The wheel in the sky keeps on turning

Posted on 08/February/2022 by John McCrarey

And man, am I getting dizzy. Not sure if it’s the spins or the ups and downs, but it has been quite a ride lately. I’m slowly adapting to my new lifestyle and might actually make this work despite the efforts of those determined to see me fail. If failure is to ultimately be my fate, it will be a choice, not something imposed upon me. Yeah, brave words I know. But my eyes are wide-open and I’m willing to make the effort as long as it seems worthwhile. Now, if only I could make all the drama feel entertaining. Oh well, that’s unlikely, so I’ll just have to deal with it all as best as I am able.

In the meantime, there are many positives to embrace. My gal and I continue to make progress, even if it is sometimes in a two-step forward, one step back, mode. We have good times and good experiences. We are getting better at communicating our thoughts and feelings with one another. And we share certain compatibilities that make it all seem worthwhile.

***My lunch yesterday at her favorite restaurant, Papagayo.***

It was also Hash Monday, and in the afternoon I enjoyed a relatively easy 5K trail. Only one climb with a couple of dicey spots, and most of the rest was on familiar turf. Well, there was one section behind the squatter village adjacent to Alta Vista that is apparently a makeshift trash dump for the locals. We were literally walking through shitty diapers and other disgusting garbage for a bit. I know I won’t ever be going back that way.

Photos from our hike:

***Up the hill behind Alta Vista, down Baloy Beach, over the river, and On-Home at Smokes and Bottles.***

***Waiting to get started at the VFW.***

***Last-minute guidance from the Hare.***

***The stairs ran out but the climbing continued.***

***Pretty much smooth sailing after that.***

***A nice day to hike–cloudy skies but no rain.***

***The Easter mountain photo you’ve been waiting for.***

***We came back down into my Alta Vista neighborhood.***

***Then we walked the beach at Baloy..***.

***And enjoyed a beer stop at Da’ Kudos…***

***Preparing to cross the Matain river by banka boat.***

***Finishing our journey on the back streets of Matain.***

***Destination achieved, On-Home at Smokes and Bottles.***

And that’s the way things have been rolling around here. Thanks for checking in!

Things aren’t so bad

Posted on 06/February/2022 by John McCrarey

For better or worse. I do need to do a post about the dramedy that is my life these past few days. But in the meantime, I’m doing okay overall. Take last night, for example. I was made to feel unwelcome in my venue of choice, so me and my gal hit the roof. The rooftop of the Central Park Reef hotel, that is. It turned out to be a very pleasant alternative.

***The cafe is done up in a 1950s motif, including this authentic 1953 Chevy Corvette.***

***And the rooftop infinity pool is one of the nicest I’ve seen.***

***With 6 stories, Central Park is the tallest building in Barretto, towering over the surrounding neighborhood***.

***The rooftop vantage point provides some of the best bay views around.***

***Here’s a shot of the National highway heading towards Subic town.***

Anyway, it was an enjoyable place to quaff some cold beers (the GF had mango juice), some snacks (calamari rings and blueberry cheesecake), take in the views, and forget about the recent bullshit for a bit. Just to be clear, the relationship is going fine despite the efforts of some to tear us apart. The fools don’t understand that their baseless attacks only make us stronger. Rock on!

After departing Central Park, we were planning on dropping in for a visit to the poolside bar at the Outback hotel. Outback is almost next door to the Car Wash, so the GF wanted to stop by for a quick check on how things were going. We wound up staying, which was fine by me. I knew a couple of the guys there and we chatted a bit. Other than some Dick walking by and calling me an asshole (takes one to know one!), it was a mostly pleasant evening.

***One of the waitresses posing in front of some Valentine’s Day decorations.***

Yesterday morning, the GF caught a cab home to Subic and I rode along for a drop-off way up on the Govic highway so I could have a change of scenery for my morning walk.

***I commenced walking on the long road to Naugsol.***

***And what would a hike be without a new perspective on Easter mountain?***

***My fantasy life–a secluded hut in the middle of nowhere.***

A short hike at just under 6K, but nice to be on some less-traveled paths.

The girlfriend rejoined me later in the afternoon and she picked a movie called 365 Days to watch on Netflix. It was one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. More like poorly made soft porn than a movie. No real storyline to follow and I despised all of the characters. I would have never made it to the end without a pretty young thing sitting next to me as motivation. I checked the Rotten Tomatoes site and saw that I wasn’t alone in my thinking. 0% of the critics liked the movies and only 29% of the audience scored it favorably. Don’t waste your time on this one. Incredibly, a sequel is apparently now in production. Yikes!

Bob Dylan wrote a song called “Love is just a four-letter word”.

***I do love my beer!*** ***And I have the belly to prove it!***

See y’all back here tomorrow!

Ah, Friday fun

Posted on 05/February/2022 by John McCrarey

For the most part, anyway.

The doctor says I need to go see an ENT (ear, nose, and throat) specialist. I did get a prescription for an antihistamine and a nose inhaler. We’ll see how that works out.

A solid night of darts and no controversy or yelling.

After the tourney, I invited all the Alley Cats girls to join me at the Car Wash for some grub. I did encounter an issue there and left before the food was served. I paid of course. Hopefully, I’ve managed to resolve the problem now.

And that leaves the Friday morning walk.

***We spent most of the hike on the Subic side of the river…***

***A brief encounter with the Govic Highway***

***Then through an alley neighborhood.***

***Beginning our first climb of the day…***

***Half the group did Black Rock. You can see them up top if you look hard enough.***

***The rest of us went down to the valley the easy way. We met up with the others there***.

***Our trail led through this cemetery…***

***Walk softly and carry a big stick, right, Martin?***

You can Relive the hike here:

https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOd5nBD146

I apologize for the lack of substance here lately. I’m always pressed for time these days and yet I don’t seem to have much to say about why. A paradox indeed! I’ll figure it out. Stay with me.

