Not a bad Hash yesterday, although perhaps a little boring. Of course, had I done the trail the Hares laid, I’d likely have been a lot worse than bored. In addition to a couple of crazy climbs, one of the hilltops was on fire. Literally. That’s not the fault of the Hares; someone decided to do a burn up there after the trail was laid. Glad I missed it!

The usual after-Hash gathering at It Doesn’t Matter, then we were homeward bound.

Continuing with the journey through the October 2018 LTG archives, where I’m actively engaged in the dating game. These old posts remind me of events I’d have otherwise forgotten. Like my date with Cherry, a woman I met on a dating website. We had a great first date, and I was really excited about getting to know her better. We met up for lunch the next day, and Cherry came home with me for an afternoon of passion. We parted with a plan for her to join me at the Hash the following day. I’m thinking, maybe I’ve met the one. I hadn’t. You can read what happened here.

Today’s YouTube video features a warning from Rod Serling for us all. Sorta like George Orwell told us about in 1984. I was a big Twilight Zone fan growing up, but I’m sure I missed the messages like this one.

Let’s take a timeout for smiles:

And so it went, and so it goes. I’ll try again tomorrow.

And Johnny can’t grammar either.

Sometimes it is the little things that feel like a ray of hope. Yesterday morning, I managed to navigate my way through an online registration process and then pay for the event via a wire transfer service. Trust me, in my state of diminished mental capacity, that’s quite the accomplishment!

I also managed to log in to my credit union website and unlock my credit card for my grocery shopping excursion. And then I locked it again when I got back home. Fuck you, scammers!

There was an incident at the YBC grocery store that left me feeling a bit crushed. I was picking up a case of 16-ounce plastic bottles of Diet Coke, and somehow the stack of quart bottles toppled over onto me, briefly pinning my neck and shoulders to where the Diet Cokes had been. I was able to squirm out from underneath, but damn, that could have been a whole LOT worse. The looks from the nearby store employees seemed to indicate they thought it was my fault somehow. No one even said sorry.

After shopping, I paid a visit to Dr. Jo for my final low-dose injection of Ozempic. Next week, I’ll start the medium-dose routine. I’m thinking that if that works out, I might not go with the high-dose phase, but we shall see. In the meantime, my appetite has been diminished, I’m mostly avoiding the sweet stuff, and my weight continues to trend downward.

According to my scale, on March 17, when I received my first injection, I weighed 262.1 pounds. Yesterday morning, my reading was 254.6, down 7.5 pounds in just under a month. I can live with that.

I was once again on the fence about playing darts in the Tuesday tournament at Alley Hideout, but I chucked a few at home and threw surprisingly well. Alas, that didn’t carry over to the tourney, and once again, it was one win, two losses, and out. I haven’t managed to recapture any passion for the game whatsoever, so I’m totally unmotivated to practice and improve. Last night I was thinking, why do I even bother. But then, the folks at Alley Hideout are like old friends, Swan also knows some of the gals that visit and enjoys the chit-chat with them. I reckon going once a week just for the change of scenery is good enough. I don’t care if I win or lose anymore.

I was hungry after my elimination and decided to visit the fish-and-chips shop across the highway. Swan and I shared one medium order.

Queen Victoria bar is directly across the highway, and that’s where we went for our nightcap.

It’s hard to see, but this guy rolled into the bar in a wheelchair. I was both sad and impressed. Sad to see him crippled at a relatively young age, but impressed that he is out doing what he enjoys regardless.

Swan assured me that she would be there to push me around town whenever I wanted, should I become wheelchair-bound. I’d prefer to just take her word for it.

Finished our drinks at Queen Vic, and as we headed out, I suggested we cross the highway once again and stop by the fruit and vegetable stand there. I was in a smoothie mood, but we had no bananas. As a long-term expat, I know how the game is played, so I fell behind and let Swan negotiate the price without the skin tax. We walked away with a kilo for 100 pesos. The smoothie was excellent, if I do say so myself. And that’s the sweet ending to another day in paradise.

Continuing the journey through the September 2018 LTG archives, and I encounter a cesspool of drama: in darts, with the GF, and with someone who chose to no longer be friends. It was sad to remember that Greg, cause of the dart drama, died a few months later. Meanwhile, I’ve developed a near-zero tolerance for drama these days.

I mentioned the skin tax bullshit, which is pretty prevalent here in the Philippines. Today’s YouTube video talks about that scam, and like me, he sends his girlfriend in alone when a purchase is to be made.

Time to smile:

I guess that’s why I take comfort in my routines; they help remind me of what day it is. And today is the day I visit Baloy. Time to get on with it.

Since it is tax day back home in the USA, let me share this classic from Remy:

It wasn’t much of a Hash yesterday; there were only 24 Hashers in attendance, even fewer on the trail. I was one of the naysayers, of course, and did 5.5K my way. Swan shared in the fun, so I didn’t have to do it alone.

It was run number #1701 for the Subic Bay Hash, and as promised, I stood up and made the following announcement:

Since the On-Home was at It Doesn’t Matter, there wasn’t far to go to get to the after-Hash gathering. I don’t know if it is Ozempic-related, but I’ve mastered the art of making a twelve-ounce bottle of San Miguel Light last me for thirty minutes. That reduces my consumption rate by three or four bottles over the course of a Hash. Progress!

In other news, Swan prepared her second batch of homemade birria tacos.

And now I’ve moved on to the September 2018 LTG archives, and sure enough, I’m still posting about loves past and doubting my future prospects with Marissa. But at least I’ve come to acknowledge that just maybe I’m the problem.

