not bad really. I’ve only watched the first episode so I’m going to withhold judgement for now. It did seem to be a little sympathetic to the motivations of the terrorist character so we’ll see if this show goes the full libtard route or not. I’ll commit to a couple of more episodes and let you know.
Today’s Hash will be the climb up Easter Mountain.
It’s an annual tradition to climb the mountain on the Monday after Easter. Some Hashers have said it’s really tough and they won’t be going back again. I’m going to attempt it with every intention of turning around in retreat if I ain’t feelin’ it. I’ll let you know how that goes.
And that’s all I’ve got on this hot Monday.
Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day; Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way. Oh, Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be. Oh, Monday, Monday, how could you leave and not take me? Every other day, every other day Every other day of the week is fine, yeah. But whenever Monday comes – but whenever Monday comes You can find me crying all of the time.
Congrats to Kevin Kim who just completed a 58K “stroll” in just under 17 hours. I guess you’d call that pulling an all nighter. I admire his accomplishment but it is not one I have any desire to replicate.
Speaking of Kevin, I also always appreciate his helpful hints on proper grammar and punctuation. Which is to say he is never a Nazi about it. I thought of the Big Hominid when I saw this the other day:
What would Jesus say on this Easter day?
Meanwhile, I’m having a hard time maintaining my 20,000 daily step goal. It’s fucking hot in the morning when I walk the dogs which saps my desire to do my morning 10K. And then by the late afternoon when it starts to cool off some I no longer have the time or energy to get out for a long hike. Ah well, I’ll just have to try and find some inspiration like the guy who literally walks all night long.
This morning’s effort. I found the dirt road through the valley I’d been looking for, but alas, it wound up being a dead end and I was forced to retreat.I did encounter this carabao/bird combination on trail today. Honestly, passing by those beasts always makes me nervous. They are huge and VERY horny…
Last night I prowled the streets of Barretto (what else is new?). The holidays are crazy here, but all my favorite haunts were open.
The lights of the city with the full moon providing additional illumination.
And finally, this made me laugh:
Build that wall!
Tough times these days. Need to change my life and get back on track. Am I up for the challenge? Stay tuned!
He’s got a daughter he calls Easter She was born on a Tuesday night I’m just wondering why I feel so all alone Why I’m a stranger in my own life Jump in, let’s go Lay back, enjoy the show Everybody gets high, everybody gets low These are the days when anything goes
Everyday is a winding road I get a little bit closer Everyday is a faded sign I get a little bit closer to feeling fine
It was in the springtime of my nineteenth year. I had a decent enough job doing vinyl plastic fabrication. I shared a two bedroom apartment in Huntington Beach, CA with my older brother and I was driving an almost new 1974 Datsun pickup truck. My girlfriend was a 17 year old hottie named Bridget, whom I wasn’t in love with, but she loved sex almost as much as I did. And I had just acquired an adorable German Shepherd puppy I named Angie. So life was as good for me as it had ever been.
I recall picking Bridget up from her job as a sales clerk in Westminster Mall. She got in my pickup and immediately announced “I’m pregnant”. I was stunned at this news and blurted out “Damn it! If I knew you were going to get pregnant I wouldn’t have got the dog!”. And so began my reluctant journey into fatherhood.
Bridget and I both agreed we were not ready or equipped to be parents. She was a Catholic though and abortion for her was not an option. So we decided instead to give the baby up for adoption. Bridget’s parents were quite conservative and had never approved of me anyway and they were very unhappy with the news of the pregnancy. So we decided it would be best for all concerned if she moved out of the house and we’d get a place of our own until the baby was born. We made all the arrangements with the County adoption agency and we were provided free prenatal care and monthly food stamps. And so it came to pass that we were living together in a small apartment in Midway City.
So named I suppose because it was stuck midway between Westminster and Huntington Beach.
We were of course unsure when the child had been conceived, but the doctor estimated a due date in October. Now, I was big time into softball in those days and I happened to be playing in a tournament on a Sunday afternoon in early September. Bridget was there with me and around about the third inning she came to me complaining about not feeling well. I told her to go sit down and wait for the game to finish. At the start of the fifth inning my sister-in-law, a registered nurse, told me Bridget wasn’t well and I really needed to take her home. I remember making a big deal about apologizing to my teammates–“sorry guys, I have to leave now because someone has a tummy ache”.
