Nothing ventured, nothing gained to blog about. I posted about my trip to Pundaquit yesterday and I stayed home last night. So, there’s not much left say. Staying home proved to be a good call because we had some of the heaviest rain of the week during the evening and overnight hours. And yes, it is still raining today. The Friday hikers did an umbrella street walk this morning, but I’ll save that adventure so I have something to post about tomorrow.
We’ve been invited to a “Fajita Party” at the next-door neighbor’s place later this afternoon. I’ve got a batch of brownies in the oven, and Swan will be making some nachos as our contribution to the gathering. I’ll share how the party goes tomorrow as well.
So, what does that leave to write about today? Swan loves to cook, and she surprised me this morning by asking if I wanted a Monte Cristo sandwich for my after-hike lunch. I asked, “You know how to make a Monte Cristo?” She responded, “I know you like them, and I just watched a YouTube video, so I’ll try it.” Ah, ain’t that sweet?
Here’s the video she watched.
Speaking of videos, I’m part of a COPD information group, and today, I received a link to a video about walking and breathing. It’s pretty simple, really, and I may be doing it naturally, but I’ll give it a try and see if it helps.
Still in video mode, a commenter recently sent me this YouTube of a Filipina giving Tagalog lessons. In my stay-at-home boredom last night, I learned five new words (the first five in the lesson). Swan was quite impressed. Of course, I don’t remember them today, but I’ll go back and review again. Maybe something will stick in my addled brain.
No funeral banners today, but this one caught my eye:
From Facebook memories comes this reminder from eight years okay. It was the last day of our Philippines vacation and we were enjoying our final dinner at the Arizona Resort here in Barretto.
Today’s YouTube video is from someone I don’t subscribe to, and after watching this one, I’m afraid I have to disagree with much of what he has to say. He seems bitter and cynical, and his advice to NEVER do certain things seems a bit overboard. Not all Filipinas are scammers. And if you meet a good one and treat her the way this guy suggests, you will lose her. The trick is knowing the difference. I certainly had my share of fuck ups along the way, but that’s just the tuition to the school of experience. Anyway, it’s worth a watch if for no other reason than as a warning not to become as disillusioned as this gent is.
Okay, let’s cleanse the palate with some humor:
One said, “I think I enjoy the rodeo position the best.”
“I don’t think I have ever heard of that”, said the other cowboy, “what is it?”
“Well, it’s where you get your girlfriend down on all fours, and you mount her from behind, then you reach around and cup each of her breasts in your hands, and then you whisper in her ear, “These feel just like your sisters!”, then you try to hold on for 8 seconds.”
Okay, I’ll stop now. Hopefully back with more substance tomorrow.
Have fun hunkering down until the rain passes. Yeesh.
I watched the video. The guy is pretty cynical, but his advice about finances struck me as commonsensical.
Good Monte Cristo! I don’t think she overdid the powdered sugar at all. Now if you can get her to make you the kind that’s dipped in more of a batter than an egg mixture, that’d be nice.
re: Eun Oke
Pretty and crazy. What a shame. I imagine she latched vampirically onto her next victim. And the next, and the next… You’re much better off where you are now.
I hear you about staying at home all day, John. Sometimes us drunks just need to take a break from the rigors and strains of constantly hunting down booze and just make sure we have enough at home to tide us over till the next day.
In the time since I last posted I haven’t really been up to much. I mean things have happened to me, but I haven’t really done stuff. At least nothing worthy more than getting drunk on extract every day. I was going to switch it up 2-3 days ago by buying mouthwash for my drunk when my dickhead landlord ambushed me at home while I was in full-blown WDs, and my gimpy leg turned into excruciating leg on the walk to the Chevron (and it also rained on the way back, yay) but other than that it’s just been drinking and dealing with the ex.
I finally managed to kick her out. Even threw a suitcase loaded with her puke- and piss-stained clothes out which landed on her leg (which means more accusations of trying to cripple her again). All that said and done, she’s been coming around practically every day. Asking her for a day ‘off’ is like pulling teeth; she throws a tantrum (because the narcissist cannot be told “no”) or manufactures a crisis that necessitates her having to come here, like needing to wash the sheets, or collecting vegan food she has here. We got into a serious argument because she said I was being mean to her and disrespecting her by telling her she couldn’t come around so much. I had to put my foot down and told her we’re not a couple anymore, that I’m not obligated to see her every day, that she needs to respect my boundaries, and that as my ex-girlfriend she’s really quite low down on the list of social priorities, to put it mildly.
I’ve practically given up on the job search. By the time I wake up I have maybe an hour or two to myself before she’s around. I’m hesitant to use the laptop when she’s here – I’m sure she’d find some way of sabotaging what would be a silent browse if I was alone – and I don’t like making phone calls around other people. The days she isn’t here I essentially waste in recharging my ‘social battery’ by getting drunk and indulging in me-time. I tell myself today we’re going to update our resumé and call the agency which is always followed by but first we need a drink or three and then it’s nap time.
