A bacteria walked into a bar and the bartender said, ‘We don’t serve bacteria in this place.’ The bacteria said, ‘But I work here, I’m staph.’

Besides bad jokes? Not much. Although I actually did go grocery shopping in Olongapo this morning. Yeah, it’s freakin’ sad when that’s the highlight of your day. But it turns out it wasn’t the highlight. More on that later in this post. Anyway, I thought going on Tuesday after the long lockdown weekend would be a way to beat the crowds. I was wrong about that. Luckily for me, my driver was able to get me access to the store through the senior citizen’s line (I am one but don’t have the official ID). That saved me over an hour of waiting for sure.

I stocked up on the necessities I could find but in some cases, it was slim pickin’s. I was pleasantly surprised that the alcohol ban is not in effect in Olongapo City. So, the unavailability of beer in Barretto is just one more example of power-mad local officials exerting their “authority”.

Pretty strong rumors that the enhanced community quarantine will, in fact, be reduced to a general community quarantine come May 1. Stay tuned!

I guess this will pass for today’s “interesting” photograph. I saw a sign across the street from the grocery store and went to have a closer look:

The Big Hominid Kevin Kim is heading out to start another one of his famous long-ass walks. Wishing him good luck and success on his journey. Coincidentally, Facebook reminds me that it was just two years ago that I wore his butt out as we did a farewell hike on Namsan together.

Now, aren’t these pretty?

So, while I’m grocery shopping I got a message from Catherine, the Wet Spot dancer who lives nearby. She’s out of food (again) and wanted to “borrow” 1000 pesos. Well, borrow in Filipino parlance means “give”. I asked her if she would rather earn 3000 pesos. She liked that idea. Man oh man, I’d forgotten what a tight young 25-year-old body looks like unwrapped and how good it feels snuggled up next you. But enough about that.

I did rather enjoy this example of political correctness gone stupid. Or stupider I should say.

And speaking of the American way:

It’s awful hard to find a job
On one side the government,
the other the mob
Hey, hey ain’t that right
The workin’ man’s in
for a hell of a fight.

Oh, this country
sure looks good to me
But these fences are
comin’ apart at every nail.

Well, I’ve technically never been on a chain gang, but I did work at a car wash once (back in 1971 for $1.35 an hour) which is probably close to the same thing. Today found me (along with Scott and Jim) back on the trail after two days of being lazy abiding by the city-wide lockdown.

It was a tough hike on a very hot day. We climbed the big mountain then embarked on a quest to find a long lost way back down into the valley. Alas, we failed in that effort despite several attempts at locating the elusive path. We were stymied in part because the thatch grass hadn’t been burned as yet making visual sighting all but impossible. By the time we admitted defeat, I was very exhausted and still had the long walk back to Barretto ahead of me. Wound up going through all four of the water bottles I brought as well. Still, I finished with a mountainous 14K day and that ain’t too shabby for an old fart like me.

Anyway, it was a hard but a good day to be out and about again.

Oh, here’s how last night’s baby back ribs looked when they came out of the oven:

Still not sure about Kim Jung-Un’s status, but maybe it went down like this:

Speaking of the President, the press is still going nuts over what he said or didn’t say about treatments for the Wuhan virus. Not sure what’s next, but this seems plausible:

That’s all I’ve got for today. Peace out!

Day 2 of the total lockdown and I’m doing just fine thank you very much.

Well, you might say I’ve thrown in the towel. I was going to hike yesterday in defiance of the powers that be but had a change of heart. Instead, I’ve resolved to just be a lazy fuck like I was in the good ol’ days (that photo above is actually from several years ago, the cigarette should be a dead giveaway). Hell, I couldn’t even motivate myself to post some worthless drivel for my faithful readers here at LTG. Not to worry, I’ve got TWO days worth of worthlessness for you now.

Let me just regurgitate some of what I’ve seen and done to give you a taste of what life is like for this desperate soul. Hmm, using regurgitate and taste in the same sentence maybe wasn’t a good idea. Too lazy to change it now!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Zambales province is due for “reconsideration” of our quarantine status prior to April 30. This means we will either be extended under the “enhanced quarantine” guidelines through at least May 15 or be downgraded to “general quarantine” status. Under the general quarantine, some businesses may reopen (but not gathering places like bars and restaurants), some public transport will also be available. But here’s the kicker: under the general provisions, people over 60 years old and others deemed high risk will be confined to their homes. So, it actually gets WORSE for me when and if the quarantine is downgraded. Well, my story is going to be “I’m 55”. If they actually check, I’ll say I meant I was born in 1955. What a fuckin’ fiasco!