On the drive back home every few minutes Bridget would start moaning loudly in pain. I was 19 and of course knew everything so I told her “it was just false labor, after all, you are not due until next month.” She persisted with her intermittent moans so as we were passing the hospital I pulled off the freeway and told her “Fine. We’ll go in here and they will tell you the same thing I’ve been saying!” And that is where two hours later my daughter Renee was born.
The next day I briefly saw Renee sleeping in one of those baskets in the maternity ward. Then I had to hurry off to work. My employer had moved to Pasadena, CA over an hours drive away. So I get to work and I can’t stop thinking about my helpless baby girl. At lunchtime I told the boss I was leaving and rushed back down the freeway to the hospital. As I entered Bridget’s room the woman from the adoption agency was handing her the papers to sign relinquishing custody of our baby. I shouted “stop! wait! I want to talk to Bridget first.” The adoption woman left and I said to Bridget “let’s get married and keep the baby instead”. Bridget said “okay”.
That was by far the best decision I’ve ever made. Bridget’s parents didn’t think so. Her father was livid and threatened to have me arrested for statutory rape (Bridget was still 17). I told him good luck with that. I had just turned 20 and still had some rebel in me I suppose. Anyway, he didn’t involve the law but he made things more difficult than they needed to be. Wouldn’t allow Bridget to marry so we waited for her 18th birthday in November. And he forbade Bridget’s siblings from attending our wedding ceremony. Petty bullshit. He came around in time and we were cordial but I never forgot how he treated us when we had nothing.
Well, I say we had nothing but that’s not entirely correct. We certainly were not prepared to have a baby in the house. That first night Renee actually slept in a dresser drawer. But we did have friends and the next day they held an impromptu baby shower and they filled our place with all things necessary to get a newborn started out right. I’ll never forget that either.
Life changed. We rented a two bedroom house next door to my parents (a loving grandma makes the best kind of baby sitter). I found a better job in route sales and about a year after Renee was born I started my government career as a letter carrier (mailman) with the United States Postal Service. With that new found financial security (and health insurance!) we felt it was time to plan for an addition to the family. And in March of 1978 Renee had a baby brother named Kevin sharing the house. Kevin actually arrived on his due date and having done the required natural childbirth classes I was present in the delivery room when Kevin entered the world. It was a beautiful thing to witness.
Being a parent makes you see things differently, or at least it did for me. For one thing I didn’t want to raise my kids in Orange County. We vacationed frequently in Arizona and just a few months after Kevin’s birth my transfer request to Prescott was accepted.
Without a doubt, the nicest place I ever did live. Probably around 25,000 residents at the time. Situated a mile high in the Bradshaw mountains. Felt like heaven to me!Meet the parents at our first house in Prescott, AZ. After a year we became homeowners and continued living the American dream.Celebrating Christmas in Arizona with my mom and little brother. I quite enjoyed the life as a family man.
Being a parent truly is “till death do us part”. Not so much for marriages. Bridget was 23, working at Prescott’s upscale restaurant, and running with a fast crowd. Sometimes she would stay out all night. I finally put my foot down and she told me “I don’t want to have to come home after work and be a wife and mother”. We got divorced and she gave me custody of the two kids, now aged 5 and 3. And thus began my journey as a single father.
Lord almighty, but it was tough going those first few months. I was a letter carrier which meant starting work at 0630. So I had to get up early, get the kids to daycare, do my job, pick the kids up, feed and bathe them, get them in bed, and then collapse in sheer exhaustion. And then get up the next morning and do it all over again. I’m not ashamed to admit that when I needed help I cried out for my mama. And she of course was there for me. We decided the best option was to send the kids home with her to the farm in Oklahoma. I would either come get them when I was ready or move there myself when a transfer came through. And that’s how it turned out that my kids were raised on a farm.
And what a life they had! Horses and cows and country living. Surrounded with love from Grandma and Grandpa and great Grandma Pernie. Granted, I was never any great shakes as a father, but damn it, sometimes I did get lucky. I did eventually move to the area, but I left the kids where they wanted and needed to be. I was pretty much a weekend dad in those days, but it all worked out for best.
Hanging with Grandpa Lee.And daddy was there sometimes too…Both of the kids really got into horses…Renee especially had a natural talent for horseback riding……and she has the ribbons and trophies to prove it!