Today’s YouTube video offers a rare positive take on tourism and expat life in the Philippines. He says tourism numbers are actually up, at least in the trendy hot spots. Barretto isn’t among those, of course, but the vibe here is that things are in decline. We’ll see what the future brings.

Here’s your daily dose of humor:

And with that, this post is over and done with. Roger that, Tony?

Reach for the stars!

Oh yeah, yesterday’s Hash. All in all, it was a good one. Two of our best Hares, Leech My Nuggets and Anal Receptive, laid the trail. There were two versions, hard and easy, both right around 6K. The hard trail went up, over, and down both Easter Mountain and the Black Rock ridgeline. The easy trail went around both of those obstacles. The trails came back together for a climb at the end, but me being me, I did my own bypass of that one, too. It was hot motherfucker yesterday, and there wasn’t a lot of shade along the way, so I was pretty whupped by the time I finished. The On-Home was at a Hasher named Sully’s place in Calapandayan, nicely situated on the bay. Here are some photos from the journey:

Took a trike back to Barretto and joined the after-Hash gathering at It Doesn’t Matter.

And that’s the tale of the Easter Monday Hash Run #1700.

And by golly, the Philippines leads the world in this catergory:

The journey continues through the July 2018 LTG archives. In this post, I share some of the devastation I experienced during my first rainy season here. And I also reveal that I’ve decided to give Marissa another chance. One mistake leads to another, I suppose.

Today’s YouTube video shares the success story of living a simple life in the province on a social security income of $1,400 per month. It can be done, but that’s not the life for me. I spend that much in a week.

You can laugh if you want to:

I reckon I’m gonna chuck some arrows today. We’ll see how the lack of practice pays off.

Welcome to Easter Sunday. As an answer to your prayers, I’m going to keep today’s post about yesterday as short and sweet as possible. It is a day for miracles, after all.

As is our custom for Saturday morning, we kicked things off with our Decay Dance through the streets of San Isidro.

We started our evening of fun at Myleen’s, where, you guessed it, we dined on birria tacos. Then we moseyed up the highway to Red Bar.

I played some pool, winning one game and losing the other. My pool game is every bit as good as my darts, it seems. As usual, we enjoyed the ambiance and music during our visit. I was very surprised when Swan requested a second glass of wine before we departed. That’s almost unprecedented and a good indicator of how pleasant our Jumpin’ Jacks visit was last night.

We still made it home before 8:30 (hey, I’m elderly, you know), where I enjoyed a bowl of sugar-free pudding before laying my weary head down on the pillow and entering dreamland.

A couple of Facebook memories from this day in history:

From the July 2018 LTG archives, I share my perspectives on happiness after two months in the Philippines. There are always ups and downs wherever you wake up in life. How you deal with them is on you. I’m still learning life’s lessons.

Today’s YouTube video has some scenes from one of my favorite shows as a kid, “Lost in Space.” I was too young to note the slide towards comedy, or I didn’t care, but I remember being sad when the series ended. A curse and a joy of old age is all the acquired memories.

Just some jokes before I go:

Okay, a promise is a promise. I’ll stop now. Count your blessings!

Old age comes with its aches and pains, but it also provides a lifetime of memories to look back on. In many ways, this blog has become the story of my life. As I’ve been journeying through the archives, I often come upon a post that reminds me of events I’d otherwise have forgotten. One of these days, I hope to gather the best of these stories in a book on the off-chance that someday, somewhere, someone will ask, “Who was that guy?” Hey, it could happen, even if it is in the form of don’t be like that guy. We shall see.

The story of yesterday isn’t that special, but I was still glad to live it. We kicked it off as usual with the Decay Dance, but since we still had candy left at the end of our regular route, we extended the journey another couple of kilometers.

So, the big news for our Saturday night was an invitation for Swan to join in a “’70s night” event at the Palm Tree Resort. There is some history involved that makes the story a little more interesting. Swan used to be the hotel receptionist, and her now-deceased former boyfriend, Allan, managed the upstairs bar/restaurant. That’s where I met them both, as I was a semi-regular (weekly) visitor at Palm Tree. I don’t know the circumstances, and I’m not passing judgment, but when Allan died, Swan did not receive the compensation she felt entitled to. After I began my relationship with Swan, she was boycotting Palm Tree, so I haven’t visited there for a couple of years now. I was a bit surprised when Swan accepted the invite and asked me to attend with her. I guess it was more about reconnecting with her former co-workers. So, I got to revisit one of my old favorite haunts last night.

The Palm Tree gathering was scheduled to commence at 7:30, which is close to when I usually finish my night out. What to do? Well, we started a little later, and I paced myself. We decided we’d arrive at 6 and eat, then take it from there. On our way to Palm Tree, I suggested we take a break from the walk in the air-conditioned Gold Bar.

Then we crossed the highway, hit the ATM, and climbed the stairs to the bar/restaurant at Palm Tree.

I moved to the bar and let the gals enjoy their reunion. There was a DJ, and he was playing the classic rock tunes suitable for the occasion. And then some dancing broke out.

Palm Tree has long been noted for its fresh-baked breads. From the bar, I had a clear view of the kitchen and saw the work in progress.

So, that extra hour last night didn’t faze me, though I did have some leg pain this morning. I think that just comes with being elderly.

With gas prices continuing to rise, trike drivers are looking for cheaper solutions:

So, Lucky can’t talk, but he’s already told me this in his own way several times:

Fifteen years ago, I’d just moved into the house I bought in South Carolina.

