Well, if this article is to be believed, I’ve still got a long road to travel. I hope to live to see what the 80s are like!
You can only live one day at a time, and here’s how I made it through my yesterday.
Got my weekly injection Mounjaro injection from Dr. Jo. No weight loss this past week, but I’m at a higher dosage level this week, so hopefully I’ll break out of this rut and drop some pounds.
At the appointed hour, Swan wanted to go to Baloy Beach because she was craving birria tacos. The former Myleen’s cook is now running the kitchen at Foxhole Resort, and that’s the only place in town with birria on the menu. I thought about stopping by Champs Sports Bar on the way in order to get in a little pool practice. Alas, the bar is only open on weekends. That seems really stupid to me, but so be it.
Alas, when I ordered a San Miguel Extra Light at Foxhole, they still didn’t have any. I wasn’t going to deny Swan her birria desires over a beer dispute, so I ordered a Light and kept my disappointment to myself. When we placed our order, the waitress went to the kitchen and returned with the cook. He sadly informed us that birria wasn’t available because the meat wasn’t in stock. Shit. I finished my beer, and we left.
I asked Swan where we should go next, and she suggested Outback. So we caught a trike and headed out.
When we arrived at Outback, two other guys were playing pool. No problem—we wanted to get dinner out of the way. I ordered the fish and chips, and Swan chose the baby back ribs. I enjoyed my meal, but Swan was disappointed with hers. Oh well, half is better than none, I suppose.
After we finished eating, the pool table was open, so I challenged three of the Outback waitresses to one-on-one games of 8-ball.
I bought each of my opponents a lady drink and gave them a 100 peso tip for their efforts. They seemed pleased.
With pool practice taken care of, we crossed the highway and did our nightcap at Queen Victoria. We had our usual good time there. On Tuesdays, the bar offers a buy-two-get-one-free beer promotion. After my first two beers, I reminded the waitress that my next one was on the house. But later, when I checked my tab, I saw that I had been charged for four beers. I pointed out to a different waitress that I hadn’t gotten my free beer. She offered me the next two beers free to make up for the oversight, but I wasn’t up for more drinking, so she corrected the bill, and we called it a night.
According to my Facebook memories, it was eleven years ago that I became the first McCrarey to successfully complete human-trafficking training.
In all seriousness, I have not witnessed anyone here being forced into prostitution. It’s a choice some women freely make because it is the best option for earning money to support their families. Some bar rules come close to crossing the line, such as restricting the activities of bargirls when they are off duty. Another practice I don’t care for is reducing their salaries when they fail to meet a lady-drink quota. Not all bars are like that, and I tend to gravitate toward the ones that treat their female staff fairly.
From the November 2022 LTG archives, I talk about another night on the town. This one included a birthday party for my former love, an SOB, and a confrontation with an asshole. I got a laugh rereading the comments on the post where one commenter suggested a title for my autobiography: “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do next, but I knew it would involve beer … a tale of one man’s retirement in the Philippines.” Hmm, that still resonates somehow.
Today’s YouTube video is something a little different. The vlogger is an American woman who has been living in Makati, Manila, for three months and shares her observations about the quality of life in the Philippines compared with the USA. Granted, Makati’s affluent lifestyle is about as close to America as it gets here, but she still makes some valid points. Kudos to her for experiencing the culture, enjoying local food, and trying to learn some of the language.
Brace yourself, here they come:
That was yesterday, and yesterday’s gone. Now I’m going to shower and get ready for my new Wednesday routine: playing in the 9-ball pool tournament at Alaska Club. I have low expectations of success, unless success can be measured by having fun and drinking beer. I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
And now from 1957, the Everly Brothers:
Mounjaro user here. I had the same problem of it not working despite upping the dosage, until my doctor decided to immediately double the dosage to shock my system into accepting its effects. That was over two months and I am down 12 kilos. It absolutely works but needs a proper kickstart. Wishing you the best of luck on your weight loss adventure; the treasures at the end make it all worthwhile.