HaHa! I guess that’s enough of the proud papa bullshit. On with the story. Well, it came to pass that I got to know a woman (actually, I got to know LOTS of women in those days, but that’s for another chapter) named Beckie. She was a widow with a one year old daughter. After dating for awhile, I moved into her fine home in Poteau, Oklahoma. She was and is a good woman and great with the kids. And then in 1986 I accepted a big promotion with the Postal Service in Columbia, SC. Now what do I do?
Well, as much as it pained me to yank the kids from my mother’s embrace (and it pained her much more I know) I wasn’t going to leave them behind. Beckie consented to my proposal to marry and so the deal was done. I’d have my kids and someone to help me raise them. How about that?
I’m not a totally selfish bastard. I promised the kids we’d find a place where we could bring the horses, and I did keep that promise. We lived out in the wilds of Lexington, SC and they went to school in nearby Pelion. It was a small high school and both of them excelled in sports and did well academically. Beckie was a Speech Pathologist and found work in a nearby school district. And I was busy kicking ass in my new career field of labor relations. More on that in a future chapter.
Our house in Lexington. Sitting on two acres of land. Built a barn and stable out back.
And so that was our life. When your kids reach high school age they are doing their own thing and parents are confined to keeping an eye out so they don’t go too far astray. I was lucky that my kids focused on athletics (well, and Renee was also into boys) and didn’t make the mistakes I did in high school. I spent a lot of my free time with them in the basketball arena, baseball diamond, and at the track.
Kevin was varsity baseball, basketball, and cross country.
Me escorting Renee at the Homecoming Queen festivities. Renee went off to Francis Marian University in Florence, SC but was home to watch her little brother graduate from high school…
Of course, even when your kids are grown, they are always your kids and an important part of your life. Just not a daily part. When it was all said and done and I had all those newly freed up hours previously spent at sporting events, I thought to myself “now what?” And sadly, I realized that the only thing I had in common with Beckie was our mutual interest in raising the kids. Yeah, I was that kind of motherfucker. So I started an affair with the woman who eventually became wife #3, which of course necessitated divorcing Beckie. I remind myself that whatever bad karma I may have in relationships was probably earned then and there.
I would also be remiss if I don’t talk about my other child, Beckie’s daughter Avery. She was only one when I met her mom and I’m the only father she has ever known. Unfortunately, I was a distant dad to her at best, and once I divorced her mother, I was almost completely absent from her life. Of course, Renee and Kevin considered her a sister and they all stayed close. As did Beckie with my kids. By now I had taken another promotion in Arlington, VA and they all remained in South Carolina. I was odd man out so to speak.
It was only as an adult that I came to terms with Avery and I think for the most part she has forgiven me for the hurt I caused her, however unintentional. Now we hang out when I’m visiting, and she even came here to the Philippines a couple of years ago to join me on vacation.
I got lucky again having a second chance with this sweet young woman.
And life moves on. I disappeared to Korea for almost 12 years and now I hang my hat in the Philippines. The kids have kids of their own and are living their lives just fine without me there. It is great that Beckie is still a mom to them and even their real mother reappeared in their life when she retired and moved to South Carolina.
We always get on and have some fun when I’m around, which ain’t often I admit.Kevin had a long and successful career in journalism and now is doing great work in the insurance biz.Renee has given me two beautiful grandchildren and after a hurtful divorce is finding her way in the world again.
And the wheel in the sky keeps on turning. Childhood ends. The rebellious teen years pass. But this chapter of my life will never end. Indeed, I’ll live on through my children. That’s a legacy I can be proud of!
All together again last October. I’m pretty much a once a year dad these days.
Winter is here again oh Lord, Haven’t been home in a year or more I hope she holds on a little longer Sent a letter on a long summer day Made of silver, not of clay I’ve been runnin’ down this dusty road
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’ I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’
Well, actually I haven’t felt groovy since around 1969. But that old song came up in my playlist while hiking yesterday so I thought I’d put the title to use. These days everything might not be right on, but my life is pretty far out and all things considered that’s outta sight! Damn, I can still speak 1970s.
So, I didn’t do the Wednesday Sausage Walkers yesterday, although I had planned to. In fact I was the first one to arrive at Angel’s Bakery for the meetup. When the Germans announced we’d be taking the Hashmobile out to some place I’d never heard of and walking back, I bailed. The thing is I’m just not thrilled that this Aryan contingent tends to like to take things to the extreme. They prefer the longest and hardest trail they can find. That’s good for them, but I’m 63 fucking years old with respiratory issues and it’s hot as hell these days. I’ll go with the group here in Barretto and find my own way back when I’ve had enough. Being driven out of town and dropped off in parts unknown precludes that option. So no thank you!