Protected: Older is better

Posted on 04/February/2022 by John McCrarey

Steppin’ over the line

Posted on 03/February/2022 by John McCrarey

Turns out maybe I am an asshole. Or at least I occasionally act like one. For the second week in a row I lost my temper during our dart league match. I felt especially bad because it happened at Alley Cats and in front of people I’ve known for years. What triggered me was an allegation that my foot was over the throw line when I tossed my darts. The accusation came while I was playing which was more than a little distracting. And it was a false assertion to boot.

Alley Cats has mats on the floor in front of the boards. I recall when they were installed that they were the standard distance from the board to the throw line–7 feet, 9 1/4 inches, to be precise. So, it has been my habit to “toe up” against the edge of the mat. My accuser claimed the throw line was at the far edges of the tape holding the mat down. I told her that was wrong–loudly. She responded “don’t yell at me”, and I, of course, was triggered and yelled even louder. I wanted a measurement done then and there, but eventually I calmed down enough to continue playing from behind the newly imposed throw line.

After the match, a measurement was done and I was vindicated–the proper throw line is the edge of the mat. Doesn’t change the fact that I was an obnoxious asshole though. I bought my victim a drink and apologized when we had finished playing. We hugged and made up, but that doesn’t excuse or change the way I acted. Ah well, I will definitely strive to be a better person in the future.

We did win the match 12-1 though, so there’s that.

A nice hike with the Wednesday Walkers in the morning hours. Here are some photos of that event:

***Our route took us most of the way up Kalaklan, then we circled back on My Bitch***.

***This week’s iteration of the Wednesday Walkers.***

***A pause to make a cookie delivery.***

***These kids always seem to know when I’m in the vicinity.***

***Max taking a pause to ponder the mystery of what the hell are we doing climbing mountains in this heat. I just found out Max is a reader of my humble blog. Welcome aboard!***

***A safe passage over the bamboo bridge.***

***I didn’t forget you Easter mountain fans…***

***Finishing up on the My Bitch trail.***

And oh, look! They are playing my song!

Abbreviation

Posted on 02/February/2022 by John McCrarey

Another damned whacked Wednesday, so I’m going to need to keep it short and sweet today. Well, short anyway.

Yesterday was my “lazy” day–grocery shopping instead of hiking. I also intended to renew my visa, but the immigration office had a lazy day too–closed for the Lunar New Year. No issues getting into Royal without a vax card, so that’s something to be thankful for I suppose.

Played in the dart tournament last night. Played just well enough to win, but I reckon that’s all you need to do. I honestly don’t even care that much about winning or losing. In fact, if I reach the finals I always offer my opponent a “tie” and just split the pot 50-50. We played doubles last night and reached the finals from the loser’s bracket. Our opponent did not offer the tie option, so we played it out. That motivated me to play hard for the victory and I threw my best darts of the night.

There was a time when I was a much better darts player. Facebook reminded me that it was only seven years ago that I threw my best game of 501 ever.

***A 15 dart out is professional-level quality throwing. I’ve never replicated that performance, but it’s good to remember what I’m capable of.***

A few of my fellow players joined me at the Car Wash resto-bar for food and beers after the tourney. A nice way to end the evening.

Had breakfast with the GF at Sit-n-Bull this morning, then I did the Wednesday Walkers group hike. I’ll post some photos of that tomorrow.

Dart league this afternoon. In fact, I need to hit the shower now and get my ass ready to play.

Today is also my younger brother Greg’s birthday.

***He’s 65 now. Of course, I’m still the handsome one.***

Gotta go, back with more tomorrow I hope.

Ridged but not ruffled

Posted on 01/February/2022 by John McCrarey

Run #1482 of the Subic Bay Hash House Harriers is in the books! I am one of the survivors, along with everyone else who participated. We did a Leech My Nuggets trail to the top of Kalaklan ridge, then back down on a path called Motherfucker. It is aptly named, although I prefer the steep down than climbing that, er, motherfucker. A challenging trail, as is expected when Leech is the Hare, but well-marked and scenic. It was a beautiful day to Hash, although a tad on the hot side. Let’s go to the photos, shall we?

***I did a shortcut to avoid that second climb at the end.***

***The gathering before the storming of the ridgeline.***

***Whatever You Want found a new boyfriend on trail.***

***That’s the National Highway down there in Barretto.***

***Cream Filled Cum Cake, Cum In My Basement, and Black And Dick Her.***

***Penis Colada taking in the view before going down on Motherfucker.***

***Heading down under the watchful eye of Easter mountain.***

***Well, Mixer Splitter wound up on his ass and just stayed there the rest of the way down. Hey, whatever works.***

And that’s pretty much the story of our Hash adventure. On-Home at VFW. Beers were drunk, songs were sung, and another day in the life drew to a close.

***Nosey Bastard celebrated his birthday in Hash fashion.***

***And Black And Dick Her was recognized for completing 69 runs with the SBH3.***

Well, after the Hash I went to see my GF at her resto, then she joined me at my place for smoothies and some Cobra Kai. Finished season 1 now so I can go and read Kevin’s review. I’m still trying to decide what I think. Was never really a fan of the original Karate Kid flicks, but then again, with a beautiful woman sitting next to me on the couch I’m easily entertained.

Long Time Gone

Monthly Archives: February 2022