From the May 2018 LTG archives, I’m one week into my new life in the Philippines. Throwing some awesome darts, meeting new women, and discovering the joys and pitfalls of small-town living. And I wouldn’t have remembered meeting MJ but for this post. I don’t know why or what happened, but we never connected and then one day she just disappeared from Barretto. Maybe she met that “rich” foreigner she’d been looking for. John and Mango wound up getting married. Sadly, John was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and it progressed to the point of being totally disabling. I understand he moved to Mango’s province and she and her family are taking care of him there. And life goes on, until it doesn’t.

I don’t even think about it anymore, but you don’t flush toilet paper in the Philippines. My housekeeper empties the bathroom trash bin daily, so it’s not as gross as it could be. Anyway, today’s YouTube video explains why toilets work (or don’t) the way they do here.

Now, for some shitty humor:

And that’s all I’ve got for today.

A few days ago, Kevin Kim wrote a post called “The Basic Human Sin.” If you missed it, go ahead and give it a read. I’ll wait. So, I’ve often mentioned my fantasy about living a “do-over” life when the one I’m currently living comes to an end. Kevin, bless his heart, has always pointed out in the comments how unrealistic and unworkable a do-over life would be. Basically, once you correct one fuck-up, your future life would be unrecognizable, so you’d no longer be doing a do-over; you’d have a blank sheet for new mistakes. Kevin also pointed out the inherent selfishness of the do-over scheme— trying to fix your life would inevitably change the lives of innocent bystanders, and not always for the better. In my defense, the do-over fantasy was just my way of calming my brain at night to help me get to sleep. Knowing that it would not work the way I imagine takes away a goodly portion of the comfort I seek.

So, I woke up around 3 a.m. this morning and was having trouble getting back to sleep. For whatever reason, I started thinking about traveling back in time and reliving my life from that point forward, knowing what I know now. I don’t have a time machine, of course, but I imagined a psychic power capable of transporting you by viewing an old photograph of a moment in time. Yeah, none of it makes sense, but it was three in the morning, and I couldn’t sleep. I thought of the picture I posted here a few days ago:

So, I started thinking about reliving my life from there. It’s great to be young again with the whole future ahead of you. But then I started to think about the ramifications of changing things that Kevin warned me about. My son was born two years later, and we moved to Prescott, Arizona. It was there that my spouse told me she no longer wanted to be a wife and mother, and left me to raise two kids (aged five and three) on my own. Could I have done more to save the marriage and the life we had shared? If I had, she would have missed out on the love of her life, with whom she’s been married for over forty years. I could have avoided the heartbreak that came with losing my next love, but, as I wrote in a post about her, “The Road Not Taken,” everything that flowed from meeting KaraLynne would never have happened. And almost all of that was good. Like meeting my soulmate and angel on earth, Linda Ketner. Needless to say, sleep eluded me, but it turns out Kevin was right about what he wrote. I’m glad I lived it and didn’t miss it, pain and all.

Okay, back to the real world. After grocery shopping yesterday, I visited Dr. Jo for my first Ozempic injection. She is starting me out on a low dosage for the first four weeks, which will give my body the chance to acclimate to the drug. Dr. Jo says the incidents of bad side effects like stomach paralysis usually occur when people begin the regimen at too high a dose level. Nothing negative to report so far, and as this article makes clear, healthy habits and lifestyle choices remain important when using Ozempic. My weekly injection cost me 3400 pesos (around $60). The price will go up as the dosages increase. I don’t intend to be a long-term user, I just need a kick in the butt to drop some pounds ASAP.

I practiced darts at home in the afternoon and threw surprisingly well, so I was feeling confident as we headed out to Alley Hideout for the Tuesday dart tournament. Warming up at the bar, my throws were shit again. I drew Troy, an experienced and solid player, as my partner. We both joked that we’d be the first eliminated from the tournament. We weren’t. A crap first round knocked us into the losers’ bracket, where we won our next match. But it was back to missing in our next games, so we didn’t make it to the money round. If I decide to continue playing, I’m going to need to work on more consistency.

I did bring a new shirt home from the bar:

I was whupped after my whuppin’ in darts, so we headed home for some smoothies and a restless night’s sleep. At least I did some thinking, something I don’t try much lately.

I’m glad not to be living in the USA. If I left the Philippines, I wouldn’t go back there. I’d probably give Vietnam or Cambodia a shot. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I’m as happy here as I would be somewhere else.

A Facebook memory from three years ago serves as a good reminder of why I choose to stick with beer.

From the May 2018 LTG archives, my farewell luncheon ceremony courtesy of the DHRM team and 8th Army. It was a good (second) ending to my career, and the memories will last as long as I do.

For today’s YouTube video, here’s a doctor who is incensed about GLP-1 “madness,” and he is so disgusted that he wants to leave the USA. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. And don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

I’ll be fat and happy for now:

And that’s it for now. Time for me to get back to living the best life ever!

Our paths may never cross again
Maybe my heart will never mend
But I'm glad for all the good times
Cause you've brought me so much sunshine
And love was the best it's ever been

I wouldn't have missed it for the world
Wouldn't have missed loving you, girl
You've made my whole life worthwhile with your smile
I wouldn't trade one memory
'Cause you mean too much to me
Even though I lost you, girl
I wouldn't have missed it for the world

Day five was pretty laid back, almost like being home. An 8K walk to the Han River and back, then some barhopping with a nice dinner at the end. The pictures tell the story better than I can.

On with the walk:

Back to the room for a shower and nap, then it was time to meet up with Jeff and Davina to enjoy our last night in Da Nang until next week.

And early this morning, we checked out of the hotel and headed for the hills.

Still plodding through the August 2016 LTG archives. It is amazing to see what a difference ten years can make. But at least my journey continues to continue.