I’m used to walking on my own and so that’s what I did. I decided to forego my standard hikes and look for something a little different. I had a particular area in mind I wanted to explore but one turn led to another and I never found my way there. Ah well, another day I’ll try again. Most of what I did was new so in that regard, mission accomplished.
Pretty much all flat and easy. I did get a little lost when the path I was on seemed to end in someone’s yard. Some local kids were kind enough to point me back to the road and then followed along until I found it. I rewarded them with 20 pesos each and that sure did put smiles on their faces!
Via Facebook comes the news that my friend Mi Young Han has been named the Camp Humphreys Volunteer of the Year. I wrote about her and the work she was doing almost single-handedly for the Asan Angels animal shelter here.
Her hard work and dedication were quite the inspiration. I would help out financially, but she did all the heavy lifting. I was able to assist with getting the word out on base and she has a crew of volunteers assisting her now. Way to go Mi Young!
I developed a bit of a crush on her I admit, but alas, it was never mutual. If only I’d been a stray dog!
Speaking of dogs, I can thank Mi Young for inspiring me to do the rescue thing. I’m not sure who’s benefited more, me or the dogs, but I’m glad to have them.
It’s a dog’s life!And Lucky is loving feeling healthy again I think. He’s making a good transition to being indoors more frequently, no “accidents” for two days now!
Yesterday’s hike took me near “Easter” mountain. That’s not the real name, but it’s the traditional place where believers climb up on Easter morning to see the sunrise. And the Hash will do the climb on Monday.
I’m told it’s a real motherfucker to climb. The Hare next week is Bush Diver and he’s in his seventies. I’m thinking if he can do it so can I. I reckon will find out soon enough.
In the meantime, Keep on Truckin’!
Most of the cats that you meet on the streets speak of true love, Most of the time they’re sittin’ and cryin’ at home. One of these days they know they better get goin’ Out of the door and down on the streets all alone.
Truckin’, like the do-dah man. Once told me “You’ve got to play your hand” Sometimes your cards ain’t worth a dime, if you don’t lay’em down,
Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me, Other times I can barely see. Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it’s been.
A good Hash yesterday. Shorter than normal but with a couple of moderate climbs and some nice vistas. I’m not going to worry anymore about my upcoming trail. I deem it long enough especially in light of the fact that no one really complained the hike yesterday was too short.
I guess my biggest worry will be pulling off the “on-home” at my house. The logistics of finding chairs and a place to sit and eat need to be worked out. I’m also concerned that I don’t have any lighting in the area where the Hash circle will be conducted. Might look into getting some camping lanterns.
As for food, well I’m not set up to feed 30+ hungry Hashers. I’ll cover the paper plates/utensils and order up some takeout pizza and wings. I might do a big batch of chili in the crockpot and bake up some cornbread muffins. Hey, beggars can’t be choosers!
The first section was new to me and I rather enjoyed it. The rest of the trail was stuff I do on my standard walks, including a good portion of “My Bitch”. Short and sweet. I like it!A different angle on a familiar view.Looking down on my hometown of Barrio Barretto.
In other news, I haven’t been feeling real well of late. Not sure if it is heat related or what, but I’m experiencing some shortness of breath. Sometimes I pant when I walk, but mostly it’s confined to when I’m sleeping. Could be the lying down exacerbates my COPD. Still nothing at all like I used to experience back before I was diagnosed and started taking my meds. Hopefully this too shall pass.
Well, none of us are going to live forever, but I came across this article that purports to calculate how many healthy years of life you have left. Of course it is probably all BS, but I took the quiz anyway. I had to smile when I saw the calculator was developed by “UCONN”, the unfortunate acronym for the University of Connecticut. Here are my results:
Your predicted future healthy years is 26.4 Years Your Relative Healthy Life Expectancy is about 23.8% above Average Your predicted future unhealthy years is 5.0 Years Your predicted future total years of living is 31.4 Years i.e. Your predicted age at death is 63 + 31.4 (Current Age + Life Expectancy) = 94.4 Years Your predicted future unhealthy years, if disabled by a cognitive disease, is 7.8 Years
How does my lifestyle affect my Healthy Life Expectancy? You are doing a great job exercising, keep up the great work At the moment your BMI is looking good, but make sure you keep an eye on it By sleeping more each night you can increase your healthy life expectancy by 6.46% which is about 20.5 months By reducing your alcohol consumption each week you can increase your healthy life expectancy by 10.35% which is about 32.8 months Not smoking has a positive impact on your healthy life expectancy
Hmm. I can’t imagine living into my nineties. And you think the blog is boring now? They say I should drink less and sleep more to boot? How about we compromise and I do what I want, when I want and stay active and healthy until I’m 85. Deal?
