Back from my whirlwind trip to Angeles City with the nephew safely on board. It was a long night though. Justin’s flight wasn’t due to arrive until 0215, but I had my driver pick me up at 7:00 p.m. I figured I’d get some dinner and a taste of AC ambiance while waiting.
I actually started out at Cheap Charlies and had my driver meet me there. The place was packed and rockin’. When we arrived in AC, I treated my driver to dinner at one of my old-time favorites, Tequila Reef. There was a brownout (no electricity) in town, but the Reef was running a generator. Power was restored about 30 minutes later.
We sat outside where we were permitted to smoke or vape and do some people watching on the street. There was a sign on the table saying to push the button on the wall for service. I did that but received no response, so I pushed it again. One of the other diners advised that the button was out of order and he suggested I flail my arms about until someone inside notices me. Hmm, that didn’t work either. In frustration I went inside and asked what I needed to do to be served, mentioning that the button and attention-seeking had been to no avail. “Sorry sir, the button isn’t in operation now” was the response. Sheesh. I took a piss, came out of the CR, and noticed there were STILL no menus at my table. I again tracked down a waitress and pleaded for service (I was pretty damn hungry by now).
Tequila Reef has a varied menu, but they specialize in Mexican food. I accordingly ordered up the enchilada platter.
After the meal, I took a walk down, well, Walking Street. Not much had changed since my last visit and I wasn’t tempted by any of the girly bar action on offer. Instead, I walked up the road a bit to a little outdoor bar I had enjoyed previously. I was disappointed to discover that the girl I was fond of back then wasn’t working. In fact, only one gal was working and she was pretty much worthless at providing even a minimum level of service. I should have left after the first beer, but I couldn’t be bothered. After sitting there with an empty beer bottle for the second time, I got up and went back to where she was fooling around with some paperwork. “Are you mad at me?” I asked. She gave me a look of incomprehension, so I said: “I’ve been waiting and waiting for you to bring me another beer”. She said something about being there by herself as if that was a valid excuse. The place was not busy at all–two customers besides me. So I got my beer and she grudgingly continued to provide refills upon request (meaning she never offered). Ah well, another reminder of why I dislike Angeles City.
Around midnight, I rustled up my driver and we went to the airport. Justin had messaged me from Incheon that his flight was delayed by an hour. So, I set my alarm for 3:00 a.m. and napped. Justin exited the terminal at 3:30 and we hit the highway for home, arriving here at 5:00. I was exhausted and went straight to bed, but the dogs had me up before 7:00 to tend to their needs. Justin came downstairs around 10:00 and I grilled up some steaks and we had a nice brunch. Then he joined me on a 1.5 hour beach walk. Afterward, I had a good nap and have probably put you to sleep now with this post. Situation normal here at LTG!
I’ll take Justin to the SOB dance contest tonight. Tomorrow morning we will hike in Castillejos, then join some Hash friends at the Roadhouse bar there.
And now, as promised in the title of this post, let me share some more memes I came across:
I’ve had just about enough of this! I’m sure you have too. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite songs from the 1970s. Beto’s remarks about gun violence in Ohio brought it to mind.
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We’re finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?
UPDATE: It occurs to me that what I’ve posted are political cartoons, not memes. Which of course destroys the whole premise of the catchy tune I used as a title for this post. Oh well.
Memes, toons, whatever they are– they’re all good.
But while we’re on the subject of appropriate language: I believe “abject lesson” ought to be “object lesson”… unless the lesson was supposed to be miserable (abject poverty, abject apology, etc.).
Damn, I really hate it when I do that! I feel like an abject failure now. I appreciate the heads up, I’ve corrected the error thanks to your object lesson.