Today’s YouTube video is all about those hills I mentioned, Ba Na. It’s an amazing place and I’m glad for the opportunity to have more time to explore it this trip.

To the humor we must go.

Alright, I need to go out and enjoy myself in this fantastic place I’m at. Tell you all about tomorrow, time permitting.

While grocery shopping at Royal this week, Christmas carols played in the background. I got a chuckle from hearing “Let it Snow,” knowing it never snows in the Philippines. And then the very next song was “Winter Wonderland.” Yeah, right. At least it ain’t raining.

Braving the winter solstice, we made our way out to Baloy Beach.

So, that covers the day before the day before Christmas. Let’s do Christmas Eve now.

The Wednesday Walkers traveled all the way out to San Antonio to see some different terrain.

We finished our hike back at the FRA after a 7K jaunt.

And now it’s Christmas. Not my favorite time of the year, to be honest. I seem to miss the life I left behind, and my current estrangement from family is harder to ignore. Welp, this is the life I chose, and I guess loneliness comes with living on the other side of the world.

On to May 2016 in the LTG archives, and here’s another pictorial post of a weekend in my Seoul life. I miss the good ol’ days.

For today’s YouTube video, we check in with the Filipina Pea for her take on the pitfalls of choosing the wrong country to live in after marrying a Filipina. I’ve heard the horror stories before, but it should be common sense. You’re old and invisible to the women back home, so you come to the PI and find a beauty twenty (or more) years younger than you. The best part is she thinks you are amazing (and rich). You can share a happy life here, and she’ll be content with the man she married. Take her back to your homeland, and she’ll soon see how much better she can do, and it won’t be long until you are replaced by someone younger, hotter, and richer. That’s life.

Let’s get into the holiday spirit:

Maybe I’ll do better in the new year. Going to spend some time with my neighbor and high school alumnus, Mike, this afternoon, and enjoy the Christmas dinner he prepared. We’ll see where things go from there.

There was nothing wrong with yesterday, but that’s about all I can say about it. I’ll save you the pain of trying and keep this post as short as it deserves to be.

A dual-purpose morning walk with Swan: get some exercise and schedule my blood work appointment. I’ll be fasting for ten hours before they poke the needle in me. The walk was 5K and ended at Sit-n-Bull, where I got a take-out chicken burger to bring home for lunch.

Swan declared it a “Me Time” evening: She went to visit some girlfriends, and I was on my own for finding venues to quench my thirst for beer. I decided to do the seldom-visited bars on the near side of town.

I started things off at Hangout Bar. Just before I arrived, I got hit with some unexpected rain, but managed to make it inside before getting soaked. I was the only customer at first, then one other guy came in, had a beer, and left. Hangout is a nice enough place, with two pool tables, several large TVs, and good music at the proper volume. Not sure why no one else ventured in, it’s been busier on my other rare visits. I just sat by the front window and watched the world go by outside as I sipped on an hour’s worth of San Mig Zeros.

Next stop was Nipsey’s. I’m not sure what’s up with this place. There were a couple of drunks in the back by the pool table, dancing with what may have been their girlfriends or bargirls, not that it matters. I was ignored, which is fine until my beer runs out. Anyway, I didn’t stay long and likely won’t be back anytime soon.

Then I went on to one of the newer joints in town, Gold Bar. They were comparatively busy, but I was given a friendly welcome and good service. Several dancers on the stage were putting some effort into their work, which is a rarity these days. The pool table was also seeing some action. Since my last visit, Gold Bar has expanded into the vacant space next door and turned it into a very nice darts room. If I ever take up the game again, I might make this my home venue. I enjoyed my visit and will definitely be back.

I finished my night out at Queen Victoria, another venue that puts some effort into satisfying their customer’s needs. Lots of dancers for those who enjoy watching, plenty of waitresses to take care of your needs, and, of course, a great big room for live music that starts after my bedtime. Swan joined me here for the nightcap before we grabbed a trike home.

And that’s how the day went down. It felt a little strange to be out on my own, but that just makes me appreciate having my gal at my side all the more.

Back to the January 2016 archives, where I posted this trip report about my visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Overall, I enjoyed my stay and added Cambodia to my list of possible retirement destinations. Visiting the infamous Killing Fields proved to be traumatic; the inhumanity on display was beyond disgusting. Luckily, Phnom Penh had plenty of bars where I could take refuge and drown my sorrows. My good friend, Dennis McPeters, was there to show me around, and I ran into another Itaewon buddy who was teaching there. Overall, one of my better trips and a much-needed escape from the sadness I was experiencing in Seoul.

Today’s YouTube video is a nine-minute journey into the dark days of Pol Pot’s reign in Cambodia. It is a stunning example of the depths of inhumanity perpetuated to achieve political goals.

Damn, we definitely need something to cleanse our palates after that video. Maybe these will help:

And there you have it. That wasn’t so bad, was it?

Getting ready to hit the road for a Hash weekend in Pozorrubio. It looks like I’m not going to have any window of time for blogging, so I’ll dash one out now and see what happens later.

Yesterday, I was planning to pay a visit to the My Bitch trail as my welcome-home morning hike, but for whatever reason, I’m experiencing some pain in my lower left leg. Perhaps that’s from a lack of exercise during my vacation on Siargao. So, I aborted the Bitch and did a 5K street walk instead.

Pretty much nothing special about last night, but I’ll tell you about it anyway. A visit to It Doesn’t Matter to kick things off…

Swan wanted to try somewhere new for our nightcap. I suggested the recently renamed Crazy Horse (formerly Voodoo) bar. Jim, who used to manage Green Room, is in charge there now, so I wanted to pop in and see what was up.