Here’s the link to the calculator if you are curious how golden your golden years might be. Oh, and if you get hit by a bus whilst crossing the highway, all bets are off!
I’m not scared of dying And I, don’t really care If it’s peace you find in dying Well then, let the time be near
If it’s peace you find in dying Well then dying time is near Just bundle up my coffin ‘Cause it’s cold way down there I hear that it’s Cold way down there, yeah Crazy cold, way down there
And when I die, and when I’m gone There’ll be, one child born In this world To carry on, to carry on
Now troubles are many They’re as Deep as a well I can swear there ain’t no Heaven But I pray there ain’t no hell Swear there ain’t no Heaven And I’ll pray there ain’t no hell But I’ll never know by livin’ Only my dyin’ will tell, yes only my Dyin’ will tell, oh yeah Only my dyin’ will tell
And when I die, and when I’m gone There’ll be, one child born, in this world To carry on, to carry on
I had to laugh when Nike got called out and deleted this ad a few hours after publishing it:
I’m not familiar with Nike Trail, perhaps it is a Confederation. I guess pulling the ad was less offensive than starting a Civil War over it. The actual content of the ad and what it States is Right. This is just one more casualty in the War of Northern (liberal) Aggression. So the ad has gone South but perhaps one day it will Rise Again!
I’m no fan of Nike regardless. I swore off their products when they hired Kaepernick as their spokesmodel. I mean, I’ve got quite a bit of Nike shit that I still use, but will replace them with other products when the time comes.
I don’t want to come off like I’m virtue signaling with my personal boycotts. But as a consumer I’m just not interested in supporting companies that don’t share my values. I stopped buying Gillette products when they announced they didn’t like men like me to be men like me. And I canceled my Netflix account (which truth be told I never used much anyway) when they hired Susan Rice to be on their Board of Directors. Does it make a difference? Of course not. I do it for me and my own personal satisfaction, I don’t expect to have an impact on a company’s bottom line. So there.
Enough about politics, how about this:
Hard to argue with that logic. Well damn. Now what?
As my high school coach once asked “McCrarey, are you ignorant or just apathetic?” I replied “I don’t know and I don’t care!”
Yeah, yeah, I know. Thousands of comedians out of work and I’m trying to be funny.
Alright, now that’s funny, admit it.
It rained on me during my morning walk today. At first it was kind of refreshing, then it gave me a good soaking. Well, soaked with sweat or soaked with water is really all about the same. Still, it was some relief from the heat, so there’s that. Not raining now so it should be a pleasant afternoon for the Hash.
And there you have it.
I wish I was in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten, Look away, look away, look away, Dixie Land. In Dixie Land where I was born in, early on a frosty mornin’, Look away, look away, look away, Dixie Land.
Then I wish I was in Dixie, hooray! hooray! In Dixie Land I’ll take my stand to live and die in Dixie, Away, away, away down South in Dixie, Away, away, away down South in Dixie.
Holy Week traffic in Barretto.Watching the sun go down from Cheap Charlies…I cooked up a batch of ribs yesterday…And ordered the beef stew from Foodies tonight…Standard walk #4– Alta Vista–San Isidro–Santa Monica–Alta Vista.Standard walk #5: Alta Vista–Marian Hills–“My Bitch”–Columban College–Barretto–Alta Vista.When everything is “free” the Price is Never Right!
And that’s all I got. Just another day in paradise.
If you had just a minute to breathe and they granted you one final wish Would you ask for something like another chance? Or something similar as this? Don’t worry too much It’ll happen to you as sure as your sorrows are joys And the thing that disturbs you is only the sound of The low spark of high-heeled boys
If I gave you everything that I owned and asked for nothing in return Would you do the same for me as I would for you? Or take me for a ride, and strip me of everything including my pride But spirit is something that no one destroys And the sound that I’m hearing is only the sound The low spark of high-heeled boys
Well, my pension is lots more than that but I ain’t got no Filipina looking that good either.
