In a rush this morning before my departure for the weekend adventure at the Haggis Hash up north in Pangasinan. The low down on yesterday was taking Swan on her longest hike yet…nearly 10K. The best moment for me was when she told me she had been ready to quit as we walked uphill on the highway at about the 6K point, but once we started strolling along the riverside, it was fun again. We finished up at a restaurant in Calapandayan we’ve been wanting to try and enjoyed our meals and the view.
Heading out. Swan knew we were going to Subic town but didn’t know we were going the back way, which is about twice as far.These are customers from our Sunday Candy Walk. The mother asked Swan to be a Godmother to her baby, and Swan agreed to do so.Can you see the cabin in the woods?Flowers are on de vine!These are pretty, tooIt had been months since Swan passed this way, but that kid (see him?) saw her and came runningSwan did some heavy lifting on this hikeRice fields are ready for plantingOver Bridge #4River crossingThe ass side of Easter MountainThe road where Swan began to lose her enthusiasm for the hikeStill a long way to goGetting it doneBe grateful for all that you haveOn the riversideComing to a beach near me soonWhat a coincidence. Both were born in January 1958, and both died this past week. Both are younger than me, too. RIP.Can you guess what I read when I first saw this sign?Off the highway and into an alley for a much more serene walkA narrow passage back to the highwayAnd then lunch at EzekielsIt was good with my girlfriend, tooBayside viewsBayside livingBayside diningAs seen from our tableSome of the menu selectionsCarbonaro for SwanShe seemed to enjoy itI did the honey garlic chicken wings and found them quite tasty.I shared the bones with a stray cat under our tableThe route we took
Later in the day, we paid a rare visit to Cheap Charlies. I reasoned that I could get a fairly priced gin and soda, and if we got hungry, we could order some food from Foodies, the restaurant on the ground floor. And that is just what we did!
It had been a long time since I enjoyed a delicious bowl of beef stew.
Swan ordered something called Kare Kare, a Filipino stew. I forgot to get a photo. Sorry!
A view from Cheap Charlies
We did our nightcap at Wet Spot, where I enjoyed chatting with the owner, Daddy Dave.
Another day under plan
A little bit of a disappointment at this morning’s weigh-in: 245.2, down only three ounces since December 1. Overall, I’ve lost 21.9 pounds since beginning the diet on November 1. In more positive signs, my belly circumference is down an inch to 48 and two inches off the waist to 44. I’m getting there.
Here is how I looked fifty years ago:
I reckon those days are gone forever. At least until God grants my “do-over” request.
Gotta skip the YouTube video today…no time!
That was a speedy tripAt least you didn’t lose your rein, dear boy.What a crusher!
Okay, I need to pack up the laptop, as my ride will be arriving shortly. I’ll post updates during the weekend as time allows.
5 thoughts on “Before I go”
So many restaurants, so few bookstores, sigh. Businesses need to learn the value of skills that aren’t exactly what they’re describing in the job description.
There’s a whole lot of discourse about the lack of media literacy, reading comprehension, and critical thinking right now – at the exact same time the humanities are being looked down on for being ‘useless’. There’s a definite link there.
Arts and humanities at university level aren’t about what you’re learning, it’s about learning ways of thinking, ways of engaging with information critically, and ways of forming complex, persuasive arguments. It’s about learning the value of sources, and what makes a source valuable or not, how to find them, and how to acknowledge and dispute ones that go against your argument.
There’s a reason these courses have been around for hundreds of years, and it isn’t because people simply must learn about Shakespeare’s characters more in depth, or because businesses need people who have read Proust – it’s because these are incredibly valuable skills in most areas of working life.
When businesses decide that actually they only want someone with a Business degree with a Masters in their exact field to work for them, sure, they might get a candidate they need to train a little less in onboarding – they also end up with an entire company full of people who have been trained to think in exactly the same way, and may have large gaps in their skill sets.
The anti-intellectualism streak, partly fuelled by stories of billionaires dropping out of college because they were Too Smart for the lefty communist professors, has spread into every aspect of life in a terrifying way.
STEM is great. Business degrees are great. Trade schools are great. But you still need people who understand history and how to archive sources, and sociologists, and writers, and people with the skills the humanities teach.
I don’t mean this in a “every business needs a Literature major” way (though I do actually think that would be a good thing), but more in a “we are losing vital skills in society because companies cannot directly translate them into a dollar value, despite them being important” way.
Have fun at the Haggis Hash. Lot of photos of haggis, please.
So, are the responsibilities of a godparent the same as in the west? (I.e. if the parent(s) is no longer able to take care of the child, the godparent takes over that responsibility??) LOL
You had better make sure that the parent of that kid stays healthy!!!! 😛
Brian, my understanding is the godparent thing here is very informal. In this case, Swan just gave the woman her name and a 500 peso donation. I won’t be surprised if Swan gets hit with “help” requests on birthdays and holidays. Then again, the only point of contact is when we walk by.
The problem is that universities have become indoctrination centers rather than institutions of higher learning.
So many restaurants, so few bookstores, sigh. Businesses need to learn the value of skills that aren’t exactly what they’re describing in the job description.
There’s a whole lot of discourse about the lack of media literacy, reading comprehension, and critical thinking right now – at the exact same time the humanities are being looked down on for being ‘useless’. There’s a definite link there.
Arts and humanities at university level aren’t about what you’re learning, it’s about learning ways of thinking, ways of engaging with information critically, and ways of forming complex, persuasive arguments. It’s about learning the value of sources, and what makes a source valuable or not, how to find them, and how to acknowledge and dispute ones that go against your argument.
There’s a reason these courses have been around for hundreds of years, and it isn’t because people simply must learn about Shakespeare’s characters more in depth, or because businesses need people who have read Proust – it’s because these are incredibly valuable skills in most areas of working life.
When businesses decide that actually they only want someone with a Business degree with a Masters in their exact field to work for them, sure, they might get a candidate they need to train a little less in onboarding – they also end up with an entire company full of people who have been trained to think in exactly the same way, and may have large gaps in their skill sets.
The anti-intellectualism streak, partly fuelled by stories of billionaires dropping out of college because they were Too Smart for the lefty communist professors, has spread into every aspect of life in a terrifying way.
STEM is great. Business degrees are great. Trade schools are great. But you still need people who understand history and how to archive sources, and sociologists, and writers, and people with the skills the humanities teach.
I don’t mean this in a “every business needs a Literature major” way (though I do actually think that would be a good thing), but more in a “we are losing vital skills in society because companies cannot directly translate them into a dollar value, despite them being important” way.
Have fun at the Haggis Hash. Lot of photos of haggis, please.
So, are the responsibilities of a godparent the same as in the west? (I.e. if the parent(s) is no longer able to take care of the child, the godparent takes over that responsibility??) LOL
You had better make sure that the parent of that kid stays healthy!!!! 😛
Brian, my understanding is the godparent thing here is very informal. In this case, Swan just gave the woman her name and a 500 peso donation. I won’t be surprised if Swan gets hit with “help” requests on birthdays and holidays. Then again, the only point of contact is when we walk by.
The problem is that universities have become indoctrination centers rather than institutions of higher learning.