Crazy Horse is a small girly bar, but they did have seven or eight gals on the stage. I was never a fan of this bar, and nothing happened last night to change my mind about that. Well, there was a first-time happenstance for me: I poured the cookies and candy on my table, and only a couple of girls chose to partake. I’ve never had to repack goodie offerings in a bar before. Oh well, the guards at Alta Vista and my trike driver home got some sweet rewards.

Early to bed, early to rise as usual. I was greeted with this view when I sat down at my desk this morning:

So, as I surfed the ‘net, I got to enjoy the moonset.

I’ll let you know how the rest of the day goes when I get the chance.

As mentioned in my previous post, I made a rare appearance at the weekly RSL meeting yesterday. Despite being a member, it was only the second time I’ve attended this year. My reason is simple: the 2 pm start doesn’t work well with my routine-controlled lifestyle. That said, I do enjoy the gathering, especially when there is a Joker Jackpot worth 101,000 pesos (about two thousand US) waiting to be won. So, yeah, I had a selfish motivation for going yesterday, but in my defense, the proceeds are used for charity projects. Next month, there will be a medical mission providing services to an expected 400 children in San Marcelino.

The RSL is an Australian organization, similar to the American VFW. Unlike the VFW, everyone is allowed to join, regardless of nationality or veteran status. Most of the faces in attendance were familiar, although I guess that’s not surprising for our little town.

The artwork photograph above our table really caught my eye.

So, about those raffles. The main event tickets were 100 pesos each, or 6 for 500 pesos. In addition to the Joker Jackpot, there were drawings for various other prizes, ranging from meats, bottles of booze, and beer coupons for various bars. The way the Joker Jackpot works is if your ticket is drawn, you pick one of 52 cards on the board. If you choose the Joker, you win. If not, the pot is increased for the drawing the following week. So, after many weeks with no winners, the pot grows large and the number of cards to choose from is substantially reduced, increasing your chances of winning significantly. That combination brings out the seldom-attenders like me for some early-afternoon fun.

Each main event raffle participant is limited to a maximum of twelve tickets (1000 pesos). So, I bought twelve tickets in my name and twelve more in Swan’s. There are two other raffles: a 50-50 drawing (winner gets half the pot) and a “big spender” drawing (winner also gets half, with no limit on the number of tickets you can buy). So, I spent the maximum 200 pesos on the 50-50 and another 500 pesos for the big spender. I’ll save you from doing the math: I invested 2700 pesos in the RSL drawings. Again, win or lose, it’s for a good cause, so no regrets. Oh, and they sell beer cards that get you four beers for 250 pesos. That’s such a bargain, I felt compelled to buy two.

So, the raffle begins with the prizes, and one of my tickets was drawn.

Alas, I was not drawn for the Joker Jackpot. The guy who was picked failed to find the Joker. So, next week’s pot will be even larger, and now there are only five cards left to choose from. Sadly, I won’t be able to participate because I’ll be enjoying my adventure in Siargao Island covering the following two Tuesdays. Odds are slim that a winner won’t be picked in my absence.

Oh, well. I didn’t get drawn for the 50-50 pot either. The last drawing of the afternoon was for the “big spender” pot. And, drum roll please, my number was picked! I received my share of the pot, a sweet 4500 pesos, which put me up 1800 pesos for the day (not counting the 500 pesos I spent on beer). Thank you, RSL!

The RSL tradition is to hold a bar crawl at the conclusion of the meeting. First stop yesterday was the Outback Billabong Bar, and our group, including Swan’s sister and niece, joined in.

The second bar on the crawl was Whiskey Girl, a bar on my “no go” list, so I didn’t. Instead, Swan and her kin joined me at the Outback Pool/Beach bar.

We had us some dinner (fish and chips for me), then reconvened with Jeff and Davina at Gold Bar. After some good music, nice vibes, and more beer, we loaded into Jeff’s car and cruised on home to Bryce Street in Alta Vista.

I deem it another fine day.

This anti-smoking poster made me think of someone:

The upcoming Corona Hash trail this week features this interesting climb:

Moving on to September 2015 in the LTG archives, and in this post, I talk about the last car I’ll ever own, my commute to the last job I’ll ever work, and a good day of darts that I’ll never experience again.

Today’s YouTube video is a two-minute comedy I posted on Facebook twelve years ago. It’s still funny today and also reminds me of why Western men come to the Philippines to find love. Well, shit. Another video that won’t embed for some reason. Go ahead and click this link, I think you’ll like it. UPDATE: Fixed the embed issue. I think.

Here is some more funny business:

And there you have it, another day, another post.

What the hell, now the music video won’t embed either. I’m guessing it has something to do with the malware cleanup. But damn it, I want you to see my videos without clicking a link. I’ll work on it. In the meantime, here you go: Lucky Man by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.

The passing of Dave Fisher is still reverberating through our little town and in Angeles City, where he was an icon at the end of the last century. To honor his memory, we spent some time in Green Room and Wet Spot last night. When we arrived, our friend Beth, the head waitress at Wet Spot, who had worked with Dave since his AC days, was in tears. She was hugging the Filipino lad who does maintenance at the Maze and gets around on the prosthetic leg that Dave provided him years ago. Touching the lives of others in a meaningful way is Dave’s true legacy; the bars were always just a retirement hobby.

Lots of posts on social media lamenting Dave’s passing, but this one really captured his essence:

I have known Dave a long time and had many personal conversations with him over the years. Many I feel were private and will remain so. Dave managed to separate his home live and bar life better than anyone I have ever known. Usually, he would arrive in Angeles or Barretto on Thursday and go back to Makati on Sunday.