In my boredom yesterday I broke my rule and engaged in a little politics on Facebook. My liberal friends were all going crazy with that crap about Trump suggesting that people ingest disinfectant. Of course, that’s not at all what he said. So, I called a few of them out just to enjoy watching their heads explode. This was one of my tools:

I also saw this example of trolling the left:

Now, I don’t think what Trump said was wise, regardless of whether it was truly intended as sarcasm. It sounded more to me like he was just spitballing an idea–hey, if a disinfectant works externally couldn’t they come up with something for inside the body? It was in fact posed as a question and with the caveat that only doctors could decide if the idea was even feasible. But oh well. Last election I had to choose between a fool and a crook. Trump has generally been a pleasant surprise in his effectiveness. Now the best the Dems can offer in response is a senile Joe Biden? Actually, it is looking more and more like they are going to find a way to oust him. Those Tara Reade allegations might just do the trick. It will be interesting to see who the DNC might anoint in his place. Anyway, enough of politics!

I don’t do Twitter but I do do Twitchy (man, that phrasing makes me squirm a little). And this little clip from Australia thanking celebrities for their efforts during the virus crisis is funny as hell.

Yesterday’s TV fare included another pandemic themed movie: I Am Legend, starring Will Smith.

Set in New York City after a virus, which was originally created to cure cancer, has wiped out most of mankind, leaving Neville as the last human in New York, other than nocturnal mutants. Neville is immune to the virus and he works to develop a cure while defending himself against the hostile mutants.

I had heard of this one and maybe even seen it in whole or part, although I didn’t really remember enough to spoil the suspense. Honestly, a lot of the film seemed so over the top as to be unbelievable. But it filled a couple of hours at the relatively minor expense of $3.99 (fuck you again Amazon Prime). I think there is one more apocalyptic virus film I noticed during my scroll through the offerings. I might watch it today to keep with the lockdown theme.

After the movie was done, I fired up the grill.

The things you can inadvertently learn when you just want to get through the day. Take Kevin Kim’s post on Schrödinger’s fat–is Kim Jung-Un really dead? Maybe or maybe not. Or both. But I wanted to learn more about Schrödinger and his theory so I did a quick search. That pretty much made my head hurt–spoiler alert: the cat is both alive and dead. Still, I was glad to have educated myself some because it made this that much funnier:

So, I’m always on the lookout for symptoms. In that regard, I check my temperature twice a day. Oddly enough, I’m running a little cold it seems–usually less than 36C. But then I come to find out that two-thirds of those who test positive DON’T have a fever. Well, damn. A lot of the other virus symptoms are similar to the ones I have because of my COPD. So nothing to be done but keep on keeping on I suppose. I did a mostly in jest post on ten reasons why I won’t get the virus a few days back. One of those was my vaping habit would save me. Turns out, the French have done a study that appears to show that nicotine ingesters have a lower rate of infection. So, there’s that. On the other hand, I had speculated that my flatulence might keep the virus at bay. Now at least some studies say that you can actually pass the virus when you pass gas. Of course, who’s gonna be around long enough to get a whiff of what comes out of my ass?

Speaking of which, I never heard from Mary Jane Gamgam in response to my Facebook friend request. Oh well. But I did get accepted by Catherine, the SOB dancer I ran into the other day. Except as it turns out, the dancer is named Nica, not the girl I encountered on the street. Catherine also dances at Wet Spot (or used to I should say) and they could pass as sisters. Anyway, I chatted with her some, and we agreed to meet up. Our mutual friend Anna had told me Catherine has a Filipino boyfriend. So, I asked about that and Catherine denied it, saying the man who lives with her is her brother. Hmm. Well, that’s a big red flag. We are practically neighbors and the last thing I need is a jealous, angry, and possibly drunk Filipino guy coming after me. So, after thinking it over I decided not to bring her home. Instead, I brought her a bag of groceries (things I had around the house) and gave her 500 pesos. She seemed both grateful and a little disappointed (the gals usually get around 3000 pesos for going with a customer). Yeah, I was tempted but stayed strong and walked away. Kept my social distance as it were.

