Yesterday’s rain provided the excuse to avoid hiking. Yeah, rain makes me lazy somehow. Fortunately, the rain stopped in time to not interrupt my evening bar visits. We hit It Doesn’t Matter, Nipsey’s, then finished at Queen Victoria. So, I didn’t achieve my daily step goal, but I did manage to imbibe my beer quota. I’ll call that a win.
From my perch at IDM, I watched my hero walk by:
Seriously, this guy doesn’t let his handicap stop him from getting out and about. I really admire that. If the situation were reversed, I’d likely become a couch potato.
We were the only customers at Nipsey’s Bar. The music was crap, but at least it was played at a tolerable volume. During my previous visit, they changed the playlist to old man music without me even having to ask. Oh, and they didn’t have wine for Swan. One beer and out for us.
We had a very pleasant visit at Queen Victoria. Manager Jake sat with us for a while, and we had an interesting chat. One of the topics was about the recent meeting with Barangay officials that he attended. Things aren’t going well in Barretto, and the lack of tourists is having a detrimental impact on local businesses. One of the issues discussed that is hurting tourism here is the dirty beaches. Whether they will implement a fix to keep them clean remains to be seen. But from what I’ve seen being dumped into the rivers upstream, policing the beaches won’t resolve the issue.
So, the “big” news is that it appears Myleen’s Cafe has closed. That’s sad, because it was one of our favorites. And after John’s place went out of business, it was the only place left in town for Swan to get her birria taco fix. Jake told us he wasn’t surprised and that many bars and businesses are barely holding on these days. Damn, will Barretto die before I do?
The other day, I posted about the top retirement destinations, with the Philippines allegedly ranked number one. Today I came across this cost comparison, and the Philippines didn’t even make the list. Go figure.
Facebook memories took me back to a time when my life had some meaning and added value:
From the March 2020 LTG archives, the COVID shit has hit the fan. They called it “enhanced community quarantine,” by which they meant an insanely stupid lockdown. I wrote about some of the ignorance in a post called “Arrested Development.” I shared some of the impacts in “Insanity Prevails,” but at least I was able to find a couple of businesses not abiding by the rules. And then in “An aching donkey kind of day,” I share the nightmare of grocery shopping under lockdown rules. Not so fun times, but I’m proud to say I was calling bullshit from the beginning, and noting how the quarantine-mandated business closures were hurting the people who could least afford it. Almost everyone knows now that the lockdown caused more harm than good.
I feel stupid for sharing today’s YouTube video. Why? Because it felt like looking in the mirror.
Time out for your daily dose of humor:
Welp, on that note, we’ll call this post over and done with. I’ll be back with more tomorrow, the good Lord willing.
Re: your hero
Good to see him out and about. In the other picture you posted of him, wasn’t he also carrying around a black garbage bag? Any idea what he carries in that bag?
Re: retirement rankings
To me, this one seems a bit more realistic. Maybe whoever set up the chart only looked at the 5 countries listed. Wasn’t that the PI didn’t make the ranking, simply that they did not rank it. If you were going to add a sixth column, and using the same criteria as the chart, how would you place the PI?
Brian, no idea what’s in the bag, but he always seems to be carrying something with him. He has the trike drop him off at the corner, then walks the rest of the way to the hotel where he resides. One of these days, I’ll have to try to engage him in conversation and learn more about him.
As to the cost of living comfortable stats, I’d honestly have to rate the Philippines 6th. I see vloggers all the time saying you can live comfortably here for $1000-2000 per month. I say BS to that claim. I personally wouldn’t be comfortable with less than $2500 a month, but I could get by on $2000. Of course, I like Western comforts and food, so that raises the cost. Then there’s my bar life. Visas are easy, at least (30 days on arrival, 60-day extensions for up to three years).