I made the most of my Thirstday this week. Even stayed out past 9 pm, as hard as that may be to believe. Swan and I kicked things off with a pleasant walk through the Naugsol valley. Then I got the good news from Dr. Jo that my blood work was negative for pancreatic cancer. An overdue foot spa to scrape away the dead skin from my feet, followed by beers at Red Bar, Jumpin’ Jacks, and It Doesn’t Matter, before we joined the fifth anniversary celebration at Smokes and Bottles. That’s what I call pushing the boundaries, but then again, you only live once.
At Dr. Jo’s, she reviewed the ultrasound results and found no issues of concern. I honestly hadn’t considered that cancer might be causing my urination issues, so I was equally surprised and relieved to be told I’m clean. My blood pressure has slowly been coming back down to my normal range (123/73 this morning). So, the meds seem to be working, and I might just keep on keepin’ on for a while longer. Thanks for that!
After Red Bar, the plan was to grab dinner at Jewel Cafe. When we arrived, the place was packed, so I suggested we check out the menu for the newly opened kitchen at Jumpin’ Jacks.
Not bad for pub grub.
Next, we crossed the highway for what I thought would be our nightcap at It Doesn’t Matter.
Swan got a message from her girlfriend group that they were all at Smokes and Bottles for the fifth anniversary event. She wanted to go, so I tagged along.
It was past my bedtime, and I was over my beer intake limit, so we didn’t stay long. It was a nice night on the town, though.
It is now July 2017 in the LTG archives. In this post from Angeles City, I share some observations and perspectives on the grind of daily living in a city I never much cared for. But whatever life you are living, the only real option is to make the best of what you have.
We haven’t checked in with the Filipina Pea in a while, and in today’s YouTube video, she asks her fellow citizens whether they want to become the 51st American state. It’s a mixed bag, but I sure as hell don’t want the USA to follow me here. However, historically, when the PI was a US colony, the people may have been better off. I think the dumbest move the Philippines made was kicking us out of our military bases here. Now that China is threatening, they want us back. We’ll see how things play out.
Time for a smile or three:
Early tomorrow morning, we are heading up to Baguio to participate in the La Union Valentine’s Day Hash. I’ve got some mixed feelings about this going in. We’ll be Hashing from a campground on the outskirts of Baguio, and most of the Hashers will be staying in tents. I reserved a Kubo hut, so at least I won’t be sleeping on the ground. I spoke with one of the Hares who was in town for the Beach Bash last weekend, and he told me the trail was short but had a couple of tough ups and downs. Not surprising given that Baguio sits on top of a mountain. I guess we’ll see if I’m up to the challenge.
I won’t be able to post from the wilds of Baguio, but I will try to update you when I get back home on Sunday. Assuming I survive.
Then I got the good news from Dr. Jo that my blood work was negative for pancreatic cancer.
Wait, where did this worry come from? Is this something you’ve been worried about for a while? Huh. My best friend’s father-in-law died after a long fight with pancreatic cancer. It’s a rough way to go.
At Dr. Jo’s, she reviewed the ultrasound results and found no issues of concern. I honestly hadn’t considered that cancer might be causing my urination issues, so I was equally surprised and relieved to be told I’m clean.
OK, I see. So this was something that was mentioned from the doc’s side.
Scrapping bottom.
If there’s a pun here, I missed it. Did you mean “scraping”?
…and he told me the trail was short but had a couple of tough ups and downs. Not surprising given that Baguio sits on top of a mountain. I guess we’ll see if I’m up to the challenge.
My solution is just to stop often and take a lot of breathers.
I won’t be able to post from the wilds of Baguio, but I will try to update you when I get back home on Sunday. Assuming I survive.
No small, portable power supply for your laptop?
It’s too late, but see here.
Slip slidin’ away…
A few aesthetic comments about this meme:
1. The guy who created and uploaded the meme should have flipped the image horizontally, then done the dialogue. People read left-to-right, up-to-down, NW to SE. Starting the dialogue in the upper-right corner is weird because you then have to proceed left and down to the lady’s dialogue, NE to SW. This feels wrong.
2. Choose a better font. One without outlined, bolded letters.
3. Shrink the dialogue so that your speech balloons have margins, i.e., so that the text isn’t bumping up against the edge of the balloons.
Good luck in Baguio.
Interesting comment in your linked “days of your past” series about retiring in Seoul.
What made you decide not to retire there? Memories? Cost? Combination of the two?
Other than the last year or so, it does seem like you were pretty happy and content there; probably even before you met your wife.
Brian, I loved my time in Seoul but the memories of those happy days were too painful for me to carry on. And yes, the expense was also a factor.
Kevin, yeah, I didn’t know Dr. Jo was testing for prostate cancer until she told me I didn’t have cancer. A surprise and a relief at the same time!
No pun intended, just one more example of sloppy writing/proofreading.
I’m not taking the laptop because I don’t think the camping situation will be conducive to using it or to store it safely while I’m out Hashing.
A cancerous prostate would make peeing difficult, right? And your problem is more along the lines of frequent urination? I wonder what turned her thoughts in the direction of prostate cancer. Anyway, the AI god disagrees with me:
I hope the trip is going well.
I literally watched them lower the flag at Subic in ‘92 after the clumsy attempt to squeeze more pera left “nationalist” senator blowhards painted into a corner of their own making. Go there now and see the silly “hands that freed the nation” monument.
Drain, I was busy living my insulated American life back in ’92 and had no idea what was going on outside of my cocoon. When Asia became part of my life a decade later, and I read the history of the base closures, I was amazed at how the elected “leaders” of a nation could take an action so detrimental to the nation. Yeah, that monument doesn’t say what they hoped it would.