Things are getting more desperate for folks as this quarantine drags on and on. I have had several plaintive pleas for assistance from some Filipina acquaintances who claim to be hungry. So I’ve been spending my charity budget wiring money via Western Union to the ones I know well enough to trust. I also am doing a weekly monetary contribution to the work being done by the Baker’s Table owner. That group was actually in the squatter’s village outside my subdivision on Friday:

Are you as bored as I am yet? Good, now you know how it feels. I’ll leave you with this “interesting” photo from yesterday’s dog walk:

That’s about as interesting as it gets around here these days. Thanks for bearing with me!

UPDATE: Well, I’ll be damned. Almost exactly one year ago I used the Lazy Daze post title. I hate it when I do that but I’m too lazy to change it now.

“Blogging is not writing–it’s graffiti with punctuation.”

And in my case, bad punctuation at that.

So, about last night. The good news is that my wifi proved fast enough to watch shows available on Amazon Prime. And I was primed to watch Burn Notice. Alas, when I clicked on Season 1 I got a different kind of burn notice–“this program is not available for free viewing in your country”. Well, shit. I was further advised I was welcome to watch the first episode for $4.99 or the entire first season for $24.99. No thank you! So then I scrolled through the shows that are purportedly free here in the PI and they were mostly Amazon Prime original series. I just wasn’t feeling anything listed, so I went down to the movie category and grudgingly paid $3.99 to be entertained.

I settled on a film from 2011 called Contagion. Given the current circumstances that have me sitting in front of the TV instead of on a barstool, it seemed like a timely choice.

The plot concerns the spread of a virus transmitted by respiratory droplets and fomites, attempts by medical researchers and public health officials to identify and contain the disease, the loss of social order in a pandemic,^[2] and the introduction of a vaccine to halt its spread.

I’m not going to write a review, that’s the Big Hominid’s job (and yeah, I just did a quick search over there and apparently Contagion didn’t warrant his attention back then). I found the movie mostly entertaining and it was chilling watching the parts where the virus was being spread around the world. I thought some of the violent responses to the quarantine rules, including looting and robbery, were a bit over the top. And of course, the portrayal of the WHO and CDC as competent organizations was unbelievable in light of our current real-world situation. I got a good laugh when an “independent journalist” attempted to interview one of the CDC experts. The quote I used at the beginning of this post was the CDC official’s response to the would-be interviewer’s claims to be a writer. I actually had to rewind the movie so I could see that part again and get the quote right.

Anyway, no spoilers other than this: The virus originated from a bat in China. Who says life doesn’t imitate art?

Back here in the real world, I woke up to this:

I’m on the cusp of the total lockdown weekend, but hopefully, I have plentiful supplies of necessities like beer. Oh, and food too. In that regard, I incorporated some shopping on my morning walk.

The “interesting” photo from my morning stroll was this roadside graffiti:

Later on today I’m going to go visit my friend on his rooftop to partake in some pre-curfew/lockdown beers. And in case any of my readers may be concerned that I’m developing a drinking problem–I took a test to find out:

That’s about it for now. I do find the hypocrisy of the left a good source of amusement. I’m loving the whole “me too” dilemma with Biden. And I smiled when I saw this today:

And life goes on.

Not like I have a choice. Waiting to hear what the President has to say tonight about the future. Most people are predicting another month of this bullshit. Anyway, at least I’m not hungry, unlike over 13 million Filipinos because of government ineptitude during the pandemic.

Speaking of which, I didn’t get a response from either Mary Jane Gamgam or Christine (the dancer) to my Facebook friend requests. A little disappointing I admit. I can imagine them seeing my name pop up and them shaking their heads saying “I’m not THAT hungry yet!”. Ah well.

Besides, there’s always beer. It’s never broken my heart!

On my morning walkabout, I saw the Barangay folks were out in force doing some food distribution. Well, technically it was rice. But they were giving out 25kgs bags of it, so that’s a good thing.

So, with the total lockdown weekend on the horizon, I decided stocking up was a good afternoon activity.

So, that’s been my day thus far. The Internet is really slow, probably an overtaxed network. It makes me wonder if I’m going to be able to start watching Burn Notice tonight. We’ll see. Or maybe we won’t.

Facebook reminded me of an old profile picture I used in the past:

As always, it’s my pleasure. Thanks for reading!

So, here I am blogging at 4:00 p.m. Normally, I’d be violating quarantine right now by enjoying a cold beer in a bar venue. That option is no longer available and so I’ll do this post from home with a beer by my side for moral support. Ah, cold and wet goodness!