In the comments to a recent post, Kevin Kim asks: What’s the problem with Western women? After providing some examples of issues he has experienced with Asian women, Kev poses the question: So who’s more damaged (or kooky, or whatever), in your view? Western ladies or Asian ones? Why do you think so?
Well, if there is one thing I have in this life, it is a long and storied history with women. My relationship failures would make for a great romantic comedy (of errors), if they hadn’t happened to me. It’s hard to laugh in the face of pain. Still, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? So I am going to endeavor to answer the questions posed as honestly as I can. The only caveat being that these are only my experience based opinions. It is not my intent to stereotype all women with particular characteristics, I can only speak to the ones who were crazy enough to be with me.
Alright then, let’s go. It is no secret to long time readers that I’ve had four wives. And I acknowledge and accept the fact that I am the only common denominator in each of those relationships. So yeah, it could be that I’m the problem. Three of my spouses were American, the last was a Korean. And I really don’t have anything bad to say about any of them. And when I said that I’d never be with a Western woman again it was primarily based on two factors–I live in the Philippines where foreign women are scarce; and I find Asian women much more attractive. Yeah, I’m that shallow.
It’s not necessarily all about physical beauty either. I’m attracted to the Asian mentality that a woman should take care of her man. Granted, they are not always sincere when they display that warm and loving nature, but Asian women tend to be more traditional in relationship roles. A Western woman is much more likely to say “make your own damn sandwich!”. So there’s that.
When I first came to Korea I was blown away at being surrounded by so many sexy females. You might say I caught the yellow fever. Don’t say that to a Korean woman though. I made that mistake once and it didn’t go over well at all! I wrote a rather long treatise about Korean females on an internet forum back in 2015. It goes into great detail about some of my personal experiences dating and loving the most beautiful women in Asia. Give it a read if you are so inclined.
So I eventually married a Korean woman. I loved her, she loved me and we built a life together. Was it perfect? Far from it. But I was committed to the choice I had made. Right up until she told me she didn’t have a happy life with me and wanted a divorce. I honestly do not know what happened or why she was so unhappy. She wouldn’t, or couldn’t tell me. And that language and communication barrier probably had a lot to do with it.
So the marriage failed and I was back in the market for love. And then I experienced some of the bad kind of crazy Kevin talks about in his comment. And that led me to conclude that love is just not worth the pain it brings. So I came up with a brand new plan. I wrote about that plan here. Actually, those two links probably answer the questions posed better and more thoroughly than I’m doing here. Suffice to say, the “plan” to just employ a Filipina to do all the things a girlfriend/wife would do without all the “love” bullshit blew up spectacularly in my face. Because I fell in love with her.
And what should have been a happy ending for us both was not to be. She chose instead to betray me and fall in love with another man. Just my luck, huh? Well, actually it was lucky for me. I had totally misjudged her nature and her character. If I had trusted her with my future I would have been in much worse shape than I am today. As I often tell myself, there are worse things than being alone.
But I digress. I have failed with Western women and I have failed with Asian women. I’m living in a country filled with beautiful brown skinned ladies and I haven’t given up hope that someday the right one for me will present herself and I will not be so jaded that I fail to seize the opportunity. In the meantime I’ll just keep on living the life that is not all it could be, but that is certainly good enough.
So here are my answers:
There is nothing wrong with Western women, they just don’t attract me.
In my experience Asian women are more damaged/kooky than Western women. The why of that is probably partly attributable to cultural differences and communication differences. Or maybe that is just the kind of Asian woman who is attracted to Western men.
As any honest woman would tell me “I’d have to be crazy to go out with you!”.
To all the girls I’ve loved before Who traveled in and out my door I’m glad they came along I dedicate this song To all the girls I’ve loved before
To all the girls I once caressed And may I say, I’ve held the best For helping me to grow, I owe a lot, I know To all the girls I’ve loved before
The winds of change are always blowing And every time I tried to stay The winds of change continued blowing And they just carried me a way
To all the girls who shared my life Who now are someone else’s wife I’m glad they came along I dedicate this song To all the girls I’ve loved before
To all the girls who cared for me Who filled my nights with ecstasy They live within my heart I’ll always be a part Of all the girls I’ve loved before
The winds of change are always blowing And every time I tried to stay The winds of change continued blowing And they just carried me way
Dart league started at 2:00 p.m. After winning our match 8-5 it was on to Alley Cats for the Friday night tourney. Finished a drunken 4th place in that event.