We had a spat over that. I told her I wanted more days off, that I needed them to actually get busy with finding a job. She countered I was probably just getting drunk and farting around when she wasn’t there. I mean, she’s not entirely wrong, but I had to explain – mindful of not escalating things into an all-out fight – being around her is literally draining. I’ve got mad social anxiety, and on the rare occasions I socialize (sans alcohol) it takes willpower for me to suffer through it. I need time to recover, to recharge, as it were, and the more I saw of her the more time I needed to ground myself.
I discovered this feeling years ago, even before I was a lush like you, John, when a childhood friend and drinking buddy always wanted to see me after I finished my shift at a job that had, for me, odd hours (1300-2100). I wasn’t averse to seeing him, we were good friends after all, but I found when he left I felt like I had only just finished work, even though I’d already been home for hours. I felt agitated, stressed, tired. I didn’t feel like I’d had any quality relaxation time, despite the fact we usually just sat on my bed, playing Xbox and talking shit.
It was the same sensation with her. Even though we did nothing more strenuous than watching tv – and me cooking for us – every time she left I just felt tired, like I’d finished running a marathon. After Black-Gums Girl (a previous fling) and the complete dissolution of any lingering feelings I might have had for the ex it’s exhausting being around her so much. She didn’t understand, much less accept, that when I tried to explain it to her.
For the most part she had actually been ‘good’. Sometimes the narcissist creeps out, like when she casually dismisses something factual I’ve said, accuses me of having ‘improper’ relations with women (i.e. the female bartender who served me once), commands me to do tasks she can perform herself, or turns a lot of shit into a lowkey competition, but at least there’s no violence or delusional psychosis. Hell, she’s even treated me at times; she’d throw my broke ass some booze money, or she’d pay for my Lyft home after dragging me to the grocery store with her. She even bought me a pair of new shoes – actual Vans, as opposed to the $10 knockoffs I usually wear. I’m under no illusions though that this isn’t affection or friendship; she’s merely buying my time and tolerance. I don’t mind though, as long as it aligns with my interests. To paraphrase Bill The Butcher from Gangs of New York, you gotta pay for the pleasure of my company.
At some point I must have offended her because she called me a “rotten mixed-breed cunt” and said “my mongrel ass is dead if she ever sees me again” but for the life of me the only thing I remember doing was asking her to stop stubbing her ciggies out on my computer desk because she knocked an empty beer can over that landed on Morgoth the Third’s head. Relieved as I was that she’d finally left it was a stark reminder that I’d need to go out at some point and steal some cat food for the kitty.
So that brings us to today. Comfortably on Sprite and extract number 8 at 11:45 in the morning, and I’ve still got enough to tide me over before it’s back to the mouthwash. I’m not really bothered about the ex, I mean, I am in the sense I might have burned bridges with what could have been the source of next month’s rent and booze money, but I’m sure she’ll rear her head again before long. If not, I’ll figure something out. Win-win.
Cheers!
Re: the video. Some common sense things – dont give out your financial information, learn to say “no”, but overall it is pretty cynical.
I have run into people like that in Thailand. Usually, it is one of two reasons: they have little money but somehow thought that in coming to SE Asia, they would be able to live a rich expat lifestyle on a locals budget. They may be able to live marginally better, but soon find that living like a local isn’t a bed of roses. The second reason is that a lot of them were losers in their home country and think with the move to SE Asia, they will no longer be a loser. Sorry – doesn’t work that way. LOL
Brian, that’s pretty much a spot-on assessment. When you are stupid, you are stupid wherever you choose to live. I’ve been scammed, but rarely in the same way twice. Even so, I don’t believe all Filipinas are scammers with evil intentions. The guys that really disgust me are the ones that all the women here like whores. Yeah, there are plenty of those, but also lots more who are decent girls. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.
Thanks for checking in, Thompson. Glad to hear you are still among the living. I read something the other day about a wife hiring a hitman to kill her husband and thought of you for some reason. Sounds like your ex is going to drive you crazy but not kill you.
Good luck with the job search and finding money to pay the rent. Have you considered heading down south, crossing the border, then coming back to the USA sans ID and claiming to be a refugee? Those illegal immigrants are getting more benefits than citizens. You could live large!
“We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and—in spite of True Romance magazines—we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely—at least, not all the time—but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.”
― Hunter S. Thompson
Kev, No rain this morning! It’s supposed to be like this until Monday.
Yeah, the guy in the video wasn’t wrong with his info, just in regards to universal application. With his attitude, he’ll never find happiness.
I will tell Swan to look for a video using a batter-based Monte Cristo.
Eun Oke was especially crazy when she was drunk, and once she started drinking, she wouldn’t stop until she was crazy drunk. For years after we broke up, I’d get drunken calls from her in the wee hours of the morning–even here in the Philippines. I wish her well, but I’m damn glad I dodged that bullet!