Yesterday I was discouraged in my quest to purchase beer in the stores and markets. Barretto is pretty much sold out of everything. So, on a whim, I messaged a bar owner friend and asked if he had any in stock he’d sell me. He invited me over to sit on the rooftop (he lives above the bar) and discuss the details of the transaction. And of course, we did our business while enjoying some cold brews. And when I left, I took these with me:

Well, I had to call my driver to ferry me home with the load. I should be good to go at least through the scheduled end of the quarantine on April 30. President Duterte is supposed to announce his decision tomorrow on what happens after that. Stay tuned.

I did have something interesting happen on my walk back to the house. Right outside the squatter village near my subdivision I ran into a bargirl I recognized. She knew me as well. Although I don’t recall her name. We exchanged greetings and I asked her how things were going. She responded she had no work and no food. I told her I knew things were really tough right now. In typical bargirl fashion, she asked me if I wanted to help her. I answered as any horny male would “maybe we can help each other”. She smiled and said Anna (a mutual friend) knows my Facebook and then we parted. Regular readers may recognize her from an earlier post featuring her as an SOB contest participant.

What else? Well, this appeared in my Facebook feed and gave me a chuckle:

And finally, in the “I told you so” category, there’s this:

Damn, service in this place sucks. Looks like I’m gonna have to get up and get my own beer. Oh well.

I was going to buy a book on phobias, but I was afraid it wouldn’t help me.

Well, it’s back to “normal” around here, whatever the hell that is. Got my morning steps in without incident, lots of other folks out and about also doing whatever essential activities that would justify an exception to quarantine.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to rant and rave about the ridiculous restrictions I’m forced to live under. What can I say that I haven’t already said pretty much every day for the past three weeks? Yeah, I’m tired of hearing about it too. You’d think if I were going to get the Wuhan virus I’d have it by now, right? I’ve come up with ten reasons why I’m probably safe:

• The heat. That virus gets exposed to our hot weather and says “fuck this, I’m outta here!
• Vitamin D. I’m out soaking up that sun so much I’d drown any intruding virus in my healthy habits.
• O+ blood. I read somewhere on the internet that my blood type is naturally resistant to virus infection.
• Rabies vaccination. Hey, I recently got the vaccine for the rabies virus and rabies has killed a lot more people than COVID-19 ever did!
• Vaping. Since the virus attacks the respiratory system and my lungs are always filled with vapor, there’s no room to take hold.
• Flatulence. I’m a gassy old fart and I’m pretty sure the virus wouldn’t want to get anywhere near me.
• Beer consumption. Anything that gets in my bloodstream is gonna be too drunk to do any damage.
• Curfew. I’m home every day by 6 p.m. as required. The virus would be bored to death if it infected me.
• Blind luck. I’ve been lucky at just about everything except love. Why stop now?

On a more serious note, people smarter than me (shuddup!) at the University of the Philippines are looking into the way ahead, specifically, as it relates to where do we go come April 30 when the current quarantine restrictions are set to end.

Successful as it may seem, an ECQ [Enhanced Community Quarantine] covering a wide area may not be sustainable over the long run. Prolonged restriction on the movement of goods and services over a large area (i.e. region-wide) can unnecessarily paralyze local economies. In light of this reality, our best recourse after April 30 is to implement graduated activation of ECQ depending on the level of risk in certain areas at a given time. Under this set-up, provinces (or even lower-level LGUs) may be put under ECQ depending on how close or far they are to an estimated outbreak threshold. 

And the accompanying exhibit was good news (at least for now) for us folks here in Olongapo:

Is that the light of hope I can see on the horizon? Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I will continue to put my best foot forward.

Now I just need to get through the next ten days anyway I can.

Everyone I know, everywhere I go
People need some reason to believe
I don’t know about anyone but me
If it takes all night, that’ll be all right
If I can get you to smile before I leave

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
I don’t know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels
Look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through
Looking into their eyes I see them running too
Running on, running on empty
Running on, running blind
Running on, running into the sun
But I’m running behind

Today is the first “disinfecting” day and all businesses except pharmacies were required to close. The reality though is that this is just another bullshit excuse lock people inside their houses. I seriously doubt that anything has been cleaned in such a way as to deter the Wuhan virus. I’d prefer they just be honest about it. Anyway, the upshot is that I figured I’d do my morning walk as usual. But as I was leaving my subdivision on one of the trails through the squatter village, the locals came out and dissuaded me. Apparently the barangay is taking folks into custody for being out on the street. I had carried one of my prescription bottles with me as an alibi, but giving the stridency of the neighbor’s warnings, I said “fuck it”, turned around, and stayed home.