Dave kept his Makati life private and so will I. But it was just as busy and fulfilling as his bar life. He had membership in tennis clubs, imported Andelusian horses, was president of the Manila wine club, had involvement with several charities including Doctors Without Borders.

Dave grew up in Ohio and still has family there. He went to Ohio State and graduated from Medical School. He never was the type to sit in a private practice or stay on a hospital staff. Some of his achievements were being on a US Presidents medical staff and traveling with them. Managing a medical division of Siemens Corp developing cancer test and treatment equipment.

Dave was involved in ownership of several Nana Plaza bars and many of the names of the bars he owned in Angeles and Barretto came from there.

Dave started showing up in Angeles around the same time I did mid-late 1980’s. After moving to Makati in the early 1990’s he became more frequent. His first bar was Voodoo in the old Vampire location, then he opened his first of several Lollipops in the current Swiss Hotel location. He built the Kokomo’s restaurant on the corner of A. Santos and Fields over the remnants of the crumpled building left from Pinatubo. He and JC (Margaritaville now Margarita Station thanks to Jimmy Buffets lawyers) staged good natured war with the waitresses dressed in military costumes. Since it’s opening it is much smaller inside now after adding a bar, hotel and swimming pool. I don’t think Dave ever owned more than about a half dozen bars at a time, but he was opening and selling them like trading cards. My personal favorites were both Lollipop locations and Treasure Island. I will never forget the shower shows on the third floor of TI. Around 2004 Dave bought a small hotel on Baloy Beach named it Kokomos and put in theme rooms. He told me it would be his retirement. In 2006 after over a decade in AC had having nearly personally breathed life back into the go-go scene he was done and had everything up for sale planning to have a quiet life in Barretto.

Once again Dave started a second empire. The Treasure Island Hotel and several others came into play. Old man Dreden wanted to move back to the states so Dave bought the building that currently houses Wetspot, Sit-n-Bull and the Paradise hotel now. Like in AC Dave probably never owned more than a half dozen bars at a time, but I can name at least a dozen he had through the past twenty years.

Dave set up, managed and was MC for over one thousand SOB’s, 27 annual Scorpio Bar Hops (his birthday bashes), annual Superbowl Parties, nearly a hundred pool parties and many of the VFW annual beauty contests. Not to mention his many charity events. He was kind enough to invite me to many and I would always offer to chip and cover some of the cost. Dave would never take a peso from anyone saying, “It’s all set up.” Oh, I’ll mention one; his annual Christmas dinners for the local children. He would dress up like Santa Claus and more than 200 local children would line up to receive their take away Christmas Dinners. I really think the local children thought that he actually was Santa Claus.

There are tears in my eyes as I write this. But I am not crying for Dave. I am crying for myself and loss of not having my dear friend around to help me gain the perspective for life that he always provided.

A few thoughts to end this:

· You can tell the quality of a Boss by how long his employees stick with him. Dave has bar managers, mama sans and even waitresses who have been with him for decades.

· You can tell the quality of a person by his friends. Dave has touched more peoples lives than anyone I have ever known.

· Dave often used his vast vocabulary to come up with one-word definitions of a person. I never did find out what he had for me. The one I would use for Dave was “Gracious.”

· Finally TGATM 64 –“Don’t take life too seriously. You’re not getting out alive anyway.”

Anyway, as Wet Spot manager Bret, who has worked for Dave for over twenty years, said to me last night, the real surprise is that Dave lived as long as he did, and now his suffering has finally ended. So, we can both mourn his passing and celebrate the memories he left us.

Here’s what else happened yesterday:

Swan participated in her first 10K running event.

If it looks dark, that’s because it was an early morning run. She left home a little after three in the morning.

Good job, my love.

While Swan was doing her new thing, I undertook responsibility for the Sunday Sweets Stroll. Didn’t want to disappoint the kiddies two weeks in a row (the typhoon stymied us last Sunday). After the run, Swan spent some time with the neighbors at Treasure Island while I attended to the Hideaway feeding.

Then Swan and I met up at John’s place for our Sunday dinner.

As I mentioned earlier, after dinner we hung out at Green Room and Wet Spot, remembering our times there with Daddy Dave. Swan even had the rare second glass of wine, but we still made it home before the 9 pm old man bedtime.

My buddy Scott put together a photo collage of the sunset as seen from The Rite Spot earlier this week:

The Corona Hash group has a new adventure planned for January.

I’ve fantasized about doing a hike like that ever since I saw the video of a group he made the trek back in 2011. Alas, my physical ability is no longer up to the task. It’s going to be all mountains, no concrete. And knowing Corona, they won’t be taking any easy trails. I wish them well, but I’ll just do a wussy trip to Da Nang, Vietnam instead.

And here’s the YouTube video of those who went before. I would if I could, but I can’t, so I won’t. But damn, it looks like the adventure of a lifetime. Hmm, it won’t let me post that video for some reason. I guess you’ll have to click this link instead.

From the August 2015 LTG archives are the stories of buying the last car I will ever own and of eating at a new barbecue joint in Itaewon. Sometimes it’s the little things that make life worth living.

Facebook memories reminded me of the fucked up world we were living in four years ago:

And we’ll finish this post with the usual bad humor:

Okay, time to get psyched for today’s Hash run. Leech My Nuggets is the Hare, so I’m expecting an ass-kicker. I’ve seen the map for today’s trail, and if I play it smart, I can keep it at one big climb at the start and a lesser effort about halfway through. Problem is, I’ve been struggling on the little hills in the neighborhood lately. I’m going to try it anyway. After all, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

I hope I’ll be back to post all about it here tomorrow.

