Crazy times.
I did a bar crawl on my own last night. Well, I ran into fellow Hashers Scott and Jim in BarCelona and enjoyed their company while quaffing some brews. Afterward, I made a rare appearance in Rum Jungle and was greeted by name by the waitress. I’m always impressed with the ability of these gals to remember customers, especially folks like me who are far from regulars. As a reward I allowed her to give me a back massage and provided her a 100 peso tip. Nice to see you again too, Sallie!
After a couple more beers I moved next door to Wet Spot, another bar I don’t frequent that often. But I had a “buy one, get one” coupon that was due to expire and I wanted to use it up. While I was enjoying my beer the owner, Dave, came in and joined me at my table. As I mentioned in the post linked above, Dave is a retired physician and owns several businesses in Barretto. Always fascinating to talk with, and he has some unique insights into local happenings given his connections. Naturally, the conversation turned to the Wuhan virus (my preferred name now that the Chinese are trying to memory hole where it came from). He confirmed my suspicion that the panic is having a devastating impact on business. In fact, he’s considering closing his bars two or even possibly three days a week! And he also revealed that the first confirmed case of infection has occurred in Barretto. A Filipina recently returned from Japan, with (fortunately) no connection to the bars. Still, it’s happening here and not being reported, which is really no surprise.
But the really big news today is coming out of Manila:
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday announced a halt on domestic land, sea and air travel to and from Manila, as well as community quarantine measures, in what he called a “lockdown” of the capital to arrest the spread of coronavirus.
In addition, no citizen of any country with reported outbreaks of the virus will be permitted entry into the Philippines, effective March 15. That, of course, includes the USA. So, it looks like I’m not going anywhere for the time being, or if I do go I won’t be coming back. I had been planning a trip to Thailand (also on the list) in July, so that’s obviously on hold now. Since I’m already here I don’t anticipate any issues with getting my tourist visa renewed at the end of the month, but then again, this is the Philippines, so who knows?
I don’t know if this is all an overreaction or if it’s time to panic. I guess I could play it safe and not venture outside to walk or visit the bars. That strikes me as being too drastic at this point in time. I’m just going to wait and see what happens next. It’s still more likely I’ll die from crossing the National highway than it is from contracting the virus. That could very well change I suppose.
Life is a crapshoot. Let’s roll the dice!
I have seen you in the movies
And in those magazines at night
I saw you on the barstool when
You held that glass so tight.
And I saw you in my nightmares
But I’ll see you in my dreams
And I might live a thousand years
Before I know what that means.
Once there was a friend of mine
Who died a thousand deaths
His life was filled with parasites
And countless idle threats.
He trusted in a woman
And on her he made his bets
Once there was a friend of mine
Who died a thousand deaths.
I hope the Philippines will be honest in its release of medical stats. Sorry to read that Manila is on lockdown, but here’s hoping the warmer weather will have an effect (at least in the northern hemisphere).
How is Dave able to own businesses, again?
Dave has legal permanent residency, I didn’t ask the basis but I assume it derives from the investment provisions of immigration law. Dave has been living here for something like 25 years. Used to own a hotel, restaurant, and several bars in Angeles City. He left there ten years ago (allegedly because he grew weary of paying bribes to the local authorities to stay in business) and made a big splash in sleepy Barretto. He’s a fascinating man with lots of stories to tell. The most impressive thing about him is that at 77 years of age he hasn’t slowed down at all. He doesn’t look or act his age. That’s a secret I’ll need to pry out of him one of these days!
I think some people are just born more energetic, goal-directed, and driven. I’m one of those easily contented people who doesn’t seek after fame or fortune or power, even at a low level, but there are people out there who simply can’t sit still, and who have to keep moving, keep doing things, in order not to feel useless or in a rut. Such people live under a compulsion, and asking them “What’s your secret?” will get you answers that are at least partially untrue: they’ll tell you that “I decided long ago to work hard” or “I had a realization that led me to where I am today” or some such… and maybe there’s some truth to that, but the unconscious compulsion is what really motivates them to act how they act and to do what they do. I know that flies in the face of the conservative notion that we all have free will and can determine our destinies, but that too is only partially true. I believe the biologists when they say personality (and possibly character) is about 50% genetic. Some of us are just born with an unwavering inner compass. Others of us, like yours truly, still don’t know what we want to be when we grow up. We’re born with certain wiring, and a degree of rewiring is possible, but the fundamental wiring is, well, hard-wired. You make do with what you’ve got.
[NB: comment reposted with correct grammar. Can you spot the error in my first comment?]
I think some people are just born more energetic, goal-directed, and driven. I’m one of those easily contented people who don’t seek after fame or fortune or power, even at a low level, but there are people out there who simply can’t sit still, and who have to keep moving, keep doing things, in order not to feel useless or in a rut. Such people live under a compulsion, and asking them “What’s your secret?” will get you answers that are at least partially untrue: they’ll tell you that “I decided long ago to work hard” or “I had a realization that led me to where I am today” or some such… and maybe there’s some truth to that, but the unconscious compulsion is what really motivates them to act how they act and to do what they do. I know that flies in the face of the conservative notion that we all have free will and can determine our destinies, but that too is only partially true. I believe the biologists when they say personality (and possibly character) is about 50% genetic. Some of us are just born with an unwavering inner compass. Others of us, like yours truly, still don’t know what we want to be when we grow up. We’re born with certain wiring, and a degree of rewiring is possible, but the fundamental wiring is, well, hard-wired. You make do with what you’ve got.
Well, you changed “people who doesn’t” to “people who don’t”. I don’t know if there was something else as well, it gave me a headache trying to find any other errors. It’s funny when reading the first version “doesn’t” sounds fine to me. It was only in comparing the two comments that I saw you had changed it. But when I typed in “people who doesn’t” I could tell that it was wrong. Heh, even my Grammarly app underlined it.
I’d give you a ten-grand prize if I could.