Yeah, I could have safely walked in the neighborhood I suppose, but where’s the fun in that? Instead, I learned how to use my “smart TV”, which given my struggles is seemingly smarter than me. So, I have Amazon Prime but a lot of the content is not available in the Philippines, at least for free. I wound up paying $3.99 to watch a film called No Escape. It filled a couple of hours but I wouldn’t want to see it again. I am in my own “no escape” situaton, although the locals are not trying to kill me (yet). The funny thing is today was the first time I’ve even sat down in front of my television for well over a year.

While I was at it I also rewatched one of my Korean favorites My Sassy Girl. I enjoyed that again for free on YouTube.

Otherwise, I just took a nap, cooked up some pulled pork in the crockpot, and drank beer at home. Tomorrow we’ll be back to the normal enhanced quarantine rules which will permit me to get out of the house. Looking forward to that!

Anyway, I’ll be glad when someone finally calls an end to this charade. Not holding my breath though. I’d love to find something to relieve the stress in the meantime.

Alright, I usually blog BEFORE consuming my beers. I’m about at my limit now, so I apologize if this meandering is worse than usual. Tomorrow’s another day, I’ll try and do better!

It’s not that the man did not know how to juggle, he just didn’t have the balls to do it.

So far at least what I’m doing seems to be working. I’m under 200 pounds and I’m Wuhan virus free. And I’d say that my feet may well be the common denominator for those two events. Or to be more precise my daily outdoor walking exercise. Another study seems to support the premise that getting out and about is the best defense against infection:

A walk a day may keep the coronavirus away, or at least keep it from killing you.

A University of Virginia researcher who studies the protective effects of exercise said Wednesday that endurance exercises — running, brisk walking, swimming, jumping — prompt our muscles to make an antioxidant that travels through the blood to our hearts, lungs and kidneys.

It then binds to organs, awaiting intruders.

Here’s to hoping he is right about that! To help keep myself in fighting shape, I joined my pals Scott and Jim for a mostly pleasant 10K hike this morning. And I’ve got the pictures to prove it:

You just got to do what you got to do in life. And right now I’m gonna do the Speakeasy. I’ll leave you with a photo of Buddy and Lucky practicing social distancing on our walk this morning:

I got a bit of a scare when I saw this:

Then I saw on one of the local internet forums that the closures would be for the entire WEEK! I didn’t exactly panic, but I did take a gander at my pantry shelves and fridge to see if I could go an entire week without access to a grocery store. It was a little iffy, especially if the restaurants were going to be closed (I’m still doing take-out a couple of times a week as well). So, in an effort to be prudent I messaged my driver to take me on a shopping excursion. While awaiting his arrival, I was able to confirm that the closures will only occur on the referenced Sundays.

Anyway, it was off to SM supermarket in Olongapo to stock up.

The good news is I am resupplied and hopefully have enough to carry me over to the end of the month. I really don’t want to go through that SM experience again. I’m going to try and be optimistic that come May I’ll be able to once again enjoy the Royal shopping experience.

On the other hand, President Duterte seems to be leaning more towards fascism if this news report is to be believed:

Well, I’m nothing if not disciplined! That’s why it is essential that I achieve my daily step goal. Plus, according to this article, it is much more dangerous to stay indoors.

…while the study “does not rule out outdoor transmission of the virus,” it notes that “among our 7,324 identified cases in China with sufficient descriptions, only one outdoor outbreak involving two cases occurred.”

This study, if true, could raise important questions about the wisdom of closing public parks in urban areas, particularly those urban areas in which large groups of people live in substandard buildings.

Oh, the article mentions “wisdom”. Never mind. I’m not sure which is more inept; the measures to stop the spread of the Wuhan virus or the sheeple who blindly follow them.

A quick update on the “Gomans” situation. I stopped by yesterday afternoon to pay my tab from Wednesday and see what the outcome of the Barangay visit might be. I came in from the long way about on the beach. The first thing I noticed was no customers were seated in the outdoor patio area. Still, I was warmly greeted by my waitress friend Babette and the manager. They told me that they intended to take care of their good customers like me, but I had to keep it a secret. No problem. Bottom line, no more open drinking but I can still order take-out. Alrighty then.

I headed on up the beach to my Speakeasy and halfway there ran into another foreigner. He told me that he’d just left the Speakeasy because the police were outside. Damn. I waited a while, then headed over to see what had happened. Nothing really. The police were visiting the establishment next door. So, I still have a place to go. For now at least.