If this email is to be believed, it appears my website has been cleansed of the malware infection.

Your SMART scanner has been hard at work! During a recent scan, it found some malware and automatically removed it from your website. We are happy to report that your site is now clean and malware-free.

Let me know if you see any signs to the contrary.

On to yesterday, then. There was the Friday group hike to attend to.

Shortly after we started, I decided to take a pee at a gas station we passed. I wound up on my knees on the sidewalk.

There were some workers clearing weeds and a woman who appeared to be in charge. We approached her and asked if we might have a look around. She consented to our trespassing.

Back home and hungry, Swan made me lunch.

When it was time to head into town, we started with dinner at Jewel Cafe.

We crossed the highway for a drink or two at Red Bar, then did our nightcap at Jumpin’ Jacks. And that’s how we filled the hours on our Friday.

On to July 2015 in the LTG archives. It has been interesting (to me) to read about things I would have otherwise totally forgotten. Like this chance encounter with a crazy guy in my Itaewon hangout, Shenanigans. Sometimes the meaningless moments are part of the milestones on this journey we call life.

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with Smart Girl Philippines. Well, here she is talking about why the Christmas season is the best time of the year for sex.

And you may enjoy these:

And with that, I’ll sign off for today.

This song takes me back to those long-haired hippy-freak days, the first time I lived through the 70s.

Here we go again. But before I get started about yesterday, I have some comments about comments. Amongst my handful of loyal readers, some actually share their thoughts in the comments section. Unsurprisingly, those comments often have more substance than the original post (admittedly, that’s a low bar). So, if you haven’t done so already, I invite you to read the exchange between me and commenter Brian in the post “Getting on with it.” Honestly, interactions like those are my favorite part of blogging.

When it was time for the Wednesday Walkers to convene, we decided to keep it mostly on the street. So, we grabbed a Jeepney and rode it out to Waltermart on the far side of Subic town, then walked the backroads home.

Yeah, I’m at the back of the pack in most of these photos. I’m slow on a good day, but yesterday I had pain in my left ankle for some reason, and it hobbled my progress. I woke up in pain during the night as well and required some Tylenol to get back to sleep. I took a day off from walking this morning.

That ankle didn’t stop me from heading back out at beer o’clock either.

We visited Green Room next, and enjoyed our nightcap at Wet Spot. Then we rolled on home. No complaints about my Wednesday. Keep ’em coming!

Moving on to May 2015 in the LTG archives, and in this rambling post, I talk about giving up cigarettes and being grumpy. Those two things may be related, but I haven’t smoked for ten years now, and I’m grumpier than ever. Go figure.

Today’s YouTube video is something a little different for me, talking about death and the spiritual being within our human body. I don’t buy it, but since it is only five minutes long, you may want to decide for yourself.

Let’s lighten our load with these:

Okay then, we are done for today. Swan is having a gathering of lady friends up at The Rite Spot on the Roof this afternoon. I made some chili, cornbread muffins, and brownies for the event. I’ve got plenty of beer on ice for me and any menfolk who may come along. Nothing wrong with sticking close to home for a change.

Here I am riding out the storm at a cheap ass (900 peso per night) love motel with crap internet, so we shall see if this post makes it up or not. Anyway, here’s how my surviving Super Typhoon Uwan has gone so far.

Right after I left the house to feed the gals at Hideaway, the power went out in Alta Vista. And it has been out ever since. I was surprised because we went dark before the storm had hit with any real force. And knowing that, it didn’t bode well for it being restored anytime soon. I proved to be right about that. Anyway, the feeding at Hideaway went fine, then I met Swan at John’s place for dinner

Hmm, the internet isn’t working for uploading photos, even on my mobile hotspot. Must be storm-related. So, that takes a lot of the fun out of blogging. Oh well, Swan surprised me by ordering a pasta dish. I, in turn, surprised her by ordering birria tacos so she could satisfy her weekly addiction.

After dinner, we stuck to our Sunday routines with a stop at Red Bar.

We normally make Jumpin’ Jacks our venue for the Sunday nightcap, but they were closed because of the storm, so we moved on to Cheap Charlies. We had to sit at the bar because the wind was slamming the plastic curtains against the counter space. There was definitely an end-of-the-world vibe going on. So, knowing there was still no power at the house, we agreed that getting a room in Barretto was our best option for the night. I figured the lights might not stay on in Barretto either, so a hotel with a generator was the main requirement. The nicer places were a wet walk up the highway, while the Anbon Hotel was just across the highway near the It Doesn’t Matter Bar. I confirmed they had a working generator and booked my cheap room. I’m not saying it’s the worst room I’ve ever stayed in, but it is in the top ten of the bad ones.

Rules and electricity. We took a trike back to the house, grabbed some fresh clothes and toiletries, and triked back to our room. Seeing as how the It Doesn’t Matter Bar was steps away, we settled in for a drink before bedtime. And sure enough, the power went out in Barretto. I heard the generator kick on at Anbon, so I was happy with my choice. I was also surprised that IDM has a generator as well. The Barretto outage lasted only about 30 minutes.

Wow! The old man stayed out late last night! One good thing about going to bed later than usual was that it meant less time dealing with the discomfort of a shit bed and crappy pillows. We heard the wind and rain through the night, but there doesn’t appear to be any flooding or other visible damage here in Barretto.

Woke up hungry, so we ventured out in the rain in search of breakfast. The wind rendered our umbrellas worthless. Jewel Cafe is only a block away, but alas, they were closed, likely due to the storm. So, we moved down the highway to the Arizona Resort to eat.

