Tuesday’s are rarely the best day of the week for me, but that doesn’t mean they are bad. Yesterday wasn’t anything terrible, but it wasn’t quite right somehow either. The good news is it won’t take long to tell you about it. Here goes:

So, I had marked my calendar to remind myself I needed to renew my tourist visa. I always go on grocery shopping day because the immigration office is nearby the Royal supermarket. I got dropped off at SM Mall as usual, and walked to the door where the elevators are located (immigration is on the 6th floor). The security guard asked where I was going, and when I told her, she said, “Immigration is closed today.” I asked why, and she responded, “Chinese New Year.” Oh shit, I had forgotten about that. I honestly didn’t even know it was a government holiday in the Philippines. And now I do. Plan B is to go back on Thursday for my extension.

The other big supermarket on SBMA is Puregold. I stop in there every couple of months to see if they have anything in stock I can’t get a Royal. Yesterday wasn’t worth the trip because there was almost nothing there that I wanted or needed. Well, they did have something I hadn’t seen since I left Korea nearly eight years ago:

Then it was on to Royal for the usual weekly grocery cart fill. I usually keep an eye on items being rung up to ensure nothing untoward is taking place. Usually, it isn’t, although I’ve learned that if something is on sale, you need to watch to make sure you are getting the lower price. Cashiers normally count when you have multiple units of the same item, and then enter that number before scanning the item. Swan had four bottles of soju on the counter, and when the cashier entered the number and scanned it, a weirdly long number popped up. Before I could say anything, she had moved on to the next item, so I made a mental note and let it go. But when the last of the groceries were scanned, and she totaled my bill, it was a multimillion amount (my weekly shopping at Royal is usually around 10000 to 15000 pesos). She called the manager over to enter the correction, and then things got weird. I told them the soju was the problem, but it felt like I was being ignored. And then they started searching through all my boxed and bagged groceries, looking for something. I repeated that it was the soju, and Swan told me to calm down. Finally, after several minutes, they pulled out some tuna cans and rang them up again. As best as I can understand things, she had entered the multiple tuna numbers, but failed to scan. Then she entered multiple soju numbers, and the scanner spat out a wild number when the soju bottle was scanned. Oh well, it was only ten minutes of what is left of my life. I did feel bad for the customers in line behind me, most of whom bailed in disgust.

Back home, I did my nap and blogging thing, then headed to my dartboard for some practice. I warmed up pretty well, but then the bot on my darts app kicked my ass twice. I was not feeling confident as we headed out to the Alley Cats tournament. Upon arrival, I did my warmup throws and wasn’t pleased with my inability to hit the target. I would hate to draw someone who throws like me as a partner, so when I was told it would be a doubles tourney, I declined to participate. See, I have moments of unselfishness.

As we left Alley Cats, Swan told me she was hungry. Welp, it just so happened that I had a 15% discount coupon for Sit-n-Bull in my wallet.

We paid a visit to Green Room after dinner, then did our nightcap next door at Wet Spot. As we departed for home, I met the new owner, a guy named Philip. We’ll see what changes may be in store in the days to come.

And that’s the story of my Tuesday.

Continuing with the journey through the July 2017 LTG archives, I found this post of interest (to me). It’s about a bank teller I was crushing on in Prescott, Arizona, but I didn’t have the balls to tell her until I was leaving for a new job in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She looked at me sadly and said, “I wish you had let me know.” Another road in life not taken.

Today’s YouTube video is a bit out of the ordinary. I had never heard of Frederick Wiseman (or at least I don’t remember hearing of him) until I saw a post on the Althouse blog this morning about his recent passing away at age 96. He was a documentary filmmaker, and Althouse included this clip from his 1968 “High School” film. Well, I did high school from 1969 to 1973, and the clip really resonated with me. I thought of myself as something of a poet back then, and wish I’d had a teacher like the one portrayed. I’m also a big Simon and Garfunkel fan, so hearing “Dangling Conversation” recited was nice as well.

Here’s more on Wiseman and the “High School” documentary. Fascinating.

Now for the funny business:

It’s weird getting old. My brain ain’t what it used to be, but the things it forgets and the things it remembers seem strange. There was a girl I dated when I was living in Oklahoma. She was the last one ever to give me her virginity. That’s a pretty big deal. And now, try as I might, I can’t remember her name. Then, last night at Green Room, they played Don McLean’s “American Pie,” a song that runs over eight minutes. And I remembered every damn word in the lyrics. Go figure.