Played our dart league match at Johan’s Dive Resort. It seems this diver statue was giving us the congratulatory “you’re number 1” salute. Thanks for that!
I’m home now and dog assed tired. Speaking of dog asses, Lucky is still peeing in the house. I guess it’s a battle of wills. I should have the upper hand because he does want to be an inside dog. That’s fine by me, as long as he does his business outside. We’ll see how long it takes for him to figure that out.
One of the reasons I’m tired is 6+ hours of beer drinking. The other was doing my morning walk. It rained last night and was cloudy enough this morning to make taking a longish hike doable.
This is “My Bitch” via Rizal Extension. I had no idea it would look a little bit like a dick pic. Wasn’t even trying…
We are scheduled to have a power outage from 8-5 tomorrow. Well, the notice said “all of Olongapo”. My power company hails from Subic though so I’m keeping my finger crossed that I won’t be impacted. I guess I’ll know soon enough.
And so concludes this evening’s drunken post. Off to bed for me!
Well, I’m so tired of crying But I’m out on the road again I’m on the road again Well, I’m so tired of crying But I’m out on the road again I’m on the road again I ain’t got no woman Just to call my special friend
Just another day in paradise, doing what I do. Which ain’t much but it’s all I got.
Actually what I do is getting more challenging as the weather warms up. We are just coming into “hot” season which seems to be evaporating my motivation to get out and walk. I haven’t given up though, just making some concessions like going out for the longer hikes later in the afternoon. I started today’s effort at 2:00 p.m. when I at least had a bit of a breeze and the sun wasn’t quite as high in the sky. Oh well, rainy season is right around the corner.
Standard hike #2: Alta Vista-Baloy Beach-San Isidro-Alta Vista. Mostly flat.
Anyway, working hard to try and keep the blues away. My rational mind knows I’m a lucky bastard. And my heart keeps saying “yeah, but what about me?” My response to that is “shut up, loser!”
Seriously, I’m fine. Transitions and adjustments are sometimes challenging, but this too shall pass. I actually had a dream last night where I fell in love. It was pretty fuckin’ awesome because she loved me back. We even laughed at each other’s jokes. Only weird thing about it was she was a Western woman. That ain’t likely to happen in this lifetime. Still, it was a good reminder that settling for less is for suckers.
I hear it’s siblings day so here’s a shout out to my brothers. Neither of which reads my blog, but that’s okay.
I’ve got to give the bros credit. I got both the brains and the good looks and neither of them outwardly show much jealously. That must really take some self-discipline.
And now it’s beer o’clock so I reckon I’ll head out and contemplate life and all the lessons I’ve declined to learn. Cheers!
But I ain’t going down That long old lonesome road All by myself But I ain’t going down That long old lonesome road All by myself I can’t carry you, baby Gonna carry somebody else
I actually saw Canned Heat in concert back in my high school days. This was their biggest hit. And it is was only today that I learned the song was written by Willie Nelson. I’ll be damned.
UPDATE: Well, this makes three times I’ve used the “on the road again” title. The first was in September 2010, a worthless (well, more worthless than normal) post about going to the East Sea.
I used it again in September 2015 about making the commute from Gireum to Yongsan in my new old car. Back when I still had a wife to help me navigate my life.
Lucky is doing better each day and seems to be settling into his new home just fine. Him and his step-brother Buddy are best friends now. One challenge has been getting Lucky house broken, but no “accidents” today, so fingers crossed!
Did the Wednesday Sausage Walk today. Only five of us this time. The Germans took the lead and we headed up the big mountain on a trail Gunther calls “motherfucker”, which turns out to be aptly named. Once on top it was a pretty easy hike along the ridge. After a lunch break the Germans wanted to take a trail down into Olongapo City then climb back up “the stairway to heaven”. Me and the Aussie along for the hike said no thanks to that, and made our own way back to Barretto.
The beginning: We always start out from Angels Bakery.The middle: Almost 12K on a very hot day. I call that good enough!Along the way: Typical nice views from near the top.The finish: As is our custom we ended up at Cheap Charlies for liquid refreshment. Me and the Aussie were there for an hour and the Germans still had not made it back. I’d say I made the right call on taking the shorter path!In unrelated news, I had corn dogs for supper last night at Sit-n-Bull. Been years and years since I’ve indulged that treat and they were in fact quite excellent!