And I ate like a hungry American:

I used to visit Arizona to eat frequently, but it’s on the wrong side of town with lots of other good options in between, so I just don’t make it here much nowadays. It was good to be back, though.

Walked back to the Anbon in the rain and checked on the status of power restoration at the house. It’s still a no-go. Check-out time here is noon, so it was decision time: do I stay or do I go? Welp, I’m down for spending 900 pesos to keep my laptop going and phone charged. If the power gets restored before bedtime tonight, we’ll just mosey on home. If not, it will be an easy crawl to the Anbon after the Hash.

Speaking of the Hash, I have no idea what’s in store for today. I can’t imagine it will be anything more than a street walk, and it might be even less than that (a bar crawl). Either way, I’ll be there!

Back to March 2015 in the LTG archives, and the big news in this post is that my Uncle Sam rehired me! I had retired as a GS-15 Human Resources Director and returned as a GS-13 Labor Relations Specialist — the same job I had when I first came to Korea.

Coincidentally, on this date in my history on Facebook:

For today’s YouTube video, we’ll stick with the typhoon theme. Lots of places got hit a lot harder than we did. (I didn’t watch this, so can’t vouch for its accuracy.)

And now for these:

Damn, this post was one of the hardest to write, logistically speaking—slow internet, no mouse, and some keyboard issues. Oh well, I did the best I could with what I had to work with. Still raining outside with a brisk breeze, but things aren’t as bad as I expected. We’ll see what happens next.

Busy day ahead. Riding with the neighbors, Martin and Joss, for the two-hour drive to the Tumangan River in Botolon. We are departing in two hours, so here’s the lowdown on what yesterday was all about. I’m going to start with how it ended and work my way back to the start. Why? Because I can!

Sorry, I forgot to get a shot of the most important thing: the fondue cheese sauce we dipped those tasty bites in. I can’t remember the last time I’ve enjoyed a fondue meal, but this one was the best ever. Hanging with the neighbors is always a good time, and we’ll have another full day of it today.

As mentioned in my previous post, we had the twice-yearly 7-Eleven Hash run yesterday. The concept of the event is that the group takes a predetermined walk, visiting convenience stores along the way. The other part of the deal is that participants buy and drink a beer at each stop. As much as I enjoy beer drinking, that is something I decline to do. As regular readers know, I’m a walkaholic by day and an alcoholic at night. I prefer not to mix those two passions. Others in our group filled that gap, and the walk concluded successfully.

Here are some photos I took along the way:

Oops! I just now realized that I forgot to get a photo of stop #8 on our quest. Sorry about that. For the record, it was a 7-Eleven convenience store.

The rest of the group arrived to join us, and then the ritual of connecting the empty beer cans consumed on our trek commenced.

Anyway, I’m glad the 7-Eleven runs only take place twice a year. Still, it was something different and I enjoyed myself. We did our after-Hash at IDM, and then it was time to head home and get ready for the dinner date next door I talked about at the beginning of this post.

Yikes! Look at the time! I’d better get my ass ready for today’s adventure.

But before I go, I’ll share this post from the February 2015 LTG archives about my glory days as a darter in Itaewon.

And today’s YouTube video is one of mine as well.

Some quick humor:

Time for me to go. At least tomorrow I’ll have something different to write about. This is my first time going to Botolon.

The big news from my Saturday was that for the first time in my Hash career, I did TWO separate Hash trails on the same day. And I actually enjoyed them for the most part. Here are the options I faced that led me to my decision:

What to do? I opted to join the group departing at ten a.m. The short trail started with and followed the long trail for the first 3K. At the junction with the medium trail, the short trail ended, and the long and medium trails continued together to the On-Home. It took me a little over one hour to finish the short trail, but I had no regrets about my choice. Trying to do over 9K on a hot day would have been pushing it. The downside (other than waiting 30 minutes for the slowpokes to complete the short trail) was getting back to Bauang before 1 p.m., and the Hash gathering didn’t begin until 3. And then I had the bright idea of doing the 2:30 short trail, a 4K walk to the On-Home venue. La Union Hash called it their “VIP trail,” which is their nice way of saying what we call the “wimp trail” in Subic. Regardless, doing both short trails gave me a sweet 7K-plus experience that was the right fit for me.

Swan and I returned to our room at the Go Resort and rested for an hour before heading back to the Tropical Garden, where the VIP short trail began.

One of them got drawn, and I selected a pair of hiking shoes.

We also got a swag bag that included this nifty towel-like thing.

The Circle ended at six, but the beer stayed open until seven. Of course, Zero was not available, and being mindful of my drinking history in La Union, I exercised discretion and left shortly after the Circle concluded. The Hash provided Jeepney transport back into Buang-proper, and given our early departure, we had the Jeepney all to ourselves.

I had a couple of more beers at the hotel and also a delicious banana split. Swan stayed up late playing cards with the girls, but I was snug in my bed before 9 p.m. So, no misbehavior on my final night in La Union.

From the November 2014 LTG archives, I wrote about the circumstances of my first marriage thirty-nine years earlier. What triggered those reflections was receiving a letter from the Catholic Diocese advising that the ex-wife was seeking an annulment. I had no objections to her getting right with God after marrying a heretic like me.

I also found today’s YouTube video in the LTG archives. It’s a short comedy piece entitled “What Kind of Asian Are You?” I enjoyed seeing it again after all these years; perhaps you will too.

Hey, we are on a roll with the comedy, so let’s do these:

And enough of this shit. I made it back safe and sound to Barretto, and I’ll be hanging with the neighbors tonight. I’ve got my Zero bottles chillin’ in the fridge to welcome me home at the appointed hour.