I can’t even claim to have zip.

More and more bars continue to reopen. I’m going to have to commence with a bar crawl one of these days soon. It is kinda sorta nice to have the sexy ladies trying to entice me into their establishments again. Too bad I’m not really into the girly bar scene, although perhaps an exception is in order.

Did a few beers at Cheap Charlies last night and enjoyed the company of my favorite there, Rose. Maya was working as well and I decided to forgive her for her past transgressions (basically, ignoring me on New Year’s Eve and thereby hurting my feelings). She had a big smile and a look of relief when I bought her a lady drink. Ah, it’s the little things, right?

Then it was on to Alley Cats for the first time in months. Saw some of the old regulars and wished Billy (who runs the dart tournaments) a happy birthday. Closed the place down. Well, it closes at 8:00 these days, but still.

Made my way home without incident and successfully prepared the smoothie that was aborted the previous night. Interestingly, using fresh fruit instead of frozen made for a less enjoyable beverage. It wasn’t cold enough. Next time I go fresh I’ll add some ice cubes I think.

This morning’s walk wasn’t anything special. I just hoofed it up the National Highway towards Subic town, then turned around and walked back. And that was as boring as it sounds.

Sorta like this post, eh?

A woman’s husband comes home hammered every night, and she always yells at him before going to bed alone.

One day she decides to try some reverse psychology. When her husband staggers in that night, she’s waiting for him in her best lingerie. She sits him in an armchair and gives him a back rub.

“It’s getting late, big boy,” she says after a few minutes. “Why don’t we go upstairs to bed?”

“We might as well,” slurs the husband. “I’m going to be in trouble when I get home, anyway.”

UPDATE: The last time I said “I got nothin’” was in January 2019. That nothin’ was a bit more substantial than this one though.

So, I had the good fortune to secure some fresh strawberries. A friend is having fresh fruits and veggies shipped down from Baguio once a week and I ordered a kilo of berries for 450 pesos ($9). Yeah, a bit pricey but I haven’t seen a strawberry since the last time I visited Baguio back in February.

Those smoothie dreams were soon to be shattered, however.

A broken blender may well be an apt metaphor for my love life. It seems I don’t mix well with the female of the species. Last night I got a message from Jessa saying “I am serious about you but you aren’t serious about me”. I’m not sure why, but that message left me with a blend of feelings–anger, hurt, and sadness. I was a few beers into my night at that point so I chose to limit my response to “I’m sorry you feel that way”. This morning we chatted our way through the issue, but honestly, that kind of emotional manipulation is a huge red flag for me. More and more I’m thinking I might just be better off alone.

And when you are surrounded by nature’s beauty whilst out walking are you ever really alone? My hike today was a beast–6.66 kilometers exactly. Scary, huh? And check out this spider:

And I would suck as a banana harvester because you’d never get me to climb this ladder:

Sincerity is everything. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.

It was a pretty special day at the Subic Bay Hash House Harriers as we celebrated our run number one thousand four hundred. Coincidentally, it was my one hundredth run with the SBH3. I know technically that doesn’t make me a Centurion, but it’s about as badass as I’ll ever be I reckon.

I was also one-third of a Hare trio and we laid a fine 7K trail if I do say so myself. Lots of my fellow Hashers seemed to agree. They especially liked the fact that we took them in a new direction out towards Easter mountain. Our previous “COVID” runs had pretty much started at the four corners intersection on the My Bitch trail. Only so many ways to go from there and it was getting kind of old for all of us I think. The feedback that was most gratifying to me was that the trail was well marked and easy to follow. No one got lost which is always my goal when I Hare.

Anyway, we were loaded down with powder and other trail marking apparatus which pretty much precluded taking pictures along the way. Sorry about that!

In recognition of my achievement in completing 100 runs, I was awarded the coveted SBH3 vest. Oh, and we also had hats made to commemorate our 1400 runs.

Anyway, it was a good day for yours truly.

Nothing ever stays the same I suppose, but things have changed so fast it boggles the mind. Yesterday was the grand re-opening of one of my favorite bar hangouts–Cheap Charlies. So I was excited about dropping in and getting reacquainted.

Well, I was at least greeted warmly and one of the gals even remembered my drink of choice–San Mig Zero. I arrived around 4:00 p.m. and there were only two other customers. None of my old favorite bargirls was working, but Heidi was there as the cashier/manager. Regular readers might recall that I had a big crush on her back in the day, but alas, it proved to be a one-way street.

If you are a social drinker this setup seems to defeat the purpose. And if you like to buy the ladies a drink and enjoy some chat and maybe a cuddle or back massage, well, that doesn’t appear possible these days.

I did wind up buying all the girls working a drink as kind of a welcome back gesture. Heidi tells me that with the reduced staffing levels most of the waitresses will only work a couple of days a week. Guess I’ll need to come back to see some of my old favorites. From a distance.