And that brings y’all up to date on my so-called life. Birthday party and darts tonight at Alley Cats so I’d best get on it.
Daughter Avery sent me a link to a story about a woman who draws dicks on her fitness GPS maps. She’s got quite the talent for it:
Some of these look long and hard. *ahem*
Avery suggested I give it a try so I did this one while walking the dogs this morning.
Cut me some slack, it was a virgin effort!
Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be spending much time trying to improve my dick pics. Face it, I’m just not into dicks and they are certainly not into me. Not that there is anything wrong with it.
I found a better map option on my fitness tracker and I’ll be using it to document some of my standard hikes. This morning I did one of my regular walking trails, all on city streets. It looks like this:
When I walk it in the opposite direction, I usually take the beach.
Speaking of hiking, yesterday’s Hash was a little disappointing. The Hares did a poor job marking the trail and I lost it a couple of times. Even though I was able to eventually reconnect with the intended route it was frustrating. I wound up short-cutting the trail because I lost faith in the Hares and didn’t want to proceed up into the hills only to get lost yet again.
The other thing that made the Hash a little awkward was my breakup with Salty Cum/Marissa. I was surprised to see her there as she had told me she wouldn’t be coming. She did not walk with me however and also did not join me during the beer drinking when we were on-home for the after Hash activities. Watching her sitting and laughing with her Hash girlfriends made me a little uncomfortable for some reason.
Anyway, it is what it is and I keep telling myself it is for the best. Just got to stay strong and move on out to find the next big thing.
I haven’t watched much television on Netflix or elsewhere for several years now. I know I’m missing out on some good stuff and perhaps I’ll find a way to build a couple of hours a day in front of the TV screen. Via Althouse comes information on a Netflix series starring one of my favorites, Ricky Gervais:
The show centers around Tony (Gervais), a middle-aged journalist whose “perfect life” has been reduced to dust since his wife died of cancer. After contemplating taking his own life, he decides instead to live long enough to punish the world by saying and doing whatever he likes from now on. He thinks it’s like a Super Power, but eventually finds out life is more complicated, when everyone around him tries to save the nice guy they used to know.
This description from Gervais really resonated with me:
“At the end of the day, it’s all those little mundane interactions that actually save your life — they’re the variety of life, they stop you from feeling too sorry for yourself. He’s got to take the dog for a walk, he’s got to go to work to make money to get drunk, and after all that, time heals,” Gervais explained to Variety in an interview.
Yeah, that’s what I was getting at (or trying to) in my post on boredom the other day. I’m going through some stuff these past couple of days but my routines do seem to help relieve the stress and mental turmoil. Like today’s walk:
The squiggly lines up top are my morning walk in Alta Vista with Buddy. The long straight line in the middle is the walk with Lucky to the vet for shots. We took a trike back. And finally, I did my Baloy Beach hike. Still to come, this afternoon’s Hash.
I know this is just a passage to a better place.
Crazy I’m crazy for feeling so lonely I’m crazy Crazy for feeling so blue I knew You’d love me as long as you wanted And then some day You’d leave me for somebody new Worry Why do I let myself worry? Wondering What in the world did I do… Oh, crazy For thinking that my love could hold you… I’m crazy for trying And crazy for crying And I’m crazy for loving you
In the beginning there was a trail for the runners. It adds an additional 3 kilometers to the walkers trail.
It joins the walkers trail at the 5km point and the walkers have done 2K by then. So it looks like it will be a 6/9 split which ain’t too bad.
Going to be boring for the runners though. Pretty much all flat, goes through a subdivision, then up the Govic highway and through San Isidro. Well, they want distance so fuck ’em if they don’t like my trail.
Well, I’m still alive so it’s time to pay the piper. Just got word from my accountant that I’m indebted to Uncle Sam again this year. However, since I only worked half the year my tax bill has decreased from over $8000. to only $12. this year. Now that is what I consider good news!
I’m afraid hot season is now upon us. Makes it especially hard to maintain my motivation to get out there and walk. I’m going to wait until later this afternoon to get some steps in, maybe it won’t be so damn unbearable. Almost has me wishing I could be complaining about rainy season instead.
There are other changes on the horizon but I’m going to let them play out before I report about it. Just gotta stay strong in the meantime.
