I am happy to report that there were no casualties during yesterday’s Hash. Well, one guy didn’t finish until after 5:00 (we started at 2:30) and we got a little worried about him. He’s one of us slow oldsters, but that’s even slower than normal. He said he’d taken three falls along the way on loose leaves and the like and needed a rest along the trail as well. I was disappointed to learn he’d been out there alone the whole time too. His girlfriend, along with most of the other females, opted to not do the trail and stick to the pavement. I felt bad for the guy, but what are you going to do?
Feedback from the other Hashers was mostly positive, so there’s that. There were a couple of places we could have made the trail markings clearer, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. The Hash circle seemed to go well, notwithstanding the time I spent on the ice as one of the Hares. My chili sold out again and I got lots of compliments on that. People even noticed that I used both pinto and kidney beans. Maybe I’ll enter the chili cookoff competition this year! (kidding)
Speaking of Hashing, next weekend I’ll be in Angeles City to help the Corona Hash celebrate it’s first anniversary. Kind of a last minute decision on my part to join a pretty large contingent coming from the Subic Bay Hash House Harriers. I’m a little nervous because the Corona Hash broke away from the Angeles City Hash in part, as I understand it, because the AC Hash wasn’t adventurous enough and had easy trails. Well, I don’t know the area very well so shortcutting might not be an option, but I’m going to give it a go anyway.
I must say though that just making a hotel reservation this morning proved to be quite the adventure in and of itself. First I went to the webpage of my preferred hotel (or at least the one most guys from Subic are staying at) and booked a room for three nights. Then I got a message that a deposit for one night’s lodging had to be transferred into the hotel’s bank by Thursday. WTF? Isn’t that what credit cards are for? Anyway, I don’t know the procedure for doing a bank transfer and I don’t plan to learn.
So, I booked through Agoda, which is how I used to roll in those long-ago days when I actually could travel and needed to make hotel reservations. Max, the guy who drinks poisoned water, is going with me and he secured a room as well through Booking.com. He shared the price he got and I wanted to compare the rate with Agoda. That’s when I realized that I had booked a room for Thursday night only–I’m arriving on Friday. Geez, not sure how I screwed that up. So, I went in a canceled that reservation and made a new one for the weekend. Then just before I left the house to go shopping, I got a message from Agoda that “something had gone wrong” and my reservation was canceled. I figured I’d deal with it when I got back home.
After finishing my grocery shopping, I checked with Agoda and still had no confirmation. To hell with that, let’s see how Booking.com does. Easy as pie! Had the booking, confirmation, and an app for my phone so I didn’t have to print the confirmation. While I was playing with my new phone app, I noticed something that seemed a little off somehow. So, I looked at the calendar. I’d been making reservations all morning for NEXT weekend, not THIS weekend when I’m actually traveling. Jesus. So, I canceled the Booking.com reservation and made the correct one this time. And it was actually about twenty dollars cheaper. Maybe I’ll use that money to get my head examined. Or change my name to Biden.
Groceries came in at $300. again, still too much, but better than $400 I was spending.
Now I’m going to take a walk to Baloy beach. Nothing too unusual about that except this time I’m going to be looking to see what’s available for rent. I think I’d rather stay in my overpriced house here than go through the hassle of moving, but I’ve made up my mind that I’m not going to suffer any rent increase whatsoever when the lease expires in June. So, if the landlady is to be believed, there’s a move in my future.
I’ve got some updated begging stories, but I’ll save those for another day.
Peace out!
$300 is for a week of shopping, or for a month of shopping? I’d say that that’s close to a reasonable monthly total.
The chickadee sitting on the ice with you (and decidedly not social-distancing) is a cutie. Have you mentioned her before? I’m senile about names and faces that I see on blogs, especially if they’re only occasionally recurring characters. I have a feeling I should already know this person.
What a mess, trying to make that hotel reservation, eh? What’s it like to live life in a fog? I shouldn’t joke: in another decade, I’ll be doing my own Bidening. (I’m arguably doing it already. See above.)
Sorry to read that you might be moving, but it is what it is. Alas, there’s no chance of settling permanently anywhere: rental prices always tend to go up, so you’re doomed to be moving every few years, I think, unless you have some trick up your sleeve.
Also have your mind and old Joes’. Booked a room for the weekend, the weekend after the intended. Ended well. Staff must have felt sorry for me and we got a free night and big prime rib. Old age has its perks.
I’ve had my two shots, but I don’t see things changing for a while.
To bad about a guy left behind.
Oh, yeah—congrats on the winning chili con carne. It looks competition-worthy to me.
Kev, if I can get my monthly shopping bill down to $1000. I’ll be happy! Prices have gone crazy since the pandemic, especially for the imported foods I crave. For example, an 8 oz bag of blended shredded cheese was seven bucks this week. And that’s the bargain brand, Kraft is almost ten dollars. It was under $5. last year.
The gal on the ice next to me is Penis Colada (Joanna). I don’t think I’ve mentioned her before, she lives in the neighborhood with her Welsh husband. I play darts with him as well. The other young woman I’m not socially distancing from is Inday, who lives downstairs in my basement with her mother and boyfriend. I wrote about her recent birthday celebration here: http://mccrarey.com/another-saturday-night/
Yeah, I joke but I can’t help but notice my mental functioning is not what it once was. It manifests mostly in forgetting stuff, but the fiasco with trying to make a simple hotel reservation was an eye-opener. Oh well, if ignorance truly is bliss, I’m destined to be one happy guy!
I’m trying to keep perspective on the rent situation. I’m currently paying around $900 a month, but that fluctuates with the exchange rate. I’m pretty sure I could find a better deal but I’d prefer not to move. However, this house is overpriced already and if the landlady wants to gouge me even more, pride would require that I take the “no, thank you!” route. We’ll see.
Jerry, glad your reservation fiasco turned out well. It’s nice that we don’t have to “play” dumb anymore to get those benefits! Glad you are doing well and survived the vaccination.