Another week, another Hash, and another ass-kicking. I’m not complaining, mind you; I love to Hash and live to tell about it. And my group only did half the trail, bypassing Easter Mountain and doing the Black Rock climb. We did leave from Alta Vista which added a couple of flat kilometers to the trek.
Black Rock Ridge was a tougher up than I remember, and the down was challenging as well. Adding to the suffering was the heat being on full blast, and there wasn’t much wind or shade on the trail. But all’s well that ends well, and the beer at our On-Home was cold and plentiful. The pictures tell the story better than I can, so here goes:
I didn’t take this shot (and neither did Scott), but it captures the feeling we experienced whileclimbing in the heat.Flat and easy in the beginningAcross Bridge #3Let the climbing begin!On up!On the rocksThe fat guy is bringing up the rear as usualAchieving the ridgeline wasn’t the end of the climbThe mountain we didn’t climb yesterday, thank goodness!And this young lady (sorry, I don’t remember her Hash name) was the first of the long trail hikers to pass us. And she was jogging when she did. Impressive!From one ridge to another (Kalaklan is higher)I can see Alta Vista from here.And here’s the zoom-in on my house.A down and then another up, ridgelines can be such bitches!Almost done with the second up.Demented Dickhead taking it all in.The view from hereAnd it is *almost* all downhill from hereSteepish but doableBut this section was a real challengeI took it slow and managed to keep my feetA final upAnd then the final downThey actually cheered when I handed off the cookiesWe nailed it, didn’t we, Jesus?On-Home at Smokes and BottlesThis is one of my favorite Hash venuesI wouldn’t mind bellying up to the bar on some non-Hash occasion, but it is about 2K in the wrong direction from BarrettoDressed for the occasionVirgin initiationAnd three birthday boys yesterdayCrazy traffic on the highway during my lonely walk back to town.The trail as laid by the HaresThe shortcut trail my group hiked was right at 5K.Some stats from the hike. It was slow going with one big up.And my stats for the day were much better than what I did on Hangover Sunday. I believe those Zone Minutes are a new record for me.
I bitch and moan a lot, but I am very thankful I am still about to push myself and make these hikes. When the day comes that I can’t, I’m going to miss it.
While I was Hashing, Swan went shopping in Olongapo.
And we are stocked up for this week’s candy walk.
When I returned home in my semi-inebriated state last night, I plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. I figured I would try a YouTube video to help me sleep. Now, I watch very few vloggers in the Philippines and have never heard of this guy (he’s an Aussie), but he held my attention for the 40+ minutes of his video. Most of it takes place in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Manila (Tondo, but popularly known as Happy Land). My foodie readers might find what poor people eat in the slums of interest (the vlogger enjoyed what he ate). And the craftsmen making swords out of scrap metal was good, too. You see a lot of crabs being sold, even here in Olongapo, and this video tells the fascinating story of where they come from. Hey, this is practically a review! Here it is:
Facebook memories took me back to Istanbul in December 2004:
A local cultural dancer. I wrote about the trip here.I was a rookie blogger back then, and for some reason, I posted the photos from the trip separately.If you want, you can go to my archives for December 2004 and scroll down to December 13 to see them.
I reckon that brings us to today’s Quora Q&A:
Q: Why do people treat their fellow human beings as illiterate?
A: I don’t understand the question.
I also don’t understand why I’m not more popular on Quora. Not that I care.
Alright, let’s do this:
Thank God for the widow next door!Apparently, I fart in my sleep. Swan tells me about it every morning. And keeps a can of air freshener on her nightstand.
And that’s all I’ve got for today.
4 thoughts on “A fool’s Hash”
Nice pics of another impossibly steep-looking walk.
re: farting while sleeping
A human fart is actually a metafart: it’s the accumulated gaseous emissions of the billions of bacteria at work in the intestines. They fart; the gas builds up; the gas eventually comes out. And I guess that only gets worse as people get older.
That’s one incredible looking woman in the Isanbul pic. You justifiably look like the cat who got the cream. But what’s up with insane drivel in the comments below? The internet wasn’t that new in 2005.
May interested readers ask who was Carol?
Hello, Dan. Yeah, that gal was a hottie. You should have seen her dance!
Carol was wife #3 and was with me during our visit to Istanbul. Some great memories there. I moved to Korea the following month. Carol was supposed to join me there but changed her mind after I was gone.
I was brand new to blogging back then and didn’t know about comment moderation or spam blockers. I’m not sure what the point of those bot comments were, but these days they get blocked before I ever see them.
Kev, at least it wasn’t as steep as Easter Mountain. Scott looked it up, and that one big incline to the top was forty-seven degrees! No way I could have done both of those on the same day.
It is sad that I’ve lost the ability to smell my own farts, but I’m still having a blast with Swan.
Nice pics of another impossibly steep-looking walk.
re: farting while sleeping
A human fart is actually a metafart: it’s the accumulated gaseous emissions of the billions of bacteria at work in the intestines. They fart; the gas builds up; the gas eventually comes out. And I guess that only gets worse as people get older.
That’s one incredible looking woman in the Isanbul pic. You justifiably look like the cat who got the cream. But what’s up with insane drivel in the comments below? The internet wasn’t that new in 2005.
May interested readers ask who was Carol?
Hello, Dan. Yeah, that gal was a hottie. You should have seen her dance!
Carol was wife #3 and was with me during our visit to Istanbul. Some great memories there. I moved to Korea the following month. Carol was supposed to join me there but changed her mind after I was gone.
I was brand new to blogging back then and didn’t know about comment moderation or spam blockers. I’m not sure what the point of those bot comments were, but these days they get blocked before I ever see them.
Kev, at least it wasn’t as steep as Easter Mountain. Scott looked it up, and that one big incline to the top was forty-seven degrees! No way I could have done both of those on the same day.
It is sad that I’ve lost the ability to smell my own farts, but I’m still having a blast with Swan.