But not on Sunday!

As is my custom, I headed over to “Gomans” yesterday afternoon to enjoy a few cold beers before curfew. This is what greeted me at the door:

Hmm, now what? As I stood there contemplating my options, Babette, my favorite waitress, suddenly appeared on the other side of the barrier. She reiterated that they could only serve food for take out. I asked if I could come inside and have a beer while waiting for my food to be prepared. She nodded and said, “I know you are a good guy” and slid open the barrier. She told me I needed to keep my beer “hidden” while I was inside. I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to manage that, but I nodded my assent. I go out to the back patio and she brings me my beer and a menu. I teasingly said, “there are so many choices, it may take a while to decide what to order.” She grinned and said that’s okay.

There was only one other customer when I arrived. As I sat there half-heartedly perusing the menu a couple more people came in. I was enjoying my second beer when Babette came running over and exclaimed: “you need to leave now, the Barangay is coming!” I asked about paying my tab and she said, “Later. You need to go now! You can take your beer with you.” So, I hustled out onto the beach and moved away from “Gomans”. Now what? Well, there is still the Speakeasy. Tide was high though, so I had to remove my shoes and socks and wade in places to get there. Once I arrived I saw my manager friend was at the poolside bar with a couple of other guests so I sat down and joined them.

After a few minutes, the manager asked if I wanted to go inside to the aircon bar. I told him I was fine out here but asked if he preferred me to move inside. He did, and so I did. There were five or six customers sitting at the bar so I moved to a table away from them to keep my social distance. Had some beers, then left at 5:30 to beat the curfew. The problem now is going to be finding access between the beach and the highway if “Goman’s” remains closed. The nearest public access is about a kilometer up the road. Ah well, it’s not like I try and avoid walking.

Meanwhile, have you ever had a feeling like you are being watched?

That’s my house on the left. Off to the right, you can see that big burn area I wrote about the other day. And no, I’m not being paranoid. My pal Scott posted some shots of Alta Vista from a friend’s drone.

Oh, and Scott also posted this photo for our hike yesterday:

Every little bit helps. It’s also good to remember that what I call problems are nothing in the big scheme of things. I wonder where I’m going to find a cold beer today while so many are wondering what they are going to find to eat.

Stay strong everyone!

It’s been hot so that today’s hike felt longer than it was. I know I was as tired as I was after Saturday’s [15K] hike, and that was 1/3 more than today’s today was 1/3 less than that. Still glad to be out and about doing something healthy. [Corrected for clarity and mathematical accuracy]

Oh, popped into Gam Gam’s place and left some candies and cookies for her kids. My motivation is (mostly) pure. Promise.

Anyway, it was a fine and sweaty hike. Brought the guys by my house on their way home and shared some of my beer bounty with them.

You know, Samuel Clemens called this one right:

After today’s hike, I moseyed over to the vet’s to purchase some canned dog food. I didn’t pay much attention to it last time other than it is pretty expensive at 140 pesos ($2.80) a can. Well, they are large and one can does feed both dogs. It’s my best option at the moment. And the dogs seem to like it. Anyway, today I took a closer look and I found this “interesting”:

And that’s about it for today…

Damn, I’ve never been a patient man but some people are getting on my last nerve. I posted on Facebook about my trip to the supermarket in Olongapo yesterday. One guy commented that I should have stayed in Barretto. Another one said I only posted to make people who can’t go to Olongapo jealous. I was a little drunk frustrated and responded: “I go where I want, why don’t you?” Which led to a third commenter saying: “Do you have respect for the lockdown? If everyone just went where they like the situation would be out of control.” Oh brother, some folks need to get a life.

In somewhat related news, I ventured out to “Gomans” yesterday afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to find they were still open for business. Apparently, someone had dropped a dime on them, but they were able to bribe convince the police that they were technically in compliance with the quarantine standards. I’m not sure how. The main difference is that now you are not allowed to sit in the bar area. Instead, folks are confined to the back patio where they are permitted to drink while waiting on their take out food order.

I also performed something of a rescue mission yesterday. An acquaintance of mine has been stuck on the other side of the river under Subic’s jurisdiction. They make it hard for folks to get into Barretto. He’s been out of beer and money for a while and his girlfriend messaged that he was going crazy. So, I showed them the “back way” into Barretto, avoiding the checkpoints by coming in through Alta Vista.