I only stayed for a couple of beers at Cheap Charlies, then made my way to my new old favorite hangout–Mango’s. I kind of feel a duty to be loyal after they stayed open to accommodate desperate old guys like me during the quarantine.

That was my evening. Meeting up with Pubic Head and Blow My Pipe in a few minutes so we can lay trail for today’s Hash. That’s a downside to these noon starts if you are a Hare. Oh well, all in a day’s work.

Well, in my case, it walks! It’s still good though.

Today is the first Sunday in way too long that I haven’t been under lockdown quarantine rules. I celebrated by taking a long (13K) morning walk out to the old Navy base and back via the National Highway.

And the freedom has only just begun! More announcements of bar openings today, including one of my favorites–Cheap Charlies. I’ll be popping in for a cold one (or two) later this afternoon.

And speaking of memories, two years ago my rescue dog Buddy was rescued yet again.

Yesterday I had some girls over to the house. Made up a batch of spaghetti with meatballs. Served it with broccoli and cornbread. Sorry, for some reason I neglected to take any photos of the food. It was all fine I think although I was a bit surprised that the most popular dish was the broccoli. Go figure.

Jessa spent the night with me again but her Aunt Flo from Redlands was visiting so all we did was sleep. She seems like a nice young woman. I’m not sure why I don’t have a stronger attraction/connection with her. As I walked her to the trike stand this morning she asked me how I was feeling. I told her I was feeling okay. She clarified “I mean, how are you feeling about me?” Yikes! I just told her I was taking things a day at a time and we’d see where that takes us. Yeah, it was a sucky answer but it really is the best I’ve got right now. Something in my gut is telling me that I’m destined to spend my life alone and maybe I should just accept that.

I’m not quite ready to give up though. Jessa may not be the one and if I determine that’s the case I’ll need to let her know so she doesn’t waste her time on me. I can already tell she is thinking of a future with me and that’s something I’m not ready to seriously consider at this point.

Maybe I just love my freedom too much.

Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose,
And nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free,
Feelin’ good was easy, Lord, when Bobby sang the blues,
And buddy, that was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.

Here’s wishing all my American brothers and sisters a Happy Independence Day! The freedoms we have fought to defend and preserve these past 244 years are once again under attack, this time from within our borders. Have we lost our will to stand against tyranny and oppression?

I reveled in some newly regained freedoms last night. First stop was the Hot Zone bar. It was me, two other customers, and the owner, Jay. Two waitresses, no dancers. Still, it’s a start. I had one beer and headed out.

After leaving Hot Zone I made my way down the highway to my “new normal” regular hangout, “Gomans”. Except it is not Gomans anymore. The business has now met all current quarantine requirements and is legally open once again. I can now reveal the real name of this establishment: Mango’s. I enjoyed some dine-in food with my beers but pretty much had the place to myself. I told the manager I’d help spread the word about their re-opening on social media. Wishing them well as we move forward.

For yesterday’s hike, Scott drove us out ten kilometers or so to Castillejos for a trek up to Balon falls and through the Aeta (Filipino indigenous people) resettlement village.

It turned about to be a pretty arduous day. Glad to have got through it with just a few scrapes and scratches. Things don’t always go they way you intend, but I guess that provides an element of adventure.

Monday I’ll be Hare along with Scott and Jim for the Hash trail. We are pretty much just going to use what we scouted on our Wednesday hike this week.

This afternoon, Jessa is coming over along with some of her girlfriends. I’ll be serving spaghetti and meatballs for our meal.

And that’s how this free man is living his free life. Such as it is.

A challenging hike today but I’ll write about that tomorrow. The big news around here is that under the recently implemented modified quarantine standard things are beginning to open up, including–wait for it– some bars!

Obviously, this is big news for a guy like me. Although honestly, I’ve come to understand that a place like “Gomans” fulfills my needs just fine. In the past, it was always just a nice restaurant I’d visit a couple of times a month. Now I enjoy a seat on the back patio with a cold beer and sweet views of the bay. That’s been enough to get me by.

Yesterday I got a message from the manager of the Outback bar (the Speakeasy as I used to refer to it) that they are officially (legally) open for business again. That’s great to hear. Did I visit there last night? Nope, I went back to “Goman’s”. Partly out of loyalty for taking care of me when no one else would. And in part because the manager who wants me back is the same guy who kicked me out without just cause. You didn’t want my business when you claimed to be closed, you won’t get it now that you are wide open.

Today I’ve learned that Hot Zone has also opened again. It is or was a girly bar. I plan to drop by for a quick beer tonight to check it out and say hello to the owner. I’m hoping that my other old haunts and hangouts will soon be following suit–Cheap Charlies for the views and Alley Cats for the darts. After the hike today we popped into The Pub, which is more of a restaurant than a bar, notwithstanding the name. It’s open again under its food license but we were served beer–in plastic cups. Hey, the Philly Cheese Steak was good and the beverage was cold. What else matters?

Anyway, it is good to feel like at least some aspects of my life are getting back to normal.

I’ll leave you with a little taste of political humor: