The Angeles City Hashers are in town this weekend doing an outstation event, featuring runs today and tomorrow. I’ll be participating in both. Today’s Hash starts at 3:00 with short (5K) and longer (10K) trails that the Hare promises are mostly flat. Well, I’m going to do the short trail because the circle starts at 5:00, and I’m not sure I can pull off 10K in two hours. The circle is scheduled to end at 6:00 and will be followed by a bar crawl. I’m still undecided about whether I’ll participate in that.

Anyway, since I’ve got a trail to do later on I opted not to do a morning walk. With some time to kill, I fired up the TV and watched the movie Groundhog Day. I’m not sure when I saw it last, but was a little surprised that the film debuted in 1993–28 years ago. Damn, that made me feel old. Of course, I remembered the story, but I had forgotten some of the scenes. So it was fun to see them again as if for the first time. I guess that should make me feel old too. I also couldn’t help but think how much my life parallels the plot of the film. Pretty much every day is some combination of walking and drinking, varying only in minor details like where I am and who is with me. Of course, Bill Murray’s character grew and developed through repetition in a way that is unlikely to occur in my life, but I don’t mind being what and who I am until I am no more. And there are enough wrinkles in the fabric of my mundane existence to keep things relatively interesting.

Here’s an example of what I mean. I have a friend named Marick (and yes, I wish she was more than that, but that’s another story), she’s got a small business where she makes and sells different kinds of food for her clientele, although I’ve never previously bought anything from her. I noticed she posted on her Facebook page yesterday morning that she was making kimbap.

So, yesterday afternoon as I was preparing to head out for my daily bar excursion I get a message from Marick. Seems she had three containers of kimbap unsold and she asked if I was interested in making a purchase. Well, I’m always willing to help out a friend, so I told her I would swing by her shop on my way to the bars.

When I arrived she still had all three containers available, so I bought them for 150 pesos each. We chatted a bit and then I headed out with my bounty. I hadn’t really planned to visit Dive In but since I found myself on that side of town it was convenient to drop by to see Jessa and her crew. On my previous visits there hadn’t been many customers, but last night the place was packed. Jessa had a guy plying her with drinks, so at least I didn’t have to pay for the privilege. I had a couple of beers and shared my recently purchased kimbap with the staff. I had a couple of pieces and found it rather bland, but as I said, I’m not an expert on what it should taste like. The girls seemed to enjoy it okay, although when I left probably half of it was still unconsumed.

I wandered up the highway and decided to have a “real” meal at Mango’s. Got my regular beachside seat and set to work on meeting my beer consumption goals.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Got my porkchops to go and headed on home. Another Groundhog Day with a twist of kimbap and a lack of Jessa, just to change things up a bit.

Earlier in the day, I participated in the Friday group hike. The original intent was to do the Black Rock ridge, a climb I was dreading given my recent physical issues. I was resolved to at least make the attempt and retreat if necessary, but to my relief the people up front decided on a different course. We wound up with a mostly pleasant 8K hike. Here are some photos:

Even these walks have a Groundhog Day vibe, don’t they?