So, he was able to get to a functioning ATM and score some beer. He’s also friends with a hotel owner in town that is still open and is operating the bar in a speakeasy fashion. Apparently my good deed will now provide me access to another place to enjoy a cold beer when the need arises. Woo Hoo!

Facebook brought back these happy memories from my time in Korea:

Yeah, yeah, I know. It didn’t happen that way at all. But I’ve been working on rewriting history.

Keep on rockin’ in the free world!

My pleas will continue to go unheard. At least until April 30, it’s gonna be more of the same around these parts I reckon.

Yesterday afternoon I attended a nice Easter gathering (non-religious) at a neighbor and fellow Hasher’s house here in Alta Vista. Three other couples also joined the festivities. Ed did up some nice roasted chickens. I brought some brownies and ice cream. And beer, which is getting to be in short supply at the markets these days. And so the running out of essentials begins!

You can see Easter mountain off in the background. Today is the traditional day the Hash hikes up to the top. Some of the folks at yesterday’s party are making the trek today. I opted out as it is my grocery shopping day. Plus I didn’t want to climb that motherfucker in this heat!

Later in the afternoon, I made my way over to “Gomans” for my usual fix of brews. As I approached I saw a police car pulling away. That can’t be good I thought to myself. I went on in and all the customers were crowded out on the back patio. The bartender said no one can sit at the bar and they would be closing at 6:00 (the curfew). Today the Barangay had these pictures posted on their Facebook page:

So, I’m still unclear about what if anything happened. I mean, they didn’t close the place down immediately or haul anyone away. I’ll go by later to see if anything has changed.

I chose not to stay at “Gomans” because I didn’t want to be out on the deck with everyone else. I am serious about keeping social distance, even if I’m drinking illegally. So, I moved down to my Speakeasy. Sat out in the back at a table on the beach. No one else was out there. A bit later, a waitress came up to me and said “thank goodness the police couldn’t see you sitting out here. They were just here!”. Oh boy.

Grocery shopping this morning. Pain in the ass as usual. Store used to open at 7. Got there at 8 and still closed. Was told it would open “before 9”. Turns out that meant 8:30.

The store was out of much of what I wanted, but I scored some needed items. Got the rest with a stop at Divimart on the way home. Ah, how I miss my Royal shopping experience!

Ah well. This too shall pass. I hope.

So, yesterday I had to go out for a large injection of vitamin D. 15K worth in fact. Still, the best defense against the Wuhan virus is a good offense. As my doctor succinctly stated:

Going outdoors is what stops every respiratory disease

Well, it wasn’t MY doctor who said that. And it wasn’t a medical doctor. I’m pretty sure he has a Ph.D. though. And the above quote came from something I found on the internet: Epidemiologist: Coronavirus could be ‘exterminated’ if lockdowns were lifted. Anyway, I’m not taking any chances, hence the long hike yesterday. I’ll have some photos from that adventure later in this post, so stick around.

But first, indulge me in this rant, please. The #stayathome nanny-state do-gooders are really trying my patience. I know I’ve talked about it before, but c’mon! I get that some people have bought into the whole strict compliance with quarantine rules, even though many are completely contradictory, self-defeating, ineffective, and potentially dangerous. I mentioned in an earlier post that the brainiacs in charge of the checkpoint into Barretto have been spraying cars and people with some unknown liquid. And then I read that the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) in Manila told municipalities to not engage in this practice because it doesn’t kill the virus and it could cause adverse reactions for those who come in contact with the solution. Once again, the left hand has no clue what the right hand should be doing. Just another example of government here demonstrating why the Philippines is a third world country.

But what really pisses me off are some of my expat “friends”. They are openly critical of the decisions I make that could not possibly have an adverse impact on them. These clowns just love applying that #stayathome hashtag on any Facebook post in which I dare to share photos of my outdoor activities. For example, yesterday I posted a photo of the after-hike hamburger I enjoyed at “Gomans”. A commenter felt compelled to use the actual name of the restaurant in pointing out that serving food for dine-in was in violation of quarantine rules. I wound up deleting the comment and the photo.

Anyway, I go out for my daily walks and I acknowledge that it is a technical violation of the quarantine rules. You can, however, be in compliance if you are walking to, oh let’s say, the wet market on Rizal street. Now, in order to maintain appropriate social distancing, only a select few are allowed in the marketplace at any given time. All others must wait their turn. In a line. That looked like this when I passed by this morning:

Alright, I’ll let it go. We will all get through this, one way or another. It is just frustrating to see that it is all so pointless. And I’m prepared now with a standard response the next time someone lays that #stayathome bullshit on me:

A really long but mostly pleasant hike yesterday.

