I’m not sure what’s going on, but almost all the bars in town are out of Zero. There was none at last week’s Hash either. The San Miguel distributor says it is “not available,” but I have no idea why that might be. Oh well, desperate times call for desperate measures, so San Mig Light it is for now. I just need to adjust my consumption level to compensate for the higher alcohol content (5% versus 3%). Wish me luck with that. Queen Victoria didn’t have Zero at the RSL event last night, and this was the result:
Yeah, the joke was on me.
Oh well, at least we haven’t been hit by a killer quake. Yet. I’m seeing a lot of posts on Facebook claiming we are overdue for a massive earthquake on the fault line that runs through the Philippines. The scattered ones we’ve experienced these past two weeks are a precursor of what’s to come, and we should prepare accordingly. Yeah, right. I’m not going to start sleeping under the bed. Unless, of course, I have too many Lights.
Life goes on. Until it doesn’t. In the meantime, here’s how I’ve been filling the hours. We kicked off Sunday morning with the Sweets Stroll.
Next on the Sunday agenda was attending the Returned Services League (RSL) charity raffle held at Queen Victoria Bar. I arrived at four p.m. and things went on until 7:30. I didn’t take it Light-ly, and invested 2000 pesos in drawing tickets. At the end of the night, all I had to show for it was a pretty good buzz. Still, it was for a good cause, so no complaints.
By the end of the event, I didn’t have anything left, so we were homeward bound. It’s good to know your limits, otherwise I might have gone to the karaoke joint next door.
Moving forward through June 2014 in the LTG archives, I pay a Father’s Day tribute of sorts to my dad in this post.
My dad made it to 83 despite his lifetime of beer drinking and smoking. Ever since I turned 70, I’ve been feeling like it could all end tomorrow. Today’s YouTube video explains why fools like me don’t last long past the seventy-year milestone.
‘Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.’
–Mark Twain
On now to what I call humor:
And here we are again on the cusp of another Hash Monday. No idea what the Hare, Demolition Derby, has in store, but I’ll bring my shortcutting tools just in case. The On-Home is at It Doesn’t Matter, so that will make the after-Hash easy to get to at least. Check here tomorrow to see how it went.
My dad made it to 83 despite his lifetime of beer drinking and smoking. Ever since I turned 70, I’ve been feeling like it could all end tomorrow.
I don’t know why you feel this way if your doctors insist your signs all seem within the safe norm for your age cohort. No diabetes, no high blood pressure, no fast resting heart rate, no liver problems. The only worry you really seem to have is COPD, and if I were a betting man, I’d bet that COPD will be what gets you in the end. The story of Leonard Nimoy is frankly terrifying: the guy had quit smoking thirty years prior, and the COPD in his lungs had basically lain in wait before finally kicking in. That kind of life-trajectory, when you think you’ve shaken a habit or a malady only to be ambushed later, can feel like a catastrophe. Since you seem to have little else to worry about, I do hope you worry about your lungs. All those hills you’ve been skipping… maybe find an easy way to start doing them on your own time. Take frequent breaks while going uphill. Make it your goal to do three summits a day, but slowly. Since your heart’s not in danger, you don’t have to worry so much about that. Just watch your breathing, and when you’re down from the mountain, do meditative breathing exercises since you’re not going to give up your drinking habit. Expand your alveoli. On Hashes, stop shortcutting and just go slowly. That philosopher I read, Dr. Vallicella, thinks it’s better to add good habits than to try taking away bad habits: don’t stop drinking, but do start exercising your lungs, then. But beware Vallicella’s worldview: he used to be a smoker, and now, he’s an avid mountain hiker with possibly terminal throat cancer.
Anyway, it’s your life to live or waste as you please.
Kevin, thanks for the helpful advice and encouragement. My physical health is okay for the most part, as far as I know. Turning 70 brought with it some mental challenges associated with accepting that I’ve turned the page to the final chapter of my life. So, I need to do what I can to make it a LONG chapter.
I’m blessed not to have the lung/breathing issues I suffered last year, but I’m thinking I’ll schedule a check-up with the pulmonary doc again to try to nip any potential issues in the bud.
Turning 70 brought with it some mental challenges associated with accepting that I’ve turned the page to the final chapter of my life.
“Age is just a number.” Until we realize it reflects certain realities that we can’t fool ourselves about.
Kevin, yep, I can’t pretend I’m still thirty anymore.