Yesterday was “National Siblings Day” and I dutifully reposted this photo of me and the bros:

Alright, sorry for the ranting and raving. Sometimes life can be a real pain in the ass, but I realize just how Lucky I am.

Happy Maundy Thursday everyone! It’s Holy Week here in the Philippines, albeit a very reserved one this year what with the quarantine and travel ban. I recall my first ever trip to the Philippines was during Holy Week. I got to Cebu only to discover everything was closed! I asked what was going on and was told it’s Maundy Thursday. Had to look it up as I’d never even heard of it despite being raised a Christian. Of course, the next day was Good Friday and places remain closed. I was finally able to take a girl out of the bar on Saturday night. Early the next morning she told me she needed to leave in order to attend Easter services. Bless her heart. At least I got what I paid for. Ah, sweet memories indeed.

What else have I got for you today? How about some photos from yesterday? My hiking partner Scott posted these of our hike on his Facebook page:

Speaking of walking, today I earned a new badge from my friends at Fitbit:

And then there is this:

A suspected Covid-19 male patient is lying in bed in the hospital, wearing an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. A young student female nurse appears and gives him a partial sponge bath.

“Nurse,”‘ he mumbles from behind the mask, “are my testicles black?”
Embarrassed, the young nurse replies, “I don’t know, Sir. I’m only here to wash your upper body and feet.”

He struggles to ask again, “Nurse, please check for me. Are my testicles black?”

Concerned that he might elevate his blood pressure and heart rate from worrying about his testicles, she overcomes her embarrassment and
pulls back the covers.

She raises his gown, holds his manhood in one hand and his testicles gently in the other.

She looks very closely and says, “There’s nothing wrong with them, Sir. They look fine.”

The man slowly pulls off his oxygen mask, smiles at her, and says very slowly, “Thank you very much. That was wonderful. Now listen very,
very, closely:
“Are – my – test – results – back?”

Bada bing! And while we are on the subject of the Wuhan virus, I saw a mask that will surely keep everyone at a safe distance:

Time for those afternoon steps. Is it further around the equator than pole-to-pole?

UPDATE: Well, I’m nothing if not unoriginal. Or so it would appear. I’ve used “the last supper” title FIVE times over the years.

April 2018 when I said goodbye to my friends in Seoul for the last time before the move to the PI.

September 2014 when I made my semi-annual return to the USA. This was the first time Jee Yeun didn’t go with me. Said she needed to stay behind to take care of her sick mother. Little did I know that this was the beginning of the end. Ouch!

August 2013 I wrote about the Korean supper Jee Yeun had cooked for me the night before. Stop! You’re killing me with these memories!

January 2005 was the last supper before flying to Korea for the first time and irrevocably changing my life forever. Despite everything, I don’t regret that decision.

Ah well, I’ll chalk up this repeated title to old-timer’s disease…

“A man’s admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him.” –Tocqueville

I do my best to go along to get along. Compliance with the spirit, if not the letter, of the quarantine directives, seems appropriate. But I refuse to disengage my brain and blindly follow stupidity solely on the basis of “do it because I told you so”. Here’s an example of something that just pissed me off when I saw it:

I comply with the curfew. I maintain social distancing to the extent possible and certainly more than most Filipinos I observe. I wear a mask, such as it is, when I’m on the street as required. But I’m going to walk my dogs. And if I choose to take a hike, how is that different than walking to the market place? I’d say it’s a damn sight safer for me alone on the mountain than in a crowded grocery store. And even when I’m at the Speakeasy, I keep a safe distance from the other guests. The point is, even when I’m technically in violation, I do it in such a way as to not endanger others.

I’ve had to bite my tongue (withhold my fingers?) on social media where the do-gooders and busybodies criticize people like me who don’t adopt their strict “stay at home” mantra. Sometimes the attacks are personal but I just ignore them and move on. Oh, I might do a Facebook post quoting Tocqueville or a status of preferring to not be a sheep. I don’t know if they make the connection or not and I guess I don’t really care. Well, I cared enough to post this rant, but that’s the extent of it.

So, today I had to go out for some essentials–specifically dog food. I chose a mountainous 8K route to the veterinarian’s office to make my purchase. There, see totally in accordance with the quarantine procedures.

Anyway, just gotta keep on keepin’ on until this madness is over and done with.

Stay safe everyone!